Fixing a Hole

Chapter 6

The Beatles had been traveling for a while, when the sun reached the middle of the sky and they realized it was noon. They were still in the fields, but they were nearing what looked to them like a forest.

“I wonder if there’s food in there,” Paul commented, and George gave a small shrug.

“Let’s go see!” ‘Ringo’ ran ahead, and his friends had to hurry to keep up with him.

John laughed happily and declared, “You know, I’m actually starting too really like this place. It’s so free and nice.”

“I hate to say it, but me too. I almost don’t want to go home. And we haven’t seen any evil people as Thodron thought we would,” Paul said quietly.

“Really, you don’t want to go home?” George asked his friends, and they simply gave tiny shrugs. In his head, worry began to creep into his mind. Why didn’t they want to leave? Was this place somehow making them want to stay? Was it somehow messing with their minds so that they wouldn’t want to leave? He made a promise to himself that he wouldn’t let that happen to him.

“Hey, look at this!” Ringo’s call suddenly echoed through the large forest, and George, Paul, and John hurried to his side.

“What?” Paul asked, and Ringo pointed happily to a large dead deer with an arrow sticking out of it, and Ringo was now holding a bow and arrow that none of his friends had noticed before.

“Um…” was George’s only response, and John and Paul blinked in shock.

“Food, for you three! Of course I can’t eat any of it, but I’ll find something!” Ringo smiled, and his friends stared at him.

“Ringo, where’d you get the bow and arrow?” John asked slowly.

“And how’d you learn to shoot it?” George added.

“And why?” Paul added. He couldn’t imagine Ringo shooting any animal with a bow and arrow, even if he knew how.

“Oh, well I got the arrows from Sythildin, and I found the bow hanging in a tree over there.” ‘Ringo’ pointed to a tree with a low hanging branch. “I shot it because you three need food, and I learned to a long time ago when I was little.”

“But I thought you were always in a hospital as a kid,” Paul pointed out.

‘Ringo’ looked very confused for a moment, and then his face grew angry. Moments later, the frown was replaced by a cheerful smile and he said, "Well, I still learned to hunt, after I'd gotten out and stuff. Didn't you?"

The other three Beatles shook their heads slowly, and 'Ringo' shrugged. "Oh well, I never liked it, but apparently it comes in handy. So, you going to eat it? I'm sure we can get a fire going!" 

George, Paul, and John exchanged a look, and then John spoke slowly. 

"Ringo," He said, "Are you feeling alright? I never knew you to go hunting of all things to do."

"I'm fine," 'Ringo' gave a gentle laugh, "If you don't want to eat it, then don't! I can't eat it anyway. I just figured that you'd be hungry, that's all."

They were hungry, but somehow they didn't feel quite hungry enough to eat this deer, and Paul turned away saying, "I'm fine." 

John repeated the action, and even George told Ringo that he'd prefer to wait. 

"Alright, I guess I won’t go hunting for you lads anymore. Let's go!" 'Ringo' gave a classic Ringo smile, and began into the woods, turning when he saw the others weren't following him. "Are you ok?" he asked them, and George almost said: 'We could ask the same of you.' but he remained silent.