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THE BREEZE BRUSHING HAIR across Airdella’s face was what woke her. Groggily, she rubbed a hand across her face and rolled over slightly to look around. Amy, always the early riser, was already awake and drinking out of a tin cup as she read her mythology book and swayed back and forth in a rocking chair. Walter was still snoring away in the hammock beside her.
Airdella tried to sit up so that she could get out of the hammock. Not having much experience with hammocks, she lost her balance when it swung out from underneath her. She grabbed at anything she could to break her fall, which just so happened to be Walter’s hammock. It swung away from her, and she wound up on her face with a startled Walter on top of her.
Any sense of being well-rested they might have had was immediately lost to the sensation of new bruises and adrenaline. They both stood with much grunting and unnecessary moaning, which ceased when they saw breakfast already laid out on the table for them.
“Is that ham?” Walter asked.
“And potatoes,” Amy nodded. “Careful with the ham, though. It’s quite salty.”
Salty or not, anything but grits at this point was a welcome sight. Airdella and Walter hobbled over and dug in with relish. There was also a jug of peach juice, which Amy had already been sipping on, and a pot of coffee.
“We will need to find a way to repay him,” Airdella said. “But I don’t know what we can afford.”
“There’s no need for that,” their host’s gravelly voice said from the doorway. “I hope you got some rest. You looked plumb tuckered out last night.”
“Your hammocks are amazing,” Airdella said.
“And so is your food,” Walter added.
“Well, eat all you want. It will get you off to a good start heading out for Sundown.” The man sat down in a rocking chair next to Amy.
“How long does it usually take to get there?” Walter asked.
“Oh, you should be able to reach it by sunset. That’s how it got its name. Everyone knows you can reach it by Sundown. I’d advise you to fill up your waterskins before you leave, though. It’s pretty dry until you reach the lake.”
“Would you mind showing me where we are?” Walter asked, pulling his map out of his pack on the floor. “We have been travelling for a bit off road, so I’m not sure of our exact location.”
The man spread the map out on the table, pulled a pencil from his shirt pocket, and made two marks. “This is us, here. And this here’s Sundown.”
“Have you seen much of the war in these parts?” Walter asked.
“No, most of that is to the west of us in the Northgate Region. But it sounds like it’s only a matter of time before they arrive. If they breach the Gate, we may be lost. Some folks is already leavin’ ahead of it, going for the coastlands or further south. But most folks in these parts have just about seen it all. They’ll fight for this land, fight for it to the death.” His eyes scanned some of the other places that Walter had labelled on the map as they had gone along. “Seems like you’ve come a pretty long way.”
“I guess we have.” Last night, Walter had felt as though he had traversed half the world and still had nothing to show for it. Today, he realized how big of an accomplishment it actually was. The three of them had managed to cross half the country on their own, undetected, and with no major incidents. They had cooked for themselves, carried all their own gear, and hunted for their own food on occasion. It had been no minor feat.
The man peered at them all closely with his straightforward weathered gray eyes. “Normally, folks in these parts don’t pry into a stranger’s business... But it’s also unusual for three younguns such as yourselves to be traveling so far by yourselves. And with a war going on...”
Walter nodded his head respectfully to the older man, who was asking out of concern for their safety rather than some idle nosy curiosity. The former he could respect, whilst the latter he would have dismissed more curtly. “Yes, sir, I suppose it is. But we are on an errand to help our father. We hope to be reunited with him soon.”
The man gave a nod, although Walter suspected he understood that what he had been told was not the entire truth. But he seemed to decide to respectfully leave it at that. With a little cough, the man stood heavily and said that they had best be on their way if they wanted to make it to Sundown by suppertime.
The children started, realizing how late in the morning it already was. They had slept later than they had meant to, though it had been a much-needed night of rest. As they made sure that their packs were ready to go, the man fetched a pitcher of cool water for them to wash up a little.
After they washed, he took them around to the front of the shop and showed them the main road leading out of town that would take them to Sundown. “You be safe now.”
“Yes, sir,” Airdella nodded. “Same to you as well.”
––––––––
They reached the edge of the woods shortly after leaving town. The tall pines towered above and beside them on either side of the road like nature’s pillars holding up the sky. It was another warm day, and the ground sloped upwards, but the road made the going much easier and faster. They were more rested than they had been in weeks. And the knowledge that they were close to reaching the first goal of their journey spurred them on even faster. The wind whipped from behind them, pulling on them to hurry. The land became more and more often shrouded in mist or fog. The ground was softer and the sand loose, so their feet did not ache as much as they walked over it. They walked in silence, each lost in their own thoughts, expectations, and fears of what lay ahead.
Towards sunset, the trees in front of them finally opened to reveal a large clearing. Nestled on the edge of it to the east was a large building of thick logs and broad tall windows, surrounded by a large patio and set on an enormous foundation of stone. The setting sun reflected in the windows, turning them a brilliant orange gold. Smoke rose out of a chimney that poked out of its green shingled roof. In a way, it looked as if it had simply grown out of the ground and naturally belonged there. But it was also an imposing and recognizable structure that stood out from the other buildings of Sundown.
Small cabins lay scattered haphazardly around the clearing, little paths worn between them, a few people meandering along them. There was a greater concentration in the center of the clearing with the main road running between them. Stone steps led from it and up to the lodge, which sat a little above the town on its stone base. The sign at the bottom of the steps read “Jacob Lake Lodge”.
The three children stopped and looked at the sign and then at each other.
“We have no money to pay for accommodations,” Airdella said.
“But we do need local information,” Walter pointed out. “What do you have on you?”
The only money that the three children had amongst themselves was ten copper coins. Enough for a meal, but not enough to rent a room.
“We’ll eat dinner, and then decide what to do,” Walter said.
Amy nodded in agreement, her stomach rumbling in anticipation.
They climbed the stone steps, their shadows stretching up in front of them as the sun set behind them.
“It’s not like we don’t have money,” Airdella grumbled. “We just don’t have it with us.”
As they climbed up, two young bearded men in plaid shirts with packs and large axes passed them going down. At the top, a man in a leather apron with a towel over one shoulder was clearing the dishes off a table on the patio. He was an older man, though not quite as old as their host from the previous night, shorter and stockier with peppered gray hair.
He stopped as they wearily climbed up the last few steps, wooden beer mugs in hand. “Evenin’!” he raised the two mugs in acknowledgment. “Welcome to the lodge!”
“Good evening,” the children responded, panting.
He chuckled. “Those steps can be quite the climb. But the climb is over now. You looking for rooms? Food?”
“Dinner,” Walter nodded.
“Well would you rather take your supper here outside or inside?”
The sun was going down behind the trees, and the beautiful view was now merely gathering darkness, so the children opted to eat inside. The big beautiful double doors had carved eagle’s wings for door handles and opened onto a spacious area with a lofty vaulted ceiling, enormous windows, long heavy pine tables, and antler chandeliers.
An enormous stone fireplace was set in the northern wall while the kitchen was on the southern wall, so that the whole space would be heated from both directions during the winter. The air smelled of pine, earth, and smoked meats. Despite the wide space and homey atmosphere, there were surprisingly few people inside. Those inside were quiet and self-sufficient, minding their own business unless one of the servers engaged them in conversation.
Jed, their host, seated them at a table in a corner and fetched bowls of potato and venison stew.
“Usually, the place is hoppin’ this time of year,” he told them. “Not many tourists this season.”
“Tourists?” Amy asked.
He gave them a confused look. “Sundown is the epicenter of the tourist trade in this region. People come from all over to have a look down the End Chasm. We got some of the best views for miles around. They built a whole walkway along it with a wall and lights and everything.”
“How far is it?” Airdella asked.
“’Bout two miles.”
“Has anyone tried to climb down?” Walter asked.
“A lot of people have tried,” the man nodded. “See that beam up there?” He pointed to a long thick timber beam mounted above the fireplace. “The rafter beam of the old lodge before it burned down. Whenever somebody announced that they was going to try, everybody’d have a big toast, and they’d carve their name up in the beam. They saved it when the old lodge burned and mounted it over the fireplace when they rebuilt. You get one every year wants to carve their name in it. Some chicken out when they sees the edge though, and some when they hear some of the tales of those who went before them. Which is good. Because if we catch ’em tryin’, we got to arrest them.”
“What tales?” Airdella asked.
“They never came back,” Amy said quietly.
“Well, somes of them came back, they just didn’t come back in one piece,” the man conceded.
“How did you know that Amy?” Airdella frowned.
“In my mythology book.”
“Why didn’t you tell us?”
“You never asked.”
“It would have been useful information.”
“Maybe you should read more.”
“What do you mean, they didn’t come back in one piece?” Walter interrupted them.
“They’d put their ropes over the edge, start climbing. The next morning, their ropes’d be found cut clean through, even when they set people to watch it. It just snaps. Nobody can quite say how it happens. Other times, someone would find them all mangled in a heap with their ropes as if they’d been chewed and then spit out.”
“Did none of them come back alive?” Airdella asked.
“Well, there were some that went over, started climbing, but lost it a little ways down and came scrambling back up. We don’t really count them. Those are the names that get scratched out on the beam.
“Then there was Ethan Enders. Poor fella was found with his legs twisted under himself like a pretzel. But he was still alive. Never did walk again, but he told tales about how the earth reached out all of a sudden and grabbed him, crushing him, and then he was being thrown about by all these vines and rocks. When he woke up, he was in a bed at the apothecary. He likes to sit over there by the fire and tell the story to all the tourists every year. Story gets crazier and more elaborate every year. Enders’ been known to exaggerate. But it’s good for business and scares people away from tryin’.”
“What about Euciphidus?” Walter asked. “What happened to him?”
“Ah, now, there’s an interesting tale!” Jed’s eyes took on a special gleam as he officially pulled up a chair and plunked down into it. “I was a much younger feller then. They still had me fetching kindling wood with the young’ns. This feller comes up here, convinced that there’s a land on the other side of this chasm. Nobody really broke no argument about it. There’s lots of ideas floatin’ around these parts, so it’s not like he had something crazier than the rest. So, over he goes early in the morning to prove his theory. Next morning, everybody was surprised: his rope was still there, safe and sound. So, they pulls it up to see what’s come of him, and there’s a note on the end of it. Said something about fire and rocks and how he was going to explore a little further. So, that was a first!
“They lowered the rope back down for him for when he was ready to climb back up. Next morning, the rope was ripped to pieces, like it had been chewed on by a large dog. They tried to put out more ropes again for him, but they always got torn up or cut. He never was seen since. But they did save the biggest piece of the rope. That’s it there on the mantle. The note he wrote burned in the fire; they used to have it on display. That’s when the king decided to make the law banning anyone from trying to go over the edge. Too many excited young fools losing their lives over it. So now, most folks itching to climb something take to the surrounding canyons. No shortage of spaces to climb in this region.”
Walter could not stop eyeing the length of rope set in a wood frame over the mantle. “Did they measure the whole thing before it got ripped up?” he asked.
“They measured it when they pulled it up the first time and found the note,” the man nodded. “Fifteen hundred feet!”
The three children tried to wrap their heads around that number. Walter did some calculating in his head.
“Well, I’m sorry,” Jed blinked and stood suddenly. “I’ve been talking to you so long your food’s gone cold! Hang on and let me reheat that for you.”
He scooped up the three bowls and bustled back to the kitchen, muttering to himself.
The children looked at each other, then at the beam up above the fireplace. None of them spoke a word, too afraid of what each other would have to say.
“Would you be wanting a room for the night?” Jed asked, plunking new steaming bowls of stew in front of them.
Airdella looked over at Walter. He was so deep in thought that he had not noticed Jed’s return.
“I think that depends,” she said slowly. “How much is it?”
“Twenty copper, or a silver if you’d prefer something nicer. If you don’t want the room, I’d suggest finding a spot along the lake,” Jed added gently. “Beautiful views, fresh water, and not too far from the inn should you run into trouble.”
“We’ll probably do that,” Airdella nodded. “Where is the lake?”
“Out back. There’s a small road leading to it, can’t miss it. But don’t set up too close to the End Chasm. And don’t wander too far from your camp at night. If you see strange lights, don’t go towards them. Watch out for the chupie.”
“The what?”
“Strange lights?” Amy echoed.
Jed shrugged. “This is the North. Some may call them fairy tales, but things happen out there. Now, you’d best eat your stew before it gets cold again!”
Jed ambled off to go serve the two young men with the axes that had returned to the lodge. The children slowly ate their food. Amy had to poke Walter every now and then to remind him to eat. When they finally finished, they paid Jed for their food and wandered back outside. It was dark by now, but the road leading to the lake was quite wide and easy enough to follow in the moonlight. Walter made a torch to make it easier. The lake opened in front of them after a hundred yards or so, a vast expanse of black and silver and mist in the moonlight. Turning off the path, they made camp at the edge of the trees right by the sandy beach. While they were too wrapped up in thought to do much talking, they were also too tired to do much thinking, so by unspoken agreement they left both for the morning. They climbed into their tent and drifted off to sleep to the sound of the frogs croaking and the crickets chirping.
––––––––
When Amy and Airdella climbed out of the tent the next morning, Walter was already awake and had been for some time. He came walking into camp with a full pack and immediately began taking down the tent.
“What’s the hurry?” Airdella mumbled. They had not even started making breakfast.
“We should get going,” Walter said without answering.
“What about breakfast?” Amy asked.
Walter surprised them both by tossing them some strips of dried meat and a small chunk of dried fruit. “Best we can do at the moment. Once we reach the edge, we’ll have plenty of time to sit and think and eat.”
“True,” Airdella agreed. She was too tired and hungry to ask where Walter had gotten the dried meat or with what money. She helped Walter roll up the tent but stopped when she saw a pile of items lying beside it. “What is this? Isn’t this the stuff from your pack?”
“Most of it.”
“What have you got in there right now?”
“Stuff. We’ll just have to divide the rest of it amongst all of us.”
“Is there something I should know about? Where did you go earlier?”
“You’ll find out later. Which would be better than sooner.” Walter was already dividing the extra items into three piles.
Amy began taking the stuff from two of the piles and fitting it into hers and Walter’s packs. She caught a glimpse of the items crammed inside Walter’s pack, and the corner of her mouth went up in a half smile. Walter saw her looking inside, but he also knew that if there was one person he could trust to say nothing, it was Amy. Airdella gave up trying to get an answer out of him, too groggy to do much arguing. Instead, she begrudgingly added one of the piles to her pack.
“Which direction?” Airdella asked. “Are we going back to Sundown to follow the road?”
“Nope,” Walter shook his head. “We’ll just go straight north. Follow the lakeshore for now.”
The early morning sun had not yet burned off the mists that still hung over the lake and the beach, and the children walked along the sandy pebbly beach through the fog, grateful for the coolness and the cover it provided. When the lake veered off to the right, they continued straight, using the starstone to keep themselves on a northerly path. Back in the trees, they startled a few deer that had come out to graze. The forest felt eerie and closed in, the trees thicker and older, and the light coming down through the trees hesitant and fleeting.
If they had gone back to Sundown and followed the road, their approach to the End Chasm would have been much more gradual and marked with signposts. As it was, they had no warning. Suddenly, there it was. The earth fell away a few yards in front of them and dropped into nothingness. There was just fog, a wall of fog and mist as far as the eye could see, in front of them beyond the edge and down below. It hung so thick in the air you could almost touch it. Grass and trees grew straight up to the edge of it, slowing the rate at which the red earth and stone eroded.
Here they stopped. Airdella’s map would do them no good from here on out. They stood on the edge of the known world.