The Lost Heir: Journey to Elholavina

CHAPTER FOUR

                                     FOUR
                     Turn the Dial Three Times

"Jamie."

Jamie stirred gently in his sleep, his eyes drifting open and closing again.

"Jamie."

He groaned and pushed away the hand that was gently shaking his shoulder.

"Jamie!"

His body gave a violent jolt, eyes springing open. Uncle Dan's huge hands were clasped around his shoulders as he shook him to life. He hovered over him, his face was mere inches away, a sense of urgency flooding his features.

"What?" asked Jamie, irritated. "Unless you're waking me up to give me my necklace then I don't want to hear it."

He flopped back onto his pillow and attempted to pull the sheets over his head before they were rudely ripped from right under him.

"Get up," ordered Uncle Dan, "we're taking a little trip."

                                          ***

As it turns out, stumbling through the forest at three o'clock in the morning with an injured and half-asleep boy was not as easy as Uncle Dan had originally thought. Just twenty-five minutes into their journey he grew bored and impatient and grabbed Jamie by the legs and swung him right over his shoulder. He groaned and grunted with each step and nearly hurtled Jamie to the ground on three separate occasions after tripping over roots and loose branches scattered around his feet.

"Are we nearly there yet, Jamie?" He demanded every five to ten minutes.

"Yeah, nearly." Jamie would lie, despite the fact he really hadn't a clue. He couldn't remember how to find the place he'd stumbled upon a week ago by total accident and if he had to drag Uncle Dan for another forty to fifty minutes to prove it, he would. A further ten minutes into the journey Uncle Dan's back couldn't take the weight anymore. He'd already carried Jamie for the better part of an hour and a half and if he walked one step more he was afraid his back would give out and they'd both be injured and lost.

He collapsed to his knees and allowed Jamie to roll off his back. Jamie then spent the next five minutes flat on his back as the full white moon stared back at him, a few stars speckled all around it. Jamie sucked in a long breath, enjoying nature's smell, and began counting all the stars he could see.

"Fifteen," he said quietly into the night air.

Uncle Dan paused from shaking out whatever bug had just flown into his hair and frowned.

"Fifteen what?"

"Fifteen stars. Fifteen souls. Do you think they're lonely up there?"

Uncle Dan followed Jamie's eyes and looked up in the sky, his eyes searching across the moon. "You mean the stars?"

"Mum always used to say they were lost souls. People who had passed away and wanted to stay on earth a little longer to watch over their loved ones."

He paused.

"I thought my dad was up there too."

Uncle Dan went back to shaking out his hair, refusing to engage in the subject.

Silence fell before them for what felt like hours before finally, Uncle Dan took a tentative step forward, a finger pressed to his lips, unsure of what to say.

"Jamie..."

Just as Uncle Dan was about to speak, a whispered voice breezed against Jamie's ear as a gust of wind blew across his face.