Chapter 31 - A Real Live Boy

When Sefu River was born to Laughing Bear and Little Feet he gained a toy.

Little Feet had asked around and had been unable to find out where it had come from. Sefu loved his toy and would spend hours talking to and cuddling it.
Sefu had named his toy Pond. As he grew into a child he started to believe that the toy sometimes came alive.

Even into his teenage years he could still see his faithful friend.

Sefu had tried telling people about Pond but everyone had thought him crazy. He realised that only he could see his friend.

With Sefu's untimely death no more had been seen of Pond for a few years until it turned up one day in the arms of a small Evelyn.

Charli hadn't heard about Sefu's strange toy and had thought no more about it, assuming that someone they knew had given it to Evelyn as a present.

Evelyn loved her new doll and named him Lance. As Evelyn grew into a child she relied on him more and more. There were only three children in her year at school. Herself and two other girls, neither of which she really got along with. Lance was her best friend and the happiest times she spent were with him.

Albin had been dabbling in chemistry and one day produced a golden liquid.

He didn't know why but he felt that he needed to give it to Evelyn. He found her in the main hall apparently playing by herself and passed over the flask.

Evelyn was surprised, but took the flask wondering what to do with it. Lance knew exactly what to do and taking the glass from Evelyn swallowed the contents in one gulp.

Lance had turned into a real boy and Evelyn was overjoyed. Now she could prove to her family her imaginary friend was real. Albin was shocked, but having seen the transformation knew Evelyn was telling the truth. Albin felt that they had to keep Lance and so they got him some new medieval clothes and gave him a haircut.

Albin was now faced with the problem of how to explain Lance's presence. He decided that Lance could be a distant relative of Charli's that had come to live with them after losing all his near family. He felt that he should be afraid of this strange boy, but instead he felt faintly comforted by him. Lance had grown up with Sefu and could tell him many stories about his dead brother.

Albin hoped he wasn't rash in trusting Lance and that he wouldn't live to regret taking him in. 

Walking past Merlin later Albin nearly jumped with surprise. Merlin appeared to have his own doll. Perhaps Lance wasn't the only distant relative coming to stay.