Chapter 2

The first thing Charlie became aware of was the heat. It was not an overwhelming heat, but soft and welcoming. The second thing was the smell of food. His eyes slowly opened, and the first thing he saw was flames. He was lying before a massive stone hearth, his bedding was a soft rug of some Persian design.

“Janie?” Charlie sat up tentatively and scanned his surroundings. The walls of the chamber were made of the same stone as the hearth. The stone walls were adorned with a few scattered windows, all rounded in a way to flow with the stone. Nothing but the dark night beyond could be seen through the clear glass. On one wall there stood two stone archways, each owning wooden doors that were pulled shut. On another was spanned a much larger archway, this one having no door, revealed only gaping darkness.

Janie sat on a high wooden stool pulled up to an island in the center of the room. It too was constructed of stone, though its surface was a slab of pure black marble. Above it suspended from a wooden rack were pots and pans of various shapes and sizes. They were in someone’s kitchen. But who’s?

Charlie rose to his feet and pulled up a stool next to Janie. Janie’s thin arm curled around a steaming bowl of some stew, apparently the source of the pleasing aroma that had woken Charlie.

“Finally awake then?” she chided him cheerfully, juices running down her chin. 

“What … where are we?” Charlie glanced down at her bowl, his stomach rumbling.

Janie had no need to answer, their host materialized through the archway. He was a large man, easily surpassing six feet. He was barrel chested, his arms were the size of two of most men’s. Though he was a hulk of a man, not an ounce of it was fat. This man was solid muscle. While his size was intimidating his facial features were softer, and kind. His hair was blonde, shoulder length but neatly trimmed. His eyes were a sparkling blue. He possessed a smile that lite up his entire face.

“Ah I see you are awake young Sir.” His voice echoed through the chamber as he moved across the room to a large pot suspended in the fire. He swung the pot towards him and filled a bowl. He swung the pot back in the fire then crossed the room to place the bowl in front of Charlie. “You will be needing a spoon” he smiled, placing a sterling silver soup spoon at Charlie’s hand.

“Sir” Charlie began, “If you please … you are you?”

“Charlie, don’t be rude!” Janie scolded him, “He is Max.”

“It is quite all right my Lady, he has a right to his questions.” Max moved to sit across the island from Charlie. “Please, eat and I shall answer whatever you wish to know.”

Charlie dipped his head into a slight nod and took up his spoon. He took only a tentative sip at first, but his immense hunger betrayed him and he began to devour the steam in ravenous gulps. When the bowl was empty Max wordlessly filled it again.

“As your sister revealed, my name is Max. I came upon the pair of you sleeping out in the forest so I brought you here. It is not safe in that forest at night, surely you have heard of those cured woods? I took you away from there. You shall stay the night here and tomorrow I shall take you home.”

“You live here?” Charlie asked in between gulps.

“No, this is not my home; I am merely the caretaker here. My master is quite a busy man, I see to his home when he is away and see to his needs when he is here.” Max smiled then cleared away the bowls. “Enough talk, the hour grows late, bed now for the both of you.”

Charlie and Janie slid from their stools and returned to the rug in front of the hearth. Max provided them with warm blankets and soft feather down pillows.

“Fear not, little ones, you are safe here” Max whispered, but the children were all ready asleep.

Max turned toward the archway through which he had entered. A pair of cat like eyes glowed in the darkness there. Max bowed, and then made his way out of the chamber by way of one of the wooden doors. 

                                                       **********

Somewhere between dreams and reality, Charlie shivered from the cold. He pulled the blanket tighter around him, “Did the fire go out?”  He mumbled in his sleep.

“Wake up Charlie!” Janie shook her brother “Wake up!”

Charlie opened his eyes and, blinded by the bright sunlight, squeezed them shut again.

“Charlie!” Janie insisted, “We have to get home, Mother will be worried.”

“I’m awake.” Charlie whispered opening his eyes again, this time more tentatively.  He shook his head and ran a hand through his hair. He rubbed his tired eyes and forced his mind to clear. Seeing his surroundings clearly now he saw much to his surprise he was outside, not in a cozy kitchen. There was no fire’s warmth; his bed was not a Persian rug but a supple bed of grass. The blanket he clutched to his person was no blanket at all but his own jacket. But most curiously of all, he and his sister were no longer trapped inside the stone walls, but were lying in the grass before the main gates.

“It was all a dream?” Charlie mused to himself, getting to his feet. Janie was already standing in the road waiting for him, watching him disapprovingly. Apparently he was not moving as fast as she would have preferred.

Charlie slipped on his jacket as he made his way on to the road and joined his sister. They began to journey home in silence. Charlie for his part was trying to make sense of things. It must have been a dream, all of it. That was, after all, the only logical explanation. And it filled him with bitter disappointment. In the dream he might have been closer to learning what fate had befallen his father. But now he was forced to realize he had failed. He had come all this way, placed his sister in danger, and all for nothing.

Charlie shoulders slumped in defeat and he shoved his hands in his pockets. The left was empty as it had been before, but the right was not. His eye brows wrinkled in curiousness, it felt like a coin purse. He gingerly pulled the object out of his pocket just enough to tell it was indeed a coin purse. It was heavy with coin as well. He quickly shoved the purse back into the pocket and scanned the empty road and tree line as if some thief were harbor there ready to jump out and take his new found treasure. Charlie glanced over his shoulder to the gates one last time.

 “Lets hurry” Charlie, who had been dragging behind up to this point, quickened his pace and passed his sister.

It was not until Charlie was safe at home that he closely looked at the purse. He gave it to his mother as he explained where they had been and all that had happened. She cried with worry for her children and scolded them. Then she cried with joy and hugged them both for in that small purse were enough coins to keep them for many years. No longer would they go hungry.

She made them promise never to go back to the cursed forest. And they both promised they would obey. This was fine with Charlie because he had no need to ever go back there now. The coin purse was embossed with the initials CNM. Charles Nelson Mason, his father.