In today’s episode we read Chapter 32 – Today’s Special - in which Magpie once again finds herself in the town of Pocket, where she comes to a startling, and devastating realisation.
The Skylark Bell is brought to you by: Phaeton Starling Publishing and Things with Wings Productions.
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Author/Producer: Melissa Oliveri - http://www.melissaoliveri.com
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This week's Boopod Network podcast partner is Mums, Mysteries, and Murder: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/mums-mysteries-murder/id1578866284
Something (Rather Than Nothing) podcast: https://allmylinks.com/volanteunion
Ken Volante's interview with The Skylark Bell creator Melissa Oliver on the Something (Rather Than Nothing) podcast: https://www.podbean.com/ew/pb-jbynw-1054d07
FULL TRANSCRIPT:
Things with Wings Productions presents: Episode 32 of The Skylark Bell, Wingspan. I am your host, Melissa Oliveri.
In our previous episode, Lucas comes face to face with the infamous Dealan-de, who has long been thought to be responsible for the Vanishings at Carnifex House.
In today’s episode we read Chapter 32 – Today’s Special - in which Magpie once again finds herself in the town of Pocket, where she comes to a startling, and devastating realisation.
Be sure to listen through to the end of the episode for a preview of a podcast I quite enjoy called Mums Mysteries and Murder. I also want to mention a podcast called Something, Rather than Nothing, which discusses art and its role in our lives. I was interviewed by Ken Volante for Something Rather Than Nothing last year, just check the show notes for links to that interview, Ken’s podcast, and Mums Mysteries and Murder.
Now, it’s time to settle in… grab a blanket, and a warm drink… and let’s get started.
Magpie keeps her eyes closed but loosens her grip on the trunk of the oak tree at Meadow Lane. For some reason, her arms don’t seem as outstretched as they were when she first encircled it, like the tree has grown smaller somehow. She opens her eyes and looks around. Her heart sinks when she sees the dilapidated house at Meadow Lane up ahead. She releases the tree and turns to walk quietly back down the lane, wrapped in the now familiar silence.
Magpie feels relief wash over her as she steps onto the road and hears the gravel crunch beneath her feet. The sound of an engine causes her to look up, and she sees a vintage turquoise pickup truck breeze passed her on its way toward town. “You don’t see those every day!” she says to herself, turning to follow its trajectory.
As Magpie nears town, she feels a growing sense of unease. In the time it has taken her to walk from Meadow Lane to Bunting’s General Store, she has seen four more vintage vehicles. Three pickup trucks, and a convertible car driven by a woman with oversized sunglasses and a colourful scarf in her hair.
Magpie sees a couple walking out of the store, the man dressed in pleated wool pants and a jacket, the woman wearing a green tweed skirt suit with matching hat, her hair peeking out from under it in a perfect bob. Magpie continues down the street, not oblivious to the looks she is getting from people as she walks by. Everyone she sees is dressed in vintage clothing. Finally, Magpie finds herself standing in front of The Early Bird diner, it looks the same as it did the last time she was there. She allows herself to feel a small sense of relief at the familiar sight and a smile forms on her lips. Her joy is quickly replaced with shock when she sees the sign posted in the window “Wednesday, June 13th, 1962 – Today’s Special – Blackberry Waffles!”
Magpie starts shaking, unsure what to do next. Suddenly, she hears hushed whispers coming from the sidewalk behind her. She turns and sees a crowd gathering, everyone looking at her and whispering to one another behind their hands. She picks up bits and pieces of their hushed conversations “she’s back”, “how is it possible”, “where has she been all this time”. Suddenly, a hand grabs her arm and pulls her into the restaurant.
“I’m sorry to have taken a hold of you so abruptly, but you looked like you could use a hand,” says a petite woman, her silky brown hair curled into a perfect flip at the ends. The woman looks vaguely familiar, but Magpie can’t place her. The woman keeps chatting as they slowly make their way across the dining room. “Are you hungry?” she asks, turning toward Magpie.
Magpie nods absent-mindedly as her gaze travels to the scarf around the woman’s neck. She almost falls over in shock as recognition washes over her. It’s the same scarf she had taken from Grandma Gemma’s house after Gemma passed away decades ago. Magpie has worn that scarf countless times over the years. This woman is Gemma, Lucas’ grandmother!
“Come, let’s sit down,” says Gemma, guiding Magpie to a booth at the back of the restaurant, the same booth where Magpie sat across from Farfalla all those years ago. “We’ll have two orders of those blackberry waffles, and a pot of sweet orange tea, please” she says as the waitress walks up to their table. The waitress nods and scurries back to the counter where she immediately begins to gossip with the row of customers seated on the red swivel stools.
“People have a lot of questions for you Mrs- ” she begins, before stopping herself. “May I call you Farfalla?” she asks politely.
Magpie is stunned to find herself nodding. What is going on?! She sits across from Gemma, listening to her talk about her family, her husband, their house on the outskirts of the village. Magpie remains in a trance, letting the warmth of the sweet orange tea wash through her as she silently eats her blackberry waffles with one hand, her other hand clutching her satchel, which contains the last remnants of her real life.
Gemma and her husband graciously offer for Magpie to stay at their house, “Lucas’ house,” thinks Magpie, for several weeks. Every morning, before anyone else is awake, Magpie runs to the old oak tree at Meadow Lane and stands with one hand pressed into its trunk, hoping to hear the haunting melody that might bring her back home to Lucas, but she finds only the same thick, unbearable silence that will remain there until her younger self rings the Skylark Bell more than 50 years from now. Resigned to her new reality, she focuses on learning how to knit from Gemma, who is an excellent teacher. Magpie catches on quickly, and before she knows it, she is knitting mittens, scarves, shawls, and sweaters to sell at the farmer’s market. She perfects her blackberry jam recipe and starts selling that too.
Within a few months Magpie is earning enough to put a down payment on the small house around the corner from Monsieur Tourtereaux’s Bakery, which would eventually become Tuffeto’s. She falls into a routine, keeping to herself, focusing on her knitting and tending to the blackberry bushes that she has planted all around the front and side of her house. She starts to collect birdhouses, making fast friends of their various residents as she sits on the porch with an outstretched hand covered in birdseed. She and Gemma stay in touch, regularly getting together for tea. Eventually, Gemma becomes pregnant and gives birth to a son, who would eventually grow up to be Lucas’ father. Magpie’s heart aches when she sees the baby. She had witnessed his life end at the side of the road, not knowing then that she would also witness his life begin. Magpie and Gemma’s meetings become fewer and farther between as the duties of motherhood take priority.
Magpie’s only other connection occurs years later when she seeks out Farfalla’s daughter, her own Great-Grandmother, Elizabeth. They exchange letters for a few years, though Magpie can never tell if Elizabeth truly believes she is writing to her mother, Farfalla, or if she is simply lonely and enjoying the companionship of a pen pal. One day a package arrives with a beautiful hand-knit green shawl, and Magpie remembers her very first vision, the one where Elizabeth was in a rocking chair knitting this very shawl. It feels otherworldly to be holding it in her hands. Eventually, the letters start to come less regularly, Elizabeth has gotten older and is in poor health, and writing has become tedious for her. One day, the letters stop coming all together, and Magpie once again finds herself alone.
It is around this time that Magpie makes a habit of having breakfast at The Early Bird each day, sticking to her usual order of Blackberry Waffles and Sweet Orange Tea. The routine helps the days go by, at this point she is simply biding her time, and the years blur into one another.
From the very first day, the people of Pocket presume she is Farfalla, returned from overseas where, it turns out, she did not die in a tragic accident. Magpie chooses not to correct them, having no other explanation for her existence in this place and time. It is simpler to step into the role of Farfalla and move forward from there. She remains silent, speaking to no one lest they discover she is not who they think she is. They come to their own conclusions about why she does not speak. The give her plenty of space, still frightened by the mysterious silence at Meadow Lane, and her possible connection to it. There are days when she wants to scream at them at the top of her lungs, “I am not Farfalla!”, but she knows better. Better to keep quiet.
It had only taken a few days after Magpie’s arrival for her to realize the agonizing truth.
The impossible truth.
“It was me.
It was me all along.
I WAS FARFALLA.”
Thank you so much for listening. Join me next week for Wingspan chapter 33, Sparking Silence, where Lucas tries desperately to find a way to put his and Magpie’s timelines back in place.
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 Mums Mysteries and Murder, whose hosts both live in Scotland and feature one native Scot and an Australian who discuss tales of the unexplained and true crime from their respective countries. If you enjoy the spooky, uncanny feel of The Skylark Bell, you’re sure to enjoy Mums Mysteries and Murder.
Once again, thank you for listening – I’m Melissa Oliveri, and this is The Skylark Bell Podcast.
