by S. K. Ng
“Do not worry! She will be all right,” comforted Aroma.
“I hope so. It was all my fault! My fault! I made her go to that second waterfall. She did not want to. I made her go!” cried Serene.
“Do not be ridiculous! It is not your fault that Clover was bitten. She could have got bitten anywhere, even here in the quarters! Mosquitoes are dangerous creatures! They spread dangerous diseases and they spread them effectively because they are everywhere, and there are so many of them. It is not your fault!” explained Aroma.
Serene did not answer. She just sat looking at her cousin with teary eyes.
It took two weeks for Clover’s fever to break. By that time, the girls’ school holidays were over and they were already one week overdue for classes. But Clover was still too weak to travel, so they had to stay for another five days before travelling back to Fallsene City. When they finally got back home, they got such a long and loud lecture from their parents that their ears were ringing all throughout that night.
The following morning did not get any better for the Cousins Genox. They had to explain to their teachers the reason why they were 18 days late in returning to their studies. Then the two girls received the worst lecture of their lives. They were chastised for failing to wear proper clothing, not using insect repellents, travelling without adult supervision, not carrying a medicine kit with them and other such fault finding conclusions. Javelin Farhan just laughed at them. He was there in the headmaster’s office when they were chastised by all of their teachers. Javelin was there for a reason. The headmaster had decided beforehand to punish them, and Javelin was selected to carry out the punishment.
Clover and Serene spent the next two days cleaning the entire school, including the toilets. Javelin supervised them. And while the girls were scrubbing away at a toilet floor, Javelin gave them a long lecture of his own. His lecture contained many colourful words and terms such as ‘irresponsible’, ‘ignorant’, ‘jelly-brains’, ‘hollow-skulls’ and the best of all, the term ‘golden hairs, rusted brains’.
“All right! Enough already! We both got the message, Javelin!” said Serene.
“Yes, Javelin! You nag like an old lady!” added Clover.
Javelin laughed out loud. He was clearly enjoying himself.
“Sorry, girls. I am just doing my duty! I have got to make sure that you two do not make silly mistakes like this again. We are going to be officers in the Fallsian Military one day, especially you Genoxes. And for people like us to make silly mistakes is unacceptable as it would get a lot of our subordinates killed in battle. So, jelly brains, what I am saying is that you two had been taught and educated, and yet you disregarded the teachings and knowledge that were given to you! Were it on a battlefield where you two had made this type of mistake, a lot of Fallsian soldiers would have ended up dead! Not to mention the hundreds or thousands of innocent civilians who would have been killed or enslaved! So, you two golden-haired girls, scrape the rusts off your brains as how you scrape the dirt off this floor!” he lectured.
“Stop rubbing it in, Javelin!” said Clover.
“Why would I stop? I am having so much fun!” retorted Javelin.
Serene screamed in frustration.
“You are horrible!” she said.
“Thank you! But I am not as horrible as that little mosquito, am I? That tiny, itsy bitsy mosquito!?” Javelin pointed out.
“Argh!” yelled the Cousins Genox as they went crazy and tried to splash the pail of soapy water onto Javelin’s face, but to no avail.
Javelin had managed to run out of the toilet in time and from a safe distance, told the two ‘jelly-brains’ to hurry up with their chores. Then he started laughing at them, which infuriated them to the point they started chasing him around the school with their scrubs and the pail of soapy water.
When the girls finally got back home after the last day of punishment and told their parents about what had happened, Hammer just laughed and said that the teachers were over-protective. But he did agree with them when they said that the girls should have been more aware of their surroundings. And Javelin were right. The girls were negligent and negligence, especially on the battlefield, would get many people killed.
After nine years of formal education, the girls graduated from Fallsene Brightshield Educational with flying colours. They and their classmates felt proud of their academic achievements and more importantly, they felt a sense of relief; for their studying days were over. No more studying and no more examinations! Freedom from the many hours of burning the midnight oil! Or so they thought! In truth, more of these things were headed their way, but their teachers did not want to burst their students’ happy bubble.
The graduating students skipped along the school’s hallways cheerfully. Every classroom session was a party. They ate, drank and chatted. They shared jokes with their teachers and saw them as friends instead of mentors. Their teachers, in turn, congratulated them and gave them a lot of advice to see them through.
Each student had a pair of portraits painted of themselves in their graduation cap and robes, one for the school’s keeping and the other for the student’s. There was also a group portrait, where the students and teachers posed together as a class. Then they had a graduation ceremony cum dinner. There were stage performances, songs, dances, a great many speeches and many a tearful goodbyes between the students and their teachers. But they bade their classmates a happy holiday, for they had expected to be seeing each other at Fallsian Guards Academy in a month’s time. Or so that was what everybody thought…
On the morning after the graduation ceremony, Serene sat down on Clover’s bed with her mouth gaping wide. In her right hand was a letter that she had found. She sat frozen like a statue after reading it. Clover had run away!
Serene made her way down to the dining room, where the rest of the Genoxes were having their breakfast. In a trance-like state, she went straight up to her uncle, Hammer, and placed Clover’s letter into his hand. The coffee mug which he held in his left hand landed heavily on the table as he read the contents of the letter. He passed the letter to his wife. She immediately broke down in tears after reading it. Chrys took the letter from her mother’s hand and read the contents out loud. The rest of the Genoxes’ jaws dropped in disbelief.
Then there were a myriad of reactions. Hammer was furious. Fragrance was sobbing hard. Pike and Chrys had worried expressions on their faces. Castle and Velvet had sympathetic looks. Halberd and Axe turned to look at each other and grinned. Serene was the first to notice this.
“Why are you two grinning,” she asked her younger brothers, who had a great reputation of being mischievous.
“She did it!” said Halberd.
“Yes! She did it!” said Axe.
“She did what!? Are you saying you knew Clover was going to run away?” Serene asked in a stern voice.
“Yes, we did. We packed her backpack for her,” said Halberd.
“What!?” said all the other Genoxes together.
The faces of Halberd and Axe went pale. They were beginning to realise that they could be in trouble.
“We helped her. She said she was going off for an adventure. She would not tell us where she was going or what sort of adventure it would be. She sounded so mysterious. Anyway, she said she needed our help, because she had to attend the graduation dinner at school and she did not have time to gather supplies. So we agreed to help, and spent the whole of yesterday afternoon buying supplies for her,” explained Axe.
“Yes, we did. We are excited for her. Maybe she went on a secret mission or something of that sort. We asked if we could tag along, but she said no!” added Halberd.
“Secret mission!? What are you boys rattling about? She is just an 18 year old girl who is not even enlisted with the military! What were you two thinking!?” reprimanded Castle, partly ashamed that his two sons were so idiotic.
“Sorry father, we just wanted to help Clover! We did not realise that it would be such a big issue,” a
pologised Halberd.
“Sorry, Hammer, my two sons are idiots!” said Castle to Hammer.
“Do not blame them. They are just boys. They think life is all fun and adventure. And my daughter can be quite convincing when she wants to be. It is not really their fault,” said Hammer.
There was a long pause as everyone tried to take stock of what had happened. No one had a clue as to what they should do next. Why was Clover gone? Where did she go? Would she be in danger? Did she hate them? Was that why she ran away? Why? Why? Why? It was Serene who was the first to compose herself and gain a line of thought.
“What did she ask you to get for her?” she asked.
“Food, medicine, some camping equipment, a map, a dagger and a sword. She gave us a stack of gold coins and we went out and got the items for her,” answered Halberd.
“A sword!?” Castle commented in surprise.
“Yes, father. Our friend Shimmer’s father is a sword-smith. He gave us a good deal for a sword. We examined it ourselves. It was almost as good as the Fallsian Military issue. It was ivory white, and it looked very grand, and it had a very sturdy yet slightly flexible blade. There were no loose fittings, or any signs of rust, for that matter. It was thick and heavy, and it felt good in our hands,” explained Halberd.
“You boys will be the death of me,” said Castle in resignation.
Hammer leaned back on his chair and scratched his head. Castle, however, was looking down at the floor, part in shame and part in anger over his two sons’ lack of better judgement.
“Where would she have gotten the coins for it?” asked Hammer.
“She must have saved the coins she earned from her tutoring services at school. She was a popular tutor for the juniors and I know she made a small fortune throughout the years,” concluded Serene.
“When was she a tutor?” asked Hammer in disbelief.
“She told you, darling. Four years ago, remember? Her teachers asked her to tutor the weaker students at school and she charged one silver coin a month for every student she helped,” said Fragrance.
“She must have planned this many years ago! But why?” realised Hammer.
That was a question that no one could answer, not even Serene. Yet that was the most important question they needed to answer in order to find Clover.
The sun was directly overhead when Clover finally stopped by the side of the road. She dismounted and led her horse to a nearby stream to quench its thirst. Then she tethered it to a large, shady tree so that it could graze at the grasses. She sat down under another shady tree, and cooked her breakfast cum lunch. Her hands were shivering. Her heart was pounding. She had planned this for many years. And throughout the years, she was certain in her decision and confident with her plan. But now, she began to have doubts that she never had before. For the first time since the incident at the back alley of Timberstock, she was truly alone again. She knew where she wanted to go, but she had no idea of what she would find there or how things would turn out. Was she making a mistake? Should she just abandon her plan and go home? The Fallsian Guards Academy would not be too bad, would it? She was taking a leap of faith, this running away business; and she would hate it if she ended up falling flat on her face.
Clover ate her meal heartily, but she hardly enjoyed it. Then she sat against the trunk of the tree and closed her eyes. She was tired. She was afraid. She was doubtful. She felt guilty. Her eye-lids felt heavy. She slowly dozed off. And into the realm of dreams she ventured, away from her tiredness, fear, doubts and guilt.
She awoke with a start when she slumped sideways to the ground. Her head was spinning slightly and her vision was blurry. Then she slammed her fist onto the ground in anger when she realised what time it was. The sun had almost gone down and it was now dusk. Not only had she wasted precious time sleeping, but she had slept in an unguarded and unsafe environment. Thieves and highwaymen could easily have crept up on her and do all sorts of nasty things to her, including slitting her throat, or worse still, kidnapping her and selling her to the Serpentians. Maybe they would sell her to Smugglin’ Sam, whoever he was and if he was still alive.
She packed up fast, mounted up and galloped her horse down the road. But a few moments later she realised that that was folly as she could end up injuring her horse or even herself if she continued at this speed in the dark. So she slowed her horse to a trot and hoped that her family would not suspect where she was and catch up with her.
It would be dawn before Clover reached the first village on the road. The signpost beside the road said ‘Widecreek’. She trotted her horse right up to the village square, dismounted, tethered her horse, fed and watered it and bought some provisions from the locals. But she did not sleep or rest. She got back up on her horse and continued on at a gallop, hoping to make Southgust Town by nightfall. It was close to midnight when she finally got there. She was so tired that she just ate a piece of bun at the restaurant in the local inn, drank a cup of hot chocolate and went straight up to bed. And before the sun had even risen past the horizon, she was already on the road again, at full gallop.
Mansion Genox was in chaos. In the living room itself there were at least five sketchers at work, sketching mini portraits of Clover in the form of posters, based on her graduation portrait. Castle Genox had roped in the help of his subordinates, and an entire river of volunteers in casual clothing sat out on the mansion’s porch getting a briefing on where and how to conduct the search for his niece. Serene was conducting a briefing of her own in the kitchen, after recruiting ten of her classmates to help in the search. Meanwhile, Fragrance was lying in her room after fainting from the stress. Chrys was there taking care of her mother, and in her heart she cursed her little sister for being so irresponsible. Axe and Halberd were in the stables shovelling horse dung, and would be doing so every day for the next three months. They were no longer grinning! Pike had accompanied Hammer to the nearby city garrison, where a formal report had to be made. They brought with them a stack of posters so that the soldiers could identify Clover when they conducted patrols, roadblocks and such.
The search parties searched everywhere in Fallsene City, from the most likely of places to the unthinkable. Still, Clover could not be found. So they only thing left for them to do was to stick the posters of her at public places and hope that someone somewhere had seen her.
The sun shone directly overhead, and Clover had just entered the fringes of Windswept Forest. Windswept Forest was dangerous at the best of times, and downright treacherous at the worst, she knew. It was a haven for thieves and highwaymen. Demons had been known to hunt in this forest as well. And then there was a rumour that a band of assassins kept their lair in here somewhere. Almost a quarter of the people who travelled through Windswept Forest never made it out alive. She slowed her horse down to a fast trot. She wanted to conserve energy for her horse, for if and when she was attacked, she needed her horse fresh and energetic to gallop the both of them out of harm’s way.
Clover had skipped lunch, stopping only for a short while so that her horse could rest, drink and graze a little, before continuing on. But now it was near dusk and she needed to set up camp. She chose a ridge that was bordered by the river on one of its sides. After watering and tethering her horse so that it could graze the grass, she set up a series of wires around the landward perimeter of her camp. Each of these wires was connected to small cans with pebbles in them, so that the cans would rattle if the wires were disturbed. Only then did she get a small campfire going to cook her meal. And while her meal was cooking, she set up her small tent. By the time her tent was up, her food was ready. And as she ate, she set two mess tins of water to boil, for the next day’s requirements. Once she had finished eating, the water had boiled. She set aside the mess tins to cool and went to sleep hugging her sword. She was so tired that she was in dreaming within moments and she was sure that if indeed the cans had rattled, she would not even have heard them.
Meanwhile, back at Mansion Genox, Serene was asleep
too. But she fell asleep on the couch. She was too tired to climb the stairs to her room. She was not alone. Pike laid on the floor beside her, and so did her uncle and her father and a bunch of her friends. The sketchers were sprawled in the living room as well, although they were given pillows, mattresses and such. Between them, they had sketched approximately 300 posters thus far but their work was far from over. They would need to produce 1500 posters so that the Genoxes could cover every city, town and village in Free Falls.
Fragrance had developed a fever from the stress and Chrys had her hands full nursing her. Halberd and Axe had the pleasure of sleeping on their dung-free and cleanly-washed stable floor, for they dared not step into the mansion proper and risk the wrath of both their father and their uncle.
Came midnight, Retired Orgavian Boulder Genox arrived back at Mansion Genox. He had been away for a two weeks’ spiritual retreat at a temple of the Receivers of Light. He was both surprised and confused to find his two sons and a host of many others lying sprawled in deep sleep on the living room floor. So tired were they that no one noticed his return. He decided not to wake anyone up. He proceeded upstairs to his room. Up on the second floor hallway he ran into his granddaughter Chrys, who filled him in on what had happened. He just shook his head when Chrys was done talking, bid her goodnight and went to sleep.