The Rugged Edge

Chapter 38: The Other Side of the Rugged Edge

Victory is sweet as a rosebud, red.

At long last we can mend the wrong!

A world without peace, lost of rest or bed,

No longer will it be prolonged.

. . . . .

After all of the chaos, most of those that were part of the rebellion returned to the camp.

I went that way with Geraint, Quinnie, and Bessy, and we all smiled and laughed as we walked the distance.

It was over, and we'd won. We'd done it.

The feeling was pure elation; joy without expression. As I walked, all I could do was think about Vereniva: green as the newest spring leaf, bright as the most radiant rainbow. Fireflies making their own light, and crickets making their own song. It was like a song in itself. Music! Oh, imagine Vereniva with music! Or Rokenfort. Imagine Rokenfort with music! Imagine all of Rokenmeine with music again!

I could finally bring it all about. I could finally fix everything. How I would do it, I didn't know. All I knew was that I could now, and I would.

As we shared with Bessy what had happened to each of us that night, the memories of Rufus's horrible plans didn't affect us and the result of Collum's anger couldn't taint us.

We reached the camp to find it filled to the brim with the same ecstasy. It was over, and we'd won. Rokenmeine could be great again!

We left Bessy to laugh with Elbert and continued on to Rufus's tent. We weren't sure why we went there, but I suppose we all just wanted to look around and see what he had left.

The map lay on the table as usual, full of markers. A mat lay in the corner, where Rufus slept, and at its head was a little chest.

Geraint went over to it and opened it gingerly. Quinnie and I looked over his shoulder to see that it was full of clothes and books, piled neatly. We found nothing more until Geraint took out a little scroll.

"Look at this!" he said.

It had been kept many years and was yellowing on the edges. It was tied with a little brown string.

Geraint untied it carefully and we looked it over.

It was a map of the Black Forest. The camp was labeled clearly, and a little path had been marked that went off towards the castle. But what caught our attention was a little red X a little distance from the camp.

"What could that be?" asked Quinnie, pointing to it.

"It looks like Rufus hid or buried something in the woods," said Geraint thoughtfully. "And made a map so that he wouldn't forget where it was."

"We should go look for it!" said Quinnie. "We can go on a treasure hunt!"

"Alright," said Geraint, and I nodded.

We left the tent and followed the map out into the trees, past Quinnie's chrysanthemum plot. The forest grew darker and darker as we went far from the campfire.

Presently, Geraint stopped and said, "I think this is where it's supposed to be. There's the huge tree marked on the map."

There was nothing in plain sight, so we all got onto our hands and knees and started digging.

"Hey!" Quinnie said presently, and pulled a little box out of the earth. She opened it and pulled out an ancient piece of parchment that had been rolled up carefully. Then she handed it to Geraint.