A Single Snowflake

by A D Tether

  'Yes and she may well have given us the answer to something we have been trying to figure out for the past nine years, but more of that in a while. Please forgive me but I must ask Marie a question.'

  Marie looked up when she heard her name mentioned, she had been daydreaming about life with Julian, she knew little about what was lying ahead, but felt all would turn out right in the end.

  'Sorry Lord Ralph, but did you speak to me, I was miles away' Marie apologised.

  'No worries Marie, but over lunch I noticed you looked a little perturbed when the children mentioned the name of a man named Billy who played the violin, did it mean something to you, and if so could you share with us please' enquired Ralph.

  'It is a bit of a long story, do you have time' asked Marie.

  'Yes of course we do, please go ahead' invited Ralph.

  Marie leaned back on the sofa resting her head on one of it's large soft cushions and closed her eyes, it helped if she closed her eyes, it stopped the tears from falling, lately she had become far more emotional, her senses had come alive, and with her eyes closed she could see everything played out in front of her and most importantly she could not see anyone looking at her, embarrassing her or just thinking her odd.

  'Well, where do I begin, let's see, the beginning seems the best place to start, so here goes, now I must tell you that I do not know all the facts, but this is what I was always told by my Grandfather, and he of course did not know every little detail.

  Before the Great War of 1914 my Great, Great Grandfather Billy Dale was first violin in the City Orchestra, he was by all accounts a talented musician, who had it not been for that dreadful war, would have become quite well known. Billy's best friend was called Kurt, he was from Germany and had joined the orchestra in 1910. Anyway in 1913 Kurt thought it best if he returned home, the Balkan Wars had been raging in Europe and he had a premonition that the wars would spread throughout the west. It nearly broke Billy's heart, but he was consoled when he met my Great, Great Grandmother Mary. They were a match in heaven and totally devoted to each other, they married in 1914 just before the Great War started. At first everything was fine, afterall married men were not being sent to the front to fight, the orchestra had been disbanded as many of it's members were single men who had been sent to their early graves in the trenches of France, and so Billy had found work in the local newspaper office, writing a weekly music review. They were so excited when in 1916 they discovered that Mary was pregnant with their first child, and although times were hard for everyone, they would see it through, they had each other. As you will know by 1916 so many of our brave young men had perished that the war office changed the rules, now married men would be called up, to take their places in the trenches. Billy's time came, when he said goodbye to Mary she was just a few weeks away from giving birth. My Great Grandfather Thomas was born in November of that year and Mary coped, she was lucky that Billy's two maiden aunts lived close by, they came around often to help and to share the little food they all had, they were good company, would play the piano and sing; they would joke that it was from them that Billy had inherited his musical talent. Oh I nearly forgot, Billy's parents had moved to America in 1910, they were expecting Billy to move there too at some later date and to bring his family of course, they believed there was more opportunity there, but that was never to be. I know nothing of Mary's family, it was never spoken about, all I know was that she was in service from a very early age, so I guess she had no family other than Billy's. Anyway when Thomas was just a few months old, it was about January 1917 I think, Mary received the dreaded news that Billy had been killed, so many wives in her own street had received such telegrams, but Mary never thought it would happen to her. Apparently it was late in the afternoon when the telegram had arrived and Mary had just taken a bath, she was dressed in her nightgown as she wasn't going out anywhere and she was planning on an early night, as Thomas had kept her up all the previous night crying with teething pain. I was told that she let out such a loud scream that the whole street heard her, it woke up Thomas who had just fallen to sleep, he then started crying and for some reason Mary ran outside leaving her baby alone, leaving all the doors to her house open wide. It was said that she ran through the streets barefooted in the snow, calling for Billy, screaming for him, searching for him, she could not accept the tragic news. Eventually the neighbours managed to get her back home, one neighbour had ran around to the maiden aunts to ask for help, they of course came around immediately. Poor Mary, she did not recover, the cold had set into her bones, she was chilled and there was insufficient heat in the house to warm her, within a month she died, some say of heartbreak, others say of madness. The maiden aunts took Thomas in, they collected his meagre possessions, sold off the few pieces of furniture to help make ends meet and handed the house keys back to the Landlord, so poor Thomas never knew his parents, but at least I knew mine, even if it was for such a short time.

  'Same with me' sighed Julian.

  Marie opened her eyes,

  'You too Julian, you never said'

  'There is time enough for that Marie, all the time in the World.'

  Ralph rose from his seat and walked across the room to Marie, he sat down by her side and grasped her hand in his.

  'Thank you Marie for sharing this with us, I know that for the present you will be unaware of the significance of what you have just told us; but trust me when I say to you that you have answered so many questions that have been puzzling us for so many of both our years. You see over a hundred years ago one of our great leaders was tending the garden when he recorded a single snowflake falling in summer, he heard a womans scream and a baby's cry; the scream was so great that it created a crack in our boundary with Earth and since then it has worsened; our task all along has been to solve the mystery of who that woman was and maybe it would enable us to heal the harm; there is much more too but I am sure that Julian will tell you the details at a later date.'

  Marie smiled back at Ralph, she was so completely in awe of this strong Shenkan Leader that she almost forgot where she was, the sweet Shenkan air blew gently through the open window and blew her hair across her face, and that image of Marie shook Julian's heart, it was true, Marie was for sure the woman pictured with him on the walls of the hidden room in the tower.

  Ralph stood up and spoke to everyone in his presence,

  'Tomorrow we need to visit the tower again, Pete tomorrow you will witness for yourself the room that you saw in your childhood dream, tomorrow Sydney, Denis, Lionel and Jeena will return from Grafflin and make that climb with us; for tomorrow I feel we will solve the ancient prophecies, and for that we need George and Joni to be with us. For only they can find the souls that are wandering deep in the mist, only they can reunite those who are lost.'

  There was a knock on the door, childrens voices could be heard laughing and giggling,

  'Come in' called Ralph.

  The door opened, Joni and George bounded in followed by the Lady Veronica and Belle,

  'Have you been behaving yourselves' asked Pete.

  'Of course Daddy' answered Joni.

  'It was the best ice-cream ever' laughed George.

  'Told you so' smiled Belle.

  'Ralph dear, you promised Belle and Henderson they could visit their families and time is moving on' said Veronica.

  'So I did, please forgive me, please get along now, could I prey on you both to return in the morning for breakfast, we still have much to do' asked Ralph.

  'Yes Sir' replied Belle.

  'We are at your command' confirmed Henderson.

  'Veronica my dear can you look after our guests, for I have an urgent message I must send to Geena?' asked Ralph.

  'Yes, I have forgotten we haven't shown anyone their rooms yet, how rude of me, please everyone come with me, and Belle and Henderson you be on your way home now, your families will be waiting.'

  Belle and Henderson made their fairwells with the promise to return the next morning and wh
en they had made their exits the Lady Veronica led the Earth party from the sitting rooms to the guest accommodation.

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  Frescos

  The next morning they all made the ascent of the tower and now were standing in the centre of the hidden room whose walls were covered with frescos. Pete's body trembled as he relived his childhood dream, he had been here before, he had met the artist, but the meaning of that dream had remained a mystery for many a year.

  Joni and George were drawn to the first fresco, the one that depicted a battlefield, they stood motionless, concentrating, listening. Joni's face contorted in pain, she held onto George's arm so tightly that he winced in pain, but he did not complain or tell her to loosen her grip.

  'What is it children, what can you see' asked Ralph.

  They did not turn around, they continued to stare, they did not hear Ralph's voice, for the sound of the battle was too loud, then all went quiet apart from a few sighs and groans, then silence, then they heard another sound, a sound of two violins playing a mournful tune; then another sound filled their ears, the cry of a baby and a woman's voice screaming the name of Billy.

  'Joni, please talk to us, what can you see' pleaded Pete.

  Joni did not move but she did answer her father,

  'It is terrible Daddy, they are all dead, it is so frightening, please somebody help them.'

  Julian stepped forward and wrapped his arms around the children, he stared at the fresco in way he hadn't done before, he saw the battle, he heard the screams, he heard the silence, then he heard the violins.

  'The children have opened my eyes, we didn't see before, maybe we weren't allowed, but I think we can call Billy, I think we can save him.'

  'But what about Mary, how can we save her' urged Marie.

  'She is here too Mommy, can't you see, look down at the painting of the sad lady, that is Mary, but we have to rescue Billy first' said George.

  'Can you call Billy' Julian asked George.

  'I will try, Joni can help as well'

  So the two children stood in front of the fresco and called Billy's name, they called him over and over, a chill blew through the still air, the painted plaster dripped from the wall, leaving pools of red and brown paint on the floor, and before them stood two men, one in a British uniform and one in that of Germany, both men held violins in one hand, both men stood with their arms around each other, Billy and Kurt's spirit bodies had found their way to Shenka.

  'Where are we, what has happened, where's Mary' gasped a frightened looking Billy.

  'This is a place called Shenka, it is connected to your Earth, and we are here to help release you from the prison you have been in for nigh on a hundred years, I believe we can call Mary to be with you, well these two children can' answered Julian, for he could see the spirits before him.

  Marie rubbed her eyes and stared, at first she could not see the two men, but as she concentrated their forms became clearer, she saw her great, great, grandfather standing before her eyes, and the man by his side, well surely he must be Kurt, Billy's best friend before the war had torn them apart.

  Kurt fidgeted, he understood that he had died in the awful trenches of the war, but now he did not know what lay ahead for him, would he have to answer questions, did he have to atone for the death and destruction that he felt he held in his hands.

  'It wasn't my fault, I am so sorry' quaked Kurt.

  Billy held on to his friend,

  'We were all puppets Kurt, it was none of the ordinary man's fault, I keep telling you that, and you stayed with me, you are the truest friend any man could ever wish for.'

  Kurt smiled, he knew it would soon be time to be parted from his friend, but his heart was no longer heavy, he understood that very soon Billy and Mary would be together again and that his task was over.

  'I believe I will be leaving you soon Billy, I am ready to go.'

  'Go do your work Henderson, Kurt is right, it is his time to leave' whispered Ralph.

  Henderson obeyed Lord Ralph's command and walked slowly towards the two soldiers,

  'If you are ready Kurt I will help you on your way, do not be afraid for you have nothing to answer for, you had no choice the same as Billy had no choice, that is the horror of the wars on your Earth'

  Kurt and Billy hugged each other, maybe they would meet again, maybe not, but theirs had been a true friendship that even war could not destroy. Henderson guided Kurt from the room and then they were gone, Henderson had taken Kurt to his own heaven, the same as he had taken Peter and his parents a few weeks earlier, and if you had been on the roof of the tower you would have seen more of the red mist dissolving into blue.

  Marie raced across the short space that divided her from Billy, she had to speak to him, she had to tell him who she and George were, once they were face to face she spoke, she wanted to touch him, hug and kiss him, but all there was of Billy was his spirit,

  'I am Marie, your great, great, granddaughter, and this is George my son' she said as she hugged George.

  Billy knelt down so he could George directly in his eyes,

  'Thank you George, pleased to meet you' then he stood and spoke to Marie,

  'You remind me of Mary, you have her hair and the same smile.'

  George was aware that Joni had for once gone silent,

  'This is my very best friend Joni, she helped me bring you here, I couldn't do it by myself.'

  Billy winked at Joni who stood open mouthed, afraid to speak.

  'Please to meet you too Joni, thank you so much.'

  Joni plucked up the courage to ask the question that had so burned inside her for so long,

  'Why didn't the Guardians or Passers take you to Heaven, were you lost?'

  Billy sighed,

  'I can see you are a big girl so I will try and answer the best I can. See I had just received a letter from my wife telling me that we had a son. Oh the letter had taken a long time to reach me, but it was the happiest day even though I was stuck in those muddy and cold trenches. Anyway, the enemy were firing hard at us, but my mind was full of other things, seeing my family, imagining what he looked like and so on, I guess I was distracted. Next thing I knew I was looking across to the German trenches when I saw Kurt, I knew it was him, I called to him, what a silly thing to do, it was my fault he died. He lifted his head further above the trench that he was in and the soldier next to me took aim and fired, I was in a panic and tried to climb out of the trench to get to him, I felt the bullet hit me. I can remember we were lying next to each, and remember something or someone leaning over me, urging me to come with them but I sent that spirit away, I couldn't leave Kurt and when we both turned into the form we are in now he said he had done the same, sent the spirit away as he couldn't leave me.'

  'Oh I see, thank you Mr Billy, and is this lady on the painting your wife Mary' smiled Joni as she pointing to the woman on the corner of the fresco, the woman who was crying and had blood pouring from her hands.

  Billy crouched down and viewed the fresco,

  'Yes that is my Mary, I have been trying to reach her for so long, sometimes I hear her calling my name, all I can do is play my violin to try and guide her to me, but she never comes'

  'I think I know why' stated Joni.

  Lord Ralph looked at the little girl with surprise,

  'What is it you see Joni, what is it we have missed.'

  Joni pointed to the image

  'See there is a border around her, it is like a picture frame, she can't get out, I think it is like a very big wall.'

  Ralph walked closer to the fresco and examined it carefully, he shook his head in disbelief

  'She is right, poor Mary was never going to be able to find Billy, not until these two children were here to show us the way.'

  'Please can you help release her, I cannot go anywhere without my Mary, please, oh please' cried Billy.

  'You need to play your violin, play her favourite tune, and Joni and me will call her' commanded
George.

  'Do you think that will work' asked Billy.

  'Of course it will work' replied Joni, 'stand here close to her painting and start to play, we will do the rest.'

  Billy moved closer and lifted his violin, he slowly stroked the bow across it's strings, producing a beautiful melody, Joni and George called her name all the while that Billy was playing, the others watched on as the fresco dissolved, a haze appeared and from that haze Mary emerged.

  'What is happening, where am I, have you seen my Billy?' Mary cried.

  'I am here, Mary I am here' Billy said softly.

  Mary turned her head and when she saw her love standing close to her she fell into his arms.

  'Billy, I have searched for you for so long, but everytime I thought we were close to each other my way was blocked, it is all my fault, I know it was a punishment for what I did' she cried, 'I cannot forgive myself and I am so afraid that you will not forgive me either.'

  'What do you mean Mary, you could never do wrong' Billy asked.

  'Oh I abandoned our son, left him alone in a cold house, left him to die, I have blood on my hands.'

  'My dear you are mistaken, that couldn't have happened' comforted Billy.

  'How can you be so sure' questioned Mary.

  Marie stepped forward, 'Because I am your great, great, granddaughter, and this is my son George, who is your great, great, great grandson, it was the aunts who bought Thomas up, they cared for you too, but you caught a terrible chill and your mind was lost in the pain of losing Billy, I am so sorry that you have been tormented for so long.'

  Mary held her hands in front of her face, the blood on her hands slowly disappeared as she realised that she had nothing to blame herself for, she fell into Billy's arms.

  'Oh Mary at last we are together, soon it will be time for us to leave, I am sorry that you have been alone for so long, I am sorry that you did not have a companion to comfort you the same as I was lucky enough to have.'

  'Who?' asked Mary, 'who has been with you, and where are they now?'

  'Kurt' replied Billy, 'I found Kurt, we perished on the same day and he would not leave my side until I had found you, he was a true and loyal friend.'

  'Do not feel guilty about that my love, it makes me feel better that you were not alone, but where is he now, I would so much like to thank him'