by Suzie Taylor
Ben, Alf and Emily rose slowly to their feet. The black feathered bundles that were bobbing in the water in front of them slowly began to float downstream. One started to revive and fluttered feebly towards the opposite bank. Two of the less fortunate victims went over the waterfall.
There was a short silence.
“What?” asked Nadia.
“Um… nice work,” said Ben hesitantly.
“Yeah well, they asked for it. Definitely magpies.”
Alf waded into the stream and poked a stick at one of the bodies for a better look. “She’s right,” he said. “It’s a magpie – but now that it’s dead it seems to be getting its white patches back again.”
“Is the water just washing it clean?” asked Emily. “Maybe it was coloured somehow?”
“Nah,” shrugged Nadia. “I reckon they were just possessed.”
“Possessed?!”
“Something or someone doesn’t want us to be here,” murmured Ben. “It’s like they’re protecting the area.”
Nadia took her glasses off to polish them. “Well they failed so let’s get on with it.”
“I’m not sure that we should be getting on with it,” said Ben.
“Chicken.”
“No,” said Ben firmly. “We need to know what we’re dealing with here. Besides, it’s actually time we left - it’s nearly a two hour trip home and you’re bleeding.”
“Oh,” said Nadia who hadn’t noticed.
Nobody spoke after that and they made their way back downstream in silence. Ben was apprehensive about what they had experienced and wondered what they should do next. Perhaps it would be safer to return at night time? At least the birds wouldn’t be up... or would they? An attack by black birds in the dark would be far worse! Was that what Mouse had been planning?
As they reached the tourist path once again Alf commented that they needed to write down everything they had observed whilst it was still fresh in their minds. “Really it’s best to take notes as you go, so no important detail is forgotten…”
“What’s Mum going to say about my hair?” Nadia wondered. “I can’t tell her it’s been sucked into another dimension!”
“Why not?” asked Alf, surprised.
“What we need to decide is whether to return,” said Ben.
“Of course we need to return!” Nadia retorted. “Maybe we should wear our bike helmets next time though.”
“That’s an idea... but if there’s any sign of trouble we might need to rethink this whole thing. Em and I are going away for the weekend starting tomorrow afternoon so…” he stopped walking and turned to the others with a frown. “Did somebody just blow a really bad one?”
“Yep I can smell it too,” said Nadia. “The same smell as before.”
They all looked nervously up to the sky but there was nothing to be seen.
“Must be you,” Emily quipped.
Ben rolled his eyes.
“I once farted so hard that I levitated until my head hit the ceiling,” said Alf.
Nadia looked at him incredulously. “What is it with you?” she asked.
“Don’t worry about Alfy,” said Emily. “We love him the way he is.”
Nadia shook her head then continued. “Well, we may as well keep going. Maybe we can leave the smell behind.”
Ben began walking again. “So as I was saying, Em and I are away for the weekend so we’re not available again until Monday. How’s that going to work for you guys?”
“Monday’s fine with me,” said Alf.
“And me,” agreed Nadia.
“So Monday it is then. We’ll play it carefully this time and if we get attacked again we might have to consider a night run.”
As they walked away, their talk gradually fading into the distance, the source of the stench remained, watching them intently through dead black eyes. When they had gone, it spread its ragged wings and drifted into the forest, silent as an owl, before vanishing into the shadows like the black smoke of a furnace.
Ben was finding it difficult to sleep. His brain was active long after his body was motionless and he began drifting in and out of dreams interspersed with practical thoughts like ‘must bring trowels and brushes’ and ‘must remember to check the weather.’ The idea came into his mind that there could be priceless treasures buried under the ruined city, like Tutankhamun’s tomb. There could be a palace or temple full of gold! Maybe that’s why the birds were guarding it. How long had the place been abandoned? Had there been a war? Did the little people fight with swords or guns or magic? As he drifted into sleep he found himself flying into a ruined castle to get away from his mother who was trying to feed him fairy cakes but his wings had stopped working and Alf was attempting to phone roadside assistance but his fingers had turned into a bunch of bananas and by the time he managed to get the numbers in, the batteries were flat.
At some point in the confusion there was a scratching at the window. Ben’s eyes opened but his brain hadn’t quite caught up.
“Eh?” he murmured.
The scratching began again, regular and insistent.
Mouse! Ben sat up blinking, then recovered himself and drew back his curtains. Sure enough Mouse was sitting on the window sill, his eyes sparkling with eager anticipation.
“Are you kidding me?” said Ben. “What on earth makes you think I’d let you in again?”
Although he was on the other side of the glass, Mouse picked up Ben’s tone and body language quite clearly. His ears and tail went down, his eyes widened plaintively and he put his little hands on the glass.
“No,” said Ben decisively and shut the curtains.
Mouse let his hands slide down and his eyes filled with tears.
Ben did not see his Mouse’s reaction but he felt guilty nonetheless. ‘The little creep wants to spy the place out again.’ He reasoned with himself. ‘He wants to let his friends in, he wants to wreck my stuff…’ but deep down he didn’t believe it. There was something else going on.
“Oh alright,” he sighed and re-opened the curtains.
But Mouse had gone.
“Again?” said Ben’s mother. “Why this interest in hiking all of a sudden? You’ve never shown that much interest in the forest before.”
“It’s a good way to keep fit,” said Ben decisively. “I want to be a pilot and pilots have to be fit.”
“Let’s hope you don’t grow as big as your Dad then,” said Mrs Prinsloo and immediately regretted the remark when she saw the expression on her son’s face. “You’re right,” she backtracked. “Hiking and fresh air is a good idea. And it’s good for young Alf to get away from his books and computer. Just don’t do anything stupid ok?”
Emily organised an elaborate picnic of homemade pizza, twiggy sticks, bananas, chocolate, fairy cakes, chips, carrots and jelly snakes and Ben made sure they were also well equipped with excavation equipment, towels and bike helmets. Alf, after a severe warning, managed to arrive on time, but Nadia was five and a half minutes late. They all watched as she peddled furiously down the hill with her long hair streaming out behind her. Her outfit was even more bizarre than usual – something akin to a bohemian circus - and it was more than Ben could do to ignore it.
“What’s with all the colours?” he asked.
“They make me happy,” she shrugged as she padlocked her bike.
They started out again at a brisk jog with Emily constantly going ahead of the others then waiting impatiently for them to catch up. Ben told her to slow down and stay with the group so that Alf could keep up.
“You mean so that you can keep up, “she said rudely.
“I’m fine,” Ben growled, trying hard to hide how much he was panting. He pointed back towards Alf. “He isn’t. Be reasonable.”
Alf had stopped and was holding onto a tree for support. Once he had caught his breath, he had a drink and bit the head off his jelly python. He was still struggling with being part of a group that was larger than two and never quite felt sure of his ground. Em
ily tried to be extra friendly which was irritating, but Nadia’s solemn dark eyes unnerved him.
They remembered where to turn off the main path without the use of Alf’s GPS but still needed his help finding the stream. In due course the mist materialised again from the surface of the water as they approached only this time it gathered itself into two distinct clouds which rose up as tall pillars and drifted to either side of the giant fig tree. As a vapour it maintained its translucency and seemed to have a greenish hue, reflecting the brightness of the tropical rainforest around them. Nadia reached out her hand, and to her surprise a soft tendril wafted out towards her, enveloping her hand briefly as if in a handshake before subsiding back into itself.
“It’s like it’s alive,” she murmured.
Ben approached the mist. “Can you understand us?”
The mist did not appear to change but Ben took a step backwards and blinked.
“What happened?” asked Alf
“It was like it spoke into my head!” said Ben.
“Told you it did that!” said Emily. “What did it say?”
“Welcome... I think.”
“Well that’s promising!”
“Could be a trap,” said Alf ominously. “I don’t like the idea of telepathy. I don’t want anyone reading my mind or downloading stuff into it. I once made the mistake of joining consciousness with Minnie and got into trouble for peeing on the rose bushes.”
“What if the mist and the birds are on the same side?” Emily wondered.
“They won’t catch us by surprise,” said Nadia dismissively. “We’re ready for them this time so let’s get on with it.”
They all made their way up the steep gully, remembering the best places to climb or cross the water. As they drew closer to the location of the ruined city Ben turned back to Nadia who was rock hopping behind him.
“Hey don’t fight any more birds ok? Not until we know what this is about. We should try to negotiate.”
“With magpies?”
“Yes.”
Nadia snorted then rolled her eyes. “Whatever...” But when they finally reached the place where the pillars stood on the banks of the stream, it was clear that there was a problem up ahead. The unmistakable sound of a large group of birds drifted downstream to meet them.
“Helmets on,” said Ben. “We need to be very careful.”
They continued as quietly as they could, keeping a sharp eye on the trees overhead, until they reached the big rock and peered cautiously over. Thousands of black birds were perched all over and above the city, flapping and calling to each other. Every tree was lined and laden with their dark shapes and several were wheeling in the sky above the canopy. It reminded Ben of a bat colony they had visited once on holidays
“Wanna go and negotiate?” whispered Nadia.
Ben grunted.
“There must be millions of them!” gasped Emily, and began to make a hasty descent.
They all followed her back downstream and huddled under the protection of a rocky overhang.
“Now what?” Ben wondered.
“I guess I’ll need a bigger stick,” said Nadia darkly.
Ben looked at her sharply.
“She’s joking,” Emily informed him.
“We’ll just have to try a different direction,” said Alf smugly. “Mouse went up that hill, remember? He wanted us to go that way and the birds won’t see us if we head up there.”
“Ewww!” squealed Emily suddenly. “A leech!”
Sure enough, a large black leech had latched onto her ankle.
“More of them!” Nadia exclaimed, pointing at the mud. “Get up the bank, quick!”
Everyone hastened to comply. The embankment was steep and the slope slippery with damp leaves.
“It won’t get off,” Emily moaned, trying to scrape it off with a stick.
“Don’t do that!” said Alf “It’ll make a giant hole and you’ll bleed to death! What you need is salt but I guess we don’t have any.”
“Just wait for it to drop off,” said Ben impatiently. “Stop being a princess. It won’t hurt you,”
“Bet you wouldn’t say that if it was on your foot,” Emily grumbled.
“Bet i would.”
When they reached the top of the hill they stopped to survey the area. The sound of the birds was still echoing in the distance but they were well out of sight.
“So where now?” asked Nadia. “Where was Mouse?”
“Down there somewhere,” Ben answered pointing. “We’ve gone past where he was. We’ll just have to explore from here. Let’s go up to that big tree – the one with all the staghorns on it - and that can be our home base. From there we can look around but always keep that tree in sight so we don’t get lost.”
“What exactly are we looking for?” asked Emily.
“Anything. We don’t know where they live or what in. Look for a hive or holes in the trees. Check any empty stumps. Look for more buildings. Anything.”
They put down their bags and took different directions. Ben picked up a stick and beat casually at the light undergrowth, scanning the forest floor for anything unusual, remembering as he wandered, to always glance back towards the home tree. After a while he heard a rustle nearby and stopped. The sound came closer and he crouched so as to be less visible. Emily appeared a short distance away.
“This is my zone Em,” Ben called, standing up. “You try that way.”
She was looking up into the trees and paused to glance impatiently at him before taking a step forward. Then suddenly, she disappeared straight downwards.
“Em?” shouted Ben. “What are you doing?”
There was no answer. He ran to where she had been standing and only just avoided falling down a wide dark hole hidden amongst the ferns. He regained his balance and knelt down to peer into the hole which was apparently quite deep.
“Em?” he called into the darkness.
“I’m here,” her voice quavered. “You ok?”
“Think I’ve broken my ankle.”
Ben leaned in a little way. Emily’s dirty tear stained face could be seen looking up at him from a short distance below.
“Just wait there,” said Ben, “I’ll get the others and we’ll help you out!”
Emily sat down on the floor of the cave to wait. The stinging pain in her ankle slowly began to subside but she had bashed herself in a number of places and was feeling sore and sorry all over. She began to massage her ankle and then realised she was spreading blood all over her foot. The leech was gone! Her hand was all sticky but there was nothing to wipe it on. She shivered briefly and drew her legs in close, hugging her knees miserably whilst keeping her messy hand out of the way.
The light in the cavern was dim and it was difficult to see much in any direction. Emily considered the entrance hole moodily. The slope wasn’t particularly steep; if she hadn’t been so sore she could have climbed up without any trouble at all.
Eventually Alf’s head appeared over the hole. “Most unfortunate,” he said.
Ben joined him. “How’s your ankle? Have you really broken it?
“Probably not,” said Emily grumpily. “Hurts though. Ow!”
“Hey guys, check this out!” Nadia’s voice came from a little way off and Alf turned from the hole and disappeared.
“Hang in there,” said Ben. “Back in a sec.”
Emily stood up and waited for a short while. She could hear their voices but nobody seemed to be coming for her.
“Where are you?” she finally yelled. “Ben! Nadiaaaa!”
There was a rustling at the top of the hole and Nadia looked down.
“You gotta check this out Em,” she said. “It’s a fairy house and it looks like somebody might live there! Can you climb out?”
“Maybe. I’ll try...” She made her way painfully back up towards the surface and Nadia helped to haul her out.
“Over here. Look.”
Tucked neatly in between the roots of a tree stood the cutest l
ittle cottage Emily had ever seen. It was built of stone with a thatched roof covered in moss and fallen leaves, and a small window gable peeped out at a slightly crooked angle to one side. The front door was painted blue with an iron knocker and a tiny pair of shoes sat on the step next to a ragged doormat. Bright painted window boxes furnished the front windows of the cottage, but the plants in them were dead and dry, and the garden, which was wildly overgrown, had sprouted a large fern that was in danger of damaging the chimney. A cluster of empty pots, some of which were overturned, edged the path near the door, and a wheelbarrow containing a bucket and spade was almost buried in the grass. The forest was very still and quiet, and the darkness behind the windows gave the place a solemn air; as if it was waiting for something or reminiscing on times past.
Nadia took out her phone and aimed it at the cottage. “Awesome,” she said looking at the image.
“Let’s have a look,” said Ben.
“Hang on a sec.”
“What are you doing?”
“Posting it on instagram.”
“What!!!”
“She’s joking” Emily informed him. “No signal remember?”
Ben shook his head in resignation and turned his attention back to the fairy cottage. “I don’t think anyone lives here anymore.”
“Either that or they don’t like gardening,” Alf agreed.
Ben knelt down and tried to peer in one of the windows. The glass was grubby but the faded print curtains were not drawn. He pushed gently at the door but it didn’t budge. “The place is empty. Nobody’s home or they’d be checking us out.”
“They’re probably hiding under the dining room table,” said emily.
“I think they’re dead,” said Nadia, and pointed to a small stone cross hiding in the moss just outside the boundaries of the garden.
Ben stood to his feet and considered the scene thoughtfully. “Well that doesn’t look good, but that cross looks very old and I don’t think the house has been empty all that long. I mean it’s overgrown but not derelict or ruined – certainly nowhere near as old as the city down there. Maybe a year?”
“Perhaps we should leave a note just in case?” Emily suggested. “If the owner is alive they might came back. Perhaps as Alf said they just can’t be bothered gardening.”