Chapter 12: Down The Rabbit Hole

Bridgeside Excursion: Journal Entry 1

At around lunchtime today I arrived at Bridgeside. As it was indeed lunchtime and I was growing hungry, I proceeded to the local tavern whereupon I purchased a meat pie and some fried potatoes. The lunch was adequate and over-priced. I approached the landlord and decided to ask some questions with regards to the incident, keeping my distaste of the price quiet. 

You know, I can’t do this. Morab asked me to account for all the details of the trip, but I feel such a nonce for doing this. It must read like the most forced thing ever. I’m not a writer. That’s all Sam. I’m the librarian, the accountant, the cook, the cleaner all rolled into one. Tergen the Odds and Ends Man. This is my first solo mission in the field, and I have to write down all the details and the thing is, I take the minutes. I can’t describe the adventure apart from in a really dull, methodical manner. I apologise for the person many years into the future who has to struggle through this. 

The landlord didn’t tell me much, but his wife was most useful in the provision of information regarding the Crowning incident. Of course, Jen had told me a great deal about the town, but it was interesting to hear the story from another point of view. The landlord’s wife directed me to the armoury where I might find the blacksmith’s apprentice, Majesty. The boy was heavily involved with the situation, trying to help Jen escape and having found the dead boy Angus is the cave. 

Upon arriving at the armoury, the blacksmith summoned Majesty, although he was called upon by the abbreviated Maj, from the back. Maj was a young man, semi-attractive but strong. His manner captured the very essence of brokenness. I greeted him, he nodded in return. I asked whether he would walk with me. He nodded, and so we walked. 

It was difficult for me, a social hermit, to make conversation with this figure of stony silence. I find it hard enough as it is without the other person not making an effort either. The conversation went along the lines of this:

Me: I’ve come about Jen.

Maj: You know her?

Me: She is staying with me and the rest of my family.

Maj: Is she alright?

Me: She’s doing fine.

Silence.

Me: I’ve come to ask about the Crown.

Silence.

Me: I believe you found it in the first place.

Silence.

Me: What happened down in that cave, Majesty?

Awkward Silence.

Me: Could you take me there?

He nodded and he led me out of the town into the neighbouring countryside. On the way, he asked me about my motives and the reasons for my enquiries into the incident. I explained fully about the Keepers of the Crowns and the Crowners of the Light, generally putting what had happened into context for him. He listened keenly and did not interrupt. We arrived at the waterfall. It was a beautiful natural feature and I stood in awe. Maj stood beside me, yet I believe his mind to be preoccupied with the sequence of events that happened the last time he was here. Finding a dead child and seeing a living corpse melt into dust is bound to have had some effect on his psychology. 

____________

This man, Tergen, he was odd. Very matter-of-fact and specific. I could imagine in his house, everything would have its place, everything would be overly-organised. He spoke as though in bullet points. He wanted to know more about what had happened. I was a little reluctant at first, but once he had explained his motives my trust in him was justified and I delivered him to the waterfall. Before departing, I had grabbed a rope ladder and a lantern so that we would have little problem getting down the hole.

Unsurprisingly, the cave had not changed since I had last been down there. Just as dark, wet and cold as last time. The whispers of horror and death still resonated around, and I shrunk back behind Tergen who cautiously stepped down the passageway. He said about how the cave could not have been naturally formed and that either a very accomplished group of miners or a very powerful magician could have created such a cavern. 

We rounded the corner and there was the stone throne bathed in blue light. There were the old, rich robes, covered in the dust of their wearer. I stopped and watched Tergen as he approached the throne. He knelt down and examined it thoroughly. He took out some paper and started sketching and doing rubbings of the patterns and runes on the throne. He picked up the robes and flapped them. The dust of the old woman rose into the air, hiding Tergen from sight. I screamed and ran back to the rope ladder, cowering.

I heard Tergen calling my name and apologies. He hadn’t meant to frighten me. He asked whether there had been anything else down here. “No,” I replied. “Just Angus and her.” Tergen seemed a little disappointed. He signaled to me to start climbing the ladder. “There was the book!” I remembered, spouting it out rather loudly and startling Tergen. 

___________

The venture is turning out to be very profitable. I have gathered the robes, rubbings and notes of runes from the throne and now there’s a book involved. It’s all getting rather exciting. My jealousy of Sam’s job is rising - he does this kind of thing all the time, whilst I’m stuck in the Grove with Morab. I have decided that I am going to make this quest worthwhile. I will follow up every lead, however tenuous the link may be! I have earned this adventure!

Maj told me not to get my hopes up about the book, but I could not still the rising excitement and anticipation within me. We returned to Bridgeside, and Maj took me to Jen’s house. He advised me to stay outside whilst he spoke to Jen’s parents. I did so and waited about five minutes before Maj returned carrying a large, heavy book. It was certainly a magnificent volume with an impressive hard-cover binding and gilded pages. I made an exclamation with regards to its beauty and how much data it must contain. Then Maj opened the book. My heart sank as I saw the cut-out shape of a hip flask, and therefore the removal of a lot of the data and words from the book. “Damn,” I remember saying, quite distinctly.

Maj took me to the Bridgeside tavern and I bought him and myself a drink. I leafed through the book. There were some pages towards the back that were unscathed, but I couldn’t bring myself to read them. They would be all out of context. I’m going take it back for Morab and Sam to look over. I commented on the tragedy of the situation by simply announcing: It’s tragic.

Maj: The state of the book?

Me: Everything. The book, Jen’s immortality and imminent death, her sister’s death, Angus’ death. This town has suffered so much. And all because a child fell down a hole whilst playing. (A thought struck me.) Do children often play down there?

Maj: No. They’re usually encouraged to play in the meadow on the other side of town. The river can be dangerous.

Me: Then why was he there? Did anyone know there was a cavern behind the waterfall?

Maj: No. This was the first anyone knew of it.

Me: Then what possessed him to go there? (Silence, but Maj’s eyes spoke volumes to me. He knew something.) What are you not telling me, Maj?

Maj: He had a map.

Me: Why didn’t you say so before?

Maj: Because I was scared. Angus was dead and then I saw that ghost of a woman die and everything escalated and it just seemed… frightening. I didn’t want to accept the fact that someone had given a map to Angus and encouraged him to go investigate. Someone sent Angus to his death and that thought terrified me because I knew that it had to be someone in the town. It’s only a small town, I know everyone and to think that one of them did this…

His face was quivering with what was either distress or anger… or both. Or maybe neither... I’m not so good when it comes to identifying and describing emotions and facial expressions.

I allowed Maj to breathe and sort himself out before pushing the conversation forward again. I asked whether there was anyone who could help me out (I thought it was important not to necessarily include him with my plans). He muttered something about not wanting a can of worms to be opened. This phrase confused me. I reassured him that there would be no worms involved wherever this situation may lead us, and certainly none in a can. I pressed him further and he gave me the name Joan. Joan is Angus’ younger sister.

I requested that Maj go and fetch her for me so that I might speak with her. Maj nodded and left the tavern. 

Whilst he was gone, I felt a great sense of guilt. I was overcome by the sense that I was manipulating Maj and that he only did as I asked out of duty and fear. He was a young man with an unstable mind and I was, to a large extent, using him to means that were little of his concern. They would certainly not help his mental situation. This thought carried me forward until Maj returned with a young girl in tow. 

Maj introduced me to Joan and we sat down to talk.

__________

Joan was quite happy to speak to Tergen. She was a very confident girl for her age, and especially considering her older brother, with whom she had been close to, had died only a few weeks ago. I made her sit next to me and held her hand, for my own comfort and for her protection. “I’m here to talk to you about your brother, Angus,” Tergen said. “I don’t want to upset you,” he added, as though Joan might burst into tears at any instant. “Can you remember going to the waterfall?” Joan nodded. “Can you remember why you were going?”

Joan straightened her back. “Angus had a treasure map and he wanted to go and find the treasure. And the map said that there was a cave, and the cave was behind the waterfall. And then Angus fell down the rabbit hole and he’s in the Other World now.”

Tergen looked at me. He was obviously unfamiliar with the tales that children are told about death and sickness. I stared back, unsure of what to convey. I probably came across quite angrily. My face naturally falls into a scowl. “Where did Angus get the treasure map from?” 

Joan shrugged.

“Haven’t you got any idea? When did he start planning the treasure hunt?”

“I don’t know. It was like when the fair was here.”

“Tell me about that. What did you do at the fair?”

“I played lots of games, bought sweets and food. And I listened to the storyteller.”

“And what did Angus do at the fair?”

“He was at the storyteller’s loads.”

“What stories did the storyteller tell?”

“There was actually one about the waterfall and a girl got lost behind there and the nymphs heard her crying and turned her into a weeping statue. And that she is still behind the waterfall and you can hear her crying if you listen carefully.” Tergen and I looked at each other, eyes agog and mouths open wide. If Angus had spent a lot of time with the storyteller, and if he had told a story that almost certainly directly refers to the Bridgeside waterfall, then maybe this storyteller was the person responsible. The storyteller is the trigger in all this.

__________

Joan was remarkably useful, and I am now making preparations to pursue this travelling fairground. After we sent Joan on her way, Maj was making noises about coming with me. I don’t know if this is a good idea. He’s clearly still recovering mentally, and I don’t know whether a ‘quest’ will help him or hinder him. 

Just spoke to Maj and told him that he couldn’t come with me. He got very angry and so we leave Bridgeside tomorrow at noon.

Chapter 4: This Woman That Kills

Oh. My. Goodness! You will never believe what the word on the street is! Apparently in this small town called Bridgeside, a little girl died when her older sister snatched a tiara off her head! This is brilliant! Not, of course, for the little girl or her family. But what if this tiara is one of the Crowns? Think of the possibilities! This could start the trail to the other Crowns! And then the Keepers of the Crowns would be successful! We’d win! And I have used an awful lot of exclamation marks! But I don’t care, because this is all so exciting! In fact, I may break traditional grammatical guidelines and use multiple exclamation marks! How fantastic!!! (I think three exclamation marks is quite enough.) I need a drink.

Right. I have calmed myself down now. Took me five glasses of water and one of whiskey. And now I need the toilet.

There we go. Much better. So I am going to travel to this town of Bridgeside and investigate. No doubt there will be some Crowners there too. Hopefully I will be able to beat them there. I plan to leave within the next few hours once I’ve packed a bag and left my accommodation in a reasonable state. I can’t stand coming home to an untidy house. 

I have given some thought as to which Crown this could be. The other two Keepers of the Crown and I have managed to produce a shortlist of the abilities we believe the Crowns have been embellished with by looking at the myths and legends. Having consulted my copy of this list, I believe this Crown to grant the wearer immortal life. 

Below is a story that I discovered that concerns such a crown. I have rewritten it to include information from the other sources that I found regarding the original series of events:

There was a group of outlaws - thieves and robbers. They had managed to steal a lot of treasure over the period of their existence. However, someone had told the authorities of their whereabouts, so they had to make a quick getaway. They grabbed as much treasure as they could, stuffing their pockets with coins, putting rings on their fingers, necklaces round their necks, crowns on their heads. And then they ran. 

They rested in a barn many miles away from their hideaway. But in the middle of the night, one of the men, Caleb, was woken by another talking. At first, he supposed he was sleep-talking, murmuring in his sleep. But as Caleb’s eyes focused he saw that the man was wide awake and chatting away to an absence. There was nothing in the space he was talking to. The man was still wearing a crown that he had put on in the rush to escape. Caleb called over to the talking man, whose name was Nikolire. “Hey! Shut up!” Nikolire looked over, but ignored him and carried on talking. His voice was too low for Caleb to hear anything. “You deaf or something? Shut up, I said!” But Nikolire did not even look over this time. Caleb got up. “And why are you still wearing that crown? All the treasure’s being kept in the bags. You’d better not be thinking of running off with it.”

Nikolire turned to him again. “If I take it off, I won’t see her again. If I keep it on, I shall always see her. Always. For eternity.”

“See who? There’s no one there.”

“You’re not special enough to see her.”

“What?”

“She only appears to those she wants!” Nikolire said, childishly. “And you’re not special enough!”

“Well you’re plenty special, aren’t you! Schizo…” he added under his breath.

Nikolire jumped to his feet. “Say that to my face!” he shouted, and then to the empty space “He is worth it.”

Caleb got to his feet and then lunged at Nikolire, who hopelessly failed to standi his ground and the pair tumbled to the floor. The force of the impact knocked the crown from Nikolire’s head and Nikolire died. Caleb got back up and looked down at Nikolire. “Get up,” he ordered, before realizing that he was dead.

The robbers blamed Caleb for Nikolire’s death for they had awoken when Nikolire had shouted. They rose to see Caleb ordering the dead body to get up. Caleb claimed over and over again that it wasn’t him and it must have been something else. He claimed he had not hit Nikolire with that strong a force. He was not believed.

The authorities found Caleb’s body hanged from the barn’s rafters. It was only later, when another outlaw who had worn the crown died, did they recognise the truth of Caleb’s story. The crown was declared as cursed and thrown into a river so that it may never found again.

I have started my travels now. I have walked all day, and about twenty miles. But now I am resting. I have set up a small shelter and am quite cosy. Here is another tale regarding immortality and diadems.

June was the daughter of the miller and she worked in all areas of the mill, from the grinding of the wheat to the baking of the dough to the selling of the bread. She was well-liked and doted upon by the men in her village. But by none more than William, the son of the local chandler. He, above all others, treated June with more presents and gifts than all the rest.

And so it came to be that William plucked up the courage to propose to June and ask for her hand in marriage. He bought a ring and some flowers and made his way to the mill where they lived. 

He knocked on the front door and waited. The door was opened by the miller, who had a very grave face, and the doctor, who looked very apologetic and serious. The doctor bade good day to the miller and then left. “Can I help you, William?” the miller asked.

“Yes, sir. I have come to ask for your daughter’s hand in marriage.”

“Your timing is most inconvenient. She has just been diagnosed with a fatal illness. She cannot be saved.” William’s heart broke that day, and he wandered home very sad indeed.

The next morning, William visited the village shop. He said to the shop-keeper “Please sir, I need a potion that will cure my love of her fatal illness.” The shop-keeper understood and smiled. “Try this medicine on your girl, it’s instant miracles will make your hair curl!” he said. For an unexplained reason, the shop-keeper spoke in rhyme. William bought the potion and hurried to the mill to see if he could heal June. William gave the potion to the miller who administered it to June. But the medicine did not work.

Next, William next went to the warlock who lived in the caves outside the village. William said to the warlock “Please sir, I need an enchantment that will dispel a fatal illness from the girl I love.” The warlock understood and smiled. “I know of a spell, it’s effects are great. It will remove the sickness she has had of late,” he said. For an unexplained reason, the warlock spoke in rhyme. The warlock whispered the spell into William’s ear, and William hurried to the mill to see if he could heal June. William told the spell to the miller, who went and cast it upon June. But the spell did not work.

William was very sad now, so, the next day he visited the witch who lived in the woods outside the village. She made potions and remedies and sold an assortment of random objects, all of which had amazing stories behind them, many of which were false. Williams said to the witch “Please ma’am, I need a potion that can mend my broken heart.”

It so happened that the witch knew the source of his broken heart, and she presented him with a crown. “This crown,” she said to William, “is no ordinary crown. It is a crown that brings immortal life for the wearer. But only if the crown is never removed. As soon as the crown leaves the wearer’s head, they will die. Give it to June. Make her wear it for all time and you shall live together.” For an unexplained reason, the witch did not speak in rhyme. William happily bought the crown. As he was leaving, the witch called after him: “Remember! The crown must always be worn if you want your love to live.”

William gave the crown to the miller who went and placed it upon June’s head, and she was healed! The pair married within the month and lived together for many years and had many children, and June always wore the crown.

And when William died one summer’s afternoon, June removed the crown from her head so that they could walk to the afterlife together.

I love this story! It’s so happy. It makes something as grim as death seem wonderful and romantic. And I can only dream of such romance. It’s a lonely life, that of a druid. You have been warned. 

I have spent a lot of time trying to work out the journey that this Crown has taken. So we start off in Kingdom Faithful when the Crowns were made and where the children of Hunn unsuccessfully crashed the party.

The outlaws I believe to be a criminal gang known as the Avengers, a group who believed that they were victims of society and made it their duty to screw society over as best they could. Their manifesto, however, comes across as much more political than their actions were. In reality, the Avengers were little more than petty thieves stealing what they could from the rich and poor alike, although they were very bureaucratic. They accounted for everything they owned and sold, they had a membership list. Very thorough for a petty criminal gang.

The Avengers existed about forty years after Hunn’s children were arrested. I’ve just thought: this event needs a proper name. A title. The Something. The Great Something. The Great Failure? Hunn’s Epic Failure? Hunn’s Epic Crown Fail? Yes, I like that. Hunn’s Epic Crown Fail. So in that forty year period, the Crown of Immortality fell into the hands of the Avengers. A question that I have been scouring history books for an answer to is what spilt up the Crowns. Why is the Crown of Immortality the only one that the Avengers had? There were no other reports in their papers of crowns with magical abilities. What happened to the other Crowns? 

Anyway, so one hundred years later and we come to William and June’s story. The village that the couple lived in is Humbleby in the Kingdom of Thripp, neighbouring Kingdom Faithful at its south-eastern border (that is Faithful’s south-eastern border, not Thripp’s). The kingdoms are connected by the River Trust, and the village of Humbleby rests not two miles from the river. I suspect that the Avengers cast the Crown into the River Trust, which then travelled downriver where it was washed up in Thripp. I suspect it was either found by the witch or by someone else who went on to sell it to the witch. How the witch identified its magical properties, I don’t know. It is possible that she sensed the dark magic within the Crown, and maybe a weary traveller went ‘missing’ in the area at the time, falling awry to the witch’s morally ambiguous ethical code and tried the Crown on, only to die as it was removed confirming the witch’s suspicions. Another mystery. Another vaguely irrelevant mystery, but I love the irrelevant mysteries! They make the past so much more real. Less linear, more of a web of connections. So I apologise if you find all of this very tedious! 

The Crown of Immortality vanishes from history at this point. What happened to it once June removed it is another mystery, but a very relevant mystery this time. Because somehow it ended up back in Kingdom Faithful and in this town of Bridgeside. 

Another enigma surrounding the Crown of Immortality is the Spirit of the Crown, as I like to call it. Nikolire was talking to an area of nothingness. But he treated the space as occupied. I hardly believe he was schizophrenic. The figure he saw was female, reportedly. And kindly too, it seems. Well, kindly or very deceptive. After all, it is this woman that kills these poor souls. 

With any hope, these mysteries will be solved when I arrive in Bridgeside. Fingers crossed, eh!