It Is Said (Mathias Bootmaker and the Keepers of the Sandbox) (12 page)

Alma looked at the closed door and smiled a strange little smile. She reached behind her stool for a long thin cane that rested against the wall. Rejecting an offer of assistance from Mathias, the woman pushed herself up with the aid of the cane. She was much taller than Mathias had first thought.
 

She seemed to glide gently across the stone floor of the inn. Her long layered skirt trailed respectfully behind her. She moved around the room to each of the other tables and blew every candle out until only the one on her table remained. Finished setting the stage, Alma returned the cane to its proper place against the wall, sat down slowly, and faced Mathias once more.

“As time passed and little Oracle grew up, Lord and Lady Darke were consumed with the affairs of ruling the land and running a well organized and efficient household and as such, had less and less time for him. Feeling very lonely, being the only child in a huge castle, Oracle, like many children his age, created an imaginary friend to keep him company.”

Alma quickly turned to the empty stool to her right.
 

“What was that you said?” she asked in a child’s voice, of no one there.
 
“Oh, of course,” came her reply to the air.
 
“No, I promise no one will ever know, but remember, you are my friend and you will only do my bidding.”

“And he kept this secret,” she said to Mathias in her own hypnotic voice. “This was his friend, and no one else could play.”

The woman began to gather the extra layers of fabric from her skirt that rested on her lap.
 
She bunched up the cloth until it formed a little bundle.
 

“Oracle was ten when Lord and Lady Darke had another baby, a little girl they named Rebecca.”

Alma could see the baby in the bundle she had created. She nestled it in the crook of her arm. She playfully wiggled her finger in front of the bundle baby’s face. She rocked it gently back and forth. She spoke sweetly to the child.
 

“Instead of being happy that he would now have company and someone real to play with, your brother could only imagine how you would soon take away whatever little attention your parents had afforded him before you were born. As you grew older, his heart grew ever colder.

“He spent hours conspiring with his imaginary friend ruminating about how grand it would be if your parents disappeared, leaving him to be supreme ruler of his kingdom. What would your fate be then, sweet little Rebecca?”

She slowly released the bundle of fabric from her grasp, and the baby disappeared. The candlelight had caught Alma’s eye. Mathias followed her gaze as it swept down the length of the candle. She found a spot on the table just in front of the brass holder. She stretched out her hand, pointed with her long pale finger and tapped the spot three times with her purple painted nail.

“It was shortly after the third celebration of his sister’s birth when Lord and Lady Darke and their little daughter Rebecca were all found dead, outside on the ground below the highest window of the castle’s tallest tower.”

She ran her long finger up the side of the candle.
 
Up towards the flame.

“Only Oracle, who had been found sleeping on the floor of the highest room in the castle’s tallest tower had survived, and the boy could produce no reasonable explanation for why that was.”

The flame jumped and deliberately flicked at her. It licked the tip of her finger. It burned her. She pulled her finger back and put it to her lips. She glared at the flame as she nursed her injured digit.
 

“It was first believed that some unknown enemy of the Darke family must have stolen into the castle, murdered them and left before they could be caught. No one ever thought to suspect Oracle, agreeing that there must have been an intruder and that the young orphan was still in danger from the unknown assassin.

“Servants were told to never leave the boy unattended. Chefs were asked to carefully observe the preparation of all of his meals. Castle groundskeepers were instructed to remain on the watch.

“As time passed, the citizens of the Village Darke, began to whisper and question and doubt. There was silence from the castle. There were no laws or decrees. There were no inspiring words. The people began to worry about how they would fare and whether young Oracle would be able to take up the mantle of ruling the Village Darke, completely heartbroken.

 
“As time continued to pass the people began to openly doubt his innocence, coming to believe that the young boy must have had something to do with the sordid events surrounding the fateful moment when the Darke family was all but eliminated.

“The groundskeepers searched and watched, but never found anyone. The chefs, growing tired of constant inspections, took less and less care with his meals. The servants, whose earlier suspicions had grown to paranoia then fear, abandoned the thirteen year old to fend for himself around the castle. In truth, Oracle was heartbroken and consumed with bitterness and regret, but he was not alone.

“Moments before the death of his family, Oracle was roused from his sleep by a shadowy figure at the foot of his bed. Although he had never actually seen him before, he knew who the intruder was. The murderous villain that everyone was sure existed had never left his side since that time, and Oracle knew that he would never be rid of him.”

Alma leaned in closer to Mathias again. This time he leaned in closer to her. Her eyes were wild, and in the depth of violet, he thought he could see a small angry boy going about his business.

“Deciding that his despicable once-imaginary creation was better company than none at all, he named him Fetcher, and made him his slave, punishment for having taken his family from him and leaving him alone.

“Because he felt that it was his own thoughts that were responsible for creating the thing that had killed his family, one of his first official decrees was to outlaw all imagination and creativity. He forbid the townspeople to produce any music or art that might inspire any kind of fanciful thoughts.”

Alma closed her eyes and Mathias lost his view. She leaned back against the wall, opened her eyes and glanced out her window.
Alma was staring up at the night sky again.

“Then Oracle turned what once was Darke Tower Castle into a very special school to silence the imaginings of children. The villagers called it the Academy Darke.
 

 
“As soon as children reached a certain age, Oracle would send the Fetcher to grab them up and bring them to the academy. There they would be confined until every last spark of imagination had been drained from them through harsh and drastic measures.

“There they would remain until those who succumbed were allowed to grow up and were returned to the village as very frightened and compliant adults. Those who did not, remain there. Trapped. Never allowed to return to the village while their loved ones wait for them.

“Because of all they have endured, the citizens of the Village Darke never want to upset the norm. They do what they are told. They suppress any free or wandering thoughts, and they never question.”
 

 
Alma turned to face
Mathias and before he had time to react, she grabbed her cane from the wall behind her, swung it over the table and put the tip to his throat.

 
“Change is not welcomed here and strangers are not only unwelcomed, they are unheard of.”

She applied additional pressure with her weapon of choice until Mathias winced.

 
“But you are no stranger. I know who you are. I know why you are here.”

Mathias sat silently expecting answers and awaiting his fate.

“Do you have a token of appreciation?” she asked.

“I have nothing,” he replied.

After a moment, Alma shrugged. She lowered her cane, grasped the purple knob at the top and turned it. The knob came away from the cane and attached to it was a key. She showed her secret to Mathias.

“Some are just not meant to be imprisoned,” she said with a quick look to the door behind the bar.

Alma stood up without the assistance of her cane and began moving to the door. She was not as frail as she had made herself out to be.

“What do I do?” Mathias asked as he rose from his seat. “How do I rescue the boy?”

Alma put the key in the lock and turned it. Mathias made his way to the door and put his hand against it before she could exit.
 

“Please, I’ve lost a child,” he said softly. “Is that why I’m here? Am I here to save him?”

Alma pulled the door open. Mathias grabbed her by the arm. She turned instantly and glared at him.

“I don’t understand why you won’t help me,” he pleaded as he released her arm and matched her gaze. “I don’t understand why you won’t help yourselves. Why haven’t you done anything?”

Alma turned away from him, and with the help of her cane, she stepped out the door and began travelling up the road. Mathias followed her out and watched her go.
 

“What’s wrong with you people?” he yelled after her
.
“This is a nightmare. Your children are taken from you and you let it happen.
 
Are you all cowards? Are you all corrupt?”

Alma heard none of this or she was just ignoring Mathias.
 
Either way, she continued up the road towards her next destination.
 
Her storytelling here was done.
 

“Now go stranger. Leave us alone,” the innkeeper said simply as he stood in the doorway of the inn. “Go away and leave things as they are. It’s useless to try, but if you want to find the boy, follow the carriage. It races towards the Academy Darke. That’s where you’ll find what’s left of him.”

There was no help for Mathias in the Village Darke. He knew that now. The mysterious woman was mad and the innkeeper was apathetic.
 
But he also knew that Mouse was trapped in the Academy Darke. Mathias wanted to believe there was still hope, but this place was draining what little he had left.

The Academy Darke was his destination, and as he began walking down the road towards the blockade, he heard the door of the Inn Between close behind him.
 

9
.

Into the Blockade

The road got darker as Mathias traveled away from the inn. What little light had been provided by it had been lost when the innkeeper extinguished the lanterns. The night still hung heavy as he reached the blockade.
 

There would be no easy passage through this tight weave of dead foliage, overgrown roots, vines and thickets. While Mathias couldn’t bear the thought of Mouse having to spend the night in the Academy Darke, he knew he wouldn’t be able to make his way through this tangled web until morning.
  

He was about to bed down for some rest, when he saw a light travelling on the road towards him. The glare of the light prevented Mathias from getting a clear view of what was coming his way. He put his hand up to the light to reduce the glare and steeled himself for his next encounter.
 

The light was moving fast and it was upon him before he knew it. When his eyes adjusted to the sudden brightness in all that darkness, he found himself standing face to face with the innkeeper. The man was wearing a long, heavy, dark green coat. He had a length of rope draped across his chest and along with his lantern, he carried a bundle.
  

“You don’t know any better do you, stranger?”

Mathias was so shocked by the innkeeper’s arrival that he didn’t know what to say.

“Well, I do know better,” he continued as he threw Mathias the bundle. “This should fit you.”