THE LOST BOY
Sophia was returning home at the end of the afternoon.
This morning, she had studied with her mother. Our friend does not go to school because the village is too far. Then, with this heat that had reigned for a few days, she had gone to bathe in the lake located an hour's walk away.
She came back with her dungarees soaked in slightly muddy water, but that bothered neither Sophia nor her parents who know that she likes to swim, on fine summer days, in the large pond, even if the water is bit cold. Their daughter, far from being a wimp, loves going on adventures in this huge forest that surrounds their house, and bathing in the lakes and rivers that cross it.
When she arrived, she saw two cars parked in front of her house. One of them was a police vehicle.
Sophia entered and observed four people, including a man and a woman whom she knew a little. They were customers of his parents. They often came to buy logs. The other two were policemen. A commissioner and her colleague. The latter greeted Sophia.
- Did you meet a boy of about nine years old, so a little younger than you? they immediately asked.
- No, replied our friend.
The man and the woman then explained that their child, Niels, had disappeared.
- We were walking with him in the heart of these woods when suddenly we no longer saw him. Yet he followed us closely. It happened near the crossroads of the three roads.
One of the police officers explained that we had thought of using a helicopter to start the search, but alas, it was completely useless, because you can't see anything from the sky under the foliage.
Our friend's father asked her if with the help of the animals she could manage to locate the child.
We remember that Sophia knows how to speak to animals with four legs, two legs, birds, and snakes, and understand their language.
- I'll try, she said immediately.
She walked out of the house and looked up at the tops of the tall trees.
She saw a magpie and called it.
The bird landed near her.
Sophia then grabbed a ring that she kept on her finger. A pretty gold ring, decorated with small shiny stones of several colors. Red rubies, blue sapphires, and a few green emeralds.
You remember our friend once received this ring from the Queen of Magpies. (Read or re-read the fascinating story: The treasure of the magpies. Sophia n° 54.) The queen entrusted her with this ring at the end of the adventure, saying: "Here is a gold ring, set off with blue sapphires and rubies red ones. Take it away. It's yours now. And if you ever need my help, put it on your window sill or give it to one of us. She'll take it and will bring it to me. And I will come..."
Sophia gave the ring to the magpie who was near her and said to her:
- Take this to your queen. Don't lose it on the way and hurry up.
The bird flew away and disappeared.
A little later, at the mysterious and fascinating hour of the evening called
between dog and wolf, the queen of the magpies came to rest near Sophia. She
gave him back the ring.
- What can I do for you ?
- A boy disappeared in the forest, on the side of the crossroads of the three roads. Could you gather magpies and crows and look for him?
- Yes, we'll find him. We will come tomorrow morning.
- Why not right away? asked our friend.
- When night falls we stay in our nests. Flying is too dangerous because of the birds of prey who are sure to catch the unfortunate stragglers. But count on me tomorrow. I can muster a hundred magpies and as many crows. We will find this boy. I see you again at sunrise, at the crossroads of the three roads.
The queen of the magpies flew away.
- The magpies and the crows are going to look for your child tomorrow, said Sophia
entering the living room.
- Tomorrow only! worried Niels' mother. My poor baby...
I think that at nine years old, he's safe in the forest, thought our friend. Me, it happened to me to spend the night outside at the foot of a tree and I didn't die of it. And at nine, you're no longer a baby.
"Don't be afraid, Madame," said Sophia. He will surely manage. And tomorrow at dawn, I will be at the crossroads of the three roads. My parents will wake me up early.
Our friend and her father exchanged a knowing look. Our adventurer would get out of this situation no problem, no doubt... Just with a moment of fear...
Sophia left at dawn on her bicycle. She arrived at the crossroads of the
three roads after an hour. The queen of the magpies was waiting for him.
Our friend hid her bike behind a clump of plants and sat next to her in the sun.
A crow approached, winging its way.
- I found the boy, he threw. He's locked in an abandoned building near the path that runs along a lake, over there, quite a distance.
A building on this side, in the middle of the woods, thought Sophia, I can only see the abandoned hotel. The one where I used to be so scared...
If you want to know more, discover the terrible story: Room 313, Sophia n°2 or in the horror and horror zone n°11, if you dare to read it...
Why is he standing there waiting? Would he be locked up or hurt? our friend wondered.
She decided to go there immediately, without waiting for the arrival of the parents or the police.
She followed the long path that led to the right through hills and valleys, in
the heart of the immense forest and came in sight of this large pond.
She approached the edge and saw the abandoned building behind the trees. Four crows were screaming and cawing on the roof.
A man, armed with a gun, was walking through the old gardens of this hotel.
Sophia bent down, came a little closer, then lay flat on her stomach.
If I go any further, he'll see me, thought our courageous friend. Niels is probably a prisoner there somewhere, but where?
She considered for a moment to wisely go back and call the police. But the boy might be in danger and the kidnappers could move.
Daring, she decided to act alone.
So as not to be spotted, she entered the water of the pond, barefoot, but
keeping her overalls on.
First she slipped under the branches of the trees.
Our friend suddenly remembered that a conduit, a sort of narrow pipe, leads water from this lake to the cellars of the building. She spins a paddle wheel that generates electricity to power the hotel. Sophia had slipped through there on her previous adventure, trying to escape, and had succeeded.
I'll go in there, she told herself. The watchman won't see me. Hopefully the cellar doors won't be locked. From there, I will have access to the ground floor.
She swam the last few meters in the open, doing the breaststroke, her arms under water, so as not to attract attention.
She reached the entrance to the conduit and slipped into it. She crawled two meters into it and slowly got out. No one in sight.
She descended along this electricity generator, which hardly worked any more.
Then she straightened up and walked into a dark hallway. She followed him and reached the bottom of the stairs. She took it and approached the half-open door leading into the large entrance hall.
Still no one in sight.
Sophia paused for a moment. She heard two voices. A man and a
woman. It came from one of the lounges in the old hotel.
Our friend heard, but did not understand what they were saying. They spoke too low. She spotted the armed individual looking through a wide open door. He continued to pace outside.
Our adventurer crossed the hall, still barefoot, and ducked behind the front desk.
She looked at the cupboard with compartments in which the room keys were kept.
Two were missing. 111 and 319.
She concludes that Niels must be in one of these two.
Sophia sat up and rushed up the stairs leading upstairs.
She reached the first without meeting anyone. Room 111 was just to his right.
Our friend saw no key in the lock. She listened, putting her ear to the door, but she heard nothing.
She grabbed the doorknob and entered.
She saw an unmade bed, a mattress on the floor, and the French window opening onto the lake, ajar. Person.
She called.
- Niels! Niels!
Nothing. The silence.
She went out and closed the door.
The hotel's sumptuous staircase, leading to the other floors, was
dark. She passed the second landing without stopping and reached the
third, a little out of breath.
Room 319... thought our friend.
Closed... but the key was on the door.
Sophia listened and looked through the keyhole. She heard nothing and saw nothing. She unlocked and entered.
A boy was sitting on the bed.
- Niels? she says.
- Yes.
- I came to get you. What are you doing here ?
The boy told.
- I was walking with my parents in the forest yesterday afternoon. Suddenly I saw a deer in a clearing. I wanted to approach her, but she moved away slowly, looking at me. I followed her for a while, then she ran away. I tried to catch up with her again, but she was gone. I walked towards the path to join my parents, but I must have been mistaken. And I got lost under the big trees.
- Your parents are looking for you, said our friend. The police too. How come you find yourself locked up here?
- I walked for a long time... Evening was falling. I saw a light and walked towards it. I was thinking of meeting people and asking them for help, of phoning my parents, but they locked me in this room. I think they are thieves who are up to something bad or hiding to escape the police.
The boy watched Sophia while talking to her.
- And you, he said, how is it that you got here?
- Me, I used my gift of knowing how to speak to birds and my friendship with the magpies of this forest where I live to ask them for help and find you. They informed me of your presence here. Now let's try to get away without those thieves seeing us. Come. I'll take you where I came from.
The two children left room 319 and walked quietly down the hall. They took
the stairs and went down to the second then to the first floor without meeting
anyone.
Sophia stopped and motioned for Niels to do the same. They listened. The two thieves who were chatting in the living room earlier, were in the entrance hall now. Impossible to continue and pass without being seen.
- Do you know how to swim ? asked our friend.
- Yes.
- You won't be afraid to dive from a height, for example from the first floor?
- I do not care. I want to get out of here and find my parents.
- Come on, let's go to room 111. We'll go to the balcony and we'll jump into the lake. Hopefully the thieves won't hear us. The hall has no window, and the third individual has just joined the other two there.
They entered room 111. Sophia closed it with the key the thieves had left
inside on the lock. She passed onto the terrace, slipping through the
half-open window.
- Do you dare to jump? she said, turning to Niels. It is high!
- Yes, breathed the boy, yet not very reassured.
They jumped off one after another and swam towards the edge of the lake. They waded for a while in the muddy water there, but they were out of sight there under the low branches of tall trees.
They came out of the water dirty and soaked, but free.
Sophia found her shoes. She spurred them on, then they ran towards the crossroads of the three roads.
A police car was there, as well as the parents of Niels and those of our friend. The latter were worried about not seeing their daughter return.
It was a very emotional moment.
Sophia then had the courage to recount in detail everything she had been able
to observe and immediately lead the police to the abandoned hotel.
Two teams, called in reinforcement, accompanied him.
Leaving our friend safe with her parents on the other side of the lake, the police surrounded the building and seized the three thieves. They were immediately handcuffed and taken to prison.
Sophia, Niels and their parents met at our friend's house.
They were full of praise for Sophia's courage and efficiency.
At the time of departure, our friend confided to Niels that if he wanted to see
deer, stags or small fawns, he could come back whenever he wanted. They
would go into the woods and she would use her gift of talking and understanding
four legs as much as two legs and snakes to approach them without danger and
observe them with happiness.
She thanked the queen of the magpies who was waiting for her, placed on a branch of a nearby tree and promised herself to see her again one day soon.
