Page 56 of The Mission

“We’ll think of something.”

Six days laterthey were in Iceland! Together! Arlo was beside himself with joy. He and Conrad were waiting for the minibus to take them on their excursion.

“Had fun?” Arlo asked.

“I can’t believe how much we packed into one day. And this—oh wow—if we see the Northern Lights—it will be just amazing.”

There were already lights in the sky when they pulled up. Conrad stood behind Arlo and wrapped his arms around him.

“I’ll keep your back warm,” Conrad whispered.

They stared up and watched as the Earth performed its magic. Arlo had seen it before, from the ground and from the air, but Conrad hadn’t. Judging by the gasps at Arlo’s ear, Conrad was as impressed as Arlo had been on the first occasion—and still was impressed. The spectacle was different every time, amazing each time and humbling.

“Ég held ég elski þig,“ Conrad whispered.

“Ki taku whakaaro e aroha ana ahau ki a koe.”

Conrad smiled. “What language is that?”

“Maori. I knew you’d pick Icelandic so I went for something a long way away.”

“Do you think we’ll get through all seven thousand and eleven languages in the world in six months?”

Arlo leaned back into him. “Let’s try.”

“Oh look,” Conrad whispered. “It’s as if the sky is playing music to us. It’s so beautiful.”

“It is.”

“But I need to tell you that as wonderful as this is, you’re the most beautiful part of my world and you always will be. Thank you for being you, Arlo.”

“Now I can’t see and my tears are going to freeze in my eyes.”

Conrad shook as he laughed. “Let me kiss them better.”

“Then your tongue will get stuck.”

“You think I care?”

I love you now.But Arlo would wait to say it. And then he’d never stop saying it. Ever. Ever. Ever.

Epilogue

December 14thA year later

A cameraman stood in the corner of Arlo’s parents’ house, his assistant next to him, lots of wires and equipment everywhere. This Christmas, the Lehners had not gone to Austria. The trip had been delayed until the New Year. The whole family was glued to the TV watching a show hosted by Dig and Jonah, two well-known presenters, and Arlo clung to Conrad’s hand.

Arlo had struggled to get Rurik to agree to taking part in this. It was a little like Britain’s Got Talent but for charity. Even so, Rurik had saidnofor a long while, fearing the reaction of shareholders and stakeholders, but Arlo had persisted, reassured his brother that no one would be taking any clothes off, and finally Rurik gave in.Not because of thatRurik had yelled. Arlo smiled as he remembered.

The format was different to most talent shows. A TV production company had invited musicians and singers to submit a four-minute video of a performance of any piece. Over a period of weeks, the chosen videos had been broadcast and the public had voted for their favourite by text. Twelve had made it through to the final. They’d all been given a chance to make another recording and those videos would be played tonight.

Their quartet was called Three Plus One.

Three plus one awkward oneArlo had looked at Rurik.

Three brothers and meConrad had said.

Three talented ones and mesaid Julian.

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