The Lost Son | Ferry's Tale # 2

The good hearts of Goodharts

"Do you need help?" he asked Ferry.

Ferry shook his head no. But Billy still wouldn't leave.

"I'm sorry about your mother," he said in a low voice. "She was a nice woman ... In fact, she was the kindest person I've ever met ..."

Ferry swallowed hard at the lump in his throat. He felt hot. He wanted to run. Leave everything and just run. To leave this cursed place behind.

"Sometimes, we talked," Billy continued. "Sometimes, when I was upset or sad, she always showed up. As if she felt what was in my soul, you know ... And she said a word or two to me. Or just smiled... And that made me feel better," he said softly.

Ferry continued to dig, harder than before. His mother had never told him about her conversations with Billy. He knew his mother saw only the good in people. And if she had seen at least a shred of goodness in Billy, that meant it really had to exist, buried deep inside him.

"I didn't know my mother," Billy said after a while. "I was too young when she died. I don't remember her. But you must have felt blessed with a mother like yours. That's all I wanted to tell you ..."

Ferry stopped digging. He wiped his sweaty forehead and looked at Billy. The sun shone in his golden hair and his gaze were intense, and made him feel restless, somehow. And for the first time, Ferry believed his words. And his words made him feel a bit better.

"Thank you," he said.

But then he shuddered, noticing the white figure behind Billy. How long has she been there? He motioned for Billy to turn, and he shuddered at the sight of Mrs. Pride who was watching him, motionless, with a haunted look on her face. In her white nightgown, his disheveled hair falling on her back and her bony arms hanging beside her body, she looked like a ghost detached from a nightmare. She just stared at Ferry.

"Mum, what are you doing here?" Billy asked, walking slightly toward her. "Come, I'll take you inside ..."

But she didn't move and didn't take her eyes off Ferry. "I told you to leave this town," she hissed. Her pale voice made Ferry shiver. "You can still leave. There is still time. Why don't you leave?"

Billy tried to slowly take her by the shoulders and lead her back to the mansion. But she didn't give up. "You have to get out of here!" she shouted at Ferry. "Don't you understand? This place is a trap. A trap for you. Leave! Go and take Billy with you. You are not safe here!" she shouted, then crouched on the ground, moaning.

Billy kneeled beside her, "Mum, please ... You're embarrassing yourself."

She looked at him and touched his cheek with her palm. "Billy ... I know I wasn't a good mother to you," she said, and tears began to run down her cheeks. "But you have to listen to me. You have to get out of here! And you, Ferry. You have to believe me," she said, looking up at Ferry who came closer. "He-- He ... will destroy you. Both of you."

Ferry and Billy looked at each other, not knowing what to think.

"Who is she talking about?" Ferry asked.

Billy shook his head. "I don't know ... She's been distressed lately ..."

But she clinged to Billy's shirt even more desperately. "I'm not mad, Billy. You have to believe me," she begged.

Then Ferry saw Albert Pride  running towards them, accompanied by the nurse. He raised his wife abruptly, not caring about her lamentations.

"Julia, you have to go inside," he said, squeezing her arm. The nurse grabbed her other arm and they both began to crawl her towards the mansion.But she began to struggle, "No! No! Let go of me! Let go of me!" Then she turned again to the boys who had remained motionless, "Get out of here! And burn this place! Burn it to the ground!"