The Chronicles of the Tower -1-

Chapter 2 -The man in the grey cloak- (pt.3)

One morning Dana went to the well to get some water. It was a common well to several farms but facing the drought, the water it was rigorously rationed.

To Dana's family, for being now nine members they got three blankets.

She only carried two empty buckets on a low wheelbarrow, because she couldn't fit a third. So she would have to make two long walks.

However, when she threw one of the buckets to the bottom of the well she doubted that she could fill all three.

The rope went up slowly, this was the hardest job. When she reached for the bucket of water and looked up, she sawi Kai in front of her. He looked at her seriously.

The water won't last long, Dana said sadly.

Kai sighed. She left the full bucket on the wheelbarrow and tossed the other one into the water well.

They both heard it hit rock bottom, but neither said a word. Kai stood behind his friend and helped her pull the rope.

Dana had wondered many times how it was possible that a person who could not be touched, who was as physical as the air or the fog could do things like that.

She had watched Kai closely in numerous times when he did those things, and the only thing that had been able to detect was that the boy seemed to have to concentrate much for it.

As the two of them carried the bucket filled up with water, Dana shook her head. She knew it was useless to ask him, he would never answer.

With a final effort, Dana lifted the bucket to deposit it on the edge of the well. Then she wiped the sweat from her forehead with the back of her hand.

Terrible, huh? Kai commented, but suddenly he tensed up and turned around abruptly.

Dana felt a shadow behind her, and shuddered.

Like Kai, she turned around intrigued. It was a rider who came down the road. He rode a beautiful white horse that was sweating and puffing because of the heat.

Excuse me, said the rider gently.

Dana looked at him. He was an old man, with straight gray hair that fell on his shoulders as a silver waterfall.

His deep and inquisitive eyes were also gray, just like his cloak.It was adorned with a leather belt from which several bags hanged.

He had no weapons in sight. And he didn't look like a noble, even though he was riding a horse.

However, there was something about him that put him above the simple villagers. Maybe he's a sage, Dana thought.

Although he does not have a beard. She had always thought that the wise and the saints must have a beard.

Sorry to interrupt your work, girl the rider continued kindly Could you show me the way to the city?

Dana nodded.

Keep going in this direction until the next crossroads answered Then take the path on the left and you will reach the city. It's only a day away from here.

The crossroads, you say? repeated the rider, and rose a little to scan the trail.

There. Dana raised her arm to point the way. The bucket she was holding over the edge of the pit wobbled dangerously, and she hurried to hold it tight.

Careful, said the rider, and smiled. Multiple wrinkles formed around his mouth and eyes, making his face seem even older. Water should not be wasted on times of need.

Dana blushed and placed the bucket in a safer place. The horseman looked at her for a moment and then stared at one spot behind her.

Suddenly his expression changed and he stopped smiling. His gray eyes narrowed.

Dana followed the direction of his gaze, wondering what he could've seen Because behind her there was nothing special.

Suddenly she seemed to understand it, and she froze.

There was nothing behind her ... except Kai.

Dana turned quickly to the old man, but the he had already changed his expression.

God save you, girl, he said. And thanks. Don't suffer because of the water, it will rain tonight.

Dana looked at the sky with a doubtful glance, not a single cloud.

But she said nothing. Her mind was occupied with the idea that Kai could be visible to someone other than herself, and this thought hit her again and again with extreme force.

The man smiled again, spurred his horse and went away. Dana stood still, her heart was beating madly and her eyes followed the rider in the gray cloak as he went down the road.

The hooves of his horse raised a fine cloud of dust that seemed golden in the scorching sun. When she lost sight of him, Dana turned to Kai.

That man has seen you, she said, and her tone of voice was mixed with fear, surprise, respect and a little disappointment. Wasn't I supposed to be the only one who could see you?

He couldn't see me, he replied. Surely he wasn't looking at me.

He spoke flatly and forcefully, but Dana saw a spark of doubt and fear in his friend's green eyes.

Still pale, she gathered up her buckets and started her way back home dragging the wheelbarrow carefully.

Kai helped her though since they were going downhill, it wasn't too heavy. They didn't say anything else as they went down the path that the rider in the gray cloak.

Who was on his way to town and who seemed to have seen Kai.

That afternoon, Dana tried to discuss it with her friend. But Kai didn't seem very willing to remember the scene from the well.

When she finally got him to deal with it, the boy assured that "surely she had imagined it".

Dana didn't reply. She remembered perfectly the expression of the man, a mixture of wonder and curiosity. Plus she also remembered that Kai had been as startled as her.

She kept thinking about it, because she sensed that it was important. If the old man had seen Kai ... it meant that she wasn't crazy, and her friend really existed.

The people would finally believe her, once and for all if there was someone else that could agree with her story.

She said this to Kai when the sun was setting over the horizon, but the boy with a very serious expression (completely unlike him) looked her in the eye and advised her to forget that he had seen him.

Why? Dana asked, intrigued.

Kai looked at her with a thoughtful look. Dana always asked questions, and he had many times wished to give her the answers she was looking for. However he knew the time had not yet come.

There was something strange about him, he said finally.

It was a very vague answer, but Dana seemed to accept it perhaps because she had also felt the same.

Besides, we will almost certainly never see him again, he added, and for a second time, Dana agreed and decided not to think about it any more.

However, she had to remember the rider in the gray cloak a lot sooner than she thought.

Because that night, just as he had predicted, it rained.