Chapter Two

After some days passed, Venomma had forgotten about her lost blanket and so did everyone else except Atohmma. She kept on trying to locate it and also she thought about ways to get one back, but unfortunately, she didn't succeed.

"It's so cold out today, I wonder what I should wear." sighed Atohmma. "Maybe I'll wear my thickest coat and my tallest boots." So she went ahead and did just that. As she ventured outdoors, she saw a huge commotion happening in the distant tavern, so she steadily and curiously made her way there to see what was taking place. As she passed the other caves, she veered in to see if any of her neighbours were at home; it seemed like they were all out for one reason or another but, she went along until she arrived at the site of the noise and what seemed to be an argument. As Atohmma strolled closer, she saw some of the guards attempting to restrain an intruder. They were furious and the intruder seemed to be harmless but, somehow strangely attired. She never saw such an attire before and when she nodded at one of the neighbours, she inquired about what transpired.

She was told that around midnight, a bright orange light, in the direction of the east tree, was seen by one of the guards. When he approached the east tree, he saw the intruder sitting on a branch with a pair of binoculars and a bag. So he alarmed the other guards and they arrested the intruder overnight, until now and it seemed they cannot get the intruder to speak. Atohmma was intrigued and pushed her way through the crowd until she reached the frontline, among the guards, where she observed the occurrence and silently scrutinized the intruder.

To her surprise, the intruder finally said a word. "You!" he said while pointing his finger at Atohmma. She was startled! She looked around as though he was speaking to someone else, then she faced him and said, "who, me?" "yes, you!" he said with a pleased tone of voice.

Everyone else looked at Atohmma now, wondering why she was identified by the intruder. "I have a message for you, and I was wondering how to get to you from here," he said. Atohmma was confused because she didn't know the stranger and she had no idea of his message or the reason behind it. One of the guards intervened asking, "what business do you have with Atohmma and why didn't you say something all along?" The intruder replied, "I was instructed not to say anything to anyone, only Atohmma I must speak to and I knew how she looked because she was shown to me in the crystal lake." Atohmma knew about the crystal lake and she also knew the stranger might have been telling the truth because she remembered a long time ago having a dream about the lake and when she checked to see if it was real, she found herself getting into deep trouble with her dad, for going there all alone. It was a dangerous place and there were legends about it, which only Atohmma knew about. She couldn't tell anyone about it, as she was sworn to secrecy to prevent any curiosity from the others and the risks to them.

Atohmma struggled to find words to say, so she stuttered and said, "aahhmmm, I'm not quite sure you are speaking about me and also I'm not sure about the story you are telling but I'll hear you out. Guards, release the stranger."