I didn't really get to the still of the night because I figured that the guys wouldn't leave the book alone till morning: they're the kind who wake up and get up and want to start doing stuff. But it sort of worked in there, in a way :)
The still of the night There was a fireplace in the room below, which might explain why the wood and oil had been stacked there. I volunteered to go up and check, but the room above didn't have a fireplace and there was no chimney that I could see either. Only when I walked down the stairs and looked up from the side of the building that the fireplace was on did I see the ventilation hole in the side of the building that had to be where the fireplace let its smoke out. When I got back to the room Ben was building a fire and Jimmy was hauling down large splintered boards from the room above. "Best thing we have for blocking the door," he said, seeing my raised eyebrow. "The one thing we know for certain is that we don't know what's going on here." "Need a hand?" I asked, though I couldn't see where I'd not get in his way. He shook his head. "Nope, I'm good. Ben's getting the fire going, but you could maybe redip the rags for the torches in the oil?" That was a good suggestion; not only did it prepare us if we needed to leave the city in a hurry but a torch in here tonight would give us a bit more light. Fires are great when they're all you have, but directed light, the kind of light you get from gas lamps, is way better. I got a torch burning, just as Ben finished the fire, and looked for somewhere to stand it. Slightly to my surprise there was a sconce on the wall opposite the fireplace, and while it might have been intended for a more elegant torch than any we'd put together, it held it in place well enough. Ben passed me the book from upstairs. "Might be worth finding out what's in that tonight," he said. "My eyes are tired, so you can do the reading." Ben reads well enough when he wants to, but he's a tad slower than he'll admit to, so this was his way of saying that he wanted to know how important this book was going to be. I nodded, sat myself under the scone for the best light, and opened it. The first few pages had been torn out, and the first page left had been torn in half so that only the bottom remained. The crackle of the fire and the soft breathing in the still of the night made it seem almost comforting to be reading. unt this citie. I amme all-moste sjure thatte they be the reeson for the departjure of the peeple who atte one time did liffe here. The golde is pickd out from the edjes all-reddy but closer to the middle there be plenty still. Butte as you walk in to the middle, they heer you, and they come for you. I amme sjure thatte they are notte protectiffe of the golde; they care notte for it thatte I can see so I must surmise thatte they nest there in the middle in some unnatural manner. Though whatte could be natural for creetjures such as these anyway? The old words, the strange spellings and the light quickly tired me, but I got the gist: something lived in the city, in the middle, and it was guarding the gold as a side effect of looking after itself. What might be hoped for is that whatever it was was dead now, which could explain why the locals were now looting the city by boat. But even as I thought that, I started to wonder if the chupacapra might not be the thing from the middle that was guarding it and remembered the footprints outside the hut where we'd spent the night last night.
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I didn't really get to the still of the night because I figured that the guys wouldn't leave the book alone till morning: they're the kind who wake up and get up and want to start doing stuff. But it sort of worked in there, in a way :)
The still of the night
There was a fireplace in the room below, which might explain why the wood and oil had been stacked there. I volunteered to go up and check, but the room above didn't have a fireplace and there was no chimney that I could see either. Only when I walked down the stairs and looked up from the side of the building that the fireplace was on did I see the ventilation hole in the side of the building that had to be where the fireplace let its smoke out. When I got back to the room Ben was building a fire and Jimmy was hauling down large splintered boards from the room above.
"Best thing we have for blocking the door," he said, seeing my raised eyebrow. "The one thing we know for certain is that we don't know what's going on here."
"Need a hand?" I asked, though I couldn't see where I'd not get in his way. He shook his head. "Nope, I'm good. Ben's getting the fire going, but you could maybe redip the rags for the torches in the oil?"
That was a good suggestion; not only did it prepare us if we needed to leave the city in a hurry but a torch in here tonight would give us a bit more light. Fires are great when they're all you have, but directed light, the kind of light you get from gas lamps, is way better. I got a torch burning, just as Ben finished the fire, and looked for somewhere to stand it. Slightly to my surprise there was a sconce on the wall opposite the fireplace, and while it might have been intended for a more elegant torch than any we'd put together, it held it in place well enough.
Ben passed me the book from upstairs. "Might be worth finding out what's in that tonight," he said. "My eyes are tired, so you can do the reading."
Ben reads well enough when he wants to, but he's a tad slower than he'll admit to, so this was his way of saying that he wanted to know how important this book was going to be. I nodded, sat myself under the scone for the best light, and opened it. The first few pages had been torn out, and the first page left had been torn in half so that only the bottom remained. The crackle of the fire and the soft breathing in the still of the night made it seem almost comforting to be reading.
unt this citie. I amme all-moste sjure thatte they be the reeson for the departjure of the peeple who atte one time did liffe here. The golde is pickd out from the edjes all-reddy but closer to the middle there be plenty still. Butte as you walk in to the middle, they heer you, and they come for you. I amme sjure thatte they are notte protectiffe of the golde; they care notte for it thatte I can see so I must surmise thatte they nest there in the middle in some unnatural manner. Though whatte could be natural for creetjures such as these anyway?
The old words, the strange spellings and the light quickly tired me, but I got the gist: something lived in the city, in the middle, and it was guarding the gold as a side effect of looking after itself. What might be hoped for is that whatever it was was dead now, which could explain why the locals were now looting the city by boat. But even as I thought that, I started to wonder if the chupacapra might not be the thing from the middle that was guarding it and remembered the footprints outside the hut where we'd spent the night last night.
Greg - hah, good enough :)
That is an unsettling entry in that book. Perfect atmospherically and delightfully tension increasing, but I'm glad I'm not the one reading it.
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