A Distant Light (Volume 3 of the Year of the Red Door) by William Timothy Murray

Author:William Timothy Murray
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Penflight Books
Published: 2017-05-23T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 16

Across the Haunted Lake

Day 137

108 Days Remaining

Rankin and the other sleighmen made sure the company crossed the ice-crusted footbridge safely, then made their goodbyes by waving before sliding away on their sleighs and out of sight. Across the stream, the path moved upward, cutting back and forth across and between a ridge of hills, then up and across a higher ridge. The land was rocky and sparsely treed, and snow drifted in some places across the nearly indiscernible path. From the ridge, they could see ahead of them a dense forest of pine spreading westward into mist and cloud. When they descended into the trees, the sky darkened even more, and before long a light drizzle mixed with sleet was falling through the needles overhead. But the path was not too muddy and was easy to follow, with only gradual climbs and descents. Moving farther away from Greenfar and deeper into the forest, they all felt as if they were waking up from a long and marvelous dream, and they struggled to settle their minds into the humdrum routine of travel. But the spirit of what they had seen and done over the past few days was still in their hearts, and perhaps would never leave. So it was with a sense of comfort, not melancholia, that they marched on toward the unknown end of their journey.

If only the weather was as comforting to them as their thoughts. As the day progressed, the drizzle changed completely to sleet with pellets clicking steady and hypnotic. Late in the afternoon, just when the icy path was becoming crunchy under their feet, it began to rain once again. At first it was a very hard and very cold rain, with gusts of wind that shook the pines loose of their rime. Pulling up their hoods, they bore on with many sighs, but they spoke little until they topped a rise and saw through the trunks the silver sheen of water some distance ahead, just as the rain eased to a light sprinkle.

"Well, thar's the lake," Billy said. "So we can't be too far off from the village."

They continued on, but it seemed that the path took them no closer to the lake. And soon, with the sun lowering behind the dense clouds, and with patches of fog and mist rising through the forest, it was far too gloomy to catch any sight of the lake or any village. When night came black and cold, it was still raining, but in fits, and they could not tell whether they were any closer to the lake than before, or any closer to the ferryman's place that Rankin had mentioned. They moved along very carefully, all their eyes keen to stay on the path. By now they were soaked and miserable, and their fondest thoughts could not distract them from the cold they felt or the wet shivers that ran up their arms.

"Look there," Ullin's voice came from ahead. "I think I see a glimmer of light.

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