The Ghost of Ontario (Part 1) (10 Grade Draft)

Chapter 25: Ihaan the Hermit

        Oh, my God, he was so beautiful! My cheeks turned red. I knew they did. I sighed dreamily.

The boy soon opened his gorgeous, deep brown eyes, and he groaned, "Ugh. Ahh!" He yelped when he saw me.

Openmouthed with astonishment, I observed, "It's you."

"So," spoke his beautiful voice, "do you always try to kill people who save your life twice in one day?" He spoke English! I don't know how he did, but he did. I also noticed that he had a Canadian accent.

"No." I told him, and I offered him my hand. "However, I thought you were a bear at first. But you're not!"

"It's pretty obvious if you look at it!" he snapped at me. "Do I look like a bear to you?! The fur is a costume!" He shooed my hand away and stood up.

I backed up and stared at him.

The eagle soon screeched, and it tried to attack me again. I yelped.

The mysterious boy soon yelled, "Ro!" and he grabbed the eagle. "No, no, no, everything is okay."

"Is that crazy bird a friend of yours?" I asked. "What's her problem?!"

Ihaan nodded. "She is. I apologize, but she's upset with you."

"Why?"

"I believe you have something of mine."

I narrowed my eyebrows. I did? Yeah, I was confused at first too. "What do you mean?" I asked the boy.

He lifted his hand and pointed at the pouch I wore.

I peered down on it. Wait a minute, this was his? I thought it belonged to someone the Ghost of Ontario drowned. "This is yours?" was my next question.

"Unfortunately, yes. Sorry." Ihaan held his hand out to me. He wanted the pouch back really badly.

At first, I didn't know why. I mean, I didn't know what was so important about it. All it had in it was a wooden spoon, a bag of berries, and a leaf. However, later on, I learned why those three things meant a lot to the mysterious hermit. They really did. In a rude way, I said, "Here," and I took the pouch off.

Ihaan thanked me and accepted it. He put it around his waist and turned to the eagle. To her, he said, "Come on, Ro. Let's listen." Both he and the eagle got down on the ground and placed their ears to it.

I stared. Um, exactly what were they doing?

The boy soon said, "I concur," and he stood back up. Concur? Concurred what?

Ihaan picked up his bear costume and put it back on. He let the mask hang behind his neck. Next, he lifted his right arm, and the eagle landed on it. It was amazing! The eagle sat on the boy's forearm. She had sharp talons, yeah, but he was protected by his leather gauntlets. One thing I can tell you about Ihaan is that he knows how to survive. Suddenly, he grabbed my wrist with his free hand, and he started to pull me away. "Little Red!" I remember him announcing. "We have to hide before the other people on this island see us!"

"Little Red," was Ihaan's nickname for me. So I had "Kylie Wylie," "The Oracle," and "Little Red" all on this canoe trip. At first, Ihaan thought I was another hermit like him. But I wasn't.

I broke free from his powerful grasp, and he flinched.

Turning to me, he looked me in the eyes.

"Who are you?" I asked.

The mysterious boy's cheeks turned red. He was embarrassed. He got embarrassed easily. "Oh, I do apologize," he said, and he acted out an awkward bow. "My name is Ihaan." He next glanced at the eagle sitting on his arm. "This is Ro." So, Ro was the eagle's name? Hm. I thought that was a little interesting. Ihaan held her up to the treetops and continued, "Go on, girl."