Colin's Song

In a quaint seaside town in Southern England, on top of a hill, was a dark mansion. Inside, a girl was tossing and turning with nightmares of memory. She awoke in silence and sat up in bed, everything flooding back to the front of her mind. The deaths, the promise, all of the events of her seventh birthday. But particularly the red mask. The thought of whether it was true came to her mind, but she knew she had time yet.
She rose to her feet and walked to the window. A breeze blew her hair out of her face as she leaned out the window and stared into the mocking face of the clock in the town square, lit by the full moon. Her blood froze in her veins.
Midnight. This was the day he had said. She knew at that moment that she had to find out the truth. She searched the floor for the one board that had always creaked slightly. When she found it, she pried it up with her bare hands and stared in dismay at the bloodstained white dress, small enough to fit a little girl, which lay before her.
She raced to her bureau and dug out the black riding cloak that had been given to her by her real father before he’d died. It fit her like a glove now. She raced to her bedroom door, but before she opened it, the recalled that the creaking stairs on the old staircase would wake her "parents". So she ran over to her bed and stripped it, using the many sheets and blankets as a makeshift rope. Then slowly, silently, she lowered herself out the window.
The moment she hit the ground she sped toward the pier. It was a full moon, and every full moon a friend of hers, a pirate captain, came into dock for a visit. She was sure he’d know what to do. After running for what seemed like an age, she saw the large form of The Lady Falcon in the ocean. She felt certain that she would not be seeing the mask again that night.
In no time at all, the door to Tim’s quarters loomed in front of her. She pounded on it for a moment, then waited. Tim flung the door open.
“Who is it?” He growled. Then he saw her and smiled. “Well, well. Colleen! How have you been?” Colleen smiled weakly at him.
“Fine,” She said. “Until about ten minutes ago.”
“Well, come in and tell me what’s wrong.” He flung the door wide open and she stepped inside.
The room was small and square, but tidier than one would expect of a pirate. It had pieces of furniture occupying three corners of the room. A hammock, a desk and a wardrobe. On top of the wardrobe was a wide brimmed hat. There was also a small square table in the center. Tim pulled out a chair and beckoned for Colleen to sit. He then sat across the table from her and rested his elbows on the table.
“What’s your trouble, Colleen?” He asked kindly. Colleen, after much thought, decided to tell him all that she recalled.
“The people I’ve been living with all this time,” She began shakily, then grew stronger. “are not my parents. I’ve just had a sudden memory and now I know that I have to get out of town before daybreak!”
“What do you remember, lass?” He leaned forward curiously. She took a deep breath and told him.
~It was my seventh birthday. It was nice and warm in the house where we were having my birthday party. Life seemed wonderful, as if the sky had stopped raining just for me. I had on a white gown and I felt like a princess. Suddenly, a man in a red mask appeared out of nowhere. His mask was distorted and dark, and no sign of the man underneath could be seen. Then he drew a knife. It was a heinous sight, and the other guests just watched. They stared and called out, but made no move to help. I cried out to him to stop, but he killed my parents. Torrents of blood splashed onto my dress and I just screamed and screamed; but before the people could draw me away from the gruesome sight, the masked man pulled me close and said, “When you are eighteen I shall have you.” By the time the doctors came, it was too late. My parents were dead and the man in the red mask was gone. I was given to the people who have been caring for me since then, and that night, the gown was tucked under a floorboard in my room and I forgot all about it. But I suppose I always almost remembered. How could I forget? There was so much blood…~
All the while Colleen was speaking, a thick fog of distance covered her. Finally, Tim found his voice.
“You said he said that he would ‘have you’?” He asked.
“Yes.” She said, coming out of the space where she had been staring before.
“Well,” Said Tim, without hesitating. “we can’t have that.” He walked over to the wardrobe and began persistently searching its depths.
“What are you doing?” Inquired Colleen.
“We’re going to disguise you as a boy.” He replied briskly.
“But where am I to go?”
“Well, you can’t come with me. That’d be the first place they’d look for you.”
“I could go into the woods…”
“Are you sure you’d want to?”
“No one much goes in there. It’d be safer.”
“Very well.” As he said this, he pulled a pair of knickers and a shirt out of the wardrobe. Then he reached up and pulled down some men’s shoes. “Here, these should fit.”
“Where did you get them?” Colleen asked, taking the clothes.
“Me last cabin boy. He decided to quit his life of piracy, and you know me motto: 'you may quit the Lady Falcon, but your clothes will stay. No one had ever tried. They thought I was joking.” Then he walked over to the door and turned around. “I’ll just step out and you can try them on.” With that, he strode out of the room, shutting the door behind him. She slipped into the clothes, and they fit as if they had been made just for her. She walked over and flung the door wide. Tim trotted in and looked approvingly at her outfit. Then, he said, “The hair will have to go.” Thus began the search for the scissors.
When they found them, in the drawer of the desk astonishingly enough, Colleen sat down in a chair and her eighteen years of wild chestnut locks tumbled to the floor. When she stood at last, she looked exquisitely like a young boy.
“Well,” Said Tim. “you’ll fit right into your character.”
“You really think so?” She asked nervously.
“Of course! You’ll be safe or I ain’t Captain Tim of The Lady Falcon.” He gathered her hair off the floor and placed into the wardrobe in a paper sack. “I’ll walk you to the edge of the woods.”
“Are you sure you can?” She asked him.
“Of course I can, Colleen. Can’t let anything happen to you, at least until you get into the woods. I’m astounded how well this disguise turned out.” So laughing and chatting, at whispering levels, they sneaked through the sleeping town to the edge of the forest. “Well,” Said Tim sadly. “this is it.”
“Yes…” Muttered Colleen. Then she walked into the woods, but before she left her hometown behind, she turned and blew him a kiss. After that, without another word, she bolted deep through the maze of the trees.
She wandered for hours without seeing any sign of people, or food. The hours turned to days as through the heat and nightly rains she pressed on, and on… Her hunger worsened with each step she took. A lonely exhaustion overcame her until she was as covered by it as by the black cloak on her shoulders. She dropped to the ground. But just before dark silence claimed her, she thought she heard the music of a lute.
A bulky man stumbled into the clearing with a tall, thin man trailing behind him. The two were of a band of forest thieves, and the skinny man was the leader. He and the bulky man, best friends since as long as either could remember, were looking around for firewood as the others set up camp. The bulky man was the first to notice Colleen.
“’Ey, look over there, Tommy!” He said, pointing.
“What is it, Dodger?” Asked Thomas.
“It’s a boy. ‘E looks dead.”
“Does he now? Let’s take a look.” They trotted to Colleen and rolled her on her back. Thomas took a pulse. “No, he’s alive. Let’s get him back to camp before that changes.” With that, he scooped her up in his arms as if she weighed little more than a child. Then they hastened back to camp.
When they got there, Thomas set her down on a cot in one of their tents. The doctor-a big, brawny man-walked into the tent with a black bag in his hand. Dodger left the tent to find firewood, while Thomas and Doctor sat at Colleen’s bedside. Doctor reached out and touched her forehead with gentleness quite unreasonable for a man of his size. He shook his head.
“He has a fever something terrible.” He said.
“Will he live?” Thomas asked, trying not to sound concerned.
“Sure. He’s just half starved, soaking wet and frozen to the bone. We’ll cover him up, and when he wakes, we’ll feed him.”
“Until then?”
“Nothing. We just keep him warm, and wait.”
~Colleen sat up. She felt warm. She was in a meadow of flowers. She wore a white dress and her hair was pulled back in a braid. She stood and looked around. For some reason, she felt amazingly secure.
That could only mean one thing.
“I’m free.” She spoke in disbelief. “I’m free!”
She skipped and twirled excitedly in circles. Her hair flew free of its braid as she spun. Then suddenly, she saw a man in a wide brimmed hat. He faced away from her, but she recognized him immediately. Colleen raced toward him, shouting.
“Tim!” She cried. “Tim! It’s alright now! Tim, everything’s going to be alright!” As she approached, he turned around. It wasn’t Tim; it was the man in the red mask. She tried to stop running, but he caught her in his strong arms and she couldn’t escape. The world around her darkened to night. She realized, to her horror, that the dress she wore was a bridal gown; but no matter how she tried, she just couldn’t scream. When at last she broke free, he seized her by her hair and threw her to the ground. There was a tombstone in front of her which she saw bore the name of her mother.~
In the world outside Colleen’s dream, Doctor had left Thomas alone to watch Colleen. She was deeply asleep, he was deep in thought.
“I remember when I was your age,” He murmured. “I always thought I knew where I’d be. Settled, with a nice lady and…” His eyes glazed over. “A son. I always wanted a son…” Suddenly, Colleen began shaking. The shaking worsened until she was almost in a seizure. He quickly braced himself over her body, to prevent her hurting herself.
Colleen’s eyes fluttered open. She let out a shout and squirmed out from underneath him. Then she ran to the edge of the tent opposite the door, frantic.
“No!” She shouted. “Don’t touch me!” Thomas stood up and faced her. He put up his hands, a few inches from his face, palms forward. He took a meek step toward her.
“It’s alright,” He said soothingly. “I’m not going to hurt you.” Colleen relaxed and Thomas let his hands down. “What’s your name, lad?”
“Col…” She said instinctively. No. Lad he had called her. She began again. “Colin, sir. I apologize for panicking.
“Not a problem at all. I’m Thomas. Colin, you should probably eat something. Come along.” She took her riding cloak from the back of a chair and followed him out the tent doors. The men of Thomas’s band of thieves sat around a long folding table. As soon as the two of them stepped out, the group members began to talk all at once. But Thomas silenced them with a wave of his hand. “Gentlemen,” He said grandly. “This is Colin. If Colin wishes, he is to join our band of thieves. Colin, these are the members of my band.”
As all shouted their greetings. There were five at the table, plus Thomas made six. There was Doctor; Dodger; a short, blond man who went by Smith (even though his name was Arnold McCarthy); and a mastermind pair of twins named Clint and Flint.
“So, whattaya think, Colin?” Asked Smith. “You gonna join up?” Colin hesitated, then finally spoke.
“I would love to join your band.”
“Yer would? That’s marvelous!” Cried Dodger excitedly. “Let’s eat.”
“Alright.” Said Colin.
“Oh!” Cried Clint.
“Sit with us!” Shouted Flint.
“We simply must get to know you better.”
“Indubitably.” The twins made room for her to sit between them. She walked over and sat in the space they had cleared. Dodger set a plate in front of her and it filled with food almost instantly. Colin smiled for the first time since Tim faded out of sight.
“Now eat,” Said Doctor. “or you’ll die.”
“Don’t need to tell me twice.” They all began to eat. Clint and Flint pelted Colin with questions, which she answered with as much truth as possible. After a while they finished eating and just talked. “So…” Began Colin. “Where are we going?”
“Let’s see,” Pondered Smith. He pointed. “That way.” It was the direction from which she came.
“No!” She choked. “I can’t come with you!”
“What?” Thomas asked, confused. “Why the sudden change, lad?”
“I… uh…” She thought fast. “My father died in a town that way. I couldn’t go and still stay sane.”
“Oh.” Thomas said. “We could just go west instead of south…”
“No,” Said Colin, embarrassed. “You don’t have to do that, sir.”
“Please, call me Thomas.”
“Thomas. I’ll just go. I don’t wish to cause you any trouble.”
“Tis no trouble at all, lad.”
“Please, call me Colin.”
And so she joined their band of outlaws. The next day they began heading west, and before long, Colin found herself accepted into their brotherhood. She had very little trouble portraying a boy, because all of her friends were men and boys. It had been that way ever since she had met Tim. She was nine and he was eighteen. They had been friends ever since.
After not to long of traveling, she had her first complication.
One day they were walking through the woods, laughing and chatting as usual, when Thomas froze in his tracks, then darted off into the trees. The others instinctively stopped, except Colin-who was new-and thus smashed into Smith.
“Shh.” Shushed Smith.
“What’s going on?” Whispered Colin fearfully.
“Someone’s coming. We just have to wait for Thomas to give the order.” No sooner had he said this, than Thomas came running back to them and they quickly formed a circle.
“Three men.” Said Thomas quickly. “Look rich.”
“The plan?” Asked Clint and Flint in perfect unison.
“Plan FF.” Thomas replied. Then he grinned and looked at Colin. “This could be your first job, Colin me boy!” Then he looked at Smith. “You want him to take your place for a change of pace?”
“Do I ever!” Said Smith, with a grin twice the magnitude of Thomas’s.
“You alright, Colin?” Asked Thomas.
“Sure.” Said Colin with a shrug. “But, what’s plan FF?”
“It’s French.” Smith said, eager to explain. “It stands for Faux Fille. Fake Girl.”
“Huh?” Thomas laughed, then reached into his bag. He pulled out a long dress and a parasol, then tossed them at her.
“You’re to dress like a girl, Colin.” Said Thomas with a crooked smile. Colin’s heart sank. The others snickered at her fate. “We’ll stand guard in the meadow. Dodger, stay with Colin.” And with that they were gone. All except Dodger.
“Well go ahead and change, boy.” Said Dodger.
“Er…” Squeaked Colin. “I…”
“Go on, lad.” He said curiously. “Wait…” He walked right to her and grabbed her by the chin, gently pushing her face to the light. “Yer… yer a girl!” He gasped.
“Yeah,” She said softly. “I’ll just…”
“Naw,” Said Dodger. “I’m sure ye ‘ad a good reason. Jus’ put the dress on. Wear yer clothes under.” She smiled at him, and then put on the dress. “Now, all ye ‘ave te do is stand on the path. Then, when they try fer ye, walk seductively down the path. Go into the meadow, then stand there looking sexy until they set off the trap. Got it?”
“I think so…” She picked up the parasol and opened it over her shoulder. “How do I look?”
“Grand, me ‘boy’.” He winked at her. “Shall we?” He showed her to the path where she was to wait. She stood silently for a while, until Thomas came racing through.
“They’re coming!” He said as he passed. Colin turned her back toward the voices coming up the path, and waited. She listened to them laughing and chatting, until suddenly, they stopped. One of them whistled. Colin began to walk. They followed, cat-calling as though their voices were connected to a point south of their brains.
She led them down a twisting, turning path through the woods. Then she saw the meadow. She walked in and waited, right in the center. The three men froze in their tracks, obviously aware that it could be a trap. Colin peered over her shoulder and lifted her skirts almost past her knee.
That was all it took.
The men charged into the meadow and almost instantly were caught by a net, dropped from the branches of a tree.
The men from the band leapt down from the trees, laughing. They took the men out of the net and tied them up with ropes. Colin quickly removed the dress from over her clothes and reveled, to the horror of the men, that she was, in fact, a “boy”. The other thieves walked over to congratulate her.
“Well done, Colin!” Thomas.
“Want to make this a permanent post?” Smith.
“Brilliant!” Clint.
“Yeah! Smith never thought of that one! OW! ME HEAD!” Flint, as Smith took the parasol and whacked him upside the head.
Dodger only winked. Colin smiled and fixed her breeches, then stood in an exaggeratedly manly pose.
“Well,” She said. “It takes a strong man to be a girl.” The men laughed and Thomas mussed up her hair.
“I can tell you’re going to fit right in.” He said. After they had robbed the three men blind and left them alone in the meadow, hanging from their ankles from the trees (some sort of tradition), they set off west once again. They traversed for a little over six hours, then it became too dark to see and they set up camp. She went into one of the tents with Thomas and Dodger and fell happily asleep instantly with dreams of roses, finally feeling as though she were safe.
Dodger listened to her breathing as it softened and turned even. He rose from his bed silently and went for his bag. He pulled a pouch from the bag and walked up to her sleeping form. Then he sprinkled some silvery powder on her head, causing her eyelashes to flutter. There. He thought, smiling at his handiwork. That ought to do it. With that thought, he went to bed.
~Colleen left her field of roses. She wanted to tell her friends why she couldn’t go south. The real reason. They would understand. She was wearing white again. She left the meadow, with a rose in her hand that she wanted to give to Tim when she got back to town. When she reached camp, she was startled to find it empty and dark in the blossoming nightfall. She charged into the tent which accommodated Doctor and Smith.
The tent reeked of sorrow, but the two men were nowhere to be found. This was also the case in Flint and Clint’s tent. Then she walked into Tomas’s tent, and let out a scream of horror. Thomas’s shirt was lying on the floor in tatters as was he. His wrists were brutally slashed and bleeding. He was dead. The river of red seeped across the floor quickly, and soon it was running over her bare feet and seeping into her skirts. Unable to take the agony of watching her newfound friend bleeding for another moment, she bolted out the door. She knew that she had to find Tim.
She raced to the town from which she had fled. She then looked up at the sky to see a new moon, and her heart sank. Oh, no, no! She thought in dismay. He only comes on the full moon! But when she reached the pier, she saw that the ship was right where she had wanted it. She pounded on the door and it swung open. Then she took three trembling steps inside and the door shut behind her.
Tim was sitting at his table and was, to the great relief of Colleen, perfectly unharmed. Only, he took no notice of her entry.
“Tim!” She cried. “Tim!” But he didn’t even look up. She needed to give him the rose, she knew it.
Suddenly, the wardrobe opened. It opened slowly, with no sound reaching any ear passed the scratching of Tim’s pen as he wrote out some poetry. The man in the red mask stepped out of the wardrobe and walked up behind him.
“Tim!” Colleen whispered in horror. “Behind you!” But it was as if he couldn’t hear. The masked man drew a dagger as he approached Tim’s shoulder. Colleen couldn’t move, she could only watch. The masked man grabbed Tim by the back of his shirt and, in one swift motion, the masked man had Tim, shirtless, by the hands and was dragging him across the tabletop. Then, with unparalleled brutality, the masked man took the tip of his blade and maimed Tim’s wrists. Then, he walked back into the wardrobe as if nothing had happened.
Blood silently gushed to the floor, and Tim lay silently on the table. At this point he saw her. He shook his head and mouthed three silent words as the life drained from his face and body.
“Don’t do it…” And he was dead.
Colleen walked to him, the blood staining the front of her shirt. She stared at him for a time, and then recalled the rose. She smelled it for a moment, and then she felt the masked man’s embrace around her body. He grabbed her hand, the one that held the rose, and squeezed it. Tighter and tighter until the blood ran freely through her fingers and the rose turned black and died. The man in the red mask let out a cruel laugh and vanished.~
While all of this was going on, Thomas was tossing and turning in his bed. Finally he simply woke up. He lay on his back silently for a while. It was very late at night. Suddenly, he heard Colin’s voice and listened to hear what she was saying.
“No…” She muttered. “Tim… don’t go… no…” Thomas just stared. What? He thought. Who’s Tim? Colin suddenly stopped moving. After a moment of motionlessness, Thomas grasped her wrist to take a pulse. Her fingers and hand were bleeding.
"Good god…” Said Thomas. He reached over to his bag and got a rag, which he pressed to her hand. “Dodger!” He shouted. “Wake Doctor!” Dodger rolled out of bed and began to walk toward the door. “HURRY!” Shouted Thomas. By that time Dodger was out of the tent and gone.
Thomas took the rag from her flesh to look at her hand. It continued to bleed, but there was no wound at all. He tied the rag about her hand tightly and picked her up. Then he carried her to Doctor’s tent. The tent flap opened and Thomas was ushered inside. He set Colin down on a bed and the Doctor took a pulse on her unwrapped wrist.
“What seems to be the problem now?” Doctor asked. “Well, other than the fact that his heart is going at around a thousand beats in a minute.” Thomas pulled the rag from around her hand to reveal the blood. “Oh,” Shrugged Doctor. He began to clean the blood off her hand. “he probably just hit it on something and…” As the cleaning revealed blood coming from nowhere, the English language failed him and he just sort of spluttered.
“Care to explain that world renowned Doctor?” Said Thomas mockingly. By this time, all of the men had come into the tent and been filled in by Smith as to what had happened, and the whole tent fell into chaos.
Everyone, that is, except Dodger.
Dodger sat in the corner with a sly smile on his face. He watched their panic, then laughed in the knowledge that it would all be over soon. He stood up and spoke strongly.
“Stop tryin’ ter ‘elp ‘im.” He said. “yer just wastin’ yer time.”
“What do you mean?” Asked Thomas. Everyone turned to look and listen.
“Exactly what I said. Yer wastin’ yer time tryin’ te save ‘im.”
“You mean you know what’s going on?”
“Yup.”
“Did you do this!?!”
“Sure did.”
“You did this…” Thomas stared in dismay at the crumpled, bleeding Colin, and Dodger simply began to laugh. “Why in hell are you laughing? You’ve killed him!” This only caused Dodger to laugh more.
“On the contrary. Come ‘ere.” Dodger stopped laughing and picked up the rag that had just been used as a compress for Colin’s hand. “Look closely at this rag.” He said. “Notice anythin’?” The men stared at it in silence for a time. At last, Smith piped in.
“There’s no blood.” He said flatly.
“Exactly.” Said Dodger triumphantly. Then he walked over to Colin and lifted her hand to the light. The blood continued to run down her arm. “It ain’t real. It’s only an illusion.” As soon as these words were spoken, the blood was gone and her breathing and heartbeat returned to normal. Dodger grinned at the confused thieves. “Told ye so.” He said, obviously pleased with himself.
“How…?” Murmured Doctor, at a loss for words.
“That’s fer me te know.” Grunted Dodger. “So whatcher say we gets ‘im back te bed?” Clint and Flint lifted Colin, still asleep, off the cot and out the tent flap, but Thomas stayed. Dodger addressed him. “Mayhaps we oughtn’t tell ‘im about it either. Methinks ‘e’d be…disturbed.” After that, the whole camp went, uneasily, back to bed.
Thomas, however, remained restless. He tossed and turned until finely he decided to stop trying and go for a short walk outside. It was a warm, lovely night, after all, with still air and stars that glinted like fireflies.
“Hmmm…” Moaned Colin. Thomas froze in his tracks halfway out the door and turned around. He raced to her bedside. She was muttering softly, agitatedly. “He…” She stopped. Thomas inched closer.
“Who?” He asked curiously, in a whisper. She froze, and then spoke with severity that startled him.
“Dodger.”
“What about him?”
“He knows.”
“What?"
“The secret.” The hair on the back of Thomas’s neck prickled. He leaned closer.
“What secret?”
“You won’t tell Thomas, will you?” Thomas hesitated. Did he wish to let curiosity get the better of him and completely defile Colin’s privacy? Or give some respect to the little lad he adopted?
“I…won’t…” He said carefully.
“Colleen…” She began. Thomas couldn’t do it. He just couldn’t bring himself to let the secret be revealed to he, whose name had been so specifically mentioned.
“Stop.” He said quickly. “I can’t let you tell me your secret. Thomas might be awake.” What he said was true. He was unsure if he was awake or in some surreal dream. He rose to his feet and started out.
“Please,” She said softly.
“What?” He asked, looking back.
“Say nothing of this.” Thomas bit his lip.
“Very well.” With that he turned his back to Colin and quietly walked out of the tent. He felt sure that something was wrong with Colin, but what? He sat down on the bank of the river and remained for hours, pondering.
“Hullo, Thomas.” Said Colin suddenly from behind him. Thomas jumped, then turned and looked.
“Hullo, Colin.” He muttered back.
“What’re you doing up so late?”
“One might ask the same of you.”
“I couldn’t sleep. Nightmares.”
“I see. How did you find me?”
“Your shoes were gone, so I followed the footprints you left in the dirt.”
“Damn. You’ve a true thief in you, boy.”
“Thanks.” Colin sat down beside Thomas and there they remained for some time in perfect silence, both deep in thought about the nightmares Colin spoke of. What could it mean? What was it? But Thomas was more curious to find out who Tim and Colleen were.
“Er…Colin…” Began Thomas, unsure of how to put what he was about to ask.
“What is it?” Colin inquired, with no clue as to what was coming.
“You…” He paused. “Mumbled in your sleep a bit.” Colin’s heart sank, but it didn’t show on her face.
“Oh, really?” She asked. “What did I say?”
“Oh,” Thomas went on, still struggling to be casual. “You just mentioned a couple of names. Tim, I think, and Colleen.” Colin’s heart was pounding. She knew that if he asked, she’d have to think, convincingly, like a boy. “Who are they?” Damn. But to her surprise, it came quite easily.
“Colleen is me girl back home.” She said, quite sure of herself.
“And Tim?”
“He’s the one what’s always trying to steal her.” Thomas seemed quite satisfied by that answer, but Colin was confused. Why was it suddenly so easy to think like a boy?
They sat in silence for a time, then Thomas struck up a conversation and there they stayed there until dawn, talking about useless things. Finally, they walked back to camp. The two had bonded further, but Thomas was still unsure about the description of Colin’s dream and the two people whose names she had uttered.
Not long later, they had gathered up everything in the camp and set off once again. As they walked, Flint drew a lute from his pocket and played, while Clint sang a very crude Irish drinking song. Then Dodger told some ridiculous jokes. The sky was clear, and all in all, it was a lovely day. Around noon, Smith looked at Colin and smiled.
“Are you hungry?”
“Sort of,” She responded cautiously. “why?”
“Care to learn to fish?” Colin shrugged.
“Uh…” Pondered Colin.
“Good.” Smith said, taking her moment of confusion as an affirmative. He grabbed her hand and before she could protest, they were at the edge of a beautiful lake, with fish and birds splashing in the shallows. Smith handed Colin a piece of string and an iron hook, and the lessons began.
Smith turned out to be an excellent fishing teacher; and by the time they had been fishing for a half an hour, Colin was an expert. Then, the two got into a water fight and ended up soaked to the skin in the middle of the pond. Smith swam to the shore and sat there, but Colin had noticed a tiny problem. The water had soaked through her shirt and now everything underneath could be seen perfectly.
“What is it?” Laughed Smith. “Grown a bit attached to the pond?”
“Er…” She said. “Something like that.” Smith leapt back in the water and retrieved her. She tried to swim away, but he pulled her out of the water. She frantically covered what little chest she had. Smith just stared in shock.
“Oh.” He said. “Oh.” He turned and walked to the edge of the forest. Colin quickly rung most of the water out of her shirt and went after him.
“Please,” She said. “I’m being pursued. By a man who wishes to kill me. I needed a place to be where he couldn’t find me. Dodger knows. My name is Colleen. Please Smith!” Her eyes began to tear. “Please.” After a moment, Smith turned around to face her.
“Now that you know how to fish, Colin, we can eat!” He said brightly. Then, they rejoined the band and continued on their journey.
True safety lies deep in the depths of kindness.
True kindness is found in only TRUE friends.
Find protection beyond the woods of despair,
Where never beginning, where never it ends.
“Sure hope you get to read this, Colleen.” Tim muttered as he wrote. He then wrote the title on the top of the page. "Colleen’s Song". As soon as he finished, he turned the page to work on another poem. After a long while, Tim thought he heard a click. He looked over his shoulder. His wardrobe was opened, but surely he had just left it that way.
He turned back to his work.
I’m just paranoid since my crew mutinied. He thought. I’m alone at sea! There’s no one in the wardrobe. Suddenly, the wardrobe doors flung back and out stepped the daunting figure of the man in the red mask. Tim stared blankly at the creature who had just stepped out of his wardrobe as if from the mouth of hell.
“How the…?” Tim spluttered.
“Colleen.” The man in the red mask interrupted in an, emotionless, cold voice.
“Where is she?”
“She’s not here.”
“I know that. Where is she?” The voice of the man flowed on, as unflinching as the hideous mask.
“I won’t tell.” He said flatly. The man in the red mask stared at him, and then began a slow, steady approach toward the table. He dropped the bag and its contents flowed out onto the floor.
“I know why.” Said the man in the red mask. His voice, still un-rising or falling, took on a sick severity. “She’s in danger. You know it.” Tim stared in horror at the man, all the while knowing it was true. Seeing the look in Tim’s eyes, the man in the red mask came up to him and drew his dagger. “She’s alone because of you. She’s lost. She’s frightened. You’ve betrayed her, Tim.” With each phrase he uttered, he made a small warning gash on Tim’s wrist. Until he delivered the final blow. “She hates you.”
Tim’s eyes widened and he gasped, staring at the numerous cuts on his arms. He had said that she hated him, and Tim knew it was true. It had to be true, and he hated himself for it. The man in the red mask would be a better friend to Colleen than he himself was. He could feel his sanity slipping away.
Tim began to babble uncontrollably. His words flew by, meaningless except for two words which kept repeating in his speech. The only words the man in the red mask needed to hear.
“The woods…”
“Oh,” The man in the red mask said, back to the same expressionless tones. “you’ve told me.” Tim snapped back to his senses. The man leaned over to cut Tim again, but he slapped his hand away. The masked man laughed and slithered back into the wardrobe.
After a few moments, Tim rose to his feet. His heart pounded. He was still in shock as he stopped the blood flow from his arms. It was then he decided that he had to go and find her before the bloody creature from his wardrobe did. So he turned his ship around and began to navigating back to town.
Meanwhile, Thomas and Colin were becoming better and better friends. Smith had dropped it, but, Colin had begun to feel a biting guilt about lying to Thomas, and Thomas misinterpreted her strange mannerisms as evidence that someone was hurting her. The nightmares continued, making Colin more and more tired. This was all the proof Thomas needed, and all clues pointed to Dodger.
One day Dodger saw what was going on.
“Colin,” He said. “may I ‘ave a word with ye?” Colin, in exhaustion, simply nodded and walked over. “About your nightmares…”
“So,” Said Thomas plainly. “I was right all along.” Then, Thomas snapped. He let all the fury he had penned up inside of him loose at the same instant. “Devil! Can’t you tell his life’s been hard enough? Leave the boy alone!”
“But…” Started Dodger.
“But nothing! Get away! You’re no longer welcome here!
“But…”
“OUT!” He roared. Dodger, stricken, stared into the face of his livid friend, then took a deep breath and turned away from his home, his life and everything he ever had, into the woods and was gone. Colin promptly fell to the ground in a dead faint.
Dodger stumbled through the woods in a blind, dreamlike state. His best friend had shunned him. Everything he had ever cared about… He knew he would never see any of it again. He broke into a run and bolted through the woods, barely avoiding trees as he flew by. His thoughts flew by as well. He had lost everything as a result of trying to help a poor girl. The nightmares, just side effects of the damn thing. Damn powder! It was only meant to help her think like a boy! Then Dodger saw something that made him stop in his tracks.
The man in the red mask. He drew his dagger from his side and silently walked over to Dodger. He stopped right in front of him and stabbed him in the stomach and slashed upward. With that the man vanished, and left nothing behind but a puddle of blood and the corpse of a lonely man, never to be found.
~Colleen was standing alone. She was wearing black and still in men’s clothing. In front of her was a coffin. She took three large steps forward and slowly lifted up the lid. The body in the coffin was hers. Tears ran uncontrolled and silent down her face and she mourned her death as though she had known it all along. After a moment of just staring, she turned around. A mirror was hanging in the air in front of her. In the mirror was the face of Thomas.~
Doctor took Colin’s pulse. Smith was sitting by, watching.
“I think he’ll be fine.” Said Doctor. “Just exhausted. What was Thomas’s problem?”
“He thinks Dodger was poisoning her.” Smith said, shaking his head.
“Her?” Doctor asked. Smith’s eyes widened. “No, he…” Doctor looked at her face more closely. “Oh my god! The powder! Dodger must have… We’ll just talk to him and get this whole thing sorted out.”
“We can’t.” Smith said grimly.
“Oh, don’t worry. Thomas will understand her reasoning I’m sure. I mean she must have had a good reason to…”
“Dodger is gone. Thomas kicked him out.” Doctor blinked in disbelief.
“You’re joking.”
“I wish.” Doctor was speechless. Dodger and Thomas were best friends!
“Why?” He asked, aghast.
“I think I know.” Smith replied, standing up. “Hasn’t Thomas told you about his dream? The only thing he’d want if he weren’t a thief?”
“Yes,” Said Doctor dismissively. “Settled. With a nice lady and…”
“A son.”
“Yes. So?”
“Can’t you see? He’s adopted the girl as his son! That’s why he was so quick to protect her!”
“And what if he knew she was a girl?”
“Heaven knows, and now the paranoid fool’s lost his best friend.”
Tim was blindly raced through the woods. Near the camp, but not near enough to hear the soft voices discussing how to get Colin out of their hair for an hour. He stopped. It was too cold for him to go on. He swore as he lit a fire. Then he looked around for anything that might be considered as food. Suddenly, "Colleen’s Song" fluttered out of his pocket and was consumed in flames.
“Damn it!” He shouted angrily. But nothing remained of the poem except ashes and a scrap of paper which quickly flew away with the wind. “Damn it.” He muttered again. Finally letting his exhaustion win over his determination, he drifted off to sleep by the fire.
At that very moment, Flint and Colin were walking through the woods looking for food, in the exact opposite direction from Tim.
“So,” Began Colin after a long silence, trying to make small talk. “why am I with you and not Clint?”
“He’s more of a cook than a scavenger.” He lied.
“I see.” They walked through the woods in silence for a while more, until Flint reached out his hand to stop Colin. “What is it?” She asked.
“See those bushes over there?” He asked, pointing. Colin looked. In the center of a small clearing was a circular clump of small, green bushes. They had thick, lush leaves, but nothing that looked even remotely edible. She stared at them, perplexed.
“What about them?” She asked.
“Berries grow under all of the leaves.” He said matter-of-factly. Colin looked at him skeptically. “Here. I’ll show you.” They walked over to the bushes and Flint knelt down and reached into a bush. He then pulled out a handful of plump, red berries. “See? You take this one and I’ll take this one here. We’ll meet at the other side.” So they began to pick berries. They continued that way for a long time, their bags filling quickly as they circled the grove.
Suddenly, Flint let out a shout and began to struggle against some force that was holding him in the bush.
“What happened?” Gasped Colin, startled. She raced around the bushes, only to find Flint struggling in the grasp of a Fir-de-Lance Viper. A breed which, in that particular forest, was known for clinging to its victims until they were dead. Colin ran closer and began viciously stomping on the snake until it finally slithered, hissing and half-dead, back into the bush. Colin, without a word, lifted Flint to his feet and began the walk back to camp.
Thomas was pacing the tent. Why had he done it? He regretted it with each breath he took. Poor Dodger! He tried to think that it was all for Colin’s safety, but knew somehow that it was not so. He banged his head on the wall of the tent, but the sting of the canvas on his forehead did nothing for his guilt.
Flint lay on a cot in Doctor’s tent, his breathing shallow. Clint, Smith and Colin stood nearby and Doctor took a pulse. Doctor looked up and muttered something under his breath.
“What?” Said Clint anxiously.
“I said, ‘Colin, you should go find some Anchillius borum’. Do you know what that is?”
“No.” Replied Colin. “I don’t.”
“It’s a mushroom. There should be some to the south of us a ways. It’s blue.”
“Alright.” She said as she raced out the door and to the south. After she had gone, Smith looked at Doctor in confusion.
“Anchillius borum?” He asked. “What in hell is that?”
“There’s no such thing.” Said Doctor sadly. “I just thought it would be best to get him out of camp for a while.”
“Why?” Asked Clint. He knew what was coming, but refused to let himself believe it.
“Clint,” Said Doctor. “He’s not going to make it. There’s nothing we can do.” Clint stared in horror at the man who, at that moment, seemed the murderer of his brother.
“No!” He cried. He bolted out the door and headed north toward an area called Shantelle Mercento.
Commonly known as Death’s Canyon.
Thomas was still pacing the tent, muttering. Colin still wasn’t safe and an innocent man had been shunned. He could feel the blood on his hands. His mind was throbbing with emotions he had never felt before. Suddenly, the tent flap fluttered and in stepped the man in the red mask.
“Where is Colleen?” The masked man asked plainly.
“Probably back in that town to the south.” Thomas muttered uncertainly.
“Do not try to fool me.” He replied. Thomas just shrugged. The masked man’s voice became dark once again. He spoke with severe certainty. “Dodger is dead.”
“What?” Thomas asked weakly.
“Dodger died in the woods at your hands.” He inched closer. “You did it. You took it all away from him. You took his home, his friends, his life away from him and now he lies dead in the glen.” The man in the red mask now stood inches from Thomas. A look of understanding developed on Thomas’s features.
“Colin.” He murmured. The man in the red mask realized it too and the sick grin on the mask seemed to grow more demented even without moving an inch.
“Yes. Colin.” He said, still toneless, but almost enjoying himself. “He is in danger right now and it’s all your fault. He hates you.”
Before Thomas could say a single word, the man in the red mask drew his blade and drove it deep into his chest. Thomas gasped for breath, but moments later fell. The man in the red mask started north, but left the knife behind.
He knew he would no longer need it.
Clint was sitting at the edge of Death’s Canyon. He cried bitterly. He was alone in life, but not on the cliff. He cursed to himself over and over again, then finally uttered something loud enough to hear.
“Why couldn’t that murderer have sent me south with Colin?” The masked man, who was standing behind him, nudged Clint without a word over the edge of the sheer, hundred foot incline. He fell the whole way without a shout, without a single regret.
He knew there was nothing to live for.
Smith walked sadly toward Thomas’s tent. Doctor was back in his own tent with Flint’s body. Trying to decide what to do with it. Or, at least, that was his excuse. Smith knew full well that he just didn’t want to be the one to tell Thomas. He reached the tent flap and scratched it with his fingernail, producing a low, scraping sound.
“Thomas?” He called. “Thomas, can I come in?” He opened the tent flap and stepped inside. “Thomas?” He grew worried. “At last he saw him, lying on the floor in a puddle of blood. Gone. With the hilt of the blade still protruding from his chest. Smith’s heart gave a leap and his knees gave way. He was dead of shock before he hit the ground.
Tim awoke, shivering, beside a deadened fire. He stood up and started off. In the exact direction of Colleen.
Meanwhile, Doctor had discovered the bodies of Smith and Thomas, and was now concerned over his own mortality. All three of the men, Smith, Thomas and Flint, had been in perfect health; and now they lay under sheets in the tent. Doctor, on the other hand, now recalled that the same was not so for him. He was in far less then perfect health. He recalled Colin, but feared too much to wait for her. He panicked. He had to get to town!
Doctor bolted out the tent, leaving the bodies of his companions behind and started south. He remembered that Colin had said there was a town that way, and prayed that it was not far. Suddenly, he felt the familiar twinge.
The disease was back.
His left leg spasmed and he stumbled. He hit the ground hard and landed with his head in a small grove of ferns. The last thing he saw was the face of an angry, well-beaten Fir-de-Lance Viper.
Colleen wandered through the woods looking for the illusive Anchillius borum. She thought to herself and made up pleasant scenarios as she walked.
Flint recovered. She thought. Clint had hidden talent as a scavenger. He found some Anchillius borum right near camp. Then, the man in the red mask went there looking for me. He attacked Thomas, but Thomas won and killed him. And now I can go to Tim’s ship and be a pirate, and they can come too, and on the way there we’ll find Dodger, and then we’ll live like that for a long, long time.
She scanned the forest floor for the mushrooms she was looking for. She saw some other mushrooms, red ones, they looked poisonous, but nothing to help her ill friend. She stomped her foot in frustration and turned around to start back to camp. Suddenly, she heard a rustling in the bushes and a dark, emotionless voice.
“Hello, Colleen.”
She whirled around and let out a cry of surprise at what she saw. The man in the red mask was standing not five feet behind her. Dizzying fear grasped a hold of her heart but she could not bring herself to scream. She stared disbelievingly at the face of the man who had stood by her like a ghost since her seventh birthday, feeling as though she was in a nightmare once again but knew it was not so.
“You weren’t at the camp.” He said, adding a nonexistent, smug quality to his voice. Colleen felt a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach.
“What have you done to them?” She said hollowly. “What have you done to Thomas?” The masked man laughed and Colleen’s emotionlessness quickly turned to rage. “What have you done?” The man in the red mask began a steady approach toward her.
“They’re dead.” He said, resuming severity. “They’re all dead. They died because of you. Thomas and Dodger died trying to protect you. Flint died because you were too slow. That’s what killed the rest of them. Six people are dead because of you.” Colleen said nothing. Just stood, mouth agape. The man in the red mask leaned forward and scooped up a single, red mushroom. In one swift motion he pulled her close by the front of her shirt and shoved it into her mouth. She gagged, but eventually choked it down. The masked man shoved her down onto the ground and she looked up at him in shock. He continued. “Tim is coming to you know. He’s looking for you. He’s going to die too and it’s all your fault. He knows that.” Colleen’s eyes were struggling to stay open. “He hates you.” She slumped back and after a single spasm, she was dead.
The masked man laughed and laughed as he looked at Colleen’s crumpled form on the ground, then he shot up the nearest tree.
“Colleen…” Called Tim from the edge of the clearing. He was now speaking with an exhausted, almost drunken, slur to his voice. Then he saw Colleen’s body and what little sanity was left in his mind was gone instantaneously. His jaw dropped and he lost all ability and motivation to speak, but he ran to her and tried for a few moments, unsuccessfully, to wake her.
He knew that he needed help. Somehow, he had to get it. He looked around, until he saw something that caught his eye. In the corner of the clearing, near a tree, was the man in the red mask. Tim watched him with fascination until he finely figured out what he was doing. The man in the red mask was tying a noose of vine to a high branch of a tree above a crude wooden chair that he had obviously made himself just moments before.
The man in the red mask turned around and looked at him. He reached a hand up and lifted the mask off his face, revealing a smooth, featureless face, which seemed to be made of mirrored glass. Tim covered his eyes at the sight of the many repetitions of his own face. A face that he so hated to see. When he looked back up barely seconds later, the man was gone.
Tim pulled Colleen close to him and was preparing to lift her and carry her, all the way back to town if he had to, when he felt the stone grip of the man from behind him. Colleen slipped from his grasp as he was raised to his feet. Then, the mirror faced man half dragged-half carried Tim toward, then onto, the wooden chair. When the chair was gone from beneath his feet and with his last breath lost in his throat, a last thought flickered into his mind.
I failed her.
When the meadow was still once more, a breeze blew a slightly charred piece of paper into the clearing. It fluttered softly onto Colleen’s motionless chest.
True safety lies deep in the depths of kindness.
True kindness is found in only TRUE friends.
Find protection beyond the woods of despair,
Where never beginning, where never it ends.