In today’s episode we read Chapter 18 – The Vanishings - in which Manon elaborates on past instances of people disappearing from Carnifex House
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FULL TRANSCRIPT:
Things with Wings Productions presents: Episode 18 of The Skylark Bell, Wingspan. I am your host, Melissa Oliveri.
In our previous episode, Lucas had a strange dream which involved he and Magpie getting married by a mysterious woman. He then woke up in a room at Magpie’s old farmhouse in Pocket with none other than Charlotte and Edward Carnifex caring for him.
In today’s episode we read Chapter 18 – The Vanishings - in which Manon elaborates on past instances of people disappearing from Carnifex House
Now, it’s time to settle in… grab a blanket, and a warm drink… and let’s get started.
“The Vanishings, that’s what the villagers call them,” says Manon, a sad look in her eye.
“Many years before Julien’s friend vanished, a little girl also disappeared. She and her older brother were playing hide and seek outside, and only the boy returned home…” she lets the words hang in the air for a moment. “When his family asked him where his sister was, he said he didn’t know. That he hid behind a rock at the edge of the forest while his sister was counting. After a few minutes he saw his sister follow a red deer into the woods. He called out to her, but she didn’t listen, it was like she was sleepwalking. He said that he heard a woman singing, but it didn’t sound human, and then he felt a little dizzy and laid down. When he woke up it was getting dark, so he hurried home.” Manon leans back in her chair and takes a long slow sip of coffee.
Magpie leans back in her chair, soaking in this new information about Carnifex House. If someone had told her that she was moving to a place where multiple mysterious disappearances had occurred, she never would have believed them. What are the odds, after what she went through at Meadow Lane, that she would move to yet another place with inexplicable occurrences? And now Lucas is gone. Missing. Vanished.
“So, how many people have disappeared like this?” asks Magpie, trying to put the pieces together, still holding out hope that Lucas will walk through the door at any moment. Alfred had already reached out to tell them that no one in town had seen or heard from Lucas and Cormorant.
“The villagers don’t much like to discuss these things, I’ve only heard a few stories over the years, without much detail. But every time there is this strange singing or music involved. People seem to wander into the forest that grows between Carnifex House and Goldcrest Manor. That forest belongs to Carnifex House as well, but no one ever ventures there.”
Magpie furrows her brow, she hasn’t paid much attention to the forest, mostly viewing it as an obstacle between their farm and the main road winding down the cliffside toward town. A thought begins to wind its way into Magpie’s mind.
“What is it Magpie,” asks Manon, seeing the shift in her facial expression.
“Lucas told me he was going to ride down to the beach then follow the coast to the main road and come back up that way. If he lost track of time and was running late, maybe he decided to cut through the forest to get back here…” Magpie lets the thought hang in the air.
Manon shakes her head. “There aren’t any clear paths through the forest, I can’t imagine he would attempt something like that,” she says.
“But we’ve checked the fields, the beach, the town with no sign of him. No one has looked in the forest. What if he’s there? What if he’s hurt? Or trapped?” pushes Magpie, fighting the urge to put on her shoes and go herself.
“It would be very difficult to find someone in the forest, as I said, there are no clear walking paths, and the visibility is very bad,” she says, holding strong.
Magpie feels her frustration mounting. She would do everything possible, search every inch of the entire Isle of Skye, to find Lucas. “Could we at least gather people to check the perimeter of the forest? Maybe call his name? Something? Anything?!” she says, desperation in her voice.
The sound of the front door startles them both. Magpie whips her head around, her heart soaring at the thought that Lucas has come home. She feels her hopes plummet as Alfred walks through the dining room to the kitchen.
“Alfred, Magpie thinks there is a chance Lucas may have gone into the forest,” says Manon, her even gaze on Alfred’s face as he pulls a stool up to the table.
“Ah,” says Alfred, letting the single syllable swirl around the room, his eyes never leaving Manon’s face.
“What aren’t you telling me? Why aren’t we running out right now to try and find him?!” Magpie is doing everything in her power to keep from shouting.
Manon turns back to Magpie. “The people of Pòcaid will not go in or near the forest,” she says simply. “They say that land belongs to Dealan-dè, the powerful druid woman, and that those who venture into the woods never venture out. The boy’s mother wouldn’t even venture in there to look for her son. Beware the Carnifex, they say, those who go in never come out.”
“Is that why the people in town were so wary of us when we first came here and told them we were moving into Carnifex House?” asks Magpie, finally putting the pieces together, “they think Carnifex house is cursed somehow?”
Manon nods her head, “They were like that with us when we first arrived as well. Over time they got to know us, and we grew to have a civil, if not warm, relationship with the people of Pòcaid. But you must understand, there are the people of Pòcaid, and there are the people from Carnifex House. We are not one of them, and they are not one of us,” she says, firmly.
“Why didn’t any of this come up before? Why didn’t you tell us? Maybe if he had known he wouldn’t have gone into the woods!” says Magpie, unable to hold back the tears that are now winding their way down her cheeks.
“We did not think there was any truth to the stories. Even when Julien’s friend disappeared, we concluded that perhaps he went to the beach and got washed away with the tide. We never believed the stories, we thought they were just that, fables, like one reads to children at bed time,” says Alfred, laying his hand on top of Magpie’s as Manon hands her a tissue.
Magpie wipes her eyes, “I’m sorry, I’m not upset with you. I just can’t believe this is happening. I feel so… so… helpless!” she says.
“I will go the neighbour’s house and borrow Rose, remember Rose the horse? Then I will walk along the main road where it meets the woods and look for any sign of Lucas or Cormorant, any sign that anyone has entered the woods in the last day or so. A horse of Cormorant’s size would leave hoofprints at best and broken twigs at worst,” says Alfred encouragingly.
“Thank you,” whispers Magpie, unable to muster up enough energy to speak any more loudly.
Alfred nods at her and gets up from the stool. “Be careful,” says Manon, standing to give him a warm hug. He nods at her as well and turns to leave.
Magpie jolts at the sound of the front door closing. “Should I call my mom?” she asks, unsure of what to do next. Her heart sinks at her next thought. “What about Grandma Gemma, how am I going to tell her, Lucas is all she has!” At this, Magpie lets the tears flow freely. How could everything go so very, very wrong?
“Why don’t you and I put on our boots and walk along the tree line on this side of the forest, it will do us good to get some fresh air, and this way we will see if there are any signs of Lucas or Cormorant on this side of the woods, oui?” asks Manon. Magpie catches her breath and wipes the tears from her face with the back of her hand. She nods and stands up on shaky legs. “It will be alright, Magpie, no matter what, everything will find its way in time,” she says, taking Magpie’s hand. Magpie looks at her quizzically. “What is it, did I say something wrong?” she asks.
“No, not it all, it’s just that… an old friend once said those exact same words to me. Everything finds its way in time,” answers Magpie.
“Then your friend was very wise,” says Manon, with a gentle smile, “Come, let’s get going while we still have several hours of daylight.”
They gather their things and head out the back door, walk past the paddock and across the fields to the edge of the woods. Magpie sees a huge rock where two of the fields intersect.
“This is the rock that the boy was hiding behind when he saw his sister wander into the woods,” says Manon, nodding toward it. “The rock is a marker, so the landowners know where their land ends and the neighbouring farm’s land begins,” she adds. “There are rumours that it was used as part of druid rituals centuries ago, but of course no one knows whether there is any truth to that.”
Magpie walks up to the rock, feeling the rough, mossy surface with her hands as she circles behind it before crouching down, imagining that she is the little boy playing hide and seek. She feels the familiar tingle of a vision coming on, and sure enough out of nowhere a small boy appears next to her, crouching low to the ground, his eyes fixed on something near the line of trees ahead. Magpie follows his gaze and sees a small girl with a simple brown dress and leather lace-up boots, her hair tangled by the wind, walking toward the forest. As she steps beyond the first line of trees the boy stands up and takes a step out from behind the rock.
“Shelta!” he calls, his small voice quickly getting carried away by the wind, “Shelta! I’m over here!” he shouts, waving his arms wildly in the air. Magpie watches as the girl disappears into the darkness beyond the tree line, then she turns her attention to the boy, he is looking around like he is trying to find the source of a sound. Suddenly his knees go weak, and he sinks to the ground, then his eyes get heavy. The boy in her vision fades away just as he is going to sleep.
“Magpie, is everything all right?” asks Manon, peeking around the rock at Magpie.
“I think we should start over there, at the tree line,” says Magpie, pointing to the spot where the girl walked into the forest, never to be seen again.
Thank you so much for listening. Join me next week for Wingspan chapter 19, One Step Forward – One Century Back, where Lucas comes to term with the fact that he has travelled back nearly a century to early 1920s Pocket.
The Skylark Bell is brought to you by Phaeton Starling Publishing and features original music by Cannelle. If you are enjoying this story, please consider leaving a rating or a review, they’re both greatly appreciated. You can also support my work by subscribing to Patreon where you get early access to episodes as well as MP3 downloads of the music, artwork, writing, behind the scenes videos, and more! Checks the show notes for links.
Before I go, I’d like to share this reel for a podcast I quite enjoy called Haunted UK that covers a variety of Unexplained and Paranormal Events. If you enjoy the supernatural atmosphere of The Skylark Bell you’ll want to check them out.
Thank you
