The Moonlight Boy | Ferry's Tale # 1

Behind the veil (part one)

Ferry headed towards Matilda's house, thinking that seeing his friend might be a good way to forget about the fright he's been through the night before. It was a sunny day, and the boy thought that playing outside would be good for him. They were to pick up Ben, too and spent the whole day together. But his legs didn't seem to listen. He sped up, but instead of stopping, he passed by Matilda's house. It was as if something was pushing him from behind. After he left behind the last house in town, he was already running. And soon enough, he reached the wall of trees at the foot of the northern hills.

When he passed on the other side, the veiled lady's bright garden greeted him with a soft wind blow. No trace of the lady of the house, as usual. Ferry went round the cottage to the back door. It was open. He pushed it and came in. Deep inside, he wished the veiled lady would be home. Yet, he didn't know what to expect. With her, he could expect anything.

This time, the chamber was somehow lit by the sunlight which was penetrating the old, cracked window shutters. The room was silent, only an old clock ticking above the fireplace. The entire place was an inside garden. The walls were covered with climbing flowers and ivy. He felt his feet sinking in the moss carpet covering the room's floor.

In the middle, he discovered the oak table where Lavender Sky left the feathers for him. It was surrounded by four chairs, a colorful pillow on each one. Ferry touched the table with his gloved hand. The table was engraved; scratched, better yet. On a better look, he saw there were children's drawings all over the table. There were unicorns and fantastic birds and beasts he's never seen before. He studied the drawings more carefully. And to his surprise, he found a raven-man among them. His raven. The scratches seemed old. Who drew them? And why?

He took a step back to have a better look at the drawings. That's when he bumped into something. Or someone. He slowly turned, his heart skipping random beats, and discovered a still silhouette behind him. Someone with a funny hat, decorated with magical feathers, and a grey, long hair falling like a river. He stepped away from the silhouette, his heart racing. But the silhouette didn't move. Ferry dared to make one step closer. He then realized it wasn't the old lady at all. It was a... dummy, like the ones he saw in Mr. Button's tailor shop. The things couldn't get weirder...

He noticed a wooden cupboard covering an entire wall, with the shelves full of boxes and small boxes, cups, mugs, plates and saucers, and teapots. They were all made of the whitest, finest porcelain he had ever seen, adorned with painted bright flowers. No trace of dust, a sign that someone took great care of them. They looked precious to that person, whoever it was. But the jolly porcelain objects were not the ones to capture his attention. Nor the fire burning in the fireplace, spreading warmth and a sweet fir scent. Not even the tin cauldron, hung on a hook over the fire, where a vegetable soup was bubbling. There were actually some photos above the fireplace that caught his eye. Old photos, yellowed by the time, with silver frames just as old.

A man showed up in most of the photos. At first, the man was young, with strong arms and vibrant, sparkling eyes, smiling with confidence. In the next photos, however, the time had left its marks on his face and body because his hair was gray and his face wrinkled. Yet, he looked just as happy and confident. But with each photo, he looked older and sadder His eyes were empty. His smile looked frozen on his lips.

Yet, it was not the man in the photos to intrigue him the most. It was the silhouette appearing in every photo, arm in arm with the man. It was a being of light, its facial features blurry and dim. Only the long hair was hard not to be noticed, floating all the way to the waist, as bright as the light. Another two beings of light, smaller this time, were appearing in the next pictures. In the last one, the man was gone, only the three beings of light. Watching the last photo, Ferry felt his heart heavy and an endless sadness came upon him. He thought about the house as the strangest he had ever seen, about how odd he made him feel. Yet, how home it felt...