THE CHOSEN ONES ( PART FIFTY FOUR )

Bella stood at the opening to the cave, looking back...she realised this was the cave she had run
away from, the one her family had been living in.

All of a sudden, from behind some rocks, came a
voice, "Bella is that you?"

Bella looked around quick, she saw Fern, not believing her eyes, she was suddenly filled with
excitement and relief, the two friends ran to each other and hugged.

Fern told Jay to come out from behind the rocks.
"Where is everyone?" asked Bella, still very excited.

"Our Mothers went in search of you Bella, we weren't sure if you were dead, or not. What happened to you?"

"I escaped with the help of my new friend." Just at
that moment Bella remembered Arvid and Bess, she
realised she'd left them still waiting. "Quick come
with me Fern."

Bella went back to the gap in the wall, calling
out, "Arvid, Bess! it's okay...you can come out."

Arvid came to the gap in the wall, "are you quite
sure that those men have gone Bella?"

"Hang on a minute, I'll go outside and check."
Bella feeling a lot braver now, turned and walked
out of the cave, the daylight hit her eyes, it
made her squint.

Walking around, everything seemed fine, she walked
to the other entrance and Fern followed. "It's
okay! honest you can come out now."

Arvid helped Bess up from where she had been sitting. He left the torch, still alight in the
rocks, just incase they might need it, then they
made their way out of the tunnel entrance, wiping
their eyes as they saw Bella.

"Arvid...this is my friend Fern, Fern meet Arvid,
he helped me escape from some really bad men.
Oh! and this is Bess, she led us through the
underground tunnels, which brought us here."

"Pleased to meet you," said Fern.

"The same to you," said Arvid. Bess just smiled.

Suddenly there was a cry from the cave, it was Jay
crying out for his sister. Fern turned and ran
back into the cave, he was sat on the ground wiping
his tears from his eyes. "Fern no leave Jay!" he
cried.

Fern picked Jay up and cuddled him, "I'm not going
to leave you Jay." She walked back out with Jay in
her arms. "Look who it is Jay." said Fern, pointing
at Bella.

Jay looked at Bella, then at Arvid and Bess, then
he put his face into Fern's shoulder. Fern realised
he was shy.

"It's okay," said Bella, "I understand." Bella then
looked at Bess, "I really don't know how to thankyou for getting me back to my friends, even
though you never realised you had."

Bess just smiled again, but did not speak. Then
Bella turned back to Fern. "Are you and Jay on your
own?"

"No," said Fern, "your Father left us in the care of a man called Joshua, he told us to hide...while
he went out hunting for some food."

At that, Arvid turned to Fern, "did you say Joshua?"

"Yes," said Fern.

"Well, well, so the old devil managed to escape."

Fern collected some water and made some herbal tea,
for everyone. She was really hoping that the others
would return back to the cave very soon, then they
could all be together again.

When Joshua returned with a couple of hares, he was
surprised to see so many people, then he saw Arvid,
"Well, well! what are you doing here?"

Arvid explained that there was trouble where they
had come from, he started to explain about Bess and
her family all dead, then he explained how Bess had
led them through the cave and tunnels. "I cannot
believe we have never discovered these tunnels before," said Arvid.

Joshua skinned the hares, while Arvid went and got
the torch, he made a small fire, with some kindling
and the flame from the torch, then he explained to
Joshua about the fluid in the cans. Joshua was
fascinated.

It wasn't long before they were eating, which was a
great relief for Bella.

They spent the rest of the day in discussion, talking about all their adventures and what they
had been up to...and getting to know each other.

To be continued ...........THE CHOSEN ONES ( PART FIFTY FIVE ) | ABCtales