Chapter Six: Hay and starlight

“Ha!” Jerry said out back, “That was a surprise, I would’ve sworn she would put us on chopping duty, but hey… We get the barn again, NEVER expected that one, seriously.”

Calin smiled and said, “Yeah me too, it’s going to be different, lodging there again after so many years. Come to think of it, we could probably get away with having some house-leave for ourselves at night. That will be awesome.”

“Yes!” Jerry was rubbing his hands together next to him as he agreed enthusiastically, “We should hurry with our chores after we get our stuff here, I’m so excited! What, it’s been years since we tried something late at night. Remember that time we snuck into the Jacobs’ apple plantation and plucked a whole basket full of apples and drew a picture with them before the workers cottage? I would’ve loved to see the ground keepers face that next morning.”

“Yes, that was amazing. Bummer that Evany caught us red handed. I remember her black mailing us for weeks after that, the little snake.” Calin chuckled at the memories, “I still think it was your fault she caught us, Jerry.”

Jerry’s smile faded a bit and he muttered, “I remember it differently.”

Smirking, Calin pointed out, “No you don’t. You’re the one who told me the next day that you wished you hadn’t accidently kicked that bucket over.”

Not missing the flash of remembrance on Jerry’s face, Calin laughed and said,

“Those were nice times, good thing I smoothed things over with the girl. She was picking heavily on you.”

Jerry shot him a dark look, but then hopped along as he grinned broadly at something.

The boy shot towards the barn, without warning, shouting back at Calin.

“Last one there gets barn cleaning duty first!”

Not so fast. Calin thought while grinning mischievously, he was faster than Jerry. He sprung forward at the boy before the distance between them increased and pulled Jerry back by his shirt and dashed past the boy.

Sprinting ahead towards the barn, Jerry protested heavily from behind. “Not Fair! You cheated.”

Calin kept his pace while laughing and called back. “Coming from someone who ‘don’t’ cheat?” But just then his foot got hooked on a root sticking out of the ground and he stumbled heavily.

Though he quickly regained his footing, it was too late as Jerry came sailing past him, all the while laughing at the sudden turn in favour.

The boy ran into the barn, but then he came running straight back out saying, “Eww! The whole floor is covered in dead rats. I’m not touching them!”

Staring at Jerry in utter disbelief, Calin couldn’t remember the boy ever being so squeamish before.

Jerry huffed at his expression.

“I don’t do rats. Ever!”

After regaining his breath, Calin said, “I’m not touching them either, though seeing you like rats so much you can have the honour.” Bowing at his own words.

Not missing the boy’s glare, Calin smiled, but it was wiped from his face when Jerry got a wicked glint in his eyes.

“Oh no, but correct me if I’m wrong, Shorty, but you lost the race, so you get to clean up our rat friends there.”

Surprised at the quick turn of events, Calin wanted to protest, but Jerry had a point, so he shrugged and mumbled under his breath. “I’m so going to get you for this one.”

The tall boy’s characteristic loud laugh echoed through the barn from behind him, Jerry probably had a superior smug look on his face.

With effort, Calin resisted the urge to tackle the ‘smug one’ and went to work removing the dead rats with a shovel.

After disposing of the stinking rats and most of the unwanted tools, dirt and some hay from the area behind the loads of barrels in the barn, Calin accompanied Jerry to get something to sleep on, with some pillows.

***

The two spent the rest of their afternoon dawdling about the edges of the Jacobs’ farm. Jerry even got thrown in the back after making an off side comment to one of the Jacobs girls. Even so the girl in question was smiling.

Calin kept his distance, just in the mood to watch Jerry’s antics disturbing the girls from their work. The first hit was something light and small and Calin couldn’t help but wonder if Jerry would take an apple to the head next. Through it all he just laughed at the boy.

But then Calin’s eyes met Ashley Jacobs’ eyes as he caught her staring at him from her perch, on a ladder in one of the many apple trees. The moment he caught her looking at him, she jerked and almost tumbled from her ladder before going back to what she was busy with. Calin chuckled, going back to throwing small pebbles at a wooden pole.

As Calin predicted, a discarded apple was the arsenal of Evany next as she chucked it with remarkable precision at Jerry’s chest.

Luckily the boy caught it, though it had been a close call.

After a couple of hours they headed back and the night settled in, Calin brought a couple of battery powered lanterns for them and looked around the big barn for a nice place to make his den.

The faded yellow paint that edged the walls gave the barn its old look. Though he was not entirely sure how old it truly was, but his guesses would be close to seventy years at least.

Up top was the loft. He sighed with remembrance. It had been almost six years since he had last been up there. It always served as a quiet spot of solitude back when he was still confused about everything; especially his memory loss, the mystery of his parents, and getting to know the life he woke up to, being the main source of it.

Looking around the two story barn, Calin decided to try and find a spot up the ladder on the wooden loft to sleep.

With some effort, he moved some of the heavy barrels to make a pathway to the slightly hidden ladder.

Once on the second story, he smiled to see a small window in the side of the yellow wall. Perfect. He quickly went to work to get his mattress and bedding there.

Calin moved a few crates closer to the ladder and decided they could give him some workspace. There was a slight creak in some of the boards, but it didn’t bother him overly much. He completed his bed and stood up.

Jerry’s grumbling sounded faint on the bottom floor, but he ignored it as he spotted a large stash of old fiction novels.

Not able to help but smile, he dragged his hand over the dusty covers and picked up one of the books he had treasured so much those many years back. He dusted off the book admiring it.

Though the books portrayed many things that any boy that had nothing would yearn for, they were never real.

He dusted off one last book before he walked back towards his bed. He fell onto the bed with a sigh of relief and looked at the few stars shining out through the window and the moon winking at the corner of his sight.

He rubbed his shoulder deeper into the mattress, making a quick mental note that he would have to ask Misses Talsen first thing in the morning for something to take the edge off the itch on his shoulder. It had annoyed him since the morning and it had only gotten more noticeable as the day went on.

He let his hands stray to his warm pockets, settling in more comfortably. He frowned slightly when something pressed against his right hip.

He quickly stuck his hand deeper in his pocket and drew the ring out. He hadn’t taken notice of it in such a long while; the main part being the ring was always too big. Yet as he placed it onto his right index finger, it fit quite perfectly to his surprise. He smiled at the new knowledge and played with it on his finger, but something odd happened.

The ring caught the natural light coming through the window, and the fine engraved glyphs on the two sides started to glow with a very faint blue, but disappeared soon after as he drew his hand closer to his face out of the dim natural light.

Calin sat upright, not quite believing what he had just seen. The ring started to glow again as it caught the light again, this was news to him.

He stared intently at the glowing ring. Then warmth enveloped his finger around the inside of the ring. He almost tore it from his finger, but it didn’t become any hotter than a mild heat as it basked in the starlight for a short while.

“What the…?”

The glow he could understand. These days you could find numerous objects that could glow in the dark, but a ring glowing and giving off heat was something he hadn’t seen before. He stared intently at the object.

It seemed an hour had passed, but it was only a minute before he finally dropped his gaze away and fumbled with the warm ring on his finger, mumbling, “hmmm I wonder if…” he looked back at the ring and hid it away from the starlight. And as expected, the glyphs stopped their faint glow but the heat ebbed away more slowly. He took it back into the starlight, just confirming his suspicions on natural light giving its glow and warmth. What an odd little thing you are.

As he drew the ring off of his finger, Calin looked on the inside of the band. Three distinct gem-like materials completed the circle. On closer inspection he was quite astounded at the workmanship of the ring. It would take a small fortune to buy anything like this in a shop.

What surprised him the most was the fact that he never realized it had any of those features before.

Though, for years he couldn’t bear looking at the ring without grief striking him. Still, not once over the years had he seen the finer details of it. But now it was painfully obvious; a true treasure.

Calin pondered calling Jerry and even took the breath for it, but then again, he wondered if the boy would only make fun of it.

With a chuckle at the preposterous boy, Calin went back to gazing at the ring on his finger, wondering anew if his parents really had cared for him, giving him such a wondrous gift.

It felt true for the first time in his life, but it only lasted a moment before he shrugged. Seven years had passed and he was still here at the orphanage with no sign of his parents. It destroyed most of the hope of them caring for him. He plucked the ring from his finger and set it on the box next to him.

A deep sigh escaped his lips, but before the all too familiar troubling thoughts could invade his mind. His drowsy eyes betrayed him for the safe confines of sleep…