Chương 73: Book 3; Chapter 72; Blake is a nice name

Deep in the countryside, in an area rarely visited by travellers but often covered by mist, three travellers were making their way through the enchanted forest. It was called enchanted not because of any enchantment placed upon it, well, at least not any known to local residents, but because of its incredible beauty and strange looks. There were no mountains around, however, the forest was full of countless streams of water, creating a perfect environment for all possible greenery to grow. And it did grow.

On every stone, on every fallen twig, plants overlapping plants. Most of the trees were covered by moss and other tiny plants, and the trunks were blending perfectly into the surrounding green. With one exception. Old oaks were not affected by it at all, and their dark brown trunks and branches made an exceptional contrast, standing out against all this green background. And the branches were very strange-looking, stretching low and high, far in all directions, creating an illusion of many twisted hands.

Despite all this weirdness, the atmosphere in this forest was very pleasant. A forgotten and rarely used road stretched through this forest, and oaks, on both sides of it, created a perfect alley with thick branches criss-crossing above. Some were stretching pretty low, but still, three riders were able to pass under them. All these beautiful surrounding didn't leave the travellers speechless. Why should it?

It was three children travelling, and like any other children, they could not stay in awe and silence for too long, and their chatter and laughter could be heard from far away. Two boys and one girl, around nine or ten years old judging by their looks, were discussing yesterday's events. After reaching one large tree, they all stopped and looked up.

"Why are you hiding?" The girl asked, looking at the thick branch. One would think that she was talking to the tree, but it wasn't the case, and soon the head of a much younger child popped out from above the branch. It was a small and skinny boy lying on top of it, and his lean body couldn't even be seen from below.

"Ssh!" he said in a silent, disapproving voice.

"Don't be so loud."

"Why?" The girl asked again, "Who are you hiding from? There is no one else around."

"There is!" The boy in the tree disagreed.

"A monster lives here, and you will just draw its attention and show where I am."

"A monster?" One of the boys who just arrived got excited.

"What monster? A dragon? Ren, I thought you said that dragons don't live in the forest!"

"I said so because it's true. Dragons don't live in the wild. There has to be some different kind of monster. How does it look, this monster?"

"Scary," the little boy in the tree said, "Scary as a demon from the tales. He is huge, nearly the same size as me, with large teeth and red eyes. And he is always after me when I am on my own."

"Then why do you stay here, in the forest, by yourself, and not at home with your family?" The other boy asked in a very gentle and soothing voice.

"I don't want to go home," the boy in the tree said, "everyone is sick there, and something tries to catch me when I am at home."

"Another monster?" The girl asked, wondering how many monsters could be pursuing one little boy.

"No, not a monster," the boy denied, "I don't know what it is, I cannot see it, but when I am at home, it feels like something is trying to get a grip on me, and I want to run away. But when I do, the monster comes after me, and there is no one around to chase it off. So I am hoping that if he doesn't see me for a while, he will think that I have left the forest. But it has all been in vain now."

"How long have you been hiding?"

"Since early morning."

"Well, it is afternoon now, so it has been a few hours. It has been a long time, and there is no point in hiding anymore. If he left, he left; if he didn't, then he is not going to leave. You'd better come down."

"You might be right," the little boy said, sitting up. It could be seen that he was all stiff from lying silently for so long. He tried to shuffle himself down the branch but nearly fell.

"I will help you," one of the boys said, standing up on the back of his horse and lightly jumping to reach the branch of the tree. By doing so, he shook that branch badly, and the little boy screamed in fear, trying to keep his balance. But his helper was already sitting next to him. He took a firm hold of the little boy and swung backwards, hanging on the branch only with his knees. The little boy thought they were falling down and shouted even more until he was safely lowered into somebody's arms.

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"Ruffus," the girl said in a strict voice, "just because you are bigger now, it doesn't give you any right to go and randomly grab people, even if you want to help."

"Shh, don't be afraid," her companion said, calming the scared boy.

"My brother is very strong and very careful, he would never do you any harm." Ruffus, who was still hanging upside down from the tree with an upset face after being scolded by the girl, whom he earlier called Ren, when he heard what his brother said, blossomed with a big smile, swung himself back to the branch and then lightly ran across it to the tree trunk to slide down. He did it so easily, demonstrating that he was really strong and skilled.

The little boy even forgot about all his fear and watched him with awe.

"Angus, you shouldn't praise him for behaving like this, as he will try to show off even more," the girl said while sliding down from her horse and helping Angus to put the little boy on the ground.

"No, I won't," Ruffus disagreed, "I will be more considerate next time. I just wanted to help. I also like it when you or Angus say nice things about me."

"Sure you do," Ren smiled, then added, looking at the boy who was hiding in the tree,"you are very skinny, very small. Even if that monster is nearly the same size as you, it can't be very scary or very big." What she said was true, the boy they got out of the tree really was very small and skinny. The loose clothes hanging on him didn't hide it, but made it even more obvious.

"Have you eaten anything today?" Ren asked again. The boy shook his head, "I thought so," Ren continued.

"My name is Rainee, but you can call me Ren. This is Angus, and the one who scared you is Ruffus. What is your name?" Surprisingly, the boy was very reluctant to answer, or maybe he didn't have time, as all this commotion really stirred something in the forest. Shrubs next to them shook, and a black hairy animal walked into the opening.

"It is him!" the boy shouted, hiding behind Angus.

"Him?" Rainee couldn't understand, "A monster? But this is not a monster. This is a dog."

"Dogs don't look like this! Look at him! Look into his eyes! Look how scary he is. And he is always after me, no matter how many times I tell him to go away! No matter how many times my mum chases him away. He always waits for me whenever I want to go somewhere. Look at him! He is not a dog! He is a demon!"

"I am looking at him," Rainee said, "but no matter if I look all day, he still is just a dog. An abandoned dog. But still not a monster. All he needs is a bath and a good brushing."

"Chase him away! I don't want him!"

"I am not going to chase him away as he has done nothing bad," Rainee disagreed, looking at the dog, which was sitting and watching them with its smart eyes.

"And he is not even a dog, he is a puppy, a child just like you or me. Why would I chase the puppy away?"

"A puppy!!!" the little boy couldn't believe what he was hearing.

"What puppy? Look at him. He is humongous."

"No, he is not," Angus disagreed, "it is you who are very little. That's why the dog looks so big to you."

"Have you ever seen such a large puppy?" the boy asked, getting a little bit calmer after seeing that other children were not afraid of this creature, which was terrifying him.

"No, I haven't," Angus agreed, "but there are many things that I haven't seen yet."

"Is there a river close by?" Rainee asked.

"Then we could wash him and see how he looks when we get all the mud and twigs out of his coat. Come!" She called to the dog. But the dog just looked at her, acknowledging that he had heard her, but made no move. All his interest was only in the little boy.

"You will have to call him, as it looks like he is interested only in you," Rainee said.

"Me?" the boy was surprised, "Why would I call him? I want him to go away."

"Why would you want him to go away? Has he done something bad to you? No? Is there anything you don't like about him, apart from how he looks? No? Then how do you know that you don't like him? If you are afraid of him only because you call him by strange names, then don't do it. Don't call him a monster if it makes you scared. Let's give him a different name. Let's say Blake. Blake is a very nice name, I like it. What do you think?" The boy looked a little bit confused at what was said.

"So if you don't like the name, you can just change it?" he asked.

"Sure you can," Rainee laughed.

"It is just a name, isn't it? You can give a name, and you can change it. My name is Rainee, but Ruffus wants to call me Ren, and I don't mind. Ruffus's name is Ragnar, but he doesn't like it, so I am calling him Ruffus, and he likes it much more."

"And what is your name?" the little boy turned towards Angus.

"Angus," was the answer.

"No, I mean your real name."

"My real name is Angus. I like it, so I don't see a reason to change it. And what about you? You never said what your name is." The little boy thought for a few seconds before answering.

"My name is Blake," he said.

"No, it is not," Rainee laughed, "I just gave this name to your dog."

"My dog?" the boy was surprised.

"I don't have a dog."

"Well, maybe that's what you think. But I can see it differently, as you definitely have a dog, and it is sitting just right there and is looking at you. Why do you think he has been following you all this time?"

"He was following me because he is my dog? But nobody ever gave me a dog!"

"It doesn't matter, he probably gave himself to you. Look how he behaves. Isn't that how a dog should behave with its owner? Try calling him."

"How do I call him?"

"By name," Rainee laughed, "his name is Blake."

"No," the boy said firmly, "My name is Blake. His name is Deamon."

"Wouldn't you be afraid of him again if you call him by a scary name?"

"Deamon is not a scary name. And I always thought that demons were supposed to look like him, but I always thought that they had to be scary monsters. Deamon, come here," he said in a commanding voice, looking at the dog. The dog stood up immediately and walked towards him.

"Sit, sit!!" The boy shouted, hiding again behind Angus. Seeing the dog approaching, he wasn't so brave anymore. But to his own surprise, Deamon sat the moment he told him to. He was watching the boy again, as if waiting for what else to do. Encouraged by such a discovery, the boy got braver again.

"Lie down," he said, and the dog obeyed.

"Come," the boy said again, and the dog obeyed again.

"Stop! Stop and stay where you are!" the boy shouted again, waving his hands in front of him, but didn't hide this time.

"I… I will come to you," he said after the dog obeyed again. It was interesting to watch how he was gathering courage and slowly getting closer to that creature that he had been afraid of for so long. Slowly, step by step, he was inching towards it, prepared to run away at the slightest movement. But the dog didn't move. It was just sitting and watching the boy with questioning eyes until the distance came to nothing.

The boy walked very, very close, just a few inches away from the dog, but still didn't dare to touch him. Instead, he walked around him a few times, and seeing that nothing was happening, finally stood at the dog's side and quickly stroked its back before taking a few steps backwards. Nothing happened again. Then he walked again to the dog and this time stroked his head, then his neck, then his back, then his head again.

After doing so, he got very proud of his achievement, and while standing next to it, he turned to Rainee and happily said,"I have a dog!"

"Yes, you do," Rainee laughed in response.

"But your dog is scruffy, it needs a good wash."

"Can I stroke your dog?" Ruffus finally couldn't hold back any longer.

"OK," Blake said, "but only if you are gentle and don't scare him."

"I won't, I will be gentle," Ruffus agreed, coming closer and stretching his hand to touch him too.

"He is so soft," Ruffus said with surprise in his voice.

"Yes," Blake confirmed, "my dog has a very soft coat, but he needs a good wash. Do you want to help me wash him?"

"Yes, I do, I do," Ruffus agreed eagerly, "Have you ever washed a dog?"

"No," Blake said, "Have you?"

"No," Ruffus said too. Both of them looked back at Rainee.

"It cannot be that much different from washing your own hair or from washing a horse," she said.

"All we need is a river."