Castle of Treasure

Chapter Three: Baker's House - 1

The sun was rotating more and more west as John, Alex, Winsley and Theo were on their feet once again. Who would have known it had been just yesterday when they were playing crosswords under the oak tree back at the place they once called "Home" and left it the day after. The food that they packed from the orphanage and in the pack that Nicholas had given to them had served its purpose for one meal in the noon, for they were exhausted and had not had their breakfast. How far had they walked? They themselves also did not know, but the foursome knew where their next stop was: the village down the hill.

Thus, they kept on walking along the grassy and leafy path. In this situation, quitting was not easy even if they wanted to, but the moist wind helped them feel relieved just enough to keep their patience in check. However, for John at least, they had made their commitment to never turn back on this tedious journey. "No, once I'm out, I'm not going back there," Alex remembered what he had said when Nicholas had left them at the riverbank. It was a little sad for him, with Nicholas quitting, he only had three people with him: Winsley, John, and Theo without all the orphans at the orphanage.

"What do you think Nicholas is doing right now?" Alex began.

"He's probably running around and playing jump rope with Andy and Natalie," Theo speculated.

"Or Sister Camellia might have made him sweep the floor for seven days straight," Winsley said, "Do you think he tells Sister Camellia?"

"Why?" demanded John, "He'll get himself punished."

"So he'll lie for us?" demanded Alex back to Winsley, recalling the times at the orphanage when Sister Camellia and other crews who were guidance figures taught them values and morals. He remembered clearly that lying was one of them. Every kid in the orphanage was taught to always tell the truth.

"What else can he do?" Theo said.

"He might just admit it," thought Winsley.

"Possibly," said John, "but she can't come for us." It was true. No one could ever cross over the river.

"You're right, John," said Alex. Furthermore, he knew they could have never gone back to the West Bank.

"Yeah..." Winsley said. There was a silence following her words. "I miss him," she finally added, attracting all eyes on her. Everyone was struck emotionally by this word. "I miss when we all played hide-and-seek together with him... and Jack... and Noah."

Theo had his eyes unfocused in any distance. "Yeah, I miss that time when we went to the pond and I couldn't swim, but you all taught me."

"And that one time when me and Jack ran so fast and hit Chloé and we had to restock the water for the whole day," John recalled.

"But you ran away so she chased after you two," Theo added with a slight chuckle.

"Do you remember the times when we had visitors?" asked Winsley once more.

"Yes," said Alex, "all of us were so excited and we talked about which of us they will adopt."

"Right," said Winsley and asked, "You remember when they came to adopt Darla?" tearily.

Darla was Winsley's best friend.

They both were very close to each other. They played together, ate together, and shared everything, every story together. Alex remembered that day the couple came to the orphanage and looked for a child to adopt. One of them was infertile, that was all Alex knew but not who it was. Neither Winsley nor Darla knew that one of them would have been adopted alone, without the other. He witnessed the whole event. He had seen Winsley looking at Darla being greeted by the new parents, and Winsley looking at Darla being taken from the orphanage through a window. Everyone had been glad for Darla to finally have a real home, and so was Alex and Winsley herself, but he could see clearly that they both were sisters to each other. Winsley had cried as soon as the wholesome family had gone out of sight, as she was right now. The thought of having to suddenly part a friend seemed to hit her so hard that she could not hold back her tears. Alex, John, and Theo approached Winsley and hugged her with one of their arms to comfort her.