[October Sky] Part V

EARLIER PARTS: ONE | TWO | THREE | FOUR


A cool orange sunset found them on the edge of the lake. Nearby they could see a cottage with white puffs of smoke issuing from it. Emma’s sore feet kept her from running toward it in a fit of joy. As it was, she winced and eased her way toward it through the mud. When they reached it, she knocked on the door. From inside,

“Stand on no ceremony. Come in and tell me your plight.”

Emma opened the door on a tidy scene. Drying herbs hung from the rafters in bunches. A wooden bed lay covered in blankets. A woman, ample and aging, stood over a pot hung on a well-stoked fire. Cedric entered behind Emma and shut the door.

“Miss Matilda.”

“No Miss necessary, just Matilda. And to my ear you sound foreign, from where do you hail?”

“A long way from here.”

“Then the price of dinner is the tale of your journey and don’t leave anything out or there’ll be no dessert.” Matilda waved them to places near the fire and continued stirring.

If she found any of Emma’s story strange, she said nothing about it while she served a thin soup full of vegetables to the pair. Then for dessert there were apples warmed near the fire. Once the tale, including the harrowing escape from the castle and the meeting with Father William, was told, she turned to Cedric and said,

“Shame on you for bringing a child out of her home without explaining the dangers.”

“Our need was and is dire,” Cedric said. “And she came of her own free will.”

“I did. I guess, I should have counted the cost better.”

“No matter,” Matilda said. “You’ve come to me and I’ll see what it is that I can do for you. You say you’re looking for an herb called Lamia’s hair?”

“Yes, it’s a weed flower with long purple petals and a silver-black center.”

“That’s generally something the cows eat.”

“So Father William said,” Cedric said.

“And he’s right, the old coot.” She stacked the bowls together and set them aside. “But there is one field where I know the cow herders don’t go. It’s too close to old Hammerford.”

“Old Hammerford?” Cedric leaned forward.

“Yes, the original site of the town. Long since given up to beasts and ghosts.” Matilda stoked the fire and fell silent. “I’m reluctant to send you there, but it’s the only place I know for certain you can find that flower without sending you ranging across a hundred different fields.”

“We’ll go there. Just point us in the right direction,” Emma said.

“Yes, we’ll go.”

“Promise me that you’ll be careful. Whether or not the place is truly haunted, it is old and rotting. Not a good place to go.”

Matilda gathered a few blankets off the bed.

“You’ll be staying here for the night. Not sending you out in the cold to do battle against ghosts.”

The morning started with heavy pounding on the door. Matilda, already up, whispered to her guests now just rising.

“It’s best you leave by the lake.” She ushered them to the far side of the house beside the bed and opened up a hole in the floor which lead down into the water. “Go now. Swim away. I’ll keep our visitors busy.” She shut the trapdoor behind them and they could hear her walking across the floor. Above them came voices.

“Matilda. We seek two fugitives.”

Emma eased into the water and swam away with Cedric not far behind. They stayed mostly below the water, but not too far from the shore so they could get out once they were out of sight of Matilda’s cottage. Out of the water, they did the best they could to squeeze the excess out of their clothes, but they were left drenched.

“She didn’t tell us where to find the town,” Emma said.

“It’s most likely further up river. We’ll come to it if we keep walking.”

“And what if we don’t?”

“Then the next village we come to, we’ll ask around. We cannot go back.”

Despite wanting to, Emma knew Cedric was right. Matilda risked a lot to send them away. Going back would only put her in more danger. Emma grabbed Cedric’s hand and they started down the way together with the river at their side.


Emma and Cedric headed through the forest away from the river. The guard continued to search for them, so stopping was hardly an option. They needed to get as far away as they could. However, men on horseback had the advantage of speed. Wits and strong limbs would be the only thing that could keep them ahead. Several hours later, they came to a fence post jutting out of nowhere. The overgrown ground near it sported flowers of various colors, but no purple. They passed it and kept going. The first ramshackle house they passed only had three walls and half a roof. The former front door hung off what was left of the jamb. Emma poked her head inside to see if anything grew through the floorboards. Didn’t want to miss what they were looking for just because the place had an air of ancient decrepit mindless malevolence. A well sat in the center of the group of falling houses. Everywhere profusions of grass and flowers. The ground at least wasn’t rancid. Emma’s shoeless feet liked the soft dirt and grass over the harsh terrain of the forest. Fewer roots to trip over and stub her toes. Cedric stopped at the well and looked down it.

“It’s gone dry, I think.”

“Maybe why they left?”

“Maybe.”

It sounded better than something driving them away, which Emma felt in her bones. The ground might not have been rancid, but the air carried a scent of something disturbing. Emma looked into another house, checking the floor and even the walls for the chance something could be growing there. No purple. Blue. Green. Red. Yellow. No purple. She clenched her fists and said,

“I hope Matilda was right.”

“I do as well,” Cedric said. Together they approached a third house, Emma’s eyes sweeping back and forth along the ground. Cedric stepped up on the stairs and poked his head inside.

“We’re looking for purple flowers, yes?”

“You see some?”

“Straight through there.” He pointed. He lead the way through the back corner of the house where a support had fallen in. In the field behind the house, there were a profusion of purple flowers. Emma dropped to her knees beside them and began to pick them by their long stems doing the best she could to not bruise the flowers. Cedric stayed close by.

The sound of scraping on wood brought her attention back to their surroundings.

“What was that?”

“I don’t know.” Cedric looked around and drew closer. “Hurry.”

“I am.” She stuffed the flowers into a pouch made from the edges of Father William’s shirt. “We should go.”

They headed back the way they came only to have to dash into a hiding spot in the shadows. Riders were in the village.

“We need to get out of here,” Cedric whispered.

“How?”

“Maybe this way.” He slid to one side and uncovered a pocked mirror. “I can send us through.”

Emma remembered all too well going through the mirror from her bedroom to this new world. To go through another mirror meant ending up somewhere else and she wasn’t certain she was prepared for that. However, she swallowed those words and nodded. As Cedric worked on the mirror, Emma slid back to the doorway and peeked out.

The riders had dismounted and were moving in pairs from one house to the next. They would get to the house where they were hidden in a few minutes.

“How long?” Emma hissed.

“Soon. Get closer,” Cedric said. She moved back out of sight, one hand gripping the edges of the shirt. The mirror lit with a phosphorous light. The blemishes in the surface stood out like bronze roses against the light. The sound of footsteps set Emma’s heart racing.

Getting too close.

“Come on,” Cedric said.

A shadow appeared in the doorway. Cedric wiggled his way through the mirror and Emma went to follow. Just as she reached the mirror, the shadow entered the house.

“They’re here! They’re here!” the guard yelled. He charged forward as Emma dropped through the glass into Cedric’s arms.

The sword came through aimed at Emma’s back, but as she dropped it slid over her shoulder leaving a shallow cut as it snapped off when the mirror closed. It hit the floor with a clatter. The two of them stood in a dressing room. Emma didn’t know where, but recognized it immediately.

“We need to go.”

She led the way out of the dressing room and onto the boutique floor.

“Where are we?” Cedric asked.

“I’m not sure, but we need to leave.”

The cashier looked at them both with their queer clothing and let her mouth drop. Emma didn’t say anything to her and swept past. Cedric was in step as they reached the door.

“Have a nice day.”

“Thank you,” Emma said. Then they were on the street. Cars whizzed by on the thoroughfare. Emma did a quick turn to look at as much as she could and said,

“I know where we are. This way.” She started down the street. Cedric however stopped to stare at the cars.

“How without horses?”

“There are things called motors,” Emma said. “Let’s go.” Her free hand looped through his and dragged him along. They moved through the town at a hurried walk, Emma’s bare feet eliciting more than a few odd looks. Of course, it didn’t help that she carried a bunch of flowers around in her shirt. No one stopped them, however, so she kept going.

Cedric’s head swiveled in one direction then another trying to take everything in. Thankfully, Emma knew where they were going. On a nearly empty side street, they came to an abrupt stop. Several yards away, a person tottered on the sidewalk. They moved with a slow stiffness that made Emma cringe. She pulled Cedric away.

“What’s happening?”

“We don’t want to go this way,” she said.

“Emmaline?”

“Cedric, let’s just go.”

It lurched toward them in the light of day. Emma always thought creatures like that needed the cover of night. Except she kept seeing them in day. It’s hands came up, grabbing, searching. Emma tried to drag Cedric’s unmoving bulk, but he stood his ground.

“Why are we running?”

“Let’s just go.”

She ducked down a side street, fully expecting him to follow, but he didn’t.

“Cedric!”

She ducked her head out of the alleyway and called him again. He shook himself out of a stupor and came after her.

“Why do you have a soulless here?” he asked.

“A what?”

“A soulless. Creatures who are caught under the power of the well who only seek to make more of their own.”

“Maybe because the well’s closed on this side too.” Emma ran. He kept up.

Mr. Amon’s shop appeared to be open. The store hours said it should be, but when they entered, no one came to see about them. Emma walked slow over the carpet. Horus squeaked as if in recognition. Cedric looked around at the bottles with awe on his face.

“I’ve never seen anything like this.”

“It’s an alchemist’s shop. My master should be here somewhere.” She dropped the flowers on the mixing table and went behind the curtain. No one home.

“He must have gone out,” she said. His files were close at hand. She riffled through the recipes looking for something that would tell her she was on the right track. Cedric poked one of the drawers, trying to draw it out, but Zamara was having nothing to do with him. He pulled on the handle. It refused to move.

“Leave the cabinet alone,” Emma said as she flicked her way through a pile of cards. “It won’t open for you if it doesn’t know you.”

“Know me?”

“No, Mr. Amon hasn’t introduced you. Zamara doesn’t know you and won’t open for you.”

“It has a name?”

“Of course, it does.” Emma found a card that looked right and tried to read it. Amon’s crabby handwriting made deciphering anything he wrote a challenge. And of course he couldn’t just put a list of ingredients on it, too proprietary. However, she knew Charmot on sight. The symbols for Lamia’s hair also stood out to her.

“I think I have it.”

“Have what?”

“The recipe we need.”

The door chimed. Emma stuck her head out the curtain and said,

“Hello, welcome to the shop.”

The face which greeted her sent her pale. He pulled a gun on both of them.

“Get away from there,” he commanded.

“Who are you?” Cedric asked.

“That’s none of your business, boy. Both of you, come closer.”

Emma almost ducked back behind the curtain, but fear said he would shoot her if she did that. Slowly, she came out from behind the curtain and stepped into the floor. When she drew close to Cedric, she offered him her hand. He took it and laced his fingers through hers.

“The well must not be reopened,” the man said.

“How do you know about that?” Cedric asked.

“It doesn’t matter, just know it must remain closed.”

“The well must be reopened,” Cedric said. With his free hand, he grabbed a bottle from the nearest shelf and flung it at the man. The bottle shattered on the man’s forearm, but it spoiled his aim just long enough for Cedric and Emma to split up. Emma threw herself to the floor and crawled. Cedric hid behind one of the high shelves.

Emma could see the man’s feet from where she lay. He came toward her and then moved away again and she tried her best to stay still. If he didn’t see her, he couldn’t shoot her. She crawled toward the mixing table. It would give her a clear line toward the door.

Cedric was out of her vision and it made her a little antsy. Then she heard commotion. The man rushed forward and tried to shoot Cedric, who took him on hand to hand. There wasn’t much difference in their size and Emma hoped Cedric would be enough to stop him. At the mixing table, she got up to a crouch.

The pair struggled in the center of the floor. The gun went off once. Suddenly the entire shop erupted in motion. Zamara clacked and slammed her drawers. The shelves rattled their bottles and jars. Everything shuddered and cried. Emma grabbed a handful of what was in the mixing bowl, thinking for a moment that it should have been empty, and ran up to throw it in the intruder’s face.

Cedric caught some to the side of his face, but most of it went into the intruder’s eyes. He bawled and clawed with his free hand. Cedric slipped around him. Emma took the card she had and grabbed a few of the flowers before she ran for the door as well.

“Come on!” Emma took the lead. Cedric limped a moment or two before settling into a run.


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