A Missing Boy

Writers: Estelle, Heather, Paula
Date Posted: 30th December 2019

Characters: Yanley, Saibra, Ohanna
Description: Arten's foster mother reports him missing to Yanley and Saibra
Location: Dragonsfall Weyr
Date: month 1, day 4 of Turn 10
Notes: Mentioned: L'keri, Cyradis

Yanley

Saibra

Ohanna hurried along the corridor to the Headwoman's office, her heart
beating rapidly. **Please, let me be wrong. Please let him have gone to
stay with a friend.** But she knew that Arten didn't have many close
friends at Dragonsfall, and for all he could sometimes be sulky, he
wasn't an irresponsible boy. He would have told her if he was going
anywhere. What if he'd fallen in the lake? With a trembling hand, she
knocked at the door.

"Enter," Yanley called, her voice more sharper than usual. Muttering
curses under her breath about poor handwriting, she was busy inspecting
the tithe records.

The foster mother came into the office, her fingers twined anxiously
together. "Headwoman, I'm so sorry to disturb you, but I wanted to know
if you'd seen Arten, my fosterling, today? He usually comes back to our
rooms before dinner, once his work is done, but he hasn't and no-one in
his chore group has seen him."

"Arten?" Yanley's heart skipped a beat when she remembered her earlier
discussion with him. "Let's see, what duties he had today," she pulled
out the roster for non-crafted weyrbrats. "Clean up at weyrs, not the
most pleasant one, maybe he just skipped it?"

"Maybe. He used to skip classes, but then he stopped doing it, and I
haven't heard of him missing chores. And then, I didn't see him this
morning, either." Ohanna wrung her hands. "I thought he'd got up early
to feed his firelizard and gone straight to breakfast, but no-one seems
to have laid eyes on him since last night."

"I'll ask around about him and arrange a search party if necessary,"
Yanley replied. "Let me know if he shows up." But she was fearing the
boy might have just left the Weyr, based on their talk. Her eyes glazed
when she communicated, sending her flits to look for Arten, or more
precisely, Arten's firelizard.

"Thank you, Headwoman. I do hope he's somewhere safe. Since his father's
accident he's been so...withdrawn." The woman bit her lip. "I'll go and
check his room again."

"I'll keep you posted," Yanley promised.

"Thank you. It might be nothing, but...I've got a bad feeling." Ohanna
sensed, deep in her bones, that something wasn't right. With a hasty
curtsey, she left the office to search the boy's bedroom.

"So do I," Yanley replied.

***

Some time later, the foster mother returned to the Headwoman's office in
an even greater state of distress, her face pale and strained.

"I went back to his room. He wasn't there. The bed-covers were turned
back, so it looked as if someone had slept in the bed, but some of his
belongings are missing." She bit her lip. "His warm coat is gone, and
his belt knife, and the scarf his sister made him for his birthday. What
shall we do?"

"Report to the Weyrwoman. He's not in the Weyr any longer," Yanley
replied firmly. "We need sweepriders and watchdragons alerted and
looking out for him." She had had her staff turn the Weyr upside down
and inside out. Remembering her talk with Arten, she had reason to
believe he's ran off.

"Oh no. Oh no..." Ohanna felt the chill settle in her belly. At least,
she tried to comfort herself, he hadn't been found injured, or in the
lake. All the same, she could hardly bear the thought of the young boy
out on his own in the dark and cold. What if there was a storm, or he
crossed the path of a wild feline? If only she'd realised sooner! She
followed the Headwoman out of the room and along the corridors towards
the Weyrwoman's quarters.

Chioneth, having been alerted by the Headwoman's brown flit, had already
passed along to Saibra that the Headwoman was on her way. Saibra opened
her door just as Yanley and Ohanna appeared. "What's this Chioneth is
telling me about a weyrbrat?" she asked, hoping that the firelizard was
relaying the message incorrectly.

"Arten, a twelve Turns old boy is missing and there's reason to suspect
he's left the Weyr," Yanley said and gave the Weyrwoman a summary of the
situation, including her earlier talk with Arten. "So, since I already
tried to talk him out of the notion of going to Hold, I fear he's run
off on his own. I request the dragonriders to be put on alert for him.
Maybe some sweeprider may spot him."

"Of course, Headwoman," Saibra agreed. "I'll have Chioneth alert all
sweepriders, and I'll direct the Sienna Wing sweepriders I have on duty
now to take a trip down to the Hold."

"Thank you, Saibra," Yanley said. "I believe few empty tithe trains also
started back to Holds early this morning. They've worth checking too."
It would be easy to hide in empty wagon.

Ohanna bit her lip, hoping that might be the case. It would be better
than the boy wandering in the dark on his own. "I should go and take
care of his sister. She's only six Turns, one of my friends is looking
after her." Her voice was tight, on the verge of tears. "I don't know
what to tell her. I'm so sorry, Headwoman, Weyrwoman. I knew he'd been
quiet lately, but he didn't want to talk and I thought it better to
leave him be, at his age. If only I'd pressed him..."

"A lot of boys his age don't want to talk," Saibra said from experience.
"Don't take it out on yourself. I am sure we will find him."

"I do hope so, before he rans into the wrong kind of people," Yanley said.

"I hope so, too." Ohanna glanced at the Headwoman. "I suppose we'd
better send word to his father as well." She'd heard about the
brownrider's accident at Dolphin Cove, and that he was still there,
recovering.

"I'll pass word along," Saibra said, perfectly willing to allow Cyradis
or the healer in charge there to break the news, since she wasn't sure
how the information would affect L'keri's recovery.

"It well may be because of his father that Arten ran away," Yanley said

Last updated on the January 4th 2020

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A Missing Boy