Reaching Norvys

Chapter 2

I opened the door a little bit to see who was outside before opening it wider at seeing the wrinkled hands and amber eyes. It was Granny Carne. She looked worried along with another unfathomable emotion.
"What have you done now, child?" she said, her rich voice, suddenly sharp.

I wrung my hands and quickly gabbled, "It wasn't Faro's fault! Please don't hurt him!"

Granny Carne laughed and strode in. "Do not worry child, I am not angry. Take me to him."

I quickly took her to the kitchen where Conor was still dabbing antiseptic in the wound. It was still bleeding rapidly. I had never been much of a healer or anyone good with injuries. I winced as Faro hissed with pain.
Granny Carne's face softened when she saw Conor. I'd always known she'd liked Conor better. When Conor noticed she was in the room, he relaxed. I supposed being the adult figure in a situation like this was difficult.

"Granny Carne!" he exclaimed.

"Conor," she said warmly. "Let me take a look at the injury."

He stepped away from Faro's legs. "They won't stop bleeding. If it doesn't clot soon, he'll die from blood loss."

Granny Carne sat down by Faro.

"What is your name?" she asked, her voice low.

"Faro..." he hissed in pain and I suppressed a whimper.

"You are the guardian of Norvys, aren't you? You feel like Earth. It's constricting. It hurts." He moaned.

She laid a hand on his forehead. "Let go of Ingo. You are holding on too tightly. It's the reason you are bleeding like it will never end. You are not in water. Do not try to provide more water." Her voice was stern and as I watched, Faro slowly tensed and relaxed so fast; it was like someone had cut his strings. I couldn't stop myself and ran to his side.

Granny Carne smiled. "Good. Now, let's see what I can do about the nasty wound."

She put her hands above the wound and as I watched, the shredded flesh seemed to be ageing at an accelerated rate until it looked several months older. Unfortunately, so was she. She leant back in her chair, her wrinkles suddenly more prominent, her amber eyes duller.

Conor looked curious. "Elvira healed like that too. How come..." he seemed unwilling to finish his sentence. Granny Carne did it for him.

"How come Earth heals the same way? Healing is all the same. We all are in a way. The wound will not heal unless the subject wants it too. Unfortunately, though Faro has relinquished Ingo, Ingo is less than eager to do the same. This is all I can do. It will have to heal naturally from here. Unfortunately, he will not be able to go back to Ingo for a long time now. Two or three weeks at least, or else he'll kill himself with the strain of the change." Granny Carne calmly explained.

The trapped feeling surged again as she recovered her strength and I winced at the intensity. So did Faro and he seemed to leave us for a moment...before his eyes snapped open, very wide.

I sighed with relief and gripped his hand which he squeezed weakly.

"I'm well, Sapphire..." he breathed lightly, a teasing tone to his voice, even now.

"That's all very well that he's alive; but how do we explain his presence here? In a small town like Senara, a new person is sure to be noticed. By this time in the evening, everyone in Senara will know of the mysterious boy who was with Conor and Sapphire. What do we do then?" said Conor, from the corner, his face darker than usual. I couldn't blame him; we were in a sticky dilemma.

Granny Carne merely smiled though. "No one will suspect a thing if I tell them he's with me."

Suddenly my head whirred with the perfect way to spin this twist in my life.

"Say that Faro's your grandson...from..."

"Plymouth, we claimed to go there when on the Crossing of Ingo." said Conor. I shot him a look. "What? Someone is going to notice how well we know him. That's our best excuse."

I smiled. "Faro will be Granny Carne's grandson from Plymouth and his mother's in hospital because of a car accident, and he hasn't anywhere to go to apart from here. He could stay until his 'mother' is released out of hospital. That'll explain the cuts on his legs too."

Faro looked confused. "What's a car?" he asked, his brows furrowed. I faintly giggled and replied, 'I'll tell you later."

"And what about school, Sapphire?" said Conor. I looked at him, puzzled. Conor had never called me Sapphire. Only ever Saph or Sapphy. He was angry with me, angrier than he had ever been before.

"Well, there are only two more days of school left. The Christmas Holiday starts on Tuesday. Faro can stay with Granny for those days and then we can show Faro around until he's well enough to go back into Ingo." I said. I was still confused as to why Conor was acting like I was an amoeba but it would have to wait. I then turned to Granny Carne.

"Are you okay with that?" I asked her.

She nodded, 'Though I suggest great-grandson might be more appropriate, There are some like Alice Trewhidden who remember that I did not leave Cornwall or have any familial relationships." I glanced at Faro and Granny Carne. Surprisingly, they looked very alike. Both of their skins were dark and their eyes were usually sharp and determined, with suppressed amusement. Just like Conor looked like Granny Carne and Faro too. I was the only one who looked different. I took after Mum, not Dad.

"Now this is over, I'm going to find Rainbow. We'll be picnicking in St. Pirans. I think if she saw the state of the house, she'd more than likely panic. See you in the evening Sapphire." said Conor, his voice colder than ice and much louder than usual. I winced slightly; it really felt odd to have Conor raising his voice. Usually, we worked out our problems, face to face, not arguing. Never arguing. Not like today.
Conor grabbed the basket full of food on the counter and walked out the room. I heard the front door slam and he was gone.

Granny Carne looked at me with her eagle eyes. "Something's got your Conor agitated, Sapphire. Cornered in."

"He doesn't want to lie, Granny Carne. He hates lying and anything about Ingo makes him lie. He's been feeling resentful about it...and I suppose this isn't helping, is it?" I said, letting what I knew out. Granny Carne merely gave me another look.

"You'll work it out Sapphire. Now, I suggest you clean up this mess quickly. Jennie will be back soon, I suppose?" she asked, but I shook my head.

"No, Mum said that they wanted her on a longer shift and Roger said he'd wait with her. Even so, I think I will clean up," I said. There was blood on the wooden table and that would take some explaining if it seeped in too deep.

Granny Carne smiled. "I will leave you to it Sapphire. I will leave some crutches outside your house for Faro, to help him get back to my home. You will show him the way, won't you Sapphire?' she asked and I nodded in affirmative. Granny Carne smiled and walked out of the door, her long trench coat flapping behind her.

"Good day, Sapphire." She said and left.

I breathed out, cleaning all that blood would take a long time, time I didn't really have. My first impossible task was to move Faro to the living room without injuring him further. That at least would take an hour...

(X)

It was nearly five when I finished making everything look normal and eating when I rejoined Faro in the living room. He seemed to recover his strength and was currently playing with the television remote.

He looked up when I came back in without an apron. "This is fascinating!" he exclaimed as I flopped into the sofa.

"All these buttons and all these people inside the box...it's strange but it's novel! I wonder what Saldowr would say about this!" he said and his excitement was infectious. I laughed as he flicked through to channels, his bright eyes curiously soaking in as much about it as possible. It was strange being the more knowledgeable one for a change. I kept expecting Faro to start explaining things, but he looked to me now. And I felt strangely protective due to this.

I laughed and leant my head on his shoulder. "I won't be there tomorrow. It's Friday and I have school."

Faro looked at me with a look of confusion. "A school?" he asked.

"A school. We go there to learn as much as we can about our world and how it works. We attend from when we are 5 to the age of 18 and longer if you wish to get qualifications to do jobs." I explained, watching the Prime Minister being interviewed on the TV.

Faro scoffed and leant backwards. "We Mer learn everything we need to immediately and when we want to. How would you learn anything when you do not want to?" asked Faro and I shook my head.

"I think you forget Faro, that most humans cannot share memories as you do. We need to learn everything and it takes a long time. And it's the law that we must learn." I said, entwining my hand in his.

"The law?" he asked, "What defines a law?" he asked.

I pointed at the Prime Minister. "Him. He and a team of people whom the public vote for lead our country and make laws that everyone must follow or pay the consequences. Surely you know this much from eavesdropping on people?" I asked him. I remembered when Faro frequently surprised with random words and concepts he had heard from boaters.

He laughed. 'I suppose you already know all of this. Why would they explain it to the other person if they already know it? All humans talk about I credit cards, driving licenses and gardeners. What are gardeners, per say?" he asked and I couldn't stop the laughter. He looked at me with annoyance. "Just explain it to me. I didn't laugh when you were clueless about Ingo." He said and I flushed.

"Sorry Faro." I said, my laughter stopping immediately. Our front garden was gravel so I couldn't use that as an example. Luckily the living room window provided a nice view of the garden round the back of the house. I pointed towards it, smiling at the bushes that were once full with ripe blackberries and gooseberries, just how Dad liked them. "That's a garden," I said quietly, "And a gardener is a person who tends to it. My dad was a gardener as well as a fisherman..." I murmured and Faro threw me a look which I knew meant he thought my tears were incomprehensible. It was times like this I wished Conor wasn't so angry with me, he was great with emotional situations. I had almost forgotten that Faro's parents had died so young that he would not know their love.

I wiped my tears away and Faro looked apologetic. He hesitated and kissed me. "I'm sorry." He said, looking away, avoiding my eyes, "I shouldn't have even left Ingo. I should have asked you first and what we'd do, rather than just surprise you. You and Conor..." he said, looking hesitant.

I suppose it must have been a shock to him, seeing the two of us so hostile to each other, when we were usually a united front in Ingo. I also remembered that I had never seen Elvira and he, argue. They had disagreed and debated, but never outright argued. Like Conor and I; face to face, not arguing. It wasn't the first time I had seen so many parallels between Ingo and Earth, but perhaps it was the most shocking one.

I pushed the hair away from his face. 'It was no trouble. It'll be okay, you'll see." I said. The statement wasn't really for Faro's benefit, I realised later, but for mine.

I then leant forward to kiss him once more, to drown away my sorrows. Perhaps I drowned myself too deep, because not once did I hear the gravel crunching under a heavy car, the front door open or my Mum and Roger's voices until it was too late.

"Sapphy, you would not believe what happened at—Sapphy!"

I stared at my mum and Roger, my brain unable to process what had just happened. Why were they home? And what were the consequences going to be?

AN: Yes, I know I'm evil and that this is a really short chapter but I was stunned by the response this is getting. I don't really think this story will be very long (in answer to a review I got) and it will only be another 5-6 chapters? I don't think i could handle another huge long-term story when I have three in waiting. Thanks for reading. Hopefully the next chapter will be up by March (this is me being optimistic...)