Well, after some edits here and there, here it is! Er, the ending line reads in (probably grammatically incorrect) Latin, "No siren sings sweeter than one who hungers greatly."
Another Place, Another Time
Edgar bent down, tying the last string in place. At last, at long last, it was done! Perhaps the stories were true after all; perhaps these charms hidden within the frame of the ship, invisible to the naked eye, would lead him to "life's answer".
He ran his hand over the careful framework of what appeared to be a child's mix between a makeshift "car"and a sailboat. The framework on the bottom part was sharp-cornered and straight-edged, and the wheels were spools of wood missing their thread, sized perfectly to ride down railroad tracks. And the sail leading it was a pure white sheet of innocence, giving the carefully constructed framework a gentle touch.
All in all, it was indeed amazing that one boy had made such a remarkable vehicle with no help. He leapt up and ran outside to call for his friend, Charles. The penny-pinching prepubescent boy came up, scowling his infamous scowl.
"What, say I, do you want?"Charles asked with irritation.
"I have finished building the...'vehicle',"Edgar said, unable to hide his grin of pleasure. "I was hoping, Charles, that you would pilot it with me, as co-captain. Emily and Louisa could, also, be assistants to us. What do you say?"
"Co-captain?"Charles remarked. "For what? Where, I must ask, do you plan to go? And what, I also ask, are you going to do there?"
"Why, I'm going to look for treasure!"Edgar said, as if it were plainly obvious. "On the island on the far side of the abandoned tracks!"
"You mean across Walden Pond? But who, I ask, will guide you to the railroad tracks?"
"Mister Henry, of course! He lives at the pond, so he can show me the way!"
"Well, I say, I believe you have left me no choice but to accompany you. No, do not think of refusing. I insist. Shall we go inform the ladies?"Charles said, shrugging and shaking his head, as if it were a plain and simple fact.
"If you insist,"Edgar said, humoring Charles' display of false authority.
~*~
"Oh, Edgar, I'm scared!"Emily said. "The fog is so heavy! Let's go home!"
"Fog never took a life,"Edgar said, shrugging it off. "The tracks go straight to the island, so we can't get lost. And we won't journey far from the wind car, really! What could happen on an abandoned island, to begin with?"
"What are you really looking for?"Louisa asked. "Is there nothing that will stop you?"
"I'm looking to see if the charms the widow gave me truly work,"Edgar admitted. "She said they would show me 'life's answer'. I want to see if she's truthful."
"Life's answer? Does life have an answer, so to speak, really?"Emily pondered to Charles. "If there was an answer, he'd find it there, don't you think? If the widow's being truthful?"
"I suppose so,"Charles said.
"If there are no further questions, let's go! Mister Henry said he would send Mister Herman Mark to show us the way!"
"Ah, Mister Mark...Is he not the insane man with the disreputable past?,"Emily noted.
"That, I say, he is!"Charles affirmed.
"And here he comes!"Louisa said, pointing to the bristly man, whose hair was graying and whose welkin eyes were akin to the long-fabled British Sailor's. His clothes were a white sailor's shirt and suit jacket, along with white slacks and shoes.
"So,"began the crazed man, his words slightly slurred and his breath laced with the scent of the infamous Amontillado. "You kids are going to the tracks?"
"Yes, sir,"Edgar said, seemingly fearless of such a man. "And, you, sir, shall guide us, I was told?"
"Yes, yes,"the man said, turning and walking off. "This way."
Edgar's black hair blew in the heavy wind. "The wind, is it blowing right for the journey?"he asked, pushing the wind car along.
"I would think so!"the man said. "The wind will take you straight over the tracks to the island, without fail!"
"Wonderful!"Charles said. "Absolutely wonderful!"
Louisa looked at the man. "I hear that you are well-known for your crazed plotting, sir."
"Indeed I am."
"Oh, Edgar! I'm scared!"Emily said again.
~*~
The tracks were surrounded by the dense fog. Emily and Louisa sat in the front, nearest the sail. The boys sat behind, looking out at the fog.
"When, I say, will we get there?"Charles wondered aloud, breaking the silence."This fog is most unnerving."
"We will get there,"Louisa said patiently. "When we get there."
~*~
"Finally, we arrive!"Edgar said cheerfully, getting out of the wind car and stepping onto the island.
The mist was dense and it clung to the island deeply. As Emily looked around, she saw shadows of trees, clinging dearly to their last dead leaves. The soil here, if it could be called that, was rocky and hard on the foot, forcing the team to move quickly to the smoother ground. The gentle breeze did nothing for the mist.
Charles looked around. "It's as if it's winter,"he said. "But we know full well it's summer!"
"Or is it?"Edgar said. "Could it be we have crossed the line between a time gone by and our own sweet time?"
"Don't be ridiculous!"Louisa said, walking by. "It's obviously just very cold from the breeze off the water!"She marched straight into the forest, the three eager travellers following.
Edgar looking around. "Marvelous,"he said. "Simply marvelous."He ran his hand over a tree, looking entranced.
"What, say I, was that noise?"Charles asked, looking behind him suddenly. "It sounds as if, dare I say, we are being followed!"
"Followed?"Edgar laughed at the thought. After all, they had come alone and had arrived alone! There was no way anyone else was on the island! Unless...
"Do I see travellers, wondering what the source of the noise is?"a feminine voice asked. Edgar snapped his eyes up to look, seeing a young girl in a white ruffled skirt, a black dress not unlike a corsette. that ran down on top of it, and black boots. On her head was a pointed hat, the point wilting and bent down. She held in her hands a wooden broom. "What brings you to my island?"
"We came in search of,"Edgar said, pausing to find the words to explain. "An answer to a big question."
"Then you came in search,"the girl said. "Of my grandmother. She knows everything,"the girl paused after she for a moment, as if to emphasize it.
And so it came to be that the four children followed this girl to her home, and sat down to await the arrival of the wise old woman. The girl, after a long period of time, explained that they had best go down to the caves to discover where the woman was.
The party arrived at the caves, which drew in those who dared venture near the caves. The travellers entered the cave, following this strange girl. The girl led them for a seemingly endless time, pausing to insist upon returning.
"Dear travellers,"she would say, her voice filled with concern. "See here! The fumes condense on the walls in a slime of poison! We must turn back, for your health is endangered!"
But Edgar would not be deterred. Indeed, he would simply say, "Our health is no worse than your grandmothers! Now, lead us to her! Make haste!"
And so the journey would continue, deeper, deeper, into the caves which not one of the outside world had ever returned.
Words are inefficient storytellers. Understand that here they had only been in the caves upon two hours, and were yet very far within, that they could neither see nor hear the outside world any longer. Finally, the girl turned to the party and smiled. "Here, here is my grandmother!"she cried, laughing insanely. She shone her torch to the corner, a corpse of a woman within its light.
"And you shall join her!"the drunken voice of the old man cried, behind the group. "For here you shall die!"
Edgar had scarcely a moment to look upon his killer before darkness met him. Within moments, the rest of the party met the same terrible fate. Except for one, who was especially quick and fled forward to run, exiting the caves.
This girl returned to this world, alone, and sought out a skilled writer to tell the story.
Haud genitor sono dulcis quam unus quisnam ieiunium valde!
Fin