Jack rested; he had made good progress, despite his throbbing leg. He reckoned he was more than half way to the gorge Orion had asked him to go to. He probably had around three more hours of walking to do. Feeling peckish, Jack thought it was time for a rest and a bite to eat. He had found a secluded clearing next to the river. At this point it flowed gently into deep pools before continuing its journey downstream.
Jack rested on an old stump, slipped his rucksack from his shoulders, stretched his muscles and sat down. As he ate his sandwich, he noticed small ripples glistening on the smooth surface of the river, as fish fed and swam lazily in the deep, dark pools.
Jack breathed in deeply, enjoying the peace and quiet. He watched the clouds move slowly across the night’s sky and heard the haunting hoot of an owl. He used to love sitting by the river with Briony, watching the moon or the sun rise or fall and listening to the sounds of the forest.
‘That’s it, my love, keep thinking of all the positive memories,’ his wife’s voice floated comfortingly on the wind.
As he brushed away a tear, he spotted a brown rat with black, beady eyes looking at him inquisitively. Its nose was twitching eagerly as it smelt the meat inside Jack’s sandwich.
‘Want some?’ Jack asked and threw it a bit of sausage. The rat ate hungrily.
Laughing, Jack went to throw a second piece towards the rat but accidently dropped it on his leg. The rat jumped and promptly landed on his knee. She ate quickly; then sat patiently, expecting more.
‘Well bless me, if you aren’t a bold one!’ Jack laughed again, but continued to share his food. It was strange, but his aching leg felt better, the warmth from the rat eased it slightly.
The rat scrambled up onto Jack’s shoulder and looked around intently from her new vantage spot, she seemed to be looking for something. Jack offered the rat another piece of his sausage. The rat leaned eagerly towards it and fell - straight into Jack’s shirt pocket.
Jack felt the rat panic, turn and twist quickly, as it tried to find a way out. Finally, he felt the rat’s sharp claws find a foothold in his shirt. It poked its head out of the pocket, paused for a moment and then leapt and toppled comically into the long grass before disappearing into a hole. Something glinted brightly as the rat fell, Briony’s bracelet had got caught up in the rat’s legs.
Moving quickly, Jack was relieved to see that the bracelet had become lodged at the entrance of the hole. Breathing quickly and shaking visibly, Jack picked it up, and held it up in the air for inspection. Comforted to see there was no apparent damage, he returned it to the safety of his shirt pocket.
Hoping that the list was also undamaged, he inspected it next and found it to be intact - the three items that needed completing stood out dimly against the white of the paper. He sighed wearily and once more Briony’s voice chided -‘Remember, never give up.’
Meanwhile, the rat hid silently, shaking in a hole near Jack’s feet. She breathed rapidly and tried to calm herself down. She had been nervous at the beginning of this task; humans were so unpredictable and she had been unsure whether Jack would be friendly or not. Most humans hated rats!
As she had fallen to the ground, the weight of the bracelet caught in her claws had made her twist painfully but that had miraculously worked in her favour. It had allowed the bracelet to be partially hidden as she fell and also allowed her a few extra precious seconds without Jack noticing a thing. Now, all that she needed was for Jack to pick up the other bracelet that lay on the ground at his feet. The rat felt her heart beat faster as Jack examined the bracelet he had picked up. She desperately hoped he would not discover the switch. She sighed quietly as he placed it in his pocket, and her relief was enormous.
On the rat’s back, in a special pouch, now nestled Briony’s bracelet and in Jack’s pocket lay another. Once Jack moved, she would be on her way back to her mistress, all of her tasks successfully completed. The rat was exhausted and looked forward to going home. Being close to an owl, two wolf cubs and a human had been hard, dangerous work.
Jack shrugged the rucksack onto his back and started to move. His leg felt much better for the rest. In fact, he puzzled, it felt as good as new and strong enough to walk to Violette’s apartment. He had an urgent need to check on his daughter. An unsettling thought had been growing in his mind. What if the legends were true and Darius had pulled Violette into the wave? He did not believe Darius was capable of such a thing, but Violette had been very unpredictable at the time.
Jack’s mind was made up, after he had seen Orion, he would definitely visit Violette. He wanted answers and his daughter was coming home.
He hoped to see Dawn; perhaps she could then take a message to Elina quicker than he could walk. At least Orion’s troubles were in the same direction.