The Path to Freedom: Part Three

      When they entered the clouds, Julie and Sampson had to stick close. They would not be able to see each other through the thick clouds if they didn't.

      It was cold in the evil clouds. Rain splashed on Sampson and Julie constantly; after being in the cloud for five minutes, they were soaked through.

      After a while, Sampson was getting hungry. He guessed that it was near noon. "Did you by any chance pack any food?" he asked the soaking faerie Gelert.

      Julie nodded. She reached into her pack and pulled out some pyricake.

      Sampson took a bite. The sweet center made him feel very good. "Yum," he said with a mouthful of cake.

      The rain kept coming. Sampson would be surprised if he found that he wasn't grey. But soon, Sampson and Julie emerged out of the clouds and found themselves above Roo Island. The sky was a beautiful, clear blue and the grass was a tempting light green. The grass was around two inches high, and rippling slightly in the wind.

      Sampson and Julie landed. The ground was soft, and the sun was bright.

      Sampson stretched out on the ground, tired after his long flight. Suddenly, a smile spread across his face. He was free! Free from the neglecting ways of Clara. He was also painted and in a merry place. I feel great! thought Sampson.

      Julie lay down beside him. She was smiling as well.

      "How does it feel to have no owner?" Julie asked Sampson, still smiling.

      "Great!" replied Sampson enthusiastically. "How about you?"

      Julie's smile faded. "I don't know," she confessed. "I feel… I feel like I can't live like this, but I love the freedom," she said, turning away from Sampson.

      "And, I know I have to give up something special to me to keep my freedom," she continued, turning back to Sampson with wet eyes. "I know that I have to give up Adorable. He will weigh me down and be no help on our journey to find a new home."

      Sampson felt a twang of hurt. He knew that he too would have to give up his beloved petpet, but it was either Spike or the ability to run free. And in the end, he knew he had to choose his freedom.

      "I know how you feel," he whispered to his sister. "But we have to if we want to start a new life, and get over the way Clara treated us."

      Julie took a shaky breath, than nodded. "There are no predators here," she said, her voice quavering. "They'll be safer here than anywhere else."

      Sampson and Julie opened their backpacks and took out their petpets. Adorable and Spike blinked, their eyes adjusting to the light. Then they started hopping around, acting as if nothing was wrong.

      Sampson and Julie got up, grabbed their backpacks and gave one last, loving look to their petpets. Sampson was sure he could hear a quiet "Goodbye, my love," coming from Julie, but he wasn't sure.

      Then Sampson and Julie turned, and started running, leaving Spike and Adorable behind.

      ***

      As Sampson and Julie entered the heart of Roo Island, they found that the population became denser. That was especially true near Dice-A-Roo. So many pets (mostly Blumaroos) and owners were lined up at the entrance. Over a loudspeaker a voice boomed, "Dice-A-Roo! Step right up! Only five neopoints a try! Try your hand at Dice-A-Roo! Great prizes to be won! That includes paintbrushes, lottery tickets, neopoints and more! Only for five neopoints! I repeat, only five neopoints!"

      The voice issuing through the loudspeaker was delicate and beautiful. Sampson craned his neck to try and see who was speaking, but he had no luck.

      "Let's give it a try!" said Julie excitedly. "We might win some more neopoints that we could spend!" Julie grabbed him by the arm and pulled him to the end of the line.

      "Julie," he said, "this will take forever…"

      But Julie seemed to not have heard. She was engrossed in the voice coming from the loudspeaker.

      "I'm getting out of here," he said, irritated that Julie still would not listen.

      Sampson walked beside the line, muttering grumpily under his breath. How could Julie be so into a game?

      As Sampson walked farther, he realized that the voice from the loudspeaker was getting louder. He looked up, and barely suppressed a gasp of astonishment. The pet speaking through the loudspeaker was a royal Aisha, who was unmistakably Mindy!

      Sampson rushed back to Julie, and dived to the spot behind her. No sooner had he caught his breath, a polite voice said, "Excuse me, but you took my spot in the line."

      Sampson turned around to see a beautiful faerie Kougra standing behind him.

      "I'm sorry," said the Kougra, "did I offend you?"

      "N… no," stammered Sampson, flabbergasted at the Kougra beauty.

      "I'm sorry," the Kougra said, "I didn't introduce myself. My name is Fayil of the Faeries, but you may call me Fayil. May I ask you what your name is?"

      "S… s… Sampson," stammered the Darigan Kougra, feeling very embarrassed.

      "Hey, Sampson," said Julie, turning around. Then she saw Fayil. "Oh, hello," she said, "My name is Julie. I'm Sampson's sister. What is your name?"

      "Fayil," the faerie Kougra replied. "I am here because my owner was evil. He might have painted me, but I hated him. I flew away from our neohome in Faerieland and stopped here. I am looking for a new life."

      Julie gasped. "But that is what Sampson and I are doing!" she said excitedly. "Our owner, Clara, painted every one of us except for Sampson, who is the oldest. She brought a paintbrush home and Sampson painted himself, against Clara's orders. Then he ran away and I followed him. Now we are going to start a new life, too."

      Suddenly Sampson remembered what he was going to tell Julie. "Hey, Julie," he said, "the pet who is speaking through the loudspeaker is Mindy."

      Julie gasped again. "Clara must have sent her to capture us!" she said irritably.

      "And that means somewhere out there must be Jefferson," Sampson pointed out.

      "Excuse me," asked Fayil politely, "but who are Jefferson and Mindy?"

      "Our younger brother and sister," replied Julie.

      "We have to get out of here," said Sampson.

      As they started walking away, Fayil cried, "Wait!"

      Sampson and Julie turned around.

      "Maybe I could…" said Fayil, hesitating, "well, maybe I could… you know… come with you?"

      "Sure," blurted out Sampson. Julie looked at him strangely.

      "Oh, thank you!" said Fayil, and she caught up with them.

      ***

      Sampson, Julie and Fayil waited until it was nightfall. They had all decided to leave Roo Island a little after dusk. That way, it would be harder for Mindy or Jefferson to see them.

      When the stars came out and the moon was shining brightly, the three took to the air. Once farther away from Roo Island, they decided to travel to Meridell. They flew for a day and a night, or should I say a night and a day, until they reached Meridell. They arrived at twilight, so they settled down near Ye Olde Petpets and fell asleep.

      That night was disturbing for Sampson. He had dreams of Clara, Jefferson and Mindy finding them and taking them back home where she could torture them. Fayil popped into his dreams once or twice, but she was not in them for long.

      At dawn, Sampson felt someone gently shaking him to get up. He opened his eyes to see Julie standing above him.

      "We have to discuss what we're going to do today with Fayil," she whispered.

      Sampson sat up to see Fayil playing with the petpets who were out in the pen. She would put her paw in the pen, just high enough so that the petpets couldn't reach it, and swing it around above their heads.

      "Fayil," Julie whispered. Fayil stopped playing with the petpets and walked over to them.

      "Now, what should we do today?" asked Julie.

      "I think that we should look around Meridell," suggested Fayil.

      "I second that," said Sampson.

      "I guess that is what we're going to do, then," said Julie. Then the trio got up and started walking around Meridell.

      First, they went to the Cheeseroller and bought a big block of Swiss cheese. Julie grabbed the cheese and pushed it down the hill. It rolled farther than any cheese had before, and set a world record! The blue Techo who was in charge of the Cheeseroller gave them two thousand neopoints, and let them keep the cheese.

      The trio had a breakfast of cheese that morning. Then, they decided to visit Illusen's Glade. Once there, they knocked on her door. There was no answer. They knocked again. Still no answer. Then Sampson pushed open the door. It was dark inside and no one was home. They were about to leave when a voice growled, "What do you want?"

To be continued...