TCI: Book 1 Part 1: (N. L .A.) The Fire Stone. Book 1 Part 2 Continuing

Part 2 Chapter 18 The Healing of The Twarq

Part Two  

Chapter Eighteen 

The Healing Of The Twarq.

For the next few days Chase was very restless. He wanted to ride off and explore. He didn't care where, anywhere would do. He wanted to visit Gree'ta, the village Kish was sure the winged aliens had come from. He also wanted to visit the old ruined city of Ishmirban to see those monstrous Terrins for himself. Were they really as vile and as deadly as he'd been told? But most of all he wanted to find the black keppet again and fly it! And then, reluctantly, he wanted or more so, needed to, talk to Talmeron Don about losing The Ring.

Strangely all these thoughts kept slipping from his mind. There were just too many other things, easier things to do so he found himself falling lazily back into the simple routines of the village.

On this particular morning, the third morning of their return, after a sudden thought of distant places, Chase opened the diary and decided if he wrote these thoughts down and anything else that came into his head, which didn't 'make sense', maybe it would stop him forgetting to do something about it.

Sitting down at the little bureau, Chase quickly took up his pen and turned to the back page. He didn't need to write anything. He couldn't remember when, but he'd already done it. There were other thoughts written here too, including, 'What did the Lovins really do when they stabbed you? How could The Mapmaker change into so many people?' And, 'Who made that web the flying Aliens threw at the winged Keppet and what was it made from?'

At the end of his list he'd also scribbled, x2. Chase understood immediately, he'd not only wrote this without knowing, he'd also read it before. He crossed it out and wrote, x3. What was going on? Why couldn't he remember already writing this down? Angrily he picked up a little klimmie light and smashed it down hard on the desk, scratching the inlay of the antique bureau badly but once again, not leaving any mark on the light shell at all.

                                                                                         ***

It was very early on the fourth morning of their return. Amy touched the circled embossing on the bathroom wall and as usual the round window swirled open but instead  of revealing a view over The Park, The Ocean and the distant Purple Topped Mountains, she was confronted by a wall of faces!

Startled, she gasped, "Chase!" and quickly rushed back into the bedroom looking pale and frightened. Chase looked up from scribbling in the diary. He'd thought of a few more things he didn't want to forget.

"What's up?"

"Everyone's out there!" she panicked, pointing back to the open bathroom window. "They're all crammed onto our balcony– on all the roofs– in The Park–everywhere– all staring this way!"

"Like cows in a meadow," grinned Chase putting his pen down. He quickly stood up and tried to button his shirt, but it was too tight, "or perhaps they wanna borrow some sugar... ah I get it! They know it's my birthday tomorrow. Party time!"

"Don't joke! Have you done something?"

"Me? No! Why does it always have to be me?"

"Oh! The Ring!" she whispered, covering her mouth. "Maybe they know you've lost it!"

Chase sighed heavily then turned away and walked slowly across the changing part of the bedroom towards the new balcony doors. Unlike the other fan shaped doors on Amy's side, these had patterned opaque panels that shifted in colour throughout the day;  becoming dark for their night and almost clear for their daylight hours. Chase could see shadows and dark shapes pressed up against them.