Gwarcheidial Book 1

by Frederick Fuller

CHAPTER 2

  With the cloak giving her a feeling of wellbeing. And she being an inquisitive young woman, she started to look around at her surroundings.

  She was sat at an angle in the chair and almost facing the back of the room. The first thing she saw against the back wall was a large old sideboard with what seemed to be dragons or animals carved into its doors and draws, it had a shelf up on the back of it. There was a row of what looked like pewter cups, of all shapes and sizes, there were some she could see from the flickering light that had the shapes of animals on them. Below the shelf sat a green crystal ball sparkling in the light of the candles that were placed at either end of the side board, the crystal was large and appeared to have not a speck of dust on it. Sophie wondered about that, but again was really too tired to think much of it, there was also a small oak firkin with a tap on it sitting on a stand, it looked very old. Her eyes then went past the door they had come in to the small curtained window. In front of it there was a side table with two vases, one at each end, there appeared to be some writing on them, it was too small for her to make out from where she sat, the light from the candles didn’t reach that far. The curtains at the window looked to be dark green, heavy and embroidered. The design couldn’t be made out due to the folds in them, but as far as she could see, it looked like vines twisting, turning, weaving their way up to the top, she wanted to look closer because she thought could see movement on it. It appeared to her that there were little people climbing up it, or hanging onto it, she leaned forward but try though she may she couldn’t make them out, there was not enough light in the room for that, she decided that it must be her imagination, ‘silly me’ she thought.

  Her eyes then moved to the cove on the far side of the fireplace next to the window, it held a bookcase.

  Needless to say it was full of books of all sizes, most as far as she could tell were bound in expensive leather and had gold lettering etched into them. Again she couldn’t make them out so her interest moved to the fire chimney.

  This was built of sandstone with a mantelshelf. As her eyes went along the objects on it, they came across a cat, a pure white fluffy cat, it was watching her with its green eyes, Sophie stared back at it, it didn’t move or blink, they stared at each other for some time,

  “Are ya alive?” She asked. The cat blinking twice and then in a most nonchalant manner it stood up and stretching itself one leg at a time it then arched it’s back and to Sophie’s surprise came down from the mantle shelf and onto the floor where it sat and looked inquisitively up at her.

  “Allo!” she said, “Ow are ya?” The cat seeing a friendly person and a warm lap to curl up on, jumped up and made Sophie’s lap her home for the time being, until of course it had other ideas, cats are like that.

  Sophie didn’t mind cats, but the weight of it was pressing against the sleeping child that was curled up inside her.

  Sophie used all her strength to push the cat forward off her lump as she fondly called it.

  “You’ll ave to get off me lump cat, there you go, you stay there and we’ll be fine you and me;” She proceeded to stroke it and found pleasure listening to the soft sound of its purring. The cat not used to having such attention paid to it purred even more. Sophie relaxed back into the chair, her eyes looking up and catching sight of the two candleholders protruding from each side of the chimney above the mantle shelf. They looked like cherubs, their arms outstretched and holding a candle in each hand, their heads were turned towards her, they seemed to be watching her. Sophie started to feel a little frightened again, she moved slowly and with some effort first to the left and then to the right noting that their eyes seemed to follow her. She was sure of it, they’re watching me, she thought.

  “What you looking at” she asked, they smiled, this caused her to feel relaxed, their task done they then turned away. “Blimey!” said Sophie now feeling cozy and half-asleep, I fort the old bugger was avin me on, e is a Wizard, what do I do now. This thought was just too much for her so it was at this time that sleep finally came and her chin sank slowly down onto her chest.

  Had she looked behind her, over her right shoulder, she would have seen a very large clock.

  It took up all the space in the alcove. Heavy weights hung down inside it, these were carved and fashioned from Granite. There was a small hole in each for the transfer of a small weight, from the one at the bottom to the one at the top, this being accomplished at the end of each progressive year. A small lever was then pulled to reverse the cycle of the mechanism thus allowing the one hand to continue in its rightful direction. Its many large cogs carved from granite to such perfection, shimmered, they were so bright it was as if a thousand minnows had broken the surface of a small pond, at the same time being struck by the bright rays of the sun. Such was the skill of the Atlantianes, who many thousands of years ago had fashioned it. The Atlantianes, most of which had no need of time, nor thought anything of it, these people lived in a society of complete freedom and were of a spiritual nature, having learned after many thousands of years that love was the way to peace and harmony. Only those such as scholars, wizards, who made a study of the stars seasons, events of the past, present, and most of all the future, had some interest in it.

  It was housed on four sturdy oak legs, acting as its frame and its support, the carvings on them being extremely intricate. Vines climbed seemingly with effortless ease up and about them. So finely shaped and carved were they that even the stems of the leaves could be plainly seen. These were all then coated in coloured lacquers, greens, reds, browns, and truly if one hadn’t known it, so cleverly had it been done, that even nature itself could not have been more artistic in its portrayal. It had a large hand beaten gold face measuring three feet across and in the center of it was a funny looking little man, he was smiling and sitting on a crescent moon. It had but one single hand carved from cedar wood, and on reaching the hour the tinkling of a tiny bell could just be heard. The hours were marked by the signs of the zodiac, etched onto the gold face, and then enhanced with colors of bright reds, indigo, gold and white. There was a small window placed near the bottom of the dial, this gave the day, month, year and never needed to be adjusted to account for such things as leap years. Such was the accuracy of the timepiece. The writing on it was meaningless to most being in the language not known to all but a few. There were many that would have given their all to know the secret things that were written there, for not only was this time piece thousands of years old, it had been crafted with skills that had long been hidden or forgotten. The reason for this being that for the last five thousand years it had been the start of a new age, and a new beginning for the world.

  After gently and without waking her he had retrieved his cloak from Sophie he now found himself Wizzo in Italy looking for the Apples and Grapes. He didn’t find it difficult to go anywhere in the world as long as he had been there before, he would just picture the place in his mind and he would then find himself floating above where he wanted to be. At this time of the year even in Italy it took him some time to find the items that he wanted, but he had promised her and having made that promise would not go back on it.

  On his return he wrapped her back up in his cloak and prepared the food. Thick buttered bread, meat chopped up into tiny pieces, many different kinds of cheeses, half a peeled and sliced red rosy apple, a bunch of sweet red grapes and a bright blue crystal glass filled with the purest water, drawn from his own well.

  Stooping as he came back in through the scullery door for he was a tall man, he stopped dead in his tracks, for there hovering just above the cat and Sophie’s lump as she called it, was a fairy that he didn’t know, he thought he knew all of the Fairies in this area but he was quite sure that he didn’t know this one.

  Sophie and the cat were asleep. The cat, sensing the presence of the Fairy and realizing that this was not a safe place for him to be reluctantly climbed down. Wizzo stood still and watched.

  The fairy taking no notice of him a
t all softly landed on Sophie’s lump and began to tremble, then she started to spin around, faster and faster she went, as fairies do when they get too excited. She spun so fast that in the end she completely lost control and shot though the wall and out of the place to goodness knows where. Wizzo knew that the small shield he had put around the Cottage hadn’t stopped her coming in so certainly wouldn’t stop her going out, anyway she would be back. He couldn’t for the life of him think of why she should be here. Placing the food on a small side table he moved it closer making sure that Sophie could reach it easily.

  Whilst preparing the food he had realized that there was only one bed in the place and that he would have to get another. He was not by any stretch of the imagination mean, but due to his circumstances he was a frivolous man. He remembered a second hand goods yard that was not too far away, so closing his eyes he sent his mind out to survey the yard for the things that would be needed. As far as he could tell by using this method that came easy to him, all their needs could be well taken care of with one short trip.

  Should he wake her up and tell her where he was going and for what reason, or not, he was saved from making this decision, the cat sprang back up onto her lap, turned around twice and then plonked itself down, this caused Sophie to stir and open her eyes. She yawned, stretched up her arms, the cloak falling away from her shoulders, she looked up at him and then down at the plate of food and at the same time pushed the cat forward of her lump.

  “Is this for me?” she said almost in a whisper.

  “Indeed it is,” he replied, she leaned forward and picked up a slice of apple and began to eat it. She looked around, searching for his plate.

  “Where’s yours?” she said.

  “I will have some later but I have to go out now, I’ve realized that we only have one bed, and we are desperately in need of two”

  “I’ll sleep right er! its comfy it is” she said modestly not wanting to cause him any more trouble and realizing for the first time just how bad she must smell and look.

  “We can’t have that Sophie, I’ll go and get you a bed, I won’t be long, I promise.”

  Sophie looking apprehensive,

  “They looked at me, they did.” She glancing up at the Cherubs above the fireplace.

  “They’ll look after you while I’m away, you really have no need to be frightened of them.” He seemed to remember something and hurried out to the scullery and returned carrying a large china pot with a handle on it. Some would call them a gozunder, gozunder the bed that is, they are otherwise known as piss pots. “You might be in need of this while I’m away,” he said placing it on the floor next to her, she smiled, realizing that he felt awkward about such things.

  “O! And there’s something else you should know, a strange thing happened while you were asleep, there was a fairy here.”

  “A Fairy! There ain’t no such fings as Fairies,” she said looking at him with disbelief.

  “Did your mother not tell you about Fairies Sophie?”

  “Course she did, but them's Fairy stories.”

  “Well there was one here, she settled on your stomach,” Sophie looked down at her lump; Wizzo felt the need for an explanation.

  “She got much too excited and started to spin around. The problem that Fairies have is that they like to get excited, and when they get over exited they spin faster and faster, finally they lose control and shot off to goodness knows where, she went out though that wall next to the book case.”

  Sophie looked over at the stonewall, and then with some concern she asked.

  “Will she be au right, she ain’t urt is she?”

  “There’s no need to be concerned Sophie, Fairies can’t hurt themselves, she’s probably landed up in China or maybe Timbuktu,” he shrugged his shoulders. “Who knows? When she calm’s down she’ll just put her mind to it and come right back, that’s why I thought I’d better tell you, so that you won't be surprised, that’s if and when she returns.”

  “You think she’ll come back then?” she said this again with a look of disbelief in her eyes, still not really knowing whether to believe him or not.

  “When that happens, they most always come back to the same place, to get their bearings as it were, so I think that maybe she will, although I don’t know what for, or why. Fairies don’t usually bother themselves with the birth of lads, they don’t like them very much. They’re too boisterous and like to play in the Fairies gardens when they start to walk and being lads they trample on everything and take little care of it.” Sophie could relate to this and some of the doubt left her regarding the Fairy.

  “Anyway my dear I’ll have to disturb you as I’m In need of my cloak again, that’s if I’m to get things done before it gets to dark.” He went over to her and removed the cloak as gently as he could, “that’s it;” he said holding the cloak up as if he had achieved something extraordinary, “I’ll be off then.” He left the room, then wrapping his cloak around himself, disappeared into thin air.