Dwellers of the New World Chapter Thirteen ( Pt 7 ) Friendships

Liora made her way down to Harebell Passage. Feelings of despair were running through her mind at the thought of those poor children being taken from their families. As she walked, her train of thought was interrupted, as on the way she met up with Gibor. She decided to ask him if he would find out if there was an Evelyne or Nathen in one of the valleys and if so which one.

As always the big man wasn't eager to hang about, but agreed to make enquiries. It amused Liora that he was always in a hurry to get somewhere or other, so she said her farewells and went on her way. Finally she reached the entrance to the tunnel and picked up one of the torches, then made her waydown the passageway, the wind whistled as it always did down the tunnels. Liora could see the figure of a woman coming the other way and carried on walking towards her. “Hello...who's there?” Her voice echoed down the passageway.

“Is that you Liora?” Came a voice in return.

“Yes! Who's there.”

“It's me...Usha!” Came the reply.

The two women approached each other hugging, then rubbing noses as they always did. Usha kissed her friend on the cheek, pleased to see her.

“How are you Usha and how is your man? I haven't seen you for a while.” Liora was always pleased to see her friend.

“Oh! We're fine,” was Usha's reply. “I've just come from the jetties, it seems a ship came in yesterday morning with a new batch of orphaned children.”

Liora's smile turned glum, as she remembered what Ben had told her. “About those children?” She declared. “Yes...what about them?” Usha looked puzzled at her friends change of expression. “I find this really hard to put in to words...but!” She paused hardly able to get out what she was trying to say.

“What is it Liora?” Asked Usha, now worried at what the woman was about to tell her.

“Well...those children are not orphans, they're kidnapped from the mainland...they all have families and we never knew.”

Usha was suddenly shocked at this news. “What! But how do you know this? Who would do such a thing?” Usha put her hands on the Liora's shoulders, tears suddenly welling up.

Liora looked Usha in the eyes and wiped her tears away. “Bad men came from the mainland and brought them here. Look...I need to get down to the jetty and find a child by the name of Varden...you remember him don't you?”

Usha wiped her eyes, suddenly remembering the boy. “Of course I remember him, his Mother searched for him in vain, she wept for so long after he was gone.”

“Well...there's not only children being taken from the mainland, but from here as well. Varden was one of them and now he's back and being held prisoner by a man named Bracus, I have to help him escape.” Liora looked the woman in the eyes. “Do you want to help me? The more people I can trust the better.”

“Yes...of course I'll help!” Replied Usha, “but you know those children are looking quite ill and they have hardly any clothes on, apart from some sacking.”

“Then we must help them, but it's not going to be easy...there's a lot of bad men around who will do anything to stop us.” Liora took Usha's hand, they turned and made their way down the passageways. They shone the torches casting shadows on the walls and eventually found some steps. Climbing down they entered another tunnel, which eventually led them out into daylight and the path.

“Over there...look!” uttered Usha, pointing in the direction of the jetty. The two women could see the Flying Fish. Men were unloading cargo, but the children were no longer in sight.

“Quick...follow me!” declared Liora, taking her friend's hand once more. They made their way down to the dock and waited for some of the men to leave the ship. Finally two men approached the women.

“You look lost...can we help you?” Enquired one of the men, who couldn't believe that two beautiful women would be down here alone.

Quickly Liora spoke up. “We're looking for a man by the name of Bracus, I was told this was his ship...do you know where we can find him?”

The two men gazed at one another and smiled smugly. “Yeah! We know Bracus...he's gone down to Clear Wing Valley...plans to build cabins there, he does.”

The two women didn't want to hang around and so quickly made their escape. “Thank you for your time...that's all we need to know.”

One of the men went to speak as the two women turned to walk away. “I'd be careful though...you don't wanna cross him, he's in no mood for being bothered...got a bad leg he has, which makes him irritable and bad tempered.”

“We'll bare that in mind and try not to upset him,” said Liora, before turning to her friend and saying. “Not too much anyway!” They both giggled and walked away. The two women made their way down the path till they came to Brimstone passage. With torches still in hand, they made their way inside...a shiver ran through Liora as they entered, feelings of desolation swiftly made its way through the woman. She was picking up on the children and could feel what was going through their minds. Sometimes she wished her spirit wasn't so susceptible to the feelings of others.

It was quite a way to the other end of the tunnel, but at least it was a straight passageway, without any twists and turns and no steps, which Liora thought was probably why he'd picked that valley, it would be easier for carrying the timber for building. Liora didn't like the new way of building, she preferred her mud lodge, it was so warm inside and the trees were safe from being chopped down.

When the two women came out the other end of the passage, they could hear the sound of voices in the distance. Placing their torches down between two rocks, they stooped and crept along the path, keeping their heads down below the snowy verge, so as not to be seen. The snow had stopped falling, but the wind had left an embankment of thick snow, which made an ideal lookout without being seen.

Liora wasn't about to show herself yet, first she wanted to get the feel of the situation before she announced their presence. The two women could see the children, they were now wearing fur skins and being ordered about. “Well! At least they're not just in sacking now.” Whispered Liora.

“What do you intend on doing to free them?” Enquired Usha, wondering what the woman's plans were.

“I'm not sure,” replied Liora. “But the first thing to do is find Varden, then we'll have a better idea of the whereabouts of Bracus.”

“I don't even know if I'd recognise Varden any more,” commented Usha. “It was such a long time ago.”

“Don't worry...I'll know him if I see him...call it intuition, that's why I have the gift,” replied Liora, touching her friend's shoulder. Peeking over the embankment again they could see some men building temporary accommodation and some were building fires. Then from behind they heard voices, men were coming with more timber.  “Quick!” Whispered Liora. “We need to hide!” The two women ran along the path, till they came to another entrance and hid just inside.

Dwellers of the New World Chapter Thirteen ( Pt 8 ) Making Plans | ABCtales