Chapter 4. The birds.

Twelve months ago.

About twelve months before the meeting with Serephis, Lilly had been deemed old enough to start working for the Maple observer as a “fact collector“. This job, always done with her cousin Finlay, entailed a trip to the location of a potential story, and the cousins would gather what information they could without interviewing anybody, as they were too young for that. To the pair, these ‘fact acquiring’ expeditions were more an opportunity to explore the surroundings and have an adventure while fulfilling their household obligations.

Their village, Maple Ridge lay in the south eastern part of the Shire of Stonehaven, the capital being Hawks Landing. All their expeditions were confined to that pocket of the shire.

They didn’t see it as work, particularly while they never received, nor wanted any payment for this .

It was not just Lily, Finley as well had been recruited at the same time to work as an ‘information scout’. The pair had already undertaken twelve ‘missions’, as they jokingly referred to them, They were hungry for more.

Their last mission was a visit to the blue hollow rocklands about three miles to the east of Maple Ridge, where it was claimed there was a pride of lions made of glass roaming around.

They had a seamless journey to the Rocklands, the path they took, ran through woodlands which hosted farms, villages and smaller hamlets, and numerous creeks and streams with narrow stone and rickety wooden bridges. The path left the woodlands, to travel through a completely burned forest, the Oxbridge forest which contained nothing more than an eery disorderly array of giant black sticks reaching for the sky. Beyond the Oxbridge, lay the Rocklands.

Of course the rumour about the glass lions turned out not to be true. On the walk home, as the ‘rocklands’ were quite a distance from Maple Ridge, and it was getting late, they had to adopt a relatively rapid pace if they were to get home before nightfall, which resulted in Finley slipping as they lost their footing down an incline to a creek.

He twisted his left ankle, and miserably limped home, his left arm supported by Lilly the whole way.

In terms of the local sports, in particular the Stonehaven South-East region- under 12’s league, he was playing as a harvester in a neighboring village, Mossbridge. This injury caused a brief loss of confidence in his physical abilities to twist and bend. All that stuff that his cousin was so good at

He came to the idea that his talents did not include being nimble and lythe, but would better be used serving a team as a “Spotter“ on the ground, using his brain instead of his body, and his eyes which he believed had a Hawkeye sharp shooter vision. That weekend he dropped out of “the Mossbridge Mavericks” , and joined “the Maple Ridge Maples” as the new spotter, the last one, Bethany Roberts having just quit the previous week. No reason given.

Now, when their thirteenth ‘mission’ was being organized, he had not recovered from his fall where he twisted his foot, and was lying around at home feeling sorry for himself.

While he was confined to his house, Lily was asked to do this one mission, which was a trip to the old abandoned Darbyfoot coalmines about 5 miles to the west. There was absolutely nothing happening in the Maple Ridge region and surrounds, so Lily’s aunt, Sarah pleaded with her to just go anyway.

“ lily. I’m so proud of you, as my niece. You are so well spoken and polite. Everyone likes you so much… And you are so helpful to other people like your aunt, your uncle and your mother… That makes you kind of special!“

“ I don’t know auntie Sara. I’m kind of scared to go out that far on my own. I’ve never done it before“ said Lilly..

“Well, my niece,“ said Sarah, “they say you have to take some risks every now, and then to get ahead in life, and now it’s your turn. Have I told you about the philosopher, Martin Dangerwood from the Whitefield Shire in the fourteenth dynasty?”, she asked with a barely detectable smirk on her face.

After not much more persuasion, Lilly agreed to her auntie‘s request.

These abandond coal mines were a series of narrow shafts with ladders leading to an intertwined array of tunnels underneath. There had been a rumor that there was a pack of Jootles running up and down the abandoned complex in the night hours, making unusual snorting and chortling noises, keeping the nearby residents awake. It was thought that the Jootles had discovered a case of the miner’s wine that they had left behind. Locals thought that these creatures were probably drunk, hence the enormous racket after midnight .

On the day of the expedition, it was shortly after her breakfast when Lilly set off for the mines, but she thought she’d drop in on her cousin for one last effort at persuading him to join her.

“Come on Finley, why don’t you want to come to the mines?“, she asked with an exasperated tone in her voice.

They were both sitting on the porch steps leading to Finlays front door, facing the printing press, which was, as usual emitting a clattering and thumping sound, a familiar backdrop to their lives.

Instead of answering her, he simply lifted his left foot into the air and scowled, waggling it to and fro.

“That shouldn’t matter,” she cried. “I’ve seen you walking around, even today!… Maybe, with a slight limp, I admit”.

She paused to gather her thoughts.

“It just won’t be the same without you. I need you to figure out where the tunnels go, and come from, and the lighting, the wires,

and how the pulleys connect. You know, all that horrible stuff.”

He just shook his head, “I would love to come, but I can’t. surely you can see that.” She nodded. “You’ll manage well on your own… You’re a smart girl. We know you’re a good climber.”

“ What if I get stuck or something“ she asked, her left hand slowly massaging her temple. She sprung her fingers open on the word ‘stuck’ for emphasis.

“ You won’t get stuck.“ he said, springing his own fingers open in mockery. You’re way too nimble for that.” he paused for a second, looking directly at her, smirking, “Have you ever been stuck ever in your entire life, Lily Sommerset?“

So it happened that Lilly would do this expedition alone, With feelings of both trepidation and excitement, she grabbed her hurricane lamp and headed westwards, along an old path, called ‘Drimble Way’, which ran through woodlands and lightly forested areas in an East- West direction

With the sound of birds clattering away, the occasional bark of a dog in the distance and the muffled thud, thud,thud of wood being chopped, she could feel the uneven surface of the path on her feet as tiny irregularities jabbed at the soles of her thin leather cladded shoes. She could smell smoke from outdoor fires, coming and slowly fading, mingled with the feint reminder of flowers and berries, held aloft by the vapour of recent rainfall.

When the path ran through the wooded areas, the light from the sky, penetrated the trees in a rithmycal series of flutterings and flashes, making her feel, at times as if she were in a trance.

As she progressed along Drimble way,, the berries and flowers in the air changed, though it was a subtle transition, Lilly only being aware of the change when a particular combination of flowers, berries, moisture, and wood fires hit a high point. It was a concerto of natures bounty, hitting momentary cresendoes, and dips, never letting her forget that she was just a passive observer , walking amongst the performers of the orchestra, during their endless divine performance.

It was these experiences that made her and Finlay hunger for more missions. They were so much more than the simple collection of facts.

Three hours later, she did indeed discover that the mines were infiltrated with 30 or 40 Jootles, and she confirmed that they were growling and chortling just as the locals had claimed. She even located a horde of empty wine bottles, clearly recently opened. She did not feel that this was a particularly interesting story to write about. I mean goodness knows, the Jootles were renowned for busting into wine and ale stores and making a racket, but that week there was not much happening in the domain of Maple Ridge, so she memorized the main points in order to pass them on to her mother, and then located the main shaft which would deliver her back to the ground.

She now had enough information to use.

Looking like a rag-doll that had been rubbed down with coal. she thought to herself how pleased she was nobody could see her looking as filthy and bedraggled as she was.

Heading home to the East, just past a village called Arrowhead, she had just crossed a stone footbridge when a group of older children an teens from the hamlet cornered her. “Look, it’s a coal miner’s girl,” one of them sneered, his voice dampened by the trees and bushes. “Busy eating coal, were you?” They erupted into mocking laughter, their spiked words echoing around her. Another one gave her a steady push, and laughing, said “can’t you afford to eat food like apples and bread?”

A new voice came from behind, “oh yes, yes! Look at the little ragamuffin! Maybe she’s never seen the trees before?” Another voice, female, next to the other added, “I think the sight of the water and trees is frightening her!“ They burst into laughter again.

“These horrible teens are really enjoying themselves.” thought Lilly as she now felt a familiar flush of embarrassment and shame course through her body, but all she managed was a quiet “Please, just let me pass.”

“Sure thing!”, said a slow, drawling voice that sounded like their leader. He was a tall thin teenager of about 16 years with a large nose, unapologetically poking through a small face with tiny brown eyes and no chin. His head was capped by tuffets of badly cut blond hair, looking like a cornfield bouncing too and fro as he moved. His lips, too wide for his face had their own rubbery loose warble as he talked. He was wearing gray cotton trousers and an unwashed yellow tunic that struggled not to slip off his narrow shoulders. His name was Clem Millard. As he looked at Lilly, he casually leaned against a tree, a piece of straw in his mouth, bobbing up and down as he talked.

He nodded to someone out of her sight, and she instantly felt a flurry of arms grab her from behind, and her body being dragged backwards from the path onto a nearby clearing.

“Please, just let me go!” She cried kicking backwards trying to get purchase on the ground, but it was all to no avail.

“Ok there sweety,” said Clem with a mocking tone.

“I recognise those shoes. Only Wood Heads wear those. Sorry. I mean ‘citizens residing in the maple ridge area and surrounds.’” The gang erupted into laughter at that comment.

“Why are you doing this to me?”, cried Lilly, “I have no conflict with you, or anyone in the vicinity!”

“Listen to the way the wood heads talk! “, he said, turning his head to his underlings behind him, then screwed up his eyes, and pinched his rubbery lips in an attempt to imitate Lily. Adopting a fake squeaky and nasal voice, “I’m just a pompous wood head, and I have no conflict with you, or anyone in the vicinity”, he mocked. “Who the hell says ‘vicinity’ anyway?” He pushed himself off the tree, and swaggered in her direction, “We are doing it…“, he paused, “because we can!“ , he said in a board drawling voice. He added , “we don’t like you Easterners, on the other side of the Willowbark. You all think you are better than us poorer folk.”

It was true, that the villages on the eastern side of Stonehaven were wealthier than those to the west, but this was for a number of political and geographical reasons, spanning back hundreds of years, and Lilly was not even aware of this fact.

She felt herself being tethered to a tree stump by thick hemp rope.

Initially, she fought like the Dickens to make it hard for the gang, but before she was fully bound, she realised it was pointless trying to fight them off, so she just relaxed her muscles in an effort to not hinder them in any shape or form, so they would finish and leave her as soon as possible. After they had gone through her belongings, and relieved her of her coins and tokens, they left her and she felt herself beginning to get drowsy, and she dozed off. It was a sleep myered by unsettled dreams. She was a bird flying with crows, and in the middle of the flight, she remembered she could not fly, and so started to fall, her arms waving wildly in all useless directions, and legs kicking back and forth, equally useless, only to have the largest 4 of the crows step in to save her. They positioned themselves under the falling child, and clutched themselves to each other, two in front, and two behind. to make a four bird feathery mattress, and they gently lowered her, unharmed to the ground.

If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

Dreams being as they are, she was then a mouse chased by a raven, only managing to reach a hole in a tree stump in time, with the sound of the bird cawing away, just outside her tiny door, waiting for her to reappear. Eventually it gave up, dropping a piece of cheese, before taking off. Lilly realized it was trying to give her a present… not eat her.

. Suddenly her eyes popped open. “ Where am I“ she asked herself looking around. Then, with dismay, she remembered she had been attacked and bound, and thought to herself. “how am I supposed to undo these ropes and get home? No one will ever find me here!“

She looked down upon her wrists and feet, and gasped in surprise when she noted that they had all become undone during her sleep, and after a quick cursory glance around, she saw the ropes, about 5 iin all, neatly coiled and stacked on top of each other.

Just two weeks later, Lilly found herself facing the same group of teenagers, this time in a mid size town of twenty thousand souls situated in the neibouring shire of Midford.

Why they were there, so far from their home in Arrowhead was another question altogether.

This was a trip she took with her mother Ruth, who visited a fortune teller, Madam Dolphine, in the town every 3 months. It took two days to get there by coach, but this was something Ruth would do every twelve weeks. It was maticulously etched into her calender like it was an oficial event for the state.

Lying to the east of Stonehaven, was the landlocked, small state, Midford with a long tumultuous history involving a wide range of corrupt and malevolent rulers with takeovers, both military coups and from the ground up, like the well known dethronment of King Wulfric many years ago in Stonehaven. This region had probably the most fascinating history to study, as quite simply, the most hideous, corrupt, dishonest and greedy people ever to bestow, their presence upon the known universe came from this part of the world.

—-

The entire world as everyone knew it was divided into seven separate Shires, that acted as independent nations in their own right, all with varying combinations of alliances. friendships and hostilities. Lilly’s home, Maple Ridge, lay in the South East part of the shire of Stonehaven, which occupied the most western border of the known world, and had the oldest recorded history, with tomes going back 1800 years , though it was thought that this represented only a small portion of the total history, both recorded and unwritten, some saying, their ancestors may even have reached as far back as 5000 years, possibly more.

With the exception of Kingston, every Shire, had at least 1 gate to each neighbouring state, and at everyone of these junctions lay 2 ‘passage‘ towns, one for each side of the border, usually with the name, ‘something a rather’, suffixed by ‘Hall’.

The ‘something or other’ was the name of one of the early founding fathers of that Shire.

Stonhaven had three ajoining states, two of which were trading with them, therefore Stonehaven had two connecting gates and two ‘passage towns’.

The role of the passage town was to collect taxes, tariffs, and sundry charges for all goods, and to allow the authorities to apprehend dangerous people as they fled from one shire to another. The Midford passage town on the other side of the border was called James-Hall. It was named after one of the most corrupt, greedy and dishonest men ever born. He was the sole founder of the central, landlocked state, now called Midford.

Origionally from Stonehaven, he was James Walter McLeish, and he made a living as a ganster, raiding businesses, factories, private houses, schools and hospitals. He didn’t care if he and his gang stole from the rich or poor, the healthy, or the lame, the strong or the week, or the old or young. About 11 hundred years ago many of his victims banded together to try and stop his rading which over time left several thousands of people destitute and homeless.

His hideout lay in a smal forest called ‘the Silver Birch woods’, which was a very hilly region, containing mini caves. It lay in the most Northern part of Stonehaven. When the vigilanties trying to hunt him down were spotted by a couple of his scouts, and given the high numbers they reported back to him, he knew he had no choice but to relocate and hide. He fled with his gang at lightning speed into a new uninhabited part of the known world, at that stage, it was a place with no name, but is now the region of Midford. They hid in caves, and after several months of hiding, the gang cautiously emerged, and started building walls and kidnapping neighbouring males for his army and workforce and females for wives and the creation of more Midford people. This artificially boosted army, then started raiding other areas, and instead of just burning the village down, he would make a deal with the village elders. He could recruit and keep 25 percent of the young males for his army, and the same number of females as wives to create the next generation of Midforders , and so his power grew, and grew, and within 23 years, the current boundaries of Medford, where Established and a new state had been born.

His despotic influence took several hundred years to brush off and return the region to an almost fully functional state.

To this day, they have never been able to cast aside the shackles of corruption, despotism and greed initially established by McLeish, all those years ago. In the current, more enlightened times, it amazed many people from the other 6 shires, that the Midford authorities continued to worship someone so dark hearted.

———

To despite the history of corruption, greed and despotism in the shire, James Hall was quite a beautiful place containing roughly 12,000 souls, who lived a prosperous existence, surrounded by old buildings, including churches, old civil masterpieces like the library and court house, all upon Cobble stoned Streets with perpetual gaslighting, and several boulevards shrouded with Evergreen trees.

On this occasion, lilly waited for her mother while she saw the fortune teller.

She was playing with some squirrils near the water fountain in the main square, when her heart sank.

Clem Millard, and his cronies where there, just opposite her past the fountain, lounging around the library steps.

“What are those idiots doing all the way over here?”, she thought to herself.

When Clem noticed her, not only was he not embarrassed, or ashamed about the previous unwarranted attack , he seemed more than happy to continue where he had left off. as he slowly rows to stand, he clicked his fingers with his right hand, summoning a small group of underlings to accompany him. Sauntering to her, he spoke with that same languid, lazy drawl, “Well, well, well. Look at what we have here.” He turned to his friends and pointed his thumb in their direction, then he swung the hand around to point at Lilly. “ The poor litle miners girl. She has managed to clean her breakfast of disgusting black coal off her skin to make herself a pretend person!” He paused, “at least for couple of hours.”

His friends laughed and chortled, joining in after a short delay. “When are you opening a resturaunt specializing in coal, tar, mud and rabbit droppings?” one of them mocked. “ ooh the poor little miners girl! She probably eats a banana without removing the peel!” cried another. “Her pantry probably needs 15 candles just to be able to see her black little grubby hands in front of her!” laughed another.

They were slowly walking to her, and getting alarmingly close, looking as if they were getting ready to transform this conflict from verbal to physical.

The taunts became even more biting than before, Clem looked quickly to his left and right, as if to confirm there were no witnesses.

Then something extraordinary happened. The birds, previously serenading the border town with their melodious chirping, grew louder, their symphony turning into a resounding cacophony.

Then, amidst their chirping, Lilly heard clear, unmistakable words. “Do you need help, Lilly?” It was as if they were speaking to her.

At first she couldn’t process this bizarre happening, but after hearing more voices from the rooftops, the truth became unavoidable. They really were talking to her!Shocked, yet desperate, she found herself whispering a strained, “Yes.”

Surprisingly, she heard one of the crows, this one near the water fountain, say, “Lilly, I just want you to do one thing very quickly for us. That is - raise both your arms into the air and snap them down really quickly.

She did just that, and with the final slam of her arms, the birds shrieked, and with all musicality temporarily suspended, they swooped down from the city’s towering buildings, their feathers a blur of motion as they fell upon the startled bullies. There was a flurry of shrieks and cries from the terrified teens as they scattered, leaving Lilly alone by the fountain, the gentle trickle of water the only sound that dared break the silence. After several minutes of this, she heard a door open and close, and the sound of her mother gasping in surprise.

The third time the thugs encountered Lilly, she was making a visit to Hawks Landing to collect a philosophy book for her Aunt Sarah. She shook her head in disbelief when she saw Clem and his underlings come out of a weapons shop just off the main square. This time, he did not immediately approach Lily as he had before. The gang could not avoid seeing the flock of birds, their vigilant eyes watching from the rooftops and trees. Their presence was a clear warning, and the bullies, once filled with mocking laughter, now stuttered out polite greetings before quickly departing.

And so, Lilly discovered her unique affinity with birds and eventually other animals. She was no longer just the Miner’s girl (even though she had never even met a miner), but someone with a unique bond with the creatures of nature.

Over the following weeks, Lily would venture out on her own to various regions of surrounding Woodlands and the forest, where she would encounter, initially birds of different species, and engage in a somewhat awkward conversation. She found the most entertaining birds to engage, were the crows and their cousins, the ravens, as they posessed an active intelligence at times, a wicked sense of humour, particularly the crows who she found not dissimilar to teenage humans. Other birds, though friendly, and more than happy to engage, she found not as gripping or entertaining, given that they were more focused on the fundamentals of survival, such as acquiring food, and looking after the young. These ones, sparrows finches and doves fast became her friends as well. After a couple of months, she was able to engage with small rodents, such as mice and rats, but she found them phenomenally boring, though they were also more than willing to engage with her. The conversations were more or less along the lines of, “ You’re very big. Are you going to hurt me? are you planning on eating me? Do you have food? Where is food? “

She was not able to explain how the words, noises, and gestures required to make a meaningful exchange had come to her. It was if this secret code had been injected into her directly from the ether. But the whole episode had been so overwhelming and confusing to her that she was not able to process this unusual turn of events. For the time being, she decided to just parkthat question aside, and come to it later after she would be more used to that whole thing.

. This bizarre ability, she did not share with anyone other than her mother, who she told one night after dinner, while still sitting at the table.

“Mum, have you ever heard anybody being able to understand animals … you know…. what they are saying? “ her mother had her back, turned towards her daughter, as she was handling the dishes.

in any case, Lily was not looking directly at her, so did not even notice. This was a very difficult thing to share, and she reflectively observed that she was feeling a sense of embarrassment and even some guilt.

She rested her head in her hands, both elbows propped on the table . Ruth stopped what she was doing, and turned around, with a handfull of suds bubbling through her fingers, “I’m not sure what you mean Lilly,“ she said, and returned to the task in the sink.” still facing away, she continued, “anyway, we all know that animals can’t talk. They just make those noises for basic survival, not to pass abstract concepts to each other. Like I always say - we use science, and reason here. Not superstition.”

I don’t know how to explain it,“ Lilly replied.

“It’s just the other day, you know the time, we went to James-Hall for your 3 monthly visit to Madame Dophine, the same gang who had attacked me once before, you know the Arrowhead gang, were there at James-Hall, for whatever reason I cant imagine. They started yelling taunts, and just as they were about to reach me and get physical, I heard some crows, asking if I needed help!“ She paused for a few seconds before continuing, “I replied to them, ‘yes‘, and in a flash, scores of them swept down and drove them away. All of the teenagers were shrieking, and carrying on as if they were being attacked by demons.

The strange thing is that I encountered the same gang again at Hawks Landing on a third occasion, and they were very nice to me, almost as if they were afraid. It made me feel quite uncomfortable.”

“Well, if that’s those horrible teenagers that bound you up with that cheap nasty rope, that removes itself while its victims are sleeping, then I wouldn’t bother feeling uncomfortable… I don’t think they’re worth it.“ She said, “I’ve heard about Clem Millard, and his underlings. They have quite a reputation of being budding, criminals and gangsters, and I would highly recommend you stay clear of the likes of those so called people young lady!”

“You miss the point mum!“ Lily yelled in frustration. “I’m not talking about the companionship worth of the Arrowhead gang, but about how the crows have been protecting me, at least since the trip to the Darbyfoot mines to the west. Now the birds have been very open about it, including the act of talking to me!“, she paused to take in a breath, but ccontinued in a soft calm voice, “they even got me to slam my arms down before they launched, making it look as if I were commanding my personal private security force. In fact you were there, you came out of Mrs Dolfene’s parlour a few minutes after it was over. I just didn’t know how to tell you, so I said nothing.”

Ruth stopped what she was doing, and turned around to face Lilly. She stood still, the suds dropping from her hands. She stared in incredulity, not knowing what to say to her daughter.

Over the following months, Lily refined her ability to converse with the animals, not just the small insignificant ones, but the larger ones like pigs, horses, cows, dogs, catss and donkeys, who she found significantly more interesting than the small rodents.

There were no mammals that matched the enjoyment and unpredictability of the crows, ravens, and later magpies. They all amazed her just how human like they were, in both intelligence, behaviour and humour, including jokes, and even occasional lies.

She was also amazed by the continuous goodwill and faith that these three species of birds continued to shower upon her, regardless of what she did, or didn’t do.

Throughout the year, she continued to maintain this secret, her mother, now her greatest champion and believer.

As far as she knew, she was the only living human that had this ability, and she had no idea why, or who was involved.

For the time being, it was good enough to just shelve this issue and worry about the details later, and to enjoy the privilege before it was public knowledge.

She continue to play in the Stonehaven under Twelves Oak Badger league, and it had not gone unnoticed that she had received what appeared to be a miraculous boost in her performance, and playing alongside Finlay while secretly garnishing an extra serve of sporting gifts for herself, and her cousin not figuring it out, but having to be told, she felt no inner turmoil at all.

She felt that maybe there was a reason for this, but she had yet to identify it, and she also thought, ‘maybe one day it will reveal itself to me.’