نیا تو!

Chapter eight

Keep Out!

‘Keep Out!’

Kara stared at the handwritten notice on Martin’s door. Her brother had terrible handwriting. Kara’s handwriting was neat and clear. It was another difference between them. Kara decided that one day she would make a list of all the differences between herself and Martin.

For a moment she thought of knocking on his door. She was still feeling confused about last night and she wanted to know how Martin had known about her dream. But the sign said ‘Keep out’ so she left him alone and went to the kitchen to have breakfast with Mum.

Then she decided to go back to the barn because she wanted to make sure it was still there. She also wanted to find her new friend.

It felt strange walking into the same barn that had been burning down in her dream. This morning it looked the same as always. Kara looked around her and suddenly she saw the boy in the corner. He was sitting in the blue armchair and writing in the old book with the red cover.

‘Hello,’ Kara said.

The boy looked up and smiled. ‘Hello,’ he said. ‘Are you alone?’

Kara nodded. ‘Yes, I am.’

‘Where’s your brother?’ he asked, looking around the barn.

‘He’s in his room.’ Kara laughed. ‘He wants to be alone.’

‘Good,’ said the boy.

‘He thinks you’re a spy,’ said Kara. ‘Are you?’

‘Maybe,’ the boy replied. Then he smiled and closed the book.

‘What are you writing?’ Kara asked.

‘Nothing,’ the boy replied, putting the book down on the table beside him. ‘I know a place where your brother won’t find us. Do you want to go there?’

Kara nodded and followed the boy out of the barn. They did not go back down the path towards the house. They walked round the side of the barn and crossed the field behind it. At the end of the field there were some trees on each side of a stream.

This was the first time that Kara had seen the stream and she stopped for a moment to watch the water running over the rocks and stones.

‘Come on!’ the boy shouted as he jumped to the other side of the water.

The stream was not very wide so Kara could easily jump across and climb up the other side. She looked behind her. Through the trees she could see the barn and Owl Hall in the distance.

For a moment she thought of Martin sitting alone in his room but then she decided to stop thinking about him. She ran after the boy and soon they were walking side by side up the hill.

‘Where are we going?’ Kara asked.

‘You’ll see,’ the boy said. ‘It’s not far.’

At the top of the hill, they came to a path that took them to a gate. On the other side of the gate there was a wood with hundreds of tall trees. The boy climbed over the gate but Kara stopped. The wood looked dark and mysterious and she was feeling a little afraid.

‘What’s wrong?’ the boy asked.

‘I don’t know you,’ Kara said. ‘I don’t even know your name.’

The boy looked disappointed. ‘What’s so important about a name?’ he asked. ‘Would you trust me more if you knew it?’

It was strange, but Kara felt that she could trust the boy. She did not know why, but she felt that they had something in common. She had always been taught not to trust strangers and it was a rule she followed. But was the boy a stranger? Not really. He was staying at Owl Hall too. So Kara decided to climb the gate and follow him into the wood.

They walked quickly between the trees. It was much darker in the wood. Sometimes the sunlight passed between the trees and lit up the ground beneath them.

‘Come on!’ the boy shouted and he started running.

Kara ran after him and then suddenly they were coming out on the other side of the trees, back into the daylight.

‘Wow!’ Kara said.

They were standing at the top of a hill looking down at a lake. The water in the lake was calm, reflecting the sky above it. There were hills all around the lake which hid it from the outside world.

‘Wow!’ Kara said again. ‘It’s amazing.’

‘I know where there’s a boat,’ said the boy. ‘Come on. I’ll take you to the island.’

Kara followed the boy down the hill. There were some bushes by the lake and hidden in the bushes there was a rowing boat, lying upside down.

‘Help me turn it over,’ the boy said.

They turned the boat over and pulled it into the water. Then the boy went into the bushes and came back with two oars. Kara got into the boat first and the boy followed her. He sat down in the middle of the boat, put the oars in position and started rowing. Kara sat at the back of the boat and looked down into the water.

It looked dark and deep. She put her hand in the water and it felt cool and fresh.

They did not speak for the rest of the journey. The boy rowed while Kara looked up at the sky. She felt as calm as the water in the lake. She felt good - very good.

The island was near the other side of the lake. It was smaller than Kara had expected. There was just enough space for a few trees, for the boat, and for Kara and the boy.

After they had pulled the boat onto the island, they sat down on the ground and stared across the water.

‘How did you find this place?’ Kara asked.

‘Last week when I was out walking I found the boat and rowed it here,’ the boy said. ‘Now I come here every day. It’s my island.’

‘You’re strange!’ Kara laughed.

‘You are too,’ said the boy.

They sat in silence for a while and then the boy looked at Kara.

‘Do you ever feel like someone or something is chasing you?’ he said.

‘No,’ Kara said, too quickly.

The boy stood up and started throwing stones into the water. ‘I do,’ he said.

‘Why are they chasing you?’ Kara asked.

‘Because I’m different,’ he replied.

Kara got up and stood beside the boy. He threw a stone into the lake and they watched it bounce across the water several times before it sank.

‘We’re all different,’ she said. ‘Everyone in the world is different.’

‘No, they’re not,’ he said. ‘Everyone else is the same or trying to be the same. But you and me, we’re different. That’s why we’re here.’

‘On the island?’ Kara asked.

‘No, stupid.’ The boy looked into Kara’s eyes. ‘That’s why we’re at Owl Hall.’