The Keeper of the Stones

Chapter 43



‘Home’



Jake stepped into the light with Ben’s stiffened body falling just ahead of him. For a split second or two his senses were overloaded by a kaleidoscope of different, brightly coloured lights. He found himself whirling round and round inside some kind of vortex, a long, blurred tube which seemed to have no visible end. Both of its sides seemed to be constructed from a cacophony of different sounds and sights, none of which he could identify clearly no matter how hard he tried, as he hurtled past them at breakneck speed.

Everything was different this time. When he’d past through the light before, he had felt and seen nothing, travelling through its entirety in what seemed like the blink of an eye. But now, for the briefest of moments, he was experiencing fully the whole journey. It was a weird and wonderful sensation. The wildest ride of his short life so far!

The haziness ahead of him seemed to suddenly tear itself apart, opening up rapidly to reveal the lush green ground ahead. But he was hurtling towards his landing far too fast for his liking and Jake braced himself for the impending impact. He bounced off the grass and ended up flat out on his stomach. He took a second or two to recover and, winded a little, rose to his knees to take a couple of deep breaths.

Then, he remembered Ben. His best friend was only a few feet away from him, lying motionless on his back with his mouth closed. His body was still as stiff as a board and his complexion was still worryingly white. His eyes were wide open but he didn’t blink.

Jake looked around in a frantic attempt to get his bearings. He was happy and relieved to find that they’d returned to Harry’s front lawn. The light had worked just as he had hoped!

He immediately began looking around, searching desperately for someone to help him. A Police car was parked at the end of the drive but he could see that there was no one inside. He looked over at his granddad’s house, the front door was wide open. ‘That’s not a good sign,’ he thought, ‘why is it open?’

He shifted his concerned gaze towards the large front window, he could see through it clearly, right into Harry’s living room. Terry Faulkner and another Policeman were there, they seemed to be chatting, he screamed urgently at the top of his voice, begging them for help.

“Oh my God!” shouted Terry, as he rushed outside. “Jake! What...? Jake, where the hell have you been? Your family have been... Ben? Is that Ben? What’s happened to him? What’s all that blood? Oh sh...”

Terry saw the state Ben was in and he was seriously concerned. He was about to swear but he stopped himself as his instincts took over and he reached for his radio to call for an ambulance. His Police colleague applied pressure to Ben’s wounds in an attempt to stop the bleeding at the same time.

“Jake! Talk to me. You both look like you’ve been in a war! What’s going on? You’ve been posted as missing. We’ve had people out searching everywhere. Your poor mum and dad have been beside themselves.” stated Terry, as soon as he’d radioed Control.

Jake didn’t answer. He didn’t know what to say and all he could think about now was Ben.

“Alright, never mind, Jake.” said Terry. “You’re obviously in shock. We’ll talk later, let’s see to Ben, eh?” Jake nodded at him and still said nothing.

A few minutes later, they heard the approaching wails of a siren. The ambulance screeched to a halt at the end of the drive and parked up just behind the Police car. The Paramedics exited their vehicle, grabbed their equipment and immediately ran over to where Ben lay on the grass.

“Okay, we’ll take it from here.” one of them said, kneeling down quickly to examine Ben. “He’s in a bad way! You boy, what has he taken? Drugs, yeah? What drugs? I need to know, please. And where did he get these wounds?” he shouted at Jake. But still the young boy didn’t reply.

“Hey! Listen to me. We’re gonna have to get him to hospital and quick! Look, snap out of it!” He turned to Terry in frustration. “Sarge, he’s not helping. We have to get going! We don’t have much time!” rasped the Paramedic, realising the urgency of Ben’s case and desperate to minimise any delay.

Ben was placed in the rear of the ambulance and taken to hospital. Jake travelled with him in complete silence, whilst the Policemen followed closely behind in their car. When they arrived at A and E, everything and everyone was already waiting for them and a team of doctors and nurses immediately whisked Ben away to an Operating Theatre. Jake was left standing alone at the entrance, struggling with his emotions and unsure what to do. Then, Terry arrived, having pulled up just behind the ambulance.

“Come on, Jake. Come with me, we’ll go to the reception area, they’ll take him to theatre I’d imagine, he’ll need expert care and you won’t be allowed to go in mate. Let’s go and get a cup of tea or something, eh? And we’ll get your parents. They’ll want to be informed, won’t they? Err... What do you reckon about Ben? Should we phone his dad, do ya think?” he asked, using all his experience to deliberately engage Jake in conversation and trying to shake him out of his obvious state of shock.

“Huh?” replied Jake in a daze. “Wh... Err, yeah. I mean, I suppose so.”

Terry placed his arm around him comfortingly and led him away the short distance to Reception. He sat Jake down on a chair and walked over to the vending machine to buy them both some drinks. As Terry stood by the machine, fumbling about in his pocket for change, Jake sat staring blindly into the space in front of him, looking at nothing and no one in particular.

Everything seemed to be blurred. He was completely and utterly shattered. His eyesight and his mind were now acting as one it seemed, both of them unable to achieve the clarity he sought. In the midst of the bleariness ahead of him, he noticed a black shape on the wall and he shook his head from side to side, blinking several times in an attempt to focus on it. As it became gradually clearer, he saw that it was a digital clock. The time was showing as one thirty pm. The sight of the modern technology cleared his mind somehow and he looked at Terry, who was walking over to him with the drinks.

‘Oh, Christ.’ he thought, as the Policeman approached. ‘How am I going to explain everything that’s happened?’

Terry handed him a drink and sat down. “You know, you’ve scared a lot of people, Jake. We thought you were dead.”

“Yeah... I’m sorry, Terry. I suppose I’d better phone home?”

“Eh? No need. They won’t be there mate. They’ve been living here at the hospital, looking after Harry.”

“What??!!” exclaimed Jake. “What did you say?”

“Harry. He’s alive, Jake. You thought he was...? No, he’s in a coma, he’s lost his arm and he’s hooked up to all sorts of machines, but the doctor’s are hopeful he’ll...”

“Yesss!!!” Jake shouted out triumphantly. He shot up and grabbed Terry’s head to kiss it. “Ha ha!!! I knew it!! You beauty!!! You absolute star!!! Quick Terry, take me to them! Please mate, I have to see them. There’s so much I have to say.”

* * *



Jake and Terry walked briskly down the long hospital corridor. A million and one thoughts were rushing through Jake’s head as they stopped outside the door to a small side room.

“He’s in here.” said Terry, reaching for the door handle.

“No. Please, Terry. Let me will ya?” asked Jake, stopping him in his tracks. “I think this is a family moment? Can we have a little privacy please?” he begged.

Terry nodded reluctantly. “Okay, Jake. I guess you’re right, as you wish. But, I still want to talk! You’re not getting off that easily. I’ll be in Reception, checking on Ben.”

Terry walked off and Jake slowly and quietly opened the door. He peered around it to see his mother and father sitting either side of Harry, who was lying on the bed, an oxygen mask covering his face and a bandaged stump where his arm used to be. His mum was fast asleep in her chair, she looked completely worn out. But his dad was awake and holding Harry’s hand. Graham turned around slowly to see who had opened the door.

“Jake!!” he screamed in amazement. “Oh my... Thank the Lord! June! June! It’s Jake!” he shouted excitedly, as he bolted out of his chair and rushed to hug his son.

He flung his arms around him in complete ecstasy. June jumped up startled, awoken from her deep sleep, she took a split second to realise what was happening and then burst into tears, sobbing uncontrollably with the relief of seeing her son alive and, reeling with shock and delight, she found that she was unable to move. Jake led his father over to her and they all hugged each other and cried openly. It was several minutes before any of them were able to speak. But eventually, Jake broke the silence.

“Granddad, how’s granddad? He’s gonna be alright, isn’t he? What are the doctors saying?” he asked.

“We don’t know, Jay.” replied Graham. “It’s touch and go. He’s lost a lot of blood. They couldn’t save his arm, the doctors said they were amazed he survived the attack. What happened, Jake? You were there, weren’t you? They said it looks like a sword wound, because it’s so clean? How? Wh... Where have you been, Jake? It’s been six days. Six days! We’ve been worried sick. What... Whose blood is that on you? What’s going on? And who’s ‘Sawgon?’ Dad was delirious at first, before he lapsed into this coma. He was calling out your name, and saying something about a ‘Sawgon?’ Is he...?”

“Stop it! Not now, Graham!” interrupted June. “I don’t care where he’s been! Not right now. I’m just glad to have him back.” she said, as she hugged son once more. “Ben. Where’s Ben?” she asked, after a moment or two, realising that her son’s perpetual shadow was missing.

Jake swallowed hard and looked her in the eye. “He’s hurt too, mum. He’s in a bad way. He’s...”

“What??” snapped Graham. “What the hell...?”

“Dad! Stop! Please? I will explain, I promise. Okay, I suppose this is the time to do it. Ohh geez this is hard! I… Right, I’m not sure I’m really doing the right thing, but we may not have much time. Well, okay listen... This family has been through way too much pain ‘cos of the secrets we’ve kept from each other.” he said, noticing immediately their confused and concerned expressions.

“I think now that it’s time to... That is, I think we owe it to ourselves to be completely honest with each other from now on. No more secrets. No more lies. Okay? Only the truth. We have to learn to trust each other. I’m gonna start that from today. Mum, dad… I promise you, that from this moment on, I will always tell you the truth. And I’ll keep nothing from you both. Okay, are you both ready? This is what I have to say. This is what has happened to me, to us. It’s the truth, I swear.

Granddad and Ben are both now fighting for their lives. They could die! And they’re both here, because of me. Because I foolishly chose to unlock secrets that had been buried for years. Buried, with good reason. Because I was arrogant and naive enough to believe that I could change the way of the world. Huh, the ways of different worlds. Oh mum, I’ve made mistakes that have cost others dear. I should never have... I-I really thought I could prove to everyone that I was worthy of my legacy, that I deserved the tremendous honour that had been bestowed upon me by those who aided my ancestors. I…”

“Jake!” interrupted a bewildered Graham. “What the hell are you talk...”

“Please dad! Let me finish? I have to say this!” replied Jake firmly.

Graham could see the determination in his son’s face. He nodded once at him and sat down in his chair, inviting him to continue, as June did the same.

“I know how all of this sounds. But I’m not the boy I was, dad. I’ve changed in the past six days. I’ve had to! I have a story to tell you that’ll blow you both away. But hear me out, please. I’m not mad. And I swear to you, it’s all true. You’ll both have to be strong. From this moment on, all our lives will never be the same again. Dad... Above all else, you have to know this; Grandad really loves you! He always has. He’s sacrificed more for you than you’ll ever know. He placed the future of this world, and countless others, at risk, to protect you! And you never even knew it. He’s never told you, because he loves you, and he didn’t want to endanger your life. I know that the scars run deep in our family, that it’s very painful to talk about what’s happened, but if by some miracle he survives, you have to forgive each other and move on!” Jake stated, staring directly into his father’s eyes.

was now fighting back tears of his own. “We already have, Jay.” he said, nodding gently to his son and feeling like their roles had been reversed somehow; that Jake was talking to him, as his own father might.

Jake turned to look at his mother. “Mum, oh mum... You’ve always been my main source of inspiration. You’ve always been there for me, and I don’t think I’ve ever told you how much I love you for that. I’m going to need you now, more than ever. You have to promise me, that Ben will have a place in our home if he survives, for as long as he needs it.”

June looked lovingly at her son through her tears. “Jake, you’re talking in riddles. I’ve never heard you talk this way before. I’m sure I don’t understand what’s going on. I’m hoping you’re going to tell us? But you didn’t have to ask that of me, of course Ben is welcome in our house, for as long as he wants. He practically lives there now anyway.” she answered, smiling slightly in an attempt to relieve the tension.

Jake looked around the hospital room. Everything seemed so strange to him now, the bed, the furniture, the wires and monitors attached to Harry. It was all too... Modern. It was almost as if he didn’t belong there. Despite the deep love that he felt for his parents, he knew deep down, right there and then, that he would soon have to say goodbye to them again. He knew that this time, he wasn’t going to stay at home for too long, he was going to keep his word and return to Estia, as soon as he had news of how Ben was doing. He felt an irresistible pull to return to Rhuaddan, and finish what he’d begun. He knew the risks, but he accepted them willingly, there were thousands, millions of people depending on him, people he cared about, people who trusted him, and people to whom he’d made a promise.

‘I have to go back. I just have to! The entire population of Estia are looking to me to change their lives for the better.’ he thought to himself, as he stared into his parent’s loving eyes. ‘Nobody else can do it. I’m the one who’s been chosen to protect them. The Spirits and Tien have placed their trust in me. I know I’m just an ordinary teenager from Lichfield, and that this whole thing is unreal. I’m nothing special, and I’m not even sure I’m up to the task. But... Well, I have to try, I’m not just a young boy in their world, I’m respected, I’m important. I’m... The Keeper!’

Jake took a deep breath as he thought of how he was going to begin his explanation of everything that had happened. He coughed slightly to clear his throat.

“Okay,” he said, “mum, dad. Here it is.....