The Lost Knight (Volume IV) The Lost Prince

Chapter 38: Eurynomon

Voices in the distance wake me from a disturbing dream. I inhale deeply with a loud shuttering wheeze. My lungs burn like I'm sucking in embers from the fire. I roll to my knees as water lurches up my throat. I inhale deeply and heave the water from my lungs. I suck in more air and cough a few more times. Jonah's rubbing my back. I pull myself up to sit and wipe the tears from my eyes. Jonah hands me a rag to wipe my mouth.

"I see the water," Dathid mumbles.

"I don't." Jonah looks briefly at him. Then whispers, "Agatha, how are you?'

I take a deep breath. Everything works fine. "I'm good. It's just like last time." My voice is hoarse.

"Except this time, you were unconscious."

I study the scared faces of my friends and then around at what should be our camp. I'm on a mossy bed similar to the one Kyrbast made, but it's not the same bed, and this is not the same camp. My heart rate jumps back up. "This isn't right. I was in the woods talking to Dathid. We were laughing about Galia."

"That was two days ago," Dathid says. "When you wouldn't wake up, we decided to make a run for Houte Malle. We stopped to give the unicorns a rest."

"Is it just the two of you?" I ask

"Yes, we needed to move fast. The others are behind us," Jonah answers.

I stand up and look around. Everything has changed. "This isn't right."

Jonah's warm hand is on my shoulder. I'm in the woods, but the trees are different. Stryder and Scout are by a small fire and the Orb bag is tied around Dathid's waist. I can't determine if this is a hallucination or if I'm racing through the woods with them.

"Agatha, talk to me," Jonah says.

I touch his chin. He feels real, but so does Carfron. How can I test to see if this Jonah's real? He could stick his foot in the fire, but if he's real that would hurt him. Carfron doesn't answer questions and doesn't use a lot of words.

"Tell me a story," I say.

The hand on my shoulder guides me to a nearby log. I sit on the ground and lean against it with Jonah next to me. I must be getting a long story if we have to sit for it or he's stalling for time while he thinks of something.

"When I left you at Cromsmead, I went back to Brooklyn to visit the family I'd been staying with for about three years, until I met you. Her name was Julia, and she passed me one day on her way home from her second job. Her sadness was killing her. I sense that a lot in New York. Some people are so desperate, it drains the life out of them. She was like a zombie. So sad but determined to trudge on."

"I followed her and gave what comfort I could, but she was so deep into herself she couldn't feel I was there. We went back to her tiny apartment, and I met her four children. The oldest was eight, and the youngest was two."

"As soon as the door opened, she started her third job, cleaning, homework, and getting children to bed. The two-year-old, Lucy, could see me. I'd entertain her at night so her mother could sleep. Stephen was four. I was his imaginary friend. He thought I was a zebra and called me Sam."

"I walked the children to school and kept them out of trouble. I'd sit with Julia on the couch at night to let her know she wasn't alone. When I found you, I abandon her and the children. I had to go back and give them a proper goodbye, even if they never knew I was there in the first place."

He finishes his story, and I know without a doubt this is the real Jonah. I love him to the depths of my soul, and I hope he never leaves me like he did Julia.