The day had just been starting when Rue and Sara had stepped through the ring. The sun’s first rays started to hit their camp with the promise of another hot day. The sky had been clear with only a few wisps of clouds here and there.
The world they stepped into was not so warm. There was a light mist of rain at what seemed the midday light of a grey day. It felt more like autumn than spring and the two would have shivered if they had not been so awestruck.
It was not that what they saw of this new world was all that amazing, but more that they had just stepped from one world to another one so different.
They were in a three sided stone hut that led onto a covered bridge. The sidewalls each had a wood bench and coat pegs above them. The wall behind them was empty except for another ring identical to the outside one and this one too, had the watery stuff filling the middle of the ring. This one was mounted on the wall with no room to see it from the back. The whole room was no bigger than 12 feet long and 20 feet wide. The roof led straight into the roof of the bridge and kept most of the misting off them. The bridge sides were simple rails and the mist drifted through.
Rueben took all this in with a long sweeping look. He was glad to see that this side also had a ring and it gave him some hope that they could go back through to their own world. He bent over and pulled the branch from Sara’s feet and helped her up. They crossed the room and stepped to the side of the bridge. Rue looked down at the water that flowed below and had the feeling that the water was flowing both ways at the same time. Puzzled, he looked to the far side of the bridge to a large stone wall lifting from the water. The wall curved away from the bridge on both sides, giving the building a rounded look.
Next, Rueben looked the way they had come. He could see the outside of the little door room they were in, but behind that was what looked like more water. However, Rue had the distinct feeling that there was some smooth wall there stretching away as far as he could see to either side. The wall looked like looking through a foggy glass wall at more water or maybe clear sky, Rue could not decide.
Sara pulled on Rue’s arm and pointed across the bridge to where a large round door was set in to the stonewall. They crossed the bridge just starting to feel the cool and stood before the door.
As they reached the door they saw that there was also a larger wooden gate down a small ramp to the left.
“For horses maybe,” mused Sara. “Are we going to try knocking on the door or just leave?”
They had come this far, so Rue thought, Why not explore a little more? In way of answering, he reached out to the door and knocked. The sound seemed to echo in the emptiness with no other sound except their breathing. Time seemed to creep by and Rue moved to knock again, but before he could, Sara reached up for the door and pushed the door open. To both of their surprise, the door swung in soundlessly. They looked at each other, then with Rueben leading, they stepped in.
The room they entered was the biggest room either of them had seen in their short sheltered lives. Now granted, the biggest room they had seen before this was the main floor of the inn and this room resembled that, but bigger.
To Rue it looked like a big tavern with a central bench, tables, and a few booths along the front walls. All the chairs were flipped upside down on the tables and everything looked packed up. There was no dust but everything smelled as if it had not been disturbed for a long time.
Rue walked to the middle of the room and stopped. Turning a full circle he took it in. The roof was about half again as high as the inn’s main room and there was about twice as many tables, but the room was definitely laid out by the same person as his father’s inn.
Sara, at Rue’s side, whispered, “Seems very familiar somehow. Like I have been here before, like it is safe. It is as if…”
“As if who ever made this room saw my dad’s inn and liked the look.”
“Or your Grandad saw this place before he built the inn. Smells like it has been that long since anyone has been here.”
“Yeah, maybe,” mumbled Rue, not knowing what to think.
He moved to walk to the side of the counter and headed for a set of steps behind and to the left. He was just about to pass the counter when something brushed up against his leg. He jumped, scared half out of his wits. Sara screamed from where she still stood in the middle of the room and grabbed for the nearest chair. A tabby cat jumped up on the counter next to Rue and he jumped again.
Mrrroooowww!
Sara was there instantly, brandishing the chair in front of her like a two handed sword ready to strike. Seeing the cat, she froze, then laughed.
“Is this why you yelled out?” Sara laughed. “You had me thinking you had seen a ghost.”
With her laughter their tension broke. Rueben felt like a fool, but something about the place just felt like home and they where so home sick. It felt good to hear Sara’s laugh again. Rue smiled and reached out to pet the cat when his eye caught a lump right in the middle of the counter. He let his hand drop back to his side as he walked to the back of the counter to the middle. There sat a leather bound book, an engraving set in the front cover. Rue looked closer and saw it was an engraving of what looked like the giant’s ring and a mark that Rueben did not recognise.
“What have you found there, Rue?”
Rue had never been big into reading, but this book drew him to it some how.
“It’s a book…”
Sara waited to see if Rue would say more but he just stood staring at the book. Sara could not read and books held no interest for her for that very reason. So she turned to the back of the room where another corner was cut into the wall and the window that was the hole led to another room. She peeked through and found that just like at home in the inn, this lead to the kitchen. Feeling for the first time since the death of her family like something was familiar, she stepped to the far left of the back wall to where a door led to the kitchen. With delight, Sara found that this kitchen was like the main room and was laid out the same way home was, just bigger and with more things to cook with and places to store food and prepare it. Like a squirell who has suddenly found a room full of nuts, Sara went one way then saw something else and went that way. She was consumed with her exploring and all the fear that had been in her just minutes before was swallowed by her desire to know where everything was.
Rue, on the other hand, stood transfixed where Sara had left him before, with the book. He did not understand this book. Why did it call to him. Never had reading been fun or interesting. It had always been a chore, but this book had a draw to it. Why? What was it?
Slowly he reached down his right hand to run his hand over the cover, but the instant his hand lay flat on the book a rush of heat like a red hot poker ripped into his hand. His vision clouded and then with a snap it was all gone. Rue stumbled back clutching the book to himself.
What was going on? Could this day get any weirder? Then it did.
Rue lifted his right hand from the book that lay now in his left hand. Where the pain had been, now a blue swirling ring was on his hand with the same mark that the book had on it in the middle of it. Setting the book down on the corner Rue rubbed at the mark but it felt as if it was set in his skin. And as he watched, the mark faded from the brilliant glowing blue to a dark green that look almost like a tattoo.
What was this place?
Then like a sudden thunder clap on a still night Sara’s voice broke the silence of the room and Rue again jumped, his heart starting to race.
“Rue! Get in here and see this. You will love it!” Sara said with her smile coming through in her voice.
Rue carefully placed the book back on the counter and followed Sara’s voice into the kitchen and he too was struck with the kitchen’s similarity to their home. Sara was at the back of the big kitchen where there was alcove and big oven that he knew so well.
“Granny Mifs bread oven.” Said Rue with memories flooding back to him. Rue never liked the kitchen at the inn because he spent almost all of his time in it doing the dishes, a job he loathed. The one exception was when Granny Mifs made bread. Often he would stop his dishes to watch her working the dough. Even though she was so old, she had powerful hands that kneeded and worked the dough. He had taken such an interest in the bread making that she had taught him some of how to make it. He especially had liked adding the herbs to some of her more unusual loaves. When it came to cooking he was not good, but baking bread he liked. He also had learned his father’s work with the wines and brewing beer, but baking bread was something more calming for him. It was not work but passion, an art he loved almost as much as running and swimming.
Well that is all for now but I will post more soon. Stay tuned for what happens to these two as they continue their journey. AND please let me know what you think so far!
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