The Lost Son | Ferry's Tale # 2

Missing pieces

Halloween was coming. The people in Goodharts were intensely preparing for another holiday which always brought goodwill and joy among children and grown-ups alike. Distractions from what was actually happening, Mrs. Cobbs had written in her journal.

Each year, Ferry accompanied his friends in calling at houses for trick-or-treating, and then they all retired to Lavender's where the holiday continued until midnight. The time of the shadows, as Lavender liked to call it. They were all indulging into the treats Lavender had prepared; they told funny stories about the world of humans or fae people, and they laughed. They laughed a lot, and the surrounding hills were filled with laughter. Now, their laughter had wandered among the hills, scattering far, far away, then vanished altogether.

This year, everything was different. Matilda and Shadow had some training to do, so she couldn't come. Rosemary and Lavender were cleaning the house for the fall with the help of Ferry's mother. So did Parsley with the garden. And Ferry could swear he saw his mother crying in front of the fireplace, one evening, with Lavender comforting her. She had pretended that she was just tired, then had retired to her room. Ferry had learned later it was because of Peter, of course. There was this news in town that Mrs. Jones sometimes visited him and even stayed overnight.

As for Thyme... Something was missing between them; Ferry couldn't put a finger on it. His guardian always seemed worried, glum, confused. There were hard times in Akna, he said.The training didn't work well, either. Ferry couldn't or wouldn't reveal his fairy nature. And that night, things took an even worse turn.

Ferry was training in the back of Lavender's cottage when Thyme appeared beside him out of nowhere. He threw a small sack into Ferry's hands, without saying a word. Ferry put the wooden spear aside and opened the sack. Inside, there were his gloves from Lavender.

"You should be more careful," said Thyme without even looking at him.

Ferry put on the gloves with tense moves. "Are you spying on me now?"

Thyme laughed bitterly, "I don't have to. As soon as I saw you with her, I knew something was going to happen. Something not good."

Ferry felt his fingertips tickling. "What are we doing today?" he asked, hoping to change the subject.

"Today, we're going totry to move things from the distance without touching them."And Thyme took out of his long coat, with many pockets, a small long-necked glass bottle which he placed on a log in front of them. A substance in different shades of purple slowly moved in spirals and circles like in a slow waltz.

"What is this?" Ferry asked, unable to take his eyes off the bottle.

Thyme slowly pushed him in front of it.

"It's a sleeping fluid for fairies. Sometimes, even fairies need to sleep. And when they can't, they use that. It is enough to look at this bottle for a few seconds and feel sleepy. But that's not why we're here now. Now, you must try to lift it into the air only with the power of your mind."

Ferry thought he didn't hear well, "How should I do that?" he asked.