Chapter 11

Oliver thought that if people didn't return, to tell the wonders of The Gold Star must be because there was no reason to return. His mother also did not plan to return when they were both out; even when Oliver pleaded for his friends and the other women who lived with them, his mother refused to go back for everyone.

>> We'll help them from the outside, Oliver. The police will take care of it.

If we go back for them, no one will get out. <<

“Do you know how to get there,” he insisted.

Chrystal stared at him for a few seconds with a raised eyebrow. She wasn't sure if going in search of a legend was a good idea; what was the point? If she could have a second chance she would choose to live with her family and cherish the moments with them more, something that a probably fictional place couldn't give her. But if that was what the boy wanted, she was no one to stop him; Oliver could die and end his nightmare as well as she could end hers.

“Why do you want to live so badly,” she asks aloud.

The question surprised Oliver, as it seemed to him that it was the simplest question she had asked him.

“It’s the first time that I am free, and I have the opportunity to live in a better world than before, more colorful and wider. My mother wanted to escape and take me with her to a better place; I think I should continue to live for her and get to know everything she told me. And if I were to die tomorrow, I would die happy because at least I tried, you know, I tried to see the world her way and it's beautiful, scary but beautiful and, if I have a chance to be totally free, then I will take it.”

He was speaking from the heart. He was being honest with himself and with the redhead. Jack's words encouraged him to follow the plan and stop blaming himself all the time for Collette's death; there were so many things to worry about that he didn't have time to be depressed by the absence of her.

Oliver really wanted to know the world, he didn't feel ready to leave Chrystal Daly's house, but he had to risk everything to get his longed freedom. He believed he was strong, and his strength could help him not be overwhelmed by the huge world he was in.

The corners of his lips turned up a little showing a faint smile; he was already happy and longed for the day when he could meet his friends to tell them about his adventure. Without worry he set his eyes on the girl in front of him waiting for an answer.

Daly let out a sigh and got up from the table, and asked Oliver to follow her into the room he had accidentally entered days before. Most of the things were covered by black blankets, blocking the view of what was underneath. Chrystal went to a huge shelf with books, looking for a specific one while Oliver found on his way a picture frame. He bent down to pick it up and when he turned it over, he got caught by the image: a brown-haired woman sitting next to a tall, stout man with reddish hair and beard. Around them were three little redheads identical to each other; and, on the left, on the woman's side was Chrystal a few years younger. They were all smiling, and except for the brown-haired woman, they all looked alike.

Oliver narrowed his eyes, noticing that Chrystal had the same face as the one he assumed was his mother, except for her eyes, which were a light blue like his father's. Oliver smiles at the sight of such a large and happy family, wondering what he and his mother would have looked like if they had had a portrait like that done.

Oliver's family was much smaller than Chrystal's; it was just him and his mother... No, for Oliver not only his mother was his family; it was Jack, who always found some words to cheer him up; it was Annette, who was looking after his health; Bibi, who was in charge of reminding them that they didn't live in a fairytale; Sasha, from whom they had learned to create fire; Leilla taught them some hand games to entertain themselves; Marlye taught them how to hide; Dulce sometimes sang... All of them were his family, they all protected each other and helped him survive until he and his mother lived on the surface with Mr. Craig.

Now they were all dead and only the three unfortunate children were left alive. A lump in his throat formed as he remembered each of them and how they were killed for following their mother's footsteps trying to escape. Oliver didn't have a happy family like Chrystal's. His family was broken and scattered, he didn't even know his father.

“These books might help you, they are all stories, but maybe we will find a similar place in the… map.”

Chrystal was speechless as she watched Oliver gazing absorbedly at the photograph of her family. She thought he had taken it upon herself to put all the photographs in a single box and send it to the corner of the room. The chestnut shook his head to the side and connected his gaze with hers. That was the first time that Chrystal saw him on the verge of tears.

“Thank you,” he murmured, taking the books with his right hand while with his left one he returned the picture frame to her. He opened one of the books, forgetting his thoughts and astonished for not seeing a single drawing, only letters and more letters.

Was she expecting him to read them? Oliver couldn't read, let alone write, he understood the drawings and liked to doodle in the dirt and soot. He thought she would show him some map like the one the friendly guard made for them to know the escape route.

“We'd better go back to the living room; there's better lighting there.”

Once in the living room, Chrystal tried to dispel the awkward silence by explaining more about the famous legend. Oliver paid attention to all the information and pictures that one of the two books had; however, he couldn't help but think again of his mother and the stories she told before bedtime. This story of the two lovers was very similar to the one Collette told from time to time. Oliver always believed that his mother told her own story omitting the terrible ending, but it all seemed that Collette told the story of The Golden Star not to give up and keep fighting until her last breath.

“According to this, you would have to head north, there is a shorter route if you go through the forest, but it's complicated because now it's raining a lot and it's colder. If you say you must get there before the snowfall it would be impossible; if you take the longer route which would be crossing the whole city, you will arrive a little after the snowfall, and the water would be frozen by then....”

Oliver thought that Chrystal took everything he had said as a joke. But now, she seemed more interested in finding a good route to get there in the time Emer had ordered them to. Perhaps, he could propose to the girl to go with him to get lost and feel safer.

He knew better than to trust strangers, but Chrystal had been kind to him from the first moment and she seemed to need as much help as he did.