Outcasts

Grappling at the final few branches above her, Miriam hauled herself up onto a platform. She sat down with a grin, her hair tousled in places. She took a few breaths to calm herself down before peering over the ledge to make sure Jeffory was following.

“Hurry up!”

Jeffory looked up, squinting at his friend. 

“I’m not as good as you! Give me a few minutes!”

Jeffory was a boy Miriam’s age with ashen blond hair. He was lanky, thin, and was an outcast back at his village. Miriam was the same. They had met the first time when both she and Jeffory chanced upon each other by the pond, which laid just in between their two different villages. And as Miriam waited, she looked out over the horizon. The sun was out, beating down on everyone within its rays. Despite the heat, however, Miriam still loved going outside during the summer.

“That took way too long.”

Miriam looked his way as Jeffory pulled himself onto the platform. He was breathing heavily with sweat dripping down his face. Miriam smirked. Jeffory returned it with a scowl. The platform they were on was made of wooden planks hammered together, then placed on the pinnacle of the tallest tree. Miriam stood up and looked around, until she pointed a distance away, at a wooden roof, almost covered by the hundreds of trees around them.

“The treehouse is that way.”

Jeffory turned his way towards where Miriam pointed until his eyes landed on the roof.

“Then what’s the point of us coming up here?” Jeffory groaned. Miriam had a glint in her eye.

“You’ll see.”

Miriam pulled something out of her pocket and handed one pair to Jeffory. He took it, turning it over in his hands.

“Put this on. It’s to make sure you don’t get hurt,” Miriam said as she slid her own pair on.

“What are you-”

Miriam interrupted, running past him and straight towards the edge. 

“Stop! What are you doing!?” Jeffory screamed, running after his friend. It was too late. Miriam had launched herself off the platform and was falling. Without any hesitation, Jeffory peered over the ledge to see whether Miriam was alive.

Miriam stood grinning up at him, standing on another platform further away.

“When you jump, grab the rope and swing!” She shouted up at him. Jeffory backed away and groaned.

“And make sure to put on the gloves!”

Jeffory slumped his shoulders, ‘what is wrong with this girl?’

From the three weeks that they’ve spent together, Jeffory had been looped into more than one incident like this. But this was the first time that she had jumped off the tallest tree in the forest.

“You’ll be fine as long as you grab the rope!” Miriam shouted again, willing her friend on. 

“Isn’t there another way to get there!?”

Miriam paused, thinking.

“Yes - but I won’t tell you! Come on!” 

Jeffory gulped and took a few shaky steps back. He hesitated. Could he make it? He wouldn’t fall to his death, would he? Then shaking the thought away, he ran, trying to push his doubts into the corners of his mind. He would trust Miriam this once. Then, he jumped.

“Yes!”

Miriam was there on the platform, waving her hands in the air. Jeffory barely paid her any attention. He was looking for the rope. Within a second, it was right in front of him.

“Grab the rope, now!”

Jeffory didn't have to be told twice. He grabbed the rope and swung down like Tarzan, onto the platform with Miriam to break his fall. He landed on the platform and laid flat against it, gulping in air. His breaths were shaky from the adrenaline. Miriam grinned and patted him on the back.

“We only have to take the bridges now, so don’t worry about any more jumping,” Miriam told Jeffory, “Let’s go!”

She sped off down a bridge and he followed with slower steps, not wanting to be left behind. The bridge itself was a bit shaky and shabby looking, but stable nonetheless.

“How did all this get here?” Jeffrey asked, his heart thumping quickly in his chest. 

“The bridges and the platforms?” Miriam asked, walking briskly among the wooden planks and rope.

“Yeah.”

There was a pause.

“I built them. I was bored and I had the materials, so I made all this.”

Miriam turned around and Jeffory almost bumped into her. She grinned, “But it’s really worth it. No one ever comes in here unless they were hunting. And even then, they wouldn’t bother to remove them either. They all know that I made this. To be honest, they’d probably rather have me out here than back home.”

Jeffory looked at Miriam with understanding. Both he and she were outcasts, and no one ever wanted them to be around. They continued on, and once they got to the end, they arrived at the treehouse -  a small -  yet fairly big tree fort.

“Here we are!”

Miriam looked up and smiled at her creation. She opened the door and slipped inside with Jeffory in tow. The inside was simple, yet there was also organized chaos. In the center, there was a simple table with a couple of chairs loitering around it. On the right side, there was a mattress with a pillow and blanket, a small cupboard filled with a couple of jars and random knick-knacks, and beside that, a stack of books. The left side contained a hammock and a basket filled with an assortment of fruits. That was about it. There was nothing much more to the inside.

“How did you get all this?” Jeffory asked, taking a gander at the various items in the room.

“I stole some, bought some, and took some from the dump,” Miriam said, shrugging, “It’s really not that impressive.”

Jeffory gawked at her, “This isn’t impressive?”

She grinned without turning around so that Jeffory couldn’t see. It felt nice to have someone to care about her.

“Grab some food and come here,” Miriam suggested, plopping herself in front of the cupboard, “I wanted to show you something.”

 Jeffory went and returned with a couple of tangerines. He tossed Miriam one.

“Are you going to show me your collection?”

Jeffory peered down at the jars lining the shelves. There were stones of all kinds and special leaves and things that Miriam had found.

“Yeah, but there’s something else.”

Jeffory crouched down beside the girl and looked at what she held in her hands as she drew it out into the light. It was a jar, like any other. But it was empty.

“I don’t get it,” Jeffory said, peeling the tangerine as he watched.

“It’s not nothing. It’s a spirit,” Miriam said quietly, “I can see them.”

Jeffory paused mid-way as he drew the tangerine close to his mouth. He looked up at Miriam’s face to see that she was completely serious.

“What?”

“It’s the Peace-Holder’s spirit.”

Jeffory put his tangerine onto the cupboard and took the jar, peering into the glass. Nothing.

“But he’s back in town,” Jeffory said, with a bit of doubt. He returned the jar to her friend.

“Yeah, he is. But then why is his spirit here?”

The two sat in silence. The Peace-holder was the one who kept the peace and made sure everything was civil between the villages and the bigger cities and gangs that roamed around. He was the man who was deemed the smartest and was stationed for the job. The two put the jar away to hear a knock sounding through the treehouse.

“No one ever comes here,” Miriam muttered. She walked over to the door and peered at the small hole that she had chipped away. On the other side, there was nothing. She couldn’t see anyone. She opened the door to make sure, only to find a dog with a piece of paper in his jaws.

The dog nudges Miriam and drops the piece of paper before bounding off the way it came. Jeffory came up beside her.

“Who was it?”

“A dog… and it left this.”

Miriam held out the paper to Jeffory, the edges stained with slobber.

“How did it even get up here?”

The two walked back inside and crowded together to see what was written.

“Take this paper and bring it to ‘Pither Pines’ where you’ll be granted access. Don’t lose the paper,” Miriam read aloud.

“They want us to go to Pither Pines…?” 

“Do you want to go?”

The two stood side by side, staring at each other deep in thought. Then Jeffory shrugged.

“Might as well. Let’s just go take a look and come back.”

“Alright.”

Miriam tucked the paper into her pocket and put some fruits in there too, to keep them full during the trip.

“Your parents won’t worry right?” Miriam asked Jeffory.

“Like you said, no one ever cares about us.”

The two smiled knowingly before bounding across the bridge to head towards ‘Pither Pines’ to see what was in store for them.