Shelter

Faerie and Anthony found Eric and Jason in the garden on the way back to the house. It was getting close to lunchtime and Anthony wanted to check on Amanda. She was in the kitchen working like nothing was different from the day before. However, Faerie could see a difference in her eyes and the expressions on her face. Ason leaving had really hurt her.

Faerie had no idea what it was like to bring a child into the world and raise him for 18 years, only to have him leave home in the middle of the night without even saying goodbye. She knew how much it hurt that he had left her, though, and she knew it probably felt far worse to Amanda. She had loved Ason for only a couple of months. Amanda had loved him for his entire life. She also couldn’t help thinking that Amanda must be angry with her, whether she expressed it or not, that her son was gone.

Faerie helped finish the preparations for lunch and the family sat at the table and did their best to eat it, but everyone’s appetite had taken a hit because of Ason’s absence. Faerie still felt sick from the food she had eaten at breakfast before she was aware that she had lost not just one, but both, of the most important people in her life. She knew there might be a chance to get Rey back if the charges against her were not too serious, but she wouldn’t know any of that until she and Anthony went to town to get information. They had decided to wait until the morning and leave early, since it was Sunday and no official business would be conducted that day. They were unlikely to even be able to talk to anyone who could give them information in Rey’s case.

The plan to deal with Rey’s business was for Faerie to try to find out in the morning what orders Rey needed to fulfill and work on those. The authorities had left the records and supplies in a mess, but Faerie was so involved in all levels of the business that she believed she could straighten things out. Faerie’s friend Ariel also worked in the shop and she knew she could count on her help to get all outstanding orders finished.

After eating what they could, Faerie and Anthony went out and finished the necessary chores for the day. They finished repairing several sections of fence that needed immediate attention before heading back to the house for dinner. The younger boys would need to take care of things in the morning, but Anthony did not want them to delay their educational lessons to get chores done. Mr. Arton had not placed much value on the boys’ education and they were several years behind where they should be. Anthony wanted them to have only the most basic chores in the morning so their afternoon could be spent on academics.

Dinner was pretty much a repetition of lunch. Eric and Jacob ate pretty well, but everyone else at the table was too affected by Ason’s absence to eat much—even after a hard day of work. Faerie packed up some of the leftover food from breakfast and lunch for her and Anthony to take to town the next morning. She didn’t know what would be available to eat at her and Rey’s house and they wanted to get an early start.

Anthony asked her to read the boys their bedtime story so he and Amanda could talk. The boys were so wound up trying to compete with each other for Faerie’s attention that she was afraid her presence was doing more harm than good. Eventually, though, exhaustion took over and they both went to sleep. Faerie turned out their light and walked out in the hall. The downstairs lights were all off, so Faerie headed to the extra bedroom she had slept in the previous night. She didn’t believe she would be able to fall asleep, but she laid down to rest her eyes as much as she could for the busy day she had before her.

At some point in the night she must have fallen asleep, because she found herself in a dark forest. She had only the waning crescent of the moon to see by, but without any other lights in the forest her eyes quickly adjusted to it. She started walking carefully through the trees on the uneven ground, trying to figure out where she was. She didn’t recognize any of her surroundings, so she knew she was in an area she was unfamiliar with. The only clue she had was the sound of a river running somewhere off in the darkness.

After wandering aimlessly through the forest for a few moments she came across a young man asleep with his head and body propped against a tree. She immediately recognized the young man as Ason. Her heart filled with joy at finding him. She walked toward him, but she noticed they were not alone in the forest. There was a pair of men approaching Ason from behind the tree. The men were much smaller than Ason—they were both around Faerie’s height and weight. However, they wouldn’t have much trouble hurting him, or even killing him, if he was asleep when they got to him.

A sense of terror rose instantly starting in Faerie’s stomach, traveling through her chest and sticking in her throat. She tried to scream, but no sound came out. She couldn’t even move. She looked at the strangers and saw the smallest amount of light reflect off of a blade in one of the men’s hands. The sight finally broke her paralysis and she started to run toward Ason, screaming “Ason! Look out! He has a knife!”

Ason’s came awake with a start. His eyes were wide open and he was instantly alert. He jumped to his feet without the slightest hesitation, bringing a stick he had been clutching in his sleep along with him. His gaze fell briefly on Faerie, but she was pointing at the men and he turned, bringing his weapon up into a defensive position. The man with the knife was raising the blade to strike, but he quickly realized that Ason’s height, build, and the superior range of his weapon gave him a clear advantage. The men had obviously been planning to use the element of surprise to take him out, but that had failed when Faerie showed up. Both men turned and ran in the opposite direction without saying a word to Ason or each other.

When it was clear that the men were far enough away that they could relax a little bit, Faerie breathed a long sigh of relief. Ason finally turned to look at her. He had a look of shock on his face. “Faerie, what are you doing out here? You’re supposed to be at the farm where it’s safe!”

“Faerie wake up! You’re having another nightmare. Are you ok?”

Faerie opened her eyes. Instead of seeing Ason like she had just a few seconds ago, Anthony was standing in the room. He said again, “You were having another bad dream. Are you ok?”

“I was out in the woods and there were men sneaking up on Ason with a knife! I yelled to warn him and he chased them away with a stick. He’s not safe out there by himself, Anthony. Can we please go out and find him?”

“I know the dream must have been really upsetting for you, Faerie. I am concerned for his safety, too. One of the hardest things about raising a son has been allowing him to make mistakes and learn things for himself when I could easily keep him from getting hurt. My job as his father has been to prepare him to go out into the world and make his own decisions, and I have to hope that I’ve done that well enough that he can take care of himself now.”

“But there’s a difference between taking care of himself in a home where he can lock the doors at night and being able to survive in the woods where there is no safe time or place to sleep. No one should have to live like that.”

“I agree with you on that. Unfortunately, that’s exactly how Ason has chosen to live for now. Even if we knew which direction he went when he left, and we were somehow able to catch up to him, neither of us has the right to tell him to come home.”

“I could ask him, though.”

“I think if we give Ason a little time to calm down and think about things he’ll come back on his own. He will come back to make sure you are ok, even if he had no other reason to. He feels horrible about what happened to Rey and he thinks it’s his fault. Even if you refused to see him, though, he would come back long enough to check on you. He’s also more likely to stay here when he comes back if it is his own idea and he can see that you are ok and that there is no permanent damage because of what he did. I think the best thing we could do for him is to get Rey’s affairs in order and make sure that she is released as soon as possible.”

Faerie still didn’t want to give up on going to find Ason, but Anthony was right about the need to take care of Rey’s problem first. If they could take care of Rey’s business until her release, then Ason would see that everyone in the situation would be okay. She thanked Anthony before he went back to his bedroom and decided she should try to get some sleep so she would be more effective in helping Rey tomorrow. She lay awake worried about Ason and what could have happened to him in the dream, but she eventually fell into a heavy, dreamless sleep.