“Alice!” I shout. Heads emerge from the long rows of plants. In the distance, a group of kids stop splashing in the tremendous lake to stare.
I continue into the heart of the village shouting her name breathlessly. People pause in their daily activities at the commotion, others appear in the daylight from their huts, which match Avlym’s style, squinting for the source. A pair of drunks stumble through the half-open swinging doors leading to a tavern.
“Dale?” says a voice off to my right. Arthur has just appeared from an open door, a tiny face peeks around the corner behind him.
My bare feet scrape against the rocks and solid dirt as I skid past Avlym’s leader, ignoring his questions. I throw myself into the shadow of the hut, eyes searching for the little girl by the window. There is no need, she’s already halfway towards me, throwing her arms wide as I bend low to meet her.
I hold her tight as we both sob into each other’s shoulders, I question if I will ever let her go again. She squeezes my ribs as fiercely as she can and I return her embrace as tightly as I dare. I barely notice the scuffing of boots behind me as Arthur enters the room, or the calls outside from a tribal king, Alice is all that matters.
At some point we run out of tears, but neither of us breaks away from the other. I hold the back of her head as she buries her face into my neck shaking. I tell her that it’s alright, that she’s safe and I’m never going to let anything hurt her.
“Dale?” Arthur repeats gently behind me, I don’t know how long he’s been trying to get my attention.
I tighten and rise, keeping Alice clinging to my side as I face my former leader. I blink the water from my eyes and step backwards, colliding against a low table.
“Stay there,” I command. Arthur obeys, his face a mix of shock and bewilderment. “Did you know? About all the kids that went missing.”
“What about them?” he looks genuinely confused.
“Don’t lie to me,” I warn seething.
“Dale, calm down. What are you talking about?” Arthur asks, his eyebrows drawn close in concern.
“Don’t tell me to calm down!” I shout, causing Alice to flinch in my arms. My lip quivers frantically. “All the kids that went missing, the ones that got lost in the forest. It was the colony all along! They stole our children! It was all part of the deal, we give them food and supplies and they take whoever they want!”
I back away next to the window as Arthur moves closer, but he’s not concerned with me. His hands shake as he steadies himself on the back of a chair before slowly lowering himself into it. His knees bounce uncontrollably as a solitary tear is freed with a blink.
“No. I didn’t know,” Arthur answers in a whisper.
“How could you not? It’s all part of the deal!” I accuse, fixing him with a look that could bore a hole in a tooth. I so dearly hope that Arthur is the man I believed he was but I’m not ready to let him off yet.
“That deal was made a long time ago. Long before I was even born, I swear I had no idea that it was them,” Arthur says solemnly.
I take a moment, allowing my heart to return to normal and the fire to cool in my mind. I believe him as I look down upon his troubled face, it’s ok, he didn’t know.
“What happened to them?” he asks me.
“The colony made them their slaves,” I spit as I redirect my anger back where it belongs. “Ask them yourself, Damion’s outside.”
“Damion? Bennie’s boy?” asks Arthur, his eye’s widening. I nod and follow him as he hurries back out into the sun.
I finally release Alice as I step back out onto the sun-dried dirt, something’s changed. Alice complains as I loosen my grip but stops when she sees Orrian. She rushes over to him and gives him as big a hug as her tiny arms can manage, I had almost forgotten the strange connection that these two had. Only Orrian and Damaris wait for us, Arthur turns back to me confused.
“Where is he?” Arthur asks, my mouth opens soundlessly as I struggle for an answer.
“He went in there,” says Orrian, pointing towards the tavern doors.
Arthur turns to Orrian speechless, either shocked at realising he’s here or at the sound of his voice, probably both. Some part of me feels sorry for Arthur, so much has changed for him in the last few minutes that it’s no wonder he’s struggling to process it all. The older man throws his hands up in exasperation and continues past Orrian towards the tavern. I remain close behind him as he pushes open the swinging doors. Alice takes my hand and has to half-jog to keep up.
It’s only as we enter the room that I realise the eerie silence. There is no chatter, no drunken swigging or pouring of drinks, everyone sits quiet and motionless. They are all facing towards the bar at the rear wall where two men kneel in the centre of the room. Long lost father and son are both on their knees in each other’s arms. Great shudders rack their bodies as Bennie is finally acquainted with his child. Bennie, instantly sobered, continuously pulls away to take Damion by the face, grabbing his cheeks and looking into his eyes as if to ensure that he’s really here in front of him. My eyes threaten to tear up again and so I ward them off by pulling Alice closer into my side.
Slowly, almost timidly, the noise around the tavern tables begins to rise again as people turn away from the two on the floor. I don’t recognise many of these people, but I can spot the occasional Avlym villager among the crowd. Bennie and Damion struggle
