Arella's Ash

Chapter Five

Mrs. Auburney had me brought up to her room for a bath. She had the cook boil lots of hot water to pour in the wooden bathtub with an abundance of foamy soap. I was left to sit there with thoughts. I cried and cried while in the warm water until I was all wrinkly. I then made my way to my room and sat on my bed. I was staring into space when King brought my bag over to me. Looking through it again, I saw that something with the book had changed. I'd bookmarked the pages on Jasper, but some of the information was crossed out and some was underlined. A few things were scribbled in, much as age corrections and a note written on the page about his whereabouts. The writing was faint and next to impossible to see, but it almost looked like an arrow at one point. I brought the paper to the light and noticed some writing next to it.

Try again, Kid <-

That gave me a small idea. Because the note was right next to the part about his last known location, maybe it was a hint. But who would give me a hint? No one was around when I passed out and I hadn't seen anyone before I stepped into town. Could it be? Maybe Jasper Winters was out there, and waiting for me to find him? Like a test? Maybe to prove that I was serious about my goal. And the arrow, could that mean that his location was farther? It had to, right?

Just as I was circling off places where the mysterious Jasper Winters could be, Ray barged into my room again. This time carrying snacks, a blanket, and a scowl on her face.

"What the fuck were you thinking? You could have died! You could have been kidnapped! I could have lost you!" Ray yelled. I could tell she was holding back tears. I saw Leo and Liana peeking out from behind the door.

"I wanted to save you and Leo and Liana." I looked at the floor.

"Don't. Please. I would die without you, dumbass." Ray hugged me. I felt her tears on the back of my shirt. I hugged her back and cried too. Leo and Liana began to cry too and came to hug us. So there we were, sitting on my floor all embracing each other while crying. It was very emotional.

"I thought I would never see you again!" Leo sniffled. I tried to apologize, but all that came out was an ugly crying sound. Liana giggled a little, hugging me more tightly. 

Once our cry - fest was over, Liana, Leo, and Ray sat on my bed with the dogs while I recalled the tale of my adventures in the forest. I told them about everything. From the wolves to the bandits to the fire and everything after that. I also showed them the book and the notes potentially from Jasper. Leo was able to map the potential location to any of the towns West of Scintilla City. That left six towns. Not the best odds, but better than all of Arella. We estimated that it would take a day or two per town, so we'd be gone for almost two weeks, maybe more. Leo managed to convince the rest of us to tell our parents where we were going.

Mrs. Auburney insisted on packing us food and sheets for the trip. Leo's parents argued with him for almost an hour before allowing him to come with us. They generously let us borrow a cart for our stuff, lanterns, two tents, and lots of blankets. Mrs. Clarke cried before hugging Ray with a nod. She gave us what little money she could spare and her best wishes. Day and Miles told us to write to them everyday. Day said that we could use his horse to pull the cart. Calista gave us as many weapons as she could get away with giving us. Liana didn't bother to say good bye to her father. He was asleep in his room, anyway. Instead, she left him a note and took any valuable items from the small homes to pawn off.

With the help of the people closest to us, we made the plan to leave the next morning at dawn. Mrs. Auburney had a special dinner made with all the best food we could imagine. All sorts of breads, probably from the bakery, and other filling foods. Meats of all kinds, soups, and even a chocolate dessert. Mrs. Auburney kept having to wipe her eyes every time I caught her looking at me. I'll admit, I was crying too. I would feel like even more of a failure if we came back with nothing after all the help we'd gotten.