Levels II- unedited first chapter

Ok- so I am revving up and taking another crack at the follow up to Levels. I last touched this a year ago (literally, last April) - then I had about 500 words. So today I sat down and hammered away the intro. As usual, this is raw stuff, un edited, un proofed.
enjoy!

Levels II

I am on fire.

I try to open my eyes but the light… is strong, so strong, so very painful. It burns my eyes even through the closed lids. I wait. I turn away, open my eyes and see the concrete. I am close, so close, I can see the dirt on the surface. I can see the concrete itself crumbling, the specs illuminated by the light. I take comfort in the closeness of the grey, the feeling of containment. I squint, chance turning back to the light, but it still burns so bright. It is orange, on fire, like nothing I have ever seen before. It burns even thought I turn away. I miss the cool dead lights inside, the dull blue glow, a feeble light cast off by excited elemental gasses. I miss the cool light bouncing off walls, so close you can touch them, light so close… I miss the inside.

I am outside. On the out side of where I live. I am lit with the fire of the brightest light I have ever seen, at its mercy. I can feel the heat. And feel the wind. The wind picks up as the light burns a deeper shade of orange. Is it diming, it is becoming less terrible to behold? I turn, slightly. The light still painful, but the pain is less. I look up, grey blue streaked with brilliant colors, oranges, pinks, reds, purples and yellows. The sky itself is on fire. It is immense and awesome. Terrifying.

I hold my hand up to block the light, to allow my eyes to travel freely across the horizon. From end to end it is on fire, yet getting less by the second. After a moment the light itself fades from view and only the fire-lit sky is left. My eyes are grateful for the absence of the light and they search frantically in front of me. I look for a path, a street, perhaps a tunnel.

But the only thing that lay in front of me is deep, endless sky and the yawning abyss. I open my mouth to scream but the wind takes my voice.

 

“Tal! Tal!” Talbot Singh hears a voice and frantic knocking. Momentarily he panics, afraid he will fall, but then he opens his eyes. He can barely see the walls that surround him, dim light slipping into cracks. He is confined and he relaxes.  He is safely enclosed in a cabinet at the back of a small electronics store inside a large mall on level 29. He slides open the small door and is friend, Kerr, shakes him, a smile on his face.

“Wake up man! Dreams again eh? You were screaming, drove away the last customer.”

“Sorry.” Tal mumbles and carefully pulls himself up and out, onto the floor, out of the cabinet he has been calling his bed for the past month. “What time is it?”

“Time for you to get another place man. It’s nineteen hundred.”

“Ungh. We still on for tonight?”

“Sure. But you may want to find a shower first, you reek. Gonna have to fumigate this place when you leave.”

“Won’t be long now.”

“You said that two weeks ago. Never mind. Go get a shower, the bath houses close pretty soon. Me and the guy will meet you at the club then?”

“Sure.” Talbot stood up, rubbing his hair. “Sure.”

 

Several hours later, Talbot walked into a club that managed to be overly bright and drenched in shadows at the same time. Loud music throbbed to a full house. The celling was a comforting height, low and close enough to touch, bodies, lights and walls all confined Talbot. He felt safe. He had spent the last six weeks hiding out in the back of Kerr’s small electronics shop, which was tucked in the back of a large mall of shops in the center of the Assembly, the section of level 29 where Talbot had been born and raised. He had worked as an Assist, a sort of lawyer/fixer who helped people in the neighborhood whenever they had to deal with the state or the Protocol.

Two months ago he had a client end up killed in his small jewelry shop. As Talbot unraveled the case he found himself drawn into a much larger case. He had discovered that the Client, Mr. Mill, had been involved with kidnapping young university women. He would hand them off to an agent who would then, with the help of a Doctor on an upper level, reprogram the girls. The girls were then entered into a space program that sent them to Mars, a one way ticket. Although the bounty for finding people “willing” to go to Mars was generous, Talbot had not figured out why a group of people from the upper levels would bother dealing with a small number of people, surely there was a greater profit to be made from other, equally unsavory businesses?

His work on the case had put him in contact with one of the more notorious gangs from lower level, the Treasure gang. One of the higher up in Treasure, Geertz, had used Talbot to find out about the kidnaping ring and to also get a hold of the Doctor. Treasure did see both profit and reason to take people and program them to make them acceptable for the Mars program. The main difference is that Treasure was able to find many willing volunteers from the lower levels. Most lower level inhabitants however, did not qualify for the space program. Now that Treasure had the Doctor, they could make lower level people fit the bill for the program, a win set for all.

But Treasure was a minor concern compared to the thread that Talbot had pulled right before everything unraveled. He had followed a woman, Aria Olsen, up to her meeting with an upper level politician. She ended up killing the guy, but then ended up dead herself. Talbot knew that the conspiracy went up to much higher levels still. And that it must involve a much large conspiracy. He was worried about what the truly powerful might be able to do to him, should they discover his part.

Talbot had gotten Treasure to fake his death, allowing him to disappear. He had spent the last six weeks laying low. Most of it spent in Kerr’s shop, and most of that time spent sleeping in the tiny cubby hole in the back. Sleeping wasn’t really the word for it.  Most of the time he would doze off, only to wake up from nightmares. He lost track of time, he had not spoken to his parents in weeks, fearful of getting them involved. He had not been outside the mall on over a month.

Kerr was right, Talbot thought, he did need to get out.

He just wasn’t sure this club was what he needed. The audio and visual assault would be too much for most people, but it was overwhelming after his isolation for so long.

He carefully made his way around the edge of the club’s large dance floor, finally finding Kerr and some others crowded into a small booth. The booth offered some privacy but no escape from the music. Talbot nodded as the four in the booth all yelled a hello at him. All he saw was their mouths moving. Kerr got up and let Talbot slide in. Talbot smiled, thankful that Kerr understood without asking his need to hide a little. Talbot felt very exposed despite the club’s deep shadows.

They had not been there twenty minutes when a petite girl, or was it a boy, came up.  Talbot had several drinks in his system and his vision was blurring, he looked at the person standing in front of their table and squinted. Kerr waived the waif away.

“Where’s Alexa!? She’s our waitress!” He screamed at the clubber. They rolled their eyes and thrust out their hand, a small white note in it. Kerr reached out to grab it but it was withdrawn. The creature shook their head and pointed to Talbot, who visibly shrank, his eyes suddenly clear as adrenaline shot into his system. They thrust their hand out again and Talbot took the paper, his hand shaking.

In the dim light he looked at it, it was an envelope, no writing on it. He carefully opened the end and pulled out an all-black transit card. Color visibly drained from his face.

“I have to go!” he screamed at Kerr.

“I’ll come too” Kerr responded, but Talbot held up his hand and shook his head. He slipped out as Kerr got up, again putting his hand up to stop Kerr’s protestations.

Rather than the welcoming feeling he had when he walked in, the rough, harsh music and the persistent beat seemed to push him out of the club, onto the street in front. Three large men in dark suits stood across the way, under an office building’s overhang. Talbot briefly thought about making a run for it, but decided it would be suicide. Shaking like a leaf he walked across the street. He had his hands out of his pockets, down at his side, palms flat out.

“Easy going guys, no trouble here.”

“Neither we.” The largest of the three grunted. “Mr. Geertz says to follow us.”

“Well, uh, you see guys, I’m sort of in the middle of chatting up a nice-“

“Mr. Geertz says to bring you back. Any ideas on how we do that?” The same man said, his voice low, even.  Talbot shook his head.

“I can go maybe then, with you. Uh… lead the way.”

“That’s a good way.” The man grunted and he took off, the other two discreetly falling in behind Talbot.

Talbot panic almost lost control as they made their way down the mostly empty streets. As they walked along he began to recognize where they were headed. They were going to Jensen’s neighborhood. Jensen was one of Geertz’s hired goon, nothing good had ever come out of visiting the wholly disagreeable man.  

“I thought we were going to see Geertz?” He asked, his voice cracking. The three men did not respond.

A minute later they ended up at the door to Jensen’s small street level apartment building. They went in and up to Jesen’s floor. Talbot was surprised to see April, Geertz’s assistant, in the hall. She made only brief eye contact and almost imperceptibly shook her head.

The door to the flat was open, Talbot felt himself being pushed in, he stumbled and blinked. At the far wall was Geertz, standing over the prone body of Jensen. 3

“Singh. What’s your connection to this?” Talbot blinked some more, feeling disoriented because of the drinks, because of Geertz, because a man who had been nothing but evil to him was now dead, his limbs akimbo. Talbot glanced quickly around, the apartment had been trashed.

“My connection?” Talbot managed after several beats.

“This your work?” Geertz said, his tone even. Talbot tried to clear his mind. What was Geertz’s game? Did he really think that Talbot had done this? Geertz always had the answers, was already a step ahead. Was he really in the dark?

“Don’t pretend with me Singh. If you did this I can’t help you. Just because you’re legally dead doesn’t mean you can’t die again.”

“How... why do you think it was me? Come on…” Talbot said, his mind still swimming to the surface, trying desperately to break the water.

“He was not exactly your friend Mr. Singh.”

“I swear, it wasn’t me…”

“Then who?!” Geertz raised his voice.

“I- I don’t know…”

“Tell me who Singh!”

Talbot looked around, his face a mask of puzzlement and fear. “But , I don’t know!”

“You’re not listening Singh! Tell me who did this! Tell me or your end will be slow and painful.”

“But, I don’t.. .“ Talbot shook his head. “Ok, ok, I get it.” Talbot swallowed hard; he really wished Geertz had just said he wanted to hire him. He knelt to look at the prone form of Jensen in closer detail. The body was already somewhat stiff, he had been dead for several hours. There was no pool of blood, no obvious wounds. He had not been stabbed nor had he been shot. Jensen was young, but Talbot supposed he could have just up and died.  Then he noticed the arms, both arms covered in deep red scratches. He recalled the last time he had visited. He sniffed the air, a faint trace was still there.

“Drugs.” Talbot said, standing back up slowly, aware that he might fall over, his head still thick.

“Drugs?”

“Last time I was here… months ago mind you, but last time, he was using some sort of drug. It had a smell. Do you smell that still? I don’t know what it is, and, believe me I didn’t ask.”

Geertz looked around, opened a drawer, then another. Then, looked up at a high shelf above the bed in the corner. A small box sat there. Talbot saw it too and went over to pull it down. Inside was empty, but the smell was strong. Talbot looked up, a question on his face.

“Migdahl. The mig. Tightly controlled, we don’t deal it.”

“Why not?” Talbot asked, surprised that there was anything that the Treasure would steer clear of. Geertz just smirked and kicked at Jesen’s arms.

“Super addictive stuff” Talbot turned to see April in the doorway. “total crap high, but cheap, a little goes a long way. But yeah, cannot be kicked. You need a bounce every five, six hours. Kind of surprised he was out. Must have been terrible way to go, looks like he literally tried to peel his own skin off.”

“Why would he be out?” Talbot asked, almost to himself. “And if he was out, why not go out and get more?”

“It happens Singh, it’s what kills mig junkies most of the time, they forget, they lose track, their fixer isn’t around, a few hours later, dead.”

“So go to the Medkit and get a patch-“”There are none Tal.” April said softly. “No fix, no cure.”

“Sounds like a perfect product” Talbot mumbled. Geertz’s head snapped up.”Mr. Singh, we’re not animals… plus, the drug is cheap, tightly controlled and you need to be around the customer all the time. Too much of a hassle.”

Talbot looked around again and shook his head. “The place has been hit. Someone was looking for something, held him up, trying to get answers. May have even known he was on this stuff and used that against him.”

“Or,” April said “He tore up the joint looking for more stuff.”

Talbot shook his head, not convinced, then he smailed.

“Ok, so, Mr Geertz, if not you, who?”

”Excuse me?”

“He’d been on this stuff for a while, I saw him last about 6 weeks ago, right.”

“If you say so…”

“Yes, so, maybe he got some someplace else, but six weeks supply, at least, probably more…” Talbot trailed off and gave Geertz a meaningful look. Geertz’s face clouded over.

“Find me who killed this man Singh, who is behind this. I am not asking, I am telling you to do this. April will help you.”

“Me?!”

“Yes, you. If another gang is around here we need to know.”.

“And if it is not a gang?” Talbot said, the answer already in his head by the time he asked the question.

“Then we are all going to die. You have the card Mr. Singh, go deep. Do not call me until you have an answer. “

Levels reviewed in Publisher's Weekly!

A generally favorable review of Levels in Publisher's Weekly has appeared!!!
http://www.publishersweekly.com/978-1-5375-9839-0

"Fans of imaginative science fiction that integrates a whodunit plot line into a well-constructed imagining of the future, such as James S.A. Corey’s Expanse series, will enjoy Richards’s thoughtful novel. Talbot Singh is an “assist,” whose job is “to make sure that when things happened to a family, those things went as well as could be expected.” Talbot has his hands full when a jeweler, Jay Mill, is shot to death in his store, but, since nothing was stolen, Talbot suspects that Mill was the target of a professional hit. In the best hard-boiled tradition, Talbot’s involvement rubs the official investigators the wrong way, forcing him to do his own discreet digging into the murder. But while the central concept is familiar, the setting is not. The killing takes place in an unnamed multilevel city connected by thousands of elevators; status is determined by the level on which one lives, and the cost of traveling to one of the top levels is half a year’s wages for the average resident. The superior worldbuilding offers plenty of potential for a sequel. (BookLife)"

Return the blackberry Valley Chap 4 (work in progress, unedited)

Chapter 4

As they walked through the woods, and the conversation lagged, Riley took a moment to look around at his new surroundings. The more he looked the more he realized why his great-grandfather had never really said much about the Valley’s landscape. It was eerily like the mountain and flatlands where he and Riley had come from. The trees seemed to be mostly older growth; Riley figured most were at least 100 years old, maybe more. Every once in a while they would come across a massive oak or poplar that had fallen. New trees already had started to establish themselves in the shadow of the fallen giants.

But for the most part they walked under tall leafy canopy with little undergrowth. The floor was littered with dead leaves, fallen branches and all sort of fungus and mushrooms. Dotted here and there were smaller holly bushes or under a break in the canopy, wild rose bushes. Birds and squirrels mostly played in the forest. Every so often the path would meet up with a small stream that pleasantly burbled along.

Riley felt at ease in the familiar looking woods. He had a feeling as if he could have found a little cabin somewhere in them and lived there quit happily.

As the day got long they stopped in a small clearing they had found by following a path that shot off the main one. The sun was very low. Riley could sense dusk was coming. Walter sat down, sighing heavily.

“Not built for this like I once was. Oh to be young again heh Eric?” he nodded towards the twins, who were roughhousing and then fixed a steady eye back onto Eric. Eric nodded but said nothing.

“We’ll camp here. I figure we have about five or six days left before Mayblossom.”

Eric looked up in surprise. “That far? Is there a short cut?”

“That is with the short cut Eric. We need to be careful.”

“Couldn’t we just get horses?” Riley asked, “I mean for Eric and Jet and I?”

The twins stopped roughhousing and looked up.

“What are Horses?” Adam asked.

“No horses here Riley,” Grunted Path. “Glad of it too, I’ve seen how big they are over there, scary huge beasts” said the six foot tall rabbit who brushed past Riley.

Walter chuckled. “No way around it lads, we’ve got a walk ahead of us.”

 

The air was warm enough that night that they did not need to build a fire. Path produced the famous splints that Riley had heard about and they all enjoyed a dinner of the wrapped vegetable rolls and hard cider. Riley fell asleep with a warm, full and satisfied feeling.

After some bread and more cider, when the sun came up the next morning, the party began walking again. 

As the party ambled along Walter fell back to talk to Riley.

“So, I spoke to Eric last night. Strange tale he tells me. Is he really that old?”

Riley looked up briefly at Eric, who was ahead, now talking to Path and Jet. The twins were hopping further ahead, talking animatedly.

“Older than dirt, has been all my life” Riley replied.

Walter huffed a series of small huffs. Riley looked at him.

“What was that?”

“What?” asked Walter.

“The sound you just made… were you … swearing?”

Walter laughed and clapped his heavy paw on Riley’s back.

“Well, I see that unlike your grandfather-“

“Great-grandfather.”

“Really? Ha! Even worse than I thought. Well, unlike... .Eric, you don’t miss much. Yes, I was swearing, sort of. Not a bad one, more of an oath.”

“Um, so, you mean the Lepus have their own language? I remember Paw- Eric telling me about that…”

“Yes we do. But we try not to speak it in front of people too much.”

“Could I learn it you think?”

Walter turned and looked directly at Riley. “Hmmm, hard to say. Precious few have. Most don’t care too, but the real issue is that it is devilishly hard if you don’t have whiskers.  People use their sounds mostly, but we Lepus also use lots of snorts, twitches and whisker moves. But we’ll see. Maybe you should grow a beard.”

Riley laughed. “Been trying to for years. I’m only 16 you know.”

Walter laughed too, but then grew silent for a moment. He appeared to be thinking about how to talk about something Riley sensed.

“Walter… what did you and Eric decide about… well, letting other people know, you know, about what he went through on the other side?” He asked Walter. Riley saw a look of relief come over Walter’s face.

“Well, we thought it would be best to play it down as much as possible. It’s a bit tricky to explain how time passes by more slowly here than someplace else.”

“15 times” Riley said.

“What?”

“15 times for slowly or where I’m from it goes 15 times faster. Either way, for every year that went by here 15 went by back home.  75 years Walter. That’s how long Eric’s been gone. I figured it out yesterday. I know he’s a little edgy, but can you blame him? To tell you the truth I really have only known him as an old man, and a right ornery one at that.”

Walter sighed. “Yes, he seemed downright angry last night, kept asking why we didn’t come sooner.”

“Well, see it from his point of view. He nearly died waiting, not many people live to be 96, least not where we’re from. I guess you guys here had no idea about the difference?”

“No, well, not that I know of. We Lepus can hop into your world, but we only go for very short times, usually an hour or so at the most. Too many dogs and…other beasts. Makes us twitchy, makes me twitchy just to talk about it.”  

As they had been walking the landscape began to subtly change. The stream, now on their left, began to drop faster. Soon it was ensconced in a valley of sorts. The region became rockier.  The path split into two and Walter gave a short whistle. The party stopped. Riley noticed the twins were nowhere to be seen.

Then, seemingly from underneath the leaves, the twins appeared, slightly out of breath. Riley had not noticed them until they were practically on top of them.

“We went ahead Path” Richard reported, “The split goes up and down. The right goes to the floor of the valley. It’s not big but looks tight. The left goes up fairways, but we think it levels off. We can probably get around using it, but it’s longer. Also-“

“Also we found men!” chimed in Adam.  Richard tossed him a dirty look.

“I was just about to say that!”

“Ok guys” Path put up a paw “what sort of men.”

“Guards!” both of the cousins said at about the same time, both looking eager and slightly proud at their news.

“How many?”

“Well, I saw about four, but Adam thought he saw six or seven, but definitely four.”

Path looked at Walter and Jet, who both nodded.

“Okay, we go around, quietly.”

“Wait.” Eric spoke up. “King’s guards? Why go around? I bet we could take them, even if there are a dozen.

“Yeah!” Said both the cousins at the same time again.

“Eric, now is not the time to risk a fight.”

“It’s a perfect time Walter. We need to put the fear of god in these people!”

“And to what end” Jet said quietly, as if to not tread on Eric’s obvious passion. “If we attack and say we win, then what? The whole country will know you are back. We won’t be able to go a mile without the entire guard looking for us.”

“So we just slink away?”

“No,” Walter said “we slink along. We make it to see Karn.” Walter put gentle paw on Eric’s shoulder.

Riley came forward and stood beside Eric.

“Plus you’re without your bow Pawpaw.” Riley said. “Maybe it would be better to get you one and let you brush up first?” Riley had not even finished the sentence when he realized his error. Eric shot him the darkest of looks.

No one said anything; they all stood around for an awkward moment, until Walter broke the silence.

“Alright then, we’ll go single file, and go as quiet as we can. I doubt they’ll hear us, but in case they do, keep quiet.”

Return to Blackberry Valley Chap 3 (uneditied work in progress)

Chapter Three

Walter began a monologue almost immediately as the group made their way down a narrow pathway into the woods. Riley had trouble keeping close enough to hear. Thankfully Jet and the other rabbits kept back a little to give him room.

“Well, there’s not much to tell, well, not all at once anyway. But I can try; I know you will have questions. ”

“Do they know we’re here?” asked Riley. Walter snorted. But before he could reply Eric turned and gave Riley a dark look. “Quiet Riley, let Walter tell the story.”

“It’s OK Eric. I guess Eric told you a few things eh cousin? No, I doubt anyone really knows Eric is back, but I can’t take chances. For a while, after you left Eric, the King’s men searched high and low for you. Of course they had to be quiet about it, seeing as King Kitsunamushee was not really King yet. Karn’s father still was king.

“King? He’s king now?” Eric said, Walter nodded.

“And of course the wedding took place.” He continued despite the look on Eric’s face. “Sorry Eric, but what did you think would happen? From what Mariam, Karn’s Lepus handmaid, told me Karn put up a fight with her father, but in the end she acquiesced. It was too important politically. And for a while that worked out pretty well from what we could tell. Then things fell apart. One day the King, the real king, Karn’s father, died.”

“I’m sorry to hear that,” said Eric.

“We all were. But possibly none as sorry as Kitsunamushee. Although, at first I think he was pretty happy with himself.”

“Why?” Eric seemed to completely forgotten his own advice to Riley.

“Well, he did it after all.” Walter’s voice got lower, as if he were afraid someone would hear him. “He killed the king. Of course no real proof, Kitsunammushee was above suspicion, as they say, but Karn knew. Heck, everyone knew. The king was as healthy as an ox, drops dead one day out of the blue. Poison.”

“What did Karn do?” Riley asked, Eric shot him a dirty look, Riley mouthed “what?” at him.

“Well, what could she do? Under law Kitsunamushee was now king. But she was Queen now, as she reminded him. He must have said something, because that night, the very day the King died, Karn slipped out of the castle with just Mary and two trusted guards and fled up to Maybloosom. Later she told us she knew he would poison her next. Turns out that Karn hadn’t spent more than a minute alone with that madman. He made it know he had wanted to get rid of her and remarry. And once she fled he tried to get the whole marriage annulled. I guess he really did not get to know Karn well at all. In the end she agreed to an annulment, but in doing so reminded him that she was Queen by birth and that if the marriage was annulled, he would lose the crown. Well, as you can imagine, that did not go over well. He issued a decree, saying she had abandoned the kingdom, resigned her crown and had been banished to boot. All a lot of fiction, but it let him take control.”

“So that’s when Karn sent for me?” Eric asked. Walter gave a short laugh.

“Not exactly Eric. This was three years ago.”

“Oh. What the hell did she wait for then?”

“She was busy Eric, busy fighting Kitsunamushee for the crown then. Oh yes Eric, believe it.”

Eric began to laugh; Walter stopped and looked at him with concern.

“You ok Eric?”

“Oh yes! Of course she fought him, how could I have even asked that. I bet she was itching to fight wasn’t she?”

Walter smiled. “Yes, she didn’t even give him a month. A bunch of us went up north to see her, enough to form a small army.” Walter stopped; his eyes seemed to glaze over, as if he were remembering something especially pleasant. “Those were good days Eric. I am sorry you were not there then. After all we had good fighters and justice on our side…”

“What happened?”

“Well, things did not go well Eric, did they? Karn is a fighter, but she was not brought up to fight, as it were. Some mistakes were made, and as slimy as Kitsunamushee is, he knows how to fight. Things were even for a while, we’d win some, he’d win some, but over the last year or so the losses seem to be all in our column.”

The group was silent for a while as they continued to walk.

“So why come get me? Why now, why not earlier?”

“Well, I can’t really speak to why Karn waited Eric. She’d proud, you know, maybe she thought she could do this herself. As to why now, well, I guess, she thinks you can give us a boost.”

Eric was quiet for a while longer. Behind him Riley was ready to burst, he had a thousand questions, but he held his tongue.

Finally Eric said something, “How can I help really? I’m just one person.”

“Yes, I know. I am not sure, maybe you can give her renewed hope Eric.” Walter stopped for ao moment and looked at Eric. “She still pines for you, you know?”

Eric started to say something and then stopped. The whole group stood still, waiting.

“And there are the stories!” Jet piped up suddenly from behind them. Walter snorted.

“What stories.”

“Nothing Eric.” Walter looked back and gave Jet a look that said “shut up!”

“The stories Eric, of how good a shot you were. Of your bravery and on and on. You know, some good myths have grown up since you left.”

Walter groaned. “Shut up Jet! Great, just what we need, Eric with an even bigger head!” Jet let out a hearty laugh but Eric had a serious and surprised look on his face.

“Stories?”

“Yes Eric,” said Walter wearily, “Stories.  Seems as if people have it in your heads that you are a magician with the bow and that… wait a minute.” Walter stopped and looked at Eric, then at Riley and back to Eric.

“Where is your bow Eric?” Eric went beet red.

“Well, truth is, I forgot it. Heck Walter, it had been decades since I even picked one up…”

“What?” Walter said, cocking his head.

‘I mean, years, years since I picked it up. Look Walter, I was in a hurry.”

“Riley there seems to have brought his? You a good shot Riley?”

Riley smiled, “I think I am decent enough.”

“Good, anything is better than your cousin I suspect.”  Walter shot a wink at Eric. As they began to walk again Walter lowered his head and leaned towards Eric.

“Decades is it? You have your own story to tell me tonight mister!”

Return to Blackberry Valley Chap2 (work in progress unedited)

Chapter two –

Riley eased himself up, grabbing onto a fallen tree. He didn’t dare take his eyes off of the person in front of him, a person that moments ago he could have sworn was his 96 year old great-grandfather, but now he was not sure.

“Riley, I feel weird.”

“Pawpaw? You look weird. Maybe, uh, maybe you should wash off in the creek a little?”

The man in front of Riley knelt down and splashed water onto his front. The mud ran off and for the first time Riley could get a good look at him. The man who stood up looked like his great-grandfather, but his face and body had filled out. His skin was no longer wrinkled and leathery, but tan and flush. The hair on his head was fuller, and a dark brown. His brown eyes, so often glazed and watery back home were now fierce and clear.

“Pawpaw? I, uh, think...uh, how do you feel?”

“Ok I guess… no, wait, I feel really good actually, now that I think about it. And what’s up with my voice Riley? What the hell is going on boy, tell me!”

“Pawpaw, you look ...well, younger.”

“What do you mean younger?”

“I dunno, just, younger… look at your hands Pawpaw…”

Eric looked down at his hands, the age spots gone, and the bony hands now fleshy and full.

He looked up at Riley, his eyes rimmed with water. “I think we did it Riley, I think we’re back…” his voice barely a whisper.

Riley looked around. “It doesn’t seem any different.”

“That’s what I remember, but look at me Riley. I’m different… something’s happened. Something… Let’s get up the bank here and see what is out there in the sun.”

Riley reached down and picked up his bow and quiver. The two scrambled up the bank and found themselves at the edge of a large field.  Across it lay tall trees and a small pile of boulders.  The top of the tallest of which was a good ten feet off the ground. Riley felt a shiver go down his spine.

“The rocks… are those the-“ Riley asked.

“Yes. What?”

Eric saw Riley’s face go white. Before he could ask what, he knew the answer. A huge booming voice came from behind him.

“Eric is that you?” Eric spun around and was face to face with a large black rabbit. It was a lot larger and somewhat less cute than Riley had imagined it would be. Eric put out his arms and gave the rabbit a large hug, which seemed to surprise the rabbit as much as it did Riley.

“Walter!”

“Oopf, easy does it there Eric. Glad to see you in one piece. Welcome back.”

“Glad to be back Walter, lots of questions, but glad to be here. What took you guys so long…” Eric stopped for a moment, suddenly realizing that while what he meant to ask was why it took 75 years for Karn to send for him, the fact that he now felt and seemed to look hardly any older than when he’d left the valley 75 years ago might mean that no time at all had passed. He tried to figure out how exactly to ask about this when he heard Riley clear his throat.

“Um, yes, so, ahh, how long has it been? I mean, since Pa- Eric, since Eric left?”

Walter looked over Eric’s shoulder with a slight frown on his face.

“Well, let’s see… that would be five. Five years. And you are?”

“Riley, pleased to meet you Walter, I’ve heard so much about you.”

Riley stuck out his hand. Not sure exactly how greetings worked. Walter smiled with his mouth but his eyes did not. He stuck out a paw.

“Well, any friend of Eric’s is a friend of mine.”

“Oh, I’m not his friend… I ‘m his…well-“

Eric cut him short. “He’s a cousin. A cousin, related.” Walter looked at Eric with a puzzled expression but said nothing.

“Well, yes, alright then. Come along now Eric and um, Riley. The others are waiting for us by the rocks. By now they may be getting worried, I am afraid we have spent longer than I wanted out here in the open.” Walter paused, turned to look at Eric directly. “Time has a way of getting away from us sometimes.” Riley could have sworn he saw the giant rabbit wink, but he was not sure.

Walter gently lopped off across the field to the large rocks Riley had seen earlier. He recognized that they must be the same rocks where Eric had first met Walter and the rest. As he began to walk after Walter he felt Eric touch his sleeve.

“Riley, best to uh… keep a low profile on exactly what has happened, at least until we can figure out exactly what has happened. I’ll talk to Walter tonight and try to sort it out.”

Riley shrugged OK and they hurried to catch up to Walter across the field.

Riley and Eric, now caught up, followed Walter around the large rocks at the other end of the field. There, waiting, were several other rabbits and one other person. Riley recognized one of the rabbits as the grey rabbit with black marks that had delivered the note to him in the garden, although he was now many times larger. There were two other seemingly identical rabbits, both a tawny brown.

The other person broke out into a wide grin upon seeing Eric. Riley recognized her at once as Jet, a slight but tough looking woman with short black hair and a fierce look. Riley could see why it had taken Eric several days last time to recognize her as a woman. She wore what seemed like men’s clothing, loose fitting pants and a brown tunic. She also wore a dark brown felt cap, hiding her face somewhat. She casually walked over to Eric and gave him a slug on the arm and then a deep hug.

“Eric you look terrible! You look a hundred!” Eric pushed back, his face looked surprised, but Jet just laughed. “I’m kidding! What? You look fine.” Jet’s levity trailed off, she was not sure what had just happened.  She looked at Walter, who just shrugged. “Well Eric?”

Eris laughed out loud. “Well Jet? Still the same polite and demure little lady I see.”

“Flattery will get you nowhere peffa.” She scowled and then laughed too. “So who is your friend?”

“Oh, uh, my cousin, actually. Riley, this is Jet.”

Again Riley offered his hand to shake, Jet smiled and cocked her head. “Cousin eh? He could pass for your son Eric. Welcome Riley.” By this time the three rabbits had hopped up to Eric and Riley too. The grey rabbit with black marks smiled at Eric.

“Path! I should have known. Riley described you as the messenger, am I right?”

“Yes,” said Path with a mischievous grin on his face. “You owe me big time too Eric, had to outrun a dog on the return trip. Nasty creature.”

“Sorry to hear that. Thank you Path for coming over all the same, I was getting worried.”

“Yeah, it’s been a while,” Path said casually.

“You have no idea,” replied Eric.

“And these are my cousins Eric.” Path said, his paw pointing to the two tawny rabbits behind him. The two seemed noticeably smaller and younger than either Path or Walter. They hopped up to shake hands with both Eric and Riley.

“I’m Richard, and this is Adam. Did you really come from the other side of the bamboo? We’ve never been, too dangerous for us still says Path, but we hope to get there one day,” said one of the two in a breathless tumble. Riley guessed they had to be twins as he could not tell them apart. Even the white beards on their front below their mouth were identical.

“Come on now guys, don’t pester them,” said Path.

Walter cleared his throat in a meaningful way. “Not to cut things short, but we’re not entirely safe here anymore than in the open, I suggest we get a move on.”

Eric nodded, but Riley, still in shock over the four very large rabbits and his great-grandfather’s transformation shook his head slightly. “I’m sorry, but to where? Where are we going?”

Eric, who had moved towards Walter, turned around. “To Mayblossom Riley, like the note said. Right Walter?” Walter nodded his head yes.  Riley frowned, his brow creased. Eric put his hand out to stop Walter.

“Walter, let me talk to Riley for a moment ok? Alone?” Eric looked pointedly at the twins, who took a second to register but then quickly hopped back a few steps.

“Riley, look I know this is all weird.” Eric said, coming in close to Riley and speaking in a low voice, “and if you want to go back now I would be fine with that. In fact it might be a good idea. I imagine your mother would be worried if you did not show up.”

Riley breathed out slowly and looked around carefully at the deep green forest. His mind raced, but something inside was tugging at him, not back towards home, but forward, towards… towards the unknown. He felt almost dizzy.

“I… I think I’ll be ok. Here.”

“You sure?” Eric asked. Riley couldn’t tell if Eric was relieved or disappointed, or maybe a little of both.

“Yeah...sure.  It’s an adventure, right? What do I have to go back to really? I figure this is about as good a way to get off the mountain as any Pawpaw.” Riley saw anger flash in his great grandfather’s eyes.

“OK, but listen, you cannot call me that anymore, got it?”

Riley, taken aback by the display of the old Pawpaw’s anger silently nodded.

“Ok Walter! Let’s go. You’ve got a lot of explaining to do as we walk!” Eric trotted back to Walter and the whole group began to walk away from the rocks into the dark forest.

Riley hustled to catch up to Walter, not wanting to miss a word.

Prologe - Return the Blackberry Valley _Dream of the Lepus Book Two

[So this is the second book of the The Hare, the Bow and the Girl series - unedited!)

Dream of the Lepus Book Two

The Hare, the Queen, and the Boy: Return to Blackberry Valley

 

 

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 cover, despite it being August in Virginia. Only his weathered face peeked out form 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 paper made a tube not 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. Mentally he counted to three and then, over his thundering heartbeat, he tried to explain to the old man what had happened.

“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, like he wasn’t scared or  anything.” 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 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 neat writing.

“Well?”

“It has writing…”

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

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 her 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, 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…”

Chapter Two -

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! The storm in a sing!” 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 to 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 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 became 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 thicker and thicker the deeper they went, until it had encircled them completely. It was slow going, trying to find a pathway wide enough for them to make their way through. At one point Riley looked back for a second and realized that he could no longer see the pick-up truck, or the field, 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 step bank and tumble into water… the stream, full and raging in the downpour. The skies had opened up, rain poured 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…”

###