“Why can ye not see other places?”
“Secrets, Wirt, our lives depend upon them.”
“How come ye have all of this?”
“This is not the time for explanations. Just know that we Ladies are more than we appear. Males do not look beyond the surface. That is our defence; the onetrackmindness of men. They believe us to be what they want us to be. Not what we truly are. Remember that Adara.”
“I will and assure you that I understand.”
“I believe you do. I believe below your surface many an intrigue and power lurks.”
“Nah, just a need to find my bro.”
“Where are all the trees?” Wirt said and stared deeply into the screen.
“The Beyondness does not have so much in the way of greenery, my dear. You may find it hard to take in at first.”
“I do not like it.”
“No, I daresay you do not, however, it is the place you are to go,” Audrey said and tapped some wordly stuff onto a button pad underneath. The image zoomed in to show a host of strange, straggly plants and a relentlessly scarred landscape. Wirt turned to me with a look of disquiet and hung his head. Noticing his sadness, she reached up to a high shelf and pulled something down. She took Wirt’s hand and pressed a red scroll into it.
“Do not look so afraid, dear Wirt. The Beyondness is not to be as feared as you might think. Like our camouflage, it too masks a deeper quality that can be found with the right direction.”
Wirt unwound the rolled up paper, and grinned. “A map, Adara.”
“A map to help you through the Beyondness. A place you will have to go to find your brother and the others.”
“Do you know where they are held?”
“I have limited info; all I can do is what I am doing. The rest is up to you.”
“Right, now I am afraid.”
“Do not be. Know that you will not be alone in your search.”
“Will I glean an answer if I ask what the huff you mean?”
“No.”
We all smiled and Audrey simply said, “Perhaps you will meet some informed hominids on your travels and they may well enlighten you as to your bro-bro’s whereabouts. It could be that a Backpacker may cross your path and have something to disclose.”
“You tell without saying.”
Audrey tapped the side of her delicious nose and drew our attention to the screen. “You see that narrow path?”
We bent closer to observe. I squinted but still could not discern the track. Wirt rubbed his eyes and said, “There. It is to the left of that burnt out vintagecarthingy. Do ye not see, Adara?”
“Readily I do, Wirt. Is that the path we must tread?”
“Indeed so. Goodly fortune. May the Greenman or BabyCheesus, or Onetruegod, or whomever you believe in, guide and protect you on your journey.”
I hugged Audrey and she held me tighter than I thought she was able. Then Wirt, tears a gleaming in both eyes, kissed said Lady on both cheeks. She dabbed away his wetness and led us out and behind the hut to an area of much greenness. Raising her pretty nose, Audrey sniffed the air and took my hand.
“Now, you must go on with your journey.” She directed the statement at Wirt. His face crumpled and he took a deep breath. “Be brave, Wirt, and be as worthy as your name,” Audrey said and embraced him most fondly.
“I shall be all ye expect and more.”
“We shall all partake of grub again. This I know,” I said and took Wirt’s hand. “Your company will be my strength.”
“And ye my inspiration.”
“No more farewells and sad bye-byes. You two have fate to deal with,” Audrey said and pointed towards a gigantic patch of wolf bane.
“Push your way through there and into a low place that will lead you to the path I showed. Now go.”
I swallowed hard, nodded my head and pulled Wirt with me through the dense green leaves.
Chapter Twelve
A Strange Encounter In The Beyondness
We emerged into what can only be described as a tunnel made from intertwined twigs and moss. The light faded abrupt-like and we were forced to crawl underneath the low canopy above our heads. Neither of us spoke as we hand-to-kneed it further through the leafy passage. On we went for such a longly time that I became sloppy in my all-four manoeuvrings and felt something snag at my gorgeous skirt. I stopped briefly, tugged the material away from a twiglet and heard it rip.
“Nay, ye have torn yer nice new frock.”
“That I have. I did not think to change my dress from the night before, what with all the bangings and crashings, and the like.”
“Good job Odelia made me wear my outdoor skirt and tunic.”
“Yes, good for you. Shall we continue?”
“Aye.”
I put my finger in the ragged hole below my knee and heaved a heavy sigh. Then shook my head in vexation at my foolish girlygigness and moved swiftly on. There did not seem to be an end to this tunnel and all I could see ahead was more of the same.
“Are we there yet?” Wirt called to me.
“No, and do not bother me with the same question again.”
We crawled on and every now and then I heard Wirt cuss as he too came across a spiky thing in the ground that poked and scratched. After more secs than I cared to count, I became aware that the air around us changed. Instead of smells of greenliness, there came a pong of something not quite decomposed. The air felt heavier and so did my mood, which became lighter when the tunnel did too. I was able to see that the end was but a few bits away.
“Wirt, we are all but done with this dreary passageway.”
“Good, for I am done with bits of stuff going who knows where about my person.”
At the edge of the exit, I stopped and knelt. Wirt sat next me and we looked out of the circle of leaves, onto a vastness of bleak. No luscious greenliness, or even a tootle-hoot of owlets to soothe our hungry ears. All around lay rusty clumps of twisted metal and black shredded round wheel-like things. We stepped into the strange landscape and I looked up at the sky to make sure that we hadn’t stumbled into some kind of Quantum flux paradox. But it was the same blue going on black.
The daylight was fading quickly. I turned to Wirt. He had his hand across his mouth and I swear his eyes were bigger than a moocow frightened by a Carnie with a knife. I doubt he’d ever seen anything like the Beyondness before and was feeling all scared and wanting to run back to the Ladies. I confess I was somewhat fearful myself. I’d only seen it on the screen and the bits of junk that appeared random and small looked huge and forbidding in the half-light.
In the gathering gloom, the trashed remains of automobiles and ribboned tyres took on a strange menacing form. I swear when I moved my head I saw a wheel move. I blinked and it became still again. The burnt out shells of what were once some kind of transport vehicles lay piled about, abandoned and rusted.
Some were upside down and some were on their sides, doors hanging open like dislocated jaws dropped in disbelief at the sight of such wreckage. Now that I was standing right in the middle of this out-of-bounds realm, I came to understand how my ma and pa would have succumbed to the fatal disease they caught from their brief visit. Then I remembered what Audrey said; that the tale of their demise could be a fib. I became more a-feared and stood closer to Wirt.
“This is not a goodly place. This is a place of misfortune and grief,” Wirt said and turned to me. I shrugged my shoulders and attempted a smile, but he just shook his head and partook of a fathomless sigh.
“We should search for shelter as quick as quick. Night is approaching and who knows what kind of Clonie beast pid-pads around in the darkness.”
Wirt hugged the scroll to his chest and I put my arm around his slender shoulders. “Unfurl the map. Let us see where we must tramp.”
“The light is too dim, I cannot make anything out.”
I took off my Synthbag and pulled out a small lightbeam.
“I have forgot how resourceful ye are. That
pouch of yers is beyond any tech we have in the woods.”
“One of the few things that makes our living that much better.” I switched on the torch and shone it directly onto the map. Which in truth was little more than a sheet of paper with dots and dashes and kiddle-like scrawls upon it, rather than a geographical semblance of the place. I leant closer to the thing and Wirt traced his finger along and down the page.
“I am not S.A.N.T. trained, Adara, and find these swirls and lines nowt more than a jumble. I cannot make them out,” he said and smacked the map with the back of his hand.
I grabbed the thing before it fell to the ground, put it close to my face and moved the light across it. Peering at the symbols and then at the sterile landscape before us, I squinted, turned to Wirt, and held up the chart. He stretched out his neck to better see what I was pointing at.
“The massive X where my digit is shows our present location. The blobs and scribbles, I assume, are the broken cars and stuff we see about us. So, it must be that the straight black lines represent the path, or this stuff made from all things dead that sits beneath our feet.”
Wirt looked down and scraped his foot along the ground. Plumes of ash-like dirt billowed up around us clinging to our faces and hands. It felt all greasy and we cleaned the filthy stuff off on a wipe I pulled from my bag. I glanced once more at the objects on the map and tried my utmost to glean their purpose. At the far end of the thick black line was an exclamation mark. The place we should head to no doubt. However, the scary outlines that dotted either side caused a lump to form in the back of my throat. I coughed and peered into the darkening sky. Wirt licked his finger and held it up.
“Are you trying to discover from whence this sickly wind does come?”
“Aye.”
“For what purpose?”
“To keep in the midst of it so that our scent will be mingled. If any Wolfies or worse are out here, we will need as much protection as we can muster.” The he put his palms against his forehead and closed his eyes. Remaining in said state for longer than was natural.
“Wirt? Are you sleeping?” He said nowt. “Answer forthwith or I shall be forced to prod your bod.”
“Sssshhhh.”
“Do not make that hissy sound at me.”
“Ahh, Adara.” Wirt dropped his hands and opened his eyes. “Ye are not used to the outsideness to be sure,” he said and fell to the ground. “Much can be kenned from smelling yer way.”
“Erm, Wirt? This dirty dustiness will surely clog your membranes if you choose to snort it up.”
“I am not sniffing, Adara. I am absorbing through my nasal skin the scents of danger. Which, to a trained snout such as mine, will be as clear as a raindrop on a blade of grass.”
I watched him bend his head close to the ground and turned mine in the direction of the oddly noise that wafted towards my ears. “Wirt,” I said.
“Hush, I am all a concentrating and find yer outbursts a distraction.”
“But, Wirt…”
“Hush, Adara. This is something I do well.”
“No doubt.”
“Sshhhh!”
“It’s just that…”
“Quiet, fer Mother Nature’s sake.”
“We have company.”
“Wha?” he said and stood ‘bruptly.
I shone my torch ahead into what was now full on dark, and before our open wide eyes stood a creature of substantial strangeness. Human, no doubt, but attired in the oddest way. The head utterly obscured with a black helmet that covered its ears and the back of its neck. The face hidden behind a thin grey veil with an eyelet slit so the thing could see its way around. On the arms and torso, a heavy metallic pelt, woven into a diamond shaped pattern that looked hard to puncture. Thick black bands were wound round arms and legs, holding tech like things within.
I’d seen such an outfit before. In fact, many times, and held out my hand to the stranger who was not so strange after all. Wirt inched his way behind my back and I felt his hand grab onto my belt
“Greetings,” I said. “My name is…”
“Adara. I know.”
I pulled Wirt from his place of relative safety. “This is Wirt. Or did you know that too?”
“I did. I am Eadgard.”
“And are you lucky?”
He removed his veil and I noticed that his skin was much the same colour as Audrey’s, but his eyes darker and rounder. He took my hand and shook it energetically. “Only when I have my spear.”
Wirt pushed me to one side and whispered, “Why do ye speak so familiar like this thing? Ye have a past with him?”
“I know him not. But his kind I am familiar with.”
“And what kind is that?”
“He is a Backpacker.”
“Special Army of the New Territories, Guardian faction,” Eadgard said.
“A real life S.A.N.T. ye are all that I expected and more.”
“No doubt sent by our gracious Lady to give us much needed aid,” I whispered to Wirt in order to salvage some ease.
He stared at Eadgard, who waved us towards him with an urgent hand gesture. “Quickly, come with me. The night has come upon us fast. From someone who knows this place, I urge you to follow me to safer climes. Speaking of which, please turn off your light.”
With one swift click, I did as I was instructed and replaced it inside my bag. As Wirt stood stiff, going nowhere, I was forced to shove him until he stumbled forward. I grabbed his skirt belt and he tugged it back from my steadying hand. “I hope ye know what ye is doing,” he said.
I simply shrugged and Eadgard called to us.
“You must keep close to me at all times. Do not stray. Do not wander off to relieve yourselves. If you must, then we all go together and keep watch. There are things here that cannot be seen, but can be felt and not always at the time. Do you understand?”
“All but the last part,” I said.
“Venom of sorts. At least, we think that’s what it is. A creature invisible that either burrows into our flesh at a rate so quick we cannot stop it. Or, a thing that latches itself onto our parts and strikes when least we expect. Either way, it leaves us dead or wishing that we were.”
“I think I’ll be waiting for a place of greater safety before I release,” Wirt said and gripped my shoulder.
Eadgard walked to where we stood. He reached out and touched the sleeve of my dress, then shook his head and stepped back. “Adara, your dress is far from suited to this terrain. Do you have other garments?”
I looked down at my torn and flimsy frock. The small holes and rips obtained from clambering along the tunnel had become larger. In places, there was more flesh than fabric on view. I tried to pull together a vast rip that let my thigh through, but failed.
“I do indeed have more suitable attire.”
“Good. When we are at a safer place, you must change your garb to something more fitting.”
“That I will gladly do, for in this flimsiness I do feel more at risk than I should.”
As if to rub said vulnerability in, a low deep growl grew from out of the unnerving darkness. I looked down at my stomach and waited to see if the noise was just an empty tummy grumble. It was not. The growl became a snarl of such magnitude that I near jumped with fright. Wirt let out an “Eh? Wha was that?” and almost drew blood so tightly did he force his fingers into my skin. The growl again, joined by another.
“Wolfies?”
“Yes, no doubt. But not as you know them. Bigger, hungrier and faster than those once-owned you will be familiar with. Out here are strewn the outcast Clonies of every type of creature.”
I held my breath and felt Wirt press himself closer into my side. Becoming somewhat relieved by the sight of Eadgard’s shadowy shape as he moved nearer. And more than a little grateful that he came to stand next to us, for I could think of no other more suited to saving our lives, if it came to that. The snarls continued, gaining in volume with every sec that passed.
We stood in the dar
k not able even to see our own limbs if we were to lift them to our faces. I turned my head skywards and saw nowt, no moon and no stars. I heard Wirt take a gulp and I too felt a dryness creep up my throat. I remembered the last encounter with Wolfies had been in daylight and with some sort of diversion for us to make our escape. Out here in pitchy blackness, I feared for us all and shuffled nearer to Eadgard.
“Shhh! Quickly stand back to back in a circle and do not move, or make a sound. Do not turn on a torch or any source of light. The darkness now is our only protector. These hounds, although fierce to be sure, are about as bright as a black hole and will only attack when they see movement. Again I urge you to be as still as still and quiet as quiet. Now let me feel your hands.”
The grumbling, rumbling noise grew louder and I smelled a pungent wetness waft across my face. The darkness seemed to thicken around us and I saw red dots appear here and there. They winked and burned and I knew they were the soulless eyes of the Cloniewolves that Eadgard had described. A dagger-like voice slashed into our ears.
“Heel! Heel, you rawbone jackals. Heel!”
A whip crack sound echoed round us and the burning flecks disappeared. I felt both Wirt’s and Eadgard’s hands relax in mine. A different smell spiralled up towards my nasal passages. A sweet and sickly aroma like something gone rotten.
“Strangers here, we tell. We leave all to mercy of houndlings, have ourselves goodly feed. Meat scarce to come by, we here not particular where it comes from. All better when fresh.”
“Quiet, Marcellus. Stand back, shine our light.”
“But Orsin...”
“Do as we say. Or Vea will hear of this.”
The stinky pong diminished and I heard a sparkly crackle sound. Then a light as bright as two suns, or so it seemed in the blackness of our surrounding, splashed before our eyes. I held my hand across my face and blinked until my vision made sense of such illumination. I gave out a greatly gasp and let instinct propel me backwards at the sight that came into view.
Echoes from the Lost Ones Page 9
