The Lost Son | Ferry's Tale # 2

Changes (part one)

Silence fell and everyone turned their eyes away from him. Ferry felt a pit in his stomach. It was the guilt he wasn't strong enough to help his friends and the people who depended on him.

"I'll try harder," he said, trying to look confident". "If I have to go to Akna sooner, I'll do it." 

"You have to believe that first," said Thyme, looking at him dead in the eye. "And you don't believe that."

*

The next day, Ferry suggested letting Andrew sleep in his room. He wanted to move to the attic, anyway. He had agreed with his Guardians that that was the way to keep a distance from the mysterious newcomer and keep him under observation at the same time.

"You don't have to do that, Ferry," his mother said, "You could share the room."

"It's all right, Mom, I don't mind it," said Ferry trying to look he meant what he said. "Besides, Andrew never had a room of his own."

"If he wants to do it why won't you let him?" his father interfered. "It's time for Andrew to feel he has a family," he added, tapping the boy on his back. "See you tonight, son," he added before walking out the door.

All day long, Ferry kept himself busy moving his things to the attic. He didn't have much to move, anyway. He made his bed on an old sofa while his mother hanged a nice curtain at the small window that led to the backyard; he now had a better view of the walnut tree and the forest. On the beamer of the room, Ferry helped his mother attach white old sheets that made the room look like a sailboat. When they finished, Ferry held his mother's hand, smiling at her. She smiled back at him, although Ferry could feel the sorrow in her heart.

Then, he watched Andrew from the shadow. After the boy unpacked the few things he had — clothes, a comb, a handkerchief, and a sandwich box — he came downstairs and asked Eileen if he could be of any help. After she politely said no, the boy went to the garden and walked it along and across, stopping a few times in front of the jasmine bush and the walnut tree. He was wearing clothes he borrowed from Ferry which fitted him perfectly. A few times, he looked to the attic window as if he knew Ferry was watching from behind the curtains. Then, he sat on the stairs of the back door and watched the backyard with the fluttering sheets for hours. In the evening, the entire town of Goodharts has found out that the Donovans' lost son was back. Peter took care of that. When Ferry arrived at Matilda's, the girl bombarded him with questions as soon as she saw him.

"Who's that boy? Is he your parents' lost child? What's going to happen to you? Will you be taken to the orphanage? You know that's what the law says... You can't leave! We need you here."

Ferry didn't answer. He watched his best friend walking across her backyard, waving her hands. For whatever reason, talking to her brought even more uneasiness to his heart; which made him think that maybe it wasn't such a good idea to visit her that day. Matilda was still Matilda: the short bangs, the ruffled hair always behind her ears, the baggy blouse over the scruffy skirt that she shortened herself so she could run faster. Her knees were almost always scratched and her legs full of bruises. For a while now, Matilda was training Sage, the wolf-man, in the backyard, to turn him into a fearless warrior. And although Sage would've preferred to bake a pie, his warrior abilities were getting better by the day. That, obviously, was making Matilda proud.