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Prologue
Henry took a swig of the bottle in his hands and swished the alcohol around in his mouth. Then he swallowed and sighed in pleasure, and perhaps relief from the acrid taste. Then he smiled as he remembered the looks of the women’s faces when he had told them to ‘go away’, of course, they didn’t take kindly to his indignation, in fact poor old Mrs. Heathcot took it as a personal affront, and immediately began jabbering on about ‘role modeling for future generations’ and ‘his disregard for society as a whole’… blah blah blah… she rattled on for what seemed like a lifetime. It was then that Henry had his revelation, his last chance at a place where he was safe from the prying eyes (and opinions) of his neighbors: the library.
He was now just outside the children’s reading room in the library where he had been reading a children’s book entitled ‘The Brother’s Grimm Collection of Fairy Tales – For Young and Old’, of course, Henry knew the title was ignored by everybody. It was, and probably always would be, a children’s book.
Henry lightly felt the rim of his hat with his well-worked fingers as he walked down the stairs to the bottom floor of the library. He noticed that the bottom floor was nearly empty, which was how he liked it, especially these days. He walked forward and pushed open the doors. He was taken aback at the amount of light outside. It was now late afternoon; he had been reading that book for what must be several hours, at least. No matter, he thought, it’s not like there’s a wife to go home to, or even much of a life. Henry slowly started to make his way down the steps but stopped when he heard a shrill cry filled with agony. Henry looked around, his right hand again feeling the rim of his hat. Slightly drunk, it didn’t occur to Henry to be frightened of the noise, but, like always, he was curious. He ambled to the left and up the stairs, so that he was effectively going up and across the stairs at the same time.
When he had finally made it to the top of the stairs he stopped for a few moments to catch his breath before moving on. Henry now noticed how quiet everything was, there were no birds calling, no dogs howling, and even the usual sounds of men fighting outside the local pubs, which were but a few streets away, seemed to be strangely absent. Henry jumped in fright, the cry again sounding, but this time it was different, this time it sounded as if it was coming only meters away from where Henry was now standing. He took one last deep breath before ambling forward again. Henry’s hand was still on his hat, his fingers feeling along the rim nervously. It was strange how he could feel nervous, but not scared, in his current state.
When he was as close as he dared to the bushes, that grew so extravagantly behind and beside the library building, he leant forward and peered into the inky blackness swamping them. He listened for the sound of whatever was hiding within, but could only hear his own abated breathing. He took a deep breath, trying to knock back the effects of the large amount of alcohol he had consumed that day. With no fear whatsoever he slowly walked forward into the bushes, their spindly branches enclosing around him.
Henry stood waiting, the darkness overpowering. He breathed in and out, in and out. His breathing sped up, becoming erratic and shallow. In, out. In, out. An ear-splitting cry rang ceaselessly around Henry’s skull, around and around. In, out. In, out. He turned around, smiling awkwardly. In. The eyes were what he first noticed, cold, calculating, evil. Out. The next thing he noticed was the shine of metal as something drew up in front of his face, and then he saw red, red everywhere. In. Henry fell to the ground, his lungs still filled with his last breath. Out. In the blood that had fallen to the ground you could see a shadow moving away from Henry Burberry’s body, and then a gurgling, shrill cry that echoed endlessly throughout the streets; down the alleyways, where the spiders stopped making their webs; and all the way to the pubs where the first fight of the night had begun.
Chapter 1
Ann sat, cross-legged, on her bed, her quill elegantly poised above her page. She thought for a moment before hurriedly scribbling words down. Ann had always kept her diary close to her; it was like a thread that kept her linked with her past, and the past of her mother. It wasn’t really a diary at all. Ann didn’t dare ask her foster-mother for a diary of her own, so she wrote all her memories down in this Bible that was so old the cover had begun to peel in the corners, and the pages had started to turn yellow. Ann didn’t mind the age of the Bible; she thought it was romantic of sorts. She would sit on her bed every night to write about her day, and, if she had the time, she would write poems in the back. They weren’t the world’s greatest poems, but, she didn’t show them to anyone else, so, there was no need to worry about such trivial things as skill and technique. Lost in her thoughts Ann didn’t hear the soft knocks on the window, it was only when the catch opened, and a cold breeze filtered into the room, causing the candle flame to suddenly whiff out, that Ann came back to the world. She looked at the candle interestingly for a few moments, her head still bogged down with her thoughts. She watched as wax slowly dripped down into the saucer the candle rested on, now almost filled with wax. Ann jumped, dropping her quill onto her bed, as someone coughed. She frowned at the window crossly, a frown that slowly changed into a smile when she noticed the rosy-cheeked boy looking into her room. “Ann! What’d I tell you? I said, ‘I’ll be over after I finish the snow ploughing down at the old Habertsville house’, and what’d you says to me? You said, ‘I’ll be waiting by the window, in my warmest clothes, ready for your big surprise’. Now look…we’re runnin’ late”
“Oh Timothy, you’re such a bother sometimes…I was just writing…-“
“Words from the heart...and all dat imagination stuff”
“-About my day!” Ann frowned; she hated it when he interrupted. But, he had a good point, she wasn’t ready for him, and she promised she would be. “I’m so sorry Timothy, I just got so caught up in all these thoughts, and I just had to write them down so that I may remember them tomorrow, and the next day after that, and forever…” Ann smiled sweetly, wiping her brown hair away from her eyes.
“Well hurry up! We haven’t got all day!” He laughed at Ann’s expression; she seemed lost between the thought of making a smart remark or actually taking his advice. She seemed to opt for the latter option, as she hurriedly went about wrapping a scarf around her neck She then took a long brown jacket off a hook on her bedroom door and draped it around her shoulders, opened the left-hand side drawer in the dresser beside her bed, coming out with a pair of dark red gloves, which she immediately put on, and then carefully placing her bible in the same drawer. That’s when she noticed the quill. Ann crossed her arms on her chest and took a deep breath before turning to Timothy, who was, either by chance, or by skill, far enough away from the window to avoid her hands, with which she would surely have throttled him. The quill had landed, with ink still on its tip, on her bed, so her patchwork quilt was now covered in numerous black blotches where it had bounced, and finally landed, from when Ann had dropped it when Timothy finally got her attention by an ostentatious cough that scared the living daylights out of her. Ann picked up the quill, placed it in the ink pot on her dresser and hurriedly walked to the window. She decided that she would clean the ink up later, although she knew there wasn’t much that could be done. Timothy held his hand out to Ann and helped her out of the window, her feet landing softly in the deep snow, a sharp cold breeze whipping against her face.
*****
“So where are we going?” Ann asked, staring at Timothy and smiling, as they walked along.
“That’s for me to know, and you to find out” Timothy replied smugly. His smile a great deal to large for his face.
Ann sighed and looked away. She laughed silently at a butcher chasing a dog down an alleyway. The dog had stolen what looked like a leg of beef, and the butcher was furious. He stopped running to catch his breath, as he was obtusely overweight. Another dog snuck up behind the butcher and grabbed another leg of beef that was in the butcher’s hand. The scene was comical, like what you would expect in a comedy play. Ann remembered a play she had once saw, where a man was chased by a group of policemen, the group kept running across the stage, back and forth, back and forth, it was hilarious.
“Excuse me miss,” a little voice said. Ann looked forward and then down, there, as high as her waist, was a small boy. He grinned.
“Yes?” Ann asked.
“Just thought I’d be telling you not to go that way” he said, and, as an afterthought, “miss”.
“Why ever not?” Ann inquired.
Timothy stopped when he noticed Ann wasn’t walking alongside him. He turned and observed Ann talking to the small boy.
“Well, there’s these lights up ahead…you don’t be wantin’ to go near them”
“Lights?”
“Yes…lights…up…ahead” He replied, speaking slowly as if Ann was dumb.
“Can you show me?” Ann asked, smiling down at the boy.
Timothy had, by now; walked back the short distance and was standing beside Ann. “What’s happening?” he inquired.
“Oh nothing…this young boy was about to show us the way to some ‘lights’” Ann patted the boy on the head, but realized her mistake when she felt something crawling on her hand. She hurriedly lifted her hand and wiped it on her jacket.
“Lights?” Timothy asked.
“Yes, lights” The boy answered, his voice squeaky.
“Ok then…” Timothy replied, rolling his eyes in annoyance.
The boy walked off ahead of them, and they followed, Timothy in the rear.
It took about an hour to reach the lights, and in that time Timothy had realized that this was the spot he had wanted to bring Ann to anyway, and he should be thankful to the boy as Timothy was heading in the wrong direction when Ann encountered him. The lights were glowing a bright gold and moving about from one spot to the other. They seemed to float, never touching the ground. Timothy estimated that they were about 20 feet above the ground.
The boy looked up at both Ann and Timothy; there expressions indicated they were in awe, in a shocked silence of wonder. “I best be going now,” he said. Neither Timothy nor Ann had heard. The boy snuck behind Ann, spotted a bag of cloth sticking out of her jacket pocket and grabbed it. How lucky, he thought, and then he ran away, not knowing that the content of the bag wasn’t coins, or gold, or anything remotely valuable, inside the bag was little stones that Ann had collected, forgetting to take it out of her pocket that very morning.
“I’m going to climb that tree over there” Ann stated out of nowhere, inclining her head to a huge tree to the left.
Timothy jumped, his concentration having been totally focused on the lights. He replied, “Oh ok”
Ann moved off towards the tree, Timothy followed after a few seconds, although he still continued to stare at the lights dancing in the air.
As Ann trudged through the snow she thought how it was so much deeper here then in town. Probably because of the constant snow-ploughing going on, Ann thought. Poor Timothy, having to shovel snow for a living, although the thought of changing jobs as each season passed did seem exciting and somewhat adventurous to Ann.
Having come to the tree Ann stopped and tried jumping for the lowest branch, she couldn’t quite reach it. Timothy had, by now, come up behind Ann, he asked, “Would you like a leg up?”
“No” Ann replied dryly, and, as if realizing how rude she must have sounded, added “I can manage myself thanks”
“Ok, ok, just wonderin’, that’s all” Timothy backed off, his hands palms up and held in front, in a position that suggested he would leave her alone.
Ann rolled her eyes, and then, with a determined look on her face, tried to climb the tree. After a few minutes she finally managed to get her right foot lodged tightly in place, all she had to do now was use her arms to heave herself up and onto the lowest branch. She placed her hands on the lowest branch, which she could now reach with a bit of a jump and push off with her right foot, and heaved herself up until she sat on the lowest branch. She laughed; feeling like she’d conquered the world.
Timothy smiled up at her and then started to climb up the tree himself. “Ah, Ann, can you move?” he asked.
Ann hurriedly stood up on the branch and became to climb. By the time Timothy had gotten himself onto the lowest branch Ann had already made it halfway up the tree, and her ego knew it to.
*****
“There just has to be a rational explanation for this…there just has to be” Ann said, more to herself then to Timothy.
Timothy grinned that insane grin of his, the one Ann despised so much, but also the one that made her smile. “You know what? You should be a scine…no a skiencetist…no a-”
Ann couldn’t help but roll her eyes, his manner was abominable, his words, well they just didn’t make sense, and his charm was guilt worthy. “A scientist?” There’s that insane smile again.
“- Yep dat…a skientist” He replied smugly, Ann doubted he seriously knew he was saying it wrong. Timothy moved his hand through his hair, and Ann noticed the golden glow to Timothy’s brown hair, the golden twinkle to his blue eyes, the gold hue of his tanned skin…
“Ann?” Timothy wondered what she was looking at; maybe she was day dreaming again? “Yes?” Ann asked, snapping out of her reverie. “Sorry I was…my god what’s happening?” Suddenly Ann was up, grabbing her coat around her, and stepping to and from branches, until she reached up, and heaved herself up to another branch higher in the tree.
Timothy sighed and followed her. He wondered what could have suddenly gotten her attention like that. It could be something as simple as an animal she had never seen before, or something great, like a fire; you could never really tell with Ann. Timothy smiled at the sight of Ann’s feet dangling perilously from the branches above, and then he too noticed the sudden change to the light. The golden lights had stopped moving and had turned red. Timothy hurriedly followed Ann, his curiosity piqued.
*****
Having made it to the top of the tree, well as high in the tree as she could ever hope to climb, Ann watched the spectacle in the sky, barely 20 feet past the tree. The golden lights were now scarlet. Before they were moving about wildly; when Ann first saw them she likened them to the dancing at the Christmas ball, but now, they seemed organized, as if each and every light could think for itself and will itself into this now organized pattern. Perhaps these were the fairies that she had read about? Or was there a simple explanation? Ann barely even took notice as Timothy scrambled to her side; he had leaves in his hair and dirt on his face, which didn’t really look out of place, considering their present surroundings.
“What’s happening?” Timothy asked, his face now covered in a rosy glow. Ann seemed content to just stare at the lights, Timothy wasn’t even sure she was aware he was there. Ann turned her head, although her eyes were eerily left looking at the lights before looking at Timothy. “I…I don’t know Timothy”
She seemed almost scared, Timothy thought. It was understandable, considering the fact that they were not only high in a tree, which didn’t faze Ann as she had climbed her first tree when she was but a small girl, but also in the presence of a wondrous display of nature at its peak as the powerful force that it is. Timothy was just content to show her the sunset high in the trees, but now his ‘surprise’ had turned into so much more, and he didn’t like it one bit. Ann had, by now, returned her gaze to the lights in the sky. Timothy decided he should at least feel comfortable watching the splendor of the lights, he couldn’t understand why Ann would want to stand on two branches, perilously high above the ground, for minutes on end to watch them.
“Timothy?” Ann continued to stare at the lights, her eyes wide with fear, or was it anticipation?
“Yes Ann?”
“I…I do not feel well…I think we should get down now” Ann finally turned away from the lights to the look of bewilderment on Timothy’s face.
He noticed her soft, fearful look, and decided to oblige her wish. He sighed, stood up and touched Ann on the shoulder. She smiled, and then she paled, her eyes suddenly glossing over with a white haze, her once magnificent brown eyes paled to an almost insignificant light brown.
“Ann? What’s wrong?”
Ann smiled weakly, her countenance of whatever was bothering her was very noticeable. “I…I feel…weak…and…scared” It was like she couldn’t remember what words to use, what meant what and where to put it.
Timothy frowned; his expression betrayed his concern like a clown suddenly saddened at the loss of an audience. His smile, however, was not forgotten; he smiled weakly at Ann, trying to improve her spirits. It worked, to a degree, as Ann attempted a smile back, but it turned into a lopsided sort of smile that betrayed hints of fear and sadness. Timothy didn’t understand where these emotions were coming from; they all seemed so sudden.
Ann felt like she was borrowing someone else’s emotions, but she didn’t know who’s. Ann looked at the lights again, and suddenly noticed something she hadn’t seen before, in the center of the lights, in the center of the perfect circle they were rotating around, Ann could see a mass of light rapidly growing in size. It was perfectly round, like a ball, and it seemed that the lights encircling it were giving their light to it. A cold breeze swept through Ann, her clothes barely adequate to fend off the sharp cold. She held her coat closer the chest, and then she saw. The snow had melted below the center light, the largest light. Ann jumped; she looked to the side and Timothy looking at her concerned. “Ann? I just asked if you’d like to go now?” He was worried about her, Ann could tell.
“Umm…yes, we best…leave now”
“Ok then, I’ll go first, so if you fall at least you’ll have something soft to land yourself on” he smiled at that suggestion, and Ann even smiled herself. She couldn’t dismiss the ridiculous image of herself landing on Timothy, and then the more romantic notion of kissing him lightly on his lips after a brief moment where everything felt right…Ann stopped smiling when she realized how hot she was. How strange, she thought. Then she remembered the pool of water below the center light. “Timothy!”
He was already beginning the long climb down when she called out. He turned, looking puzzled, and then he saw. The lights were rotating faster and faster, there speed continually rising. Rising. Rising. The lights blurred together. Rising. Rising. Snow began to melt. Rising. Rising. Water splashed from the branches above onto Ann’s hair and clothes. Timothy gasped as snow slid down his back. Rising. Rising. And the small lights disappeared, the center light, the largest light, the only one remaining. Then everything was red, everything was light. Ann gasped. Timothy grabbed her hand. Everything was still. Silent. The light expanded. It grew and grew. The light was blinding. Ann put her hand to her head, shielding her eyes. It grew and grew. Then it exploded. Ann screamed. Timothy held onto her hand as tightly as he could. Red light bathed the tree in brilliance, heat rushed past. Then it all rushed back in, back to the spot where the first snow had become water. Back to the beginning, and the cause of what might be the death of all.
*****
“No, it wasn’t Mrs. Williams, it was Mrs. Burberry”
“My god woman, Mrs. Burberry? I can’t believe it” George shook his head in disbelief. Mrs. Burberry sleeping with Mr. Stockwood? What was the world coming to? Mrs. Williams he could understand, she was known as a very ‘loose’ woman, very flexible in fact. “How’s poor Henry coping?” George asked.
“Well, I am yet to see him since, well, you know what happened. But I heard from a reliable source that he’s been on the alcohol since. Poor thing.” Morague replied, certain distastefulness to her voice.
“Well I best be on my way Morague, thanks for the tea”
“Anytime, George, anytime…” Morague turned away from George and focused her attentions on the sink, her face suddenly crestfallen when she noticed the modest pile of dishes piling up. She got up, made her way to the sink, wrapped an apron around her waist and then realized how quiet everything had been since she had gotten up. She stood and waited for the door to make its familiar squeak, but it didn’t come. She turned around and saw George still standing there; her eyes met his. As if a switch had been flicked he turned his head to the door and walked out, his face barely hiding the light red blush to his cheeks. Strange man, thought Morague, turning her attention back to the job at hand.
*****
“Timothy?” Ann asked timidly, her voice strained, “Timothy where are you?” Ann opened her eyes. She put her hands up to her face, the light was blinding. As her eyes adjusted she could work out some faint details of the landscape around her. She was in a field covered in snow, with no one else in sight. “Where is he?” Ann said aloud, her voice echoing around her. She clasped her hands to her ears, the noise was deafening. Ann screwed her eyes shut in exasperation, her hands tightly clasped against her ears. Snow fell lightly onto her nose, it slid slowly down her chin; Ann shivered. She looked up and notice the snow had just fallen from the sky, there were no trees around her, no animals, nothing. She sat up, her whole body shivering from the cold. More snow fell, causing Ann to shake uncontrollably. She stood up and walked forward, inch by slow inch.
After only a short time Ann stopped, her legs collapsed underneath her, her skin with a tinge of blue. She lay down, closing her eyes. More snow fell. She shivered and rolled over, her face a grim mask of sorrow. More snow fell. Ann closed her eyes tighter. She hugged her trembling body closer. She went to sleep. More snow fell. Her hand went to her face…
*****
“Ann! Oh Ann, please wake up!” Timothy knelt beside her, his chin against his chest. He had tried rubbing snow into her face, but it just wouldn’t work. She was dying, he thought. He had to save her; he had to! “Ann…” Timothy cried. Tears brimmed in his eyes like leaves ready to fall as winter approaches, they hugged close, waiting for one last moment of unrelenting sadness to finally be free. He grabbed a clump of snow and dropped it onto her nose. She smiled, her hand sweeping across her face, the snow falling to the ground beside her. Her eyes opened. Everything was a blurry mass; she could see a crowd of people kneeling down beside her. She had 7 hands…no that isn’t right. I should have 2 hands. Her hand went back to her face rubbing her eyes. She looked around; there was that insane smile again. If she had to choose anything to wake up to, that would be it. Ann smiled, her sight almost back to normal. “T-” Ann coughed, “Timothy?”
“Yes?”
“Aren’t you going to help me up?” There’s that insane grin again.
“Of course…Miss Davis” Ann rolled her eyes. He was a cheeky bastard sometimes. Timothy stood and extended his hand out to Ann. Smiling, she placed her hand into his.
Her hands are so soft, Timothy thought. So very soft. He clasped her hand tighter, and then relaxed, afraid he might hurt her. They were so fragile, yet so strong. He didn’t know how much strength to apply. Realizing he was staring at her hand he Timothy looked up and noticed Ann was also staring at him intently. Their eyes met. Her eyes seemed to pulse with life; they were truly sparkling in the dim light. Like little hazelnuts they were, like the hazelnuts his mother once used in her winter puddings.
*****
I wonder what he’s looking at, Ann wondered. She searched his eyes intently, she wasn’t exactly sure what for, but she knew she would know when she found it. She stopped her interrogation of his eyes and clasped his hand tighter; he got the hint and helped her to her feet. Ann winced, her muscles were sore, and were tingling strangely. “My arm, it feels…strange” Ann turned to look at Timothy.
“Mine to…it tingles” They both frowned.
Ann jauntily skipped from on branch to another till she was close enough to the edge of the tree’s branch perimeter to be able to see the ground. It was the thickest tree in the area, which was lucky for both her and Timothy as, in any other tree, they would surely have fallen to the ground in the, well explosion, but Ann didn’t really know the right word to use. Ann looked around and noticed the large body of water that surrounded the tree on all sides. They were suspended above a pool of water, and Ann didn’t know how to get down, or how they were to make their way to the shore. I suppose we could wait until the water heats up and disappears…but, then again, that could take days. “We need to get down,” Ann stated, very matter-of-factly.
Timothy replied sourly “Thanks for that Ann…I hadn’t realized”
Ann rolled her eyes; it was beginning to become a habit of hers, she thought. Ann turned around, clapping her hands together excitedly as if, instead of being perched in a tree above a pool of water that was once snow that had melted during the strangest and scariest event that had have occurred in her short life, she was back in class playing ‘miss-mary-quite-contrary’ with other girls her age. Timothy sighed, which, like Ann rolling her eyes, was becoming a habit, and was done especially in the vicinity of Ann herself.
“What are you so happy about then?” Timothy asked, frowning.
Ann replied, “Nothing, it’s just I haven’t been for a good swim in such a long time, that’s all”
“Are you bloody crazy? It’s still fricken less than zero degrees down there, but go right ahead, I can’t stop you catchin’ a cold”
“Oh Timothy, where’s your sense of adventure?”
“Definitely not 6 feet under water” With that Timothy grabbed onto a branch above him and made his way from branch to branch until he was in a spot where the sun shone quite brightly, and sat down.
Ann decided it was wiser to give up than to persist, especially when he starts swearing you know he’s not going to be easy to sway. I’ll surely have to wear just my underwear into the water, as it’ll take me almost three times as long to swim to the shore with waterlogged clothes, but, then again, I need my clothes when I get to the other side, as I’ll have barely walked a mile before I collapse from the cold if I have nothing on but my underwear, Ann considered. There has to be a way so that I can get to the shore as fast as possible but also so that I can survive on the other side when I get there. And I can’t wear my clothes in the water anyway as when I get to the shore I’ll have clothes drenched in water, which will be icy cold and most probably the death of me. Oh well, no clothes it is then, I’m certainly not staying up in this tree with grumpy Joe over here, Ann thought.
Ann looked over to Timothy who was sitting glumly in the sun and looking in the distance as the sun slowly sunk below the horizon. He’ll forgive me by the time we get back to civilization, Ann thought, especially after some hot soup and a bath. Ann quickly took the clothes from her body until she was only in her underwear. She glanced at Timothy again half hoping that he looked over; he didn’t. Now, for getting down, Ann thought, I suppose the only way is to climb. With that Ann walked to the trunk of the tree. She stood for a few moments before starting the climb down. Timothy watched as Ann disappeared into the depths of the tree before he got up and followed, not wanting to stay in the tree forever, and half hoping Ann’s underwear might be to constricting to swim in.
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