Page 145 of The Other Side

Seconds later, the ladder stood whole again, the splintered wood knitting itself together beneath Osian’s careful magic until it looked as though it had never broken. He tested it with one foot before climbing. Drum followed more cautiously.

The treehouse looked almost exactly as it had in his memories and Drum’s lungs locked.

“When I grew older,” Osian said quietly, “I came here whenever missing you became too much to bear. This place doesn’t let you forget things made with love. Every time the wind moved through the branches, I heard your laugh. Every spring, I convinced myself that in a minute, I’d hear your footsteps climbing the ladder.”

Drum lowered himself onto the uneven floor. The old boards groaned beneath his weight. Osian settled beside him, their shoulders touching.

“We had such fun.” Drum sighed. “Damn them for making me forget.”

“Yet, if you’d remembered, no one would have believed you. In the end, you wouldn’t have believed you. It might have driven you mad.”

The air smelled of old cedar, dry moss and summer dust, preserved beneath the sheltering branches. Shafts of green light spilled through gaps in the walls, illuminating faded carvings they’d scratched into the timber. Two boys who’d believed they had all the time in the world.

“There’s my crooked dragon,” Drum said.

“Which still looks like a sheep.”

“Does not.”

“Does.”

Next to it was Osian’s careful carving. D + O. Forever. Drum reached out, tracing the letters with trembling fingers.

“I loved you so much,” Osian said. “As much as a child can love. I don’t think I understood what it meant then. I just knew that when you were with me, the world felt right.”

“And I loved you. I love you now.” Drum swallowed hard. “Home never felt safe. Coming here… coming to you… it made everything bearable.”

Osian looked at him then, his eyes bright with unshed tears.

“The blood-oath we made with Oliver’s knife,” Drum said. “It was the one thing he never blamed me for taking. I thought it was just that he couldn’t contemplate I would dare steal it. But I was wrong. I went to see them today.”

“You did?”

“Leaf took me. Stayed near, just in case. I didn’t go in.”

“Did you get any explanation?”

“They put themselves first, that’s all. I wasn’t the son they wanted. Delfin asked me if I knew where he was. I chose not to answer. Even if I knew, I’m not sure they deserve to. As I walked away, Oliver followed. He knew about me taking his knife. He said he’d hoped it would be enough. He knew about the blood-oath. Then he smiled at me. I rarely got a smile.”

“It was more than enough. It made all the difference.” Osian leaned towards the opening in the floor and pointed to the forest below. “We put it in a tin. It should still be there.”

“Kept safe by the trees. Let’s leave it alone.”

Osian kissed him.

When they finally broke apart, Osian groaned. “We need to go somewhere we can’t be found. I want to do more than kiss you.”

“I like that idea. Is there anywhere we can’t be found?”

Osian smiled. “Sea? Field? Mountain? By a river?”

“The sea.”

“Close your eyes and trust me. Don’t open them until I tell you to.”

Drum heard water lapping, could smell salt in the air but he kept his eyes closed. He didn’t feel as if they’d moved from the tree house but he could feel sand under his fingers, not rough planks.

“Now open your eyes, mo rùn.”