Clouds

Part 2-10 The Truth

Part 10

            After warming up I offer to help Jason smoke the meat.

            “I got it,” he says.  I offer again a few minutes later, but he rejects my offer.

            “Jason,” I say, “I don’t feel like I’m doing anything useful.”

            “But you are,” he says.  “Just by being here.”  He smiles.  I want to be mad, but I can’t help smiling too.

            “Still,” I say, “I mean with helping you by doing the chores.”

            “Then you can take down the tent.”

            “Alright,” I say.  I walk over to Jason’s tent and collect everything from the inside and put it out.  I peek out to see Jason is still smoking meat. I crawl out and start to take the tent steaks from the ground, putting them in a bag as I go.  Next I take the tent down and roll it up, putting it into the bag it came with.

            “Dinner is ready!” Jason announces as soon as I am done.  I hurry over and join him in my spot.

            “Not bad,” I say, taking a bite of the deer meat.  “It would have tasted better if I caught it, though.”

            “I’m sure it would have.”  We eat in silence, staring into the fire.  As soon as we finish Jason looks at me.  “It’s time to talk.”  I nod.  I knew this was coming.

            “What first?” I ask.

            “Emedee, I told you all about my family.  You never told me why She could possibly want you that bad, bad enough to offer a ten million dollar reward for you alive.”  I bite my lip.

            Jason is right.  I never told him anything, and I know I can trust him, so why am I holding back?  I don’t have to tell him everything, but I should at least tell him where I am going.

            And so I do.

            “Jason,” I start, “have you ever heard of a place called Cloud?”

            “Yes.”  Jason looks shocked that I should bring it up.

            “That’s where I’m going.”  I look into his eyes for a response.  He looks at me.

            “I thought Cloud was only a tall tale,” he says.  “A kingdom in the clouds… you believe in it?”  I wince.  He thinks I’m just a little girl with hopeless thoughts.

            “To some extent,” I reply.  “It may not even be a kingdom in the clouds.  It may lie on this very plane, even!” 

            “You think so?”  Jason looks like he wants to believe me, but can’t.

            “Yes,” I say, “I do.  And I’ll tell you why.”   I pause and then continue.  “Rainbow Valley and Cloud used to be connected, and we know that Rainbow Valley exists, but we don’t know if Cloud really does.  Maybe Cloud and Rainbow Valley are the same place, and just two different groups of people.  But one thing is for certain: the answer lies in Rainbow Valley.”

            “That makes sense,” Jason says.  He appears to be considering it.  “But how do you plan to get there?”  I hesitate.

            “The Coastline.”

            “What?”

            “The Coastline,” I repeat.  “I discovered it.”  Now he seems to really be paying attention.  “I know how to get there, too.  There is a weak point in the Queen’s wall in Crossroads.  I can get past it with what my parents invented.  It’s a solution that can weaken a weak wall even further so that you can slip past it.  That’s why the Queen wants me so badly.  She wants the work of my parents.”