Chapter 2: The mysterious writer

來自專欄 The Lost Island

It was a letter!

Ellie blinked, and not just once. Who was it for? What will it say? Will it be ok to peek? Ellie could feel her hands reaching out to unfold the envelope; curiosity was tickling her hands, and it was more than poor, little Ellie could bear. She opened the envelope and unfolded the letter, and this is what it said -

Dear Ellie Minchin,

(Ellie』s heart jumped when she saw these words)

I know this letter will come as a great surprise to you, but I am writing to you because I have been watching you for a very long time, and I have something really important to tell you.

Meet me at the twisty tree tomorrow afternoon and I will explain every thing to you. DO NOT, and I repeat, DO NOT tell ANYONE about this letter, in fact you had better destroy this letter right NOW!

At that moment, something crazy happened: the word 『』 NOW 『』 suddenly burst into flames, Ellie almost screamed with terror as she tried to shake the letter off her hands, but it would not come off. The flames spread across the whole sheet，the flames weren』t ordinary ones either, they were bright purple and even though they were dancing around Ellie』s fingers, she didn』t feel the heat at all. The purple flames started shrinking, and before she knew it the letter had been reduced to cinders.

The next thing Ellie knew was that she was trembling all over. 「This is a dream, this is not real …』』 but she said it with such a pleading tone that even Ellie herself thought was ridiculous. Therefore, she simply covered herself up with the blanket and forced herself to go back to sleep. Nevertheless, the image of the flaming envelope was circling inside her head as clear as ever. 』』 How could a dream feel so real?』』 a nasty little voice in the back of her mind said cunningly But then again could this be a joke? Could someone else have tricked her? This had often happened to Ellie, so it naturally occurred to her that someone had dropped the letter on purpose, and that the flames were just make believe ones to scare her but if that was really the case, why did the writer tell her to go to the twisty tree?

Ellie had a mind full of questions when she went down to eat breakfast, even the piece of bread that was served did not look so good. However, Ellie had a whole lot of work to do, and she was not going to let some stupid letter ruin her appetite. Nevertheless, it seemed like someone has already decided that Ellie was not going to have a proper breakfast no matter what. Because just as Ellie started cutting the crust off the piece of toast, Beth sat down on the seat next to her and said「Hi」.

Beth and Ellie had been Friends since the very first day when they had stepped into the orphanage. She was a short and weedy girl, with flaming red hair and two blue eyes that made her look sharp and clever. She was always full of gossip, and was probably the only one in the orphanage who could read. They normally had a lot to talk about, however, Ellie was in such a foul mood that even her 『』Hello!』』 was spoken in a halfhearted way.

Eyes still gazing at Ellie, Beth had already begun to eat her toast. But Ellie was still cutting the crust（very much unaware of the fact that her knife was literally grinding the plate）

Should Ellie tell Beth about the Letter?

True, the Writer DID tell Ellie not to mention it to anybody else, but then again, how is a total stranger more trustworthy than your best friend? Still, it would be prudent to make up an excuse for her absence for the evening. Ellie looked up, met Beth』s eye, and took a deep breath. 』I have something to tell you.』』

Moments after, she was explaining the whole thing from how she had accidently found the letter on the floor to how the flames had turned a whole sheet of paper into ashes in only a matter of seconds.

The look on Beth』s face was unreadable; Ellie was certain that she was going to burst out laughing right in her face. However, strange enough, she did not. Instead, she started murmuring something under her breath. About a moment after, she stood up and said (in a rather serious tone):』』 There』s something I would like to show you.』』

Now what? Ellie thought, this morning was becoming less and less, well, normal. However, she was itching with excitement; she had a feeling that something is going to (INSERT SENTENCE)

『』This sure is interesting, why would that stranger give letters to two different strangers?』』

『』 What I』m interested in is, why tell us not to tell anyone about the letter if the writer told us to meet up at the same place？』』I do not know.』 said Beth, with equal confusion,

』』I』m not quite sure … I mean why shan』t we?』』 Ellie was not totally sure about following directions from a complete stranger, but then again Ellie has never really enjoyed the orphanage life, what could happen?

Even if she was to be captured, hadn』t she always said that she wanted to get away from this place, and didn』t care how or when?』 Finally, Ellie broke the silence 『』Do...do you think we should go?』』

Beth looked a bit puzzled at this point, and she stayed quiet for a considerable amount of time, Ellie thought that she was going to say no, but after a while, she took a deep breath and said 』』Of course.』』

They rushed out of the orphanage gate at break time and headed towards the woods, they were running so fast that Ellie almost bumped strait into Beth』s head as Beth made a sudden stop. 『』What? What is the matter?』』 hissed Ellie, once she had balanced herself.

』』 Oh, it is that tramp wandering the streets again.』』 Beth said as she wrinkled her nose.

「They say that he waits for people to drop cigarettes on the ground when they finish them, and then scoops them up before they go out and puffs on them himself! Ellie looked towards where Beth was pointing; there stood a man with the most wrinkles that Ellie had ever seen in her entire life! He had wrinkles all over his eyes and nose, and in fact all over his face and body, and on his clothes as well---if, you call that clothing. It was

「Come on, we do not want to be late!』』 said Beth, and then dragged her away.

『』Three maples, two oaks…』』 Ellie and Beth counted as they walked towards the twisty tree; which had a secret pass way. However, Beth was keeping her eyes on the path, which seemed to Ellie like a common thing, but suddenly Beth looked up and nudged Ellie in the ribs. Ellie looked up; in front of her was a girl with long black hair, she looked barely older than twelve, and had green eyes that beamed when she saw Ellie and Beth 』』Hi」 Said the stranger, ignoring Beth』s whimpers and Ellie』s dropped jaw. For a moment nobody spoke, then Ellie closed her mouth slowly and said, 「So you are the mysterious writer? 』Yes, I am 『』 said the girl shortly. 』And I suppose your Ellie?』』 』』Yes.』』 said Ellie, for she could think of nothing else to say.

「And your Beth.』』 The girl nodded towards Beth, and she her.

Questions where now swirling in Ellie』s mind: Who are you? What do you want? Moreover, why want us? However the stranger seemed to have read Ellie』s mind, 『』 My name is June and I suppose you brought your pocket knife along, didn』t you? Ellie gasped 「How did you know? 『』 「Well you do seem to carry it with you all the time, do you not? 『』 Said June knowledgably, 『』 You been spying on me, but why, what for?』』

『』Oh is it not obvious? Ellie, she wants your silver penknife!』』 said Beth