to feel the reality of their impending separation, Elli asked, sadly, “What will we find outside the tunnel, Thorn?”
“I don’t really know, Elli. I haven’t been outside the tunnel at the eastern edge, or otherwise within sight of that part of the forest, for many decades,” Thorn said pensively. “And the last time I was outside the tunnel, it was still the forest. But apparently it hasn’t been forest for more than a century now at tunnel’s end, or so I’ve learned from others.”
All five of them simply sat, their shoulders slung forward and their eyes staring wide open into the darkness ahead, tears in every one of the children’s eyes sparkling from the two lightly glowing lanterns which were now fully retracted into Thorn’s head.
“Thorn,” Elli asked, forlornly, “can’t you please come with us?”
“I can, but I may not.”
“Why may you not, Thorn?” asked Elli.
“Because I have fulfilled my mission given to me by Hannah, and I am not charged or called to do anything further on your behalf,” Thorn replied.
“But can’t you come anyway? You don’t have to be part of our mission, or even know any more about it than you know now. Just help us for a little while longer, simply as a friend,” Elli pleaded. “We need you. And, and . . . we all love you, Thorn.” The others nodded fiercely in assent.
“Only one person could enable me to continue with you,” said Thorn, in a tone that indicated resignation to the impossible.
“And who’s that?” asked Jamie.
“Only the one with the key, Jamie—the one for whom we have been waiting for centuries to free us. But, it’s just a story now—a sacred one perhaps, but, still, just a story. It leaves us with something to hope for—and maybe in.” He paused and then concluded, “Perhaps something to hope we can hope in one day.”
All became quiet, and the other three children were staring at Elli. Elli fingered the key through her shirt. Finally, she broke the heavy silence.
“Thorn?”
“Yes, Elli,” he replied, happy to delay, if only for a moment, their parting that would perhaps be forever.
Elli unbuttoned the top two buttons of her shirt and lifted the key to her neck for Thorn to view. “Thorn, it’s certainly not the one you are looking for, but I have a key. It’s just an old library door key from the world my friends and I come from.” She then added, “Still, it is a key.”
Thorn glanced at Elli with moist eyes. And then, like a couple of jack-in-the-boxes, Thorn’s eyes popped out of his head with a kind of cork-popping sound. His tiny mouth dropped open as far as it could drop. “Oh, my!” Thorn said, as if he’d won a lottery. “Oh, my! Oh my! Oh my!”
“I don’t think this is the key that you are referring to, Thorn, but if you believe it is, will you now join us beyond the forest?” asked Elli, noticing a tone of authority in her voice.
Thorn continued to stare at the key. It was the exact likeness of the drawing of the legendary key that had been secretly passed among the Queen’s loyalists since her demise; the only exception was that . . . the key in the drawing was made of solid diamonds, and not of something entirely black, like the aged alloy of some sort of metal that this one seemed to be. But there was no mistaking the shape of the key. And those who were “people of the key,” who were loyalists to the Queen and to her reign of love, had a sign that they would give to each other to show their membership in this secret society of brothers and sisters of the Good. Two fingers would be held aloft, and then the arms would cross on the chest, with each palm resting on the opposite shoulder.
Thorn made the sign of the key. “Oh, Elli. You are, I believe, the one who is to release our land from the imprisonment of Evil, and at your command I will do as you bid.”
“Thorn,” replied Elli, humbly, “I, as you know, can tell you nothing about our mission. What I can tell you is that it is likely impossible to accomplish, even with your help. But,” she added, after a long pause, “if you will come with us, we would be very grateful for you to do so, even if it’s only for a little while longer.”
“Then, Elli,” pronounced Thorn, “it will be as you request. And I will continue to accompany you for as long as you want my services, even to the conclusion of your mission, regardless of what that might be.”
An abundance of smiles and tears of joy were shared all around.
“Elli,” said Thorn, with confidence and joy he could not recall having in a long while, “lead us out of the tunnel and into whatever we find ourselves.”
~five~
When they had reached the end of the tunnel, what had been an opening decades earlier was no longer there, having been closed by the accumulation of organic matter, dirt and growth, as well as the absence of use. Thorn took his stick and poked it into where he thought the opening was located. After a couple of thrusts he hit what sounded and felt like solid wood, likely part of a root system. After a number of other thrusts in other locations, Thorn was able to say, “I found it! It used to be near an exposed root of a large tree, and the tree and root have now grown over most of the hole. I think I can widen the hole with my stick, but it’s going to take a while—maybe a couple of hours, I’m afraid. The earth above is pretty thick and compacted.”
“Thorn,” said Jamie, “here, use my knife; it’s supposed to be a special tool.” Thorn took the knife to claw away at the ground above him. The work was virtually effortless, and, within only a few minutes, Thorn was able to push his wide head and narrow torso through the hole and into the light of day.
“Well,” Thorn yelled down to the others, “not exactly what I was expecting, but it’s safe. C’mon out!”
The Thrashers had been employed decades earlier to remove the trees where the tunnel emerged, but they had been away from their vile work for so long now that new growth had established itself, so that Thorn and his companions were actually standing in a young forest all around them, with the older trees growing in the west and the younger ones surfacing in the east. And so the five of them stood—horrifically thirsty for light and soaking up the sun—in the midst of much shorter and far fewer trees, separated by spaces allowing for tall grass, hearty bushes, and an abundance of sunlight. What had once been the towering tree that had grown mightily over the old tunnel exit was now merely a broad stump with a few stems, one of which hopefully someday would have the opportunity to become a tree of majesty.
It was late in the afternoon when they emerged into the upper world, and soon the plummeting sun was casting beams through the branches, mottling the forest floor with the flickering shadows of leaves that were enjoying a final dance in the sunny, gentle breezes.
It would be dark before long, so Thorn suggested that they remain where they were for the night. The large stump next to the tunnel opening, together with its extensive and expansive root system, had defeated all attempts by other trees and bushes to take root in the soil they occupied. Thus, there was a sizable, even if uneven, clearing around the stump. As the late afternoon light dissipated rapidly into dusk, the four children gathered wood for a fire while Thorn used the stealth of his natural camouflage to catch a rather large rabbit for a rather small supper. Even the largest of wild rabbits was not much supper for five hungry souls, four of whom yearned for anything besides the berries and dried bread that were their lot since entering Bairnmoor.
