21 Votes
1030
Views
Views
Chapter 1:- The Dragon and the Faerie
Chapter 1
Andy was idly walking along the path next to the railroad tracks and skipping rocks on the river. He was tall for his sixteen years, but not gangly. His body would move with a fluid grace as if he were skimming across the ground the way a snake appears to slide along the sand. The wind coming off the river blew his sandy brown hair in all directions. His hawk-like hazel eyes looked out at the water, watching the bright sunlight reflecting off its rippling surface. He tried to imagine those bygone years when tall mast ships would plough the Hudson River on a daily basis, when the land on either shore was inhabited by Indians. That was a time to be alive he thought, where freedom and adventure were the order of the day; so he believed.
He lived in a house not far from the river, so making his way down to it was an easy task. He would spend hours walking the trails. His desire was to discover something that no one had seen before, like a hidden cove or a game trail where no human had walked.
As Andy walked farther up the path, he felt that the air had compressed around him. It was as if a thought were floating on the wind just dancing out of reach. He looked out across the water again and found himself staring at the ruins of Bannerman’s Castle. The castle never ceased to fascinate him. He couldn’t help but wonder what secrets were hidden inside its walls.
Andy remembered bits and pieces of the castle’s history. The castle was built in the early 1900’s as a place to warehouse old weapons from the Spanish–American War. Up a short path to the top of the hill on the island was a house, erected in the same Scottish style as the castle. Almost forty years ago, a fire ravaged the island and left the house and castle in a ruinous state.
“I wonder what really happened there,” Andy thought. No one knew the origins of the fire, which left the mind to speculate all kinds of answers. He had heard all the ghost stories that surrounded the place, and he couldn’t help imagining that some spirit or god of the island would not suffer anyone on its shores.
He remembered a tale his dad told him of an English war ship that was able to sail beyond the West Point cannons during the Revolutionary War and came to weigh anchor near the island. It was a dead calm when they put their dories into the water and rowed to the beach on its east side. As soon as their feet touched dry ground, the river became a rolling tempest. The wind rose to gale force and caught the sails, causing the ship to lurch violently and break up on the rocks hidden below the surface. Everyone on the ship perished. Those still on the island jumped into their boats and tried to row for the nearest shore, only to capsize and drown. Andy thought it was a fascinating tale, but he believes there could be some duplicity on his father’s part since history did not record such an event.
As Andy stood looking at the castle, his sister seemed to float as she walked up the trail and stood beside him. Emilia was slightly taller and two years older than her brother, and though she had a delicate air about her, she was hard as steel in her resolve and actions. Her long black hair cascaded down her back, and her dark green eyes reflected the mysteries of a forest pool.
“What are you doing?” Emilia asked her brother.
“Just staring at the castle,” Andy replied.
“You always stare at that castle whenever we walk here,” Emilia said, “Why?”
“I don’t know,” Andy responded. “I just feel a kind of pull whenever I walk past it. It’s like I can hear someone whispering my name. Nuts, I know, but I don’t know how else to explain it.” Andy was close to his sister, even though she could sometimes be extremely bothersome. He could always share these kinds of thoughts with her, when any other person really would think he was nuts.
“Well it gives me the creeps,” Emilia said. “Let’s go.”
“Wait!” Andy exclaimed. “I need to try to get a rock through the entrance arch.”
“You always try that, and you can never reach it. It’s too far from shore,” Emilia explained.
“Yeah, but this time I have the slingshot Dad made for me.”
Picking up a good size stone from the bank, but not too heavy, Andy loaded the slingshot and took aim for the arch. The arch was on the shore of the island, with a brick path beyond that led to the castle and the house. Pulling the rubber band back to his ear, he took a breath and held it, then releasing it, the stone flew in a graceful arc over the river heading for its destination.
It was that time of day just after the sun had set behind the hills, part day and part night. The blending of two times that puts the world in a state of flux, the time of day when almost anything can happen. Something did. The rock fell just short of the arch, but it had enough momentum that it skipped on the ground once and flew through the opening.
Andy and Emilia stood with open mouths, but not because the rock made it through the arch, but rather at what happened when the rock first penetrated the opening of the arch. It was as if the rock passed through a shimmering transparent curtain, setting off colors and sparks, the likes of which neither of them had ever seen.
“Did you see that?” Andy exclaimed.
“Yes!” Emilia said. “And now I want to get out of here as quickly as possible.”
Emilia was visibly shaken by what she saw. It was like something out of an adventure movie, and she wanted no part of it. She was a very practical kind of person. Not the one to go looking for adventure and excitement, but perfectly content to do things like sitting with her back against a tree and reading a book until the sun went down. Also, being the oldest, she felt a certain responsibility to look out for her brother, and this had the look and feel of something that would get him into a great deal of trouble.
“Wait!” Andy said. “We need to go check it out.” Andy loved a good adventure, and once he had the scent of one he did not let up until his curiosity was satisfied. And this had the appearance of a grand adventure.
“Are you crazy?” Emilia yelled. “First of all you are not allowed on that island. Second, whatever caused that is likely to be extremely dangerous. And last, you have no way to get out there.”
Andy disregarded the first two arguments, because adventurers were not held to such rules (so he justified); the third however presented a problem. The island was not far from shore, and the section of water between the island and the east bank of the river was shallow at low tides, but not shallow enough that you could wade through it. Andy didn’t like to swim in the Hudson, because of the stories he had heard about the treacherous currents.
The Hudson is what is known as a flooded river. It has an incoming current during high tide from the ocean, and also its natural north to south current. It is sometimes called the river that flows both ways. He had heard of swimmers being sucked under by the current and never resurfacing. This was going to take some thought. He did not own a boat, and he didn’t want to ask some of his friends whose parents owned a boat, because that would raise suspicions. He didn’t just want to float out on a tube or other floating device because of his fear of the currents. This was maddening. A great adventure lay just waiting across a small strip of water and he couldn’t think of a good way to get out there. This would take some serious planning he thought.
“Ok,” Andy said. “I guess you’re right. Let’s head back.”
Emilia was puzzled by Andy’s lack of an argument, but decided that maybe he was finally growing up. “Great! Let’s go,” she replied.
As they walked away, a pair of golden eyes stared out from under the arch. The time was fast approaching. The boy was the key, but he had to be handled right or all his plans would collapse.
