Chương 74: Book 3; Chapter 73; Unexpected guests

After overcoming his fears, Blake proved to be a very good guide, and in no time, all four children were swimming and diving in a river. Blake's dog was washed and scrubbed clean a few times and could proudly now claim the title of the cleanest dog in the world. After a good swim, the children had a picnic on the riverbank, sharing the food the three travellers were carrying in bags attached to their saddles.

Later, they groomed Deamon with a horse brush, and now the dog didn't look anything like the shabby creature that came out of the forest. Rainee was right, it was a young pup, but he was behaving very reservedly, and despite allowing everyone to treat him in any way they liked, he would obey only Blake. Eventually, after the second swim, everyone was tired but satisfied.

"Can I come with you?" Blake asked while lying on his back and looking at the sky.

"Where do you want to go?" Rainee asked while lying in a very similar way.

"I don't know. Anywhere you are going. Where are you going?"

"We? We are going nowhere," she laughed, "we are travelling and going wherever we feel like going."

"Can I travel with you?" Blake asked again.

"Not really," Ruffus said, "you are too little to travel."

"Ruffus, I told you many times already that it is not true. It was only what your mum told you. There is no size limit for travelling. How can it be? What difference does it make what size you are? It all depends on how much you can do and many other things, but size doesn't really matter."

"But I don't see why someone else could travel when they are little, if I had to grow before I could travel," Ruffus disagreed.

"You didn't have to grow to travel. You had to grow for your mum to let you travel. That is not the same, is it? Your mum is not Blake's mum. If Blake's mum says that he can travel while he is little, then he can."

"What if his mum wanted him to stay at home with her?" Angus asked while looking into the running water of the river.

"Then he would have to choose what he wants to do, to stay at home as his mother wants, or to travel as he wants," Rainee replied.

"But what if he wants to do both?" Angus wouldn't give up.

"What if he wants to stay at home to make his mum happy, and he also wants to travel and be with his friend?"

"That would mean that he is facing the same dilemma as you do." After saying that, Rainee stood up and walked to sit next to him while placing her head on his shoulder.

"My mum wouldn't mind me going," Blake said, "She is always so tired and sleepy that she probably will not even notice me being gone."

"Still, as you both live in the same place and she is taking care of you, it would be good to tell her," Rainee insisted,"otherwise she could be worrying about what happened to you, and you would not even know about it."

"Did you tell your mother about going?" Blake asked.

"I don't have parents," Rainee said, "I live with Angus and Ruffus's family. Mum wasn't happy, but mainly because she knew that Angus would want to come with me, and father thinks that it is very good to travel, as you can see and learn many things, not only the surroundings you already know. Also, it is good to understand what it is that you want, and what it is that your family want from you.

Also, what you expect from your family and the people surrounding you and how much of your true self you are prepared to give up in exchange for it. Father is very wise, and he knows so much. If he says that it is good for me to travel, I will travel a lot, as I believe what he says. And also I love travelling too. I do miss him a lot, but it is OK, because when I see him, it will make me even happier." Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

She spoke about her stepfather with such passion that every word captivated Blake's attention.

"What about your father?" Angus asked.

"I lost him…" Blake said, turning his eyes away.

"What do you mean you lost him?" Ruffus couldn't understand.

"How could you lose a father?"

"We went to the mist, and I couldn't bring him back," Blake said in a quiet voice.

"Then it is he who lost you," Rainee said firmly, "It is not the responsibility of children to look after their parents. If your father had taken you to the mist, it was his responsibility to bring you back, not the other way round. Anyone who told you differently was lying to you, don't listen to them."

"But he died because I wanted to do different things instead of keeping the mist away," Blake said, looking at Rainee with confusion.

"You have been told many things that are not true," Rainee was still relentless about it.

"People don't die in the mist; they are sent to a different world because they don't belong in this world for one reason or another. Nobody who belongs in this world has ever disappeared in the mist. Also, it is every adult's responsibility to maintain a connection to this world if they want to stay in it, and not depend on someone else to bring them back, or depend on mere chance, hoping they will never encounter the mist. In fact, it is very damaging to rely on other people for it.

So, everyone who told you that your dad died in the mist, or that you were responsible for bringing him back, either lied to you or knew so little that they are not worthy of trust."

"But how do you know?" Blake was still reluctant to believe her.

"King told me."

"King? Have you spoken to the King?" Blake asked in awe.

"Sure, I have," Rainee confirmed with a shine in her eyes, "He knows all, and he never lies. He told me all this not that long ago, after people tried to take me to the mist as a punishment, and got lost there themselves, and I had to find them and bring them back. Then he explained to me that despite what everyone said, none of it was true. First, people are not allowed to punish others.

Second, if I brought them back, it was good on my side, but only if I wanted to do so, that I should never think that it is what I am supposed to do, that it is my responsibility only because I can do it. And third, that it is adults who are responsible for children, not the other way round, that it is not my responsibility either to help any adult, nor to rescue them, nor to make them happy. Even if I can. The only valid reason to do so is if I want to.

But then to know what I want, I have to separate it from what others want and expect from me, and the best way to do so is to travel on my own, or with my own friends, not with someone that someone else has chosen for me. So here we are – travelling. I wanted Angus to come with me, and Ruffus wanted to come with us. But still, if you want to come with us too, you will have to ask or at least tell your mum. Otherwise, she would not know what happened to you, and that would not be good."

Blake was listening to her in awe, with his eyes getting larger and larger. He probably had never heard anyone speak like this before. Also, it was obvious that he was carrying blame for what had happened to his father, and to hear her opposing all his beliefs with such ease and logic made him look at her with entirely different eyes. And she even said that King himself told all of this, so it must be true then, as it was known to everyone that King spoke only the truth.

After a long discussion, filled with swimming, playing and laughing in between, it was decided to go to Blake's home to ask his mum if Blake could travel together. He didn't have a horse, but Ruffus was eager to take him on his horse. Angus wouldn't mind doing it either. Rainee didn't have a say here, as her horse, Aspen, refused to carry anyone else but her, so she wouldn't be able to take Blake for a ride.

When all was agreed and arranged, all four turned back to the forest, and using the very same road where they had met, reached the large village surrounded by fields of crops, gardens and orchards much larger than one would expect that a village of this size might need. The most interesting thing was that no people were working in these fields, but there were a few machines doing all the work. These machines captured Rainee and Angus's interest immediately.

Ruffus didn't pay them too much attention, and Blake was pretty scared of them, trying to hide behind Ruffus. Most people, both now and then, have had little understanding of how mechanical machines work. This innovation was brought by incomers from the Old World many years ago and sparked a lot of interest. However, they could not be used in the same manner as in the Old World.

Here there were restrictions placed by the First King, not to exploit and drain natural resources for one's own gain, more than one would need for themselves, to fulfil one's own ideas and express oneself in art or science, or in some cases, like feeding and clothing, to fulfil orders that had already been received from those who have a lifestyle different from farming. So the plans brought by incomers were useless, as the Old World didn't have these restrictions.

However, the idea stayed, and where an idea is born, possibilities are found. There were no restrictions placed upon how people should use their own energy, and that was what powered these machines. Somewhat similar to magic but also nothing alike. People didn't understand what this energy was, and to them, it was magic. But it was no magic to Rainee and Angus, as they were trained to see and use this energy within themselves, so they could clearly see what most of the people could not.

Several smaller machines that were doing all the work were operated by one large, immobile machine, situated not that far from the village, and many small streams of this energy were coming from the village to feed and power it. Then it was distributed to the smaller working machines, and a large stream of it stretched farther and disappeared out of sight.

"What an inefficient way to use energy…" Rainee was not happy with what she saw.

"Also very unpleasant," Angus agreed with her. Both were right. While travelling from one object to another, an immense amount of this energy was lost in transit. Also, before any work could be done, it had to power the distributing machine and then the working machine, and only then was there a result. And the atmosphere around them was really gloomy.

"I don't wonder that you don't like staying here," Angus said, "It is very draining just to watch this drainage, never mind participating in it." Not many people could be seen outside, and even those who were didn't pay much attention to whatever was going on around them, but instead were sitting in the sunshine or doing some little household tasks, but without any eagerness. There were just a few children who were also way too quiet and devoid of interest, even after new travellers arrived.

All four stopped next to a medium-sized house and dismounted their horses. No one came to greet them, so they walked inside.

"Mum is probably sleeping," Blake said while walking in. But he wasn't right as they found his mum doing some laundry.

"Here you are," she said, looking at him with a smile, "I was wondering what had happened to you." Then she fell silent upon seeing the other three coming after him. It was obvious that having visitors wasn't common in this house. But the woman recollected herself fairly quickly.

"I see you made some new friends," she said, smiling at the children who suddenly piled into her house.

"But I haven't seen you before," she added.

"Are you travelling? We don't get to see travellers very often. But come in, don't be shy, you must be tired and hungry, let's see to that." For some reason, Rainee thought that Blake's mum was the most tired and hungry out of all the people in the house, but she chose not to say anything.