Ferry loved May the most. It was the most beautiful month of the year. The sun was not too shy, yet not too daring. There were flowers everywhere. And the foliage of the trees was still young and fresh. The air was vibrating from birds singing, insects buzzing, and people chatting.

Every once in a while, Ferry walked on May's street. Sometimes, he stopped in front of the flower shop. He felt dizzy because of the fragrances of plants and flowers coming from inside. And if he saw May, the day couldn't get any better.

The school was almost over. Ferry proved to be a good, hard-working student. Even without the magical help, he did his best to study. With Ben's help, Math proved to be not that difficult. Miss Summer, their teacher, always encouraged him every time he was answering correctly. In the end, the first year Ferry spent out of his home was a great one. And adventurous, too.

That morning, he brought Miss Summer the first buds of peonies from his mother's garden. They were pink, spreading the scent of a garden after the rain. At their sight, Miss Summer smiled with all her heart. Just like her students, she seemed to enjoy the summer with the scent of the holiday that was getting closer.

"Our first class is Math," she said, and a general sigh could be heard all over the classroom. "But I thought it was such a lovely day and probably your mind is somewhere else. Thinking about the holiday, maybe? I know I am," she said, smiling. "That is why I thought about a special project which would suit you better on such a beautiful day. And to make it even funnier, you will work as a team. The assignment is calledThe way I see summer."

The classroom resounded with applause and cheers. Then, Miss Summer assigned the teams. Matilda was to make a team with Danny Stevens, the bully. Ferry smiled, hearing her sniffing next to him with disapproval. Ben's pair was Cecilia, Miss Popularity, who also objected, unhappy with her project partner. Ferry kept his fingers crossed so that Miss Summer would pair him with May. Unfortunately, Miss Summer decided May should make a team with Amelia Tray, their freckled classmate, who was always forgetting doing her homework. Ferry thought Miss Summer probably had a good reason to choose such unexpected partners.

When Miss Summer said his name and the one of his teammate, he thought he heard it wrong. He asked her to tell him again, and he found out ─ he was to make a team with Billy Pride.

Miss Summer smiled at everyone, but no one smiled back at her. Because no one was happy with their assigned partner.

They had two weeks to finish the assignment. Whether a composition, a mock-up or a model, each pair had to do its best. The winning team was to get a set of books as a prize. Truth be told, the prize was not very appealing. What child would have spent the summer holiday reading? Miss Summer, although kind and generous, was firm ─ the ones who would not complete their assignment were to spend the whole holiday in school, taking part in cleaning and repairs that needed to be done.

Some teams began working on the project the next day. Unfortunately, Ferry was not one of them.

"If you think I'll have to see your face every day for two weeks, you must be out of your mind," Billy hissed in his ear during the break. "I don't need a prize, and I'm definitely not going to spend the summer cleaning the school. My father will take care so that this stupid project won't ruin my holiday," he said before storming out the classroom's door.

Now, that worried Ferry. He knew how stubborn Billy could be. No matter how much he loved school, he wouldn't want to spend the summer holiday polishing the school's floors. For he was sure Billy would not be the one to be punished.

Things weren't doing any better with the other teams.

"You can't imagine how difficult it is to work with Celia," Ben complained one morning on their way to school. "That girl is impossible. She expects me to do things only the way she wants."

"Celia?" Ferry wonder. "I thought her name was Cecilia."

"That's how the close ones call her," said Ben, blushing.

"Since when are you one of Cecilia's close ones?" Matilda laughed, making Ben blush from his cheeks to the tip of his ears. "Anyway, things are not going great with my project, eighter. But at least I can make it the way I want. Luckily, Danny loves food so much, he eats most of the time. While I can do the project my way. Though it's kind of hard to do everything by myself. How about you, Ferry? What are you going to do?" she said, turning to Ferry.

"I don't know," Ferry sighed. "Billy won't even talk to me, let alone work with me... I don't know what I'm going to do."

"Pity..." said Matilda. "You could have gone to his room again to find that mysterious object."

"That's the last thing I can think of right now, Matt," Ferry replied. Although he had kept the key in his pocket all this time which meant he, too, couldn't take his mind away from that box.

Yet one day, to his surprise, a black car, the only one Ferry has seen in town, stopped in front of his house. Then, Albert Pride's driver came out and invited Ferry to the Pride residence to do his school assignment with Billy. Although he wasn't very pleased with the idea after the flower pot incident, Ferry had no choice but accepting. After he promised his mother he wouldn't get into any trouble, he got into the car which took him to the Pride mansion.

As always, Billy greeted him with the same coldness, "My mother forced me to work with you," he said the moment he saw him.

Ferry felt his sight turning blurry again, and he tried hard to control himself. He had promised his mother so.

He followed Billy to his room in silence. The huge desk was full of the most various crafting items that would have made any artist jealous. Cardboards, geometry sets, colored pencils, watercolors, plywood, glue, wooden boards of all sizes, and paper of all shapes and colors. A lot of small nails, too, and a hammer to match.

"I'm not going to lift one finger for this stupid project," Billy warned him as they entered his room.

Ferry, however, would've loved to craft. Still, he needed Billy's help with the nails. He couldn't possibly work with his gloves on.

A knock on the door made him throb. He wasn't feeling comfortable in that beautiful, yet unwelcoming place.

The door opened wide and Billy's mother came in, spreading a delicate exotic scent. She wore a dress tailored from the finest silk, with a floral pattern that undulated vaporously behind her. Spring itself looked as if emerging from her dress. One of the kitchen ladies walked behind her, carrying a large tray with all kinds of treats ─ cookies, biscuits, chocolate, fruits, and lemonade.

"So glad to see you, Ferry," she said with a wide smile on her face. "I hope you and Billy will get along. And I also hope your project will win," she added. "We, the Prides, are winners," she said, giving Billy a certain look Ferry couldn't understand.

She seemed agitated, like the first time he met her; she was playing with a cigarette-case made of pure gold, with her initials engraved on the lid. Eventually, she took one cherry cigarette out and lightened it with a small lighter, also made of gold.

"Yes, Mrs. Pride," said Ferry, trying to be polite as his mother had taught him.

Billy's mother gave him the same big smile and Ferry could see her perfect, porcelain white teeth. Then, she came out, accompanied by the servant. The moment he saw his mother coming out, Billy began looking for something under the bed.

"Can I help you?" Ferry asked him.

"Mind your own business, Donovan," Billy muttered from under the bed.

Ferry didn't know what to do. He went to the big window and looked outside. The window was open, and he could have a better look at the labyrinth stretching out in the distance. He wondered whether anyone had ever the courage to walk it through.

"Did you happen to see a key last time you were here?" Billy asked him after coming out from under the bed.

So that was what he was looking for! Ferry shook his head. Then he looked at the floor. He was so bad at lying.

Billy threw himself in the armchair, with the tray in his lap. He ate randomly, without minding Ferry. As if he wasn't even there. Ferry was still looking through the window.

"That labyrinth is spectacular," he thought out loud.

"Well, you could say that," said Billy, his mouth full. "It was built a long time ago before I was born."

"The gardener must have been talented."

Billy wiped away his mouth with his sleeve. "I don't know if he's still alive. He disappeared fourteen years ago. He was Jason Scott's grandfather. Jason from our class, you know..."

It surprised Ferry to hear that. The forest, again. "Disappeared?!! How?"

"I've heard the older servants talking about that. They said he went to Shepherd's Forest to bring some seedling plants and never came back."

"What happened to him?" Ferry asked,  intrigued.

"Some people say he lost his mind. That he got lost in the woods and wild beasts ate him," whispered Billy, trying to look scary. "He was behaving strangely before disappearing, anyway..."

Ferry didn't know whether to believe him. Truth be told, they weren't the best of friends, and Billy wasted no chance to tease him.

"What do you mean he behaved strangely?" he asked.

"Well, he was talking by himself, saying something about the Unseen... That was about the time when he cut the bushes in the garden. Some say he wanted to leave a message."

Ferry's jaw dropped, "What message?"

"Who cares?" Billy cut him off. "It's just a stupid story. Let's just start already, shall we? I don't want to see your face around here too often."

This time, Ferry couldn't agree more. It was obvious he and Billy would never be friends.

"First, we must think what summer means to each one of us," said Ferry. "Then I will make a sketch of the project and we'll craft. It's just that─ I'm not great at crafting," he said in a soft voice.

"Why?" Billy asked with a strange sparkle in his eyes.

"It seems like I'm terrible with crafting. Unlike my father. He's so good at crafting, and could come up with something from pretty much anything."

"Yes... I know how you must feel," Billy added with a sad voice. "My mother is expecting a lot from me, too. And she's never pleased with anything I do. Sometimes I feel like I'm not even─ I would've liked to have a mother like yours," he said in a trembling voice. For the first time, Ferry could tell he was being honest. 

But Billy's moment of truth didn't take long. The boy shivered, and his look turned mean again.

"Whatever. Let's start already. I don't know about you, but for me, summer means freedom. But I do not know how to show that. And it also means flying," he added.

That took Ferry by surprise. Summer also meant flying to him.

⃰

Their project was gaining a shape, little by little. Ferry was drawing, then Billy was crafting. Ferry was coloring and sticking the pieces together. Billy was using the nails and hammer. They were working without talking to each other as if in a hurry to have things done as soon as possible.

Every afternoon, Mr. Pride's luxurious car stopped in front of Ferry's house. Ferry got in quickly, under the watch from behind the curtains of his neighbours' windows. The world seen from inside the car looked different. It was like a movie playing in front of his eyes. The people of the town were the actors, and he was the spectator. From behind the dark windows of the car, he knew no one could see him. He saw Ben and Matilda at the playground. He saw May adjusting some floral decorations in the window of the flower shop. Then, he saw Miss Summer entering the flower shop and greeting her. He also saw Mrs. Cobbs walking with her walking stick in front of her sinister house.

When the car came out of the town, the landscape changed. The trees stretched their branches on both sides of the road, bringing them together like the arms of happy children, playing. The hills sat somewhere in the distance, green and quiet. And the high, clear sky watched from above.

Suddenly, something caught his eye. Somewhere ahead, somebody was walking, barely dragging the feet. When the car passed by, he saw Mrs. Cobbs, the same Mrs. Cobbs, leaning on her walking stick. Ferry's jaw dropped, his nose glued to the car's window. He looked her dead in the eye, just to be sure he wasn't imagining things. And, to his horror, she looked back at him, even if he was hidden behind the dark window of the car.

Ferry moved away from the window, barely breathing. How was that even possible? How could she see him when no one else could? Better yet, how could she ever see him when she was almost blind? And mostly, how could she possibly get on the outskirts of the town so fast? Even to the fastest child, that would have taken a while, let alone to a blind, old woman, who could barely walk.

In Billy's room, he was absent-minded and could hardly concentrate. Billy eventually got bored and walked out of the room for some fresh air. That was when Ferry saw again the colored sparks coming from under the floor. And this time he didn't hesitate. With rapid movements, he lifted the floor's board and took out the box. He could see scratches on it, a sign Billy had tried to open it. But Ferry could actually open it! So he quickly took the key out of his pocket and opened the box.

He couldn't believe his eyes! How come he never thought about it before?!! Inside the box, there were sparkling, in the most beautiful colors, Lavender Sky's magical feathers.

Well, what do you think? The blind old lady is back! Any theories? I can't wait to see your comments! And votes :)