Lauren--Part Eleven

Splog # 41

Eleven

   No sooner had Lauren stopped moving than she felt a tug on her arm. Splog hadn't stopped descending so, as he was reaching for the next step, he also felt a tug. Both of them turned to each other and there was a moment's pause.

   "Did you see that woman?" and "Do you require a slight halt to our progress?" were spoken simultaneously. Then they both took another pause and each waited for the other to repeat their question. Splog waited longer and so Lauren again asked him if he'd seen the woman who had just passed them. Splog looked in the direction Lauren indicated and saw the woman receding towards the summit of the hill. "Do you know who she is?" asked Lauren.

   "It might be worth our while to seat ourselves and pause for a few moments of refreshment," was Splog's response. So he and Lauren sat down on a step. Lauren waited to see if Splog would respond to her queries about the woman. While she waited, she looked around to see if there was anything of interest in sight. There were vague forms showing in the mist below so she assumed they must be approaching the conclusion of their descent. But when she looked up it seemed as though the sky was darkening and at a rapid rate.

   She turned to Splog to find him observing her closely. "You seem to live a rather idyllic life on your Witch Hill. Your parents sound like rather pleasant people who possess quite an esoteric sum of knowledge which they can share with you. The environs sound variable enough to immerse one's self in and both enjoy many delightful different physical sensations and observe an extensive variety of the aspects of nature. I hazard the guess that you are an only child as you've not mentioned any siblings. Is there no one else living on your hill with whom you can share your many and varied experiences? Is there only you and your mother and your father?"

   "Uh-huh," Lauren replied. "Just the three of us."

   "No young people?' Splog inquired.

   "Well, Mum and Dad aren't old. They're probably only in their thirties."

   Splog smiled. "And how long have you lived on Witch Hill?"

   "I think we came there when I was about two or three so I don't really remember ever living anywhere else."

   A noise came to Lauren's ears and she looked up to discover that it was almost completely dark. "Was that a bell?" she asked.

   She turned back to Splog to find him holding a candle out to her.

   "We've nearly reached our objective, but you'd better possess yourself of one of these as a preventative against mishaps."

   Lauren took the candle and Splog took another from one of the many pockets in his coat. He then produced a match and, striking it with his thumb, he lit both their candles, blew out the match and then replaced it in a pocket on the side of one of his boots.

   "Why do you save it? You can't use it again, can you?'

   "Oh, I'm not saving it. But it can't be discarded until we arrive where it can be disposed of in a proper manner. Can't leave matches strewn along the Fe-San. That's my refuse pocket," pointing to his boot. "We're nearly there," he repeated, "so it behooves us to resume our journey."

   He took her hand and they rose together and, looking down, they both held their candles high to their sides. This illuminated the steps quite well and Lauren could see that there was a glow in the mist below that wasn't coming from their candles.

   "Yes, that was a bell," Splog replied to her nearly-forgotten question. "It is sounded when the lamps are lightened for the evening. It seems to be more for reassurance than as any kind of a signal. It announces that, although night has arrived, there is no reason to be apprehensive about the surrounding darkness"

   As he was talking, Lauren noticed some flickering lights approaching them. They looked like stars peeping through the mist but they were below them and not above. When she looked up, she saw that there were stars shining in the sky, but there were none that she recognized.