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Chapter twenty-five (Hayley)
We went to the room they provided for us soon enough after Merine was done with his story, and surprisingly we had a bed. Although I would have preferred for our hut to have a door, the raffia blind would have to. In a community like theirs, trust is imperative, and a closed door is subject to breed distrust. Merine had explained that to us. Luke thought it was nice. I thought it was simply bonkers.
He’d been sweet so far, Luke. Always listening, always watching, and always there for me. He had steered back to the right earlier in the night when Merine told me he knew about the children getting kidnapped, but now I knew why he never interfered. They had interfered once, and it didn’t end well for them. Their interference was also the reason we were here now. If they hadn’t taken in the two last royals, Luke and I would never have been born, so I guessed I should be grateful to them for that.
We were so tired after the day's walks that as soon as we got into the room, we slept and didn’t wake up until morning.
When I did, there was a child standing by the foot of our bed. He was naked with only a small pair of shorts on him. I tapped Luke awake when I saw him; for a while, I thought he was lost. But the curtain was opened, so anyone could come in and out as they pleased. I guessed that was the point of such a flimsy door.
The boy had chubby cheeks and sweet blue eyes with a smile that could melt mountains. He stretched his hands to me and spoke.
“Come,” he said, and then nothing after that.
“You want us to come with you?” I asked, looking at Luke, who was just as surprised at what was unfolding before us as I was.
The boy nodded yes.
“Okay,” I said to him and turned to Luke. “It wouldn’t hurt to see what he wants.”
He grunted and stood up from the bed. We were still fully dressed from last night. It was bright outside already, and I could hear the villagers walking about and kids laughing. We stepped out with the boy leading us, and I could see the villagers walking toward the little community's far end. Some of them looked at us and smiled, some waved, and we waved back to them, but most just ignored us. The children soon found us, and just as they did last night, they started running around until someone came and chased them away and apologized to us.
“Oh, it’s fine,” I said. “They are just kids.”
The woman smiled and walked beside the kid that came to get us, who was walking with a determination that was unusual for a child his age. I looked at the woman and the child but didn’t see any resemblance and concluded she wasn’t his mother.
Since we arrived last night, the kids have been running amok freely with no one to stop them. They were confident of their safety here. I hoped it remained that way forever. We walked with the crowd until we came to a hill, and Merine was at the top, looking down at the rest of us.
“I see Yola got you to wake up,” he said to us and smiled. “He’s a good boy. Thank you, Yola.”
The boy smiled again and then ran off to join the others. He had a task, he had done it, and it was time to play.
“That was impressive,” Luke said as he watched the Yola join the others.
“How old do you think he is? Four? Five, and he’s so well behaved and knew to stick to the job he was assigned.”
“I guess that’s why they have a well-functioning society,” he said. “Everyone plays their part to the letter.”
“Alright!” Merine said, breaking up the conversation that had ensued between the people. “Huh, let’s get this over with. Herlie has told me that he would love to be back home with his wife before sun up, and since we’ll all move at once, we will not have him go before us.”
“Oh, he just wants to eat, is all!” someone yelled from the crowd. “The man likes food too much.”
“I have a pregnant wife, Yuliss, who is very close to term. Be respectful,” the man called Herlie replied.
“It’s a wonder you haven’t eaten her yet!” Yuliss said, and that got a couple of snickers from the crowd, and then Herlie replied in a language we didn’t understand, which caused the whole crowd to burst out in laughter.
Merine remained at the top of the hill, smiling, and waited for them to calm down.
“Well, we’ve presented ourselves in such a terrible manner to our guests,” he said, and everyone turned to look at us. I smiled at them and quickly looked away, but Luke waved. “I know theymust be wondering why we are here. It is hunting season, and you are in luck. You get to hunt!”
I wasn’t so sure I shared in the enthusiasm in Merine’s voice, but Luke looked like he would enjoy that. Well, he is a hunter, so I expected that, but we should be working towards getting the moon stone and heading back to town. I listened to all Merine had to say after that, giving instructions for no one to stray too far into the woods and where they mustn’t hunt beyond. Which animals were out of reach and which they could hunt. When they were done, he split them into twenty groups, with four members per group. He put Luke and me together with a couple called Hirshey and Pam. They were giggly and quite excited to work with us.
“Hold on,” I said to Pam as she started talking about how we needed to get into the woods fast and get on the hunt before the others got all the good game, and the rest ran away. “I need to have a quick word with Merine.”
“Okay, go on,” she said. Pam was almost as tall as Luke and a couple of inches taller than her husband, who was a quiet man with a quick smile that looked very familiar and stern eyes.
“Wait,” I said. “Is Yola your son?” I asked, as I could see the same smile on the man.
They both beamed up. “Yes, he is!”
