Tell the Story to Its End (8 page)

‘But you're not the same.'

He moves like a mist to be nearer to me. ‘I'm not.'

‘What do you need stories for? To live?'

‘To live,' says Eren, and he sounds sad, infinitely sad, a small voice lost in the night. ‘Living is the strangest story there is, boy. Try not to forget that. It's swings and roundabouts in the end. Stories define you, but you are the stories that matter. I'm just an outsider, in the end.'

Stories feed him. We are stories. He moves like a mist towards me.

‘W
OW, YOU
look awful!' said Em when she saw me. She was wearing a giant pink sunhat. I stared.

‘I … I was sleeping,' I said.

‘Now? Wow, you're mental. It's a great day. Come on, come and meet my friend the sun. Looks like you could do with it, you sleepy bum.'

‘Yeah,' I said, dazed. The sun shone down and I almost winced. ‘Yeah, let's go. Go where?'

‘World's our oyster,' she said.

‘The forest, then,' I said. ‘Let's go there.'

We called for Takeru and all walked together to the hills. The path was old and yellow, caked mud and dust all worn flat and hard. Takeru and Em chatted and joked and I dragged along behind, hands in my pockets. The distant trees grew closer and taller, until the sky was being held up on their spiky crowns and we could see them spreading out down the hill and up again, like soldiers lined up to attack. The forest felt thick and dark. ‘Wow,' I said. ‘It's pretty big.'

‘This is where you get Robin Hood and goblins and poor Hansel and Gretel walking around all lost,' said Em.

‘All in one place, huh?' asked Takeru, smiling at me. The path turned into dry grass and rough weeds, swaying and rustling as we stamped through. Insects buzzed and seeds sprayed out in front of us. ‘They've got to be old, some of these guys,' said Em, looking up at the pines. ‘I mean, there's real history here – myths and all sorts.'

‘Actual myths about these trees?' asked Takeru.

‘Sure.'

‘Why haven't I heard? You're full of it.'

‘Am not. And you never asked. OK, so these aren't
famous
stories, but they're real – ancient myths, ones not meant for children and babies, Tak.'

‘And you know them, eh?' said Takeru. He was walking beside me, with Em leading the way. ‘She doesn't know anything,' he said in a hushed voice. I smiled. This open space was good. I felt freer.

‘I
do
know them, because I bothered looking, I bothered finding them,' said Em, coming to a stop and waiting for us. Our jeans were spotted with grass and dew. The forest was black beyond the first few trees.

‘Where'd you find them?' I asked. Takeru rolled his eyes and muttered something, but Em shushed him and continued.

‘There's a library, and there's a society for local history – old stuff about the town. I think it's brilliant.'

‘Cool,' I said. I started walking again. ‘How far in can we go?' I asked. ‘I mean, how far are there paths?' I imagined a wolf on our trail. Did wolves even live in England? I didn't know.

‘No paths,' said Takeru, ‘but it's pretty easy to walk through most of it. Gets a bit steep on the hills, though, and all the roots make it pretty tough going.'

‘Come on, then,' said Em. ‘In we go. Charge!' She ran, letting her battle cry echo through the air as she slipped into the shade. I followed with Takeru, running suddenly as fast as we could, clouds of grass seeds swirling in the wind. The shadow of the trees was cool and felt damp on my face.

‘So go on, then,' shouted Takeru as we ran, all three of us, through the forest. ‘Tell us the myths!'

We stopped, panting, each leaning against a trunk to catch our breath. The whole place smelled of earth and water and wood. It smelled real. ‘How about the story of Full Lot Jack?' said Em in a dark, hushed voice, and she crept behind the tree and whispered into the knots, ‘Come out, come out, Full Lot.'

‘What kind of name is that?' asked Takeru.

‘Come out, Full Lot, come out,' she whispered to the leaves. They sighed and danced in the low light. She smiled at Takeru and stuck her tongue out. ‘It's a name you should be careful of, in these places,' she said.

‘Oh, yeah?'

‘It was a long time ago, I think; though maybe it wasn't, maybe it wasn't that long ago at all. There was a girl—'

‘I'm sure there was,' said Takeru, looking at me.

‘There was a girl and she was walking in the forest. Not at night, not being stupid, just walking, like we are, and she saw something in the trees. It was silver, and even though it was a sunny day, it was shining brighter than anything else. She went towards it. A pool! A puddle, really, not deep – but the water was so flat, so smooth, it was like a spilled mirror, like diamonds you could drink. She stared. “What makes you stare at the puddle?” says a voice behind her. Whoa! She turns around. There's a man there, dressed strangely. A foreigner, she thinks, 'cause his clothes look good, and well made, but they're still weird. “Oh, excuse me,” she says, “I was just amazed by the light.” He smiles. “Aye, that'd be a miracle, that. It's taken me many a moon to collect so much.” “This is yours?” she asks, all impressed and astounded. “What is it?” The man looks at her, weighs her up and down in his mind, and speaks in a strange voice. The girl thinks she shouldn't be talking to such a strange man, alone in a wood, but she doesn't want to leave. It all looks so magical. “You want to know?” he asks. “It really is pretty,” she says. She would like to know. So he tells her. “It's
dreams
,” is what he says.'

Em paused to knock on the pine trunk and call into the hollows. Takeru snorted and clicked his tongue, but I was listening.

‘“Dreams? How does someone take dreams?” asks the girl. “Oh, you don't take them. You are given them, by those who are good and honest enough.”' When Em spoke as the man her voice was low, like the growl of a dog. It made me shudder.

‘“Why would a person give up a dream?” “Oh, for a greater prize,” he says. The girl can't stop now, so she goes on, and she asks him, “What greater prize than your own dream?” The light of the pool dances on the bark of the pines and the leaves, which are light green and young and lively. She feels so excited to be here. “In return for their dreams I give them something they want more,” says Full Lot Jack. “Something they crave, something they are longing for, whatever it might be.”'

Takeru was silent now as well, listening to Em's story. She began to move through the trees, ducking behind and swaying against the trunks like a bird darting through mists.

‘The girl feels, in her heart she knows, that this man means what he says. She looks at the pool again. So bright! It's heaven's light, captured on a forest floor. She says she'd like that, too. What dreams does she have, anyway? A good husband? To see France? She says yes to the man with the puddle.'

A huge pine was lying fallen on the floor, its branches still covered with green needles. We climbed along its broken back, snapping at the twigs we could reach. ‘How is that the end of the story?' asked Takeru. ‘I mean, what's she actually getting? What's the deal meant to be? That story's just nonsense.' He sounded annoyed.

‘It's a mystery,' said Em, her voice mocking. ‘The girl wasn't the only one. There were others. Full Lot Jack always makes the same offer, in the end – every dream you own, in return for your heart's desire. That's the legend.'

‘Where did you hear this stuff, really?'

‘I told you, places. The heritage. I said.'

They frowned at each other.

‘Are there any books, you know, about the myths?' I said. I jumped down from the broken back of the fallen pine. The ground was carpeted with needles, brown and dead and mouldering.

‘Come on,' said Em, and she started to run off, heading out of the trees.

‘Where to?' asked Takeru.

‘You want to know all about the old stories?' she yelled. ‘Then come on!'

‘Where does she get all her energy from?' I muttered. Takeru shrugged, and we chased after her, off out of the woods and into the light.

*   *   *

We ran down through the grass fields, along the dirt path, back to the town where the earth became concrete, fences turned to walls, trees stood in lines with flowers planted neatly at the base. Em went ahead, laughing and singing to herself, and Takeru and I followed, obedient as toddlers. He scratched his head as we slowed to a walk. ‘So…' I said, trying to think of what to say. ‘So, Takeru's a cool name.'

‘Thanks.'

‘Where's it from?'

‘It's Japanese. I already had it when I was adopted.'

‘That's cool. Do you know Japanese?'

‘Nah, I've never even been.'

I hoped I didn't sound annoying. He didn't seem to mind me quizzing him. We walked on.

‘So you're here with your mum,' he said. It wasn't a question, wasn't quite a statement. We were trying to work each other out.

‘I'm here with my mum,' I repeated, ‘and my dad's coming later in the summer.'

In my head, clear and loud, I said,
liar
.

‘He away on a trip?'

‘Yeah,' I said. I stopped walking. I was glad I could talk, glad Mum wasn't here, or Rob, with smiles and busyness and silence. ‘He's some sort of politician,' I said. Takeru had stopped beside me. ‘He works for the government,' I went on, ‘but here's the thing – no one'll tell me anything, but I know something happened and there's a mess, I think, that he has to help solve.'

‘A mess?'

‘I don't know,' I said. ‘Something. Trouble. It's stupid.'

It's stories
, I thought.
Stories and whispers.
I thought about Eren. Could I tell Takeru
that
? But I knew the answer. We started walking again.

‘Bummer,' said Takeru. ‘About your dad.' He tried to smile. ‘What's he do?'

I shook my head. ‘I asked once. Mum said it's something to do with money and how people get paid. He's cool, man, he has all these people to help him, and they have these awesome cars.'

‘James Bond!' said Takeru. ‘Hope I get to meet him. Think he'll take us for a ride?'

I laughed, but nothing was funny. Deep, deep down, I prayed. Let him come back soon, I thought, and we can all race together. Don't let anything be wrong.

We walked on. Em, at the corner of the road now, had stopped and turned back to us, hands on her hips, tapping her foot along to nothing but the sound of birdsong. ‘Come
on
,'
she said.

‘Em, where are you taking us?'

‘To see the lady who keeps the tales.'

‘The lady,' repeated Takeru.

‘The lady,' I said. Brilliant.

The road turned into a wider street, and at one of the houses, grand and red brick, we stopped. Em pointed to a tarnished gold sign on the wall. ‘There,' she said with a firm nod. I read the sign out loud as Takeru looked up at the house and squinted in the sun.

‘Coxborough Local History Society, est. 1925.'

‘I told you, eh?' said Em. ‘Let's see who's home!'

She pressed a small doorbell. It only took a few seconds for the door to open and a woman to step out. She was old, her white hair curled and thick, gold glasses hanging around her neck. She was thin, but not slow, and she smiled when she saw Em. ‘Hello, stranger!' she said, and invited us inside.

‘Hello, Mrs Barson. These are my friends. This is Takeru, he lives near me, and this is Oli – he's here with his mum for the summer.'

The lady, pink cardigan loose and soft, put on her glasses to see us. Takeru stood awkwardly. I tried to smile and settled for a nervous nod. She laughed gently, quietly. ‘My, what handsome boys. I like that one's hair…' she said, and moved her hand towards Takeru. He muttered something and blushed.

‘Nice to meet you, Mrs Barson,' I said.

‘Please,' she said, ‘call me Olive. Lovely to meet you, now.'

‘Nice to meet you,' said Takeru, recovering and holding out his hand. Mrs Barson took it in both of hers, like a nun receiving a sinner, and then stood straighter. ‘Well, young Em, what can I do for you today?'

‘We were just up in the woods and I was telling them about Full Lot Jack.'

‘Ohh, yes, yes,' she nodded.

‘And I said you knew all about this place, and all its stories. You're the town's historian, I said.'

‘Ha! Oh my,' said Mrs Barson, holding her hand to her chest in mock surprise. ‘Such grandeur! I'm the current president of the society, certainly, and I know a thing or two of the older stories.'

‘May we look at your books?' asked Em.

Takeru leaned over to me again. ‘Never knew she could be so polite,' he whispered.