A Life Beyond by Mark Church (ebook reader web TXT) 📕

'But the spell didn't work and she got smashed in the face by the sticks, oh it was so funny!!!' Harvey laughed as he banged his fist on the table,

'Give it a rest Harvey!!' said Daniel angrily on seeing Lillie was getting slightly upset again,

'Ooooooo sorryyyyyyy!!....' Harvey said sarcastically as Daniel turned towards him and slapped him on the back of the head hard 'I was only messing around, it's not like she's never been horrible to me is it!!'

'Just leave it Harv OK!!!' Daniel was feeling overprotective of his sister who he could see was struggling to contain her emotions again, 'come on Lils, let's go get some food,' he said 'I've saved you a seat next to me if you want it', Lillie smiled broadly as he led her by the arm down towards the front of the canteen where they were met with an array of the most weird and wonderful looking foods they had seen, Daniel had spotted the spiky fruit they had found in the woods when they were looking for food,

'Look sis, remember these??' he laughed as he picked one of them up and threw it at the table top, where it's spikes fell off to reveal the fruit inside, 'oooo this tastes like strawberries!!' said Daniel as he filled his mouth with the delicious fruit inside, Lillie had grabbed a plate and was carefully putting things onto it but not actually knowing what it was that she was taking,

'It all looks so good sis!!' Daniel smiled as he nudged his sister’s arm softly,

'Yeah but what is it we are actually eating? it all looks….strange' replied Lillie,

'Who cares Lillie!!, just imagine it's one of those…..oh I've forgotten….aaahhhhh well you get the idea!!' smiled Daniel as he piled food onto his plate before going to sit down next to Harvey. Lillie turned round and sighed out loud as she scoured her eyes around the canteen area just wishing she could fit in more when she spotted Garin standing there right at the back of the hall, smiling to her, she smiled back knowing he was close by before making her way to where Daniel and Harvey were sitting,

'Is it ok if I sit down boys??' she asked politely, Harvey almost spluttered out his food in amazement,

'Are you feeling alright Lillie??, I mean you never asked us nicely for anything before!!' Harvey said as he coughed out the last few bits of food stuck in his throat,

'To be honest I don't really know how I'm feeling right now but I'm trying to become more than I am now' she replied as Lillie felt spirits lift slightly 'Look, I haven't been the best person to be around but I'm willing to have a go at all this and change my attitude if you will both help me'

'Of course we will sis…'smiled Daniel as he stood up and put his arms around his sister 'we need to stick together no matter what happens!!', Harvey moved his head away slightly as he curled up his mouth,

'Don't think I'm giving her a hug Dan!!' said Harvey 'I'm not getting all lovey-dovey with her!!', as he turned his head around he felt a slap on the back of his head as Daniel gave him a playful wallop, 'oh that's it start on me again!!' he said rubbing the back of his head,

'Shut up Harv!!' laughed Daniel as he sat down on his chair with Lillie sitting beside him holding his hand tight 'look sis, I know it's going to be tough, for us two as well, but I promise we will get through this and you'll see the good at the end of this ok?'

'I hope so Daniel' replied Lillie 'suddenly I do feel more positive!!', Garin was watching from his place by the door when he lifted his hand up to his ear, someone was talking to him which made him have one last look over at the children before he exited the canteen and disappeared from sight, Lillie turned round looking for him but could see he wasn't there anymore so with a small smile she turned back around and began tucking into her food as Harvey stood up sharpish,

'I'm off for seconds!!' he barked as he picked up his plate,

'Seconds Harv?? That's the fourth plate you've had since we sat down!!' laughed Daniel as he watched Harvey waddle off down to the front of the room to pile more food onto his plate as Daniel turned back to face Lillie again,

'So sis…'Daniel said '..I know this place is kinda weird but it's really growing on me now...I mean look at us, we have found our father after thinking the worst had happened, we have a family here and things are feeling...well pretty perfect to me I'd say'

'I do wish I could agree with you there Dan but I have just the weirdest feeling running through me…' said Lillie as she scratched he head,

'What sort of feeling??' asked Daniel

'A feeling like something bad is going to happen, I've been feeling like this for a while now, it’s like I'm not supposed to forget it or something, like I'm needed to protect something….' Lillie’s sentence trailed of as she seemed deep in thought now with Daniel looking more and more confused,

'Protect what?' he asked 'now I'm lost sis!!' as he turned back just as Harvey sat down in his seat with the biggest pile of food Daniel had ever seen,

'Got enough food there Harv?' he laughed as Harvey started to tuck into it 'think you missed a bit!!' pointing at some sort of animal leg that was sat on Daniel's plate on its own,

'Oh cheers Dan' he smiled as he whipped out a hand and scooped it up, placing it on top of his pile,

'I have no words!!' laughed Daniel as he turned back to face his sister who was staring at her small plate of food,

'Sorry sis...what were you saying??' he asked

'Oh...err, I can't remember. Whatever it was couldn't of been that important Daniel' she said as she tucked into her food

'Mmm, it's not actually that bad' said Lillie as she took another bite

'Ahhhh ok, well whatever it was I'm sure will come back to you at some point' Daniel replied as he smiled warmly at her,

'Hey guys…' said Harvey with a mouthful of food 'have you heard about what's going on after lunch??' he asked

'Not a sausage Harv...but I bet you’re about to tell us aren't you' laughed Daniel 'come on sis let's get ready for Harvey's story time…' he continued as he swung around to face him,

'No need to be like that Dan..I'm only passing on what I've heard!!' Harvey replied slightly angry,

'No no please do go on Harv...this should be good!!' Daniel said as he gestured for him to start,

'Well…' he said 'while you two were sitting there getting all brotherly and sisterly I overheard those two boy's over there speaking about the

Arena' Harvey pointed at two excited boys who were making their way past them towards the door, they could be heard saying ‘can't wait for this cup to get going properly!!’ while the other boy said ‘come on let's go now so we get good places to watch from’,

'it turns out that we all have to go to the Arena for some sort of update on the next part of the Cup' Harvey continued 'I overheard one of them saying the King and members of ‘The Circle’ were going to be there to address us all or something as this year's competition is supposed to be the biggest and best ever as it runs alongside the Tri-Yearly-Night-Games' Harvey continued as Daniel sat there pretending to yawn as Lillie let out a little laugh,

'Oh come on Harv…' laughed Daniel 'you sounded like a good little robot then, trying to sell us this competition thing, look I know how exciting this might be getting to most of the kids here, Toby especially, but do you think I'm totally bothered by this?',

'Well I'd rather have something to look forward to than just sort of give up Dan!!' Harvey replied angrily 'and any way I'm doing rather well so far so I want to see what's at the end of it',

'Whoa!!!!!, calm down Harv, I didn't realise you were mad on this, jeez I'll stop if it's getting you this wound up!!' Daniel replied sharply as he turned towards Lillie and puffed out his cheeks as she sniggered in between bites of food,

'Oh that's it laugh at me!!!' Harvey retorted as he crossed his arms before turning his back on the pair of them 'well forget you then!!!, I'm off to the Arena with the other kids, don't follow me please, and don't stand anywhere near me when or if you decide to come out!!' and with that Harvey stood up, slammed his chair backwards and stormed off out of the canteen door closely followed by Cahlid and his small group of friends who were deep in conversation as they left.

'Thank heavens he's gone Dan!!!' laughed Lillie as her shoulders dropped in relief

'I know sis!!' Daniel replied 'what was all that about??, I thought he was going to cry or something'

'I reckon we will find him blubbing like a baby when we go out after lunch!!' said Lillie as for the first time in ages she seemed calmer,

'So anyway sis...what were you and Garin talking about earlier when you were outside I mean' asked Daniel as he tapped his fork on the table gently,

'Oh not much really Dan..You know just stuff' Lillie replied sheepishly as to not tell him too much,

'Stuff???, no actually I don't what you mean, was it about us??, Look I know how you have been feeling and I'm sorry I haven't been there for you but it's been crazy for me too' Daniel said getting slightly exasperated

'I don't want to go into too much detail Dan but let's just say that I feel a lot better with things here now, Garin told me a few things that sat nicely with me and made me look at all this with a positive attitude, we are so lucky he's around for us Dan' smiled Lillie as she sat back thinking about what had been said outside earlier,

'Well if you're sure that's all it is sis then I'm glad you feel better, I hated seeing you looking sad and that' Daniel smiled lovingly at his sister as they sat there talking like they hadn't done for a very long time, the air filling with laughter and joy not just from them but from the whole canteen area itself, excitement was building all around them as every child had a story to tell about what the Arena was like for them, then the end bell rang and a voice boomed out

'CHILDREN OF ERWIN…..THE END OF LUNCH IS UPON US, SO I ASK YOU TO TIDY AWAY YOUR DISHES AND LINE UP IN FRONT OF THE SIDE CANTEEN DOORS, FROM HERE YOU WILL BE ESCORTED BY THE TEACHERS TO THE ARENA FLOOR, FROM HERE YOU WILL LINE UP IN YOUR CLASSES WHERE THE KING WILL ADDRESS THE SCHOOL IN PERSON ALONG WITH MANY OTHER HIGH RANKING MEMBERS OF THE CIRCLE…

SO AS ALWAYS BE RESPECTFUL...BE KEEN...AND ABOVE ALL ELSE BE YOURSELVES!!...THAT IS ALL'

As the voice died down a low murmur rang around the canteen as everyone started talking about what had just been said, scores of children shrieked as their excitement levels grew with the impending date in the Arena where they would learn about the next step in the Inter Class Cup and what would be happening during the rest of the term.

So as the children lined up at the side doors to the canteen Lillie had grabbed hold of Daniel by the arm, she seemed to be feeling slightly uneasy as the doors to the yard opened and fresh air filled the stuffy room they were just in,

'Daniel…' Lillie