A Change In The Weather

Chapter 43: The island

The sky was clear with no clouds, and the light of the full moon bathed everything in a soft ivory glow. The lazy sound of gently breaking waves on the pebble shore and the constant chirp of insects were the only sounds that could be heard in the distance. Compared to England, it cast a strangely tranquil and restful enchantment over them all.

Scarlet stirred from her sleep slowly and looked around. Her body had realised that it wasn’t in motion anymore and she’d woken. She blinked at the bizarre sight before her and tried to stifle a yawn.

The carpet had come to rest at the base of a huge mountain that rose out of a warm tropical sea. The moon’s reflection danced on the water - seemingly much larger and brighter in the sky than she remembered at home. She rubbed her eyes, just to check to see if it was a dream, and looked up at the summit, which was bathed in soft cloud.

The harsh weather that they’d left behind in Blakeby hadn’t reached the island, and even though she felt this place was a thousand miles away from there, she knew the storm was on it’s way and there would be no place on earth that it wouldn’t touch.

Hillary bent down and felt the carpet.

The material had become thin and fragile and disintegrated at the slightest touch.

‘Well, that looks like the end of that then,’ he said with a sigh. ‘There isn’t much life left in it.’

Within seconds the carpet began deteriorating before their very eyes, until within minutes it was just a thin layer of dust, blowing away in the warm tropical breeze.

‘Still, we’ve made it here and we’re all in one piece, and that’s all that matters I suppose.’

‘So, where do we go next then?’ asked Tobias, lighting a fresh tobacco-filled pipe. As the match was struck, it illuminated the faces of everyone with a soft amber glow.

Hillary nodded towards the summit of the mountain.

‘Up there?’ Tobias said, puffing on his pipe. ’You must be joking! Climb a mountain?’

Hillary nodded.

‘There is a mountain path that we can follow in the morning. But for now, I know we don’t have much time but I suggest we still try to get some sleep…’

* * * *

Tobias awoke from a deep sleep with a start.

Something had woken him up, and he just lay there staring straight up at the cloudless night sky. But something wasn’t quite right, and then it struck him that the only sound he could hear was the gentle lapping of the sea on the shore in the distance. He stayed still for a while, contemplating whether or not to go back to sleep, when he heard a crashing sound, and something that sounded like big heavy footsteps.

He tried to wake Hillary, but no matter how hard he tried, he wouldn’t wake up. Wendle was fast asleep, snoring. So much for a guard dog, he thought. Instead, Tobias got to his feet and tried to find the source of the strange sounds.

The sound seemed to be coming from inland, towards the mountain. Tobias looked at the thick vegetation between him and the mountain and decided not to go any further. At least, not until it was morning.

And then he heard the sound again, like a giant’s footsteps treading slowly.

The sound between each footfall was constant. He listened for another twenty minutes, trying to work out if they were getting closer or further away. And then, they stopped completely. He tried to listen for another ten minutes, but the sound didn’t repeat.

After a while, the cicadas started to chirp and nocturnal birds started calling to each other once more.

Tobias fell asleep again staring at the stars, and wondering just what surprises lay in wait for them on this island.

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