The Moonlight Boy | Ferry's Tale # 1

What Billy saw

In Ferry's backyard, under the old walnut tree, and hidden behind the rustling sheets put to dry, the children felt as if having a secret meeting inside an ancient citadel; away from curious eyes and just as curious ears. It rained the other day, and the air was fresh and invigorating. The sun wasn't that generous that day, and the evening hours were bringing along traveling shadows and sweet linden flowers' scent. The darkness didn't set just yet, and a few beams of light were descending from above, sneaking through the branches like the flickering light of a lantern.

Matilda climbed on one of the lower branches of the tree and she was dangling her feet while enjoying a strawberry-flavored lollipop. Ben was sitting on the ground and he was keeping himself busy with a stick, drawing in the soft soil strange shapes only he could understand. As for Ferry, he was sitting in his swing, his favorite place in the entire world. But something was concerning him.

"We need to find Danny," he suddenly said.

His words made Ben stuck still with the stick in the air while from the tree, they could hear Matilda's smack of disapproval.

"Why would we do that?" she burst out, ready to start a fight as always when they were having Danny as a subject.

"Because that is the only way we could help Miss Summer. It's the only way we can prove she had nothing to do with Danny's disappearance. Besides, how can you pretend nothing happened? A child our age has gone missing. Someone we know. Someone who has parents who are probably worried sick and miss him. Someone with a mother who most probably hasn't slept or eaten ever since. Think about how your parents would feel if that happened to you. It could've been any one of us..."

Matilda calmed down a little, "All right, let's just say we are going to look for him. What makes you think we'll find him? The police couldn't find him. It's been two weeks and no sign of him what so ever. We wouldn't even know where to start," she said in one breath. The boys could tell she was enjoying talking to them from up there.

Ferry was hesitating. And Ben didn't miss his hesitation. "Is it something we don't know?" he asked.

"Well... I don't know how to put this... But what if Danny has disappeared from less... ordinary reasons?"

"What do you mean?" his friends asked at the same time.

Matilda jumped from her branch so she could hear better.

"Didn't you notice there were things that made little sense? The footprints vanishing... Or no object of Danny's that could be found..."

"Do you think he was kidnapped by aliens?" asked Ben and his friends could read the excitement in his voice.

"Will you stop with those aliens already?" Matilda shouted.

"But it makes sense," Ben insisted. "How else would he vanish without a trace? Who or what could cause that? Do you have any idea, Ferry?"

"Whatever or whoever it is, they are holding Danny captive," he said.

Matilda turned serious, "How would you know that? We don't even know if he's still alive. We don't have the slightest idea about the way he vanished."

"Maybe we don't. But maybe the one who witnessed Danny's disappearance might know something..."

"Billy!" both his friends shouted.

"But Billy will never talk to us," Ben concluded.

"It's true, Billy will never talk to us," said Ferry, and a smirk appeared on his face. "Not to us."

⃰

All four were pedaling on the long alley leading to the Pride Mansion. They managed to convince May she was the only one who would have made Billy tell what he saw the day Danny disappeared. Aa always, May was happy she could help.