Chapter Five: ~PRESENT DAY~ An old letter and a ring

It was a busy day, just the way Calin liked it. It helped somewhat at keeping his mind away from that day, and the days that had followed. He had been the last one to see the Getsamés, the last who had spoken to them before father and daughter had disappeared alongside eight of their co-workers.

The most frustrating part was that Wanrey and his fellow kidnappers had vanished into thin smoke as well. Yet the only thing that did make sense was that they had stolen the hundreds of thousands worth of equipment in their raid of the old Ruins.

But what had been bothering Calin more than anything was the light and the voices arguing just before he had woken up and found that everyone was just gone without a trace except for Jerry.

Something since that day hung in the air, something very wrong, out of place. It was more than just a kidnapping of ten people.

“Calin, that’s enough for today.”

“Huh? What?” Calin asked as he was ripped from yet another session of brooding over the day at the Ruins.

Just then he received a slap on his shoulder from Eric Barnes, who was also covered in dust from the climbing to change the entire street’s busted lights. Calin wiped the sweat from his brow.

Eric groaned while rolling his shoulders. “I still can’t believe someone would purposefully knock out every single light on the docks and the main street. It will take two days just to change the most important ones.”

“Yes it is strange Mr. Barnes. But at least we got some lights working again today.”

“How many times have I told you to call me Eric? My surname is far too close to being the same as that drunken fisherman for my liking.” The man shook his head with a smile before he continued,

“Anyway, I’m grateful for the help Calin. It would have taken me twice as long to do this job by myself. Let’s head back to the shop now. We can go on where we left off tomorrow.”

As they walked along Seaside road, the clear voice of a drunk man in the middle of a passionate story flitted in the air.

“…there I be thirteen years ago, standing on the wet deck looking over the western part of that stormy Atlantic, the open sea in all directions it was. It’s then when I sraw it … the air became ashimmer, and the sea revealed land in front of me very eyes!! The sea be gone I tell ya, only land before me eyes. I thought me lost me mind, but the other sailors gasped I tell ya now, they sraw it too even though they say nought, I know it to be true!”

The other drunken sailor laughed while shoving at Brans, replying in a slur. “Url... Url, don’t be listening to him he… he be speaking like a madman he is…”

As Calin came closer to the scene, he glanced to see ‘Url’ passed out snoring in the corner of the patio, under a small canopy that fended off the sun. The second sailor’s name was Hin.

Of course Hin wasn’t buying the lucrative tale, but Brans made the error of grabbing Hin’s arm and just like that, the man jumped up and tackled Brans, shouting. “Ya need a good slapping that’s what ya need Brans, ya drunken dog, yer stories are a load of bull I tell ya…just like that drunken mad hermit.”

Brans slapped back at the man, shouting in an angry voice. “No, it be true I tell ya, don’t be so thick headed when hearing the truth… I sraw what I sraw. It be truer than your stories of them giant squidies taking down ships I be sure!”

Hin bristled.

“Now see here! Those giant squidies—“

Eric quickly pulled on Calin’s arm and rushed them out of harm’s way. As they trotted up the road out of earshot from the fishermen enjoying their off day, they both burst out in laughter.

They both needed the support of the closest wall as they tried to catch enough breath through bouts of laughter.

It was Eric who caught his breath first as he ventured to the front door of his shop and said, “Ah...uh.... Always amazing to listen to those lot. Truly funny, but is it just me or are their stories getting crazier?”

“No, you are absolutely right! Ah man, can’t wait to tell Jerry about this one.” Calin said as he entered the shop and almost ran over the scurrying Misses Darly.

The woman’s face lit up when she spotted him.

“Oh! Thanks a bunch Calin, you are always such a great help. Saved me a lot of time, you did.”

The heat flowed through his cheeks before he said shyly,

“It was nothing. You know it’s always a pleasure to help out here for me.”

“Stop being so modest! It is true.” Eric said from further into the store.

She smiled sweetly. “Well then, a real charmer you are. You are growing up so fast... almost eighteen too, can’t believe it! It feels like yesterday that you came in here asking for your first... change of light bulbs...”

The small woman got a faraway look and teared up about something. Calin couldn’t help but wonder what she was thinking about.

Then like she startled herself, she jerked out of her thoughts and reached into her pocket.

“Now here you go, this is something extra for you. Buy yourself something warm for the coming cold months.”

Calin stared wide eyed at the money, it was more than he normally made in a month! He didn’t know what to say and could only utter a hoarse. “Thanks…” but before he could find any more voice the woman beamed a large grin and shooed him away.

“Now off with you! And send my regards to Misses Talsen.”

After nodding that he will, Calin gave a sincere farewell before running off.

He ventured back to Misses Talsen’s house. Still a bit dazed at the gesture from Misses Darly. Over the years he had come to love working at that chaotic yet warm shop. It was one of the things that shone a bit of light in his small existence after the accident.

Even a bit lost in thought, he immediately ventured into one of the clothes shops to find a tall lanky woman, Catherine, come into one of the isles to help him choose a jacket for the winter.

After a while he came upon a black thermal jacket with a dark, ember zip. It was thick enough that he would be confident in the cold woods.

As he chose it, the woman asked, “Thinking of going with the hunters, eh?”

Calin just chuckled and said, “No, they already left this morning. But it is not far from my mind.”

At her dreamy look, he couldn’t help but smirk. It was no secret that Catherine was sweet on Joe, who ranked under one of the best shooters of the hunters.

Calin almost expected her to ask him to talk to Joe about her. But finally her eyes came back in focus and she said, “You would do good to join them one day.”

Well, there is a hint of that request in there somewhere. He paid for his new jacket and said, “I don’t know if hunting fowl through the year really appeals to me. But maybe with the rumours of animal attacks on the live stock, I think it is drawing my attention.”

It was half the reason. He wanted to learn how to protect others. After having been so helpless in the Ruins of Mesa Versee, he couldn’t bear the thought of not being ready if anything ever happened again.

Catherine ruffled his hair startling him and said, “As would it to all boys, young Calin.”

Calin just shrugged and said, “True enough.”

With that they exchanged farewells and he left the shop. Outside, he rolled his slightly aching shoulders, he was glad to be on his way home.

As if the word was a trigger, he walked past a small building with children playing happily outside. Their laughter was like bells chiming its happiness to its surroundings. Their mothers sat there completely content with watching them at play while they knitted some scarves.

Home, he sighed, the sombre thought intruded on his sunny disposition. Some people always tried to depict the true meaning behind the word, but they never could give it a meaning that made sense for him. What a puzzle.

But he had decided a long time ago that he would discover it by himself and not be forced to settle for an idea someone thought would fit him. Everything in his life was and had been complicated, nobody... Not one single person could give him any of the many answers to the complete and utter mystery that his life had been before he was ten, before he was found alone on that beach, broken and lost.

And now... there was the incident at the Ruins to top it all, he was anxious. It was as if there wasn’t time left to search for those kinds of answers anymore.

But he would search... search for Kara and her father. The secret organization that took them was somewhere in the world, he just needed to learn how to find them.

The irritation of this difficult way settled in him and he couldn’t help but bring his hands up to his hair to fight it. All he could do was shake it off as he strolled towards the window of the bookshop.

His heart was already beating faster as it came closer. A deep pain settled into it as his fingers brushed the smooth glass.

Inside, there were books hinting at a vast modern world, books of natural discoveries of man and the amazing ventures into space; books about the great pioneers in the twenty first century. Pictures of what large telescopes could see of a vast yet unreachable universe around Earth, but also books about the history of the planet.

It was at once great being a human, to know all these breathtaking inventions and places were out there, and on the other hand it brought him back to the darker things the race was capable of. Kidnapping, thievery, murder—

He spotted the lady of the store. Her face was full of sorrow and deep ache pierced his insides; but more so, absolute frustration. He had been right there when her husband and daughter were taken. Right there!

He could do nothing. He had been like a helpless sheep between wolves.

Calin scraped together his courage and walked towards her. It was so hard to think of what to say to her even though he knew she didn’t blame him for anything. But still...

A sigh escaped him before he gently asked, “Hi Misses Getsamé... How are you?” He looked intently at her as he waited for her answer. Waiting for the tongue lashing he deserved for passing out as the kidnappers took her people. She looked at him and there sparked something in her eyes before she looked down again.

“It’s been hard, but some days are better than others. It’s a hard thing to accept, Calin. I ... I miss them terribly.”

Striding forward, the woman fell into his arms and sobbed silently. Calin stiffened, but comforted her softly. He couldn’t shake the feeling that he didn’t have the right to be there for her now, not after what happened at the Ruins. Yet he stood there and held her as his heart warred with his mind.

Her husband was a geologist and an archaeologist, both PhD’s, and their daughter Kara, who was homeschooled and being coached by her dad, had already been strong on her way to become an excellent archaeologist, even at her young age of nineteen. Calin had known them both for all the years since he could remember... since he was ten.

Calin straightened himself and asked, “So has there been no word from the Police?”

The woman shook her head, her dark red hair falling over his shoulder before she said, “No not a single word of progress for a week now. They keep saying they can’t find the people,

‘They even found a hideout of them in the town, but they can’t find a trace of my family. There wasn’t even a hint of the equipment they stole from the site, which is strange to the police because the culprits left quite a bit of their own gear in the house,

“At least they found some fingerprints that they are running through the database at the very moment.”

The news about the hideout was new, but Calin couldn’t help but stiffen with the news that there was no sign of the group. It was hard not to wish desperately that there was something he could do as the woman continued to hold onto him, shaking silently.

But Calin took it all in stride as Misses Getsamé opened up completely to him and he guessed sometimes that it was because he had undergone a somewhat similar situation, to wake up one morning and realizing that he had lost everything and worst was he couldn’t remember what he had lost.

After his accident and the rehabilitation, to learn to speak and read, everything from scratch and then to walk again, he had searched for his family, the one that had abandoned him and seemingly disappeared into thin air. But there had been no clues, not even one.

Calin shook his own trials from his mind. This was no time to think about something that happened seven years ago, the woman in his arms had wounds much fresher than his.

With a shake of his head, he mustered all the composure he could.

“I think they’re out there somewhere,” He said, “You just wait and see. They’ll find their way back.”

He desperately hoped it was true. The last thing he wanted was to lose one of the few people who meant a lot to him in his tumultuous life.

Something crossed his mind and he was about to ask a certain thing, when another woman strode into the shop.

“I came to return this book,” The woman asked, “It’s this box here, right?”

Misses Getsamé straightened up quickly from Calin’s shoulder and wiped away her tears. She nodded, and in a hoarse voice said, “Yes.”

It was clear she didn’t want everybody to see how deep her grief was.

Calin turned to find a way to give Natasha Getsamé a task, so she could find a moment to right herself, it was the least he could do for her. He looked to the fiction section and said, “Is it possible that I can borrow an action Novel, Misses Getsamé?”

The woman grateful nodded at him and moved towards the bookshelf he was pointing to. “Hmm, let me think... what kind of book will catch your fancy.”

Calin watched as the woman, he often saw behind the counter of the Fruits shop, dropped her book in the return tray, she smiled briefly at him before she left the shop.

Misses Getsamé just then came back with an action book, but Calin smirked when an opportunity to disarm the situation slightly presented itself.

“You don’t by any chance have one that has a lot of sword fighting in it? I had the strangest of dream about fighting with a sword last night, you wouldn’t believe me if I told you what happened... But it got me thinking.”

The woman who had been in tears no less than a minute before, chuckled at Calin and said,

“Calin you never seize to amaze me. Your curiosity is refreshing.”

He grinned and shrugged his shoulders playfully. “What can I say? I’ve always been a curious guy.”

Within a minute she handed him a book and said, “This one would definitely do the trick. Actually, it’s one of my favourites. I hope you enjoy it.”

“Thanks for the book. I’ll have it back in a few days.”

He turned to leave. As he reached the door, a gentle hand touched his arm. He turned towards Misses Getsamé. She hesitated only a moment before she softly said, “Thanks Calin.”

With a sudden frown, he asked,

“For?”

“For listening, and... making me smile again. Thank you.”

A sincere smile split Calin’s face and he hugged her again. “My pleasure. I hope they find your family.”

And with that, he waved his goodbyes and started through the door. He dropped the book in his bag.

***

The slight sounds of his footfalls were all that was noticeable as he trudged up the road, deep in thought.

He replayed the last twenty minutes in his mind over and over again. The guilt he had for what had happened and not happened at the Ruins was real, but Kara’s mother didn’t show the reaction he had expected. Something in him had wanted her to be angry at him for his inaction, yet she had cried on his shoulder...

Calin slumped his shoulders as his mind worked to make up and down out of everything.

Then from seemingly nowhere a woman snorted. He jerked his attention back to his surroundings.

Misses Talsen stood at the entrance to the Jacobs’ house. She walked from the door closing behind her, and waved him over. Calin’s first response was to apologize for no reason, but he managed to hold his tongue and listened patiently as the woman spoke.

“Were you on your way on an errand?”

He just shook his head, and she replied gruffly. “Good, I need you to help Jerry load some wares from Mr. Jacobs’ stock. The boy is already busy next to the house at the truck,” Upon turning away from him, she said over her shoulder. “And be quick about it will you or I’ll give you Jerry’s chores for two days.”

With a quick trot he swept around the side of the building. All the while, he watched her move up to the street towards their house next door.

He couldn’t help but speculate about whether the woman ever did smile. As he got close to Jerry, the boy’s snicker became evident.

“Wow Calin, you sure cut it close today. All my chores for two days? I think I might have liked you make a slip of tongue or forget something.”

Calin smiled and shook his head.

“Maybe you would have, but like I know you and I do, you would have done something to anger somebody somewhere within a few hours of getting free time and well, my guess is you would have sat alongside me doing extra chores either way by the afternoon, if it took that long.”

A protest formed on Jerry’s lips, but after a moment he conceded with a smile.

“Yeah well… I guess you’re right, it is truly hard staying out of trouble when I get so much free time.”

They both laughed while Calin took up the spot next to the old truck, loading Misses Talsen’s order of food and stock onto it. As they loaded, Jerry paused next to Calin and said, “Have you ever thought of going to a different town or even one of the cities?”

The question caught Calin by surprise as he stopped what he was doing.

“No... Not really... I don’t know, maybe. Why do you ask?”

“It’s just because now that we are older the chance to go see places really opens up. I don’t know about cities yet, but Draves town is a good option, it is outside the city but still a ways away. What do you think?”

This was definitely a different line of thought as Calin tried to think of how to respond; as he did he picked up another box. It strained against his muscles as he carried it to the truck. Finally he huffed.

“You, going away? Ha! That will be so weird. Come to think of it, you know, the mischief and pranks in this town will reduce to next to nothing in no time if you leave. Besides, I think you’ll miss it too much here, especially sneaking kisses to Mr Jacobs’ daughters.”

Jerry smiled broadly, then punched Calin on the arm and said, “You wish, the other kids will take over, I’ve taught them well to handle you,

“But you are right about me missing this place. And no I haven’t snuck kisses… yet. Strong minded lot those girls, especially Ashley and Evany, wouldn’t want to get on their bad side.” Jerry lifted his hands as Calin stared sternly at him, “Yeah yeah I know. They had been good friends to both of us. But hard to understand for me.” The boy got a mischievous look. “Ah, but maybe for Ashley... it’s because she likes you more.”

Calin groaned as he carried a heavy box. Dropping it, he asked, “What are you talking about?”

“Nothing in particular,” Jerry said with a smirk. “But then again, she is far too involved working on that farm.”

“Indeed, but back to the other point, I take it there is no easy way of getting rid of you, hey?”

Jerry snickered again before he replied while unloading a small package to the trolley. “Nope, I think I’ll keep haunting you, even if I’m gone.” The boy mocked.

With a laugh Calin interrupted Jerry’s antics as he said in a mocking voice.

“Haha! Well if you go, I’ll at last be free of your pranks, or maybe you’ll freak somebody out with one of your failed attempts and they’ll send some big lugs after you, without my help to get you out of trouble again. Hmm, I really think it is about time.”

Jerry just snorted at Calin’s remark and said, ”You wish again, I’m a sneaky fox, you know how stealthy I am. Besides, I don’t think I want to leave. I was just kidding around; I’ll miss doing this too much.” Jerry swung one of the carton tubes at Calin’s face.

Calin ducked, but before he could take another jibe at Jerry’s lame jokes, a strong wind struck up out of nowhere pushing the two slightly off balance. They both stopped as they stood there watching the wind hit the grain field next to them.

A shiver ran through Calin, as he stared over the field of grain waving with big ripples in the strong wind.

In the distance on the right stood the barn and the windmill, its blades spun almost out of control in the strength of the gusts of wind. Even the large dead tree that had stood like a statue for years, swayed to and fro.

For a moment trepidation came over Calin as something drew his gaze to the left and unsettled his peace.

Something in the image of the grain field in the flurry of air was out of place. He stared intently at the far edge of the rippling grain field that seemed alive in the wind.

But as he stared, there was a sudden loud cracking noise filled with branches breaking. A scream resounded from the right. He spun in the direction and watched as one of the large branches of the old tree, next to the private, orphanage house, dropped like a dead weight.

It was then that a large crash boomed on the other side. He stared shocked at Jerry, they both stood agape. A moment later they scrambled over the small wall around the grain field and ran full speed through the rows and rows of rippling grain stalks towards their house, to see what had happened. The few minutes it took to reach the scene was painstakingly long. There was a large branch that had crashed into one of the rooms of the house. That part of the roof was in pieces.

Calin didn’t wait for Jerry as he rushed into the house. Inside he found Misses Talsen with Kelly in her arms and Steve, standing close to where the tree had fallen. It was right on top of the roof, destroying half the wing where his and Jerry’s room were.

Upon reaching the broken door to their room, he found the roof had almost fully collapsed. Dust and rocks littered the floor and beds.

The room creaked and groaned from the weight of the big branch. Calin ran into the room, ignoring the grave protests from Misses Talsen.

“It’s not safe!”

Without regard to his safety or his hands he ignored the small cuts from moving the rocks as he dug through the rubble. The real pain was in his heart as tears threatened to spill, blurring his vision.

It hurt. But he couldn’t give up, so he continued the search.

A piece of tile was stuck and he forced it out. Underneath he found what he was looking for, his lock box. Sudden joy infused him. It was still whole...

The anxiousness in his heart slowly ebbed as he wiped his unshed tears, before they could find their track down his cheeks.

The lock box held the only evidence of his past, the past that was ripped from him that night on the beach. It contained a ring, a dirty white small-boy’s shirt, the ripped shards of some trousers and a letter fragment that was all that was left from when he was found senseless and hurt on the wet sands.

He almost stopped to open the container, but the tree giving another lurch sent him clambering from the room to safety. He stumbled out to a safe part of the hall and sat down heavily.

Misses Talsen was rebuking him for being reckless, but he wasn’t listening.

All his attention was on the crude lock box. He drew his knees up, and reached for the small hatch. With shaking hands he opened the box. He hadn’t opened it in such a long time and now he almost could have lost it in the rubble.

He slid the ring over his palm, but then dropped it into his pocket, taking the damaged letter from the box. It was from his mother, he hadn’t read the letter in years. The memory always hurt far too deeply. Yet after everything that happened the last two weeks, the events at the Ruins and the strange dream from the night before, there was a great urge to read it just then.

Being careful, he slowly unfolded the letter gently before his eyes scanned the smudged surface:

My dearest Calin

...

He took a shuddering breath and continued,

I wish I could have been there for your tenth birthday, but I was sent on a very important trip. You’re growing up so fast! I do hope you have a wonderful day. Please know that I love you with all my heart and I’ll think of you every day until I’m back. Tell your father to take you somewhere special. Stay safe.

Love Always

Your Mom

P.S. I hope you enjoy the ring your father and I made for your birthday, may it bring you courage and show y.. ... ... .. …..

They never did come; never took him somewhere special. It still pained him greatly not knowing why they had left him.

If it wasn’t for the letter, Calin was certain he wouldn’t even have known his own name or age. To be nameless would have been the last blow for him; especially when he started understanding again, wondering why he was alone in this world.

After a while, he had surmised that the injury to his head was the culprit to his complete memory loss. The months it had taken him to learn to speak and read again had been a gruelling process, one that he cared to forget.

He shifted his attention back to the letter and cradled the fragile page. It’s sad about the last part, I wonder... but at least I know she loved me... back then, he thought darkly.

Somehow the hope of having been loved once let a smile tug weakly at his lips even with the darker thoughts trying to worm their way through.

With that he withdrew from the hallway, as much to get some fresh air as to scratch at a slight itch that had started to form on his right shoulder since the morning.

As Calin walked past Jerry, the boy winked at him, knowing full well what the lock box meant to him.

Misses Talsen motioned for him and Jerry to come to her. Calin almost half expected her to make them start getting the tree out of the way. Not really keen for chopping on a tree for a week.

Glancing towards Jerry, he would have bet big that the boy was thinking the exact same thing, but as they reached Misses Talsen, she said,

“I’m so sorry boys. I had told Gerad Jacobs that the tree was looking worse for wear by the day. Well as you can see I was right, so while I get somebody to get rid of the tree and repair your room, would you boys mind sleeping in the old barn? I’ll give you time to set up some mattresses and bedding. What do you say?”

Barely a second passed before Calin looked at Jerry and they both replied immediately. “Sure, thanks for considering, Misses Talsen.”

She just waved them off, best way for her to say ‘You’re welcome’ as the woman waddled away.

Dazed, they waited for her to be out of ear range. Calin just about managed to hold it in and then broke out laughing while starting off towards the back. He wanted to check out the barn alongside Jerry, knowing full well they had just dodged a week of hard labour.