Lost (Parrlyn)

Chapter 26

My face fell. Jane couldn't seriously be considering the idea of somebody having to split up and leave the family. 

"We can't all fit on the second raft," Jane said solemnly, biting her lip. "If we all want to go together, we could be waiting for around 6 months."

My eyes widen. Six months?

Six months was way too long. Even three months didn't sound good, but what choice did we have? All I knew was, the longer we spent in England, the higher chance we have of somebody else to get seriously hurt, or killed. 

"I don't want to leave anybody behind," I murmured, pressing my hand up to my forehead, "But we have to..."

Jane nodded slowly, her eyes filling with tears. 

"I'll have to sign us up as soon as possible before the spot gets taken." She told me, drying her tears on the hem of her sleeve. When she looked up at me, I could see vivid dark circles around her eyes. She looked exhausted, worried, anxious...

"Who's going to go on their own?" I asked her. It was a question that had been buzzing on my mind for quite some time.

"I'm not sure," Jane replied, lethargically, "Not any of the kids, that's for certain."

She turned on her heel and started making her way back to the tents. I watched her go, feeling anxiety flare-up in my chest. 

There was no way I wanted to voyage across the seas without having the support of my family beside me. I couldn't stand the thought of being in America all alone, waiting for my family to turn up. The mere prospect of not being by Anne's side of so long made a tear trickle out of the corner of my eye.

I needed to be with them for this.

I began walking dejectedly back to the tent to catch some more sleep. Once I got to the tent and lay down beside Anne, my eyelids refused to droop. They were being kept awake with my usual list of worries, which kept growing as each day passed.

Why couldn't everything just be okay?

---

I took a long walk across the sandy bay the second I saw a glimpse of sunlight shine through the cracks of the tent. I saw Jane pacing back in forth in her own tent and I could tell that she was about to tell the rest of the family the news. There was no way I wanted to be there when that happened. 

As I was taking my usual stroll down by the sea, I felt a timid finger poke the side of my arm. I turned around and saw Janie standing there, smiling at me. 

"Hey Janie," I muttered, tiredly, "Sorry, I'm not in the mood to talk."

"Why's that?" She asked curiously, slipping her hand into mine. "Did somebody upset you?"

"Not somebody," I replied, "More like something."

Janie put her hand up to my forehead and shivered. She pulled out a pair of thick black gloves from her pockets and pulled them over both of my hands. They didn't exactly fit comfortably, but I didn't have the heart to say anything.

"My friends say that I'm a good listener," Janie told me earnestly. I could detect a hint of pride in her voice. "I might be able to help."

I bit my lip to stop myself flooding out rant after rant out at Janie. After all, she was just a child. It wasn't fair to burden her with all of my troubles. But I felt the urge to confide in somebody. I was bursting to the brim with problems and issues; I was dying to tell somebody how I felt. 

So I started explaining the situation with the rafts. Janie was a very good listener. She said nothing whilst I was telling her everything, but she was gazing up at me in awe so I knew she was listening. When I had finished, she had a small smile on her face. 

"I'm boarding the boat next week too," Janie explained, "I can make sure that whoever goes onto the raft is safe for you if that helps?"

I nodded but I didn't know if there was much Janie could do. Gloves and hats weren't going to help somebody travel across the ocean safely.

When we had both drifted over to the tent, Janie saw Mary and started waving excitedly over at her. Mary wore a grim expression but when she saw Janie, her face lit up. They both jogged over to each other, making me grin.

I went back to my tent and I saw Anna sat on my sleeping bag, crying. Anne was at her side, comforting her. 

"Is everything okay?" I asked, concerned. Anna shook her head, bursting into more tears.

"I'm going to America next week," She howled, "Jane can't make me do this!"

"What?"

My kneecaps are gone T_T

Can I have dem back pwease :3

I promise this story's going to be really happy >:)