Story of A Lifetime part 3
By mid-afternoon we knew we had to be close. There was a large clearing ahead.
"He's near. He can probably see us by now," Roy said.
"Okay. When we get to that clearing, stop and wait." We stood for ten minutes.
"Exactly what is going on-"
"Sshh! We have to let him get a look at us. He's very shy." Finally, a man entered the clearing. He certainly didn't look like his brother, I thought again. He had a long beard and wore an old pack on his back.
"Unusual place to fish, Eric," I commented.
"Mandy, I thought it was you. Though how you found me is a mystery to me."
"Well, I'd never have done it alone." Do you have those papers your brother gave you?"
"Oh, yes."
"Can I have them?" Roy asked suddenly. I shot him a glance.
"Well, I'd like to know why I should be giving you those papers. Very interesting, they were. I don't want them falling into the wrong hands."
"Look, Eric, he's got to have them."
"Well, Mandy, I like you, you know. I don't know how you got mixed up in this, but I know you think he should have them. But I need to know that he's the right person for sure before I give them to him. I know that information could do a lot of harm in the wrong hands." His slow voice, normally so enjoyable to hear, no drove me wild. "I don't want to do anything that might hurt my grandkids."
"I never knew you had grandchildren." I said, surprised.
"Three. I had one son, but after my Alice died he went to live with his grandparents."
"We don't want to harm Muggles, sir." Roy spoke up. "I promise that."
"Oh, so you are a wizard then?" Roy nodded in reply. "Well, then it won't hurt. I was just afraid you were some media newshound or something – no offense Mandy." I smiled, both at his tone and the repeated use of the nickname, which I never used. "Anyway, if you're a wizard, you're the right – but how do I know you're a wizard?"
"I could do a spell."
"Well, I don't suppose anyone would pretend to be a wizard who wasn't. All right, you can have the papers." He pulled them out of his pack and handed them over.
"Thank you, Eric. By the way, what were you doing out here? We're miles from any water with fish in."
"Oh, I was fishing for something a bit bigger. And I found it." He beckoned, and we followed silently. A half-mile later, we peered into a small glen. There in the center was a pearl-white horse – no, it was a unicorn! And it had a newborn foal.
"Some of those papers gave me the clue to where I might find such a thing," he said. He pulled a notebook out of his pocket. It was well worn, thick and old. He opened it. "Some of the things I've caught on my fishing trips." Roy looked at it.
"Incredible! You've seen dozens of creatures no Muggle is supposed to know about."
"Well, my Alice was found of such creatures, and after she died, I found just how interesting they were."
"How did your wife know about such things?" I asked curiously.
"Oh, she was one of them. That's why I was so careful about that information, see. My grandkids'll be wizards too, Mandy, so I don't want anything floating around that could hurt them. Me, I'm happy just searching for odd beasts." He smiled. "I saw a dragon a few years back. I don't ever want to get too near such a one as tat, again." Roy beckoned me off.
"How trustworthy is this guy? I mean, he knows lots of things he shouldn't, but…"
"Don't worry about Eric. Didn't you hear what he said? He'll never tell anyone about you. He sure didn't tell me, and I thought I knew almost everything about him."
"Well, I'm off," Eric said, sauntering over to us. "I heard a rumor a few weeks back about an odd bird a couple hundred miles away." And he headed off. Roy stared at him.
"What an odd man."
"Well, that's what I thought about you when we met," I said. He laughed.
"I think we can make the nearest town by dinner. We'll be back by tomorrow." He sighed. "I am relieved. Another crisis averted."
"All thanks to you."
"Ha! I'd have royally miffed this one on my own. We've been underestimating you Muggles again."
"Well, some of us."
"True. Most Muggles we don't have to worry about, you know."
"Because most people won't believe that – well, cars can fly, or walls are anything except solid."
"Right."
We were back by the next day. Roy said he'd come and tell me what the ministry decided as soon as possible. I knew that this meant that he'd either perform a memory charm on me, or tell me that he didn't have too. I looked around my apartment. Suddenly, things I had hoped for only a few weeks before seemed unimportant. Here I had a huge story, and I had no urge to write about it. I just hoped I'd be able to remember the truth.
I was. I had to promise not to tell any other Muggle the truth, but Roy had persuaded them that I could be trusted.
"Thank you," I said.
"Thank you," he replied. "Couldn't have done it without you."
"Well, it was all my fault, really."
"Not at all." We stood uncomfortably for a minute.
"Well, I guess this is goodbye," I said, with a small laugh, though I really didn't feel like laughing.
"Actually, I was wondering if you'd like to do dinner tomorrow night."
"Really?"
"Really." And he grinned. Suddenly I did feel like laughing.
"Yes, that would be nice," I said, and smiled myself.
So, that's the end. I don't really know why I'm writing this, but it seemed like a story that I'd like to have known, in a hundred years or so.
Than again, I might have grandchildren by that time, like Eric.
And I wouldn't want to do anything that might hurt them.
AN: Yes! The end! I did it! No more parts! I don't know why that was so hard to write; usually I have no trouble at all. Anyway, if you read all three parts, I'm impressed. I hope it wasn't as hard to read as it was to write. Anyway, if you noticed that, once again, I wrote a story that isn't really about Harry, it's because most people write about him. I'm different, K? By the way, I'd like to thank one of my sisters for constructive criticism. The other said 'Bleagh,', so no thanks to her.