Save me a Story – Message

This is the continuing story of my adventures in the tale: Save me a Story. If you wish to read the introduction to understand what is happening, click this link: 

https://www.hdhstory.net/Storyblog/?p=3431 

Otherwise, I’ve tried to summarize what happened at the beginning of most of the sections of this story.  

Message

Granny, Jack, and I were making our way to the village hall, where a meeting was said to have been held to discuss the waning interest in fairy and folktales. A large number of residents of the kingdom of Selat had been invited. The meeting was supposed to have been held two days ago. As far as I know, no one that had attended it ever returned. We hoped to find some clue as to the whereabouts of those residents. 

We had just reached the village outskirts when we came upon another character. He should have been standing on his four legs, but he was not. Dressed in a fancy cloak and  hat, and wearing knee-high boots, stood before us a cat.

He bowed as he faced us and asked, “By any chance, have you seen my mast…, the Marquis de Carabas? I was informed he would attend a meeting in the village, but I have not found him.” 

Most people might have been surprised to see a talking cat dressed in boots. I, however, was quite familiar with his tale. 

I informed this Puss in boots that we, too, were on a quest to find missing people that were to have attended this meeting. I suggested that in the best interest of all, he add himself to our party, which he did. We proceeded to the center of the village and entered the meeting hall there. 

The hall itself was huge. Chairs had been set up in a large circle with a platform in the center so that all would have an unobstructed view of the speaker. All the chairs were properly facing the platform, which would have made sense if the meeting had started already, for everyone would have been in their seat, focusing on the speaker.

 But something was wrong. Had the meeting ended, the chairs would have been disrupted, for one had to turn and move the chair one was sitting on to leave the circle. It’s doubtful everyone would have put their chairs back precisely how they were configured. These chairs were perfectly placed. So either the meeting never took place, the meeting ended and someone reorganized the chairs, or the people sitting on the chairs disappeared directly from their chairs, possibly by magic. 

Granny was quite clear about how often the meeting hall was used and that no one was in charge of cleaning it up or arranging furniture, so it was unlikely that anyone would have rearranged the chairs after the meeting. Based on the sign at the entrance to the hall listing upcoming meetings that were being held there, no new meetings were scheduled in the foreseeable future. So, the possibility of magic being involved was very strong. 

Jack discovered a piece of paper on the floor under one of the seats. He picked it up and passed it on to me. I read aloud what was written on it.

There’s much amiss that I can see

My guess is that we all should flee

The words she shares do not ring true

I fear a spell, a witch’s brew

We’re asked to look upon her face

She mutters words of an island place

The answers are all there, she states

It seems we must all meet our fates.

I hope this message you will find

As all my thoughts slowly unwind. 

Beware the witch who speaks false tales

To find us all, choose the right trails

If we’re not found, for us, you’ll mourn

It’s in the north, go strong, forlorn.

FO\

On finishing the reading, there was a short silence as the words filtered through our minds. 

The cat spoke first. “This appears to be both a tale of what might have happened, a warning to whoever reads it, and a plea for help.” 

“But what did happen?” Granny asked

“And who wrote it,” questioned Jack, “Could it be a trap to capture us also?”

The cat, who was well-versed in trickery, answered. “The writer of this note is clear, it is the fox. And a very clever one. He has given us as much information as possible before losing whatever memory he had left. He could not even finish signing his name. It is only by luck that he managed to drop the letter so that it did not follow him to wherever he and the others have been sent to.”

“If that is true,” I remarked, “then it doesn’t look like we have much time to act. The voice that gave me the instructions as to where to find everyone said I was to head north. North is also mentioned in Fox’s message. What I don’t understand is how we can be strong yet forlorn. Strong means to be hopeful and powerful, much different from forlorn, which means pitifully sad. Am I missing something?”

“I believe you are. But so am I,” Granny said. “What we must do is travel north. Maybe we will figure out what we’re missing or find someone to decode Fox’s message. But not wasting any more time here is of the essence.”

I put the note into my pocket, and we left the village, heading north.

Continued in…Necroma