Melforger (The Melforger Chronicles) (20 page)

“I’m no tree doctor, Leiana; this is beyond me. Vince was the expert. Nobody knew more than him about the Forest.”

“So that leaves us standing here on ground that might break open at any moment?”

“But there are no signs of the rot inside the village, Leiana. What we need to do is speak to an expert. Someone in the Forest must have some knowledge about this sort of thing. We need to send messengers out to all the other villages.“

“When the ground’s rotting underneath us?” spluttered Nathyn.

Tarvil felt a tap on his hand and stepped aside to let the scrawny form of Fergus move shyly to stand in front of them.

“Fergus? We’re having an important conversation here right now,” said Leiana.

“Um, I thought I should tell you that… that… I -”

“What, boy? Out with it,” snapped Nathyn.

Resma knelt down facing the boy. “What’s wrong Fergus? Don’t be afraid to tell us.”

Fergus swallowed, keeping his face turned down towards the ground. “When I was travelling here with Mr. Wesp, he made a big fire off the path -”

“In the Forest?
You made a
fire?”
interrupted Leiana furiously. “Surely you must know that’s dangerous, Fergus!
“

Resma hushed her and turned back to Fergus. “Then what happened?”

“Well, Mrs. Ottery, the fire was going and then the ground broke. There was a really big hole.”

“It was probably the fire,” said Nathyn. “There’s a reason we have these laws! If only these travelers w-“

“- no sir, it was
definitely
something in the wood, sir. Mr. Wesp made me climb down to get his bag and I could see the ground where it broke. It smelled really, really horrible like the Foreman said. And it was green like… like old bread.”

“He made you climb down into the hole in the ground to get his bag?” asked Tarvil softly.

“Yes, sir; but, don’t worry Mr. Gency, I’m a good climber. I’ve never fallen, except… I did kind of fall down the hole a bit…” He looked uncomfortably at the ground front of him.

“Fergus,” said the Foreman, “where did this happen?”

“Well, you know where all the roads turn into one big one to go to Three Ways?”

“All the way north near
Borilcester?
” came the strained voice of Nathyn. ”I just travelled past there!”

“Foreman, you need to make a call now,” said Tarvil. “We have to warn the other villages if they don’t already know. We must assume the entire Forest is affected and although it’s a risk travelling, we need to work together to find a solution urgently. Someone must know something that can help.”

“I agree,” the Foreman responded. I’ll call an Overcouncil. We should send pigeons at once.”

“We don’t have nearly enough, and it’s too slow, too many villages. We need people to get here now, immediately, before things get any worse. It’ll take some people days to get here as it is, and every hour is precious. We must resort to desperate measures.”

“Then what? What other options?” The Foreman suddenly threw a sharp look at Tarvil. “Do… do you mean what I think you do?” Tarvil nodded firmly.

“What is this? What are you talking about?” asked Leiana.

“The
Ash-knell
.”

.  .  .  .  .  .  .

“When our ancestors were chased here by the iMahlis centuries ago, they lived in communities far apart in the Forest and needed to work out a way to call meetings in times of emergency. It had to be something that was quick and effective, so they crafted these Ash trees – four of them – in specific locations through the Aeril Forest.”

“Crafted?” asked Dalton.

The Foreman shrugged. “Something like that. Whatever they did, the
Ash-knells
were built with one purpose in mind.”

“And what is that?”

“They’re perfect resonating chambers. B
asically,
huge bells.”

“How do they work?” asked Resma.

“No idea,” replied the Foreman. He looked at Tarvil who shook his head. “Nobody’s used one in generations. But they’re supposed to emit a sound that can be heard throughout the entire Forest.”

“’Supposed to’? Can you be sure they work? Or that they even exist?” asked Leiana.

“I have to trust that they work. And as for whether they exist, ours is in the Jacaranda Dale. My father showed it to me many years ago. Every Foreman knows where their nearest one is.”

“What, south-east? Through this huge patch of decay?” stammered Leiana, tapping a heavily chalked area on the map. “That area is one of the worst!”

The Foreman rubbed his head. “It’s not
too
far, and there must be some way to get to it safely.”  He looked upwards. “The canopy walkways?”

“They don’t go far enough, Foreman. Half way at best.”

“Actually, Foreman,” came the hesitant voice of Jover, “I’ve been expandin’ my canopy farms a little, and with a new technique I’ve come up with, it should be possible t’get pretty close, I reck’n.”

“New techniques, Jover?”

“Well, some rope ‘arnesses and pulleys, mostly.“

“Aren’t you a bit long-in-the-tooth to be swinging around tree-tops these days?” asked Nathyn incredulously.

“You’ll ‘ave to forgive me, Councilman, when I say ‘me’, I’m actually referrin’ to my apprentice. He’s got it down perfectly.”

“Who’s this?” asked the Foreman. “Can we get him in here right now?”

“He’s standin’ right behind you, Foreman.”

They all turned around to look back at Fergus who had a nervous lopsided grin on his face. He raised a hand and waved it in embarrassment.

“Is that right, Fergus?” said Tarvil. “I’ve been hearing stories about your antics up there. Do you think it’s possible for us to get to Jacaranda Dale from here? Using the upper canopy?”

“I don’t know where that is, sir, but I’ve been almost all the way to Hunton Daire up there before.” Jover patted his shoulder as the young boy beamed a grin back at him.

“Well,” said the Foreman reluctantly, “if this young one can do it, then it’s worth trying. I wonder if it might be safer to go with someone other than me, in c-”

“I’m sure Raf would be willing to go,” said Leiana.

Raf clenched his teeth and started to say something in reply when Cisco added, “If he’s going, then I’m going as well, Mrs. Gency!” He wrapped an arm around Raf’s shoulder and grinned at Leiana.

The Foreman looked at them both dryly. “I suppose that’ll do. But no more. And I think we should leave immediately seeing as the rain’s letting up. It’ll take us a good while to get there and speed is of the essence.”

He looked at Fergus. “What do we need to take with us, lad?”

“Nothing, Foreman. All the stuff’s up
Nviro
. I’ll get it when we’re up there.”

The Foreman nodded and strode off past the Council.

“Good luck,” muttered Dr Allid.

The Foreman turned back to face them as the three boys walked past. “If this works, we will have guests from every corner of the Aeril Forest here, hopefully within days. Get yourselves prepared for an Overcouncil. Leiana, you know what to do.”

“And the funeral?” asked Tarvil.

“Do it today.”

He waved and then turned to follow the boys. Behind them, the Council broke into a
farwelayre
, only stopping when the group disappeared down the path.

“H
e’s quicker than I thought he’d be,” said Raf under his breath. The two boys were standing on a small platform, staring up at the muscular frame of the Foreman who was climbing up
Nviro
above them.

“Yeah,” agreed Cisco. “He’d probably look even more impressive if he wasn’t next to monkey-boy, though. Look at the little guy go!”

Above the Foreman, Fergus was using hanging vines to help haul himself up the trunk, swinging and jumping acrobatically towards the canopy.

“You just wait till he grows up and weighs what we do,” said Cisco. “Come on, let’s get after them.” He took hold of the ladder and hoisted himself up.

They climbed for another few hundred feet until they were on the exact wooden decking that the boys had been on only a few days before.

“All right, Fergus,” said the Foreman. “I’d say we have maybe three hours before it gets too dark to climb so we’d better get going.” He stood up and peered towards the south-east Forest. “What do we need for our little expedition?”

Fergus disappeared up the trunk into a dense clump of leaves. There was some rustling, and a few minutes later, a warning: “Watch out!” A huge coil of vine-rope flopped down, followed by a bulging sack. Fergus sprang down lightly after it and dusted his hands off.

“That’s it?” asked Raf.

Fergus nodded enthusiastically and opened up the sack to show them some dark brown ironwood harnesses. Each one was connected firmly by a curved rod to a chunky wooden wheel.

“Mr. Jover made the wheels. I don’t really need this, but I don’t think you'll be able to cross some of the bits.”

“I suppose I should really watch my weight a bit more,” said the Foreman blithely. He winked at the boy who grinned back and then took hold of the rope to loop it around his shoulders. “Let’s go.”

Fergus lead them to a stout walkway which they mounted in single file and followed for a few hundred feet towards some oak
Ancients
. The wooden slats swayed and moved under their weight and although the thick new ropes they held on to seemed solid, Raf found it disconcerting walking so high above the canopy in the open air.

Looking through the cracks between the wood, he could see a crown layer some two hundred feet below him, a rough quilt-work of dark leafy tree-tops that was punctuated here and there with a splash of floral colors. Scattered around were flat patches on the
Ancients’
branches identifying canopy farms, and connecting them all, a sprawling network of walkways like the one they were on, giving the appearance of a gigantic spider’s web.

When they reached the end of the walkway, they arrived at a large wooden platform that connected two adjacent oak
Ancient
trunks.

“Here we are,” said Fergus.

“I’m bushed,” said Cisco, flopping down to rest on his back against the heavy side-netting. “Ahh… this is so comfortable. A nap would be perfect.”

The Foreman slipped the ropes off his shoulder. “No time for that Master Brunnow. Still a fair ways to go.”

“It’s going to be much harder from here, Cisco,” said Fergus.

“I’m almost scared to ask this, monkeyboy, but… what’s your plan?”

Fergus smiled shyly and turned towards the opposite end. “We’ve got to get over there.” He pointed and they gazed out along the solid floor of green crowns to where, sprouting out of the foliage, was a twisted olive
Ancient
that looked strangely like an old woman’s hand. Between the nearest branch and where they stood was a deep gully, perhaps a hundred yards wide.

“So, how do we get there?” asked Cisco.

“We have to use the harnesses. But wait for me to get it all ready, OK? Can you hold this?” said Fergus, handing him the end of the rope, which was on the floor in a neat coil. “And don’t let go!”

Cisco stared in shock as the young boy sprinted to the end of the deck and launched himself into the air towards a lower branch near them, latching on to the tips of a smaller branch which then swung him roughly through the air towards a heavy vine. Once near it, he leapt up to grab hold of it and then crawled up quickly, wedging the rope between his feet as he reached up for more purchase.

The rope whipped and rustled as it played out, and Cisco wrapped the end around his hand, steadying himself. He felt a tug on his belt from behind and looked around to see the Foreman grabbing it.

“Just in case.” The Foreman grinned at him.

Cisco gulped and turned back to stare at Fergus who was now running, stooped low, along a branch slightly lower down. He leapt off and caught hold of a vine hanging from a branch which swung him towards the
Ancient’s
main trunk. Catching hold of the edges of a crevice in the bark, it then took him no time to scramble up to the branch above where he finally stopped. Looping the rope around a waist-thick stump of bark, he fastened it securely.

“Our turn, I think,” said the Foreman. His face had gone a slightly green color as he peeled his hand off Cisco’s belt and brushed the hair back out of his eyes.

“I’ll go first,” said Raf. He found himself slipping into one of the harnesses, wondering why he’d volunteered. “No idea what I’m doing, though.”

Behind him, the Foreman heaved on the rope until it lifted in the air, forming a taut line down to the other tree, and then tied it firmly around a thick branch behind them. Then he joined Cisco and they peered at the wheel contraption that Raf was fiddling with.