In today’s episode we continue our adventure with Chapter 12, Cold Pancakes – Where Magpie visits Lucas and sees a photograph at that stops her in her tracks.

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 12 of The Skylark Bell.  I am your host Melissa Oliveri.  

In our last episode, Magpie had a terrible dream that involved Scarlett, Farfalla, and Meadow Lane.

In today’s episode we continue our adventure with Chapter 12 Cold Pancakes – Where Magpie visits Lucas and sees a photograph at that stops her in her tracks.

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

“Come on in!” shouts Lucas from the back of the kitchen. It is a bright, sunny day and Magpie is excited to get started on their newest adventure, hoping it’ll get her mind of the terrible dream she had the night before.  Magpie and Lucas usually meet at the bottom of Lucas’ driveway, but this time he is running late and has asked her to come up to the house.  Magpie shyly makes her way through the dark living room to the back of the house. The kitchen is surprisingly bright, with soft yellow walls and sheer white curtains filtering the sunlight. 

“My grandma made some pancakes, want some?” asks Lucas, already shoving a heaping plate of steaming pancakes across the counter toward her. “She makes the best pancakes with blackberries AND chocolate chips in them – you’ve never had anything like it!” he says, beaming.

“Uh, sure… Thanks!”  Magpie pulls the plate closer and pours some syrup on the stack pancakes.  She watches as it slowly makes its way down to the white porcelain plate, forming a pool in which she can see a golden, distorted reflection of herself. 

“Where is your grandmother, anyway?  I’d love to meet her!” she says, trying to make conversation.

“Oh… she’s, uh… napping,” replies Lucas, visibly uncomfortable.

Sensing awkwardness, Magpie quickly changes the subject, “So… Where should we go exploring today?”

 Lucas’ mood shifts immediately to excitement. “Well, there’s the ruins from the old mill in the clearing where the creek meets Pine River.  I think we should check it out!  They shut it down about fifty years ago, but there are still tons of artifacts left behind!” He speaks very quickly before shoving one last, large bite of pancake into his mouth and carrying his empty plate to the sink. “I’ll change into my old clothes and grab my boots while you finish eating.” He says. His words sound muffled as he navigates the big bite of pancake still in his mouth. “Meet me on the front steps!” he adds, his voice trailing as he runs upstairs.

Magpie sits alone in the kitchen, poking at her rapidly cooling pancakes.  She can’t bring herself to eat, for some reason her stomach feels tight, like she’s expecting something bad to happen, but aside from the ticking clock everything is quiet. Tick, tock, tick tock… A cloud passes over the sun and, for a moment, the kitchen is washed in grey. The mood in the kitchen changes instantly and the tiny space feels cold and almost… ominous.  Magpie feels a strange sense of relief when the cloud passes and the soft sunlight is restored.  She’s about to walk her plate to the sink when something on the wall catches her eye.  Amid an artful display of vintage photographs, one in particular has caused her to freeze in her tracks.

 “Hey slowpoke!  I thought you were going to meet me on the front steps!”  The sound of Lucas’ voice makes her jump.  Magpie didn’t realize several minutes had gone by.  Lucas is leaning on the doorframe, ready to go.

Shaking her head in an attempt to focus on the present moment, Magpie points to the yellow, creased photograph framed on the wall. “Who is this?” she asks, trying to sound calm and composed, but on the inside she can feel her heart racing.

“Oh, my grandma likes to collect old photos,” Lucas replies casually.  “That’s Marius Corbeau, he lived in Pocket a long time ago.  I guess he disappeared in a snowstorm one day while looking for firewood.  They found his horse… what was its name again?” he pauses for a moment, his eyes turned upwards, scanning his memory, “Oh yeah, Cormorant!... It was wandering near the road; it still had its tack on and everything, but Marius was nowhere to be found, and apparently he was never seen again.” Finishes Lucas, very matter of fact.

“That’s terrible.” Says Magpie, trying to stifle a shudder.

The photograph shows a man wearing layers of heavy clothing, with dark curls sticking out from under his cap.  The image is so faded and worn that Magpie can’t make out his face, but she still recognizes the man from the vision she had that day at mirror pond.  Swallowing hard, and wondering whether she even wants to hear the answer, Magpie, a slight tremor in her voice, asks “What colour was Cormorant?”

“Oh, that’s the cool part!” says Lucas, “Cormorant was completely black with a white mane and tail!  They say Marius brought the horse with him when he came from Europe, and that no one had ever seen a horse like that before! There is a bit of a mystery surrounding Marius though, not only did he disappear suddenly, that’s also how he appeared! They say he landed in Pocket one day, completely out of the blue, and he already knew his way around, like he’d been there before, but no one recognized him! It’s a small town, there’s no way a stranger goes unnoticed. The whole thing is very strange...” he ends, shifting his weight back and forth between his feet, unable to hide his impatience to get out and explore.

Magpie can feel the colour draining from her face.  How can all these visions be parts of reality, history, people from the past that she’s never met or heard of – what are they doing in her mind?!

“Hey are you ok?” asks Lucas, taking a closer look at her, concern washing over his face.

Completely overwhelmed by the events of the past few days, with the images of her dream from the previous night, and Marius’ body landing on the ground with snow swirling all around, Magpie, close to tears, looks down at the ground and stammers, “I… I don’t feel so well, I think I ate too many pancakes.  I have to go!” and with that, she swiftly exits through the front door.

Lucas watches Magpie run down the driveway, puzzled.  Her plate of cold pancakes sits, barely eaten, on the counter.

Thank you so much for listening.  Join me next week as we pursue our adventure and read Chapter 13 of Meadow Lane and the Skylark Bell, where Magpie and the mysterious Farfalla finally come face to face!

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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