NaNoWriMo
Chapter 1
October 31st, 1320
Rulf turned, listening for the yapping of his dog. The dog would lead him to the sheep, then he could collect them, and get home – it looked like rain, and his little sister Ayleth was moaning – again…
“Why do we have to look after the sheep?” she whined, “I want to help in the house – it’s warm there!”. Rulf turned, ignoring her. She was definitely getting on his nerves now. He heard a distant bark, and took off after it, Ayleth trailing after him, shouting to him to slow down. Rulf felt the breeze as he reached the top of the moor, then saw Agar with the sheep. “Agar!”, he cried, “bring them here!”. Agar, the shaggy, dirty, wolfhound bounded around, nipping at the sheeps heels, and they slowly made their way towards Rulf, just as Ayleth reached him, panting heavily. “I’ll tell mum you left me”, she threatened. Rulf turned to her, just in time to see, behind her, the sky split open. He dived at his little sister, pulling her down into a gully. Something flashed above them, leaving a stream of smoke in its wake. There was a crash, then a flash, and everything went silent. Rulf was the first to put his head up, and try and see what had happened. All he could see, through the smoke, was a gouge cut out of the landscape, with something, surrounded by steam, at the end of it. As Ayleth crawled up next to him, complaining about the insects which the wind had blown into her hair, he felt, rather than saw, a light, dancing in from of him. Ayleth, however, did see it, and watched, entranced, as it bobbed and weaved in front of her. Hypnotised, she followed it, while Rulf grabbed at her dress, and shouted in an attempt to stop her. Agar ran in circles, barking, and the sheep scattered as Ayleth walked on, followed by an increasingly scared Rulf. They crested the moor, and slipped down into the steam. There was a flash, and a short scream, cut off as the steam cleared. The sheep ran, Agar sat back on his haunches, and howled.
The night fell, velvet dark, and Beatrix fretted. The children hadn’t come home, Agar had arrived in a panic, running in circles, and panting wildly, and there were no sheep – which was the part Leofrick seemed most concerned about. There was a sudden knock on the door. Beatrix opened it, to be confronted by
They went out the next day – and every day for weeks – but didn’t find anyone. Terrin wrote the story in his journal, the parents mourned, and the world moved on…
1620
Chapter 2
It was another cold, frosty, winter’s day. Richard and Elizabeth ran up the hill, laughing, and trying to keep warm – the sheep and dogs running in front of them. Richard turned and looked out over the growing town, and down at his twin sister, taunting her. As she reached him, a strange look came over her face. He looked into her eyes, but saw only emptiness. She stumbled away from him, and started walking across the moor, as though following something that only she could see. Richard grabbed her dress, scared, and pulled her back. She responded with a yank of almost superhuman proportions, pulled away from his grasp, and carried on walking, with him following her at a run. Panicking, he saw her approach Ayleth Rise, the one place on this flat moor where the ground rose. They’d always been told not to go there – to stay away – and this had been reinforced by stories told in the dead of night of disappearing children, strange lights, and unearthly sounds in the dim and distant past. Elizabeth carried on walking, dragging Richard towards the crest of the hill. She balanced on the top for a second, then fell, dragging him behind her. There was a bright flash of light, a strange, unearthly howl, and then…nothing. As the sun rose, a second set of parents began to search, fruitlessly, for their missing children – children they would never see again.
Chapter 3
1881
“Molly!”, cried Hannah Jones, stepping delicately off the train, and taking in the view for the first time. It was nice to be able to breathe fresh air for once. “Don’t push your father!”. Joshua laughed, pushing back at his little girl. “Hey!” cried Molly, “act like a gentleman – and don’t show us up!” – she’d heard her mum say that often enough, though Joshua – she was going to be just like her when she grew up.
Together, they clambered off the train, carrying the picnic basket between them, and started off up the hill from the station towards the distant promise of the moor
It was a long, hard trek up, past the old Grammar School, and the newly built Craiglands Hotel – “I think we should stop, and have a drink…” Joshua panted…”we don’t have time, love”, his wife responded – thinking “and we don’t have the money, either…”
Eventually, they reached the bandstand on the very edge of the moor. The local town band was playing, people were picnicking, and children were running around everywhere. They found a space, and settled down. Stretching, Joshua looked out over the growing village, and down the valley, and sighed – this was why they’d come all the way from the dirty city of Bradford where they lived, out onto the edge of the moor.
