My Long Lost Mate

The couple exchanged glances, both clueless about the question.

"We just call him the doctor," the wife explained, and the husband quickly agreed. "That's odd. How come I can't remember his name?" She mumbled to herself as she ate another spoon of her soup.

"The doctor is a busy man," the husband said as he fed the children one by one. "Even though he's very well-known in this village, he's not always present. He only visits every few days or weeks."

"Is that the reason why his house looks like that?" Luke asked, blatantly showing his disgust. I'm not sure why, but I had a feeling he didn't like the doctor.

"Well, yes," the lady laughed. "We usually help him tidy his house, but with the winter at its peak, we're too busy providing for ourselves to care about anything else. Winter isn't the best season for us to live. It's always a struggle to survive winter."

"Why?" I asked, accidentally letting my ignorance slip out of my mouth. Maybe I shouldn't have asked.

Instead of laughing at my ignorance, the lady smiled and kindly explained, "Because the majority of the villagers are farmers, and most plants don't grow in winter. We make money by selling the plants we grow, and we survive by eating the plants we grow as well."

"At least we won't die from cold," the husband laughed. "Do you know about the lake by the village?"

"There's a lake here?" Andrew asked, glancing at Luke for confirmation. Luke nodded, and he gasped. "I didn't know Wonsvile had a lake around here."

"The doctor made it for us," he added, proudly boasting about the doctor. More than anyone else here, I think the man had the highest praise for the doctor. "When he first came to the village, we were suffering from a severe drought during the summer. Crops died, cattle died, and people were dying. Most of us thought it would be the end of us. Although the government did give us some help to survive the drought, it wasn't enough."

Hearing that, Luke tensed up, most probably feeling guilty about the situation he failed to control. It seemed like it was his first time hearing about this. Even Andrew noticed his grim expression and looked away. 

"Many people were dying because of the disease that was going around, and also because of the lack of clean water to drink and use. The doctor saw the severity of the situation and tackled the root problem, which he did overnight. When the morning came, the drought was over."

"A lake magically appeared on the barren land," the lady continued, smiling fondly at the memory. "People were cured of their illnesses, and this village came to life as it had never before."

"And to add, the water of the lake is always cool during the summer, and it's always warm during the winter! How amazing is that?" The man guffawed, accidentally spilling the soup on his youngest kid. The little girl cried. "Oh!"

The three of us exchanged glances, surprised to hear about this anomaly. Even Luke and Andrew, who knew a lot more about this world, were as surprised as I was. How is that even possible?

"How did he make a lake overnight?" Luke asked, intrigued. Perhaps this could be a way to help Wonsvile overcome future droughts.

"He never told us how," the lady shrugged. "He only said he had a connection with a few capable men who helped him make this happen. We didn't ask any further, as he obviously didn't want to tell us."

"We simply call it a miracle," said the man, wiping the little girl's mouth as he cooed her. The little girl got back at him by spilling soup on his pants. "Lily!"

"A miracle…" Luke mused, frowning after hearing the story. What was he thinking? 

"Do you happen to know where the doctor is?" I asked the lady, seeing her giving a napkin to her husband. "I never got to thank him for helping me last night."

"Unfortunately, I don't," she regretted. "He never told anyone where he'd gone. He always comes and goes as he pleases."

What a pity. I wanted to meet him. After hearing such high praise for him from the couple, I wanted to see what kind of person he was. It looks to me that Luke also had a few questions to ask of the man.

It's a bit odd, though. Despite knowing the doctor for quite some time, the couple knew nothing about him. Not even his name, which is weird. All they had were praises for the man, but even they themselves were not familiar with him. 

"Our carriage is here," Luke said, standing up from the table. He glanced at me and offered me his hand, taking both our bowls with him.

"Oh! Please leave it to me," the lady quickly stood up and took the bowls from Luke, carrying them to the sink herself. "It was a pleasure to have breakfast with you three wonderful people. Please don't be shy and visit us again next time," she smiled, bidding us her farewell. "Under better circumstances, of course."

"The pleasure is entirely mine," Luke said as he bowed to both the lady and the man, flashing them his most dashing smile.

Andrew went to the two little children and let them touch his hair one last time, pinching their cheeks. To his surprise, the children refused to let his hair go. The father had to carry the two little children to their room to separate them from Andrew. Did I just see a bald spot on his head?

"Thank you for your kindness today," I said to the woman, welcoming her hug. "Please relay my gratitude to the doctor as well."

Finished bidding our farewells, we went out the door and greeted the cold weather, seeing our carriage already waiting for us outside. Andrew walked ahead of us and went inside the carriage first, saying that he was itching for a good night's sleep.

I followed behind and got into the carriage after him, leaving Luke to be the last to enter. As he raised his foot to step inside, he suddenly stumbled and bumped his head onto the carriage floor, taking both me and Andrew by surprise.

"Are you okay?" I asked, quickly receiving a nod along with a laugh from him.

"Low blood pressure," he said calmly, then stepped into the carriage as if nothing had happened. Although he quickly dismissed my concern, his expression for the remainder of the ride was not as good as he'd claimed.

…

The ride home was quiet, with the three of us trying to rest after everything that happened. Luke was the fastest to sleep, as he immediately drifted off to dreamland the moment his butt hit the cushion. 

I leaned my head against the carriage wall, trying to spend the time resting. But perhaps because I'd gotten too good of rest the night before, I couldn't seem to fall asleep. My mind wouldn't let me to.

Knowing that I wouldn't be able to sleep, I opened my eyes, wanting to enjoy the scenery instead. But the moment I opened my eyes, I found a pair of eyes staring at me. Andrew.

"Do you think elephants can jump?"

The question caught me off guard, as I didn't expect him to ask such a question now of all days. Where did elephants suddenly come from?

"Why can't they?" I said, actually clueless about this matter. "Can't we all jump?"

"Uh-uh," he said, shaking his head and moving his finger right and left. "Elephants can't jump. Their legs aren't built to do so. And to add, they're too heavy to jump."

"Oh," I nodded in understanding, but I couldn't shake off the sudden awkwardness between us. "Why are you telling me this?"

Though he was the one who said he was itching for sleep, when we got into the carriage, he was the one who was the least drowsy. He kept on shuffling on his seat, acting as if it was a big struggle for him to sit still for more than a minute.

"Just because," he answered nonchalantly, shrugging. It looked like he was waiting for me to open my eyes just so he could have someone to talk to. He knew Luke wouldn't bother answering him, so he turned to me instead. We'd only been in the carriage for a little over an hour, but he was already bored to death.

After passing a few villages, we went into what seemed to be a forest, going up to the mountain road where the packhouse was located. Andrew, not wanting me to fall asleep, kept on telling me lame jokes, saying to not trust these trees because they seemed shady. I thought he would stop after a few jokes, but he continued to move his mouth until what seemed to be an eternity.

"Talking about trees, do you want to know about that one story where I found a treehouse and met a group of singing squirrels?"

Now I finally understand why Luke didn't like the idea of riding in the same carriage as his Beta.