Benlunar - Episode 3

The lights come back and and we meet an old friend and a new enemy.

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Take the road up through the mystic mountains

Past the fantastic fishing fields and fountains

Three days through the Titan woods

Whose trees glare down through leafy hoods

Crawl in the darkness of the biting caves

It’s more dangerous the other ways

Then finally find yourself later or sooner

In the hidden valley town Benlunar

There was a scream from the other side of the room followed swiftly by the sound of a plate crashing on the floor. Lilian barely had time to register what direction the sounds had come from when light returned to the Fox & Octopus Inn. It was so sudden that Lilian had to wonder if she hadn't just had her eyes closed for a few seconds without knowing it. As she adjusted to the brightness, she noticed that the space in front of her was empty, she jerked her head around but Mr Attorcop was nowhere to be seen. Lilian stood up and made for the door, walking past a very cross looking Liny who was picking up shards of broken plate and muttering something under her breath about getting the fireplace seen to.

The door creaked open and Lilian was met by the bright spring sunshine and a very smug looking Mr Attorcop.

"you see?" He said, "the darkness can be a powerful ally, particularly when it appears unexpectedly."

"How did you…" Lilian was still confused.

"look," Mr Attorcop motioned her closer and knelt down. He brought out 2 bottles of lunar essence and held them up side by side.

"what am I looking at?" enquired Lilian.

"the one on the left, see?" She leant forward, the light from the bottles was almost too bright to be this close to, despite having to squint she looked at the liquid in the left bottle. She noticed that when compared to the level of liquid in the right bottle it was ever so slightly depleted. She had to look hard as it was perhaps slightly more than the width of her fingernail, but once she'd seen it, the difference in levels was unmistakable.

"it gets used up?" she said, slightly surprised.

"Alas yes," he replied, tucking the vials into his sleeve, "power never comes without a price."

Lilian's head was spinning. This time yesterday the strangest thing to have ever happened to her was the time she found a rock that looked like brother Thomas. And now she was learning about… What was this? Magic? She looked at Mr Attorcop but didn't want to sound babyish.

"is this…" she started, "witchcraft?"

Attorcop shook his head. "Goodness no. Witchcraft involves a lot more chanting. No this is, well," He paused for a moment, they had started walking towards the Stave Church, Lillian spotted brother Thomas and Brother Ulnar chatting with some out-of-towners on the Church Steps. "I suppose it's a combination of many things. The vials are my own design and took many weeks of scientific research in their creation , the essence is a product of the natural world and its use requires meticulous lessons in thought control. I've never thought to name the art in its entirety." Lillian was looking at the Benlunar Square and all of the people she had grown up with, all of them milling around, blissfully unaware of the wonders that were under their noses. She smiled, "I shall name it. I'm good at coming up with names."

Attorcop stopped and looked down at her, "does this mean you're accepting my offer?"

Lillian realised suddenly that she had been caught. Like a clueless fly in a web of wonder, she knew she couldn't stop now. She had to know more and she had to learn it all, every last mystical puzzle her brain could find she would consume and conquer. She knew this. And Cromwell Attorcop knew this too. He had baited the trap beautifully, with such subtle skill that Lilian had barely noticed herself wondering in to it. She didn't want to give him the satisfaction of showing him that his plan had worked, that he had acquired his diligent assistant. So she just shrugged. "Yeah maybe…" she said, "I'll speak to my parents and let you know." Attorcop smiled.

"Well that's good to know because here they are." Lilian glanced up and saw her Mum and Dad emerge from behind a small group on the other side of the square. She had a very brief thought that Attorcop might have planned this as well but quickly ignored it, she bumped into people she knew all the time around town. This was just another coincidence. Right? "Hello you two!" Lilian's Mother was waving energetically as she made her way over.

"How's Frieda?" Lilian spoke first, she didn't want to be bombarded by questions so she got her own in early.

"Oh fine." said her mum, brushing the question aside.

"Turns out the beam was just loose, looks bad but easy to fix." said he Lilian's Dad.

"Fancy that." Attorcop muttered under his breath, just loud enough for Lilian to hear. "My friends, I'm afraid I must depart for now. I have some business to attend to at my lodgings. I believe I'm being overcharged for jam. If you'll kindly excuse me." and with those parting words, Attorcop was swallowed up by the crowd. Lilian turned to look at her mother and almost instantaneously rolled her eyes. Her mother was not a subtle woman and her giant smile screamed, how did it go?? She leant in close and whispered loudly, "you know he's a very important man. Frieda thinks he was an advisor to the empress herself a few years ago. If that's the same Cromwell Attorcop, but you know, it's not exactly a common name." Polly Lausanne was a nervous talker. She was almost the exact opposite in this regard to her husband. Lilian's father did not ask questions. He just waited for answers. They began to walk home and as they left the square Polly's patience ran out.

"Well?? What did he say? What did you two talk about?"

"We talked about his work." Lilian replied. She decided to keep her answers vague.

"And what is that? Did he ask you anything?"

"I'm still not really sure. He's a sort of… Inventor. And he said he was getting a bit older and that he might need some help with his research."

Lilian's Mother almost fell over as she missed a step. "Well that's great news isn't it? Edward? Isn't that great?"

"Mm…" her father grunted. Suddenly, a voice from behind caught their attention."Ho there!"

Everyone spun around to see a sweaty Brother Thomas chasing after them. He stopped a few feet away on the path and caught his breath. "May I speak with Lilian, Polly, Edward?"

"Of course." said Lilian's Mum.

"is something the matter?" added her Dad.

"No no. I just wanted to ask something."

Lilian's parents looked at other quizzically.

"Fine. Lily we'll see you at home." said her Dad and they continued down the leafy path towards the river and Lilian turned to listen to what an overly exhausted Brother Thomas had to say. Perhaps he had been eating too many pies she thought as he knelt down in front of her.

"Lilian, that man who you were with in the square. How do you…" he was searching for the right words. "Do you know who he is?" Lillian nodded apprehensively. "isn't he a friend of yours?" She asked Brother Thomas, remembering Attorcop’s words in her kitchen that morning.

"We have met before yes, but I would hesitate to call him a friend. Lilian listen to me. Please be careful around him. Men like him they, they are ambitious and they rarely do anything that doesn't benefit themselves. He's connected to many dangerous people and although I'm fairly confident he wouldn't hurt you, I can't say the same for them." Lilian was shocked, how did Brother Thomas know Attorcop, why was he warning her? She was paralysed by the choice of questions, her face must have betrayed this because Brother Thomas went on."I'm sorry, I don't mean to scare you, I just want to make sure you're safe and that you know that there are other options for you. The school house needs teachers, the town needs builders and blacksmith's and grocers, farmers, traders, pie makers and you're always welcome at the Church." he stopped, he was searching his memory for jobs or hobbies or people that need help or even pets that need looking after. But looking at Lilian now he knew it was useless. She was too far gone, a spark was lit behind her keen green eyes, if only he'd got to her this morning, he thought, if only he'd said the right things last night, maybe, just maybe this poor girl would have been spared a life of corruption and violence that only men like Attorcop could bring. The spider had its prey.

The kitchen door shut with a familiar click and Lilian was met with the smell of fresh Berry tea and honied oat cakes. Her sweet tooth sang in excitement. She poured herself a mug of the red and hot water and sat down to eat. How was she still so hungry she thought? All of this talk of magic and decisions really works up an appetite. She was half way through her 3rd oat cake when she realised that her mum and dad were sat watching her from the other end of the kitchen table. Her Mother looked ready to burst with questions but her Father sat there stoically, patiently waiting for his daughter to speak.

“What?” Asked Lilian, her mouth still filled with cake and tea.

“Roux!” Her mum exclaimed, “You’ve been chatting with a man from the city, an important one at that. He told me he might be looking for help with his work, brother Thomas stops you in the street and tells us to go away and you ask US, what? What have you been doing all morning? Where did you go last night? What is going on with you?? Edward my nerves!”

Polly Lausanne was at her limit, she was equal parts worried, equal parts excited and she wished and wished that her daughter’s silent phase wasn’t coinciding with her rebellious streak. Lilian looked to her father who was smiling at his wife’s exasperation. He’d never been a talkative man and it seemed as though his daughter was inheriting his love of silence and simplicity.

“Lilian,” He spoke softly, “Your mother is worried. If we knew a little bit more about your decisions regarding your future, we might worry less. Have you agreed to work with Mr Attorcop?”

Lilian looked up, “Yes.” She said, admitting this to her parents as well as herself. Her mother breathed a sigh of relief.

“That’s good, Roux. You know he’s very wealthy and quite high up in the court of the capitol, he’ll teach you a lot I think, I think… I, I, I think this is a good thing. You’ve made the right choice, you’ll…” Her voice cracked a little. Lilian saw her mother’s eyes glisten,

“Mama?” She pleaded.

“I’m sorry. It’s just that, I know this will be good for you and you’ll make an excellent living but, well he works in the capital you know so I’m just scared you’ll leave and I won’t see you. I’m being stupid.” Edward reached across and gripped his wife’s hand. Lilian couldn’t stand the idea of making her mother cry, “Then I won’t go!” She exclaimed, spraying cake half way across the kitchen.

“Oh no!” Said both her parents almost at once, “You’re going.” Said her Dad.

“Your father’s right, this kind of opportunity doesn’t happen every day you know. And it would be very rude to turn it down. And…” Polly thought for a second, “and I knew this would happen.” Lilian looked up quizzically, “Of course I knew. You don’t like building, or farming or church work or cooking or, well, anything that Benlunar has to offer. You’re a big red goldfish and you need to get out of this little pool. Go become a scholar or a politician or I don’t know. But I know that what ever you want to do with your life, Benlunar won’t be able to give it to you. But it will always be here you know. For when the wide world becomes too much.”

By now Lilian was also crying, she scraped the chair out from under herself and ran across to hug her mother. Edward also got up to slowly walk round the table and join the two women in their embrace. The fire crackled in the corner, the home stood still amidst the trees and the streams flowed down the side of the mountain, like tears falling down a face.

That night, Benlunar slept soundly. The sky was awash with sleepy stars and even the gusting evening wind had settled into a calm breeze. The night was occasionally disturbed by the cry of a fox, or the hoot of an owl and at around 3 o’clock in the morning the steady crunch of footsteps may have been heard on the mountain path on the outskirts of town. The steps were quiet and the stranger that made them breathed a slow sigh when they finally turned a corner and saw the spire of Benlunar’s Stave Church in the distance. In the brush by the path a rat was busily sniffing out a meal, if it had cared to look to the road at that point, it would have seen the stranger stray from the path and stop a few feet into the tree line. Should the owl spying on the rat from a tree top have bothered to turn its head to look down at the stranger, it would have seen them kneel down, and busy themselves with breaking a few twigs, snapping off some grass and arranging forest flora into a strange symbol on the ground. The stranger then stands, goes back to the path and turns towards the sleepy town just as the owl swoops silently upon its prey.

The next day Lilian busied herself with tidying her room. She was gathering some silly drawings and old dolls from her childhood up in her arms, when she heard a knock at the front door. It was a small, polite knock and she knew instantly who it belonged to. She jumped down the stairs three at a time to open the door to a short blonde boy with sparkling blue eyes and smart clothes, “Kilde!!” she shouted and threw her arms around her best friend. When she let him go, he seemed shocked, “Hi Lilian. You seem well.” Lilian smiled at his cracking voice and overly polite manner. They’d known each other their entire lives and he still insists on knocking, and on the front door! No one knocks on the front door, no one even uses it! No one, except Kilde. “I’m great.” Replied Lilian, “Come on in, have you eaten? I’m starving.” Kilde giggled,

“Nothing new there then! I’m alright thanks, oh hi Mrs Lausanne.” Lilian whipped round to see her mother’s head poking out of the kitchen doorway.

“Hi Kilde! How are you?”

“I’m very well thank you Mrs Lausanne. How are you?” Lilian and her Mum shared a smile, Kilde was an exceptionally polite boy. He still called Lilian’s Mum ‘Mrs Lausanne’ even though Lilian called his Mum by her first name. And she didn’t mind, that’s what was so funny, no one knew how Kilde got to be this way. His Mum was friendly but not stuck up, she wasn’t even that polite, often speaking her mind at very inopportune moments. But for Kilde it was always, Mrs this and excuse me that.

“I’m fine thank you Kilde,” Replied Lilian’s Mum, artfully disguising her mockery.

“Lilian, I’ve got to tell you something.” Lilian turned back to listen.

“Oh?”

“Yes.” Lilian waited but Kilde was stalling. He glanced back to see if Lilian’s Mum was still listening but she had disappeared to prepare for work. Finally, he gathered his courage. “Can we, can we go to the river?”

“Sure!” Replied Lilian, “Let me just put some boots on.”

The pair walked down the stone steps to the small stream behind the house. It was a sunny day and the two walked in silence. Lilian was trying to think about whether she should tell Kilde about everything that had happened with the Padda Stone and Mr Attorcop but just as they reached the point where the stream joined the river, Kilde stopped.

“Ok so… I was down here yesterday, just throwing stones and I looked up and you see that space over there?” His hand pointed to a patch of grass on the other side of the river and a little distance down stream. The grass was growing long now that spring had arrived and Lilian could see the first few colours of flowers emerging amongst the stems. She nodded and let him continue, still unsure about what to tell him.

“Well I’m not completely sure but, well I think I saw an animal…” Lilian waited.

“What… like… a deer?” She proffered, unsure about why an animal sighting was producing such secrecy.

“No. That’s the thing, I thought that at first too. I thought, ooh look a deer, oh no wait I thought, that’s not a deer because deers have antlers, well the bucks do, and this didn’t have antlers or hooves and I think it was a bit bigger than a deer but it looked more like…”

He stopped, searching his memory for a suitable comparison. “It looked like, ok well it was kind of dark so, i dunno but it looked like a big dog but also… a cat.”

“Like… a leopard?” Asked Lilian.

“No. Because they are cats. And this wasn’t a cat.”

“But you just said it was a cat.”

“I said it looked like a cat.”

“If it looks like a cat then it probably is a cat…”

“No! Butterflies look like birds but that doesn’t mean they’re birds.”

“Yes but no one looks at butterflies and thinks ooh look a bird!”

“Shut up. I knew you wouldn’t believe me, Mum doesn’t believe me either, she says it was a wolf but remember when we were 8 and we saw that wolf, well it didn’t look like that because it was bigger and it’s eyes were like a cat’s.”

“Okay okay I’m sorry.” Lilian could see that he was getting upset. She tried to think of another question, “Were you scared?”

Kilde thought for a second, “Not really. Well I was at first but then it looked right at me and I could tell that it was just as surprised to see me and it looked scared you know, its pointy ears went flat and it backed away and then, woosh, into the trees. And then I ran home.” Lilian studied her friend, she’d known him since she was a baby, they’d been on countless adventures and knew these woods like the backs of their hands, she’d seen him tell stories she’d heard him tell lies and she knew the difference.

“What colour was it?” At this his face lit up, finally, it seemed to say, someone is asking the right questions.

“That's the thing Lily, I don’t know, well when I first saw it, it was definitely brown, like a deer but by the time it ran away I think it was… maybe orange? Like a ginger cat. But maybe sort of yellow? I’m not sure, like I say it was getting dark.”

Lilian thought for a second,

“Well, let’s go over there and have a look? Maybe we’ll find a paw print or something” Kilde’s face went pale but he smiled.

“You see, I knew you would say something like that. Whoo yeah ok, yeah… yeah ok let’s go. Wait.” Kilde glanced around fitfully, his eyes fell on a big stick, washed ashore in the last swell and dried hard by the spring sun, he picked it up and gripped it tightly. “Ok let’s go.”

The pair removed their boots and waded into the river. No matter how hot the sun ever got in Benlunar, this river was always freezing cold. The water came from the melted snow caps in from deep within the frozen mountains so Lilian breathed in sharply when she took her first step in. She navigated her way across the many smooth stones on the river bed, at its deepest the water came up past her knees but in just under a minute they had made it to the other side. The two donned their boots once more and went over to the long grass. They walked for a while longer than Lilian had expected to but once they arrived they split off and began hunting for clues. The sun was almost at its highest point and the constant stream of sound from the birds and the water made it a typical Benlunar spring day. Lilian thought back to springs of her childhood, where the town children would spend hours on these river banks hunting various things, mostly flipsies, or each other. Only now this was different, this hunt had a purpose, there would be no child screaming at finding a stone with a hole in it and claiming it to be a flipsy amulet, if anything was found now it would be real evidence, a genuine clue to real mystery and this gave the hunt purpose. Lilian found herself brushing back nettles, getting her hair caught in twigs and overturning mossy rocks but all she revealed were stings and the occasional newt. It was just after Lilian had checked under the 14th suspicious looking rock when she heard a shout from Kilde. She whipped round but couldn’t see him anywhere. The shout had come from the beyond the tree line and Lilian started running towards it, “Kilde??” She shouted but she got not reply. More urgently now she scraped past the branches of a pine tree, ripping the side of her smock in the process. Twigs creaked and cracked around her but she still couldn’t see signs of her friend. “Kilde!” She shouted again, louder now. This time, she got a reply, “here!” the shout came from over a mound and Lilian ran towards it, dead pine needles crunching under her feet as she went. As she neared the top she finally saw Kilde knelt down beside a holly bush. The red winter berries had long disappeared and the spiky leaves were starting to brown around the edges. Kilde was transfixed by a spot about waist high up off the ground, when he heard Lilian behind him he beckoned her forward, never taking his eyes off the spot as if looking away might make it disappear. Lilian approached, closer and closer. She couldn’t understand what Kilde had seen until she was right next to him. “Look”. He whispered. At first, Lilian though he was pointing at something inside the bush, but then the sunlight shifted, her eyes focused and she saw it. The smallest tuft of fur, just a few threads stuck to holly leaf. She was about to roll her eyes, she was about to stand up and say it was deer fur or fox or rabbit or anything but just then, she saw the fur shift in the breeze and with the smallest movement, the fur changed colour. Lilian blinked. It must have been a trick of the light. But the once light brown fur was now unmistakably yellow, she was about to say something but she was transfixed as the fur changed again, now orange, now green, now blue. Lilian didn’t want to breathe, afraid that the slightest exhale might blow the strands away. She reached forward with her fingers outstretched, Kilde looked at her urging with every thought that she be careful. Slowly, like a clockmaker removing a broken spring, she gripped the strands between her fingers and held them tightly. Now that the danger of them blowing away had past, she spoke, but still in a cautious whisper.

“Do you have a handkerchief?” Kilde sparked into motion, plunging his hands in to his trouser pockets he extracted a coin, some string, a rather nice looking button and then a balled up red cloth. He unfurled it and stretched it out over his knee.

“It’s clean.” he said, seeing the worried look on Lilian’s face. He brought it up to her fingers in cupped hands and watched as Lilian slowly placed the hairs in the centre of the fabric and folded it over, corner to corner and finally rolling it up lengthways, so as not to bend or break the precious strands inside. Kilde’s face was beaming, “you see?” He asked all of his suspicions confirmed. Lilian wasn’t exactly sure what she had seen and was not quite yet convinced that she was holding the fur of some mythical beast, there were, after all, many factors at play. It might be deer fur, with paint on it. Or the hairs from a fox that had eaten too many blueberries. Whatever it was, she wasn’t jumping to any conclusions.

“I think we should take it back to town.” She said finally. Kilde nodded in agreement but made no sign to offer to carry it, he didn’t want to be the one responsible for dropping it in the river. “Yes,” He agreed, “but what then?” The pair had started making their way back towards the river. As they emerged from the trees and back into the sunshine a thought occurred to Lilian. “I think we should show it to someone. Someone who knows about animals.” Kilde wracked his brain, searching for such a person.

“Ortan?” He said.

“Maybe.” Replied Lilian. Ortan lived on the other side of town, up near the mountain path. He was a tall, greying trapper who would send ferrets down rabbit holes or place traps in the summer around the livestock pens so that wolves got caught. Lilian didn’t really like Ortan. He always smelt like a barrel and he’d shouted at her once for trying to help a fox out of a trap. She could still remember the horrible sounds it had been making. Just then, as she hopped from one boulder to another she had a thought.

“I actually think I might know someone who would be better to ask.”

“Who?” replied Kilde, just as he misjudged the distance between boulders and almost fell in the river.

“He’s… a friend. He comes from the city and he’s staying in town.”

Kilde seemed hopeful. “Does he work with animals?”

“No…” Replied Lilian. “But he knows a lot about mysteries and strange things. He studies them in the city.” She didn’t turn back to catch Kilde’s reaction but he must have been satisfied.

“Well,” He said, “We can show him and if he doesn’t know then we can show Ortan. And if Ortan doesn’t know then… Well then I guess we’ll just keep asking around.” Lilian was thankful that he didn’t continue asking too many questions, she didn’t want to have to lie to her friend about what she’d seen the other night, especially after he trusted her with his story about the beast.

Throughout the entire walk in to Benlunar Lilian clutched the handkerchief close to her, a firm but gentle grip, as if she was holding a small bird, she was so focused on her task that it wasn’t until she reached the town square that she realised that she didn’t know where Cromwell Attorcop was staying. She glanced down the street towards the Fox & Octopus, might he have a room at the Inn, she thought? She looked back at the Stave Church, she could ask brother Thomas if he knew. No she thought, he might ask questions about the fur, then Kilde would tell him everything and the next thing you know you’re praying at some statue of a woman that’s supposed to love you or something. Lilian liked brother Thomas but he did tend to have predictable answers to everything. Just then a flash of colour caught her eye, among the crowd. Stood amongst a small group of well dressed men and women, there was a portly, friendly looking man in a bright orange doublet. Lilian remembered him from the other day when she first saw Mr Attorcop in Benlunar, he’d been talking to this man about rheumatism. She walked over to him across the flagstones, ignoring a nervous Kilde at her side. The group were clearly tourists, their clothes and jewels were far too nice to come from the Benlunar markets and as Lilian approached she saw from the empty bottles around scattered around the tables that they had been drinking wine. When she got close to the man in orange she stopped and waited for a lull in the conversation. A loud woman in a yellow and purple dress with a silly cloth hummingbird dangling from her hat was spilling her wine and saying, “My father was of course old enough to have still been around when they were both alive and HE said that things ran smoother then because he was the only person in the world she actually respected. And now he’s gone well… she doesn’t listen to anyone and so that’s why we’re in this mess with the young Lord what’s-his-name.” This sloshing statement was met with jeers and cheers from her little circle, Lilian however had grown tired of waiting and decided to tap on the orange man’s arm. The man startled and turned to see her. As they spoke, the rest of his group leaned in to listen as well.

“Oh er, good day miss.” Said the man.

“Hello.” Replied Lilian, suddenly nervous as to what to say. She remembered what Attorcop had told her about people stopping at nothing to attain secrets and wondered if this man could be trusted. But her doubts quickly faded when she saw the man smile widely.

“How may I be of service young lady?”

“Do you know where Mr Attorcop is staying?” At the mention of Attorcop’s name, she noticed a visible shift in the atmosphere of the group. Some members looked at each other and smiled, others looked away in contempt. The woman in yellow simply raised an eyebrow, suddenly very curious.

“Would that be Cromwell Attorcop?” Asked the man to clarify, Lilian nodded. “I believe he asked to be put up in the tower room at the Thoreson house, it’s the big blue place up the hill, you can’t miss it.” Lilian knew the house and she thanked the man, she was about to leave when the woman in yellow narrowed her eyes and spoke up again.

“How do you know Cromwell Attorcop?” She asked Lilian. Everyone stood still, awaiting her reply. Lilian didn’t know what to say, she wanted to keep her answer brief and as similar to the one she’d given Kilde as possible.

“He’s my… friend.” At this answer the group of men and woman all smiled, one man visibly stifled a laugh. Lilian felt a hot flush of embarrassment fill her face. The cloth hummingbird in the woman’s hat danced and flopped as she leant forward towards Lilian.

“Trust me sweetie. He’s not.” At this Lilian turned and walked away. The orange man had not laughed but the rest of his friends could barely stay on their seats with the idea that this young girl could be friends with Cromwell Attorcop.

Lilian still hadn’t shaken her anger by the time they’d reached the Thoreson house.

“They stupid city folk.” Kilde was muttering beside her. “And did you see, they’d been drinking Xander’s dandelion wine. That’s why they were being so rude.” Lilian rolled her eyes, Kilde’s ability to see the good in everyone was a lovely quality most of the time, but it was also frustrating, why couldn’t he call them what they were? Dirty city…

“May I help you?” Lilian looked up to see an old, wizened face staring at them from the Thoreson house door. In her frustration, Lilian hadn’t even noticed that they’d arrived and that Kilde had knocked on the door.

“Hello Mr Stepson, we have some business with Mr Attorcop and we believe that he is lodging in one of your top rooms. May we come in and speak with him?” Lilian instantly forgave Kilde, she wished she had his way with people in that moment. His effortless charm and proper manners put a smile on the old butler’s face and he bade them come in.

“Is he expecting you?” Croaked the old man.

“No I don’t think so, but he will be quite interested in what we have to say I can assure you.” The old butler lead them into to a grand entrance hall. The Thoreson’s were Benlunar’s oldest family, they owned half the land the town was built on and had lived in this house for hundreds of years. Mr Stepson was their employee and performed the duties involved in keeping such a large and impressive building up and running, including the management of renting various spare rooms to make extra money in the summer. He was known around town as a man of exquisite taste and eye for detail.

“Mr Attorcop, requested the tower room. Not our largest guest room but certainly one with a good view. I haven’t seen him leave today so I assume he’s working in there. Please be sure to knock when you get to the door, open or closed.” He showed them towards the large ornate staircase and pointed to the top of the house. “And if you would be so kind as to inform Mr Attorcop that his lunch will be with him momentarily.” And the mention of lunch Kilde almost jumped out of his skin.

“Is it midday day already??” He exclaimed. Mr Stepson was taken aback.

“Young man, midday has been and gone, Mr Attorcop broke his fast late and so requested a late lunch.” Kilde almost squealed in panic.

“I promised my mother I would be back for lunch.” He looked at Lilian apologetically.

“That’s ok.” She said, “You go. I’ll tell you what he says later.” Kilde barely muttered his thanks before sprinting out of the front door. Mr Stepson looked confused but still allowed Lilian to go up to see Mr Attorcop in his room.

When Lilian reached the top floor she was almost out of breath. She was still clutching the handkerchief but her palms had become sweaty with the exercise. The landing floor had a faded red carpet on it and various paintings of scenery or haughty rich people looked down at her from the walls. The door at the end of the hall was ajar and when Lilian approached it she saw that it opened onto another set of stairs, steep ones that spiralled round to the right. This must be the tower room she thought. Remembering Mr Stepson’s instructions she knocked loudly on the door. From somewhere above her she heard a voice reply,

“Come up.” Lilian climbed the staircase, watching her step so as not to slip and drop the handkerchief. The stairs lead her through the floor of an octagonal room with windows on most sides. There was a large and beautiful bed to one side and a writing desk at the other end. There were papers scattered across the floor, some strange looking bottles with various colours of liquid

in them. Mr Attorcop sat at the desk and didn't even look up when Lilian climbed the final step.

"One moment." he muttered, busily writing some notes on parchment. Lilian waited patiently and looked out of the large window behind the head board of the bed. She crained her head down so that she could see the mountain peak, it was slightly obscured by small clouds that stood out despite the whiteness of the snow that still clutched to the very top slopes and ridges. Attorcop finished his writing and looked up.

"Ah Lilian, good afternoon. I wasn't expecting to see you today." his brow was furrowed and Lilian wondered if he was upset with her.

"Sorry, Mr Attorcop but I wanted to ask you something." he didn't reply, he simply waited as if the next logical thing to happen would be simply that Lilian asked what she wanted to ask. And so Lilian began.

"I was down by the river this morning with my friend Kilde…" she launched into the morning's events making sure to leave no detail but also try to not waste any of his time. His expression did not change and Lilian worried that she was boring him or had she believed Kilde's childish fantasy and was in fact here to show him nothing more than a bit of badgers bum. When she reached the part of the story that had her place the hairs in the handkerchief Attorcop finally spoke up.

"Bring it here. Let me see."

She approached carefully. She could feel her heart pounding in her chest. Was her first act as Attorcop's assistant going to be wasting his time with nonsense? She watched as he carefully unfolded the cloth. With a surgeon's precision he held a single hair up to the light and gazed at it. His expression was hard to read. Suddenly he got up and walked over to a trunk by the bed. He rummaged around for a second and then pulled out a sort of instrument. Lilian thought it looked like a telescope, only it was smaller and green and had many different lenses attached around the outside. What ever it was, thought Lilian, it looked valuable. Attorcop brought it and the hair back to his desk and began fiddling with the various dials and lenses around the edge of the main tube all the while looking through one end and holding the hair in front of the other. Lilian leant in closer, almost holding her breath. She saw his lips move ever so slightly and thought she heard him whisper.

"fascinating…" his focus unbroken he spoke up, "Lilian, pass me a piece of parchment please. Over there, on the side board." Lilian looked over to a window and saw some clean sheets piled on top of one another on the shelf beneath it. She moved over to grab the top most sheet when she froze. Completely still transfixed at what she saw on the other side of the window. On the outside of the tower was a dark hooded figure. Lilian could clearly see the blue and red colours of their cloak and the silver fastener pinned to their chest. But what transfixed her most were the large, green eyes. The eyes. Of a stranger.