I don't trust the sailors, personally. I think they're up to something.
The sailors We all shut up as, for the first time since we'd started watching, people appeared on the dock. There were three of them coming down the gank-plank -- literally a couple of planks tied together with rope -- from the boat. All three had the look of the Elizabethtown natives: nut-brown skin, unkempt hair, stubble that was undecided about being a beard and heavy-lidded eyes that made them look sleepy. As far as I could tell, though we'd not talked much with them, that was a genetic thing: they looked sleepy but they seemed bright enough for a small community a long way away from much fresh blood. Two were carrying wooden boxes that were open at the top but looked empty from this distance, and the third was empty-handed and pointing at something on the docks we couldn't see. As we watched, the boxes were set down, new boxes were picked up from somewhere, and carried aboard. Two more people -- all men, as Jimmy noted at this point -- came out of a stone building on the far side of the dock and had a conversation with the empty-handed man from earlier, and then they boarded the boat as well. After nearly an hour or so of this the gang-plank was hauled up and the boat pushed, by the oarsmen, away from the still water. The river seized it immediately that it was out into the main flow, and the boat vanished down the river at, given what we knew of the rock tunnels it went through, an alarming pace. "And then there were three," said Jimmy, his voice deliberately low and deep, as though he were telling ghost stories around the camp fire. "Shut up," said Ben, and punched his shoulder lightly. Jimmy shied back slightly and put his hand up, feigning pain. "Let's look around," said Jimmy. I looked around, at the claw marks on the floor, and the torn-up tuff in the middle of the room, and shivered. "Carefully," I said. "Might be better to go over to the dock," said Ben. "No." I shook my head. "Let's get some height and see if they've left anyone or anything behind first. Plus... this looks like something comes here a lot, so if there's anywhere that might not have been looted yet, this could be it." "Door wasn't boarded up," said Ben thoughtfully. "Not the daftest thing you've ever said." "Yet," added Jimmy, and shied away from me. Ben clipped him lightly on the ear. "Respect your elders," he said. "Red's so old he earns respect from trees and mountains." I left them giggling while I looked at the stairs that were off to our left, through the doorway. "You two can check out downstairs," I said. "I'll take upstairs. Scream if you find anything terrifying." There were four flights of stairs up forming a switchback, before I reached the next floor; part of that was because of the high ceilings, but I still found it odd -- even with the ceiling height I would have expected a landing sooner. The stairs continued up, but there was a closed door at the first landing, and when I pushed it open it revealed a large open room with windows, much like the one we'd just been in. Only in this room the floor was smooth and untouched. There was another doorway on the other side, but I left it for now, assuming that the layout of the building was probably the same as the floor below and went up another two flights of stairs. The stairs still continued up, but on this floor the door, when I opened it, led to a long corridor with more doors off on either side. I considered finishing climbing the stairs first, but then I decided that it wouldn't hurt just to check the two closest rooms, one on each side of the corridor. The door of the first one was either locked or stuck, but the second one opened inwards.
2 comments:
I don't trust the sailors, personally. I think they're up to something.
The sailors
We all shut up as, for the first time since we'd started watching, people appeared on the dock. There were three of them coming down the gank-plank -- literally a couple of planks tied together with rope -- from the boat. All three had the look of the Elizabethtown natives: nut-brown skin, unkempt hair, stubble that was undecided about being a beard and heavy-lidded eyes that made them look sleepy. As far as I could tell, though we'd not talked much with them, that was a genetic thing: they looked sleepy but they seemed bright enough for a small community a long way away from much fresh blood. Two were carrying wooden boxes that were open at the top but looked empty from this distance, and the third was empty-handed and pointing at something on the docks we couldn't see. As we watched, the boxes were set down, new boxes were picked up from somewhere, and carried aboard. Two more people -- all men, as Jimmy noted at this point -- came out of a stone building on the far side of the dock and had a conversation with the empty-handed man from earlier, and then they boarded the boat as well. After nearly an hour or so of this the gang-plank was hauled up and the boat pushed, by the oarsmen, away from the still water. The river seized it immediately that it was out into the main flow, and the boat vanished down the river at, given what we knew of the rock tunnels it went through, an alarming pace.
"And then there were three," said Jimmy, his voice deliberately low and deep, as though he were telling ghost stories around the camp fire.
"Shut up," said Ben, and punched his shoulder lightly. Jimmy shied back slightly and put his hand up, feigning pain.
"Let's look around," said Jimmy. I looked around, at the claw marks on the floor, and the torn-up tuff in the middle of the room, and shivered. "Carefully," I said.
"Might be better to go over to the dock," said Ben.
"No." I shook my head. "Let's get some height and see if they've left anyone or anything behind first. Plus... this looks like something comes here a lot, so if there's anywhere that might not have been looted yet, this could be it."
"Door wasn't boarded up," said Ben thoughtfully. "Not the daftest thing you've ever said."
"Yet," added Jimmy, and shied away from me. Ben clipped him lightly on the ear.
"Respect your elders," he said. "Red's so old he earns respect from trees and mountains."
I left them giggling while I looked at the stairs that were off to our left, through the doorway. "You two can check out downstairs," I said. "I'll take upstairs. Scream if you find anything terrifying."
There were four flights of stairs up forming a switchback, before I reached the next floor; part of that was because of the high ceilings, but I still found it odd -- even with the ceiling height I would have expected a landing sooner. The stairs continued up, but there was a closed door at the first landing, and when I pushed it open it revealed a large open room with windows, much like the one we'd just been in. Only in this room the floor was smooth and untouched. There was another doorway on the other side, but I left it for now, assuming that the layout of the building was probably the same as the floor below and went up another two flights of stairs. The stairs still continued up, but on this floor the door, when I opened it, led to a long corridor with more doors off on either side. I considered finishing climbing the stairs first, but then I decided that it wouldn't hurt just to check the two closest rooms, one on each side of the corridor. The door of the first one was either locked or stuck, but the second one opened inwards.
Greg - well, yes, but what exactly are they up to? :)
This isn't quite a horror story. Yet. But I could see it getting there from here.
Intriguing scene at the dock before the continued exploration. I wonder if anyone was actually left behind or if they all left as they appeared to?
Post a Comment