Finding The Soul Bridge (The Soul Fire Saga Book 1) (17 page)

He sneezed from the dust. Thist and Jem looked on. Kelvin lay on the dirty floor and was covering himself with gold coins. Each boy had a huge grin. They were content. They had set out on a quest for adventure and riches and had found plenty of both. Thist bent down and folded his tunic and started pouring coins in. “I’m taking some now, just in case and then I’m getting out of here. Let’s go open a bottle and celebrate.”

Kelvin was up and shovelling handfuls of gold into his tunic, holding his torch awkwardly. Jem shook his head and headed for the stairs empty handed. He reached for a fire bucket on the side that was primed with sand and tilted the sand out. “Let’s just fill this and go drink, the dust is getting to me. Besides, this stuff isn’t going anywhere.”

32

Thist retched.

The boys had drunk themselves into a stupor making all kinds of merry jokes and singing late into the night. They had been elated with the find of sweet berry wine and a mountain of gold. They sang and drank and reminisced over close calls and near misses along their journey.
“Now we are facing their worst challenge yet.”
Thist thought,
“To carry on living, the day after a night of irresponsible drinking.”

His head rang like a temple gong and every sound was like a red hot poker in his ear. Every movement that he glimpsed was like a spike in his eyes. Each boy had finished a bottle on his own at least.

“Drink some water.” said Kelvin holding out a glass of clear cold water with one hand and his head and right eye with the other.

Thist looked up at Kelvin a little confused at first, “Dude, if I knew I was going to be this thirsty I would have drank more last night.” He reached out for the glass and drank deeply. It was the most refreshing glass of water he had ever tasted. “Where did you get this, it’s amazing?

“Mountain dew.” said Kelvin. “You have to help me with Jem, he is very sick.”

“No kidding.” said Thist. “He drank more than I did.”

“Yeah, that was stupid.” said Kelvin now cupping both his eyes. “I will never drink that stupid berry wine again.”

The mere mention of the berry wine caused Thist to retch out the water and what he thought was the last of his soul.

“Come on Thist.” said Kelvin. “I’m very worried about Jem, come help me.”

Thist staggered after Kelvin who was leading the way into the old tavern with a stagger of his own. “This wretched place is cursed, I swear, I dreamed of a ghost last night.”

A cold chill flooded over Thist anew. “Say what?”

“Just a dream,” said Kelvin as he tried to hide his true feelings.

“No Kelvin, I tell you now, this place is haunted. I saw a ghost yesterday just before we went into the cellar. I thought I was seeing things again, like…see…you know…?” Thist stammered, his bottom lip quivered “B-but there was something, someone.”

Kelvin held his head for a minute while glancing at Thist, “You know, come to think of it, you never dream when you are drunk, or you just don’t remember.” said Kelvin. “Let’s get Jem.”

Jem was unconscious in a pool of his own vomit. Kelvin and Thist tried to wake him but the sight and smell was wearing hard on their own stomachs. Kelvin brought some water and poured it over Jem’s neck, running the stream higher up to the crown of his head. Jem stirred then raised his head and opened his eyes. They were red.

“Where am I?” he said in a croaky voice.

“The ruined tavern,” said Kelvin “don’t you remember?”

Jem moved to his knees, wiped his face and tried to make sense of the scene. “What did we do?”

“Just drink some water Jem, today is a ‘water only day’ I think.”

Thist was in the bar just a few yards away, rummaging through a shelf. He took out an old teapot and smiled at it. “I’m not going to wait, I’m going to medicate.”

Jem and Kelvin had assumed recovery positions in the tatty but comfortable chairs in the lounge. In a few minutes Thist appeared with a tray of steaming tea cups, “This should cheer you all up in a bit.”

Thist had brewed each one of them some of his tea, sweetened with hum. The aroma on its own soothed them as he approached. “Drink slowly and then rest,” said Thist “let the magic work.”

Thist had no idea that his drunken sorcery was leading them down a new path of anguish.

As the trio sipped their hot tea, they could feel their heads stop spinning and their stomachs stop churning. Their eyelids became heavy as they entered into a deep sleep of recovery but the tea had a kick of its own and the ride was just beginning.

33

Thist stood at the entrance to the passage and stared down its length. His legs were frozen in place his spine crawled with goose flesh. He had to cross alone to the end where his room was, but he was terrified. A ghostly figure like a moth ravaged lace curtain floated by, its face was barely visible. It looked at Thist with a wide open mouth and then merged into the wall to his right. The air turned cold and his breath produced clouds of vapour. His hands trembled and he willed himself to take a step forward. The floorboard creaked. The ghostly apparition floated back into view and scrutinized him from head to toe and then hovered right in front of him. Thist stood transfixed for a long time; it looked like the apparition wanted to speak. “What?” Thist’s voice trembled.

The apparition looked over Thist’s left shoulder. Thist looked to where the ghost was staring and saw Kelvin standing just behind him staring back at the ghost, his breath also making vapour clouds in the frigid air. The ghost shifted its gaze back to Thist and then over to his right shoulder. Thist looked to his right and saw Jem standing there, his eyes wide and his lips pulled tight in fear; his face was white and stricken.

The apparition floated down the passage turning and beckoning. Thist grit his teeth and turned to Kelvin who nodded his head forward in a gesture to follow the ghost. They followed; every time the floorboards creaked the ghost would look around as if responding to the floor. Kelvin put his hand on Thist’s arm and then said “It’s okay, I think it’s friendly.” His voice sounded deep, far away and lingered like it was in the echoing caddels. The ghost led them to the far room on the left. It beckoned them to follow as it sailed through the closed door and then sailed through again to check if they were following.

34

Jem and Kelvin jerked awake.

A loud smashing sound and the smell of fire smoke woke them up. Thist was still sleeping in his chair. Kelvin and Jem looked around for the fire and what had smashed. A picture lay on the floor by the fireplace, the glass was in pieces and there was a homely fire crackling in the hearth. No one had a lit a fire in the hearth. They were disturbed and relieved at the same time.

Kelvin shook Thist by the shoulder. “Wake up, wake up, wake up.”

Thist woke up with a start and was relieved to be released from a disturbing dream. Thist rubbed his face, “Oh my gosh!” He ran his fingers through his hair and looked around, “What’s the matter?”

Jem looked like he had seen a ghost. “Did you by any chance dream anything strange right now Thist?” asked Jem.

“That is a really stupid question, dreams are always weird.” said Thist.

Jem rolled his eyes up to the ceiling, “What did you dream of right now, pink unicorn ponies or something disturbing?”

Kelvin interrupted “We just both dreamed that we were upstairs being guided to the last room by a ghost, did you dream that?”

Thist looked perplexed, “A ghost, like a lacy curtain?” said Thist “Why did you light the fire it’s hot out?”

“No one lit the fire. It was burning when we woke.” said Jem. “This place is haunted.”

Kelvin stroked his head, “I feel fine. We must have slept for about an hour but I feel like I got two days’ rest. How about you guys?”

“The tea I made you guys was some of my medicinal stuff, lets you rest well but the hallucinations are awesome.” said Thist.

Kelvin raised his eyebrows and felt his head again, “Does your tea light fires and smash portraits?”

Jem patted his head as if examining its condition, “My head is like a new head but we definitely dreamed the same dream, there must be something in that room. I bet we go there and find something even weirder.”

The trio climbed the stairs to the passage; they stood at the threshold looking down the passage as if expecting to see something. Kelvin shook his head and said, “This is stupid, I bet there is nothing in that room. He crossed the passage and grabbed the door knob, it was locked. The other two followed down the passage cautiously.

Jem looked into the keyhole. “The key is on the inside.”

Kelvin stood back raised his right leg high and landed a hard kick to the door.

The old wood splintered around the lock and the hinges sending the door sliding across the bedroom floor. A cloud of dust filled the room, and obscured their vision. As the dust settled it revealed a bedroom with private decorations and painted family portraits. There was beautiful hand-carved furniture all around the room, fit for the owner of the inn rather than for a rented room. On the bed was a skeleton with a sword stuck through its chest. The hilt was pointing up to the ceiling and the skeleton’s hands were holding the blade by the entry point near the heart.

Jem, Thist and Kelvin stood looking at the figure on the bed. “He killed himself.” said Jem.

“Why would anyone kill themselves?” asked Thist “That is the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard of.”

“The windows are properly closed and the door was locked. He definitely killed himself.” said Kelvin.

“I’ve never heard of such a thing.” said Thist.

Kelvin walked around the room and looked all over. On the dresser he found an open inkpot, and a quill, next to a beautifully penned note. On the floor he saw several scrunched pages. He dusted the note and read it out loud for the other two to hear.

“I have everything that a man could want, but nothing that I need. I have gold but no place to spend it. I have good wine, but no one to drink with. I have a life but I have no purpose. The bridge was everything but when it failed I lost what I was. I have the rope to build a new one but I don’t know how, no one knows anymore. The distance is too far.”

“The note was short.” said Jem.

“He put down his feelings of hopelessness but didn’t have anything to say.” said Thist.

Kelvin put down the note. “He is right, without the bridge this place is nothing.”

Thist stared at the sword in the skeleton. “Why is his ghost still here?”

“That is the sad thing about suicide.” said Kelvin, who knew that it wasn’t the innkeeper’s ghost. “Killing yourself will never bring you peace. Whatever anguish you had that brings you to take your life will be the anguish that ties you to the world. And your anguish will tie you to the sorrow.”

Jem considered the idea of suicide. “It’s a shame, no matter how low you are you can always start over.”  He paused a while and looked at the skeleton. “We have to rebuild the bridge. I think I can do it.”

Thist shook his head, “No we don’t, we set out on this adventure to get rich, now with all the treasure that we found in the cellar, we are rich, so, why go on?”

“Because!” said Jem. “Look at this guy, what is life without living?”

“Our purpose in this world is not to provide, or survive; our purpose is to make a difference. We can’t just try to get through life. We have to try to get from life.”

Kelvin nodded, “Jem is right, lets bury our two skeleton friends, this one and the bar maid, sweep the place out and make it clean and then we build that bridge.”

Jem looked at Kelvin for a second, “Do you want to stay in this haunted place?”

“Sure.” said Kelvin. “The ghosts are friendly here.”

35

Jem had retrieved the box of scrolls from the cellar. He was reading the plans for the rock slinger from the box marked ‘bridge making’. There were scrolls about rope weaving, timber selection and cutting, and mast anchoring. The one that looked like a war engine intrigued him and he studied it over a warm cup of hum slush. The sweet energy drink made from warm water and hum helped them cope with stomach cramps.

Thist and Kelvin had hauled out an impressive amount of rope and planks from the back workshop. Thist was oiling the planks and then rubbing sand on them to make them resistant to wet rot and slip. Kelvin was trying to measure the length of rope but kept on getting it tangled and had to start over.

As the evening darkened the boys were fascinated to see small plumes of smoke on the opposite side of the canyon.

“I hope those people are friendly.” said Jem.

“I hope they are people.” said Kelvin.

“Is there perhaps something out there that could be better than people?” asked Thist.

Kelvin looked at Thist. “Yes, people are disgusting.”

“And they ruin everything.” said Jem. “I think I have worked out a very clever method of getting the first rope across.”

“Let’s hear it.” encouraged Kelvin.

They had exchanged idea after idea as to how they should get the first rope across an impassable canyon with a raging river in the middle.

“First.” said Jem with an index finger raised. “We build the long range stone slinger.”

“I’m listening.” said Kelvin. “Go on.”

“Then we sling a large heavy rock all the way across, with one end of the rope tied to it and hope that it snags on the other end.”

Thist looked optimistic. “That is the best idea so far. It’s a long way across; we will have to build a big one. Do you know how?”

“It turns out” said Jem, “the odd looking wagon is a counterweight rock slinger that was used in a battle siege but it is too small to get anything all the way across.”

“So we have to build a new one just like it?” asked Thist.

“Yes, just a lot bigger,” said Jem, “we will get started in the morning.”

“Oh!” exclaimed Kelvin. “Please, it’s called a trebuchet.”