A Whole New Mystery To...

Chapter 9

That night we all sat around Halt as he told us the plan.

"So originally, I was only going to have Will and I go on this mission, but because of some unforeseen circumstances," Halt glared at me and I shrugged innocently. He took a deep breath and continued, "All of us will be going to the fissure." The first one to object was Will,

"But Halt! What if they get hurt, or caught? Or what if we have to be silent and they make noise?" He looked at us smiling lopsidedly, "No offense or anything, but you know what I mean!" I shook my head,

"None taken. And Gilan is just as much a friend of ours as he is yours." I countered. Will looked at me quizzically,

"You barely know him. You only met him about a week ago." I hesitated, realizing my mistake. What Will didn't know is that I had known Gilan for years. Not personally of course, but through the book, which was enough to learn all about him. At least in my eyes it was. I decided to play it defensive,

"So? He's an easy person to get along with," I gestured at him now, "both of you are. It's easy to quickly become friends with someone, especially when they did help you. Quite a lot in fact." I folded my arms over my chest. "The point is Sophie and I owe him one. We owe you and Halt too." Sophie decided to chime in too,

"That's right and you aren't leaving without us, like it or not." Then Evanlyn spoke up,

"And of course I'll be going too." Will hesitated. I could tell he didn't like the idea of Evanlyn going also. He had already accepted the fact that Sophie and I were too defiant to be left behind, and that we weren't helpless, as we did know some self-defense. But he was hesitant to let Evanlyn go too. He looked to Halt for support but Halt just shrugged giving him a you got yourself into this mess, you're getting yourself out of it look. Sensing Will's hesitation Evanlyn quickly added another point.

"Plus, if you left me here you would be abandoning me. Even if it's dangerous, at least I'll be protected by what, four people? That's better than being on my own." Will gestured helplessly and protested weakly,

"We wouldn't be abandoning you." Evanlyn leaned forward, hands on her hips.

"Oh, really? Then what would you call it, leaving me by myself at the mercy of whatever comes through here?" Will thought for a moment before shrugging in resignation,

"Abandoning you I guess." He said, smiling ruefully. She grinned back at him triumphantly.

"Exactly!" She said with satisfaction. Halt sighed in irritation,

"If you two are quite finished then I suggest we talk strategy. First we need to find out if Gil is just stuck somewhere, or if he is actually captured. It may be possible that he is fine but didn't want to blow his cover. I told him not to take risks, remember? But knowing him, he's probably gone and tried to take out twenty wargals and gotten himself caught." he finished tiredly.

Sophie couldn't contain a laugh as she said, "Yep, that sounds like Gil alright!"