The Blue Journal (Fantasmagoria Book 1) Read online

  The same thing happened with the so-called temple, which he couldn’t locate at all. However, Robert didn’t give up and he became intent on discovering things one at a time, just as he had been planning lately. He’d found out already about the harbour and that meant he was one step further from the ‘Wise Tree’, the starting point to which Robert initially referred to from when he’d seen the journal for the first time.

  He was hoping though to establish some sort of destination before embarking on any ship. Surely he would be able to learn more from the seamen around those places, since it seemed hard to conceive that neither of them had passed the castle in the journal.

  Robert contemplated the fact that he might possibly climb aboard the same ship that his father had apparently embarked. The ship in the sketch had a huge snake, carved in wood on its prow. If he was going to locate that particular ship, he was also going to identify which way his father had gone.

  All he had left to do therefore was to finish his preparations for the journey.

  He had a mind to leave a note to his Grandma explaining the reasons behind his departure in such a way as to diminish the anxiety she will most likely feel. He knew that it won’t be enough for Grandma Abigail who had endured so much when his father went missing, but it will certainly mean something to her.

  Robert spent the next few days gathering all the necessary things for the road. All that was left to sort out was the food but he was going to pack that the day before he was going to leave.

  He knew already which way he was heading and the thought of the impending journey filled his soul with an irresistible urge to travel the world.

  Ever since he’d laid eyes on the notebook with blue pages, Robert had been trying to figure out the symbols used by his father. He was guessing that he’d learned that peculiar alphabet in some of the realms he’d been wondering through for such a long time. But however hard he tried, he didn’t succeed in getting anywhere. He was reassured that one of these days he might come across someone who would be able to reveal the stories hidden among those pages.

  He decided to leave the following day when it was going to be sunny, perfect weather for travelling. He had stashed his travelling bag in the outhouse in order to avoid any prospective enquiries from Grandma. He had stuffed everything he needed in that bag and had written a note to Grandma which he intended to leave on top of the pillow in his room.

  He tried to get some sleep, but failed miserably. He thought feverishly about all the adventures he was going to go on and the long road he had to trudge.

  In his head, he went over all the preparations he had made for his journey, checking in his mind whether he’d left anything out.

  At last he fell into a slumber, happy and worried at the same time, his thoughts filled with his big adventure.

  ***

  He woke up bright and early the next morning, had a wash and went downstairs to the kitchen for breakfast.

  While eating, he watched his Grandma tenderly, knowing it shall be some time before he saw her again. He felt a lurch in his stomach at the thought of leaving her alone, for while at least, angry with himself at the misery he was going to put his Grandma through.

  There was no turning back now. All his preparations were done and all that was left for him to do was to get started.

  He helped Grandma Abigail clear up the table and before leaving the house he gave her a huge hug which baffled her in its sudden display of affection and left her slightly puzzled.

  He headed towards the outhouse and retrieved from under a pile of hay the bag he had packed the day before. Then he went round the back of the house and onto the lane leading to the village, making sure he stayed out of Grandma’s sight.

  He ambled along slowly, not at his usual fast pace, a fact which surprised some of the folk who were used to seeing him running all the time, whether it was round over to play or on his way to Aunt Martha’s.

  Immersed in his thoughts, he greeted everybody wistfully, wondering when he was going to see them again and the people answered him with a smile, confounded by young Anderson’s gravity.

  At some point he reached the outskirts of the village and turned onto the familiar path which took him to Aunt Martha’s, glancing behind him one last time before stepping into the depths of the forest.

  He walked towards the pond, hoping to catch a last glimpse of that wonderful place which filled him with so much delight. Once there, he wished a final farewell to the peaceful oasis and tossed a few stones at the smooth water.

  His next stop was going to be old Radius’s cottage. He felt there was a special kind of bond between them because of their mutual feelings for his father, Aidan.

  A smile stretched across his face when he reached the outskirts of the forest, from where he could contemplate the old man’s little cottage, magnificent as it was in its simplicity.

  When he got there he felt disappointed: Radius was nowhere to be seen and, judging from the dust that had gathered on the door handle, he had been gone for quite some time.

  Robert felt disheartened not to see the old man, from whom he anticipated a few encouraging words and some useful advice for his long journey.

  He said good-bye to the small house where he had experienced such feelings of pride for his father for the first time in his life and then carried on the road towards the ‘Wise Tree’.

  He walked for a whole day without stopping once, planning to reach the first clue in the journal as quickly as possible.

  The sun had long gone past noontime and Robert thought about Grandma Abigail finding the note in which he asked her to forgive him for what he was about to do. He had written a few words to her about the objects in the case and about his decision to go out into the world in search of answers.

  He was convinced that Grandma and some of the people in the village had already organised a search party, but he knew he was already quite a long way away from the village and nobody knew which way he had gone.

  The sun glided towards West and Robert realised that at some point he will have to find some sort of shelter for the night. He will have to build a fire, have something to eat and get some rest until the next day.

  Eventually, he stopped in a small clearing and proceeded to gather a few twigs and some dried moss which he used to light up a fire.

  He found nearby a stick with a sharp end and used it to pierce through a piece of meat, just as he’d seen Mr. O’Rilley doing when they had had their break during a hunting trip Robert had been on.

  After a while the meat was done and Robert took out a chunk of bread from his bag and started eating small morsels, just as his Grandma had taught him.

  At last he felt full. He wrapped the rest of his supper in a napkin and saved some bread and meat for next day’s breakfast.

  He rekindled the fire with the help of a large branch in order to keep himself warm and to deter any animals. He took out a small blanket from his bag, placed it over his shoulders and leaned back against the bark of a tree, gathering his knees up under his chin.

  He fell asleep unassumingly, exhausted by all the exertions of the day. Nearby, the burning wood crackled joyfully and the flames danced around, throwing orange flickers against the dark of the night.

  The smoke from the smouldering fire tickled his nose, forcing him to wake at the first sign of dawn. For a few moments he looked around him in bewilderment, not knowing what was happening, watching the leaves and the trees entwining their branches high above him and listening to the birds’ chirrup floating through the canopy.

  He jumped up suddenly, remembering why he was there. He felt rested but ravenous, so he took out the food he’d saved the previous night and ate it greedily.

  When he finished eating, he put out carefully the remains of the fire, just as Mr. O’Rilley had taught him, so as to protect the woods from a potential fire.

  He folded his blanket neatly and tucked it back into his bag and then set off again.

  From the position of the s
un Robert was able to tell that midday was still a long way away so he had plenty of time to get to the ‘Wise Tree’.

  He set off Northbound, using the forest as his guide. At some point he took out his father’s compass from the bag to check whether he was on the right track, but the needle kept turning round incessantly.

  I’ll try to have it mended as soon as I get to the nearest town, he thought, convinced that it was broken.

  He was thrilled to realise each time he came across something familiar that he could still recall the road he’d been on with Mr. O’Rilley.

  He went past the brook where he had marvelled once before at the velocity of the hundreds of small fish that swam at bottom of the water. Right now he was in a hurry and he didn’t waste even a moment to sit down and watch the creatures at play in their habitat, stopping only to fill up his flask with cool mountain water. He was pleased he’d discovered this spring because that meant he was heading the right way.

  He carried on walking, plunging deeper into the overgrowth, knowing that sooner or later he would have to reach the bottom of a small hill.

  Dried twigs snapped under the weight of his feet, the sound amplified by the silence of the woods. He had been walking for a few hours already, hoping all the time he was going in the right direction.

  Robert couldn’t remember – thinking back on his last visit around these places – how long did it take him to get from the brook to the bottom of the hill, but he was expecting it not to be that much further.

  He was trudging along with difficulty on a path hardly trodden by people. He kept going though, without stopping, urged on by a sense that he wasn’t far from his objective.

  He felt a surge of happiness as he reached the bottom of the small hill he had been searching for the past few hours. All he had to do now was to climb to the top and from there he should be able to spot the ‘Wise Tree’.

  He proceeded to climb up slowly, holding on to the bushes around him for help or clutching at the trees’ roots which broke out from the earth, peeping timidly through the ground.

  He had no clue how long he had been climbing for and it felt as though he might never reach an end. Every time he looked ahead, the brow of the hill appeared even further away, seemingly mocking his helplessness.

  Robert urged himself on although his arms ached and his hands were already scratched by the brambles hidden treacherously among the bushes on the hill.

  With his head nearly touching the ground and breathless with strain, he finally reached the peak where he collapsed on his back, taking his breath, unable to see anything in front of him.

  At long last, when his heart rate receded, Robert stood on his feet.

  The splendour of the valley underneath him made him chuckle with joy. The forest revealed itself in all its glory under his gaze and somewhere ahead, in a large flowery clearing, the ‘Wise Tree’ rose majestically, three times wider and taller than all the other trees around it.

  ***

  Careful of not slipping, he went forward towards the valley, dying to get to the end of the first chapter of his journey. He could hardly believe how close he was to the ‘Wise Tree’.

  He felt pleased with the way his journey had gone and felt proud at his orienteering skills which helped him get this far. Although his eyes were focused on the ground around him, his thoughts were racing around first to Grandma Abigail as he pictured her crying powerlessly, then to his own parents about whom he was hoping to discover more throughout his travels.

  Finally he reached the end of the slope and dashed purposefully once more towards the trees ahead. When he was watching from above, high up at the top of the hill, he memorised which way he’d have to go, so he headed that way with steady, determined strides.

  He looked up. Judging by the sun’s position it was two or three hours past midday. Once by the ‘Wise Tree’ he’ll have a break for lunch and then he’ll decide the direction he was going to take next.

  In the end he reached the clearing and stopped to have a look at the imposing tree which stood in front of him. Robert was sure, although he’d never really seen much of the world he lived in, that this was the biggest tree on the face of the Earth.

  Gigantic, knotty branches twisted themselves to form a canopy without equal with leaves that didn’t allow any sunlight to penetrate through. Inside there was a hollow so large and cavernous that it could easily engulf Mr. Monahan along with his cart and four horses, Robert decided.

  He stepped forward boldly, heading towards the target of the first part of his adventure when, suddenly, he heard a familiar snarl coming from somewhere behind him.

  Good God! he thought. It can’t possibly be… he said while turning his head and looking behind him with eyes wide open in fright.

  The white wolf! he cried inside, watching the familiar outline of the beast that chased after him a few weeks back.

  He broke into a run towards the ‘Wise Tree’, thinking that it was the only place where he could take cover. Behind, the wolf followed him with his eyes for a few seconds then started towards him.

  Robert ran without looking back. It felt that instead of nearing the tree hollow where he wanted to hide, he was getting further away instead. For the first time in his life Robert felt that time and space could no longer be relative to any unit of measurement. His own perception was that he had been running for a few hours and that he was many miles away from the shelter.

  At last he reached the tree and ran inside the pitch-black hollow. Only then did he stop and turn around, venturing to take a look behind him.

  The wolf had stopped at the entrance of the tree hollow, sniffing him. He then stepped behind Robert, forcing him to walk backwards and trip over a root that peeped out of the ground.

  As the wolf was getting nearer and nearer, Robert started crawling backwards, speechless with fear, dragging himself along on his elbows and pushing with his heels.

  This can’t be the end… Not now… Not here! he said to himself. Not when I’m so close to finding out the truth about my parents, went through Robert’s head.

  He looked fearfully around him, searching for a solution, some means of escape. He was really good at finding his way in the dark. Of all the children in the village he’d always been the best at hide and seek, especially when he had to look for friends in shadowy places.

  Right now, however, although he was able to see perfectly in the pitch-dark of the hollow, he was unable to find any means of escape.

  He kept crawling on his elbows, heading towards the back end of the hollow while the wolf reached closer and closer. The beast showed its fangs with a snarl, forcing Robert to squeeze his eyes shut and to throw himself backwards with a last, desperate jump towards the other end of this short-lived hiding place.

  Unexpectedly, he sensed his palms resting on what felt like the warm touch of sand on a beach. Instinctively and without opening his eyes, he took another jump backwards, expectantly, feeling at the same time his whole body sinking into the sand. He could feel the warm stroke of a blazing sun through his closed eyelids and he could hear the lapping sound of waves and a seagull’s cry.

  He opened his eyes and looked around him dumbfounded: he was lying on a beach and behind him was the sea, as blue as a cloudless summer’s sky.

  Ahead, the opening of a cave was visible, gaping darkly from the upright rock of a cliff.

  Is this what heaven looks like? thought Robert, positive that his life had ended between the wolf’s jaws.

  He wondered next whether he had fainted and everything around him was just the fruit of his imagination.

  He glanced towards the cave which gaped ahead and collapsed onto his knees in the sand, weakened beyond words. Out of the dark stepped the white wolf and headed slowly towards him.

  As the beast came to a stop in front of him, Robert felt resigned, unable to react in any way.

  The wolf leaned forward on its front paws and said in solemn voice, bowing his head gently:

  “Welc
ome to Fantasmagoria, young prince!”

  Chapter 2

  Who Is the Professor?

  Robert felt as if he was in a dream, as he simply couldn’t fathom how he’d ended up in that place and what exactly had happened. Everything had occurred in quick succession and he was still baffled by what he was seeing. He took another look around him and his first impulse was to pinch himself. He felt the burning sting of pain and realised instantly that everything was real and not just fantasy.

  He gazed at the sea with its blue, frothy waves chasing each other on the beach ahead. He’d never seen the sea before but had heard countless stories about its beauty and strength. He then turned his attention towards the fine sand in which he buried his hands, enjoying the warmth emanating from it.

  It was only then that he remembered the white wolf and, as he turned round to face him, he looked at him with a curiosity mingled with fear. For a split second Robert had the impression that the wolf had spoken to him. He was watching him in surprise, looking as though he was waiting for some kind of signal from Robert.

  At long last, the wolf gave an embarrassed cough:

  “Prince, is everything alright… are you feeling well?”

  For a brief moment Robert’s heart stopped.

  “You can talk”, he stammered.

  “Of course I can talk”, said the wolf. “But if Your Highness wishes I didn’t, I could keep quiet.”

  “You can talk”, mumbled Robert again.

  The wolf gazed at him in wonder.

  Maybe he’s lost his marbles, he thought. Perhaps I’ve exaggerated my snarling and my aggressive behaviour. By all gods in heaven! The Professor will be fuming! He did warn me to go easy on the boy, he’s only a child.

  “Yes, Prince Robert, I can talk. That is in fact one of my main duties in my role as Royal Counsellor”

  “You can talk,” stammered Robert again, feeling drained.

  It’s clear then. The prince’s gone bananas, said the wolf to himself. He would have to shake him out of that dumbfounded state.