BEYOND

17

Jane Woodruff     {29th day of first moon, 754Q}

Walking through the hall which was covered with purple flowers, jane felt both disturbed, angered and surprised.

'Why is she here? Cant she just stay where she was, coming all the way from Skinera to her school, is she here to return the prev potion? If headmistress Liera finds out that its Gienne who stole her precious potions.... Oh come on, Gienne why did you have to come here', Jane's mind was filled with all these thoughts, when one of the class teachers asked her to meet her friend who came here from Skinera.

She stepped into the entrance hall, which was one of Headmistress Liera's creations, the entire hall gave an illusion of being in a park, whether it was dark or day on the outside ,inside the entrance hall it was always day time. Anyone who was not familiar with this place will never be able get out of this vast maze that she had created, even till now most of the regular teachers get lost.

Looking at the map that she had of the school, she walked through a group of pine trees and reached the lake, were most students hanged out during their free hours, to her astonishment she saw two people on the far side of the hall sitting on a bench. From the tiny and petite form, and from the thick black hair Jane knew that it was Gienne, her childhood best friend.

'oh my god , she is actually here, is she mad, or is she here to return what she had stolen, she is out of her mind, if madam Liera finds out that Gienne stole from her potions collection, the precious prev potion , she will jinx her, the old witch hated being stolen from', thought Jane.

She walked closer towards the bench were her friend was waiting, but what surprised her was , when she stood in front of Gienne she just ignored her, neither did she stand up or greet her.

" now you are ignoring me, was it not enough to steal and leave me here, now you have to ignore me, great not only....",Jane was filled with anger and she was shouting at Gienne.

"Jane, stop, I need to talk to you", said Mrs. Higgins.

"Oh , Mrs. Higgins, can you tell me why my friend here is sitting as if she does not even recognize me, don't tell me she has lost her memory" said Jane.

"Well the thing is..., why we don't move a little bit over there to speak" said Mrs. Higgins to Jane.

"What is it Mrs. Higgins?" from Mrs. Higgins tone Jane knew something was up.

Mrs. Higgins and Jane moved towards the lake, away from Gienne, whose face showed that she was both confused and surprised at what was happening there.

"Look here Jane, your friend has lost her memories"

"Memories, you must be joking Mrs. Higgins, Gienne lost her memory"

"Yes"

"Everything?"

"Yes, all of her memories, she can't even remember her own name, it's as if she is a complete stranger, a few days before when we were on our way to Ottingel, she even asked me the name of the country that we are in"

"Has she really lost her memories, cant she even remember anything?"

"I am afraid nothing, we even consulted the doctors in the Cavendish Estates but none of them could explain the reason, it must have been the shock of losing her mother"

"But the last time she came here Gienne was fine, she even ..."

"Jane you have to help her, she only has you and me"

"How can I help her?"

"Well the doctors told that maybe if she can stay here in Ottingel, her childhood home, she may regain back her memories"

"So if she can stay here for a few days, there are chances that her memory may return"

"yes, but I won't be able to stay here with her, Lady Cavendish has asked me to return back to Skinera as soon as possible, so if you could take care of her while she is here...."

"Well sure Mrs. Higgins, I am sure mother will be happy to have her"

"Can you write me a letter now and then informing me about her condition?"

"Sure"

"Thank you dear, I am in hurry, Robert is out there in the carriage waiting for me, if only we could set out to Skinera today , it is possible to reach there within a week"

"Robert, is he here?"

"Yes, he was actually really excited to come here"

 Jane smiled, she was now feeling both happy and excited, her other half, her mate is here, she was feeling restless, and she had to meet Robert now.

She and Mrs. Higgins both together walked towards Gienne who was now standing and waiting for them to return. Jane stood close to Gienne and asked

"Don't you remember me?"

"No", replied a confused Gienne.

"Look here Gienne, if this is some sort of act that you are putting up to hide things, you know me I will catch you, so tell me the truth, have you really lost your memory?"

Gienne nodded a yes to her question

"Weird, you are completely different person from the Gienne I know"

"I will come back soon, I Have to meet Robert", said Jane looking towards Mrs. Higgins

Telling this Jane walked quickly towards the big arch door

"Well, she must really miss him", said Mrs. Higgins

"Is that Jane, My childhood friend?" asked Gienne

"Oh yes, you will be staying with her family while you are here, the woodruffs will be happy to have you, after all me , Betty and her mother were friends, I am sure Lilly will be happy too"

"Lilly?"

"Jane's mother"

"Oh, will you also not stay here in Otingel?"

"No dear, I will leave today"

"Can't you stay here at least for a day?"

"I am really sorry dear, but I can't, Mrs. Cavendish is a strict woman, I need to get back to Skinera as soon as possible, don't you worry, Jane is here for you, she will take care of everything, you have nothing to worry about"

"When will you come back?"

"Maybe next moon dear"

"Next moon?"

"Yes next moon, the time when next full moon appears, everything will be fine, I am sure the next time I am here you will be back to your old self"

"I hope so"