Filed to story: Eight Uncles Beloved Treasure
Thinking Lilly was scared, Bettany wanted to comfort her, but instead found the little girl comforting her.
“There, there, Granny. Don’t be scared. I’m here.”
Bettany was at a loss for words.
She didn’t feel much at first, but Lilly’s gesture brought tears to her eyes.
“Don’t leave me, Lilly.” Bettany sobbed while holding Lilly.
The fear of losing Lilly finally sank in.
Blaming herself, Lilly gently patted Bettany’s back. “My bad. I’m sorry, Granny…”
She had promised Mom to take good care of Granny, but she had just left her behind.
Sob, sob. Lilly didn’t want to be an irresponsible kid.
Anthony rushed to the scene to find the adult and child embracing and crying.
He was speechless.
“What’s going on?” Anthony approached them and noticed the ghost not too far away. He immediately stood in front of Bettany and Lilly to protect them.
The other family members soon arrived.
Perched on a nearby tree branch, the parrot flapped its wings and cawed, “My, oh, my. It’s a ghost! Check it out!”
Anthony had no words.
Narrowing his eyes, Anthony approached and nudged the ghost with his foot to turn it over.
It turned out to be a child, not a ghost.
“It’s a boy,” Anthony said. “No need to be alarmed.”
Holding Lilly’s hand, Bettany asked, “Is he dead?”
Lilly shook her head. “No.”
She initially thought it was a ghost too, but upon closer inspection, she realized it was a boy.
Pablo had mentioned something about saving a life as a gateway to never-never land. While she was carrying him out of there, she had managed to frighten her granny.
Anthony knelt down and felt the boy’s pulse before saying, “He’s not dead.”
Edward furrowed his brow. “Why is there a child in the middle of the woods?”
The Crawford brothers examined the child on the ground. Since the boy was still breathing, it was their duty as a family to give him a chance to live.
Gilbert approached to check his breathing and heartbeat while Edward called the police and ambulance.
Floating in a corner, Pablo appeared quite pleased.
“See. I taught you about medicine this morning, and now you have a real case,” he said. “He lost a piece of his soul. It’s a classic scenario. I’ll show you what you can do.”
Lilly nodded. “Sure. Saving a life is a gateway to never-never land.”
Pablo was speechless.
Saving a life is a gateway to heaven, not never-never land.
Nevertheless, it amused Pablo that the little girl seemed conflicted. He decided not to correct her.
Unable to offer assistance, Bettany was confused. “…Huh? What’s never-never?”
It was hard for Lilly to understand.
When she was with the Hatchers, Lilly wasn’t exposed to anything about saving lives or spirituality.
She couldn’t quite grasp why saving a life could lead to never-never land.
“Granny, what’s a gateway?”
Bettany searched for simpler words. “Huh… It means a path or a way to something.”
It wasn’t easy to explain…
Finally understanding, Lilly continued with more questions. “What’s never-never land?”
Why did saving a life lead to never-never land?
Suppressing her laughter, Bettany replied, “It’s heaven, not never-never land.”
Lilly corrected herself. “Heaven.”
Bettany earnestly taught the child.
Lilly listened attentively.
In the end, the girl understood that saving a life was a gateway to heaven. She turned around and rolled her eyes at Pablo.
Seeing her master laughing, Lilly realized that Pablo had done it on purpose.
Hmph! Pablo was such a meanie!
Just then, Gilbert said, “Alright. Let’s bring him back with us.”
Lilly asked, “Is he alive?”
Gilbert carried the boy and said, “He’s unconscious, but his breathing is stable.”
The group made their way towards the tent to wait for the arrival of the police and ambulance. Despite Gilbert’s medical skills, it was impossible for him to examine the boy for internal injuries in the middle of nowhere.
As the sky grew darker, Cheryl’s family noticed the Crawfords approaching with torchlights. They found it strange that the Crawford family was making their way back.
“What’s that?” Tina whispered.
Thomas replied, “I think it’s a child.”
“Huh?” Tina couldn’t see Lilly, who was sitting on Bettany’s lap in the dark, and asked, “Don’t tell me something happened to Lilly.”
If that were the case… The brat deserved it.
Tina had an idea and said, “I’ll go and check it out.”
Thomas stopped her. “Haven’t you caused enough problems? I’ll go. You two stay here.”
Regardless, they needed to find out if anything had happened to the Crawfords’ precious child.
Thomas approached the scene.
Cheryl strained her neck, but she couldn’t get a better look if Tina couldn’t see from her height. However, the possibility that Lilly had been involved in an accident excited Cheryl.
She put on a worried expression and asked, “Mommy, will Lilly be alright?”
Tina replied, “She should be okay…”
Time passed until Thomas returned in a hurry.
He whispered, “It’s not Lilly. It’s a boy. The boy is wearing the Sdnchv label.”
Tina was surprised. “Sdnchv? Could that child be a member of the Shaw family…”
