In today’s episode we continue our adventure with Chapter 11 – Terror in the night – Where Scarlet, Meadow Lane, The Skylark Bell, and Farfalla come together in a terrifying way!

Music: Nightbridge by Cannelle (www.cannellemusic.com)

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TRANSCRIPT:

Things with Wings Productions, with the support of Whimsical Productions and Collected Sounds presents: Episode 11 of The Skylark Bell.  I am your host Melissa Oliveri.  

In our last episode, The Dinner Date, Scarlet made a brief appearance to point out an etching in one of the bricks in the fireplace at Magpie’s house, and the name of the mysterious Farfalla came up again in conversation between Magpie her mother.

In today’s episode we continue our adventure with Chapter 11 – Terror in the night – Where Scarlet, Meadow Lane, and Farfalla come together in a terrifying way!

 So get cozy… grab a blanket, and a warm drink… and let’s get started!

Magpie is walking outside. In the faint moonlight she can tell she is standing by the side of the main road, just outside Pocket.  Behind her, she can hear the tinkling of the bell on Scarlet’s collar ‘jingle, jingle, jingle’. They are walking together, in the dark, heading toward home.  To Magpie’s left is Meadow Lane, the house in the distance completely dark and desolate.  They reach the point where the lane meets the road, and Scarlet starts trotting toward the old, abandoned house.  Magpie, without a second thought, scurries after her.  

Suddenly, Magpie realizes she can no longer hear the bell, even though Scarlet is still running up ahead.  Magpie stops in her tracks and calls out for Scarlet to stop, but there is no sound.  Panicked, she starts running after the cat, and realizes she can’t hear the gravel crunching beneath her feet.  Scarlet stops, just steps from the house, and turns to stare at Magpie, like there is something she wants Magpie to understand.

Feeling apprehensive, Magpie decides to follow the cat, who slowly makes its way to the back of the house.  The cat stands beneath a window and turns to look at Magpie. Magpie approaches cautiously and peers in the window. Inside the house she sees a woman in a wooden rocking chair wearing a long dress with lace trim, two small children sitting on the plank wood floor in front of her. Behind the children is a roaring fire in the fireplace. The woman is reading a book to the children,  and Magpie squints to make out the title: “The Skylark Belle” - Belle, with an E, like the belle of the ball...  how curious! 

Just then, Magpie feels Scarlet brush by her leg. They resume their macabre game of follow the leader and make their way toward the other side of the house. 

Once there, Scarlet steps into a small shed. Glancing back toward the road, Magpie reluctantly follows the cat. The inside of the shed is softly lit by the moonlight filtering through its small windows. There is a workbench below the windows, and on it Magpie can see a large piece of wood that someone has begun whittling into the shape of a bird. Several tools are strewn nearby. Scarlet hops onto the work bench and walks to the far end before sitting next to a small rounded object.  Shuffling carefully toward the cat, Magpie makes her way to the end of the workbench. Squinting, she vaguely makes out the shape of a bell. She can tell there is something etched into the bell but can’t quite make it out in the dark. If she could just hold it and feel its surface with her fingers she might be able to tell what it is… Magpie gingerly stretches her hand out to grab the bell when the cat suddenly jumps toward her, back arched, claws out, its mouth wide open like it is screeching, but of course no sound comes out.  Terrified, Magpie steps back, tripping on a garden tool and falling to the ground soundlessly. She’s never seen Scarlet behave like this before! Unhurt, but incredibly overwhelmed, and dazed by the complete silence, she steps out of the shed to gather her thoughts. 

Magpie looks up at the house, her gaze travelling to the second story window, where she sees a pale face with dark eyes staring down at her, unwavering.  A wispy white hand appears next to it and points at her.  Petrified, Magpie turns and races back toward the road, her feet grinding into the gravel silently.  

The moment she steps off Meadow Lane Magpie is overcome by a cacophony of sound: the faintest cricket sounds like a passing truck, her footsteps like a jack hammer.  She puts her hands over her ears, trying to muffle the unbearable sounds. Finally, everything stops. Magpie lifts her head and looks up, then recoils in horror.  By the side of the road, she sees an old woman, standing barefoot in a long white nightgown, wild feather-white hair flying around her pale face - the same face Magpie saw in the second story window of the house just a moment ago – how can that be?!  Dark shadows gather where the woman’s eyes should be, and her mouth is open wide; from her cavernous throat she screams: “Magpie!  Magpie!  Magpie!”

“Magpie!  Wake up, you’re just having a bad dream!”

Magpie opens her eyes, completely disoriented.  The lights in her bedroom are turned on and her mother, a worried look on her face, is sitting by the side of the bed.  “Honey, are you ok?  You scared me!  You were screaming so loudly!” 

Magpie nods quietly, still shaken from her dream, “I’m ok, thanks Mom.”  She sits up to drink a few sips of water from the bottle on her nightstand.  “Do you… would you mind if I sleep in your room the rest of the night?” she asks, feeling a little silly at her age to be making such a request.

“Of course, I don’t mind!  It’ll be like old times, when we used to watch those black and white movies and fall asleep with our hands in the popcorn bowl,” her mother says, soothingly.  Magpie forces a smile as she gets up and grabs her pillow.  “Where’s Scarlet?  I thought she always slept in your room?” remarks Mrs. Phaeton.

“I’m not sure where she went, she was downstairs earlier,” says Magpie, pretending everything is normal.  She feels a shiver run through her entire body as her memory of the dream, and Scarlet’s role in it, comes back to her.

“Sweetie, you’re shivering!  Let’s get you to bed,” says her mother, nudging her down the hall.

Thank you so much for listening.  Join me next week for our third Fantôme Friday episode – The Open House, where we tell the terrifying tale of an unexplained experience in a neighbouring home.

The following week we will pursue our adventure in Meadow Lane and the Skylar Bell by reading Chapter 12, where Magpie visits Lucas and sees a photograph that stops her in her tracks!

Before I go, I’d like to thank Phaeton Starling Publishing for this fantastically eerie story, and Cannelle Elanion for composing equally fantastic and eerie music for this podcast.

 

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