The Fourth Man

The Fourth Man

The swing bridge is the only bridge in Further Farland. It's painted in red and white, but the paint has flaked away, revealing the orange colour of rust beneath. The island of Farland was gigantic, and there were only two other islands next to it. Further Farland was one of these, the other was Fontaine Island. There are many bridges in Farland, and there are several bridges in Fontaine Island, but only one in Further Farland, and it was Siggy's job to repaint it.

Siggy Nernouth was, strangely enough, an only child from Further Farland. Most couples had more than one child in Further Farland to try and increase the sparsely populated area. Farland was densely populated, millions of people lived there, the industrial fumes clogged the air, and concrete roads covered almost every square mile.

Siggy was Sixteen. He had been commissioned to paint the swing bridge by Jamie-Sandy Lee, the small islands Judge. He very rarely had to sit in on trials, Further Farland was like a small sleepy village, and there was barley ever any trouble.Siggy had been caught stealing from the local shop, and too young to be sent onto the mainland and prosecuted Jamie-Sandy, a fair and peaceful man, had only ordered him to do a bit of manual labour. So here he was on a particularly cold autumn morning, with a heavy metal tin of white paint, and a large old paintbrush.

The idea of a swing bridge is to let cars and boats both pass through a stretch of water. The Farenough Sea separated Farland and Further Farland, and the Farenough fed into the Bending River which ran through the island of Further Farland. The swing bridge served either as a normal bridge, horizontally across the river for cars, or it swings on a ring to let boats through either side .Both boats and cars were quite rare in Further Farmouth, so the bridge was kept in its horizontal state most of the time. Occasionally a supply or tourist boat from Farmouth may travel down the Bending River, requiring the swing bridge to pivot, but most boats docked at the far side of the island.

Siggy reluctantly set the tin down and plunged the paintbrush in, pulling it out along with some of the thick white paint, and so he started on the first steel strut of the structure.After barley an hour it began to rain. Heavily. Siggy hadn't progressed very far with the painting, and decided no one could control him; he wasn't wasting his Saturday painting in the pouring rain.He returned to his red-bricked detached house on Findy Lane. It had a small white panelled fence surrounding a neat flowery garden, and a smooth curving path weaving its way to the front door. It was one of nine in Findy Lane, some of the finest houses in Further Farland.Inside his Mother was surprised to see him back

"Siggy?" she asked, surprised "Shouldn't you be painting the bridge?"

"No," Siggy lied "Jamie-Sandy said I didn't have to in the rain."

"That's nice of him," she said, sitting down on the plush leather sofa and picking up the days Farland Chronicle and starting to read.

"What time does Dad finish work tonight?" Siggy asked

"About seven I think," his mam replied. Andrew Nernouth worked at the docks as a management supervisor, bringing home quite a decent wage. His wife, Sally Nernouth, worked in the centre of town, communicating with the mainland for supplies; she had a well-paid salary too. Siggy crashed down onto the sofa and watched out the window as the rain turned the flowerbeds into rivers of mud. Soon the rain began to ease and his mother asked whether he should go back out to paint

"Nah, I'm allowed today off now," Siggy replied, just as a heavy thud of a knock boomed at the door. His mother answered the door and surprisingly found Jamie-Sandy

"Yes? Is something wrong?" she asked

"Your son isn't painting," he spoke in his usual clipped and formal manner

"But he said he had the day off," said Sally, confused

"Most certainly not," continued the judge "If he refuses to paint, then he better come with me, I have another use for him."

"And what's that?"

The judge strode past Sally, past the threshold, ignoring her question. He confronted Siggy in the front room

"So you don't want to paint?" asked Jamie-Sandy in a tired voice

"No," said Siggy curtly

"Then come with me, I have a different job for you."

Reluctantly Siggy followed the judge out the house, seeing no reason to refuse, he heard his mother say "goodbye," in the background, but he wasn't really paying much attention.

The Judge's house wasn't too far from Siggy's. It was a left at the end of the street and a right into a small four house cul-de-sac. These were the houses of the elite in Further Farland. The judge had one, the mayor, and two reserved for visits by the Heads of Farland.

Inside the judge's everything g was neat, tidy, and well-kept. Antiques covered oak tabled surfaces, and large canvases and paintings decorated the walls. Siggy was shown to Jamie-Sandy's study where he took a proffered seat opposite the judge himself.

"I'm going to cut to the chase," he began "Something very bad is going to happen."

"What?" asked Siggy

"Please, don't interrupt," the judge looked stern, "I don't know," he continued "But there are some signs, I can't go into that now, there is little time. As we need someone for a very important job, and you don't want to paint the bridge we're sending you."

"What job? I don't understand."

"I'm afraid there isn't much time, but to stop what is happening we need the Fourth Man. Four generations of men have had the power to see into the future, The First Man helped us many years ago when a terrible fate overcame Farland, now it seems to be happening again and we need to find his great-grandson; the Fourth Man."

"So why can't you go get him?"

"That's the problem. We believe he's somewhere on the third island; Fontaine Island, and he is hidden somewhere."

"How on earth am I meant to find him?"

"Sorry Siggy, but we're all busy trying to keep things under control, the Mayor wants a secret mission, not even Farland officials know, we can't cause widespread panic, and it has to be you."

"I don't even know which way Fontaine Island is."

"That's ok, you aren't completely alone, I have two young lads - your age - from the island, who know it well, and a small boat docked in the docks."

"And you want me to go now?" Siggy asked, perplexed

"Yes, time is vital," The judge looked serious "Everything depends on finding the Fourth Man, you have to do it."

"I'll look on the island, but I'm not saying I'll find anything."

"Thanks for trying, don't worry, you'll be fine, now Quaker and Exo - the two young lads - have everything sorted."

"So where do I find them?"

"At the docks, they have supplies too, go now Siggy, and hurry, not a word to anyone, I mean absolutely anyone, either."

Siggy set off at a run to the docks. His life had turned around in a matter of twenty-minutes. Now he was the sole responsibility of finding this 'Fourth Man' and saving the three islands from some unknown evil that was bearing down on them. Anxious, nervous and scared he hurried by the mid-morning sun to the cold waters of the docks.