The Ladder: Part 1

by David Hodges

If that was her intention, she failed. Hazel loved the Lewins and their farm, but she had yet to step foot off of England. She had hardly spent any time outside of Leicester before those last few days.

  Ayalon said, “We can only guess. We saw her just once before she returned to America. She was pregnant with you. I urged her to stay, but she insisted on leaving. We never saw her again.”

  Her mother’s family was right here in Derbyshire and clearly well off. Why wouldn’t she want her and Cameron to be with them? She could have at least told her father where his grandchildren were so he could see them. It seemed irresponsible of her to neglect her own family like that.

  “She told you nothing of our whereabouts?”

  Ayalon shook his head. “We would’ve looked for you if we had any idea, but we knew nothing. We thought you were in America with them.”

  “Why did she go to America in the first place?” asked Cameron.

  “She was part of an expeditionary group meant to establish a new settlement, one larger and more solitary than ours.”

  “What of our father?” asked Cameron.

  Ayalon hesitated. “I never knew him... she was alone with the two of you when she came back.”

  Cameron said eagerly, on the verge of panic, “But he was our uncle’s brother, wasn’t he?”

  “I don’t know, but it would explain why you were left with your family in Leicester. Your mother must of met him on the expedition.”

  “So he wasn’t, Athraithe?” asked Hazel.

  “It would appear not.”

  Hazel wanted to know so much more about them… where her parents met, what they did in America, why her mother went back there without her and Cameron, why they never returned.

  Faron spoke. “We understand that this will all take time to sink in, but we hope that you’ll stay with us, at least until we can teach you more about yourselves.”

  Cameron said firmly, “I will stay until I find Alexandra. There is no need for Hazel to be here.”

  “No need? Cameron, we’ve just discovered who we are, where we’re from... of course I’ll stay.”

  Cameron sighed. “Have you considered our aunt and uncle... the ones who raised us?”

  Hazel would be lying if she said yes. She had been so wrapped up in pursuing Cameron and Daniel that she had not stopped to think of Aunt Beth and Uncle George since she left. “We can write them, let them know we’re safe.”

  “And what about your work at home!”

  “What about yours!”

  Daniel and Fergus turned their heads back and forth between the siblings as they argued.

  Cameron scoffed at her. “It’s not the same, I don’t want to be here. This is no fairy tale, Hazel, it’s a nightmare. Alexandra’s been missing for days because some beastly madman thinks I will lead him to a bloody stone!”

  “The Sphere?” Hazel had not given it much thought. She said to Ayalon, “Why would our mother have hidden it in the first place?”

  “We don’t know,” he replied.

  Faron responded, “We’ll discuss the Spheres tomorrow, Hazel. Right now, I think it’s best if you rest. Perhaps you could write that letter you spoke of.”

  Hazel looked at her irate brother, then relaxed with a deep breath and nodded. “Alright.”

  Cameron continued earnestly, “Forget the Spheres, Hazel, you must go home. I’ll take you back there myself if I have to.”

  “The choice is not yours,” said Ayalon.

  “I’m staying,” said Hazel.

  Cameron looked down and shook his head.

  Ayalon said, “You should all go get some rest. We’ll have a lot to go over these coming days.” He departed with Faron.

  Hazel looked to Daniel and Fergus. “What about you, what will you do?”

  Daniel replied, “I’m staying here with Cameron until Alexandra is found. I wouldn’t mind seeing what you can do either.”

  Fergus said, “The architecture, the artifacts here, it’s incredible. I’m not missing out on any of this.”

  Hazel smiled and hugged both of them. “I’m glad you’re here. I can’t believe this is happening. I’m expecting to wake up at any moment.”

  “Trust me, I know the feeling,” said Cameron.

  Fergus said, “It’s incredible though, isn’t it? I mean, the powers of animals... it’s the stuff of legend, who would believe it?”

  Cameron glared at him. “Powers? You’re treating this far too fancifully. It’s monstrous is what it is, what they’ve done to us... they say there’s no going back.”

  Hazel said, “You’re not some hideous beast, Cameron. No one would even know we were different.”

  “And what happens when I have another nightmare with Alexandra at my side? No discrete way around those things sprouting out my back... she’d be horrified at what I’ve become.”

  Daniel said, “If they weren’t exaggerating about this man, Einar, you may actually find them useful.”

  Hazel said, “I would’ve liked to see them. I wonder what mine is, my animal. Do you think it’s a bird too?”

  Fergus replied, “I asked Faron the same question, Cineáls they call them. It’s possible, children often take after one of their parents, hard to call it though.”

  “Was our mother’s a bird?”

  Fergus nodded.

  Cameron rolled his eyes at their giddy speculation. “Pray that your deformities are more subtle. I’m going to bed.” He sulked off.

  When he was gone, Hazel said, “Why does he have to be like this? How could he not find this the least bit intriguing?”

  Daniel replied, “You know him... this is the last thing he would want for himself. Give him a shop to run with Alexandra at his side. He’d be the happiest bloke in England. He would’ve been long gone by now if she were safe.”

  Hazel nodded, then noticed a ponderous expression on Fergus’s face. “What is it, Fergus?”

  “I’m just thinking about how we ended up here in the first place… it seems strange that Einar would have gone through all that trouble to kidnap Alexandra, then use her as bait. Why not capture Cameron when he had the chance?”

  “I suppose Cameron and Hazel needed to be changed first… they wouldn’t be much use finding the Sphere without coming to the Ladder first,” said Daniel.

  “You’re right… that’s why he tried to steal the Ladder in the first place. He must have come up with the plan to take Alexandra and lead Cameron here when he was foiled… although, why did he attack the search party then? He could have left it up to the Laochra to find us.”

  “Perhaps he wanted to be certain they would notice us by causing that ruckus and making sure the soldiers didn’t interfere.”

  “Perhaps.”

  The three of them continued discussing all that had happened before going to their rooms for the night. When Hazel got to her room, she noticed that a quill and paper had been laid out for her. A smaller scrap of paper was next them. There were only two short words scribbled on it, no details. She sat down at the vanity and began writing the letter to her aunt and uncle. She wanted to ask them questions, about why they did not tell her the truth about her mother... if they even knew. She remembered the instructions, no details. She tried her best to be vague, which was probably for the best. Her intent was to quell their apprehensions, not instigate them.

  When she was done with the letter, she undressed and went to her bed where Ollie was still slumbering. She rubbed the crooks of his arms while she sat there, the surrealism of the situation had yet to fade. Perhaps she would wake up in Leicestershire the next morning with Ollie at her side, only to realize it had simply been the most vivid dream of her life. She laid awake in her bed until she became too restless to remain there, then decided to take a better look at the manor.

  She crept into the hall, it was dark. A fire was burning somewhere downstairs, allowing only a soft glow to drift upward. She walked to the end of the hall and went down a set of stairs. Just as she reached the bottom, she heard
footsteps walking over the marble floors. She moved behind a column and peeked out. One of the so-called butlers was patrolling the area. When he passed, she continued in the opposite direction.

  She passed through the great hall. It was an enormous room with large paintings and detailed plasterwork on the walls. There was no furniture in the room, the hard marble floors were cold to her bare feet. As she moved to the opposite end of the ground floor, the lighting grew dimmer. Hazel bumped into a chair as she rounded a corner, causing it to grate against the floor. She stopped and listened for a response. She heard nothing.

  Her head just behind her eyes started to hurt and she had to close them for a moment. When she opened them, she was shocked to find that she could see the features of the room, much more clearly, a spectrum of grays. She wondered if a candle had been lit nearby and hurried up an oak staircase, smaller than the last but still carved with great detail. The stairs creaked with each step she took, she skipped two steps at a time.

  When she reached the top of the stairs, she thought she heard a groan from the room next to her. She stepped closer to the door to listen. There was another groan. It was a woman’s. Then footsteps approached the door. Hazel hurried back down the stairs, staying as quiet as possible. She heard the door open above and looked up behind her where she saw a man’s legs at the top of the stairs.

  She lost her footing and tripped down the stairs in a tumble. She somehow managed to land on her feet unharmed, though there were a few thuds along the way. Her heart was pounding and she was disoriented by the fall until she heard the footsteps hasten toward her. She kept going until she was just about to reach bottom of the staircase when one of the butlers appeared in front of her. “What are you doing?” he said flatly in a low voice.

  Another man in a matching black and white suit came down behind her.

  “I... I was looking for the kitchen, I needed something to drink, I got lost.”

  He pointed toward the opposite end of the house. “Your room’s that way.”

  She thought she recognized his gruff voice, but she couldn’t place it. Then she noticed a wolfish dog in the corner of the room, sitting patiently. Her rescuers on the road, it had to be them.

  The man from the road looked at the butler behind her. “Bring a glass of water to her room.” He looked to Hazel and nodded back down the hall.

  She hurried toward the other wing of the house and went back to her room. She thought about the woman’s groan she had heard. It must have been one of the staff, perhaps they lived there as well.

  She was startled by a knock at the door. It opened and the butler entered and placed her drink on the vanity. “Stay in bed, wouldn’t want to get lost again.” He shut the door behind him.

  Hazel left the water and did her best to sleep.

  Hazel rode into the village center with the boys, led by Faron and Ayalon. She recognized the Roman building where the ladder was stored. They stopped before they reached it at an older looking stone building.

  “I’ll show her the Sphere, take the others to the library,” Ayalon said to Faron.

  They went in, and Ayalon went to get something while Hazel waited by the Sphere. She looked down at the silver Sphere. Only one left, and somehow, by the simple virtue of being her mother’s daughter, she might be able to find another. Ayalon returned with Cameron’s shield and her comb and placed them on the pedestal next to the Sphere.

  “Our gifts... how did you get them?”

  “The shield we found with your horses; your comb we took when you were asleep. We had to examine them... they’ve been cured.”

  Hazel had completely forgotten about the horses and was grateful they had been found. She focused on the shield and the comb, cured. “How do you know?” asked Hazel.

  With his finger, Ayalon traced the glistening slivers of coppery metal that branched out along the teeth of the comb and the face of the shield. “These veins of Fuil, they are drawn from the Sphere, every object that is cured has them.”

  Fergus was right, it was indeed a precious metal.

  “What do the shield and comb do? I mean, what’s special about them?”

  “We aren’t certain. The shield is made of feathers, your comb is made of antler, that’s all we know”

  “Can’t you just use them and see?”

  “Not with these, this not simple Bheochan. We don’t know exactly how they work. We thought they might only change with your touch, but Cameron already tried to no avail.”

  “May I?” asked Hazel, reaching for the comb.

  “Of course, it’s yours to keep.”

  She picked it up and waited. Nothing happened. She tried the shield next, it too retained its form. She set it down, disappointed.

  “We think it’s best if you keep your gifts, you may be able to divulge their functions when you learn Bheochan for yourselves.” He picked up the shield and handed Hazel her comb. “Keep it close, it could be the answer to the missing Sphere.”

  “What makes you think that?”

  “I don’t think your mother would’ve wanted the Sphere lost forever, and these are the only things she left behind... aside from you and Cameron of course.”

  Hazel went into the library with Ayalon where the others were waiting. It was housed in an impressive Gothic building. The high pointed arches and pinnacles, along with towers and intricate sculpting, reminded Hazel of a cathedral. Instead of pews there were bookshelves. Instead of an altar and priest, there was a desk where a dainty girl sat. It was at least twice the size of Leicester’s largest library, and it smelled distinctly of old paper and parchment.

  “Was she able to use them?” asked Cameron.

  Ayalon shook his head.

  Cameron said in frustration, “What are we supposed to do now?”

  “Did they find the books I asked for?” said Ayalon.

  Faron nodded. “Bede, would you get them for us...”

  “Yes, sir, one moment.”

  She went to a desk and hurried back holding a tower of books stacked to her chin. Faron went to help her. “I’ve got it...” she said, struggling to make her way to the table. She dropped the stack of books on the table where they toppled over to form a mound of dusty old paper and leather.

  “You can start by reading these,” said Ayalon.

  Cameron looked at the books incredulously and shouted, “You expect me to sit here and read this rubbish while Alexandra is out there missing!”

  Ayalon’s calm demeanor was in stark contrast to Cameron’s. “I demand it. You have much to learn about your people.”

  “My people! I hardly know you! I care more about Alexandra than anyone here! I think I’ll go search for her instead, with or without your help.”

  The statement stung Hazel.

  Cameron stormed toward the door.

  Faron said, “Cameron, we understand your priorities, but you will be hard pressed to find him. Even if you do, you’ll be hopelessly outmatched. Your best chance is to find the Sphere before he does. He will have no reason to keep Alexandra when it is secured.”

  Ayalon said, “I have no doubt that he’ll come for you in time. He’ll try to lure you out. You can’t let that happen, not now, we can’t risk him finding the third Sphere.” He looked to Hazel as well. “The best way to spend your time is to learn more about yourselves and about Bheochan. For now that means reading these books, your formal training will begin tomorrow.”

  He looked at the pile of books and picked one out of it, moving it to the side. “I suggest you start with this one.” He and Faron left the library.

  Without a word Cameron went to a window at the end of the library where he sat and stared out. Fergus was the first to take a seat at the books. He rubbed his hands together in anticipation. Daniel lied down on the long table and said, “Let me know what you find.”

  Hazel sat next to Fergus as he opened the book Ayalon had set aside. It was titled, Borrowed Mythos: The Crisis of Conspicuous Athraithe. Fergus flipped through the page
s, scanning them too quickly for Hazel to keep up. She decided to leave him to it and wait for his summary. She was sure it would be thorough. She picked up another book from the pile and turned the pages aimlessly, stopping only to read the captions of illustrations that interested her.

  After about an hour of incoherent utterances and exclamations, Fergus finally spoke to Hazel in full sentences. Daniel was fast asleep by now, and the conversation did not succeed in pulling Cameron away from the window.

  “It’s amazing, so many legends, myths, even religious dogma can be tied to the Athraithe. Centaurs, mermaids, angels... look here at this section on werewolves.” He pointed to a page that was illustrated with a grotesque figure of a man-wolf hybrid. “In the Swiss Republic, accounts of werewolves became common by the fifteenth century. The timelines of Athraithe settlements, particularly ones where wolf Cineáls were prevalent, match the patterns of reports on werewolves. They were more careless than some of the other Athraithe.”

  “They had settlements based on animals?”

  “Aye... apparently not all the Cineáls got along back then.”

  “When did they all come here?”

  “Only a century ago, many of the changers lived in regular villages and towns. They used to make ceremonial trips to the Ladder when a child came of age for An Athrú, The Change. That was up until they decided to stay within Talamh... it was becoming unsafe elsewhere, they needed to unify and disappear. People were being persecuted for things like wolf charming... most of the supposed offenders weren’t even Athraithe, but there were more than a handful who were. Some of the accusers tried to be scientific about it, naming conditions, like clinical lycanthropy.”

  Fergus read directly from the book, “Dr. Johann Weyer wrote that werewolves were inflicted with an imbalance in their melancholic humor. He claimed that they often showed the symptoms of paleness, a dry tongue and great thirst, as well as sunken eyes.”

  Fergus frantically flipped through the pages again. “There’s more here on curing.” He stopped at an illustration of axe wielding men in bearskins. “Norse shamanic warriors used to wear the pelts of bears, hence the name Berserkers. Some warriors, the Úlfhéðnar, would wear wolf skins. They believed they would acquire the prowess of the animals. There were documented altercations between Athraithe and Norse warriors in Scandinavia, they were likely inspired when they saw what the Athraithe could do.”