The big night was finally upon us. The sun had set, the full moon in all its majesty shone brightly in the twilight sky. The Moon Festival was about to begin. As the last of the Nightguards left for the meeting, I peered out of the doorway of the Jobless Hut. The path to the village was completely silent, and the coast was clear at last. "It's time." I said, as I signaled for my party to start moving. I ran towards the market stalls at the southern side of the village, Morgan at my heels carrying the bags in which we would store our supplies. The Stallkeepers were at the Festival, so the Market was empty and quiet, and all the food was ours for the taking.
"Quick, grab what you can." Morgan whispered, throwing me a little woolen bag. I headed for the bakery stall and shoved 3 giant loaves of fresh, warm sourdough bread into the bag, as well as some pretzels, cinnamon rolls and cheese puffs. Morgan was at the pot stall grabbing some pots and pans to cook with, along with a can of noodles and one of rice. I ran to the fruit stall and filled my bag with apples, bananas, a box of wild berries and a watermelon as Morgan stashed her bag with carrots, pumpkin, cauliflower, potatoes, cabbage and oil.
"Let's get to the Port." I whispered, grabbing Morgan's arm as we raced out of the Market. As we made our way south, we met the boys, who had filled their pockets with torchwood, compasses, mittens, hats and firewood. Chester was also carrying thick woolly blankets and jackets.
'Clever,' I thought, we were in the middle of the cruelest winter the village had ever seen, and we had just taken the last of the crops from the Market.
All of a sudden, we heard footsteps approaching from the east. "QUICK, HIDE!" Morgan hissed, grabbing me by the arm and diving behind a stall.
Chester and Matt managed to hide in a large wheat crate by the crop stall across the street.
The footsteps grew louder and nearer. The ground screeching with every step.
"Anyone here?" came a loud, booming male voice, "Hello?!".
A clever, yet risky idea crept into my mind: my power.
I closed my eyes and my thoughts focused only on Henry. "This man is breaking the rules. He should not be here. He should be at the Festival." The words echoed in my mind, over and over, slowly fading into a soft whisper.
A few minutes passed, and we could hear a second set of footsteps drawing near.
Morgan glanced at me, her eyes wide and sweat trickling down her brow.
"STAY CALM," I mouthed at her.
"You should not be here." Came a familiar, stern voice, "Head back to the Festival or I shall take you to the Chief for sanction."
"Yes, Counselor Henry," replied the other man quickly, his voice high with fear. I could hear his footsteps quickly fading away as he ran back to the Festival.
"I shall tell the Boatkeepers to make their offerings next." Henry said loudly, as if he wanted us to hear him, "It should keep them busy for another half-hour."
I grinned as I breathed in a deep sigh of relief. Morgan stared at me in confusion.
As his footsteps faded, Chester's fat head appeared on top of the crate, "Did-did he know we were here?"
I chuckled quietly, the words 'THANK YOU' echoing in my mind. Henry heard me. And he came to help.
"Go quickly," His voice replied in my head, "Use it well."
By 'it' he meant my power, which I now saw as a gift. Had it not been for my swift call, we might have been found and given New Life.
"I'll explain later," I replied to Chester, as he helped Matt out of the crate, "C'mon, let's get to the boat."
We raced from the village square down to the Port, where Tula was waiting for us on a rather large, brown canoe.
"Well, are you coming?" She asked us, her patience thinning.
The bells of Nine could be heard ringing in the distance.
"Nine o'clock," said Matt, "The Festival's almost over!"
We ran down the wooden dock to the boat where Tula was waiting, and quickly tossed the food and supplies that we stole, onto the canoe. Tula grabbed them and laid them in the cabin. Then she leapt off the boat and helped us push it farther into the water. We jumped into the boat and grabbed the blankets that Chester found, and wrapped them around ourselves, our bodies shaking from the fury of the fierce winter winds.
Tula hoisted the sails and turned them against the winds. The winds pushed against the large white sails, blowing the canoe forward. We grabbed onto the railings as the canoe was flung into the current of the river.
"All right, guys, remember, once we're gone, there's no turning back, so you need to be completely sure you want to do this." I announced as we perched ourselves on the boat.
"We want to find Karl just as much as you do." Matt replied, the others nodded in agreement. I grinned, "Then what are we waiting for?"
Chester and Tula set our canoe on course, the shore and our village shrinking as they fell farther and farther from our sight. Curled up in a ball, wrapped in my blanket and my woolen coat, I couldn't help but feel joy.
"We did it!" Chester shouted at the top of his voice.
"We're coming for you, Karl!" Tula cried, hopping up and down.
Morgan, Matt and I joined in the cheering and whooping. The village was no longer in sight. We had successfully stolen our canoe and were finally making our way down the long, winding river. Our journey had finally begun.