The Gift of Chaos

11 - Heart to heart

It took me over fifteen minutes to catch up with him. He was a lot faster than he looked. And I dared not call out to him in case the monsters heard us and chased us. Dealing with one had been terrifying enough, I doubted I would be able to handle more. Eventually, I heard a cry and the sound of branches breaking.

"Lucas!" I called frantically, throwing caution to the winds.

I pelted towards the sound and skidded to a halt. We were near the bridge, and the terrain could be treacherous in the dark. The ground formed a slope along the river to reach the bank, and if one didn't know it, they could miss it. And Lucas had only been seven the last time he'd been there, not to mention Mum and Dad firmly forbidding him to go out alone, especially in the woods. He'd fallen down the slope and was now lying in the snow at the bottom, some ten feet lower.

"Lucas!" I gasped, sliding down towards him. "Luke, are you okay?"

"Ow!" he moaned. "My leg hurts!"

I glanced at it. It was hard to tell what angle it was in with the light, but I couldn't see any blood. At least it wasn't an open wound, or I really hoped so, anyway.

"Don't move, okay? Let me look."

Carefully, I felt his leg. But I'd barely touched it when Lucas pushed my hand away.

"Ow, stop!"

I bit my lip.

"Can you move it?"

He tried but immediately stopped with a yelp of pain. I sighed.

"Perfect... I think it might be broken." I told him.

"So now, what?" he asked. "Are those things going to come after us again?"

"I don't know," I replied honestly. "I really don't..."

I sighed again, trying to think what to do. First, we had to get out of the cold, and find something to keep his leg still, as well as something to help him walk. I could carry him for a little while, but he was not three years old any more.

"Okay... there's a fishing cabin further along the bank. We should at least be out of the wind there. Come on..."

Gingerly, I eased him off the ground, then turned around, holding my arm out for him to lean on without putting pressure on his leg.

"All right, now climb on my back," I said.

He seemed hesitant.

"You sure?"

"It'll be quicker than helping you hobble along," I assured him. "Come on."

So, he did. And as I straightened up, I remembered just how heavy he was. Not too heavy, but enough that you could tell he was a healthy ten year old. But it was the easiest way. So, trying not to jar his injured leg too much, I made my way along the river. I just hoped I wasn't going in the wrong direction because I wasn't sure how long I would be able to carry him.

Soon enough, though, thankfully, I saw it. It was hard to miss, the only dark spot in the blue-white snow. The moon gave enough light to see by, which helped me not get too close to the water, and eventually, we reached the cabin. It was small, barely big enough for two people to sit in, but it was better than nothing, and nothing was all we had right now.

I let Lucas down by the window so he could hold on to the sill while I tried to get the door open. Fortunately, it was unlocked. I helped Lucas inside and sat him down on the armchair in the corner before giving him the only other chair to set his leg on.

"Okay... first, we could use some light."

I picked up the oil lamp on the floor, then fumbled around looking for matches. Finally, I found some and with some effort, managed to light the lamp. I also found some blankets which we shared. With the improved light, I glanced at Lucas's leg again. It was purple and swollen, but I had been right. It wasn't open. That was a relief, because these were not good conditions for that kind of injury. Using wooden spoons and a lot of gauze, I managed to make a make-shift splint.

"It's probably not going to be that comfortable, but it'll have to do..." I said when I was done.

I covered it with his sock, so his foot would stay somewhat warm, since he couldn't put his shoe back on.

"Now, what?" Scott asked. "What about Mom and Dad? And Grandma?"

"They'll be okay. They're in Northampton, they're not even coming back till tomorrow. By then... hopefully, the monsters'll be gone."

"What were they?" he wanted to know.

I couldn't bring myself to tell him.

"I'm not sure," I said, which was mostly true.

Yes, they looked like the creatures from my story, but were they? I wasn't sure. And either way, I had no clue what they were doing in Hollybridge or how they'd come out of my book if they had.

After a while, Lucas said:

"Riley... I'm hungry."

"I know... me too. But there's nothing in here," I said. "We'll find something when we go back to the village. But first, you need to rest."

He nodded. It was surprising to see so little resistance from him, actually.

"... Thanks for helping me, Riley..." he said.

I frowned at him, confused.

"Of course I did, I'm your big sister, I'm here to protect you, aren't I?"

"Yeah, I know, but..." he looked down shyly. "I always had the feeling you didn't like me much any more..."

I was too stunned to answer for a moment.

"... Lucas... why would you ever think something like that? Of course I like you, I love you!"

"Then why d'you never play with me any more? Why do I always seem to bother you?"

"Bother me?" I repeated, aghast. "I always thought you were the one hating me! That I was always interrupting you! You always stayed as far as you could from me!"

"... Because I thought that's what you wanted... ever since you went to the other school for older kids, you ignored me..."

My jaw dropped. I'd never seen this coming. I'd always assumed I was the only one suffering of the ridge between us, but... it appeared I had been mistaken.

"Lucas... Of course I don't want you out of my life! I could never live like that. I just... Yes, I probably changed in the past few years, but that's normal... I'm just... growing up. You are, too. But that doesn't mean I love you any less! We're just different."

I got off the crate I was using as a chair and with some manoeuvring, managed to sit under him so he was on my lap.

"I love you, Luke. Okay? Never forget that."

"I love you too, Rie. I mean... Riley."

I paused a moment, then said:

"If I get to call you Luke, I suppose I can live with being called Rie."

We smiled at each other and huddled closer, the glow of the lantern our only comfort in the wintry chaos outside.