In today’s episode we read Chapter 6 – Skylarks over Scotland - in which Magpie has a deeply unsettling vision as she and Lucas travel on to Scotland.
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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FULL TRANSCRIPT:
Things with Wings Productions presents: Episode 6 of The Skylark Bell, Wingspan. I am your host, Melissa Oliveri.
In our previous episode, Magpie continued to feel the mysterious woman nearby as she and Lucas celebrated the opening of Mrs. Phaeton’s art exhibit at the Clawfoot Gallery.
In today’s episode we read Chapter 6 – Skylarks over Scotland - in which Magpie has a deeply unsettling vision as she and Lucas travel on to Scotland.
Now, it’s time to settle in… grab a blanket, and a warm drink… and let’s get started.
Magpie inhales the cool, salty sea air from the deck of the ferry taking them from Mainland Scotland to the Isle of Skye. She and Lucas said their good-byes to Mrs. Phaeton when they left London yesterday morning. It was a bittersweet moment for Magpie, she and her mother have been on their own her entire life, her dad having left when she was just a baby, and though starting a new adventure at Carnifex House is exciting, she can’t help but feel a little nervous and sad. Having Lucas by her side helps ease her anxiety though, and her mom has promised to visit at the end of the summer before returning to Pocket.
Magpie hears Lucas say something, but his voice gets carried away on the wind. She leans in closer to him. “What was that?” she asks, shouting despite being only a short distance from him.
“I said, I think I can see land up ahead!” shouts Lucas.
Magpie leans forward against the railing and squints into the distance. It is foggy up ahead, but she can make out dark shapes through the fog, perhaps cliffs or even mountains.
“I think you’re right!” she shouts back to Lucas, and they grin at each other with anticipation.
It has been a long two days. After leaving Magpie’s mom at the hotel in London, they took a cab to the airport. A short flight took them to Glasgow where they hopped on a train which would take them Northwest to the coast over a period of six hours. The scenery outside the train window was absolutely stunning. Mountains, valleys, wildlife, castles, villages… Magpie had lost count of how many times she wished she could hop off the train to go exploring! Finally, the train had pulled into the very last station, and they disembarked, Lucas laughing as Magpie hauled her massive suitcase while he flung his duffle bag over his shoulder. Due to the ferry’s schedule, Magpie and Lucas had booked a night at a quaint little Inn in the village of Smeòrach (SHMUR-arch), which they had spent a considerable portion of their train ride learning how to pronounce.
Now, Magpie closes her eyes and lifts her face to the sky where the sun is trying its best to pierce through the clouds. Slowly the fog ahead of them lifts and the Island comes into view. “Oh Lucas, this is even more beautiful that I imagined!” says Magpie, all sadness and anxiety vanishing from her mind.
“Unbelievable,” says Lucas, breathless.
They are still quite far from the land, a long stretch of deep blue water separating the ferry from the shore. In the distance they can see choppy stone cliffs reaching up to the sky, and rolling mountains beyond, their tops kissing the low-lying clouds.
Lucas, looks out at the water, the glistening sun making it sparkle like the sequins on Magpie’s blue dress. He thinks back to the moment he saw her in that dress, how it took his breath away. Feeling his cheeks flush, he keeps his gaze straight ahead and asks, “Can you believe we’re here?!”
“No, none of this seems real!” replies Magpie, unable to wipe the smile off her face.
It seems like only yesterday she was reading the letter Charlotte Carnifex had sent to Farfalla’s sister, Paloma, detailing a property on a remote Scottish island that had belonged to the Carnifex family for centuries. At the time, two years seemed like an impossibly long time to wait before travelling to settle the estate, but time had flown by. Once Mrs. Phaeton found out she wouldn’t be travelling with Magpie to Scotland she had sorted out their affairs over the phone and through the mail, claiming ownership of the property and getting in touch with the caretakers to plan for Magpie and Lucas’ arrival.
Magpie’s mind starts to wander… Paloma had raised Farfalla’s daughter Elizabeth after it was thought Farfalla had perished when the boat that was taking her and James to this very island was found in pieces on the shore. Was this the view that lay before her when the boat sank? Was there a storm? Or perhaps they crashed into a rock, or another boat? What was her last thought as the water rushed over her head?
Magpie shakes the thoughts from her mind. This is no time to dwell on such things, she and Lucas are about to start a new adventure today! And besides, Farfalla hadn’t perished at sea that day, she had lived out her days in Pocket. Or had she…? With a shudder Magpie recalls the letters scrawled on the back of the mysterious sketch that inexplicably appeared at Farfalla’s house as she and Lucas were gathering her things after her death. The black pencil smudged around the words “I AM NOT FARFALLA”.
Magpie focuses on the land stretching out before her. The ferry is closing in on the shore and Magpie can almost feel Lucas trembling with anticipation. Suddenly, a flash of movement at the top of the cliff to her left catches Magpie’s eye. She looks up, squinting against the sun, which has claimed victory over the retreating clouds. Atop the cliff she sees a woman, her long white dress reflecting the sunlight, a crown of fiery red hair flowing behind her in the wind. She is racing toward the edge of the cliff at full speed, causing Magpie’s stomach to clench with anxiety. Just when Magpie is about to shout “Stop!”, the woman stops abruptly, reaches her arm back and throws something over the cliff’s edge with all her might. Magpie follows the object’s trajectory as it arcs toward the ocean below, the sunlight glinting off its metallic surface. The scene unfolds very quickly, and as the object lands in the water Magpie feels the entire earth heave under her feet, like a tremendous wave has passed under the boat, as if the tectonic plates themselves just shifted. Terrified, Magpie lets out a scream and grabs onto the railing with both hands.
“Magpie! Are you alright?!” says Lucas, his face washed with concern.
“Didn’t you feel that?!” she asks him, her iron grip on the railing turning her knuckles white.
“Feel what?” he asks, now looking confused as well as worried.
“Did you see the woman? The woman on the cliff? She threw something into the ocean, and when it landed in the water there was a… a… a shift!” says Magpie, unsure of how to explain what she just experienced.
“What do you mean a ‘shift’?” he asks, genuinely trying to decipher what Magpie is trying to convey.
“I don’t know how to explain it,” begins Magpie, “it’s like the earth shifted, like the ground, the water, the air… like they all heaved at the same time, at the exact moment that object landed in the ocean.”
“Do you think it was another vision?” asks Lucas gently. Magpie shrugs and nods slowly, it is the only explanation that makes any sense. She shudders when she thinks of how real her last two visions have felt, first the one on the cobblestone street in London, and now this. The line between reality and her visions has become blurred, and she finds it worrisome.
A loud horn above their heads brings Magpie and Lucas’ attention back to the scene before them. The ferry is pulling into the harbour, they’ve arrived on the Isle of Skye.
“Okay, our new adventure starts NOW!” says Lucas, draping a comforting arm over her shoulders. Magpie leans into him and looks out to shore. She can see a small village a little farther down the beach, and vast green fields dotted with farmhouses, a winding road connecting the dots. Lucas is right, their new adventure starts now, it’s time to let go of Meadow Lane, the silence, the visions… she needs to put it all behind her. The only thing she has to think of from this point on, is the future.
Thank you so much for listening. Join me next week for Wingspan chapter 7, Pocaid, where Magpie and Lucas finally arrive in the quaint town of Pocaid on the Isle of Skye, but their welcome is not as warm as they’d hoped!
Before I go, I’d like to thank Phaeton Starling Publishing for this fantastically eerie story, as well as Cannelle for composing eerie, mood-setting music for this podcast.
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 through a donation via your podcast provider or by subscribing to my Patreon where you get early access to episodes as well as MP3 downloads of the music, artwork, writing, recipes, and more! Checks the show notes for links.
Thank you.
