They Come and Go

Chapter 1

After I had found Helen and Ava, we headed towards my camp, where our temporary houses were set up. At least it's what ma and pa called it. We were only sleeping in those tents before we turned these grassy plains into a town just like our old London. That night I slept very well, not waking up until probably 10:30. I'm sure it was because the trio was back together, plus I was very, very tired.

I had been on this archipelago for nearly a month now. It was almost November. Ma, Pa, and Pa had come to this island seeking a better way to live. It was scary back in London and we had heard of this from a different neighbour about a boat leaving town, and they were going for a new life. I guess we were too desperate, so we decided to go along too. We knew nothing about the boat. It wasn't on the news nor in the papers, likely word of mouth. The destination unknown, arrival time unknown, if this were even legal, I had no clue.

Today, ma and pa sent me Helen and Ava to fetch supplies from an older camp in one of the other islands to continue building ours, as we took the road there, I noticed tracks unlike ours; instead, they were bigger, rounder and in larger strides than ours, but I ignored it. It wouldn't even be related to us, would it? After we had crossed the bridge and reached the camp, we gathered some supplies. We had selected some rope, wood, bark, cloths, and a clock so that I could actually tell the time. On the road back, I had felt a small tingle go down my back. Next, we kept seeing those tracks again and again, and more and more of them. Where did they come from? And who made them? None of us knew.

Chapter 2

When we returned to the camp, it was empty. No one was there, not even ma and pa, who I thought were going to wait for us. Not a single thing had moved except for the people. I thought that everyone could have gone hunting, but our weapons were still here. They could have gone foraging, but we had the basket. Where could they have gone? And that's when Ava spotted some tracks, the same tracks we had seen on the way here. Then a thought suddenly entered my head, what if those tracks were actually related to us and those tracks, and that animal had scared Ma, Pa, and the other people out of our camp. We decided to study the camp and the tracks it left. We saw bits of food still left in pots and plates. They were still there then, Helen said: “Wait, didn’t the plates have food on them a while ago, because now they are clean.” When we had left, the plates were just served, and we didn't take that long. They couldn't have finished that quickly. Something definitely had happened, and now we have a lead.

We had examined the camp over and over again but all the clues we had found so far only told us something happened at this camp, nothing else even when we examined closer we still could not find another clue even when Helen had asked whether I thought we should really continue searching here i told her to continue i was getting so worried and desperate and I guess ava saw so she said “ kath, think you must think, if we couldn't find any other clues in our camp try looking at the tracks. “Ava always thinks she is the leader when I had thought of doing the trio and told them about coming here, but this time Ava was right. We moved over to the tracks to investigate. I am pretty sure that the only thing Ava and Helen had seen were the tracks, so I decided to take the lead and asked, “Have you ever been to a zoo?” “A what? We are not supposed to be talking about zoos, we are investigating," said Ava. “I know, but just answer, have you been to a zoo.” “yes” she replied, “Okay then, have you seen the lion exhibit, the ones with the really big paws?” “Yes, now where are you going because I don't quite get it yet.” So I quickly doubled up my talking speed, and everything just burst out. “Okay, well, I thought that those paws might have belonged to a lion. They are big and show traces of golden fur.” Suddenly, both Helen and Ava understood and agreed; it seemed so obvious now that I had pointed it out.

Chapter 3

As we continued to follow the tracks we also continued to see more fur and more prints all joining together leading in one direction as we got further from the camp the territory also started to become more unknown to us and somehow this part of the island seemed muddier as if it had just rained for an hour or so, we walked in silence for ages only focusing on the tracks when suddenly helen turned and begged “please, can we turn back, i dont like it here anymore could we just not play detective and head back and get the other camp to help instead” it was upsetting because i thought we had actually found a lead even though i didnt like it here either but there was an urge to find out what had happened to our camp. But still I agreed, “Yes, why don't we head back for some help?”

As we walked alongside the tracks we had just made, I felt the weird tingling feeling all over me, a shiver from the cold I made myself think, but the thing is that was tingle number two there had already been a first, and that couldn't be good. When we reached the gate to the older camp we had left from a few hours ago we tried knocking on the door, there was no reply we tried going up onto our tippy toes to get a peek of what the people were doing inside but because of our height disadvantage it prevented us from seeing a thing and when ava tried peeking through the branches woven wall it was woven too tight for even our pink to fit in. “How annoying!” Ava burst out, “Can't they even bother opening up the gate for us again!” Quickly, Helen ran to the left, for she hated Ava's tantrums, but about a second after Helen had run away from Ava's screams, she came out of hiding and motioned us over. Maybe she found another way in.

When we had come all the way to the other side of the camp wall, Helen pointed to part of the wall and said “They aren't here, the people from the camp aren't here,” but I really doubted that. They were the safest camp in this section of the island; they would always leave someone to keep guard, even though they told us that they would do so themselves. So I said “Helen, you sure about that, you know that there are always people at their home, they'd never leave guard” but Helen continued walking on and made us follow until we stopped right in front of a giant hole in the gate and said “see, I told you they were gone it's just that they didn't leave on their own” quickly Ava said ”Oh no! Their camp also got attacked, and they are the safest. Imagine the other camps” “image how they will survive, and we can't even be sure what it was, but a group of lions is really least likely, even if the only clue is that it was a lion,” I said. Help was no use now, we had to crack the case on our own.

Chapter 4

“How about examining their camp” said Ava “we could get much more information” “NO!” replied Helen “we would be breaking into peoples homes imagine if the people found out!” but I had to agree with ava it would lead us much further into the case so I said ”their home is already broken, we can just hope that they wouldn't notice ” then Ava added “and if they did notice we'd say that we had saved them they should be the opposite of upset they should be grateful for us geniuses” and after saying that she ran in through the hole and started the investigation to find out what had happened to our neighbours which left me and Helen no choice but to follow her too.

At first sight, everything seemed pretty much the same as our camp, pots and pans left out, weapons still on racks. The only difference was that their camp was bigger, and with more space to explore, more clues would be left. I suggested we split up, but without thinking even twice, Helen immediately said NO. She said she was never splitting up, never ever, she was definitely scared. So as we searched through the maze of big tents looking for other clues, slowly we got deeper in and slowly helen got more scared too, then she suddenly burst out, “ what if this was like the labyrinth with a giant beast at the end of this camp ready and waiting upon its new feast, this big abandoned camp would make a perfect place!” “dont be silly, Kath and I would protect you, besides it's not even real, it's just a myth.” “Bu-but what if it weren't the minotaur but instead a different beast?” ” Least likely, I think you just read too many books of that kind,” replied Ava, then continued with her searching.

“Ughhh, this camp has absolutely zero clues to add onto what we already have, a big fat zero,” groaned Ava. We had been searching for about 20 minutes but still hadn't found a single bit of information, and it was getting extremely annoying, like who would ever attack a camp and only leave like two clues, who could do that? Then I said, “Hey, Helen, have you found any clues yet? Helen?" I turned my back, and she wasn't there. Helen went missing, and it was past dark. We had to get to sleep and look for Helen tomorrow. As I tucked myself into one of the blankets from a tent under the warm bedding, I felt another shiver run down my back. I guessed it was number three, but how could a number three happen so quickly it was only one day, and now I'm pretty sure three camps have been destroyed. Now Helen may actually be in trouble.

Chapter 5

After Ava and I woke up and got out of bed, we first took a bite of food and stuffed some spare food in available pockets incase we got hungry away from the camp, than we left, we had decided we would first go off to find Helen because it's never a trio if there are only two people, that would be called a duo and two people would find fewer clues and take a longer amount of time. Boots, boots, boots, I repeated that word over and over in my head. We were looking for Helen's boots. She wore a pink pair of rain boots whose sole looked extremely grippy covered in big zig zag marks deeply moulded in queer patterns, those boots are really one of a kind, like since when did you see hiking shoes combined with rain boots, and lucky for us ava somehow knows exactly how those boots look so once we find the tracks it would definitely lead us straight to her.

I know that we kind of gave up on searching the bigger camp, but Helen was more important, plus that camp still helped. We took some of their leftover food and light tools for protection. We walked through all the territory we knew in search of Helen's boot prints. At one point, we even accidentally went through a whole bunch of mud. It was gross, even my white socks turned full on brown, and when we tried cleaning it in a small nearby pond but it only spread “when we rescue hellen im going to make her clean my socks too like, look at the mess we've gone through and we still haven't saved her yet.” said ava some part of me agreed with her like I ruined a pair of perfectly white socks which were now covered in cracked dry mud.

And next to it was the second one.“Ava, come over! I think I might have found the boot marks!"She quickly ran over, excited that we were about to find her sister, but as she ran towards the prints, she tripped and landed face flat in the dirt. If we weren't in such a bad situation, I think I might of actually laughed at her. She now had a brown moustache covering her whole chin, reaching the start of her nose, and as she stood up, we soon saw what she had tripped on. It was one of Helen's boots.

Chapter 6

I had tried to scream for Kath and Ava to help me, but no sound came out. They were leaving poor Helen behind. I had become a doll being dragged along the floor, and at first it wasn't that bad, but soon mud started dripping down my pants and shirt. And that goat-headed creature was leaving holes in my clothes. Wait, goat-headed creature… I WAS BEING DRAGGED ON THE FLOOR BY A CHIMERA. I knew it Ava was so wrong, even though I got the wrong beast, I knew there was always something wrong about that place, and now I am going to be a victim of it, hmph.

As the chimera continued carrying me its head started getting lower and lower from my weight (not saying im heavy just that the chimera is tired) and soon enough the other two heads started arguing about who should of been carrying me the lion kept on saying that it was stronger and should of been the one and the snake would always say how it could loop itself around me it said that that way i wouldnt try escaping from apparently her and she kept on saying “if i were the one carrying her we would of already reached the cave!” That snake really thinks she's the best. The argument carried on between the two for a while when suddenly the snake said in her hot-tempered voice, “Goat! Why aren't you replying to me, Goat! Open your mouth and speak NOW!” and before the lion could stop it, the goat's mouth fell open, letting me loose. I quickly scrambled to my feet and ran away before they tried catching me again.

I could feel my heart beating and my head throbbing. I had been running for what seemed like hours without a break. I ran as quickly as I could, sweat covering my eyes and blinding my sight. It was horrible. I'm sure it was one of the worst things that has ever happened to me. I ran on when suddenly I started seeing parts of the gate where I was snatched from the older camp. I quickly turned around and walked a few paces back. It was already dark. How could I possibly know what else was staying inside that camp, so I instead found a small bush and beside it, using my bare hands, dug a hole, curled up and slept in there for the rest of the night.

When I woke up, it was still early in the morning, the sun hadn't come up, and the birds hadn't started singing. My best guess was that it was still 3:00, and I thought of going back to sleep, but if I stayed here too long, I think the chimera would find me, so better up now. But as I stretched my left leg to get out of my mini den, all my running from last night had turned my legs stiff and painful. A single movement, like trying to lift my legs, made them hurt like crazy. How could I even get to a different camp for shelter and food in time without being caught?

Chapter 7

I slowly trudged through all the mud and dry leaves but every step that I took hurt so bad. There was such a strong urge to give up and go back to my mini den, but the chances of getting caught there were higher than when I'm constantly moving, even at my very slow pace. I had been walking for about an hour and had barely gone a kilometer. It was so frustrating, but I needed to get to my destination without stopping. I needed my food, my bed, and most of all my friends. Yes, my friends, to help them find me, I will plant a clue. So I grabbed both of my boots, stuck them in the mud side by side, then partially buried them. If they find it, I know they'll have a higher hope of finding me. I mean at least Kath will.

They helped with everything. If they had found me by now, I'm sure we'd be at the next camp feasting on the food that I miss so badly. I continued hiking through the bushes and leaves, ducking under branches and trees, looking for a place to stay, but with no luck and an empty stomach, I sat down at the base of a tree and did nothing. Sitting there was a big relief for my legs but my stomach's hunger grew. Every second spreading across me, turning being tired and annoyed into pure grumpiness.

I couldn't stand the hunger any longer, so I grabbed a leaf off a tree and then shoved it in my mouth. Sound word, It was gross, I could barely chew it. The earthiness was sickening, making me want to throw up, but I kept on chewing and chewing and chewing to make myself full to fill that emptiness up.

Once I had eaten enough leaf, it was time to continue walking with my fully rested legs and disgusted stomach.

I walked on for a few more hours before I came across a wall that wasn't as sturdy as the one at our previous camp, but was still pretty well made. and at first i just stared at it, forgetting how much I wanted actual food, but quickly I came back to my senses and started sprinting across the mud in bare feet, not caring whether the branches on the floor were scraping my feet, they could heal.

When I reached the gate, I took a small peek in to see if anyone was home. No one was there, so I slowly opened the gate and walked in as quietly as possible to find any proper food.

Chapter 8

“WHERE IS MY SISTER!" Ava screamed. We had just found both of Helen's boots, and Ava has now gone insane. I could now definitely tell why Helen had disliked Ava's tantrums so much. Her scream pierced through my ears, leaving me stunned. I had never ever known she could get so loud and I never knew her leadership could disappear so quickly. We had managed to pull Helen's boot out of the mud, but to Ava it seemed like a punishment as if she had lost Helen forever. It was extremely dramatic. But to me it was like another clue a boot in mud, a trace to where she could have gone.

Even though the tracks were gone, I was, to be honest, glad to find the boot so now I have a plan: go find the third camp that had been attacked, search through there and wait till more camps are attacked. More clues could be left, plus Helen might as well be with the other people too. That's right, it's a perfect plan, which I'm sure Ava would disagree with. Which she did, she continued complaining about how difficult it would be and how long it would take.

She is such a supportive and encouraging friend, wink wink.

So we continued walking, with me holding the two hot pink boots in each hand, heading in the direction the boots had been facing when they were stuck in the mud. Yeah, I didn't listen to Ava, and now that grumpy face is shuffling right behind me. Best friends are sometimes the most annoying ones you could ever have.

We walked on for about forty minutes before coming across a gate. It wasn't as nice as our other, older camp's one, but it was still made well enough to prevent wild animals from sneaking in. Suddenly, Ava spoke up and said "Don't go in; next, we'll both be running away from Helen's fantasy beast next.” But it was too late, I already stepped inside

And who was inside? I would never have expected it to be Helen. Except she was in ripped-up clothes, covered in cuts and scratches, and head-to-toe in mud.

Chapter 9

She sat up immediately, not even breathing for a second until she realized it was Ava and me. And when that shock was gone without hesitation, she got up and hugged us both really tight. I was really glad to see her, and I'm sure Ava was too. I actually thought that she had been captured, but it seems she had escaped. She might be able to give us some really useful information.

As soon as we found a cozy tent and some food, I immediately asked her about where she had been and Helen told Ava and me everything.

Every single thing. And with all this information, we could definitely find my parents quickly. And about the cave, that cave, the chimeras' snake head mentioned, there are only so many caves on this island and we are gonna check every single one of them.

At least that's what I'm going to do.

“Why do we have to check all the caves!” said Ava ”Look, we already worked ourselves up looking for Helen and now you are making me check every single cave! Those things are icky and absolutely gross!” then she added” in short im NOT going” and yes I already knew that she wasn't going to go at her own will when she gave out her whole speech just now. But if she wants a normal life once again, she'd better join Helen so live before we drag her along. But this time, we actually dragged her.

We checked all parts of the island we knew for caves and we found a few, but were still unsuccessful in finding the one. Finally, we had to move on from the parts of the cave we knew to the unidentified parts of our maps. And actually dragging that fussy Ava around was a big burden and risk she could slow me and Ava down if caught by the enemy in the unknown territories or even getting us found by all her complaints of the mud and stuff. Our “leader”, now a mess.

Helen and I had finally managed to drag Ava to the first cave we found outside our territory, though this one seemed more mysterious than the others. As Helen and I shuffled through the overgrown weeds, we saw traces of people. not as in body parts but as in objects, there was an expensive watch, a tiny plastic beaded bracelet,a gold rimmed button and little felt dolls. It's as if a murder scene had happened here and the victims had been dragged away. As soon as Helen saw what I was thinking she immediately backed away from those objects. but sooner or later Helen built up the courage and bent down the objects and so did I, while Ava still lay there talking about stuff all she wanted. And unexpectedly, Helen built up the courage and said ”Ava, Kath check this out.” So quickly Ava rolled onto her knees and leaned over those objects, trying to see what Helen had just seen. Then Helen continued,” This could actually be a murder scene at least an attempted murder scene.” “There isn't any blood but there are signs of rush, hurry, and minor injuries. “ I don't think the button popped off or was brought here, it must have been pulled off by the claw of that beast. I'm telling you and you people better believe me.” I listened intently but Ava got so bored in the first five seconds of Helen talking that she just quit listening and flopped back onto the floor. I'm sure Ava was hoping for a better conclusion than this but this alone has given us a huge push forward in finding the solution. But it's also told us people have already gotten hurt, and so are we.

Chapter 10

Both the watch and golden bead probably belonged to a wealthy owner, the dolls must have belonged to a little girl and probably so had the beads. And that all came to a conclusion on who was here a family that was rich, yes, a rich family coming here trying to experience a better life. Based on our facts they luckily weren't hurt badly.

And as I was trying to organize all this random information, I suddenly heard a shriek and as soon as I heard it, my head turned. Ava found a trail of blood.

It was right below her and the whole time she was rolling around on it, and at first I freaked out too. I thought Ava was bleeding and I kept on asking her “where?!?! Where?!?!” but i must of sounded like a maniak because for the next three minutes after i discovered the blood had been there before she was, Ava started avoiding me as if i were a freak (part of the reason is because i did act like one) but after for some weird reason i felt super guilty, I should have thought ‘she deserved it, she was the one screaming.’ but the guilty me couldn't get out of the way so instead we silently just followed the drops of partially brown blood.

I couldn't resist the silence any longer, so I opened my mouth and said,”hey, the blood was brown, it's now red.” and that was it all I had to say. Both Helen's and Ava's eyes widened, they saw it too. The blood was now a ruby red, no longer the dried brown it once was. This trail was fresh.

The three of us, Ava, Helen, raced down, still following the trail. This could be the key to solving the case.

As excited and worried as we were, we still had to slow down as we came closer to the entrance of a cave. We had to come up with a plan to get in without being noticed.

The thinking hurt my brain. It was like you knew something, but you couldn't remember it, so frustrating. I put so much energy into that thinking that I eventually started sweating. It could have been a really funny thing to joke about, just not at this moment.

I needed to be serious. But… I couldn't hold my laugh, and it just burst out; I couldn't stop it.

Chapter 11

At that moment, all possible plans we had thought of would fail. I had just burst out laughing and evidently woke up the beasts, stupid Kath was all my brain could tell me, stupid Kath. As soon as I had made a sound, Ava and Hellen jumped to the side, away from the cave, whilst I couldn't. I was stuck in one spot, too guilty for revealing ourselves.

The first thing I saw peek out of that cave was a horrid snakehead, bad enough to start with, except after the rest of the wretched beast came out, it looked just as fantasy-like as Helen had described it. I tried moving my legs, but it would only stay put. I had frozen in time and couldn't unfreeze. I felt a drop of sweat trickle down my neck; that beast was coming closer.

It reached out and nearly grabbed me by my leg. And only then did I actually unfreeze. I stepped back and gave it a hard kick in the face that would have done it for a person, but no this wasn't a person, it was a beast, and I wasn't going to give up. I gave it two more kicks to the lion's eyes and grabbed the snake's head. To be honest, the goat head was kind of useless at this point, only left to stare at the rest of his body being beaten up by a plain, average girl. I grabbed a sharp stone below my foot and stabbed it at the snake. The goat yelled in pain; it felt the stab too.

I had finally put the beast to the ground; it was no longer any trouble(unless more came). The karate lessons Pa made me do paid off really well. I was now a master of martial arts, no longer the sucky Kath I was a minute ago.

I quickly ran into the cave in the hope of finding Ma and Pa. I yelled out their name several times from the mouth of the cave, but from the back came no answer. Panic struck me like a hurricane, and it pinned me to the floor while horrible thoughts kept popping into my mind. This was probably the part where I died.

Chapter 12

“It was a trap. It was a trap!” was all I could say. Ava and Helen were both somewhere among the trees, while I was just in the middle of what I now called nowhere, having a panic attack. A small part of my mind fought off the rest, telling me it will be fine, that I will survive, and that I will complete the case. But at that very moment, I felt as if I couldn't. I was stuck to the floor and had nowhere else to go. Or so I thought.

Suddenly, two identical faces popped up from behind the wall. Ava and Helen had come back. They quickly realised I was having one of my panic attacks and quickly dragged me up from the floor and, without a single complaint, pulled me once again among the trees.

They had found some real evidence. They dragged me in front of a row of tiny bushes and weed-covered cave entrances. And told me to pick one. I chose the one in the middle. It was fully overgrown and blocked from plain sight and the sun. It had to be this one.

I carefully planted one foot in front of the other, scared that I would make too much noise or cause chaos again. After I had fully gotten into the cave, I stood up to full height and brushed the fallen weeds off my clothes. I walked further into the cave, keeping my hand glued to the wall, wary of another beast. I had reached the end of the cave but hadn't searched the whole thing, and I had figured that there wasn't a beast in here to attack me once again, so I called out “Ma, Pa…” at first, there was no reply. After I said, “It's me, Kath,” I suddenly heard crying. Louder and louder. And I recognized that voice, the sweet voice drifted towards me, the voice of the person who sang me to sleep, the voice of the person who comforted me when I was unhappy, and I followed my ears till I reached them. I had found ma and pa.

Ma’s crying was the key to finding them both.

Helen and Ava were also glad to see Ma and Pa safe, since we all had known each other for so long.

I asked ma and pa about what had happened about 20 times, but they only told me which caves to take the hostage out of. After that, I got to listen to them explain.

That story was long and complicated. I still can't understand how they were able to get a hold of it.

Chapter 13

It all started with a hunter from the eldest group, they told me, Ava and Helen, that he was looking for food for his camp. Their camp had expanded, and they needed more supplies, so they sent him out to hunt. He had found a cave and saw the horns of a goat. By then, I thought I got the story, so I said, "Wait, wait, I get it! The hunter then went into the cave, disturbed the group of chimeras, and now they are all over the place hunting for us! That's got to be it!” ”But doesn't that mean those creatures are still out there?” I was confused, ma and pa acted as if we were completely safe while there were still beasts on the loose.

That's when Ma started to show a tiny smile and said:” You got most of it right, my little detective, except….” She took a glance at pa then said “there was only one of those beasts, that creature was smart. Had attacked us, scared that we would turn this whole island into one of those Londons which we were planning to do.” “All the clues you had found were red herrings. It frightened all the camps; they all believed we were helpless. One camp had gone, and they were scared of the chimera; they were scared.” Suddenly, I got why only one had been after us the whole time. It's because there had only been one. Everything, all the clues, facts, and information we had collected, had come into place.

But now that I knew what had happened, I really wanted to leave this archipelago and go back home. I was pretty sure the bombing had stopped, and I would be safe back there. On the way back to our camps, I told Ma and Pa I wanted to return home. Our temporary houses weren't something I was hoping to live in for the rest of my life.

The next day, we packed a little of our precious belongings along with Ava and Helen's stuff, and with others who didn't want to live here anymore, boarded the big boat that Helen and Ava had reached here on and sailed the way back to London.

P.S. I really think I should set up a detective agency with Helen and Ava, not to brag. I feel like we were pretty good.

The End