In today’s episode we read Chapter 29 – Next Steps - in which Magpie and Lucas try to find a way out of the tangled strings of time and space.
Brought to you by: Phaeton Starling Publishing and Things with Wings Productions.
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This week's Boopod Network podcast partner is Haunted UK: https://www.instagram.com/hauntedukpodcast/
FULL TRANSCRIPT:
Things with Wings Productions presents: Episode 29 of The Skylark Bell, Wingspan. I am your host, Melissa Oliveri.
In our previous episode, Lucas returned to Carnifex House, but had jumped 25 years ahead and found Magpie to be nearly twice his age.
In today’s episode we read Chapter 29 – Next Steps - in which Magpie and Lucas try to find a way out of the tangled strings of time and space.
Be sure to listen through to the end of this episode for a preview of a paranormal podcast I quite enjoy called Haunted UK.
Now, it’s time to settle in… grab a blanket, and a warm drink… and let’s get started.
Magpie hears Lucas walking around upstairs and pours a ladle full of batter onto the hot griddle. She focuses on the sizzling sound as the pancake starts to bubble, then expertly flips it over.
“It smells amazing in here! What are you making?” asks Lucas, walking into the kitchen.
“A Grandma Gemma classic,” says Magpie, setting a plate of blackberry chocolate chip pancakes on the table and motioning for him to take a seat. Lucas sits down, taking in the sweet fragrance which instantly brings back memories of his Grandmother.
Magpie puts some pancakes on a plate for herself and joins him at the table. They make small talk for a few minutes, then let a long silence hang between them before Magpie finally starts the conversation they had decided to put off until this morning.
“Tell me what happened when you disappeared,” she says simply.
Lucas takes a deep breath before launching into the story. He begins with the small shop behind the Bakery where he found an exact replica of the Skylark Bell. Then he explains how he and Cormorant encountered the red deer on the road and followed it into the woods. He tells her about walking through the arch over the path and hearing the woman’s voice, then how he and Cormorant suddenly found themselves at Meadow Lane.
“We went across the road to your old farmhouse where I collapsed. When I came to, I was being cared for by none other than Charlotte and Edward Carnifex!”
At this Magpie’s eyes grow wide. “What were they like?!” she asks, enthralled.
“They are the most amazing, kind-hearted people,” he replies. “I even got to meet Cerise!” he adds, a twinkle in his eye.
At this Magpie’s mouth breaks into a grin. “How amazing is that?!” she says, sitting back in her chair.
Lucas goes on to explain how he connected with the Shearwater family and eventually met Farfalla. He tries to be mindful of Magpie’s feelings in navigating the story of how he and Farfalla fell in love and eventually got engaged. “Then the winter of 1925 came around, and it was terrible Magpie, far worse than anything we read in those books at the library. It was absolutely devastating…” he lets the sentence trail off. Magpie doesn’t pry, she can clearly see the pain and trauma on his face. “On the last day I went out to look for firewood, but the blizzard blew in and I got lost. I was trying to make my way back to Meadow Lane and I saw you, Magpie, sitting on a rock at Mirror Pond! That’s when Cormorant got spooked and I fell off. Then this older man came out of nowhere and was trying to help me. I lost consciousness, and when I came to, I was leaning against the big oak tree in front of Meadow Lane. I could hear the Skylark Bell ringing and Farfalla singing from the upstairs bedroom. The singing got louder and louder, and next thing I know I’m waking up in our living room here thinking the entire thing was a dream,” he ends, slapping his hands against his thighs.
Magpie takes a moment to assimilate all this information.
“What about you, what has your life been like all these years?” he asks after giving her a little time to soak everything in.
Magpie bites her lip and looks up at him. For Lucas it has only been a few years since they were together last, for her it has been decades.
“When you disappeared, I enlisted Manon and Alfred to help me look for you. They got everyone in town to help. They checked the fields, the beach, the buildings in town, the roads… there was no trace of you anywhere. Finally, Manon told me the stories, the ones people in town refer to as The Vanishings.” She launches into the story of Julien’s childhood friend, then tells him about the little girl and her brother. She tells him about the druids and Dealan-dè, and how the people of Pòcaid refuse to set foot in the forest.
“Over time, I got accustomed to living here. I couldn’t imagine moving back to Pocket without you. I never stopped wishing that you would come home,” she says, grabbing both his hands in hers before continuing. “About a year after you disappeared Julien Sarcelle moved back to Pòcaid to take over for his parents. He and I worked closely together, and we eventually developed feelings for each other. After a few years we were married, right here in the back yard. He cared for and farmed the land, I wrote a few books, they were deemed fiction but there was probably more truth to them than I would care to admit,” she says, smiling. “Then one night, after nearly 20 years of marriage, I got a phone call from a police station on the mainland.” She continues, the smiling fading from her face, “Julien had gone to visit his parents and was on his way home his car went off the road. The presumption is that he fell asleep.” Tears well up in Magpie’s eyes.
“Magpie, I’m so sorry,” says Lucas, his heart breaking for her.
“Manon and Alfred never really recovered. Alfred took ill shortly thereafter and eventually passed away, then Manon passed just a few years ago.” She says, leaning back in her chair.
They sit in silence before Magpie resumes, squeezing his hand for emphasis, “I have had a good life, Lucas, with many years of happiness. I want the same for you. I want you to find love, and live a full, beautiful life.”
Lucas frowns at her, shaking his head. “No, no, Magpie, I love you! You and I, we were just getting started! That night that I disappeared, remember we were going to have a nice dinner out on the patio? I was going to propose to you that night. I had the feather ring with me, I was going to give it to you…” he lets the thought trail off.
Magpie smiles a sad smile, “That isn’t possible anymore, that time has passed. Not for you, but for me,” she says. They sit, speechless, for a long time, pondering the cruel reality of the situation.
Suddenly, Lucas has a thought. “Bear with me,” he says, holding both his hands up in a gesture of surrender, “what if I never went for a ride with Cormorant that day?”
Magpie looks at him, confused. “What do you mean?” she asks.
“Well, now we know a little more about what’s involved with the mechanics of time traveling, right?” he begins, “what if you and I find that arch in the woods, and one of us goes back and stops me from going for that ride somehow? It could change everything! What have we got to lose?”
Magpie ponders for a moment. Everyone she has ever been close to is gone; Gemma, Manon, Alfred, even her mother, who is living out her days at the care home in Brighthaven, her memory having begun to fail nearly a decade ago. It was a rapid decline, and it has been years since she last recognized Magpie. Magpie still goes to visit once a year, but she has already processed the loss of the mother she once knew. Lucas’ idea is a crazy one, but what if it works? What if they could go back and live the life they had always dreamed of? What if she could go back and see everyone’s smiling faces again? Hold them? Tell them she loves them? Magpie sits perfectly still, letting the thoughts swirl around in her mind before looking back up at Lucas. “Okay,” she says.
“Okay? Yeah?!” he asks, not daring to believe he has heard her correctly. Magpie nods. Lucas jumps to his feet and shouts, “Let’s go!”
“Wait,” she says, grabbing his shoulders to slow him down, “we need to do a little planning first, in case this doesn’t go as planned. I will be the one to travel. I have lived a good portion of my life already; you are still young and have decades ahead of you. I will make arrangements so you can stay on at Carnifex House for as long as need be if this doesn’t work.”
“It’s going to work,” he says, “It has to.”
It takes a few weeks for Magpie to tie up loose ends. She makes arrangements for Lucas to carry on at Carnifex House and speaks to the lovely couple who run the Brighthaven care home to ensure that her mother will be well cared for in the coming years.
At long last, the big day arrives, and she and Lucas set off toward the forest. It is like old times, they are both wearing their rubber boots, walking across the fields, though Magpie walks more slowly than she did when they were younger. She clutches the satchel in which she’s packed some extra clothes, a few snacks, and her sketchbook.
They finally reach the edge of the forest and Magpie has a moment of hesitation, the fear of the unknown starting to take over her mind. She looks at Lucas, his black curls blowing in the wind. What if this doesn’t work? What if they never see each other again, after all this time apart? She is about to voice her concern when a sound beyond the tree line catches their attention.
“Look!” says Lucas, pointing into the forest. Magpie takes a few steps into the forest and sees a large red deer standing behind an oak tree. It lifts its head up and stares at them for a moment before disappearing into the shadows beyond. “Let’s do this,” says Lucas, taking her hand.
It feels like they’ve been wandering for hours when Magpie finally picks up a faint tinkling sound on the breeze. “Do you hear that?” she asks Lucas.
He nods and holds a finger up to his lips, leaning to try and figure out which direction the sound is coming from. “This way,” he whispers, pulling Magpie toward the right. They follow an overgrown, winding path for several more minutes and finally come to a partial clearing within the forest.
Magpie gasps in wonder when she sees the arch, soaring over the path like a rainbow, “like a gateway,” she thinks. She runs her eyes over the branches, Oak by the look of it, and vines that make up the arch. She notes the trinkets dangling from the ropes and ribbons tied to the top of it. They are gently clashing against each other, creating a quiet but cacophonous symphony. “How does it work?” she asks timidly, turning toward Lucas.
“I’m not entirely sure,” replies Lucas. “I just sort of walked through it. As I went under, I started hearing the singing.”
Magpie turns to him and takes his face in her hands, looking deeply into his eyes. “Whatever happens next, always remember that I love you with all my heart,” she says, a single tear drifting down her cheek.
Lucas nods, “I love you too,” he says, “and I’ll see you very soon.” They embrace for a long moment before Magpie steps back and starts walking toward the arch, her head held high. She looks back toward Lucas one last time, then takes a final step so she is standing directly under the hanging trinkets. She braces herself, unsure what to expect, but nothing happens. Magpie starts to feel a little silly for being so apprehensive. A sudden gust of wind activates the collection of bells, cutlery, and chimes hanging above her head. Somehow their volume seems to have increased tenfold. A melody starts forming in Magpie’s head, and she finds herself humming along. “Fallalala Lalalalala…” she sings. Magpie feels herself getting a little dizzy and closes her eyes. The singing echoes around her, it’s sound lifting through the empty space between the trees up to the sky. She feels a strange sensation, like she is floating outside her body, following the sound up to the sky…
Lucas watches from a few paces back, his eyes fixed on Magpie as she takes a final step under the arch. He sees the trinkets start swinging back and forth and Magpie’s hair blown by an invisible wind that he can’t feel. He watches as Magpie’s body starts moving, like she is swaying to music, perhaps even singing, but he doesn’t hear anything. Suddenly he feels an intense pressure building, like a terrible storm is rolling in. Lucas puts his hands up to his throbbing head and squeezes his eyes shut. An interminable moment later everything goes back to normal, and he can once again hear the birds in the surrounding trees. Lucas takes his hands away from his face and opens his eyes.
The path beneath the arch is empty.
Magpie is gone.
Thank you so much for listening. Join me next week for Wingspan chapter 30, Crash, where Magpie finds herself involved in a situation she had a vision of years prior.
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 on Spotify or a review on Apple Podcasts, they help give the podcast visibility so others can find and enjoy the story. You can also support my work by subscribing to my Patreon where you get early access to episodes as well as MP3 downloads of the music, artwork, behind the scenes videos and more! Just check the show notes for links to Patreon, my website, and social media accounts.
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.
Once again, thank you for listening – I’m Melissa Oliveri, writer, host and producer of The Skylark Bell Podcast.
