Thaddeus tore the blanket from his head. They were laying on grass on the edge of the bank. Thaddeus sat up and saw pieces of the boat floating on down the river. His hands and arms were full of splinters. He closed his eyes and pulled some out. His arms hurt so bad that he barely noticed pulling the splinters. He got them all out and rubbed his bleeding arms.
“You know what?” Galen said angrily as he pulled splinters out of his own arms. “I really think that they wanted to kill us. I am never going back there.”
“What do we do now?”
“Well,” Galen looked around, “we have to figure out where we are.”
The trees of the Bell Forest were in the distance from where they came and nothing much was where they were going. A few hills in the distance and a few trees scattered about but not much else.
“I guess we keep going.” Thaddeus advised.
“We have to find someplace to clean up. We look terrible.”
They were both wet, dirty, and bleeding. They had no medical supplies and no food.
“There should be someplace somewhere.” Thaddeus said. “We’ll find something on the way.
“It was going to take a day by boat to get all the way there. It’ll probably take a week if not longer on foot.”
“If there’s a river then there’s probably more boats somewhere. Once we get past the rapids here we should find some all over the place.”
“I hope you’re right.” Galen grumbled.
Thaddeus started down the river. Galen sauntered after him.
For over an hour there wasn’t a sight worth mentioning. The grass kept going indefinitely and the rapids provided enough soundtrack to keep things from getting too quiet. Thaddeus kept his eyes ahead. Every step took him a little bit closer to getting home. Galen mumbled incoherently a few yards back.
The rapids ended and a nice calm river took its place. It sparkled complacently in the midday sun. It brightened their moods a little. Galen quit mumbling and continued on in silence.
A thin trail of smoke floated leisurely into the air a good distance away. When they got closer they saw that it was coming from a little hut in a village of little huts. They were brown, possibly made of mud, and had thatched roofs. There were no rows, they were built wherever there was room. Every hut had a crudely made fence around it and some of them had animals in the yards.
“This might be a fishing village.” Thaddeus said.
“Doubt it, there aren’t any boats.” Galen responded.
A very old man sat with his back against the first hut they came to.
“Is there a doctor in town?” Galen asked.
The old man grunted and pointed to a hut nearby. They thanked him and went to it.
The huts did not have doors but very heavy curtains with markings on them blocking the entrances. Galen moved the curtain aside and entered.
This hut only had a table and a chair in it. A kind looking woman sat knitting. She looked up and saw her visitors and jumped up at once. Without saying a word she took Thaddeus over and began cleaning off his cuts and scrapes. She bandaged him up and then did the same for Galen.
“Can you tell me where we might find a boat?” Galen asked when she finished fixing them up.
“I think there might be some boats down the river a bit, you need one?”
“Yes, we’re looking to find the sorcerers colony, are we on the right track?”
She frowned. “Don’t know why you’d want to go to a place like that, but sure a boat will take you there.”
They thanked her and left the little village.
Only a few minutes later they came to another hut. A couple small boats were laid out on the bank of the river. Galen went inside and Thaddeus stayed out. He was growing tired and hungry and took that time to rest. He watched the water and saw little fish swimming in it.
Galen came out counting the money in his pouch.
“I thought it would be more.” He said merrily. “We have this boat for three days. I’ve no idea how I’m supposed to get it back. I don’t think he’ll mind.”
“Maybe we can get one of the sorcerers to make it come back on its own.” Thaddeus suggested.
“Good thinking, Thad.”
Galen tossed the boat in the water while holding the rope like a leash. He walked the boat down the river a little until they found a suitable place to board it at. Thaddeus jumped in and Galen followed. He took an oar, there was only one, and steered the boat away from the edges.
The river grew wider and the water rose every time a little stream emptied into it.
“I’m very proud of you, Thad.” Galen said out of the blue while the boat glided peacefully through the water.
Thaddeus searched for meaning. “How so?”
“I think that you’re a very strong little kid for getting through this so well. I’d be a complete mess if I had to go through what you’re going through.”
“Oh, well thanks.” Thaddeus said, not sure what else to say.
“Are you alright?”
“Yes.” Thaddeus lied. He tried so hard not to think about what was going on in a negative way, but the more Galen talked the harder it became to avoid the negative thoughts.
“If you ever need to talk about it, I’m here.”
Thaddeus felt really awkward all of the sudden. “I’m good.” He said forcefully.
Galen took the hint and stopped talking.
The day passed quietly. There weren’t any more rapids. The water remained smooth the whole way.
Thaddeus wished very much they had something to eat. Breakfast in the castle seemed so long ago. He wasn’t used to going so long without food.
Evening came and went and then the night descended on them. They had no lights and had to tread cautiously to make sure they didn’t run aground.
The world was calm that night. The only noise was the water and the usual night noises of bugs on the shore.
A couple hours into the night a light shined bright through the darkness. It floated above the middle of the river. It looked like it was hanging from a rope, but when they got closer it was clear that it was a lantern floating in midair. They passed under it. More lights appeared on the shore to the left. They were all floating lanterns. They could see little cabins in the light.
Galen steered the boat over to the left shore. He jumped out onto a patch of sand and pulled the boat onto the sand and out of the water. Thaddeus stepped out and they climbed the ledge up to the grassy edge of the riverbank.
Cabins stretched into the distance, all with floating lanterns somewhere around them.
“I guess this is it.” Galen said. “Who else could make all these lanterns float? Do you still have the amulet?”
Thaddeus reached in his pocket. “Yeah, still got it.”
Galen put his hand on the boy’s shoulder. “I hope this goes well. You should be back with your parents by morning.”
“I’m going to wish for you to come to.”
“Don’t worry about me, kid.”
“You’re my friend. I have to worry.”
Galen laughed. “I definitely don’t deserve a friend like you.”
All the sorcerers were inside the cabins. Some had their doors open and could be seen sitting and reading.
Galen caught the eye of someone sitting inside through the open door. He came out and greeted them. He was middle aged and wore purple robes and carried a book.
“Real visitors.” He said happily. “It sure has been a while. What brings you by tonight?”
“This boy has arrived on our side of the world by mistake and needs to make it back to his family.” Galen said, not wasting any time.
“The sorcerer looked at Thaddeus carefully. “You say he’s from where now?”
“The other side of our world. Do you not know of the other side?”
“I’m afraid not. But here’s what I’
ll do. I’ll go look it up in the big book. Here, come on inside, it looks like you’ve been through a lot.” He opened a small gate and let them into his home.