Return to Blackberry Chapter One

Warning- UNEDITED, part of my attempt to force myself to Get On With It.

Feedback welcome




Chapter one --




The old man really was very weak, and it took all of Riley’s strength to help him out of bed and into some clothes. The trip down the stairs seemed to Riley to take an eternity, but he bit his lip, not wanting to give the old man any reason to back out now.

By the time they got outside to the truck the rain was spitting and the wind was whipping around them. Riley, for the first time since finding the note, was beginning to think that maybe this was not the best idea.

“Pawpaw!” he yelled over the wind as they shuffled to where the truck was parked. “Maybe we should do this after the storm, it’ll pass in half an hour I bet!” To his surprise the old man put his hand on Riley’s arm.

“No!” his grip was firm. “I think if we are going to do this, we have to go now!” Riley shrugged, opened the door to the truck and helped his great-grandfather into the passenger side.

It only took a few minutes, bouncing down the dirt road that led off from their house off the mountain, until they got to the large stand of bamboo near the main road. The long tall green grass was bending in the wind, the delicate tops buffeting back and forth. The movement, along with the sound of the wind and the creaking of the bamboo, made the forest seem alive. Riley felt a shiver go down his back as he helped the old man out of the truck.

The old man grabbed onto Riley’s arm to steady himself, but then let go, a resolute look in his eyes. “Riley, you head back now ok? No sense you getting caught up in anything, if there is anything…”

“Pawpaw, you won’t make it twenty feet. I don’t mind. Come on, it’ll be an adventure even if nothing happens…”

Riley reached back into the truck and pulled out his recursive bow and a quiver of arrows. The old many started to ask Riley what he was doing, but Riley shrugged. “Just in case, you know, this… works.”

Slowly the two made their way over the uneven pasture in front of the bamboo stand. The old man stumbled a few times, but Riley held him up. Soon enough, as the rain began to come down more heavily, they were at the edge of the bamboo. The old man stopped, turned and looked back for a moment at the old pick-up truck. The outline was blurred by the rain. Then he shuffled into the bamboo, with Riley close behind.

Very quickly the forest closed around them, the bamboo getting thicker and thicker the deeper they went, until it had encircled them completely, so thick it blocked any view of what was behind them or what lay ahead. It was slow going, trying to find a pathway wide enough for them to make their way through. Riley looked back for a second and realized that he could no longer see the pick-up truck, the field, or the mountain, or anything except for more bamboo. When he looked back ahead he had a sudden sense of being utterly lost and directionless. He was not even sure that they were still going forward. The rain, the sound of the wind and the dim light from the dark stormy sky only made things worse.

Then his foot slipped. He stopped, but the old man bumped into him. Before he could grab onto anything he felt himself fall down a steep bank and tumble into water… the stream! It was full and raging in the downpour. The skies had opened up, rain pouring out of it, and the water from the creek seemed to be rising by the second. He felt the old man land on top of him with a loud “oomph!” The bank they had fallen down was quickly dissolving into mud. He could barely see the other side of the creek which was flatter, and grass covered. With a huge effort Riley helped the old man get up. Weighed down by water and mud the old man seemed heavy that ever. Riley used every ounce of strength he has to pull the old man out of the creek and onto the flat bank on the other side. The old man fell to the earth and Riley, gasping for breath suddenly had the thought that the old man might have died. Riley sat down next to the still body, closed his eyes and fought for breath. The rain stopped, suddenly as if a spigot had been turned off.

He shook the old man’s leg, “Pawpaw? You ok?” No answer. Riley sat there afraid to look, to open his eyes. But then he was aware of changing light, and felt that the rain had stopped. He opened his eyes. He saw his bow and quiver lying on the bank, covered in mud. Above, the clouds had thinned considerably; it looked as if the storm has passed.

“See Pawpaw?” Riley said, still regaining his breath as he stood up, his back to the old man, “I told you we should have waited. It was just a summer thunderstorm.”

“No, it would have been too late” came a deep baritone voice from behind him. Riley swung around, looking up on the creek bank, but did not see anyone.

“Pawpaw!” he whispered, “Get up! Someone’s found us.”

The prone figure lying face down in the mud in front of Riley stirred. Riley felt relief wash over him. The old man got up and turned around.

As the sun light now filtered down, the clouds having cleared out, Riley could see that his great-grandfather was covered in mud. But there was something else. Riley took a step closer and squinted. Then he fell back, a look of terror on his face. The old man blinked and tilted in his head.

“What the hell is wrong with you boy?” he said, but even as the words left his mouth a look of shock came across his face too, “What on earth!?”

Riley scuttled back as best he could toward the top of the grassy bank.

“Oh God Pawpaw… what the hell happened to you…”



###

Posting Frenzy-Return to Blackberry Valley prolog

In December 2013... yes, 2013, I started writing the follow up to The Hare, The Girl and The Bow. Six years later I am still sitting on a complete draft (finished about two years ago) mainly because I need to find an editor.

As part of a project to get me off my butt and back to writing, I am going to post the follow up (Return to Blackberry) and the 3rd book (also complete).

I am going to try and post stuff five days a week for a while, really get this stuff out there.

So, get ready for a horrible mes of typos and bad grammar and punctuation.

D H





Return to Blackberry Valley


The Hare, The Queen, and the Boy


--- Prolog ---


Riley darted up the stairs two at a time, yelling at the top of his lungs the whole way.


“Pawpaw! Pawpaw!” He hopped up the last step and bounded into the small bedroom on the left side of the landing. Inside was a bed with a frail old man swaddled underneath the covers, despite it being August in Virginia. Only his weathered face peeked out from the covers. His once handsome face, now creased and dry, had a fierce look on it.


“Dammit boy!” he gasped, “the house had better be burning down!”


Riley, used to the taciturn old man, ignored him. Instead he waved a small piece of paper tied up with a red bow. The rolled paper made a tube about two inches long.


“Look, Pawpaw, look!”


The old man squinted.


“I got this… I was in the garden… and a rabbit…and it has writing on it…”


“Shut up!” the old man barked, although he was weak enough that it sounded more like a harsh whisper. “What on earth is wrong with you boy. Leave me in peace!”


Riley, still short of breath, stopped for a moment to collect himself. He found he was shaking, despite his best efforts to stop. His tall thin frame seemed like it could barely contain his excitement. He paused to brush his long black hair out of his eyes.


“Pawpaw, wait, listen. I’m sorry, I got excited, but listen! I was in the garden, weeding, like momma asked me too. Anyway, I’m sitting there and a rabbit hopped right up to me, just like it was nothing.” Riley noticed the old man’s eyes open wide, alert for the first time in weeks.


“And?...”


“And, well, the rabbit…” Riley wasn’t sure how to put it since he himself was not sure how it had happened. “Well, the rabbit ...gave me… gave me this.” He held up the tube of paper. The old man eyed it suspiciously.


“No mood for jokes boy” He rasped, but his eyes were focused, clearly interested.


Riley ignored him and brought the tube closer.


“Look Pawpaw, look at what is on the outside…writing…look at what it says.” The old man narrowed his eyes and looked at the tube in Riley’s hand. On neat print on the side were four letters , E-R-I-C. The old man’s eyes looked up, angry.


“This some sort of joke boy?”


“No sir…” Riley began to realize how it must look to the old man. “No sir… open it up and see what is inside.”


“Why? What is inside boy?”


“I-I don’t know! I haven’t opened it.”


“Open it yourself. I’m too weak.”


Riley, shaking, slid the red bow over the end of the tube and unfurled the yellowed thick paper. Inside was more neatly done writing.


“Well?”


“It has writing…”


The old men rolled his eyes, “Then get on with it boy, read it!”


Riley’s voice quivered. ”My Dearest Eric,” he began, his face going slightly pink, “Long ago, you and I made a promise, and now I must ask you to keep yours. Please come back, Walter will take you to Castle Mayblossom. I have tried to make things right, but now I must ask for your help. Still truly yours… Karn.”


With a painful grunt the old man pushed down the covers of his bed and tried to sit up. Riley put the note down on the bedside table and helped his great-grandfather sit up in the bed.


“Dammit boy, this your sick idea of a joke?”


“No, no sir. What is Mayblossom? Is that the town where…”


The old man looked at him with narrow eyes again, but then softened. And in a flash his eyes became very excited.


“That’s right! I never told you about that, did I?” The old man sat for a moment, his thoughts wandering back.


“What is it Pawpaw?”


The old man looked confused for a moment and then refocused his attention on Riley.


“It’s Karn’s mother’s old family house, way up north. She used to go there.. I never told you…I mean that… oh my God Riley, oh my God…” tears began to flow from his eyes, silently rolling down his cheeks. Riley took a step back; he had never seen the old man cry.


“Riley… who gave this to you?” He asked, his voice quivering.


“A … well, a rabbit. Really, I swear-“


“Was he grey, with black marks on his side?”


Riley took a sharp breath. The old man believed him…“I-I think so… I don’t- was that Walter!?”


“No, no, Path perhaps…” The old man fell silent, a faraway look on his face. After a moment Riley shuffled his feet.


“So what does this means Pawpaw? Is this really from that girl from the story… the princess?”


The old man looked at Riley with a look of sorrow so deep Riley felt ashamed and looked away.


“Yes” the old man finally said. “… I think so boy, I think so.”


“So, how do we go back then?”


“What?”


“It says, the letter says to come back, right?”


The old man sighed, and opened his mouth to speak, but closed it. He stared out of the small window beside his bed.


“Riley,” he said, after a long pause, sounding again tired and weak, not angry. “We don’t go back. I ... can’t go back.”


“But if she is asking, and you promised. I think she needs your help-“


“Good lord boy, look at me! I am 96 years old. What use would I be to anyone? It’s been 75 years, if she hasn’t fixed things by now, what use would I be? I can barely get out of bed or even walk.”


For a long time neither Riley nor his great-grandfather said anything. Outside the light was fading as a large storm rolled over the mountain. The wind outside was picking up; the air was heavy with the expectation of rain.


“I could take you.”


“No.”


“I could. We could go now, take the truck down to the bamboo-“


“No.” The old man wasn’t yelling --- his voice was flat, resigned.


“I could help you cross the stream-“


“No. It won’t work. I’ve tried it. God knows how many times I tried Riley...” Another sigh.





“But this is different Pawpaw.” Riley said gently. “You have an invitation…”