Author's note: Thank you for all the reviews. I'm sorry for the typos and that the first two chapters were stuck together. My bad. Also, I'm changing the subcategory from angst to general, because it will be happy in the end since they're best friends. :-)



Chapter 3

Did you hear that, Will? Roland asked.
Yes. And I'm going to investigate. He picked up a small branch from the fire next to them.
Good idea.
You are staying put, Roland, Will said, correctly sensing where Roland was heading.
I'm not letting you go out there by yourself, especially with that red haired maniac on the loose. Roland jumped up before Will could stop him. The world turned several times, but rightened itself quickly.
That red haired maniac is exactly why you should stay, Will grumbled, but he didn't make him lay down again. Roland could tell that, though he would never have admitted it, Will was glad to have him there.
They stepped cautiously forward into the inky blackness. It being summer, there were hardly any campfires. Their only light came from the flickering dance of the torch and the stars winking in the sky above.
We've got to be close, Will murmured to himself. You can hear him better.
Where is he, though? Roland whispered. Something, he couldn't say exactly what, told him that it was a boy crying, not a girl.
Will cried suddenly and he took off running.
Roland asked, looking every which way. Without the light of the torch, he didn't have a clue where he was, much less where to look for the boy.
Come on, Roland! Will was back beside him. He grabbed Roland by the collar, dragged him several yards to the right, and shoved him into an alleyway between a row of tents. Roland tripped and went sprawling face-first into a pile of muck. He came up spitting and angry.
William Thatcher- he began, wiping face.
Oh Roland just look, will you?
Roland looked at the ground where Will was pointing and jumped back with a cry. In the torchlight he could see what he had tripped over. It was a boy. No, not a boy. The boy. The one that had knocked him unconscious only hours before.