Finding The Soul Bridge (The Soul Fire Saga Book 1) (3 page)

4

Thist poured seeds into the bird feeder. The lorikeets were beautiful, and all of the townsfolk loved to watch them. He had constructed an aviary for them and they were his passion. He had been teaching Tayah all she needed to know and told her that he and Jem were going to travel to Oysterberg. The large city on the east coast was famous for its circus and Thist had always dreamed of going there. He had often spoken about it or asked the travellers from the west coast about the circuses. He had shown them his birds and asked them if he could star as the lorikeet man only to get blank stares more often than not.

“Please take me with you, Thist.” said Tayah. “We can sneak out together, my parents won’t know where we are going or we can tell someone to tell them as soon as we are gone.”

Thist and Tayah had been seeing each other regularly in the past few days. They would sit on the roof of Tayah’s house and watch the sunset and the stars and discuss the future. They had grown close. Although Thist was still confused about matters of the heart, he had decided that he loved this girl, but couldn’t figure out how to say it.

“I would love to take you. Maybe I’m not even going, but if I do, I will need someone to look after my birds. Besides, it’s a long and dangerous journey, nine days on foot and if it’s nice, I promise I will take you.”

Tayah sighed. “I’m not happy with that answer. It sounds like you’re just using me to feed your birds.”

“So? I like using you.” Thist took Tayah by the arms and looked at her deeply. “If I ask you to look after my birds for as long as I am gone will you do it for me, please?”

Tayah’s long black hair swirled around her head in the morning breeze, the early morning sun danced in her brown eyes and a small dimple formed on her left cheek as she started to smile. It was a smile of adoration and she couldn’t resist, she leaned forward and kissed Thist deeply and said “For you I will do anything.”

Thist was shocked. His heart sang like a nightingale in spring, he had never been kissed before. “Do that again.” He demanded.

“Oh, so you like that, hey?” said Tayah as they both blushed.

“What are you lovebirds doing?” said Jem. He and Kaylah had snuck up on them unnoticed.

Tayah’s face reddened like a galley’s distress flare. She looked at Kaylah who just smiled back and mouthed the words. “I beat you.”

The two girls had a friendly bet going to see who would get their first kiss with the boys first. It was Kaylah who thought of the idea more to encourage Tayah to face her fears and inhibitions. Jem and Thist had had a look of mischief on their faces all week.
In a hushed tone Jem asked Thist “Your things ready?”

Jem didn’t think that the girls standing by them could hear for all their giggling.

Kaylah abruptly stopped giggling. “You’re not going Jem, what if you get attacked by a…”

She didn’t finish what everyone knew she wanted to say, and stormed off with tears flowing freely down her cheeks. Tayah ran after her.

Thist looked at Jem, “She’s going to make a right strict mother.”

“That’s ‘if’ she becomes a mother.” said Jem.

“Yes, let’s not dwell on that.”

The subject of motherhood had become a very sensitive point in their town since Thist was born. Only three months younger than Jem, Thist was the last baby to be born that anybody knew about. The trend had been increasing over the decades and people had become frightened as the rate that people were dying had remained the same. Life was precious.

“When do we go to get hum?” asked Thist.

“Well it’s the end of the third moon cycle after spring which has the best weather. The wind stopped blowing yesterday and in my experience, if the wind stops blowing you have two days of clear skies, then it rains.”

“So? Let’s go tomorrow very early!” said Thist.

“You’re getting to know me well, aren’t you?”

“I don’t know if it should be scarier for me or for you Jem, but it sure is scary knowing someone like you.”

Jem was shocked at that. “Why?”

“You’re clever, quiet and you have a cruel way about you, especially when you attack bears.”

The bear, whose head Jem had covered with his mushroom sack, had been found dead in the woods by a hunter with a full sack of mushrooms over its head. One of the town elders had told Jem that the raw mushroom spores were a sleeping medicine. With the bag over its head it would have fallen asleep in seconds after they had fled and never woken up.

“I think that bear died from an exploded brain caused by your screaming.”

Thist grinned one of his evil grins. “It was horrible wasn’t it?”

“Scream like that again and I will let the next bear have his way with you.” said Jem.

“Sounds like fun. So what’s the plan of action?”

“I cover my ears when you scream, and then….”

“No idiot,” Thist gave Jem a good punch on the shoulder. “What is the plan for tomorrow?”

Jem tapped his right temple. “Don’t worry about it, it’s all up here.”

“That’s what I’m afraid of.”

5

Jem sucked in the cold morning air. He enjoyed the freshness of dawn and looked to the east where the sun would rise. Finches were chirping in the trees, and in the distance, cockerels could be heard announcing the new day. Jem was standing on the perimeter wall next to the gate of the village, constructed of wood mainly to keep out the badgers, bears and other night creatures.
It was a crude wall, low, with one lookout tower next to each gate.

As Thist came trotting to the gate, Jem clambered down the short ladder, adjusted his rucksack and muttered, “Let’s go.”

“The sun’s not fully up yet Jem.” said Thist.

“I know, but in a few minutes it will be. I say we run for it until the sun is up, then we walk. We have a lot of ground to cover.” said Jem.

Thist helped Jem to close the gate behind them.

“This sounds like an exercise in torture to me.” said Thist.

“You will live.” said Jem.

“You know, Jem, you have no idea how important it is to me that I do.”

The two boys set off on a light jog, picking up the pace as the forest got thicker. They ran for a good half an hour before the sun was up. They ran the same way they had come the last time they were in the forest, heading to the mountain on the other side of the waterfall.

“Did you bring any food Jem?”

“Yes.”

“Did you bring flint Jem?”

“Yes.”

“Mushroom sacks?”

“Yes.”

Jem stopped. He had an irritated expression on his face. “Do you want to look in my bag to see what I brought?”

Thist grinned. “You’re cute when you’re angry.”

“Come on, Thist. This is a serious mission.”

“Ooh, the man has spoken.” mocked Thist.

“Have you ever been to the mountain to get hum?” asked Jem.

“No, have you?”

“I went with my father once, when he was still alive.” said Jem.

Jem’s father had gone into the forest alone one day, which was forbidden. He never came back. It was assumed that he had died, and a memorial service was held for him at the tavern.

Thist was quiet for a while as they walked along the path. “I brought two extra jars. I thought maybe we should get more hum than you said we should. Our trip might cost us more than we thought.”

“Good, let’s try to stay focused on this mission.”

The sky was clear as Jem had predicted and the morning was cool, allowing the boys to cover a great amount of ground before getting tired. They reached the waterfall only an hour after setting off. They stopped for a drink and a snack.

“I think,” said Thist while chewing on a slab of dried fruit, “we get the diamonds on the way back when it’s a bit warmer.”

“A lot warmer.” agreed Jem.

The morning was warming up slowly, but the water in the waterfall remained as clear and cold as ever.

“Jem, do you feel something strange in this waterfall?” said Thist.

“Like what?” asked Jem.

“I don’t know, like something calling to you from the bottom of this plunge pool?”

Jem looked stumped. “Yes, the diamonds at the bottom of the pool that’s going to make us rich like no person in this world has ever been.”

“No.” said Thist. “There is something else here. I just can’t put my finger on it.”

“That’s because it’s too deep for you to reach.” said Jem with a sarcastic snigger. “Besides, I just think that you have diamond fever.”

“We better go,” said Thist, “we have quite a climb ahead of us.”

The boys shouldered their rucksacks and headed toward the mountain.

As the ground started sloping up to the foot of the mountain, the trees seemed to increase in size, the roots coming up from the earth like giant talons. A thick carpet of leaves and moss made for a soft walk through the forest, and all the sounds seemed dampened. They passed the place where they had last collected mushrooms, only to see the patches they had cleared, were over grown again.

“We’re almost halfway,” said Jem.

Thist looked at his long-time friend. He couldn’t see in his face if he was joking or not.

“You know Jem, sometimes when you speak; horse dung comes out of your mouth.”

“I know. It must be fun to listen to.”

“So where is the stuff?”

“Look, the forest is thinning out as we move up to the middle of the mountain. Just on the edge of the forest, as it opens up, we will find the ant nests built on dead trees.”

“Tell me, master Jem.” mocked Thist. “How do we get into the ant nests?”

“Oh, ye of little faith shall be shown, the heavens will open up and the so-called gods will pour down their blessing on the so-called believers.”

“Jem, don’t mock. Just because you don’t believe in the gods doesn’t mean they are not there.”

The two boys walked in silence for a while. The forest seemed to end abruptly. One moment there were trees all around them, and the next moment, there was bright sunlight enveloping them. Long dried grass stood waist high carpeting the whole area.

“Wow!” said Jem. “I had forgotten how humid the forest is! Feel the fresh air?”

Thist scanned the area and shielded his eyes from the bright light. “Look over there.”

Jem looked to where Thist was pointing. A great tree stood grey and stripped of bark, and around its trunk, a big red-brown mass of compacted earth, twelve paces around and twenty paces high.

Jem grinned like a crocodile. “That’s the one we’re going to plunder for our booty.”

Thist looked dubious. “One of two things is going to happen today my friend. Either you are going to make a believer out of me,” as he pointed to the impossible size of the ant nest, “or we are going home without hum. I didn’t see any shovel in your rucksack and there sure isn’t one in mine.”

Jem started walking across to the ant nest. He walked around the nest, five paces from it. He pulled tufts of the dry grass out of the soft earth and threw them inside the circle. Thist followed suit under Jem’s guidance. They did this until there was a full circle of cleared earth around the nest.

“What are we doing here Jem?”

“We are clearing a fire barrier around the nest so that we don’t set the whole forest on fire, and using the dry grass as fuel for the inferno.” Jem explained with a grin. “Here hold this.”

Jem produced a large coil of thin but sturdy rope and two pulleys. He then took a knife and cut two short lanyards from the length of rope and attached them to the pulleys.

“You know how pulleys work, don’t you?” asked Jem.

“Yeah, each time you thread the rope through another pulley then you double the pulling strength.”

“Clever. Now first we have to use the rope to ‘wet cut’ a good groove into the bottom of the north side of the nest and the best way to do that is to use these saplings.”

Jem started tying one end of the rope to a small tree, not thicker than his wrist, a short way down from the ant nest. “Take the other end over the high side of the ant nest, and tie it to that sapling over there.”

Jem pointed to the exact sapling and Thist followed his finger. “I got it.”

“Pull the knot tighter Thist. That’s it.”

As Thist tied his rope, Jem climbed to the top of the ant nest and tied one pulley to the dead tree trunk. The two saplings were bowed toward each other, and when Thist had tied his end of the rope, Jem poured water on the rope and shouted, “Are you ready to become a believer?”

“Show me the best you’ve got, captain.”

“Take your sapling and pull it down toward you.”

Thist pulled on the little tree. Jem pushed hard on his and the rope scraped against the bottom of the ant nest cutting into it. Jem leaned back using his balance and the force of gravity, Thist saw what he was doing and copied him. The trees and rope were doing all the real work but for the boys it was like riding a seesaw. Ants came running from the gash in their nest threatening to devour anything that would defile their home. Though an ant on its own is a futile creature, thousands at a time were a force to be feared.

The two friends sawed to and fro for a few minutes, and while the gash widened, the ants poured out like a fountain. When the cut in the nest deepened to almost halfway and the ants threatened to eat the two boys, Jem shouted, “Untie your rope quickly.”

Thist struggled with the knot as the ants advanced over his hands and started to bite him. Thist squealed and Jem knew he was in trouble. “Run Thist! Run up the mountain!” cried Jem.

Thist ran, dropping the rope and brushing frantically at the ants.

Jem had his end of the rope loose from the tree and ran around the top of the ant nest flicking the rope hard to get the ants off.

“You idiot!” shouted Thist. “You could have warned me about how vicious these things are. Look at my hands!”

Thist’s hands looked like they had been punctured by a thousand needles. Jem just laughed. “You should have seen yourself! You would make an excellent court jester the way you go dancing and slapping yourself.”

Thist looked displeased at having his discomfort laughed at.

“Why are you still holding the rope Jem?”

“Well, one end is still tied to that tree of yours, and if it lies on the ground the ants will destroy it in a minute.”

“Then go over there and untie it.”

“No worries. The ants will do it for me.”

As Jem spoke, the rope came loose. The ants had climbed the tree and chewed through the knot. Jem gave the rope a few vigorous flicks and then pulled it toward him.

“Wait.” said Thist. “Let me do that.”

Thist took the rope that was lying loose on the ground and gave it one flick. The rope became airborne and curled itself up into a neat coil as it landed in Thist’s hand.

“That’s a neat trick.” said Jem. “Where did you learn that?”

“I am a master with a bull whip.” said Thist. “I just don’t think it’s going to help us at all.”

“What?” asked Jem.

“This is madness.” said Thist. “The booty, as you call it, is still in that nest, along with man eating ants.”

“That’s where you are wrong my friend, the next part of the game plan is a strategic move of brilliance. In five minutes, that nest is going to be empty of all its fighters and then we will attack.”

“Attack with what?”

Jem answered by producing a small vile of strong spirits that he got from the blacksmith, and some flint. He poured the spirits on a small tuft of dried grass and struck the flint with his knife. The first spark to hit the grass caused a flame. Thist looked like he had just seen the light.

“Now we burn the suckers.” said Jem.

Jem nursed the flame to a modest fire. When he was satisfied that it would not die, he grabbed several tufts of long grass together, handed half to Thist and said, “Now light the perimeter, and don’t let it spread to the rest of the forest.”

Jem and Thist stood for a moment and let the fire burn from the outside in, while Jem explained how most of the strange ants had run out of the ant nest to defend it, leaving the nest defenceless if they didn’t return. A popping noise could be heard as the ants started to fry and then explode. Jem started jumping around trying to put out a small fire outside of the safety circle, and Thist was soon doing the same on the other side, but they had the situation under control in no time.

“They smell like… like fried eggs.” said Thist.

“They taste very much like eggs too, just oilier.”

The fire reached its climax, and then subsided as all the grass burned out, leaving ash and nothing of the ants. The gash in the nest was still busy, but no longer belching ants like an angry volcano.

“What do we do now, Jem?”

“We reward ourselves for our good work so far by having a drink of water.”

“Yeah, I’m parched.” said Thist.

The two boys drank while admiring their handiwork. “We make a good team Jem.”

“We are the best!” said Thist. “Now let’s get to phase two.”

“Tell me first, the big tree that supports the nest, isn’t it going to be a problem for us?”

Jem took the rope. “Not at all, you will see,” he said, and climbed to the top of the nest where he had tied the first pulley, Jem threaded the rope through the two pulleys. One was attached to the dead tree and the other was attached to the closest sapling.

“Jem, what are you doing?”

“Do you remember when uncle Bret came to town with that old donkey cart full of barrels and the one wheel broke?”

“Ha! That was a sight.”

“Remember how Maxwell the blacksmith hoisted it out of the mud using a block system?”

Comprehension dawned on Thist. “Now I know, and now I know my part in your vicious plan.”

Thist jumped down from the log he had been loitering on and grabbed the end of the rope.

“Be careful Thist! Stand to the side or the tree will fall on you!”

Jem and Thist stood away from the fell zone and pulled on the rope. The rope fed itself through the set of pulleys and Thist was surprised at the strength that the pulley system gave them. A deep snapping sound announced their success and the large old tree and the ant nest tipped over and crashed down onto the bare earth. The nest broke open in several places and a thick tar-like substance was exposed in the centre.