Searching for the Silent Lady
By Adelise M Cullens
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events or locales is entirely coincidental. If you would like to contact me, the author, you can via my website www.byamcullens.com.au. Thank you.
If you like this story please leave a review. I would like to continue with this story and these characters, but I will be relying on your judgement!
The beautiful illustrations in this book were done by Amber Rose Phipps. You can contact her through me, via my website. Thank you, Amber.
Copyright © Adelise M Cullens 2014
For my ElliPirate
& anyone else who has ever felt as if they do not belong.
Chapter 1
I swish my plastic sword, back and forth, through the air. Thrusting and parrying at the right moments, just in time to thwart off my would-be enemies. I don’t have any enemies here, but if I did, it would not matter; I know that I am the best swashbuckler on the ocean — even though I am only six and three quarters. But I am hoping that I won't be this little for much longer.
I stop my swordplay to stare out the window of my vessel. Which is not a tall ship, but a crumby old car. I have never, really, even been on a ship. I do have dreams of being on one. Dreams of white, frothy swells, salted, sea spray on my skin and long dark nights with nothing but my crew, my ship and the moon's reflection on the surface of the water.
I dream of a ship called The Silent Lady. Then, my ship disappears, it’s just gone. Not under the waves, where most ships go to rest, but just gone. In a snap. Like a puff of smoke on the wind. But then, a bird comes. A big black raven, with the prettiest, patterned wings that I have ever seen and he shows me the way back, to my ship, to my home.
I roll down the window of the ancient car and the air that bursts in, is cool and moist. It refreshes my dry skin. I will do anything to stop my skin from feeling so dry all the time.
I watch a road sign roll by and I have to be quick to read, Bells Line Of Road. I make a kind of snorting noise. What a strange name for a road.
The old car slows to a crawl and I look ahead to see the long line of cars. The man behind the steering wheel bangs the wheel softly with one fist and mumbles something angry, under his breath.
I watch him for a moment. His forehead is nothing but wrinkles and his eyebrows have come together in a big knot in the middle. He glances at me and his face turns calm. ‘This should clear up soon Ellie,’ he says, pointing to the traffic. ‘Soon you will be at your new home.’ He returns his eyes to the road and his nice face washes away, reversing back to the angry one. He mumbles some more nasty things; I guess he assumes I can’t hear him.
I sigh and look back out the window. I really don’t want a new home, especially not if it is like the last one.
‘Do you ever talk?’ I hear him whisper, but I don’t look at him. ‘No wonder you can’t stay in one family. Who would want a kid that doesn’t react to you.’ His sharp words don't hurt me, I have heard much worse in my short six years in this world.
The side of the road scrolls past slowly and I watch, looking for anything interesting. The lush green that I see is a nice change from the concrete farm I have just come from, in the city.
I notice something up ahead. A small break in the hedge of green. A sign painted on wood is hanging over a very small entrance way. As we roll past it, I read, The Secret Fairy Garden. Another strange name! Why is there a sign if it’s a secret?
At that moment, a raven lands on the sign. A beautiful, big, black bird. With patterns on its wings that shine in the sunlight. I gasp with joy. There he is! The raven that is going to take me back home, back to my ship and my real family!
I look at the man next to me and he looks back. ‘What’s wrong Ellie? Are you hungry? Do you need to go to the bathroom?’ The man looks ahead and strains to see above the cars. ‘Who knows what you want, but I could go for a bite myself,’ he says. He pulls over into the space beside the road and speeds up along it, towards the service station.
He pulls into the service station and parks the car. ‘You don’t mind waiting here while I go get us some chips? Would you like some chips, Ellie? I’ll get you some chips and a chocolate milk, how’s that?’ The man closes the door and walks into the service station.
This is it! This is my chance, it has finally come. I quietly open the door and jump out. I put my little plastic sword in the belt of my jeans and walk away from the car. I peek around the trees on the roadside, where the green hedge begins, and I see it. The raven sits there on the ground. It hops a couple of steps and then caws to me. It stretches out its wings and flies off down the road, towards the entrance way to The Secret Fairy Garden.
I do not look back. I run. I stick close to the trees and run. I chase the raven, sometimes losing sight of him round the curve of the road, but then only to find him again in a couple of steps, waiting for me.
I get to the entrance to The Secret Fairy Garden and look in. There is a long stone staircase, green with moss and lichen. A tree canopy encloses the stairs all the way down, like a bright green cave. It is so long that, I cannot see where it ends.
The bird hops around on the first step, looking back at me, as if he is beckoning me to join him. I grip the hilt of my plastic sword and follow him, ducking under the painted sign. The bird glides down through the cave and out of sight. I place a foot on the first step. I move forward slowly and feel my gumboot slip.
I am only on the third run, when I hear the steps snap. I fall hard on my rump and start to slide down the wet, mossy, stones, before I realise that they have flattened out.
I panic. I have not caught sight of the bird, since he flew down the cave. I try desperately to stop myself from sliding. I try to grip onto the sides, but there is nowhere to hold onto. The branches scratch at my face, as if they are trying to grab me. I have to stop trying to hold on, so I can protect my face and sword instead. The bottom of the slope comes closer and closer. I close my eyes tight and then …
Stop.
***
I open my eyes, when I no longer feel like I'm falling. The first thing I see is a pair of golden eyes staring at me. Frightened, I sit up and try to scurry backwards across the ground, but my body is sore all over.
‘Captain Ellie. My, my, you have grown since last I saw you,’ says the lady with the golden eyes. She stands, bent over me. She is beautiful, with long earth brown hair, curling over her bare shoulders and tumbled through with flowers. She is wearing a dress of moss and leaves; it seems to still be growing across the lady's body as I watch her.
I look around. There is no slope, or tree cave, or big black raven, they have vanished. Turned into nothing but grass and sky. The only evidence of my arrival, is long skid mark in the grass, which leads straight to me. I touch the exposed earth and feel its wetness between my fingertips.
The sky is the most wonderful shade of pink and orange, like the illuminated skirts of clouds at sunset. The grass is thin and spindly and soft, and spotted with clover patches. But there is nothing else, no valleys or hills or shadows. Just me and the lady.
‘It took you so long to get here my Ellie pirate,’ she says.
I stare up at her. Who is this lady and how does she know my name?
And is if she can read my thoughts, she says, ‘You don't remember me? I am the Lady of the Land.’
Chapter 2
A shadow heralds the arrival of the raven. He lands before me, facing the Lady and cawing at her angrily. He hops around, flapping his wings and
I notice the patterns on his feathers as they glimmer and change in the odd pink sunlight.
‘So, I see you found each other! You both have done better than I ever believed you could,’ she says.
Done better? I don’t know what this lady is talking about.
‘Don’t worry my little Ellie Pirate. It will come back to you. In time. I guess you are expecting some sort of reward for getting this far?’ she asks.
The raven settles down, but caws loudly. The Lady bends down to stroke the bird and he flies backwards towards me, landing on my lap.
‘You witch!’ he says in a croaky voice. ‘You evil, nasty, horrible witch!’
I have known about this raven my whole life, seen him in my dreams, but he has never spoken!
The Lady chuckles. ‘I am no witch, Raven. You know this. And, you might want to mind your tongue. I am the one that holds your other lost things.’
Lost things? Like, my ship?
‘Yes Ellie, your ship is waiting for you,’ she answers my thought.
She swirls her hand in the air beside her, dipping it in, as if the air was as fluid as water. The air moves with her fingertips and her hand creates a whirlpool in space. Suddenly, there is a huge rushing of wind towards us, coming from the hole.
I can see things through the portal, a vision distorted under the vale of distance and time. I see a forest, dark and dry, but alight with blue, but as soon as I noticed it, it is gone. Dry riverbeds and yellow grasses. Barren, wasted lands, rocky cliff faces, and ever-changing sand dunes. Then white, crystalline, and cracked desert, that stretches out as far as the void lets me see. On it sits a ship on its side. I can hear its black hull creak and groan, as if the ship is in pain and crying out for help. The dark sails sag lifelessly. The words ‘The Silent Lady’ is scrawled across its side. My dreams had been real.
‘See, your precious ship is still there,’ says the Lady in a wicked tone.
‘It looks like your lands have suffered in my captain’s absence,’ says Raven.
The Lady glowers at Raven. ‘Well, yes ... Some unexpected downfalls have occurred since I banished you both, but nothing that she will not fix for me.’
Raven hops onto my shoulder. ‘Why should the great Captain Ellie help you, Lady of Dirt?’
The Lady’s face splits into an evil smile, her eyes turn a luminescent red, like the lava spewed up from the depths of a volcano. The ground begins to shake and crack. Her feet partially lift off the ground as she comes at us. Her toes dig great groves in the grass towards me. She crashes into me hard and grabs me by my shirtfront. She lifts my small body up high. Her face comes close to mine and I can smell her hot, brimstone breath, burning my face. With her other hand, she takes Raven by the throat. His wings flap and his claws try to scratch at the Lady’s hand. She is no longer beautiful. She is terrible and terrifying in every way. The ground underneath us falls away and smoke bellows all around us, blocking out the pink sky. The Lady’s face is illuminate by a red light that glows beneath us.
As she speaks, smoke and dust pours out of the crack that was her mouth. Her voice is a deep, resonating rumble. ‘She will do it because she is a selfish little girl who wants nothing more, than to have her precious little boat back!’ Her words are deafening, booming through my body, shattering my resolve. ‘So if she wants everything back, then she will restore my lands!’
I cry as she drops me back down. I expect to keep falling, falling down through the earth into the fiery hell that had opened up just before, but I stop short and land hard on my knees. Back on the grass that had been there before. I look around. My vision is a blur, but everything is back to normal. Greener than green grass, sunset sky and a divinely beautiful woman standing before us, like nothing had happened. The only thing that lingers is the slightest smell of sulphur in the air.
‘And if you ever call me Lady of Dirt again, I will send you back, but this time as a rat or maybe a cockroach.’ And with that, she was gone.
Raven flaps over and looks up at me with one beady, white eye. ‘Are you okay M’lady?’
I stand up and brush myself off. I wipe away my tears and my hands come away, blackened with soot. I nod once to Raven.
‘Good. Now, I guess ...’ Raven flits off in the direction the Lady had pointed, where the world had swirled and changed. ‘...We should go that way.’ He jumps around on the spot a moment. ‘And that witch might have given me back my voice, but she never gave you anything.’
I sigh. What did I really expect? Nothing I guess, I still am not entirely sure what is going on.
I remember all that had just happened and notice that I can feel the grass between my toes. I look down to see that my gumboots are gone. Raven follows my gaze as I look around for my boots.
‘They must have fallen off, when the ground was open,’ he says.
I feel for my sword and relax when I find it still firmly in place. But something is different. Instead of being able to feel my little plastic sword, tucked into my belt, I feel the warmth of soft leather. My heart stops. I look down at the large scabbard attached to my belt.
Raven hops back to me, as I pull out my sword. It is not heavy, but as light as it had been when it was plastic, but easily twice the size. It is not made of steel, or metal or wood, or plastic, but made out of water. The water swirls in torrents, waves crash on it, storms rage on its surface. It is completely transparent, and constantly moving. And it is familiar.
Raven lets out a, kind of, gasp. ‘She gave you back the Sword of Waves?’ I look at Raven with confusion. He flies up on my shoulder. ‘This is your sword M’lady. It will help you to control your powers. I don’t know how it works, though. You might have to remember that one for yourself.’ I frown at Raven, but I start to walk. ‘You look funny so small, M’lady, if you don’t mind me saying so.’
I don’t mind him saying so. I have felt strange being small. I have always felt strange. And, now I know why.
We walk towards the nothing with no clear plan or idea of what to expect. With only the hope to be back with my Silent Lady.
As I walk, I feel the strangest sensation on my bare feet; it is as if they are covered with water, although the ground I walk on is dry. I like the feeling though, the soothing moisture on my forever-parched skin, the feeling of water squishing between my little toes.
Raven soars above me, after a while. He told me, that he was scouting for danger, but I can see for myself that there is nothing but us and grass, for miles.
The pink light starts to fade out. We walk for what seems like hours, when suddenly, Raven lets out a loud caw and soars out of the sky. He lands on my shoulder as he says, ‘lights ho!’
As he says this, I notice that he is right. In the distance, through the twilight, there is a twinkling of different coloured lights, like a city in the distance. I look at Raven.
‘I don't know what it is M’lady.’
I’m excited. It’s the first thing we have seen in this strange place, since the Lady of the Land. I draw my sword and sprint at the lights with full speed, Raven flying by my side, ready for what lies ahead.
Chapter 3
The lights twinkle brightly, dark purples, deep blues and eerie reds, hovering above the land, and then I realise, the lights are not coming from a city at all, they are coming from a forest.
The night gets darker and lights get closer and higher, stretching up into the starless sky. Finally, we stand before a giant forest, with trees bigger than I have ever seen before. They stand in perfect rows, as if someone planted them there on purpose.
The grass that we have been walking on stops suddenly at the edge of the giant forest and, if I look past the trees, I can actually see the other side, where the grass starts again. I look either side of us and the rows of trees run from horizon to horizon.
I look above us where the lights are floating, casting their solemn glow down to the forest floor. They dance and swim up there and I stare in amazement for a while, at the beautiful light show overhead,
wondering what they could be. I look down at the green grass below me and then at the threshold, in front, where a thick carpet of dried out leaves, starts.
I look at Raven, his feathers shine brilliantly in the multi-coloured lights. They reflect off the intricate patterns on his wings, like the way sunshine looks on the water’s surface, from below.
He looks at me with his small pearl eyes. ‘I don't remember this place M’lady, but I don’t have a good feeling about it.’ Raven flutters down to the grass beside me. I replace my sword and get down on one knee. Raven bends down, to get a closer look at the leaf litter, below the glowing trees. He pecks at a leaf and picks one up in his beak, shaking it as if it were prey. Finally, he hops across the invisible barrier with a crackle and I follow him in.
As I walk onto the leaves and into the forest, something very strange begins to happen. The water that I felt on my feet earlier, begins to seep onto the dry ground. I watch my feet, as it travels off my skin in tiny, shining rivulets, like the most delicate silver chains.
Then, I notice something odd; the lights above have come to a standstill. Raven just continues to hop and flap his way across the litter. I follow, watching the lights above, as they begin to move again, merging in the canopy.
Raven is a good few metres in front when he turns back to me. ‘It seems to be safe,’ he says.
As I take my next step, I hear a loud, sickening crunch. I look down to see a small skeleton of what looks like a bird. I lift my foot and bend down to inspect it. The bird’s limbs sprawl out at its sides, as if something had pinned it to the ground. Its beak is stretch open; I can almost hear the screaming sounds it might have made as it died. The part that I had trod on had turned to a fine dust that covers my toes. There is no doubt that it had been a bird, even though there are no feathers anywhere. The bones that are left are white, picked clean, and appear to be rippled with holes, like tiny teeth marks.
What did this? And, more importantly, is it still here?
I stand up quickly and draw my sword. I look behind me, expecting to see the grass from where we had only just come from, an easy retreat, but it is gone. Only more giant forest looms up behind us.
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