Chapter Six Lettle #3
‘Maybe you should take a few steps back,’ Mia said behind them. ‘Don’t want you to undo all our efforts of getting you up here.’
Lettle and Alder returned to the trail.
‘The mountain is precarious but this is definitely the Fates at work,’ Mortah said.
‘It will be worth it if we learn about Alder’s past,’ Lettle said, half to remind herself.
Mortah reached for her walking stick. ‘We’re not far now.’
‘Do you need to rest more?’ Alder asked Lettle.
In answer, Lettle stood and set off down the trail. Mortah laughed somewhere behind her and the group continued on.
The trail grew overgrown the further they walked. They had to pick their way through brambles until the plants thinned out, revealing Raven’s Valley.
Pine trees lined an expansive dip in the landscape.
The sky had cleared of all clouds and its colour was reflected on the frozen blue lake that shimmered ahead of them.
It sparkled like a sapphire set into the centre of the valley.
Due to the mountain’s height, the valley almost felt like it floated, the edges of it blurred by the sky and the mountain’s edge.
Lettle would not have been able to dream up something this ethereal.
‘Bosome above, this is beautiful,’ she said as the others joined her.
‘Isn’t it? Do you want to hear how it was made now?’ Alder asked eagerly.
‘No.’
Dart laughed.
‘This way, not far now,’ Mortah said.
‘Only one more fall to go,’ Lettle replied miserably. Her head was throbbing and bright stars still sparked in her vision.
‘Take some owen tree sap,’ Alder prompted.
‘I already have.’ She didn’t want to admit she’d finished the bottle after the first fall. Now she had none left to temper the pain for the next one.
They walked along the valley basin until they reached the lake.
Alder paused by the shore. ‘You see the hue of the water? It’s caused by particles from rock flour, that’s why it looks so powder blue. Guess what causes rock flour?’
‘Alder, stop trying to teach me about glaciers!’ Lettle said.
‘Aha, but you see, you learned something.’
‘This way,’ Mortah called, beckoning them towards her where she stood within a grove of trees.
When Lettle drew near she noticed that Mortah was trembling. Her eyes were glazed as though she was looking at the landscape through the clouded glass of memories.
‘Are you all right?’ Lettle asked.
Mortah turned to her, her eyes regaining focus. ‘It’s been a long time since I have been here. My arrival heralds the end of something.’
‘What do you mean?’
‘You are not the only one to have been guided by the Fates this day,’ Mortah said quietly.
Lettle was about to ask more but then Alder spoke.
‘The trees…’ he breathed. He was looking up at the skeletal branches, the veins in his neck protruding.
‘What is it?’ she asked.
He turned to her with glistening eyes. ‘They’re alder trees.’
Lettle looked up into the boughs and noticed for the first time the distinctive catkins that set alder trees apart.
Of course, his namesake.
Mortah smiled at Alder. ‘We found you in the caves, just beyond them.’
Alder went to one of the trees and rested his hands on the bark. His breath fogged around him.
‘Are you OK?’ Lettle asked.
He nodded, but she could sense his thoughts were in turmoil.
‘The cave, is it far?’ he asked Mortah.
‘No, less than fifty paces this way.’ Mortah pointed and Alder strode forward in the direction she indicated. His jaw was set with determination.
As Lettle was about to set off after him, she heard a branch snap behind her. She turned around, unsettled, but couldn’t see anything. She hadn’t shaken the feeling that someone was watching them.
‘Lettle?’ Alder called up ahead. His finger pointed to the edge of the tree line.
‘Am I seeing things?’ he asked.
It took a moment for Lettle to see them, but when she did, she gasped. A dozen obeah stood between the trees, all standing as still as statues.
‘Are they breathing?’ Lettle asked.
Alder walked towards them.
‘Alder, be careful, we don’t know who they are bound to,’ Lettle said, but the obeah dashed away as he approached.
Only to reappear again once Alder stopped walking.
‘They’re leading him to the den,’ Mortah said. ‘Where he was found.’
Lettle followed her line of sight but saw nothing that looked like a cave until they walked further into the forest. The terrain dipped between the trees, and Lettle realised they were following a dried riverbed.
Alder had paused up ahead.
‘It’s well hidden,’ he said as she came up beside him. His voice was shaky. ‘But the obeah went in there.’
The opening in the rockface was small, only just large enough for a person, or an obeah.
‘Do you remember anything yet, Alder?’ Lettle asked.
He shook his head, looking anxious. She watched as he hesitated on the threshold of the cave.
Dart let out a slow breath as he and Mia joined them. ‘Maybe one of us should go ahead, make sure it’s safe?’ His gaze flickered to Mia.
‘I’ll go,’ Alder said firmly.
‘I’ll go with you,’ Lettle said. She wasn’t going to let him do this alone.
He gave her a weak smile before nodding and plunging into the darkness of the cave.