Chapter 25: The Scarf

Nothingville, Lancaster, England

October 17, 2000

"You know what's sad about weak people? It's someone like you who never tries to fight back! You're pathetic!"

"Hiks..." Chris sobbed every time he remembered what Lucia had said yesterday. He already knew that Lucia bothered him a lot and said things that brought tears to his eyes. But what she said that afternoon was far more painful.

"Hatcuuuu..." Chris started to sneeze. Those were signs for him to have the fall flu.

He didn't dare to meet Lucia today even though Leo, Pierre and Bryan invited him to play. He was too afraid of the figure of a very strong girl.

"Chris, didn't you play with your friends today?" Asked Chris' mother who was knitting a scarf for him.

"No! Today I want to be home with you, Mom!"

"So what are you going to do at home? Study again?" Chris' mother looked at him with a gentle smile. While Chris just looked down with a sad face.

He looked at the scarf his mother had knitted, there were five different colored woolen threads.

"Why did you use so much wool to knit my scarf?"

"I knitted scarves for your friends too and this last scarf is almost done. You can give it to your friends!"

Chris was stunned, he just realized the five scarves with five different colors were the same as the color of the power rangers they idolized.

"Mom, for me the blue color, right?"

"Of course!"

"Okay, I'll give it to the guys. This pink one is so pretty! You're going to give it to Lucia!"

"Yes!"

Chris smiled happily. After the scarf is finished knitting. Chris carried the scarves into a paper bag. He ran happily, hoping his mother's knitted scarf would mend their relationship. But it seems that little Chris' hopes are not going according to plan.

"Pink? Why did you give me pink?" The domineering Lucia was instantly furious with what she got.

Chris was shocked, he felt very scared. Since yesterday, he had been trying to avoid Lucia because he was still so hurt by her words. But even if he is the victim, he will still be the one to apologize.

"B-but, my mom-"

"I don't want to! Take this!" Roughly, Lucia threw the scarf in her hand right at Chris' face making Chris's tears flow down his face.

Seeing Chris starting to cry, Bryan, Pierre and Leo seemed to have to do something before this got any worse.

"Lucia, you're a girl. So pink suits you best!" Said Bryan who spoke casually.

"What did you say? So you mean girls can only wear pink?" Lucia shouted in annoyance while tugging at Bryan's collar roughly.

"T-that's not what I meant! But you have no other choice but-"

Punch...

One punch landed directly on Bryan's face. He winced in pain and felt very annoyed that he had to be hit so suddenly like this.

"Ouch... it hurts! Why did I have to be hit? You are so cruel! You monster...!"

"Insolent...! You want to be beaten again, right?"

"Lucia, that's enough! There's a small knitted scarf with our name on it. The red scarf has Bryan's name on it, the black one has Leo's name on it, the green one has my name on it and the blue one has Chris' name on it and pink write your name!" Said Pierre. Trying to explain to Lucia the real situation.

"That's right, Boss! But if you don't like it, just swap it for mine! I can do any color. This alone makes me happy because Chris' mother knitted it!" Leo looks very happy with the scarf he got. As a child who never felt a mother's love, Leo quickly felt satisfied with what he got.

"Tch, did you see? Then swap it for Leo's scarf! You really like black rangers, don't you?" Bryan said was annoyed.

"It's okay, Lucia! You don't have to push yourself if you don't like pink. I'll ask my mom to knit again for you!" Chris' voice trembled. He immediately ran with the blue scarf wrapped around his neck and the pink scarf he was carrying in his arms.

Chris just wanted to make Lucia happy and he would try to do everything he could for her. However, it was raining when Chris still hadn't reached his house.

"Rain?" He muttered. His body was getting wet and he knew all he had to do was find shelter.

Chris saw an empty house and ran towards it for shelter. Although he was afraid because this empty house was far from settlements and was famous for being inhabited by stray dogs, Chris had no choice because if he insisted on going through the rain, tomorrow he would definitely catch a severe fever and flu.

Chris was standing under the empty terrace of the house and although he had never seen a dog roaming around the house, he still had to be alert.

Grrr...grrr...

Chris heard a growl from the side. His body was shaking, he was sure that the growl was coming from a dog and when he turned his head, it was not just one dog, but three dogs that were snarling with savage eyes staring at him.

Grrr...grrr...

Chris stepped back, his face deathly pale. He didn't expect that he was currently going through much worse things than being hit or bullied by Lucia.

Woof... woof... woof...

Chris immediately ran for his life as the dogs started chasing him as if ready to pounce on him. But it looks like Chris is running in the wrong direction. Instead of going to a residential area, Chris ran towards the forest where there were lots of wild animals, big trees and steep cliffs.

"Please...help me...!" Chris ran as fast as he could to dodge the dogs. He could hardly believe his running skills were getting better since Lucia forced him to practice running every afternoon. In the past, he couldn't run fast, but now he can run faster than a dog.

However...

Chris who didn't realize there was a hole in front of him, immediately fell into a deep hole. Seeing their prey trapped in the hole, the dogs immediately left.

"Ugh...it hurts...!" Chris winced in pain. He sprained his leg and injured his knee and ripped his pants. His palms and chin were also scuffed with small stones in the hole.

Realizing that he was trapped in this hole alone and couldn't get out, Chris burst into tears. His fear overcame the pain he was feeling right now.

"Hiks...help me...!"

***

It had been six hours since Chris had fallen into this hole and yet no one had found him. Even though the rain had stopped, the water filled this hole up to his calf.

His body was drenched, limp and very cold. No matter how hard he screamed for help. But no one could hear his screams. Chris began to give up, he was no longer strong enough to scream. His mouth began to stiffen and tremble, holding back the chill that penetrated to the bone. Meanwhile the sky was already dark and he couldn't see anything around him.

Chris sat down hugging his knees, he almost fainted and the only thing he could do was pray.

"Mom, I'm so scared! What should I do now? Am I going to die here? Mom, I want to see you. I miss you, Mom!"

"Chris...! Chris...! Is that you...?"

He heard someone calling out to him from above the hole along with the light from the flashlight pointing his way. With the last of his strength, Chris lifted his face slowly and saw Lucia's face from above. The pink scarf that Chris's mother had knitted around her neck.

"L-Lucia?" He said weakly with a voice caught in his throat.

"Are you all right? Wait a minute, I'm going down there!" Lucia lowered the rope to the bottom of the hole after tying it to the tree trunk.

Calmly, she descended to the bottom of the pit. Chris looked at her with teary eyes, he didn't know how Lucia had found him in this place.

"Oh my, this hole is full of mud! Come on up!"

"I-I-"

"Why? Could it be that you want to stay here?"

Chris looked down weakly, he didn't have the strength to stand at all and the pain all over his body made his situation worse. Lucia observed Chris's state which looked very pitiful. His forehead and chin were scuffed, while his pants and knees were torn off with dried blood covering the wound.

Lucia sighed before finally turning her back to Chris and crouching down.

"Quickly, get on my back!"

"W-what?"

"You can't walk can you? Get on my back! I'll take you home!" She said. Chris was dumbfounded, his eyes wide open.

"B-but-"

"Come on! Hurry up!" Lucia was getting annoyed, forcing Chris to obey her orders.

Chris climbed onto Lucia's back so that Lucia could carry him. With her strong strength, Lucia carried Chris up the hole by relying on the rope she tied to the tree trunk. Although with a little difficulty, they finally managed to get out of the hole.

The atmosphere was very quiet because no one started the conversation. But Chris felt really bad for letting Lucia carry him like this.

"L-Lucia!"

"What?"

"I-I'll just walk!"

"Why? You don't like being carried?"

"N-no! You must be tired if you have to carry me all the way home!"

"Your leg hurts, doesn't it? It's okay, just this once I'll carry you! Not again tomorrow!"

"B-but, that time you also held me when I fell off the swing and you said you wouldn't carry me anymore!"

"Really? I said that before, didn't I?"

"Yes! You told me!"

"Hmm... well, forget it!"

"But how did you know I was in that hole?"

"Your dad came to my house looking for you, but I said you weren't at my house! Your dad looked very panicked, so I secretly looked for you. I'm sure everyone is looking for you right now. I saw this pink scarf bitten by a stray dog ​​in front of empty house. I snatched this scarf from this dog and searched for you all the way into the forest!" She said. Chris was silent, his chest tightened. Even though he tried not to cry anymore, his tears still fell down his face.

"Thank you, Lucia! I'm so glad you found me. I was really really scared!"

"Forget it! You'll be home soon and meet your mom and dad!"

"Yeah..." Chris wiped his tears and he looked at the pink scarf wrapped around Lucia's neck. There were dog bite holes and mud stains.

"I'll ask mom to knit a new scarf for you!"

"No, it's not necessary! I'll be fine with this scarf! After all, this scarf was knitted especially for me, right?"

"Yes!"

"Lucia!"

"Hmm?"

"I want to be your best friend forever. I promise!"

***