Chương 87: Book 3; Chapter 86; Horse that doesn't listen

"Good thing that you have a horse. Otherwise, it would be a very long walk." Blake said.

"How far away is the crossing?" Rainee asked.

"I don't know how far away. I have never been to this side. But it must be some distance, as people would say it is too far to walk."

"OK," Rainee said, "then we had better start walking if it is that far."

"What do you mean, walking?" Blake was confused again.

"Don't you mean riding?"

"No, I mean walking," Rainee corrected him.

"You probably forgot by now, but Aspen doesn't like carrying other people, and it would be very strange for me to ride while you are walking, so we both will walk." Blake felt speechless after hearing that.

"You have so many restrictions around yourself," he finally said.

"Me?" Rainee could not understand.

"How is it me who has restrictions?"

"Well, your friend bird doesn't come to you when it doesn't want to, your horse doesn't carry more than one person even if you want…"

"But how does it make me restricted?" Rainee could not understand this kind of logic.

"You don't know any bird that would come to your aid, and you don't have any horse that would carry you around. And you think I am restricted?"

"But if you had a horse that could carry two people or a bird that would come to you all the time, then you would be freer to do what you want to do."

"How is it a restriction? It doesn't make any sense. If I had wings and could fly by myself, I would be even more free, but it doesn't restrict me in any way now that I cannot do it."

"I would make sure that the bird and horse that I have would listen to me and do what I want," Blake said firmly.

"Then you would be very picky and could choose only from very few birds and horses," Rainee laughed.

"Why?" Blake couldn't understand.

"Well, it is obvious, isn't it? If you would like to have a bird as a friend only if it listened to you all the time, then you would refuse all the birds that would listen to you sometimes, or even most of the time. If there were one hundred birds that would want to be your friends, but only two that were willing to listen to you all the time, then you could have only two friends out of one hundred."

"But that's good, isn't it?" Blake said happily.

"It is much better to have two friends who listen to you than one hundred who don't."

"Well, I don't know," Rainee said.

"I don't think so. At least, not for me. If I had only friends who listened to me, then I would have to think about everything, and if something happened, I would have to tell them what to do all the time. What if I did not know what to do? And anyway, why would friends even have to listen to what I say? That sounds like an army, not a friendship. I think friends should be allowed to do what they want to do, not what I say.

If they are my friends and I need help, then they would come and help me because they want to help me, not because I tell them. Why would my bird come and help us now, when we don't even need any help? Why should Aspen feel unhappy while carrying you on her back when you can walk yourself? I truly don't understand this way of thinking."

"But we will have to walk a very long way round now, and it will take a few days until I can go back home." If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.

"So what? Do you have to be somewhere else? Do you have to do something?"

"Not really, but my mum will be worried," Blake replied.

"Yes, that is not good," Rainee agreed, "but there is never a way to make someone unhappy just to make another happy. If I saw a way to stop your mum from worrying without making Aspen unhappy, I would. But I cannot see such a way. And even if I forced Aspen, she cannot fly. It would still take a day or two for you to go home, and your mum would be worried anyway. So there would be two unhappy instead of one. No, actually, three.

Because I would be very unhappy too, from knowing that I had done something to upset Aspen, who loves me very much." Blake didn't argue anymore because he too didn't want to upset Aspen, and he definitely didn't want to upset Rainee.

"Anyway, I thought that you wanted to travel," Rainee said, remembering their first encounter.

"Have you done so much travelling that you don't want it anymore?"

"No," Blake shook his head, "no, I haven't done any."

"Why?" Rainee was surprised.

"Because my mum wanted me to stay with her, and I didn't want to upset her. Isn't it just the same as you not wanting to upset Aspen?"

"No, not really," Rainee disagreed.

"Aspen not carrying others doesn't upset me, it upsets other people. But she is not other people's horse, she is my horse, so other people getting upset over it makes no sense. So when Aspen doesn't want to carry you around, it doesn't upset either me or her. We both are friends, and neither of us gets upset, and that's how it should be. If you want to ride a horse, you should either get your own horse, or find some horse that would be happy to carry you. It is never good to force.

If I forced Aspen to carry you, then me and Aspen would be upset. Why should I ever do that? But when you wanted to travel and your mum didn't let you, you did get very upset. So for your mum to be happy, you had to become unhappy. For your mum to get what she wanted, you had to refuse what you wanted. And your mum didn't even feel upset for upsetting you. I don't understand this love. I think Angus is right. I think it is not that much love when, for the sake of one to be happy, another has to be unhappy.

I love Aspen, and I would never ask her to do something that makes her unhappy just because it would make me feel a bit better. If one day Aspen doesn't want to carry me either, then I will gladly walk next to her. Why should I ever force my friend? Or expect her to do something for me. I am glad when she does, and when she does, it makes her happy too. No, it is not the same. I think it is completely the opposite."

It was obvious that Blake didn't understand all that was said, but he didn't say anything anymore on that subject.

"So we will have to walk?" he asked.

"Yes," Rainee confirmed.

"Where will we sleep?"

"I don't know yet."

"What will we eat?"

"I don't know yet."

"Aren't you worried about it?"

"No, I am not worried" Rainee said "Are you?"

"Yes," Blake confirmed.

"I am very worried. How can we prepare if we know nothing?"

"Last time we met, you didn't have these worries about where to sleep and what to eat. You were ready to travel with us without preparing in advance. What happened to you?" Blake was quiet for a long time before answering.

"I don't know what happened," he said honestly.

"Probably I am not that brave anymore."

"You were not that brave last time either," Rainee disagreed.

"That cannot be the case. It has been a long time since we saw each other. What have you been doing? Why didn't you grow?"

"You didn't grow too much either," Blake pointed out.

"Still, I did," Rainee said.

"To me, now, you look even smaller than last time. And your dog didn't grow up either."

"What happened to Angus and Ruffus?" Blake asked, not being able to answer any of these questions.

"Angus is growing up," Rainee said.

"Soon he will finish the Royal Academy and will be leading the King's Army."

"Wow!" Blake was truly amazed by Angus' achievements.

"He must be very smart and strong."

"Yes, he is," Rainee couldn't argue.

"He always was."

"Why are you not in the King's Academy? They wouldn't take girls?"

"Girls? What do you mean by that? Why wouldn't they take girls? Your head truly is full of the strangest ideas. I already learned everything the King's Academy could offer me, so I didn't stay."

"So you finished it?" Blake looked at her with new eyes.

"Yes and no. I didn't finish as I was supposed to finish, but there is nothing that they can teach me anymore. So they didn't know what to do with me. To make everybody's life easier, I just left. Nobody minded."

"I see." It was obvious that Blake was confused but wouldn't show it.

"So Angus is still there? He still has a lot to learn when you already finished."

"No, he doesn't have anything to learn. But they wouldn't let him go, as they don't want a future King to wander aimlessly, so they keep him in the Academy and are preparing him for the King's Army. I don't understand what there is to prepare, but nobody listens to me. Angus would have loved to come with me, but it would make an immense amount of people unhappy. He is similar to you and doesn't want to upset them, so he tries his best to do what he is asked to do."

While talking, Rainee called Aspen, took a bag from her back, stroked her a few times, and told her to leave.

"Are you going to carry your bag?" Blake couldn't understand.

"It is my bag, of course I am going to carry it," Rainee was confused by his question.

"Why can't Aspen carry it? Or she doesn't like to carry your bag either?"

"It is my bag, not hers. Why should she be carrying it?"

"But she is a horse! She is supposed to carry things!"

"She is not supposed to do anything. Why would she be supposed to carry bags? Yes, she is a horse, but that's why she doesn't need any bag, or anything from this bag. She doesn't mind carrying my bag, but as we are going to walk, why should she stay close to us just to carry a bag? I am not injured, so I can do it myself. Shall we go? Or do you need more time to rest?" The more Blake was talking to her, the more he understood that he understood very little of what Rainee was saying.

But he didn't need any rest, nor did he have any bags to carry, so he just jumped to his feet and was ready to start their journey. Both children left the meadow where they had been dropped off by that mysterious bird that would come to Rainee's aid but would not listen to her. They walked across the meadow back to the canyon and spent some time there talking about which way they should go.

Rainee didn't know this place, and Blake had lived on the other side for a while but didn't travel a lot, so he didn't know too much either. But he was sure that there was no close crossing, as people wouldn't go to this side. So they both decided to turn right, as it was down the hill and was easier to walk. That would mean that after crossing, they would have to come back on the other side up the hill, but who knows what could happen by that time.