Silverstone Part One: Through Dark Waters (8 page)

Soon they were racing through
their tasks, and able to devote more time to what Appleby called
‘mischief’, which seemed to be anything except the chores. They
gave the pomp-hens great warrior names, tasted the autumn wild
berries Eva knew were safe, and would watch the sunrises from a
hill to the west of the camp, hidden from Appleby’s watchful eye by
a few bushes.

One day, as the sun rose over
the great Lake Kaidesh, from where only a few days earlier Ben had
appeared, he found himself confiding in Eva.

“You know, I didn’t come from
King Elmer or Norchand, Eva. I don’t even know who King Elmer is
for that matter.” He tried to gauge her reaction.

“
I came from the lake. I
came
through
the lake, through some kind of portal. From a
different world to this one; to yours.” Ben tried to assess whether
she would run away and call for help, and he would be thrown out of
the camp. “Please don’t scream and run away.”

Eva’s expression eventually
cracked into a smile, and Ben breathed again.

“Perhaps you are a reincarnated
fish.” She made a fish faced pout at Ben, and pretended to swim
towards him, a hand raised as a fin above her head.

Ben grinned. “Perhaps I am. Or
maybe I am one of those ghostly creatures from the mysterious
lake!”

They both laughed.

Ben knew he was safe. They
rolled down the far side of the hill like younger children, and Ben
thought of Toby and how much he would have enjoyed it.

Ben and Eva talked more each
day. She was very curious about Ben and his world, and asked him a
lot of questions.

“So, you normally have two
names?” she asked, as they cleaned the pomp-hen hutch.

“Sometimes more. It depends on
where exactly you are from in my world. At least one is chosen for
you by your parents, like here, but the other one belongs to your
family.”

“Then everyone must carry a lot
of names. One is more than enough to tell people who you are. There
are plenty of different names to choose from after all.”

“But what happens here if
someone you don’t know happens to pick the same name as you?”

“That has never happened that I
know of, except for with you of course. But I suppose one of you
must change your name,” she answered simply.

“I’m not sure my world would
have the patience for that. We choose the same names too often, and
it would be confusing to change names all the time.”

Eva emptied a bucket of
pomp-hen droppings into the wheelbarrow. “Your world is a very odd
place. Your creatures are similar to ours, yet your knowledge must
be very great for you to build these ‘cars’, ‘planes’ and other
things. Your elders must be so wisecrinkled with the burden of all
that, they must hardly be able to move!”

That sounded like what Frummer
had said to him when he had told him his first name, Ben thought.
“What do you mean by wisecrinkled Eva?”

“Well, wisecrinkled is when
someone’s body changes as they learn things, but usually only after
they are already fully grown. The more things they learn, and the
exact things that they learn about, change how wisecrinkled they
look. Alder is our wisest person, and he is very crinkled and grey
haired, but I think his crinkles are from laughter and the joy of
what he has learned mostly, and he still has most of his hair so I
don’t believe he has learned of much to worry him in his life. My
dad says Alder’s crinkles and hair have changed a bit this last
summer though.”

Ben listened closely. “Doesn’t
everyone just get older as they age? Everyone get’s wrinkles and
grey hair don’t they?”

“No no. My father is aged older
than Alder, but he is very much less grey and wisecrinkled, because
he has not learned nearly as much, and he has learned mostly of
tending animals and crops, and drinking vol by the fire, so has had
much more laughter.” She stopped a moment. “He doesn’t know much of
the wider realm, and what nasty things are out there that might one
day threaten us all. I suppose Alder does.”

“How old is your father then,
if he is aged more than Alder?”

“He is one hundred and thirty
three years old. We celebrated his birthday a few months ago, with
lots of vol as usual, and a stew of our best five pomp-hens for all
the camp.”

Ben was stunned. “You’re
telling me your father is one hundred and thirty three years old?
And each year is twelve months, or fifty two weeks here?”

“Yes of course,” Eva said
bluntly.

Ben hardly dared ask his next
question. “So how many years old are you then Eva?”

Eva flushed lightly. “I will
celebrate my own birthday in a few days. I will be thirteen years
old.”

Ben sighed in relief, although
he did wonder why there was such a long gap between Eva and her
fathers’ age.

They finished cleaning the
pomp-hen hutch, and climbed their usual hill to look at the glow of
the lake and the water birds waking up.

“Perhaps it’s my company and
learning about my strange world, but I’ve noticed you look a little
crinkled today Eva,” Ben said with a slight grin.

Eva whacked him on his sore arm
with one of her boots.

In spite of Ben’s frequent
worries about returning to his own world, he began to enjoy his
time with the Peregrine farmers. He wanted to find a way home to
his family, Hulstead College and his real life, but the sunny
autumn days he spent with Eva felt like a secretly stolen summer
holiday away from the cold, damp and scary place he had come from.
It would have been easy for him to stay there, forgetting his
worries and never becoming wisecrinkled.

A few days later the camp
celebrated Eva’s 13
^th
birthday. There was more vol than Ben could ever
have imagined, wheeled out in enormous wooden casks cut from tree
trunks, and Appleby must have slaughtered half his digboks for the
stew, which was cooked in an enormous, battered tin cauldron
belonging to Alder.

Even the wilderness herdsmen
who only brought their animals down from the high hillsides to the
west and to the south of the lake for special occasions attended,
and Appleby and Eva were honoured.

As the eating of the gigantic
stew concluded, some of the group began singing songs and playing
instruments, and many began to dance merrily, vol mugs in hand. Ben
remained on the sidelines with some of the warriors, happy to watch
quietly.

One of the men from the
hillsides outside the camp came and sat beside Ben, bringing a
large mug of vol for him. “So, Silverstone is what they call
you?”

“Yes that’s right, pleased to
meet you,” Ben answered uneasily. He wasn’t sure what it was about
the man that was making his chest begin to ache. He was darkly
skinned, but his eyes were bright grey. His clothes seemed a little
richer than the other farmers.

“I am Geven.” The man gave a
smirk that made Ben look away. “Alder says you are visiting from
the lands of Elmer. What news does he send of the struggles of the
mages? And please, remind me how the great fountain of Queen
Lorelane looks, it has been years since I last saw it.”

Ben was almost certain Geven
did not believe Alder’s story about where he’d come from. He
considered his reply carefully. “Well, the mages struggle quietly
in the shadows as they always do, until one has the upper hand. As
for the fountain, I cannot find the words to describe it.” He
smiled as best he could, unable to hold Geven’s gaze for more than
an instant.

At that moment, the music
paused, and Ben looked up to see a circle had formed, in the centre
of which stood Liam, holding Eva’s hand. She grinned widely.

“
As is custom at the
13
^th
birthday of a young lady of the camp, a man of standing
should perform the dance of Alin and Ria with her.” Liam
said.

The crowd cheered their
approval.

“I claim this dance, unless
there is anyone who wishes to challenge me for it?”

The people glanced at one
another, joking and laughing.

Ben blushed and stared at the
ground.

“She is beautiful, isn’t she
Silverstone,” Geven whispered. “The dance is a great honour. But I
think she looks toward you my friend. Perhaps she would prefer your
hand to Liam’s, if you would challenge him?”

Ben looked up. Eva must have
turned away again. She seemed happy. He felt his chest again. A
panic began to rise, as the moment seemed to hang in front of him.
Something was calling him to stand up; to seize the dance with
Eva.

But he was also terrified of
what might happen next. He didn’t even know the dance of Alin and
Ria, and would probably fall flat on his face, humiliating himself.
He also had no idea what the challenge for it would consist of –
for all he knew he might very well find himself in a duel to the
death with Liam. Besides, he thought as he stole another look
towards Eva, it looked like she was fine without him. No, he had
made up his mind. He would stay where he was.

“Shame,” Geven muttered, seeing
Ben had made up his mind. “They say the dance often leads to
love.”

“I don’t want to dance, OK?”
Ben said irritably, and a little louder than he had intended, so
that some of the farmers nearby turned towards him. He blushed
again and lowered his head. This was terrible.

Geven grinned.

The music began, and the crowd
cheered as Liam spun Eva into the dance. The farmspeople laughed
and clapped along, and some other couples joined Liam and Eva.

Ben looked down at his feet,
feeling awful. For the first time since he had arrived through the
pool, he felt lonely. His chest hurt, and he stood up and walked
outside the shelter.

He wandered away from the party
towards the lake shore. The moon hung low, creating a silver blaze
on the mist covered waters. Someone was by the lake staring up at
the sky, and as Ben approached, the man turned. It was Alder.

“Good evening Silverstone. I
trust you are enjoying Eva’s party?”

“Not really, to be honest.”

Alder looked at him and smiled.
“I’m sorry to hear that my friend. But do not worry. Look at the
lake, glowing there under the light of the moon. Its waters are so
still tonight. Maybe that is why the moon dares come so close and
risk being swallowed.” He chuckled to himself

The lake was beautiful. But all
Ben could think about was the dance, and the anger he felt.

“Who is Geven anyway? I don’t
like him much.”

“Geven is just a hill herder.
He travels far south down to the foothills of the Sanan ranges with
his herd. But do not worry about Geven now. This view is more
important.”

Ben ignored him. “I don’t
belong here. I need to find a way home. I’m going to leave.
Tomorrow”.

Alder did not look at him. “You
have stayed with us longer than I could have hoped for, but every
day I hoped you would stay a little more.” He stared at the moon
for a while silently.

He turned to Ben. “But I
understand. You are one of us, Silverstone, but you are also not
one of us. The safest way is to seek the counsel of The King at
Norchand. But if you truly wish to find a mage, then The Blue Lady,
brother of the magician Evander, is where you should start. The way
is easy to the northeast over the Drumald ridge, but watch always
for bandits in these parts and especially in the wooded foothills.
From the ridge, follow the path down to the Bitter Falls in the
valley beyond, where she can be found each day.”

“Thank you Alder. For looking
after me when I arrived, and welcoming me into your camp like a
friend.” Ben managed to smile at the old man.

“You are a friend, Silverstone.
Good luck. And please, do not trust any mages.” Alder’s eyes
hardened for a moment, and then he broke into a smile again, and
turned Ben back toward the shelter with him. They walked back into
the party.

Ben hardly spoke to Eva that
evening except to wish her a happy birthday with the rest of the
line of well wishers. He held her hands in his as everyone else
seemed to do, and looked hopefully for a glimmer of something he
did not know in her soft eyes.

She smiled at him, but Ben
thought it was the same smile as for everyone else.

He lingered beside Ivor,
listening to the stories becoming wilder and wilder as he drank
more vol, but thinking only of his home.

Finally Ivor fell asleep
mid-story, and Ben slipped off from the remaining party. He patted
Ivor gently on the back as he walked out, but the man was so drunk
the tent could have fallen on his head at that moment and he
wouldn’t have woken.

Ben found his way back to
Appleby’s tent, and into his sleeping mat.

The next morning, Ben was up
before dawn, and silently collected the few things he had been
given by Alder, Appleby, and the others into a sling bag that Lea
had made for him. He found his swimming goggles, which he thought
might prove useful if he needed to swim back through a portal, and
reminded him of home anyway. He also took a small supply of apples,
bread, and smoked fish from Appleby’s store at the side of the
tent.

Appleby was already awake and
Ben could hear him outside, but Eva lay sleeping in her mat. Ben
glanced at her for a moment, wondering if he should wake her. The
ache in his chest began again as he thought through what he would
say, and considered what her reaction might be and ruled out each
possibility one by one in his head. Finally he snuck out of the
tent.

Appleby turned, and stood
waiting for Ben. “Eva will not be happy about this.” He smiled.

A part of Ben hoped that was
true. Another piece hoped she forgot him quickly. He tried for a
moment to imagine her reaction to the news of his departure.

Finally Ben returned the smile.
“I need to get home. You have been very kind to me Appleby, and if
you ever find yourself in…” He trailed off. “I can’t ever hope to
repay you.”