Lyra’s eyes widen and she stumbles over to the bed and sits down.
” It’s all my fault! Now Colin has run away and he might die because of me!” Lyra buries her face in her hands and starts to sob. I walk over to her and rub her back.
” Hey, i know i don’t really know you that well yet, but i do know that your brother loves you under all the anger and he has run away to protect you.” I smile and Lyra looks up.
” Are you sure it’s not all my fault?”
” I am 99% sure it’s not your fault.” Lyra leans onto me and we sit for a few minutes before i have to break the moment. ” So i think we should go and find him, what do you think?” I stand Lyra up and she looks at me.
” Do you think we can find him before dark?” Lyra asks
” Oh defiantly. I know the forest like the back of my hand. Colin has never been there so he will get lost in seconds.” I turn to walk out of the room but stop and turn back around. ” And to let you know we are going to be riding horses and also we will definitely not be back by dark, the woods are huge. So we are going to take camping supplies.” I laugh when Lyra’s smile falls at the camping part.
Me and Lyra head down to the stables and tack up. I saddle my horse, Jasmine, her dappled grey coat shimmering in the late afternoon sunlight. Lyra saddles, Bronte, whose coat is a dark chestnut brown. I tie our camping gear to the end of my saddle and we head out of the stable.
” Which trail are we going to take?” Lyra asks me as we come into a clearing the size of a football field, with at least a dozen trails leading this way and that.
” I think we should start on the south side of the forest and work our way to the north.” I point to a trail that leads through the thickest part of the woods. We start off at a slow trot but slow down to a walk after a couple of minutes. By now we are surrounded by trees completely and we can’t see the end or start of the trail.
“So mind telling me a little bit about why Colin got so mad when you showed up today?” I ask coming up beside Lyra.
” Well… a couple of years ago our mom got really sick with a form of cancer and she died on Colin’s 16th birthday. After that birthday we never celebrated his birthdays, we pretty much ignored them because it was too hard to remember. Our other siblings Indigo, Mia and Camilla were too young to remember mom or the cancer. But me and Colin remember” Lyra looks down.
” Why did Colin not mention you when i asked about his siblings?” i ask.
” Probably because it was too hard to remember. A year after that birthday he applied for college early and didn’t tell any of us until he was already leaving for London. He always wanted to travel the world and go all across the globe. He didn’t want to go to collage until this happened and he went to medical school so he could save people that had cancer like mom. i went to an art collage in new York after he left for London and he hasn’t seen me since the year mom died. I think that’s why it’s so hard for him.” Lyra smiles a sad smile looks up at me.
” I’m sorry you had to go through all that alone.” I say reaching out and giving her a quick hug. I look up and notice the now setting sun. We must have been riding for three or four hours already. ” Hey, why don’t we set up camp in that clearing up there.” i point to an opening and we trot there and tie the horses to a tree. I grab the tent and Lyra grabs the matches to start a fire.
” Um, there are footprints over here!” Lyra calls. I rush over and look where Lyra is pointing and see big, fresh hoof prints in the fresh dirt.
Photos & Fantasy 