ISOF (22 page)

The first glimmer of daylight flickered across Ben's face. Sleepily he brushed at his face and snuggled deeper into duvet. The daylight turned its attention to the sleeping forms of Mak and Trep who, like Ben, tried to brush the irritant away but failed. Mak rubbed his eyes and blinked at the change in light while Trep buried his head under the pillow to avoid being poked in the eye by the fingers of light.

Mak, who had by now rubbed his eyes open, looked around at the room that none of them had been able to see the night before. From where he lay, Mak could see three other beds besides his own, each covered with an elaborately patterned duvet and huge pillows that almost swallowed the occupant's head. The irritating daylight was now percolating through a rather grimy window whose equally grubby curtains had been drawn back. Wrapped in an ill-fitting duvet stood Noj, staring out at the newly revealed landscape.

‘What's out there?' enquired Mak, his voice a sleep-parched squeak.

Noj, turning slowly away from the window, frowned and gave a slight shrug. ‘Not sure,' he replied thoughtfully. ‘But it's not what I expected.'

Peering over the edge of his warm duvet, Ben blinked at the daylight. ‘The last I remember,' he said sleepily, ‘was a forest of dead trees and this hooded figure with a lantern. I can't remember much after that, apart from a rather inviting pillow,' he added pushing his head deeper into the inviting softness.

‘Fellas!' called Mak, wrestling with his duvet.

‘This pillow is something else,' continued Ben.

‘Fellas!' repeated Mak. ‘There's something missing,' he said staring under the duvet.

‘Really,' grinned Ben. ‘Have you only just noticed?'

‘No, seriously,' grimaced Mak. ‘There really is something missing.'

‘He's right,' said Noj as a broad smile swept his face. ‘Look for yourself.'

‘No thanks,' replied Ben sternly.

‘I meant,' added Noj, ‘look under your own duvet.'

Cautiously, Ben lifted his duvet a peered into the soft gloom. ‘Thank goodness for that,' he said with relief. ‘You had me worried for a moment.' He paused, looked from Noj to Mak and back again and then peered once more beneath the duvet. ‘Good grief,' he cried. ‘Where are my clothes?'

‘I think,' said Noj, indicating the window with his head. ‘That you'll find our newly washed clothes embracing the sunlight.'

With one movement, Ben leapt out of bed draping the duvet around him. He paused briefly at the window before turning back towards the room.

‘They've been washed,' he announced with a frown.

‘Remind me to ask you when I need someone to state the blinding obvious,' snarled Mak.

‘But what about the Book and the diamond?' Ben asked. ‘My cloak couldn't have been washed without someone emptying the pockets, my Mum always does,' he added.

Before anyone had a chance to reply, the door burst open and three beautiful girls walked in carrying trays laden with freshly baked bread, sweet smelling jams and round doughnut-like cakes dripping with syrup.

‘Good morning, boys,' chirruped the girl with golden hair. ‘Slept well I hope?'

Three of the boys instantly hugged their duvets tightly around them while Trep, still with his head buried beneath his pillow simply grunted.

Golden Hair, smiled and hooked her foot around the leg of a small table. Dragging it into the middle of the room, she motioned to the other two girls to place their laden trays onto the table. ‘Here you are then,' she smiled. ‘Eat your fill and we'll catch you later.'

Ben had difficulty deciding which vision to look at first. A quick glance at the food and his mouth began to ache with anticipation. A second, and longer glance at the three girls caused his heart to flutter.

Standing next to the table, and enjoying every moment of being the centre of attention, were three pictures of beauty. Golden Hair, who seemed to be the one the other two girls looked to for guidance, had eyes the colour of deep blue sapphires. Her cheekbones appeared to nudge her eyes closer to her forehead. Her sun-ripened hair was loosely held away from her face with a large, multi-coloured ribbon.

The other two girls were striking in their difference to each other. The taller of the two girls peered coyly at the boys from behind her glistening red hair, which fell across her face, partially hiding eyes of hazel and green. The shortest of the three girls smiled brazenly at each of the boys. Her jet black eyes searched every facet of their features, seemingly appraising each of them before arriving at a decision. Neither of the boys was sure what they were being appraised for or whether they might agree with her decision, whatever that might be.

Almost emphasising their beauty by contrast, each of the three girls wore cloaks that were dour, indiscriminate in colour and displayed a plethora of haphazardly stitched patches. The girls, aware of the boy's scrutiny, smiled, tugged their ragged cloaks around themselves and, with a slight nod, encouraged the boys to eat the food from the trays.

Golden hair ushered the other two girls towards the door, but not before they had both looked directly at Ben and blinked a welcome to him. With embarrassment beginning to colour his face, Ben busied himself with the contents of the trays. Golden Hair gave an almost imperceptible shake of her head to the other two girls.

‘Come along now,' she chided. ‘Leave the boys to their stomachs. You can make eyes at them later.' She winked at Ben. ‘I'll have your clothes brought over to you in a moment.'

The door closed leaving the four boys staring at each other with full mouths.

‘What did you make of that?' asked Mak with breadcrumbs tumbling from his lips.

‘Ben seemed to like the look of the other two,' grinned Trep. ‘He couldn't take his eyes off them.'

‘Rubbish,' snapped Ben. ‘They were looking at me.' He quickly snatched two of the doughnut-like cakes and stuffed them into his mouth.

Trep, following Ben's example, took two of the cakes and, after pushing them into his mouth, lay back on his bed, placed the pillow over his head and snuggled beneath the duvet.

Aware that if they didn't act quickly they'd lose out in the cake snaffle, Noj and Mak emptied the plate of the remaining cakes. As the three chewed happily on their cakes, and Trep drifting off into a cake-fuelled slumber, a gentle lullaby drifted into their consciousness.

Hardly aware of the melody playing around their ears, the three wakeful eaters continued working their way through the trays of delightful food. Happy and replete, the three conscious eaters were contented. Each felt that finally they had reached a place of safety, somewhere to rest, to forget their responsibilities and cares and simply relax into the day. Ben, Noj and Mak each lay back on their beds, rested their hands behind their heads and sank into happiness.

A little while later, rested and feeling content with the world, Ben, Noj and Mak stretched their arms above their heads, happily smiling at each other. Now that their clothes had been delivered just moments before by the girl with the striking red hair, their contentment was complete. Mak sniffed deeply at their fresh laundry.

‘Care for a stroll around this wonderful landscape?' he asked.

Noj and Ben smiled in agreement. Pulling their clothes under the duvets, the boys hurriedly dressed before ambling beside the slumbering form of Trep. Ben nudged the body with his foot.

‘Come on, sleepy jaws, come and get some exercise while the day is still young.'

A grunt sounded from beneath the pillow.

‘I take it that you require a little more rest than we do,' Ben replied with a grin. ‘See you later.'

Walking into the bright day, the three occupants of the cabin blinked and rubbed their eyes. Looking around them, they couldn't help but smile.

‘Just look at that,' said Noj happily. ‘Have you ever seen such a beautiful sight?'

Surrounding the collection of cabins and sheds, a flourishing forest filled the landscape. Trees of varying shapes, sizes and colour formed a swathe of natural beauty around the dwellings. Even the buildings seemed resplendent nestling against the slowly rising hills that led to the mountains in the distance. Everywhere seemed to have a lustre that was as attractive as it was colourful. The three lads nodded encouragingly at each other.

‘Absolutely splendid,' announced Noj.

‘We're so glad you think so,' said a sultry voice.

Looking around, the lads were delighted to see three girls that had brought them breakfast earlier in the day.

‘It all looks wonderful,' said Ben looking at the forest and then the girls. ‘Beautiful.'

The three girls giggled in delight.

‘What a charmer,' said Golden Hair with a slight shake of her hair. ‘You seem to have a honeyed-tongue. We shall have to watch this one, won't we girls?'

The other two girls giggled again.

Ben, feeling the temperature rise in his face once again, swallowed noisily. ‘Er, well,' he stuttered.

‘Oh, and modest too,' said the raven-haired girl. She blew a kiss towards Ben who, much to his astonishment felt a gentle caress across his lips. His look of surprise made Noj and Mak laugh until they too felt a kiss brush their lips. The three lads stood looking both bemused and embarrassed.

‘Don't tease so,' admonished Golden Hair to the Raven beauty. She turned and smiled.

Now, my young gentlemen,' she said in silky tones. ‘Why don't you take your time, wander around our lovely forest and experience the beauty all around you.' She emphasised the last words with a flourish of her arm. ‘See,' she cried. ‘It's wonderful!'

Each of the three lads nodded in agreement. Everywhere did, indeed, look wonderful. The myriad of colours glistened in the sunlight while the aromatic flowers almost overwhelmed the senses. Ben sighed.

‘I can't remember when I last felt so contented, possibly never like this.'

Both Noj and Mak nodded enthusiastically as they watched the three beautiful girls walk away towards a low, wooden building and disappear inside. Ben, sniffing the air, grinned inanely.

‘I think I'll do as Golden Hair suggested and look around.' He indicated the huddle of wooden buildings. ‘I'll take a look over there,' he said dreamily. ‘You never know, I just might see somewhere to put down my roots.'

With a knowing grin, Noj began to wander towards the forest while Mak ambled towards a lake that reflected the vibrancy of the sky.

It didn't take Noj very long to find his senses completely overwhelmed by the sights, sounds and smells of the forest. He felt as if this were the forest that he had waited all of his life to find. Everywhere was exactly what he wanted a forest to be, it was a dream fulfilled.

Meanwhile, Mak, having reached the edge of the lake, removed his shoes and waded knee-deep into the velvety warmth of the water. The ripples on the surface of the lake caressed his legs, making him feel relaxed and happy. Staring across the lake he could see the branches from Willow trees stroking the water, causing circular ripples of their own. At the very far edge of the lake, Mak thought he could see the outline of a small boat rhythmically nodding on the surface. He sighed contentedly as he ambled along the edge of the lake. All was very well with his world.

Ben had ambled casually around a couple of buildings without paying very much attention to any of them. He was more than content he was intoxicated with happiness. His happiness expressed itself with an almost tuneful whistle that gently caressed the air. Casually, Ben stroked the wood-encased buildings as he passed, whistling a cacophony of tunes that seemed to run in an endless loop inside of his head. Passing a rather dour looking building, which had several broken panes of glass littering its window frames, Ben suddenly became aware of another tune buffeting the air. The melancholic snatches of sound appeared distant, almost fragmented against the heart-warming tunes that filled his head. Cautiously, Ben pulled himself up on tiptoe and peered through the broken window into the murky gloom.

At first, there was nothing to see but a deepening gloom with pinpricks of sunlight playing on the jagged edges of the glass panes. But, just as his legs began to complain at the strain, something stirred in the shadows. Ben allowed his legs to relax for a few moments and then, once again, he dug his fingertips into the thin, wooden windowsill and hauled himself towards the broken window.

‘Aaargh!' he screamed. Stumbling backwards, Ben couldn't take his eyes away from the small, pale face that stared at him from behind the shards of dirty glass.

‘Sssh,' hissed the face with a finger placed firmly against its lips. ‘Please be quiet.'

Looking down at him was a pair of distinct blue eyes framed by a tangled mess of fair hair. The face hissed in agitation.

‘Be quiet!' it ordered. ‘Haven't you got any sense?'

‘Sense?' replied Ben. ‘It all makes sense.' He gestured at the surrounding landscape. ‘What is there to be quiet about with such beauty all around?'

‘Beauty? Spat the face. ‘You call this beauty?'

Ben looked at the face in amazement. He couldn't comprehend the annoyance the face expressed with being in these wonderful surroundings. He looked at the face again and shrugged.

‘I don't understand,' he mumbled.

The blue eyes looked intently at Ben and then appeared to reach a conclusion. The eyes smiled.

‘Somehow, I seem to have become trapped inside of this dilapidated building. I wonder,' asked the face. ‘Could you see if the door has become jammed and, if it has, would you try and free it for me please? I've been stuck in here too long.'

With a beguiling smile, the face disappeared from view. Ben smiled to himself and, humming one of the random tunes he could hear, sauntered around the side of the building in search of a door.

The door, when he eventually located it at the rear of the building, looked very resolute in its objection to any kind of movement. Ben took a deep breath as he scrutinised the huge metal clasps and bolts that embraced the door. With a shake of his head he sauntered back to the front of the building.

‘Excuse me.' He asked knocking at the window frame. Almost instantly the intense blue eyes peered down at him. The face tilted to one side with a slight arch of its questioning eyebrows. ‘Why do you want to get out?' enquired Ben.

‘Because I'm stuck inside,' came the reply. The face appeared thoughtful for a moment until a resigned smile changed its appearance. ‘On such a beautiful day would you want to remain inside?' asked the face.

Ben thought for a moment and then smiled.

‘Of course not,' he replied. ‘You need to be outside to enjoy the day.' Without a further word, Ben sauntered once more towards the rear of the building.

The door was as obstinate as it was solid. No matter what Ben did the door remained firmly within the surrounding frame. Finally, Ben gave up and took a step backwards. Placing his hands on his hips, he smiled and sighed simultaneously.

‘It's no good,' he mused. ‘The door won't move, you can't move, the sun is bright, the day is long and I can't see a reason to change things.'

A dull thud sounded from behind the door swiftly followed by a muffled cry of pain. Ben began to whistle one of the many tunes that hung in the air.

‘Are you OK?' he enquired.

‘No I am most certainly not OK!' snapped the voice from within the building. ‘Will you please release me so that I can join you in the sunlight. It's so dark and lonely in here.'

Ben felt a wave of compassion overwhelm him. He couldn't ignore the predicament of someone who wasn't able to enjoy the beauty that surrounded him. Taking a careful look at the rear of the building, it was quickly apparent that no obvious method of releasing the door from its confinement. Ben felt around the edge of the doorframe for some sort of mechanism that would open the door but, no matter what he pressed, pushed or pulled, the door remained obstinately shut.

It was while Ben was pondering on the problem, that his eye was distracted by the window, which rested, at a jaunty angle, to the right of the door. It took a few moments before he realised what it was that made this window appear different to the others. With a grin, Ben placed a finger and thumb, on one vertical piece of the window frame and then measured the other upright piece of frame. He repeated the process twice more before he was satisfied that there was, indeed, a slight difference in the thickness of the two pieces of wood. Once he had established this fact, he scratched his nose in thought as he tried to work out why there was a difference.

Carefully running his finger down the left-hand part of the window frame, Ben felt a subtle ridge about halfway down the wooden upright section. Placing two fingers against the ridge, he gently prised the top half of the wooden upright away from the rest of the frame. As he did so, the door emitted a sigh and relinquished its position. Immediately a pale figure sprang out of the dark space and flung itself at Ben. With its arms wrapped firmly around Ben's neck, the figure kissed his cheek.

‘Thank you, thank you, thank you,' kissed the figure. ‘You can't begin to imagine how happy you've made me.'

Gently, Ben prised the pair of arms from his neck and lowered the figure to the ground. Standing sheepishly before him stood a delicately framed girl whose features were accentuated by tear-stained grime. She raised her vibrant blue eyes to his and smiled.

‘I am so grateful,' she said in a musical voice. ‘I will be sure to inform my father of your heroic deed.'

‘Steady on,' grinned Ben with the familiar feeling of embarrassment raising his temperature. ‘It is what anyone would have done to allow you to experience this wonderful landscape.'

The girl looked inquisitively at Ben. ‘Can you hear soothing tunes?' she asked, her eyes narrowing.

‘Definitely,' he replied. ‘They're everywhere.'

The girl nodded and smiled sadly. ‘I thought as much,' she said. Taking his hand, the girl began to lead him away from the building. ‘Come and see the lake, it is beautiful there too.'

Humming contentedly to himself, Ben allowed the girl to lead him down to the lakeside.

To Ben's eyes, the lake sat like a diamond surrounded by a cluster of coloured jewels. The water shimmered in the sunlight as tiny ripples stroked the shoreline. Still holding the girl's hand, he stepped to the edge of the waterline and allowed the lake to caress his toes.

‘This is bliss,' he whispered.

The girl sighed quietly. She raised her hand that held his and pointed to the far shore.

‘Can you see that boat over there?' she asked.

Ben placed his free hand above his eyes to interrupt the sun's glare. Moving his head slowly from side to side, he allowed every beautiful detail to register on his senses.

‘So beautiful,' he sighed.

The girl frowned in annoyance.

‘Over there,' she hissed and immediately placed both hands on to Ben's head and directed his eyes towards the boat.

‘Hey!' objected Ben with a smile. ‘Just taking in the loveliness.'

‘Sorry,' replied the girl. ‘My father tells me I'm too impatient at times.' She smiled at Ben. ‘Shall we take a trip around the lake with the boat?'

‘But it's right over…' began Ben.

‘No problem,' interrupted the girl. ‘We don't have to walk all the way over to the boat, we'll get the boat to come to us.' Without another word, she turned around and rang a little silver bell, which hung from a branch just behind their heads. Ben hadn't noticed the bell before but now he smiled at the singing chimes that began with a pleasant, bright tone that gradually grew in volume. As the chimes resonated across the lake, the boat slowly left its moorings and began to drift towards them.

As the boat progressed across the water, the bell's chimes became more strident, urgent in their nature and becoming increasingly louder. The noise was disconcerting. As Ben turned his head away from the bell, he noticed that the surface of the lake had changed. The once gentle ripples were now being whipped into flurries of white-tipped waves by a vicious wind that scurried across the lake. Almost instantaneously, the scenery began to shiver, reacting to the bitter wind that swirled and battered at each tree and plant. Gradually, the colours began to fade and, where once vibrant flowers and leaves had basked in the warmth of the sunlight, there were now dull, grey, wizened stumps.

‘How…' began Ben pointing at the discomforting sight.

‘Who cares?' shouted Noj as he accompanied by Mak and Trep, suddenly appeared by the shoreline.

The girl pointed back towards the collection of dilapidated buildings. ‘You've been entranced, mesmerised by those three, hateful crones back there.'