[Child of the 7th Age]

Elanor was relieved to have found her way back to her family, but somehow things did not seem so safe and happy when her brother Eric was not with them; he was probably lost, out wandering somewhere on the hillside with no idea of where he was or how he could get home. All those times Eric had put frogs or grass snakes in her bed quickly faded from her mind. Instead she remembered a sweet, tan-skinned boy with an unkempt mop of chestnut curls who was always doing silly things so that she couldn’t help but laugh. When her father had asked her if she knew where Eric was, Elanor couldn’t help but feel it was partially her fault that he wasn’t here. She should have checked on him before leaving the house. Elanor shook her head and sighed, listening carefully to what her mother was saying.

At her father’s announcement that he was about to leave and look for Eric, Elanor quickly piped up in the hope that she could make amends, “Please father, let me come too. I know most of Eric’s secret hiding places where he’d be likely to go and hide.”

In response to his sister’s query, Elian began to jump up and down, “Me too! Me too!”

At this point, Willow spoke in a calm but tense voice, “Let’s use some sense here. Dad and Elanor can go out and search the area around the farm, all the sheds and fields and the little stream that runs off the river. That shouldn’t take too long. He’s probably off playing somewhere on the farm. I’ll stay here with Eli for the moment. You never know. Your brother might find his way back on his own. Let’s meet back here in a little while.”

“But what if we don’t find him?” Elanor interrupted. She pointed towards the open window. Outside, the sun was setting. In another hour or so, it would be completely dark, and much more difficult to search.

“If we don’t find him…?” Willow’s face turned pale but she was careful to respond with a calm voice. “I’m sure we will. He doesn’t usually run off. But if something has happened, we’ll organize a search. I’m sure Uncle Rhysdan and Aunt Esmerelda and their children will help us, if we need them.”

At that point, there was an audible shuffling noise coming from the front hallway. Elian had pushed the door open and made his way inside as was often his custom of doing. The young lad immediately spoke up, “We sure will help! But I needed to tell you something. My mom and little sister are at home. But dad still hasn’t come. Mom is sure he’ll be back any minute, and he probably will. But, just in case, I’m going to start poking around the neighborhood and take Daisy with me, like Aunt Willow suggested. Mom will be helping too, but keeping an eye on the house in case dad gets home. I’ll keep my eyes open for Eric as well. If either of them aren’t back by nightfall, my family can meet you here in your house, and we can see about that search.”

Elanor noticed that, when Elian talked, he sounded much older than he ever had before. She hoped she could sound so calm and certain. It would not help if everyone got so frightened they couldn’t think clearly. Determined to be helpful, she added, “Elian’s right. We’ll get a lot more done if we all go out looking and have a plan. First, let’s check the farm itself and meet back here shortly. I’ll go ask some of the neighbors if they’ve seen my brother. But if that doesn’t work….” Elanor’s face turned somber. “Should we go out searching at night? Or wait till the morning?”

Her mother responded with a gentle smile, “Let’s hope we won’t need to do that. But if we do, we’ll talk about it later. Now everyone off to where they need to go. Let’s start looking and see if we can come up with our two missing culprits.”

With that the group split up, each one going to do what they’d promised. As Elanor went out the door, she muttered to herself, “Let’s just hope that monstor has flown away from here and won’t turn up on our doorstep.” Elanor pushed those thoughts aside. Right now, she had a job to do: to find her brother and Uncle Rhysdan.