Across The Sea (16 page)

* * *

As the island enlarged into
view, Elroy the smiling man jumped aboard Bodin’s ship along with
four of his men, and The Poisoned Rose, with its remaining crew,
sailed away. Bodin, Captain Leonard, Ratwell and Elroy then stood
in the cockpit, talking with much intensity. Francis believed that
they were formulating a plan. He moved toward them along the deck
but as soon as he was close enough to hear them, they dispersed,
their planning session over.

Francis turned toward the
island. He could now see men waiting for them on an elongated and
broad dock. The island behind these people had the look of a
bright, welcoming village set atop a knoll.

“Who are these people?” Francis
asked aloud.

“They’ve been here for
centuries,” answered someone behind him. “Performing like clowns
for weary travellers such as us.”

“Why are we here?” Francis
asked, turning around to see with whom he was speaking.

It was the smiling man: Elroy.
“We are here so that you can put a question to the Dream Finder,”
he revealed, his one-tooth-missing smile intact.

“What’s a Dream Finder?”
Francis asked.

No answer came; Elroy had
already begun to move away.

The small ship sailed in along
the dock. Elroy smiled at the men who came to catch their ropes and
tie them to the dock. Francis glanced about the ship's deck. Only
Elroy and three of his Poisoned Rose crew were out. Everyone else
had disappeared. Francis assumed that they were all hiding below
deck.

Elroy shouted out to Francis,
“Son, hop off. You’ve been begging me to come see the Dream Finder
for weeks now. Well, here we are!”

Francis stared back at him,
confused. Elroy just smiled at him and then at the island men.
Francis caught on that Elroy was play-acting. He was in the midst
of pulling the wool over these men’s eyes.

From the dock, a slight man
with lofty, fuzzy hair and a wild, bushy beard gently took Francis
by the arm and helped him off the ship. As Francis stepped onto the
sturdy dock, he felt thrown off balance. He had been on water for
days and this was so different. He soon felt grounded. He felt at
home.

The man looked him over, as if
making sure he was proper enough to meet with the Dream Finder.
Francis’ interest was heightened.
Who’s this Dream Finder? What
does he do? Find dreams?

“It’s a farthing for the boy,”
said the man with the fuzzy hair, “and a farthing each for visiting
the island. And only the boy is permitted to see the Dream
Finder.”

“We know the rules,” Elroy
replied, as he and his three men disembarked. Elroy handed the man
some coins from a small pouch. “The Dream Finder will only see
children.”

“Follow me,” the man said.

Francis stepped to follow but
two hands gripped his shoulders from behind.

“If you tell anyone here
anything,” Elroy whispered into his left ear, “we will hurt these
people. Then you. And you can forget about ever seeing your brother
again… alive.”

Elroy let go and Francis
continued forward.

Once Francis stepped onto land,
it felt wonderful. He had not been on land for so long. The island
was fragrant with the smell of freshly cut grass, and with many
flower gardens and trees which seemed to be everywhere Francis
looked. This wondrous feeling, however, ended too soon. Francis
grew apprehensive again as he heard Elroy and his men snickering
behind him.

A drum banged – making Francis
shudder.

He looked up the incline which
ran from the dock to the village. Everywhere, men in bright,
green-silver shirts and breeches jumped out from behind the houses
and buildings, performing acrobatics along to the beating of a
growing number of drums played by a dozen drummers who lined the
street leading into the village. As he walked on, Francis stared at
the performers, his ears filled with the wild rhythm as the
acrobats jumped and somersaulted over every object and person on
the street, including the amiable looking villagers as they went
about their day to day business. The villagers themselves wore
bright, soft colours like periwinkle and mauve and everyone smiled
at Francis.

Half a dozen musicians, each
playing an instrument Francis had never seen before, emerged from
behind houses and buildings as well. Their strange instrument
looked similar to bagpipes, each with a translucent blue bag and
several blowpipes. Together they sounded as if someone had taken a
multitude of howls of wind and bent them into many musical notes;
such astonishing, ghostly notes, caressing over one another.

The bright structures
surrounding them were painted with lots of white and green, and a
little red. Everything looked new. Francis noticed that while the
acrobats were performing, they were moving their performance
further down the street, and deeper into the village. Francis
walked faster so as not to lose sight of them. Behind Francis, and
Elroy and his men, the musicians moved into the village as
well.

Francis began to notice that
one of the acrobats was more agile, more energized, and more
determined in his face as he executed his acrobatic feats. Francis
surmised that this man was someone to be reckoned with.

The small man with the lofty,
fuzzy hair and wild, bushy beard walked past Francis, as he turned
to him and smiled. A warm smile filled with care. Francis smiled
back. The man tilted his head to gesture ahead and continued
onward. Francis followed. He knew Elroy and his men remained right
behind him but he did not look back, preferring instead to pretend
that they were not here. He walked behind the fuzzy-haired man as
the music became lower in volume and, one by one, the acrobats and
musicians slipped away into alleyways and doorways. The last
acrobat Francis saw performed a cartwheel into an alley and
disappeared behind a building. Francis looked ahead. He saw a
village square with more tall trees, colourful flowers and vibrant
green grass. People sat on benches staring up at an empty stage. A
theatrical presentation was about to commence.

Something caught Francis’ eye –
just beyond the village square: a white, three storey house with
glass windows which sat on a hill, its lengthy, spacious stairway
crowded with children of different ages and sizes who either stood
or sat on the steps as they all spoke to one another.

They were enjoying
themselves.

Francis was eager to join them.
He caught up with the hairy man so that he could walk alongside
him.

The man stopped and turned
away, toward Elroy. “The rest of you can enjoy the show,” he said,
gesturing toward the village square. “And you...” He faced Francis.
“May come with me.”

As Francis followed the man, he
saw, from the corner of his eye, a colossal being, perhaps over
eight feet tall, walk onto the stage in the village square. This
man truly was a giant. He wore the same green-silver shirt and
breeches as the acrobats and musicians. He bent down and grabbed
onto a log, three feet thick. He lifted this log, straight up,
right over his head. The audience cheered and applauded, including
Elroy and his men.

The wild-haired man and Francis
reached the white house. “Go on up,” the man instructed. “She shall
see you now.”

Francis looked up the lengthy,
steep, crowded stairway. The throng of children lounging on the
steps all turned to look down at him. Francis began his walk up. He
smiled at the children as he stepped past, and they smiled back. At
the top of the steps, a boy, smaller than Francis, pulled on the
heavy front door.

“Thank you,” Francis said,
stepping into the open doorway. The boy smiled and nodded his head.
Francis entered the house and the door was shut behind him.

Francis looked up at the white
corridor before him. It was lit by hundreds of white candles set up
on two mantles which ran along each wall. The ceiling elevated high
above, and the bare walls were vivid white. Francis breathed in.
The air smelled of fresh flowers.

A door stood halfway open at
the other end of the corridor.

“Come in,” invited a woman’s
gentle voice.

Francis walked toward the door,
and peeked into the next room.

Sitting in a chair, by a small
table, was a smiling lady with white hair tied up in a neat bun.
Francis guessed that she was a few years older than his own mother.
He smiled back. “Please,” she said, gesturing to the chair across
from her, “come sit at the table with me.”

Francis moved inside. The room
felt cozy with a fireplace burning in the corner. Francis sat
down.

“Would you like some tea?” the
lady asked.

“Yes, please,” he answered.

As she poured him a cup from a
white kettle, Francis tried to figure out how best to reveal to her
that the men he had accompanied to this island might mean her harm.
He knew that by hurting Bodin’s plans he might jeopardize his own
mission, but Francis was not about to place another innocent
person’s life in danger.

“Do you know what I do?” the
lady asked him.

“You’re a dream finder,”
Francis replied.

“Yes, but do you know what I
can do?”

“No…” Francis was unsure. “Find
dreams?”

“Yes.” She smiled again. “I can
find your dreams. All of them. Even the ones you have forgotten.
And then I can tell you what they were. What they might mean.”

“I have to tell you something,”
Francis blurted.

“What is it?” The Dream Finder
appeared surprised at Francis’ urgent tone.

“I think that you might be in
danger. The men that brought me here, I think they came here for
you. You have to escape. Now.”

A look of worry rippled across
the woman’s face. “Are you certain?”

“Yes,” Francis replied. “I’m
not sure what they want, but these are bad, bad men.”

The Dream Finder stood. “Come
with me.” She took Francis by the hand, her grip firm, and pulled
him without debate into the corridor. Francis saw that there was a
closed door to their right. The Dream Finder pushed through it,
revealing an empty, long, widespread kitchen with towering white
shelves filled with pots, cauldrons and dishes. They crossed toward
the back door.
For an older person
, Francis thought,
this
lady sure can move. It’s like she’s not that surprised. Like she
knows exactly what the pirates want.

From the front of the house,
Francis heard a glass window smash. And another. Then male
shouts.

They’re here
, Francis
thought.

There were no more shouts.
Francis and the woman neared the back door.
We’re safe.

The lady stretched her right
hand out to the door handle – but the door was rammed open toward
them, knocking the Dream Finder to the floor. She and Francis
looked up. Bodin stood before them, sword drawn. The Dream Finder
gasped. “Not you,” she whispered.

Bodin pulled her up.

“Follow!” he yelled at Francis,
walking past him, back across the kitchen, and dragging the Dream
Finder by the arm. Francis scampered after them.

“I shall not do your bidding,”
the woman told Bodin.

“Oh,” Bodin replied. “You
shall.”

As they entered the front
corridor, the three men who had accompanied Elroy on the island
were now standing by the open front door, guarding it. Francis saw
that the glass windows by the door were shattered and glass shards
lay scattered on the floor. Bodin pulled the woman out the door and
Francis followed behind them.

Outside, at the foot of the
stairway, Ratwell, wearing a red cloak, stood behind the man with
the bushy beard, holding his blade up against the man’s Adam’s
apple. Across the street, a mounting group of villagers watched in
horror from the village square, including all the children who had
been lounging on the stairs. Bodin towed the Dream Finder down the
street. Francis hastened behind, turning to look back at the
village square. The children were following. Some rushed from their
homes, having just heard the news, and marched along with the
growing group of island youth. A few adults from the square and
some from buildings along the street ran toward the children to
hold them back, not wanting anyone to get hurt. Behind Francis, men
in red cloaks emerged from alleyways, swords drawn, and stared in
the children’s direction. Francis realized that Bodin's crew had
infiltrated the entire village when no one was looking.

Ratwell, still holding his
sword to the big haired man’s throat, walked through the group of
children from behind as adults continued to pull the young
away.

“What are you doing?” Francis
called out to Bodin. “Stop this now! Stop what you’re doing!”

Bodin walked on. Francis turned
to look back at the village. Once Ratwell was past the children, he
threw the man with the bushy beard to the ground.

The small man rose and stood in
Ratwell’s way. Ratwell shoved him with one hand, hard in the chest,
and the man repeated his fall to the ground. He returned to his
feet, again facing Ratwell. The slight man had no weapon.
But
why would he?
Francis thought.
This man has never had to
protect himself against such bad people before.

Francis then realized what the
man was doing. He was diverting Ratwell’s attention. Away from
everyone else. Away from the children.

The massive eight foot being
from the village square stomped toward Ratwell. In each hand, he
gripped a sword.
Now he
, Francis thought,
looks like a
warrior.

Ratwell grinned at the
giant.

Bodin turned back and saw
Ratwell stepping toward the strong man. “We are leaving now!” he
ordered.

Ratwell, however, remained
where he stood. Captain Leonard, wearing a red cloak, emerged from
a group of men in red. Elroy, in his own clothes, also moved in,
jockeying for a better view.