In which an unlikely storm saves a life

Chapter 4 of The Time-Teller

Chapter 4

In which an unlikely storm saves a life

 

“Jonah,” a soft voice whispered. Ruth looked slowly around the shallow cave. Her soft golden hair was tied into two waste-length braids that whipped around her with the force of the sea winds. She wore an elegant, blue, satin traveling cloak, which had been given to her by Jonah. Underneath that, she wore a simple dress composed of a brown cotton top and gray wool skirt. Silk ribbons ran through her braids with elaborate beads sewn into them. She sat at the back of the cave to shelter herself from the wind and began taking out her braids. When she had finished, she threw the silk ribbons into the wind, and the last reminders of her previous life were blown away into the distant trees.

 

“Ruth?” a young man’s voice called from above.

 

“Jonah!” Ruth replied happily. Jonah gripped the top of the cave and swung into its shallow interior. He was soaking wet from his wavy brown hair to his squeaking boots. His intense blue eyes stared into the mild green ones of the girl he had loved so long. Her pale, porcelain-like skin shone with worry at his appearance.

 

“Hello, Ruth,” Jonah grinned widely, and he took Ruth up into his rough sunburned arms and kissed her softly. Then he let her go and sat down beside her with a wet thump.

 

“Jonah, what happened to you?” Ruth whispered worriedly. “I thought something dreadful when I didn’t see you here.”

 

“No, no,” Jonah assured her. “I had to do some swimming, that’s all.”

 

“Well?” Ruth asked anxiously. “Did you get the boat?” Jonah smiled a ‘yes.’
Jonah and Ruth had been planning this for months. The boat was the most difficult part because they had to get one without being noticed.

 

“How?” Ruth asked. She had not expected him to have one so soon after she had run away.

 

“Actually, it was a gift,” Jonah said.

 

“A gift,” Ruth asked confused.

 

“At least,” Jonah replied hurriedly. “I took it to be that. Warren and I were assigned to speak to a strange old man about the war and your ‘kidnapping.’ Anyway, he started rambling on about some girl and that wizard, the one your father hated and then, he fell asleep. Warren stood up and I followed him to the door, but the door shut behind him and was locked. I looked around, but the old man appeared to still be asleep. No matter what I tried I couldn’t open the door. Then I felt a burning sensation under my left pocket, and there was a great burst of wind and the door flew open. I dashed outside for fear of being trapped again and the door closed itself behind me. Warren was waiting outside looking worried. I told him that the wind must have closed the door, and that I’d had trouble opening it. We returned to the barracks as planned, and when I was alone, I felt my left pocket. I had, by then, already forgotten about the old man and the burning sensation. I was surprised to find something there. It was a ripped piece of folded parchment. I hadn’t remembered placing it there and was slightly confused. Then, I remembered the strange burning sensation I had had earlier. The writing on the parchment was a small, shaky scrawl. It was difficult to read, but I made it out.”

 

“What did it say?” Ruth asked intrigued.

 

“Here,” Jonah handed her a small ripped piece of sopping parchment.

 

I saw in your eyes your blind desperation and untainted love.
Do not come back to thank me or turn back on your journey.
You will find your purpose in this battle later. Now, you must
journey to the edge of the bay where you were meant to meet
her. Go to the bay where you will find a worn and beaten tree,
which refuses to be torn down by the sea. Hidden in the roots
of this tree is a box. Take this box. Do not open it, but swim
straight into the bay from that tree for fifteen minutes. There,
you will find that which you seek. Take it, or it will not be yours.

 

Ruth finished reading it and handed it back to Jonah confused. “What was in the box?”

 

“When I had been swimming for fifteen minutes,” Jonah replied. “The lid to the box flew open, and inside it was a key. I treaded water slowly while I examined the key. I looked around, but there didn’t seem to be anything to do with it. I began to feel cold and the wind and waves bit at my skin, so I started to swim back, but a huge gust of wind sent a wave crashing into me. I lost my grip on the box, but I kept a tight hold on the key. I was under water for several seconds and believed that I would drown. Then, another wave sucked me up and tossed me onto something solid and hard. For a moment, I thought I was dreaming, but when I looked around I realized that I was lying in the center of a small boat. I could have sworn that when I was swimming there had been no boats for miles and miles. I steered the boat in the direction that I believed I had swum from. It took me ages to locate the tree. I tied the boat to it and climbed up here to find you.” Ruth was silent with shock. She shook her head slowly.

 

“How do you know this isn’t dark magic we’re dealing with?” Ruth asked at last. Jonah was taken aback. He had not considered that possibility.

 

“Jonah,” Ruth sighed.

 

“Our only other choice is to sit in this cave for weeks searching for a different boat. We have to get away from here, Ruth.” Ruth reluctantly followed Jonah into the winds and towards the bay below them. A small boat awaited their arrival. It was a sailing boat. Its wood was a dark color and its sails whispered loudly in the hard winds. Jonah and Ruth climbed onto the boat from the outstretched branch of the tree. Jonah untied the rope connecting them to their life of secret meetings and hidden notes and turned the boat toward their eminent future.

 

***

 

“Jonah, we’ve been sailing for 10 days, and we’re running out of food,” Ruth complained as she sat lightly on the bow of the ship feeling the boat tip up and down with the waves.

 

“I know,” Jonah said irritably because he had not slept much in the last few days. “We have enough food for at least another 15 days if we ration it right.” Ruth looked back over the endless waters and sighed softly to herself.

 

“What’s that?” Ruth jumped up suddenly and fell over as the boat tipped up again. She grabbed the edge and stared out into the sky.

 

“What?” Jonah asked, sighing.

 

“That.” Ruth pointed into the sky where great dark clouds were gathering swiftly in the distance and moving towards them at tremendous speeds. Jonah looked worriedly at the clouds and began to move the small boat as fast as it would go away from them.

 

“Get below!” he yelled to Ruth, who hurried at once to the small square door near the center of the ship that lead to the ladder and the small ship interior. Ruth climbed unsteadily down the ladder into the cramped and dark space below. Jonah shut the door slowly behind her, whispering his love for her as he did so.

 

The storm came on swiftly, and Jonah had barely enough time to lower the sails before great winds began tossing his boat back and forth on the waves. Sheets of rain pelted him as he moved about the boat securing everything and finally, searching for the trap door that led to the ship’s interior. The string that held the key around his neck was ripped away from him and into the hands of the careless winds. The string with the key, waving about in the wind, flew dangerously close to the boat rail and settled itself on the edge of the boat moving this way and that. Jonah looked longingly at it in debating on whether or not to reach for it before heading below. Finally, Jonah leapt for it. He skidded across the boat and caught hold of the key before he was tossed overboard into the waves.

 

When Jonah awoke, he was lying on a narrow strip of beach lining a thick, marshy woodland. For a moment, he was in a daze, and he could not remember what had happened.

 

“Ruth!” he yelled suddenly, springing swiftly to his feet. He looked out over the waves into the vast sea. “Ruth…” he repeated more quietly to himself as his eyes filled with tears which ran down his face unheeded. His stomach growled softly and he looked around into the dense marsh. He checked himself to see what remained of his belongings. The intricate key was still clutched in his fingers. His cloak was wet, but still there. He sat down and emptied the contents of his belt. Almost all his darts and his dart gun were still in tact. His compass was shattered, but the small bottle of poison he kept for emergencies was still undamaged. His short dagger and his sword were the last things that had remained all right through the brutal winds and raging sea. He stood up and yelled one last,

 

“Ruth!” while scanning the edge of the beach. Then, he walked along it until the seawaters became the waters of the marsh and there was nowhere to stand, so he wandered into the forest in search of edible substances. As he walked he found little to eat. Most of the growth in the forest was unrecognizable or covered in strange bugs. He was careful to step in as little water as possible, fearing what might dwell within. Eventually he sat down to rest, rubbing his aching feet. He did not know how many hours he had been walking, but he felt tired and sore.

 

As he sat there, he heard voices in the distance. Cautiously, he moved forward. He sat behind a thick tree and listened.

 

“I dunno,” he heard a young-sounding girl choke out.

 

“Don’t tya now?” a deep voice followed. Jonah recognized it immediately as a troll’s.

 

“No,” a meek sounding moan followed.

 

“See, mazzter, she don’t know,” another troll’s voice came. “Can we ead er now?”

 

“She do look mighddy tasty,” the first voice Jonah had heard spoke again. “String er up.” Jonah peered slowly around the tree. There were about eight or nine trolls in the clearing. A huge one, obviously the boss, was lifting a young girl up by her ankles and wrapping thick vine around them. He then wrapped it around a tree above a small pool of water, which appeared to be coming to a boil as trolls dumped hot coals into it.

 

Jonah climbed a tree near the clearing silently and slowly. Then, he took his dart gun out of his pouch, and opened the small bottle of poison. He carefully dipped the tips of four of his darts into the poison. Then, aiming carefully at the next troll to pick up coals for the small pool, he shot. It hit the troll’s hand, and he immediately dropped the coals and examined his hand. Jonah quickly shot two darts at the giant troll’s face before he could figure out what was going on. Then, he shot another at the troll closest the young girl. The trolls looked around in confusion. Jonah quickly dipped a few more darts in poison and shot them at the trolls. They began to fall down from the poison. Jonah jumped down from the tree and drew his sword with one fluid motion. The remaining trolls eyed it disdainfully, then fled. Jonah cut the vines holding the girl and caught her easily in his arms. Then, he laid her down under a tree and unbound her.

 

“What is your name?” he asked as he tossed the smelly cloth that had been keeping her from speaking into the lake.

 

“Megan,” she replied breathlessly.

 

“Can you stand?” He asked her smoothly.

 

“No,” Megan replied gazing down at her ankle, which now, appeared to be broken. She flinched with pain as Jonah touched it softly. The bandages that Pyralis had made for it were no longer there. Jonah tore off a piece of his shirt and dipped it in the hot water, then wrapped it around her aching foot. His soldier’s training had taught him only a little about medicine, and he was at loss for what to do next.

 

Tempus smiled to himself as he handed his bird some food. He looked into the bird’s soft brown eyes, which showed him his own aged reflection.

 

“I have a special job for you,” Tempus smiled as he opened the cage door and the small bird hopped onto his bony wrist. It looked inquiringly up at its master and friend.