Jeff Madison and the Shimmers of Drakmere (Book 1)

by Bernice Fischer

  First edition 2014

  Jeff Madison and the Shimmers of Drakmere

  ISBN 978-0-620-61554-9

  Smashwords Edition

  Copyright © 2014 Bernice Fischer

  BerniceFischer.com

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, with the prior written permission of the author.

  Edited by James Thayer and Maya Fowler-Sutherland

  Cover illustration by Darko Tomic – paganus

  DISCLAIMER

  All names and characters appearing in this work are fictitious. Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental

  This is for each one of you.

  Meet me at the big tree

  at the Dreamland gates.

  Adventure awaits!

  Table of Contents

  Cover

  Title Page

  Copyright Page

  Dedication

  Acknowledgements

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

  Chapter 31

  Chapter 32

  Chapter 33

  Chapter 34

  Chapter 35

  Chapter 36

  Chapter 37

  Chapter 38

  Chapter 39

  Chapter 40

  Chapter 41

  Chapter 42

  Chapter 43

  Chapter 44

  Chapter 45

  Chapter 46

  Chapter 47

  Chapter 48

  Chapter 49

  Chapter 50

  Find Out More about Jeff’s Next Adventure

  Acknowledgements

  Thank you to…

  Darko Tomic – paganus for the amazing cover, James Thayer and Maya Fowler-Sutherland for bringing my words to life and making them sing.

  To Mom and Dad, for opening the window of fantasy, allowing my imagination to soar. Andre, for your belief in me and teaching me to pursue my dreams fearlessly. Grant, for introducing me to the magical world of words and the secret of hiding under the bed with a good book. Angie for embarking on this wild adventure with me. How we laughed and laughed.

  And Angie? Thank you for not turning me into a toad in the end … wait … Angie?! … Poof.

  1

  The hairs rose on Jeff’s neck. Something icy swept his throat, making him hunch and whip around. Long misty fingers trailed inches from his face, curling and beckoning, crawling through the air.

  Behind the fingers billowed a ball of mist, like a grey cloud creeping up behind them.

  “Run!” he yelled to Rhed and Matt.

  The three of them took off down the narrow path as the mist continued to swirl and eddy around them. Jeff grabbed Matt by his arm, not giving his younger brother a chance to argue or run in the wrong direction.

  Matt tripped and sent them both sprawling to the forest floor. Jeff scrambled to his knees and whirled around just in time to see the mist covering Matt.

  The boy yelled in terror as Jeff staggered to his feet and tried to get to him. Just then Rhed came storming past and body-checked Matt with such impact that they flew through the mist and landed on the path a few paces away.

  Rhed hauled Matt up, half carried, and half dragged the shaking kid down the path towards Jeff’s home.

  Jeff, now on his feet, stared at the mist that blocked his way out of the forest. Beyond the mist he saw Rhed hesitate and yelled, “Go, go, go!”

  Not looking to see if Rhed was on the move, he darted back down the path, deeper into the forest. Looking over his shoulder, he saw the mist still coming after him. It had almost caught up.

  Jeff ran, stumbled over roots and slid under fallen trunks. Twenty paces later, it felt like the forest had come alive with fury. The wind and the trees were so noisy that Jeff stopped dead in his tracks. He looked up, turned in a circle and faced the mist swirling towards him. It seemed like a twister was tearing the mist apart. He covered his eyes with his hands as the leaves and twigs slapped his face.

  With the deafening roar of the forest in his ears, Jeff leapt down a side path and ran as fast as he could, trying to put distance between himself and the mist. The trees swayed and protested, and it seemed that Mother Nature had unleashed a hurricane. Jeff reached the edge of the forest and pushed through the bushes that bordered the garden of his family’s home.

  From where they were standing in the garden and staring at the forest, neither Rhed nor Matt had noticed Jeff’s arrival. Rhed was moving from one foot to the other, as if he wanted to rush off into the forest to look for Jeff. But he was not prepared to leave Matt, who was on his knees, panting.

  Jeff dragged himself to where they were waiting. He noticed that the wind had stopped as suddenly as it had started.

  “Tell me you saw that too?” panted Jeff.

  Rhed got a fright and promptly punched Jeff on the arm. “Don’t sneak up on us, troll!”

  Jeff did not answer, nor did he feel the punch as he looked up at the sky and asked, “What happened to the storm?”

  “What storm?” Rhed swept his dreadlocks out of his face as he searched the skies for bad weather.

  Jeff took Matt’s hand and pulled him to his feet.

  “We’ll talk later,” he muttered.

  They ran over the back porch and through the kitchen door. Once inside Jeff sank to his knees so that he was eye level with Matt. “Matt, you okay? Did you get hurt?” he asked.

  Matt shook his head and whispered with a lisp, “It was just scary. I thought I heard voices in the mist.”

  Jeff studied Matt, who was chewing on his bottom lip. He was small for a six-year-old, his sandy blond hair spiked up in a messy style. He absently rubbed his button nose with a finger. Although Jeff was only twelve, he stood tall against his younger brother.

  Jeff had always looked out for Matt. Yes, there were yells and fights, especially when Jeff found Matt in his room messing about with his things, but they had fun too.

  Jeff and Rhed were huddled in the loft in Jeff’s room, talking about what each one had seen, and trying to make sense of it.

  “That ball of mist was after Matt, for sure. He was the target.” Rhed stabbed his finger in the air as he spoke.

  “Yes, it did look like it was attacking Matt. And it only came after me when it couldn’t get to Matt. Good thinking, tackling Matt out of the mist.”

  “What were the voices Matt seemed to hear in the mist?” Rhed wrinkled his nose as he pushed his glasses up. “And why was the storm only in the forest?”

  Jeff’s mother, Ella, called the two youngsters to set the table and then went to fetch Matt.

  Jeff heard her footsteps on the landing, and then she was calling for Matt. From the sound of it, he was not in his room playing. Her footsteps moved further up in the house, going from room to room and finally headed
towards Jeff’s room.

  And then came the heart-rending shriek.

  “Maaaaaatt!”

  Both boys dropped everything and raced upstairs. They found Jeff’s mother holding Matt’s face in her hands, trying to make eye contact. Matt was sitting in front of the glass door they called the moonglow doorway, his mouth open and drooling. His eyes were vacant and staring at the moon shining through the window.

  It was like he was watching a play and Jeff was sure he saw a flicker in Matt’s eyes – he was there the one minute and then in the next instant he was gone, his eyes glazed over.

  A few days later Jeff and his mother were sitting with Matt in Jeff’s room again. Although the younger boy was still in a daze, he seemed happiest in front of the moonglow window.

  “Mom, what’s wrong with him?”

  Matt had been like this for days, not talking, not smiling, just staring into space.

  “How is it that he seems asleep when he’s actually awake?”

  “I don’t know, Jeff. He does what I ask him to do. He sits where I put him, but …”

  Jeff knew what that “but” meant: Matt, normally so lively, hasn’t done a thing on his own since that day.

  Jeff’s mother put her hand up to Matt’s forehead and clicked her tongue. Jeff had done this a few times himself by now, but no, no fever.

  “I’m really worried, Jeff.” She paused, her frown deepening. When she spoke, the words came out slowly. “Did anything odd happen, in the forest, at your hideout?” Then she spoke more quickly. “Or was Matt angry or upset about something? Was he being bullied at school? Anything you can think of, anything at all?”

  Jeff stared at his mother. Why would she ask about the forest? And lately she was always muttering to herself about the forest and … fudge, of all things.

  Jeff felt guilty about keeping this secret from his mother but he knew that what had happened in the forest did not make any sense.

  They were on their way back from their visit with Dr Swanson, the psychiatrist their GP had recommended.

  Jeff stared out of the car window, trying to count the rain drops as they hit the pane. His mother had slowed down to guide the car more smoothly around the slippery corners, winding along Route 647.

  The road curled between the mountains towering on either side, thick with forests. They passed a dilapidated, weather-worn sign that read “Little Falls 38km”. Home sweet home.

  Jeff screwed up his eyes, trying to see through the trees. They were dark green, huge, and overbearing.

  How dark can it get in there? The blackness of the forest between and beyond those huge trees looked unforgiving, yet almost inviting. It was like the darkness was knitting the trees together, shaping them into the black void. The forest looked menacing and dangerous. He had never felt that way before, but things had changed since they were attacked by the mist.

  Jeff tore his gaze away from the forest glaring at him to his little brother sitting quietly next to him on the back seat. The kid was staring out of the window, his sky blue eyes unfocused. Jeff was not sure he was seeing anything beyond the drops on the window pane.

  Matt, how do I reach you? Should I take you back to that place in the forest?

  Matt absolutely loved his older brother and would trail him everywhere. And although he normally irritated the daylights out of Jeff, he missed the kid.

  “Some rain, huh?” Jeff’s mother said to him over her shoulder. Jeff tore his gaze from his brother and leaned forward to talk to her.

  “Not far now, saw the sign a little way back.”

  The rain stopped as abruptly as it had started as they passed the ‘Welcome to Little Falls’ sign. The village had a glistening glow around it from the sun shining through the moisture in the air. How weird, the rain stopping just like that. Jeff turned around on the back seat and stared out of the window, frowning at the sheet of rain that was still visible behind them. What is happening here, the forest, the rain … Everything is just going weird. Does everyone see it or is it just me?

  Jeff whipped his head left and right, trying to see if any of his friends were riding their bikes on the streets. It was so much fun to bike through the puddles after the rain, skid in the mud and splash through the water in the gutters. I wonder how much chance I have of getting my bike out, hitting the streets … Wonder where Rhed is.

  Rhed and Jeff had been friends since they were six. Rhed had skinny legs with knobbly knees and long dreadlocks that looked like noodles. They met the time they got into their first mud fight. It ended in gales of laughter with more mudslinging and plastering each other with mud than actual fighting. From that day on they did everything together.

  They arrived at the house that Jeff had been living in since he was born. It was a huge double storey, with large windows framed with star jasmine. The front garden was crowded with red tulips, yellow daffodils and tiny grape hyacinths. The two large trees were surrounded by lavender that also hedged the pathway. His mother loved to work in her front garden.

  Mom can have the front but the back is all ours.

  The garden at the back of the house was dark and mysterious just as the woods surrounding the town of Little Falls were. The back garden was an unusual circular shape. Lining the circular patch of lawn were thick shrubs and bushes, melding and weaving into each other.

  Over the years Jeff, Rhed, and Matt and some of their friends had opened passages in the shrubs making secret pathways to their hideouts. No sooner had they made a pathway, than a grass patch would sprout up behind it. The garden was ever expanding into a maze of thick bush and little patches of green grass.

  While holding Matt in her arms, Jeff’s mother pushed the door open over the huge entrance hall. The family room was off to the left and was double the size of the entrance hall. She put Matt down on the sofa and phoned Jeff’s father, who was away on a business trip. She gave him an update on the doctor’s appointment. The doctor wanted to have Matt admitted for tests and so arrangements had been made at the Angel Wings hospital for two weeks later.

  Jeff grabbed some juice from the fridge and headed upstairs. His room was large and every time he got home from a long trip, he always felt like he had just returned to his own personal haven.

  He turned, taking in the slanting roof that gave the room character. There was a bay window which looked out towards the green garden and the forest beyond. To the left was another door where a narrow wooden spiral staircase led to the loft.

  Jeff made his way up to his loft. The room was half the size of the one below, squarish, but big enough for two chairs and a sofa. This was his favourite hangout.

  The room was attic-like and just had a large oval-shaped glass door. The glass was milky in colour with strange patterns and sometimes it looked like it was providing a doorway to the dark forest outside. This window-door led to a narrow balcony that pushed right up against a large tree of the back of the house.

  “This is so cool. I love the attic with your own door,” Rhed gushed when he first saw this room.

  “My mom calls it the ‘moonglow doorway’. It sounds like a lame name, if you ask me.”

  “Sounds odd alright, probably a girl thing. It should have been called ‘Stargate’ or something like that.”

  “She said that she has always known it as the moonglow doorway, but she couldn’t remember who told her the name. Probably my grandpa, before he disappeared. She doesn’t like to talk about it. Anyway, he disappeared long before I was born.”

  Jeff flopped down onto the sofa and gazed at the moonglow doorway.

  He grabbed his phone and dialled Rhed’s number. His friend answered on the second ring.

  “How’s Matt?” Rhed asked.

  “They want to run tests but that will have to wait until week after next when they can admit him to that kids’ hospital. Mom is going to take him and stay there for a few days while they do the tests.”

  “Man … that sucks.”

  “The psychiatrist, Dr Swanson, said he co
uldn’t explain it. He said the problem was not medical, it’s in his head. He even asked my mom if something had happened to Matt to shock him into this silent shell.”

  There was a loud inhalation on Rhed’s side. “Jeff, I was thinking, maybe you should tell your mom about what happened that day in the forest.”

  Jeff paused. “And how do you think that will go? ‘Mom, we were attacked in the forest by mist, it was scary and I think that turned Matt into …’ Huh?”

  Rhed sighed and agreed. “It does sound thin. You’ll be on the couch next.” He spoke in a deep voice, imitating a doctor: “Tell me, when did it first appear?”

  “And how did it make you feel?” finished Jeff with a snort. “Then my mom will go on and on about how many times she has asked us not to play in the forest.”

  Jeff changed the subject. “There is no chance of biking in the park today. We got back too late, but we can probably still catch some mud tomorrow.”

  “Hey, Jessica was looking for you this afternoon. She said she had your history book.”

  There was silence as Jeff imagined Jessica, smiling … at him.

  “Jeff?”

  “She’s borrowed my history book, nothing else, Rhed.”

  “Whatever, gotta go. Let’s chat later.”

  Jeff sighed. Rhed also liked Jessica. But the knot in his stomach soon pushed the thought of girls aside. Maybe Rhed was right. Maybe he shouldn’t be keeping this secret from his mother.

  Then he remembered the cold tendrils of the mist on his throat. He shivered. He couldn’t put his finger on it, but he was starting to think there was something unimaginably bad behind whatever was wrong with Matt. And that it might just be his job to find out what that was.

  2

  After dinner, Jeff flicked on his PC so that he could message Rhed.

  “Yo, my man,” the message blinked in orange.

  “When is your dad back?” typed Rhed.

  “Should be here tomorrow.” Jeff’s father had been gone on his business trip for about four days now and Jeff was missing him.

  “Matt was acting odd tonight at dinner,” he typed.