Blackrift Gate

by Parijat Mukherjee

  Sir Houston and Loudy reached shortly, and came to know from the master mason, gladly smiling that the mansion would be usable in two weeks, provided it does not rain.

  Houston entered the house with the master mason and inspected the repairs and renovations; while Loudy went with the apprentice to check on the workers laboring on the outside of the house.

  Houston loved what the master mason and Loudy were doing with the place. The carpets and curtains, the changed flooring and new polish on carved oaks, things were coming off nicely.

  “What are you doing over there?”Houston asked, as they walked into the west wing.

  “We are changed this part into kitchen and servants quarters, my lord. This room had a drain and some ovens, so we are making it the kitchen.” The master mason showed Houston around, as his men were busy taking out some odd shaped old ovens, utensils and contraptions from the fixtures, and installing new ones.”We are going to add all new ovens in here, the best quality woods and new furnitures.”

  “Can not you use any of the old stuff?”Sir Houston said, a bit uncomfortable to see something like a large oven being dismantled.”This is costing me a fortune already!”

  “My lord, these old things are no good for cooking. Lord Christ knows what ungodly things the old Lord Waering used them for, and the less we know are the better. You would need a good working kitchen for feasts, but making one anew would cost more. ”The master mason said respectfully. “We are not changing any of the old doors and furniture here that are usable. We will just add a number of windows here, to get the smokes out and so they don’t need lamp to work till sun is there. Walls of this wing are good enough, so we will cover them up with wallpapers to cut cost on fresh panels.”

  It was a good idea to hire this man, Houston thought, agreeing with him. The master mason worked with a lot of noblemen, so he knew better how to get these things done. Houston could not have thought things so thoroughly. Still, he was the lord, and it does not suit the lord to be satisfied easily. So he asked for a few minor changes be made here and there, just to keep his importance, and then went outside joining Loudy and the apprentice mason into the garden, where the apprentice was showing Loudy one of the stone pillars.

  “What have we here?” Houston asked as he came through the path cleared from the cut piles of brambles and drying bushes.

  “Some old stele, I reckon.”The master mason said.”Maybe garden things old Lord Waerings had brought in?”

  “No.”Loudy said, frowning.”These are older than this mansion.”

  “What? You know this stuff?” Houston came closer.”What are these?”

  “Pagan things.”Loudy said, clutching his rosary in his hand.”I do not know much sire, I am afraid.”

  Sir Houston came closer to the moss covered stone, even taller than him.

  These were carved intricately with symbols and figures, possibly celtic symbols and decorations, viney knotworks carefully carven on the stone as if they were living tendrils one day; weathered, but still prominent enough; bearing the signs of bygone era. Perched on top of the pillar, Houston could make out a crude outline of some pagan deity that was seemingly pressing down on a cloud like thing. Not a lot of details could be seen, as moss was growing over them all, though not too much on the figures themselves.

  “Lord want to keep them in the garden?” Master mason asked.

  “Yes, why not? These look fancy.” Sir Houston chuckled. ”And free.”

  “Sire, I daresay get rid of these.”Loudy said.”These are not good to have in the house.”

  “Ah I do not believe in those silly pagan stuff.” Sir Houston waved. ”These are just fancy stones.”

  “But the church may not like a respectable christian like you having pagan things in their garden, sire.”Loudy said.” There are jealous people who may spread bad rumors.”

  “You got a point there, Loudy.” Sir Houston sighed. ”Did not think that one. Get rid of these from the front of the gate, but do not throw them away right now. Might be worth something.”

  “I will, Sire.”Loudy said.

  As they returned, Sir Houston had a passing feeling that they were being watched, but he brushed it aside. Loudy was paranoid enough as it was, and he was not keen with dealing with his protective nature.

  By next Wednesday, Sir Houston was moving in; and by the next week, his servants had made this mansion into a perfect, stately home for a nobleman of the stature Sir Houston aspired to be, and it was then when she came into the house.

  Chapter 2

  It was Loudy who first noticed her; a scrawny peasantling, pale and freckled, two sticklike legs coming down from the oversized rags wrapping a bony, skinny body, standing by the ash tree on the opposite side of the road. A beggar, Loudy thought, and was about to shout at her to go somewhere else, but she came upto him and begged for work in exchange of food and shelter. Loudy was not too surprised. He had been asking around the village for new servants and maids. It was not possible to maintain such a big mansion with the staff they had at present. Also, the whole point his lord had purchased this mansion was to set up a good impression of his wealth to the other nobles, and the number of presentable servants and maids would be an essential matter of prestige when there would be parties and balls in the main hall of the mansion.

  But was this brat even presentable? A quick glance spoke strongly against it. People will think lord Houston starves his servants. Then again, not all hands need to be shown to the future guests. Maybe in the kitchen?

  “Dominik, was not Kendall looking for a child to help with the dishes?” Loudy asked a servant he had hired recently from the village. He was cleaning the gate as he was about to go out.

  “Yes, sire. I think Mister Kendall was looking for just a brat like her.” Dominik said.

  “Good. Then take her to Kendall.” Loudy sent her to the back of the house with Dominik, and went on his own errands.

  Kendall was the head cook, and he was already tired of the whining of Marie, who was dealing with the washing of daily increasing number of utensils thanks to new recruits. Kendall was already busy, so he did not pay a lot of attention to the girl. Just asked if she could do the dishes once and sent her off to Marie with Dominik.

  Marie was not pleased with the assistant she got. She looked scornfully at the scrawny stick figure in rags. Will she even do a quarter of the work?

  “Your name?” Marie asked.

  “Al..Allissi, ma’am!”A thin voice sqeaked from the stick figure.

  Marie’s face softened. She had been at the lower rung of the ladder for some time, so having someone to boss around would feel nice.

  “Allissi. Okay. You can do the dishes without breaking them?”

  “Yes, ma’am!”Alissi said, her rickety knees knocking together once.

  “We shall see that. Follow me.”Marie walked down the back corridor, through the kitchen and then went on the western corridor. Here were the servants quarters and the Well used for dishes and servants use.

  Allissi was in awe seeing so many big rooms and halls, and caressed the nice looking wallpaper once. Marie noticed.

  “Stop doing that. If you are to stay here, you would need to behave.”Marie frowned.

  “Sorry ma’am!”Allissi said.

  “Do as you are told, and you will do just fine.”Marie said, opening the door to the western backyard, where the well used for the dishes was situated. There was also a tub filled with water for the purpose.

  “Of course ma’am.”Allissi said.

  Marie smiled a bit. It was better this way. Another maid could become a pain instead. This is so much better.

  “You had anything since morning?”Marie asked.

  “No, ma’am.”Allissi said. “I just came here today.”

  “You are not from around here?”

  “No ma’am.”

  “Come with me.”Marie said, taking her back into the western corridor to a room.”Have this.”Marie took out a piece of stale bread she had ke
pt for snacking and a small bit of cheese.

  Allissi took it with both hands, and eagerly chomped on it. Looking gratefully at Marie as if she was some sort of angel.

  Marie liked this new girl. She was very obedient, and had no problem sleeping on the floor of her room, as she was too unimportant for getting her own. Only problem was occasional fits she would have at night. Those happened particularly on nights on full moon or no moon; and more when it rained. She would blabber gibberish in her sleep, and would usually completely forget about these in the morning.

  A few month passed without any incident, except an increasing paranoia of Loudy, and his resentfulness to the villagers who to him were not good Christians. Sir Houston did notice it too, that the villagers in the locality were only Christian by name, and many practiced odd religions of old times in privacy. He already knew a bit from his business trips around these parts. Sir Houston did not mind it much. Seeing whether villagers were being good Christians or not was the duty of the church. As long as the villagers paid their dues to him, gave him the respect he deserves as their lord, and did not engage in crime, they could all sell their souls to the devil for all he cared.

  But Loudy was not as easygoing about them as Sir Houston was. He increased the recruits in the mansion, particularly the guards; and other than a few villagers whom he hired early and who had vowed before him to be Christians, he mostly hired the guards from other villages, or from Hazefall. He often complained to sir Houston of local degenerates lurking around the high walls of the mansion, and he was quite certain that they were upto no good. Sir Houston did not have such paranoia, and but seeing the mansion was away from the village, he did not object to regular patrolling and keeping the curious villagers away from the mansion premises without permission. Three sets of keys were prepared, one was kept with Houston, one with Loudy, and one with Kendall, who was in charge of the kitchen and needed to get fresh produce often.

  Lately the villagers had been preparing for some sort of ceremony in the far off fields of the village, near the edges of the southern woods. It was certainly not a Christian ceremony, as there was no word from the church. Loudy wanted Sir Houston to interfere, but as he came to know from the village elders that this ceremony had been going on for centuries; and Lord Waering had no problem with them; he did not interfere, much to the dismay of Loudy. Sir Houston was not an idiot to earn the noncooperation and ill will of his subjects for no reason, specially when no money was involved.

  Chapter 3

  It was an ordinary evening when Abram, a servant of the kitchen was scurrying into the celler on the Northwestern end of the mansion, where the base of the house dug into the mound. The windowless cellar was actually cut into the earth of the mound itself, lined with rough chunks of stones laid onto the earthen wall. The little lamp in his hand was casting long shadows on them, and not helping with the darkness between the shelves and the giant barrels of ale that had been stacked on the sides in rows and columns. The cellar was cold and dank, which was best to preserve things. The coldest part was at the farthest corner of the cellar, shrouded in darkness, as the smoke from a lamp kept lit here would have no place to escape, and keep accumulating.

  Abram went deep straight to the end of the cellar, to his right, there were the barrels of wine. This was not for the servants, but Abram had been tasting a bit of it time to time back when they were at the old home of Sir Houston in Hazefall. He hid his tankard near the barrel, and with a wide smile he took it out. As he filled the pitcher with wine, he helped himself with a bit of the good stuff in the tankard. Not full, of course. He does not want to get caught. But just as he hid his tankard back, he heard a slushing sound, as if some liquid was moving against stones. Was something leaking? He carefully checked the barrels, the pitcher, and even his tankard. Nothing. But he could hear it again. As he looked around, it seemed to be coming from towards the wall. Examining the direction, he noticed something on the wall. There was a crack between the stones, and something was shining through it. He checked again. The stones around the crack had some faint scratches; as if something was written on them by etching the stone recently. The script looked unfamiliar, though Abram did not bother with it since he could not read beyond letters. He was more interested in the crack. It looked peculiar, as if the stones were folded into it…and inside… Yes! Something was definitely in there. His eyes gleamed with excitement. Who knows, maybe the Waerings hid something valuable in the darkest corner of the mansion? Old Lord Waering was said to be getting forgetful in his old days, and these cellars are quite a place to hide things, so it is plausible. Nevertheless, what is the harm in checking? He went close to the stone, and peeked through the crack, shining the light of his little lamp through it.

  Chapter 4

  Allissi was having the fits again. Marie sighed and got up. Lighting up the oil lamp beside her bed, she looked at the girl on the floor, shaking vigorously and blabbering gibberish, frantically moving her bony arms and legs in the blanket she was given, and the hay that was serving as her bed for the time. Marie took some water and came upto her.

  “Allissi, girl, get up.”She shook Allissi. They would have to rise at daybreak, so Marie would like to get back to sleep soon unless she wanted to work the whole day with a headache. This had been the patterns for last three to four days, and it seems to be getting worse.

  Allissi was frothing from her mouth, and was speaking gibberish in a fearful manner, as if warning against something.

  Marie sprinkled some water on her face. Worried, that it may actually be a demons doing, she prayed to St Michael in her mind. Allissi was calming down. With another big dose of sprinkling water, she got up with a scream.

  Marie held her and asked what it was. Allissi grabbed her tightly, burying her head in her chest.

  “It is coming! It is coming!”Allissi whined and sobbed.

  Marie let her rest a bit, as she was shaking and weeping, afraid. She was murmuring about some place, and something gibberish that she was terribly afraid of.

  “Nightmare again?”Marie asked.

  “We must get out! We must!”Allissi tried to wiggle and squirm in the hand of Marie.”It is coming!”

  “What? What is coming, Allissi?”Marie asked.

  “Yiggg! Yigggg!”Allissi gasped.”Yigg is coming!”

  “Again? Who is Yig?”Marie asked, shaking Allissi, hoping she would snap out of it. It has been like this last day too, she was talking about someone called Yig.

  “Yig is…Yig is….!”Allissi opened her eyes in horror, and started having seizures, frothing from her mouth. Marie laid her down on the bed and blowed some air on her face, and sprikled some water periodically. After a while, she calmed down and fell asleep.

  Marie looked at her and thought, worrisomely. This is being too much. Marie can not keep up with this for too long. She can not continue with this type of lack of sleep each night. It might have been the cheese. This girl was not accustomed to eating full meals anyway. Marie sighed and went back to her bed, but could not sleep anymore. This child was very endearing, and hardworking, otherwise she might have asked the cook to send her to sleep in the stables. Marie thought more what might be the case for Allissi. ‘She keeps on having the nightmares about this Yig, but can not tell who it is. Maybe it was someone who has been particularly mean to her.’ Marie knew the pain and the lasting effects some abuses can have..from personal experience. She sighed again. God knows what this child has went through. As much as she could tell, Allissi was an orphan living in the streets. She did not know when her tired eyes again closed, and she went into depths of slumber unknown to her.

  Chapter 5

  When Marie got up, she was having a slight headache. Groggy, tired, and yearning to go back to bed but not having a reasonable way to do it, she dragged herself to the kitchen and began preparing the foods for herself and all other servants.

  It is earlier than usual, she noted. She recalled today Sir Houston would be leaving for Berkshire to attend and c
hair a legal duel between two noblemen, and also to spread the news of his new mansion. The legal duel of noblemen draws a lot of others, and the Lord of Berkshire has invited him to stay over. So for the staff of the kitchen it was a earlier day at work.

  It was cold, and still dark on the west side of the mansion, so the oven fires were not enough to light the large kitchen. Some oil lamps were burning on the iron holders placed on the pillars. Marie sipped a little ale and began working. Allissi came after her, and started helping, though she was still having shaky hands.

  “What happened to you?”Marie muttered as she saw Allissi to be visibly distraught.

  She was not talking well, and not looking straight at her. Abnormally behaving, she seemed to be looking here and there and getting startled at everything. At one point she almost dropped a pot.

  “What is the matter with you, child?”Marie asked sternly.”You plan to work or what?”

  “I..I am sorry, ma’am!”Allissi said fearfully.”I must tell you something!”

  “Tell. I do not have time.”Marie kept on working.

  “Something bad is about to happen.”Allissi said.”Today is the cursed day. We must go from here.”

  “You may have lost your mind.”Marie sighed.”Do not say such words when the Lord is about to go out. It is bad omen. We should not predict God’s plans.”

  “No, nothing about the Lord!” Allissi whispered.”Outside is safe. It is in this house.”

  “Nonsense! Shut up and work!”Marie grumbled as she struggled with preparation of the meal like other kitchen staff. Everyone was hungry, and they will only get to eat before the Lord and his guards will have their meals before they set out for Berkshire.

  Allissi suddenly clenched her mouth and ran outside to the drain, where she began vomiting.