The boy who loved to write

Chapter two

It felt like days had passed inside the outhouse. A few minutes before, or perhaps a few hours, he had heard the banter of the villagers. They had probably come to pick his dad up and now felt like the most reprehensible boy in the world. How could he live his life knowing that his father hadn't even said goodbye to him? Leo now figured that this would go great in a story, but it didn't seem to be the right time to write one. He was about too sulk when he heard footsteps on the path in front of him.

"Leo, Leo!" the door slid open and his mum came in, panting like mad, "Leo, you're gonna be late to see your Dad."

"But he's already gone, I heard the group leave." He knelt his head in shame.

"Silly boy, even your dad wouldn't be mean enough to do that. He's waiting for you down at the road and what you heard was the first group leaving."

She started to jog down the snowy path, only looking back to make sure Leo was following. A smile lit up on Leo's face, at least he was going to be able to say goodbye to his father.

***

The men at standing on the road all had something strange about them. The one who was shouting right now was the obvious leader. The man had a gun slung over his shoulder and a piece of tobacco in his mouth. Tobacco in these parts was very hard to come by. His arms were coated in muscles and his entire body seemed to be showing off to the other puny men in his group.

The 'second in command' was the complete opposite. He had that face which radiated love and kindness.

Leo looked around the group and noticed with unease that several men were staring at him. He figured that the word about his rage outbreak had passed around. There were several women there as well, each of them scolding the men for their greed of gold. This was how Leo felt deep inside. His sister walked up to him and tugged at his shoulder.

"Dad wants you."

Leo shrugged her hand away and scurried off into the group of men. His Dad was at the back, giving worried glances at Tony who was messing with another boy his age. Leo was startled to see how little supplies his father had packed compared to the others. What had seemed like a lot the day before now seemed close to nothing. The trip was sounding more and more dangerous, so much so that Leo started to ponder his Dad's chance of survival.

Stanley raised his head at the sound of Leo's footsteps. There was so much fear in his father's eyes that Leo wanted to forgive him straight away. "Oh, I am so sorry Dad, I didn't know what I was doing, I guess it just wasn't the way I wanted to find out about, about..."

"Leo, I wanted to say sorry to you, I should have told you more clearly at the family meeting." The matter seemed to have been solved and Stanley drew his son into a great big hug. "I hope you come back," was Leo's final words to his father. Hugs and kisses were everywhere. Even in the solemn occasion, everyone still found the time to laugh.

The group left soon after and as Leo watched the men disappear into the horizon, he realized that changes had to be made with his father gone.