We made it out of the Barrow Downs alive and physically mostly unharmed, though the terrors of that place still haunt my sleep. I wasn’t finding much peace, not even in our lovely new home did I shake the unease. I was missing my family and was generally miserable. That must have been why Blake suggested that I take a trip back to Archet to see my folks. I had not done that since we left, fearing that my dad would persuade me to not leave again, but perhaps now was the time to go and see them, especially as I had a decent pile of coins made from our adventure into the Barrows. This would certainly go a long way in helping them.
Toby gallantly offered to come with me, perhaps because he was keen to check in on his folks as well.
As Toby and I rode up the road towards Archet I waved to Mrs Blackthorn and said goodbye to Toby. I would have stopped to talk to his folks, but was keen to make it home myself, so I rode on. The reunion was as expected. I had decided not to cry, but I cried buckets as soon as dad threw his arms around me and I heard mum sobbing happily in the background.
I spent the next many days just catching up with them and trying to get them to understand my new life and the choice I had made. Dad was less than pleased with the news of me and the boys moving into to Captain Renwalo’s house, he didn’t think that was a very ‘proper’ thing for a young woman to do. He said Bert, the Butcher’s boy, had been asking about me and that I should consider whether it was time to come home and live a normal life again. I couldn’t help but laugh at the thought of what ‘normal life’ with Bert would be like. Not for me, thanks!
I thought that was going to turn into an argument, but somehow mum managed to steer the conversation and dad didn’t really return to it. I guess, after all, they are starting to see me in a slightly different light. I am providing, helping them rebuild their business, so I am doing something right. It was a weird feeling, but not one I disliked. It also made me realise that it would be difficult to turn back, to come home and be their little girl again, I couldn’t do that. For better or worse, that attack on Archet changed my life and me… I love my family, but I need to make my own way in the world.
Mum and dad were both taken aback by the coins I gave them… dad knew this would help almost fully resupply our stock of gems. Meanwhile I took a break from my bow and instead used my hands for something else I’m fairly adept at, polishing bloodstone. Mum fussed and said my hands looked rough from handling the bow, but I could still polish like I always had, so she had little to complain about.
Lizzie came back as well, bringing Tom with her. They are planning the wedding for next spring and it will be like a fairy tale, I think. Lizzie deserves it, and Tom is a good guy. She’s lucky she’s found what she wants in life.
I spoke to everybody in town whilst there, especially to Atli who still seems a long way from his old self. The attack and the loss of Bali has really knocked him, like it did all of us. However slowly though, the town is getting back on its feet and it makes me proud to see.
I hadn’t seen much of Toby since we arrived back, he was probably busy helping out at the farm, but one morning he came calling. Asked if I was free for the day, he wanted to show me something. The house had been a bit ‘busy’ since the arrival of Lizzie and Tom, so I was happy to leave it behind for a day. We saddled the horses and rode out of Archet and off the road into the hills. We went a way I’ve never been before, quite far into the hills and so far up the horses were starting to struggle. We finally made it up and through a clearing and as we came through the trees, I knew immediately what he had wanted me to see. I gasped as I took in the view. We were high up and could see all the way over Bree and far further. I was in complete awe.
We sat on the plateau and had our lunch and some of that cider Toby’s been making, Toby had been cooking again, and it was delicious. Sometimes I think it’s a real shame he’s so set on adventuring, he would make a great cook. As we ate, Toby said he had wanted me to see this, not just because the view is amazing, but because it would give me perspective, perspective on why what we have done has been important. You fight back against the evil that surrounds you, not just to save your family, but to save the beauty of the world. He must have known that would appeal to me and it made me see our recent adventures in a new, and necessary, light.
We sat there, heads buzzing from the cider, mostly in silence, resting our backs against each other and took in the view whilst the afternoon light hit the hills and softened the shapes of Bree’s roofs below us. I thought about how important it had been, to come home and see my folks, because I love them. But sitting there also reaffirmed that I had made the right choice, leaving with my friends to pursue the unknown. Maybe we weren’t heading back out on a new adventure this week, but we would… soon. I was going to write to Blake and ask him to come to Archet and meet us, the world awaits.
