The Long Summer of Monsieur Loiseau

The boys went to the stables first, and Alex tied Mercury's saddle, rolled up the blanket, and draped it over it.Then came the "Tree House", looking for things useful for the journey in the collection, Alex took binoculars and matches, Harry originally took a knife, after thinking about it, he replaced it with a wind lamp and an atlas, and the lamp hung on the On the handlebars of the bike, the atlas tucked into the backpack.

From a distance, it's an interesting combination: two boys, a bicycle, and a pony.The sun was shining brightly, and sweat soaked Harry's shirt quickly.The cement road turned into a gravel road, and then a dirt road that narrowed and snaked into the grass.The village receded slowly and finally disappeared, replaced by the soft, undulating curves of the hills.They passed a half-dug trench, where two rusty shovels were thrown and soaked in stagnant water, and a crate was upside down on the ground, almost submerged in weeds, with a solitary helmet on it, a The butterfly landed on it, flew away as the boys approached, and sauntered across the trench, picking a slender blade of grass and settling on it, swaying in the breeze.Not far away, there is a section of railroad track, embedded in the mud, without sleepers. It doesn't look like a train, but more like a coal car track installed in a mine.Maybe it was to facilitate the soldiers to carry away the excess soil, but no one can tell.

"Where did they all go?" Alex asked.

"I don't know." Harry touched his helmet carefully. It looked new, with some scratches on the side. "Maybe Bournemouth." Harry had never been to Bournemouth, just on the radio I have heard it, and I think this place name sounds very far away.

The sun slid slowly across the cloudless sky, burning their bare arms and the backs of their necks.At lunchtime the boys and ponies rested in the cool shade of an abandoned mill and shared the ham and bread Harry had brought.Alex took the atlas from Harry's knapsack, pondered the thin lines of various colors on it, and couldn't find the one they were taking, but they finally concluded that if they kept going east, they would always get there .A silken creek ran through the stone trough behind the mill, and they bent over to drink, buried their faces in the cold water, and shook their heads like puppies, while Alex splashed water in Harry's face, who fought back , A battle of splashing water started.Mercury was splashed, snorted, and took a few steps back.They soaked through their clothes and had to take them off and spread them out on flat stones to dry.

Off again, in a half-dry shirt.They saw nothing alive except bees and the occasional grasshopper.Harry had a strange feeling, as if this wilderness belonged to another world, that this dirt road that appeared and disappeared in the grass led nowhere but continued forever, like a illogical dream.Arabian horses walk in front, their hoofbeats are rhythmic, and their tails are flicked to drive away mosquitoes.They swapped places every other stretch, with Harry climbing into the saddle and Alex taking over the bike.

They did not stop until daylight had completely disappeared.The temperature plummeted, and the moors took on a sombre gray-blue color in the twilight, and the wind swept across the grass like waves.The boys tied Mercury's bridle to a low tree, and separated to forage for dead sticks and dry grass, and tried to start a fire, but the little fire burned out quickly.They burrowed under the dense bushes to avoid the cold wind, wrapped tightly in blankets, and leaned against each other for warmth.The wind lamp was placed on the ground, and the candles burned peacefully under the protection of the glass. There was no warmth, but at least it drove away the darkness pressing from all directions.

Harry fell asleep and woke up, shivering with cold, with the vague feeling that he had dreamed something horrible that he couldn't name and couldn't remember exactly what it was.The chill pierced through the blankets and pricked his back like needles.Alex didn't wake up, but frowned tightly, as if he was overwhelmed by the nightmare.Once, Harry could have sworn he saw a floating glow in the distance, flickering above the grass.Harry looked down, exhaled tremblingly, and closed his eyes.

The morning light and the gray fog fell together, and the candles did not know when they burned out.The boys ate the last bit of ham and hardened bread, untied the reins tied to the branches, hung the lanterns on the handlebars of their bicycles, and continued on their way.

It was an overcast day with low clouds, but it never rained.The road was completely lost in the weeds, and they could only walk, with Alex leading the horse and Harry pushing the bicycle.Alex hung the telescope around his neck, picked it up from time to time, and searched around.That's how he discovered the train station, not so much a station as a small lump of cement attached to the tracks.The name of the station was daubed with paint on the wall, and only a capital "L" could be barely made out.The platform is cracked and weeds are growing.An old switchman lived here with a scrawny dog ​​tied to a rocking chair by a rope, which seemed unnecessary because the dog slept curled up the whole time, motionless.

"Ah, London." Alex repeated the place name three times, and the switchman finally heard it clearly, "There is only one train to London every week, and the latest one just left at noon yesterday." The old man glanced Passing Mercury, the bicycles placed against the wall, Alex, and finally Harry, suddenly thought of something, frowned, and asked where they came from, and why a little boy like them was in the wilderness. Roam in the wild.

"I'm going to London," Harry replied. "My mother's there."

This seemed to answer all the switchman's questions.He fumbled for the key, opened the door, and let the boys go to the control room.This small room is like a locomotive, with huge glass windows facing the tracks.A huge handle protruded from the center of the floor, like the jointed limb of some kind of steel insect, and the bottom was connected with gears and chains that gnawed at each other.A single bed was huddled in the corner, with a timetable posted on the head of the bed, and dense marks written with blue ballpoint pens in the blank space.

"West in the morning, east in the afternoon, both directions on Saturday, can't be mistaken," the switchman told the boys, putting the teapot on the stove, "I remember I had a box of chocolate chip cookies."

The cookies were deep in the drawer, buried under the yellowed and brittle maintenance log, and the box was rusted.The biscuit smelled of pine and camphor and chewed like sugared sand, and the boys each ate a piece out of courtesy.But the black tea is warm and aromatic, driving away the chill and the odd taste of soggy biscuits.

When the hour hand of the wall clock points to the number 4, the raindrops hit the glass window.A shower of rain sweeps across the field, laced with the sound of faint thunder, and the swollen clouds roll and move westward.A coal truck came out of the rain, blew its horn, and the switchman raised his brown checked bonnet to the driver, who nodded in greeting as the car whizzed by.Startled by the noise, Mercury tugged at the reins.But the skinny dog ​​was still sleeping under the rocker without even opening his eyes.

The boys asked the switchman how far it was from London.

"At your pace, four or five days, I think."

Alex wondered if there was a place to spend the night around here.

"Go along the railroad tracks, and you should see a farm on your left before dark. Find the widow Megan, and tell me old Carl sent you here. Megan has a flock of sheep, four cows—five Head, if the little onion is still alive, but the little onion was sick last winter - he is very kind, and often gives me cheese." The switchman pulled the cheese wrapping paper from under a pile of debris, supporting his words, " Maybe you can convince her to drive you some way in a truck."

The rain stopped, the clouds parted, and the sun shone weakly.The boys said goodbye to old Carl and walked along the railroad to the farm.The grass was wet, the water was dripping from the leaves, and the smell of earth and plants excited the pony.

"Race," Alex said, and Mercury ran happily.

"It's not fair!" Harry yelled after him, jumping on his bike, "Wait!"

They chased until they came to a fenced-in pasture, where a flock of sheep was scattered, chewing grass stalks as if they were tired of the whole world.A black and white collie stares warily at the boys with its ears pricked up.Harry threw the bike in the grass and leaned against the fence to breathe.From here they could already see the dark brown roofs of the farmhouse in the distance, and Alex slid out of the saddle and lay down on the grass beside him.

"Four days," said Alex. "We should take the train."

"I hate trains."

"why?"

Harry shrugged, "Come on." He stood up, brushed the grass clippings off his pants, and picked up his bicycle, "We're almost there."

The collie guarding the flock watched the two boys walk away and lay down again.The grass near the fence was not too deep, just below their knees. Harry first heard a slight cracking sound, no louder than trampling on a dead branch, and then the ground under his feet collapsed, and the sky seemed to be turned upside down suddenly. Didn't have time to make a cry.Alex leaned over to catch Harry, but the soft dirt collapsed again, the pony whined and backed away in terror, and the two boys rolled into the deep hole, falling hard on the compacted dirt.

It must have been some forgotten fox trap, and the trap was within two inches of Harry's head, and luckily the springs had rusted away and those horrific steel teeth hadn't snapped shut.Alex got up, carefully touched his scraped elbow, and wiped the blood with the hem of his shirt.

"We can climb up." The blond boy looked up at the trap.

"I can not."

"Of course, look, there are some grass roots here, if—"

"Alex, I can't." Harry's voice was shaking with pain and fear. "My legs."

On his right leg, a lump had grown up where the tibia had been broken.Alex skirted the traps, knelt down beside Harry, and carefully lifted him up against the wall of the pit. "I think we should." Alex bit his lip hesitantly, not thinking what they should do, "God."

A shattered cloud streaked across the small pale circular patch of sky above the trap.Alex stood up and called out, but they were answered only by faint sounds of wind and insects.Cold sweat soaked Harry's collar, and he clenched his fists, trying not to make a sound.Tired of shouting, Alex sat down next to him, head bowed.

"Someone will come."

Harry didn't want to talk, the pain overwhelmed everything else.He closed his eyes and nodded.

With less than two hours to go before dark, dark clouds moved in again, blocking what was left of daylight and drowning them in light rain and deepening shadows.

tbc.