James The Wonderer: Chapter Two

Read Chapter One: a bishop and a jump here:

Dark. It was still dark wherever they were.

James blinked as his eyes slowly adjusted to the surroundings, and shapes gradually began to appear before them. Trees and bushes rose up in front of him, and he felt the scrape of dirt beneath his feet.

A voice beside his shoulder made him jump into the air.

“James. Can I have my hand back please?”

Samuel. The strange boy gratefully took it back as James released his grip, blood slowly returning to both their hands.

“Sorry. I didn’t realise I was holding on so tight”.

“Allgood” Samuel replied, his outline fully visible now in the half-light gathering from an incomplete moon. It was a crescent tonight, a new slice of white hanging in the sky. “At least we made it in one piece”.

The older boy sounded like he was grinning, but if he was James couldn’t see it. Grey clouds surrounded the moon so that even after a minute of standing there, he couldn’t really see enough to be comfortable.

“Samuel…do you really not know what this is all about?” James whispered. “Where are we? It’s still night-time, but something’s off. Something’s different” he said, curious eyes trying to pierce the darkness.

And he was right. Something in the air certainly felt different, but what exactly he couldn’t tell. A cool wind slipped through the trees, and started to push the moonlight onto the two boys.

James did a quick mental check to make sure he wasn’t missing any limbs. It had been a wild ride to get here after all. Not that he knew where here was.

Same clothes. Bare feet. Hospital bracelet on his wrist. The notebook in his pocket. But his head felt funny…

“Hair!”

“What? What is it?!” Samuel whirled around.

“No no, look!” James pulled at the thick, tangled, what-he-assumed were jet-black curls that sat on top of his previously bald head. “I have my hair back!”

“Huh. So you do. Well that’s a little strange.” Samuel stayed impressively calm despite the massive revelation James had dropped on him. “Try not to tell the whole place about it though James. I’m not sure where we are yet. Or when” he said gently.

”Oh right. Course. Sorry” James said in a low voice, but inside his heart was thumping so loud he was surprised Samuel couldn’t hear it. He had his hair back!

That had been one of the worst parts. Mum had always loved his curls, and she cried the first time the nurses shaved his head before treatment. James thought he looked a bit pale and small-faced in the mirror without his hair, and he felt like he was missing something. Dad said he reminded him of a nine-year-old Professor X.

Eventually, he’d gotten used to it, to the wind rushing across his bald scalp and to the smooth feel of his beanie as he slid it on. Didn’t mean he liked it though.

And now here he was, transported somewhere in the middle of the night, and his hair had miraculously reappeared.

”Samuel…have we travelled back in time or something? The doctors shaved my head, so there really shouldn’t be anything on there” he asked.

Samuel paused, and then looked up at the sky. “That definitely is strange. Maybe?”

He seemed infuriatingly calm about all this; the wind, the landing in the middle of nowhere in the dark, and James’s hair suddenly growing back. Almost as if he knew more than he was letting on.

As the clouds were pushed away, things became clearer. James and Samuel stood in a small clearing, and a clear stony trail led off to their right. At the point where it dipped toward the horizon, they could see the flickering lights of what appeared to be a nearby town. Little globes of light shone below them in a gap between the trees.

“Looks like we’re on a hill somewhere out in the countryside” Samuel said, moving towards the trail. “And I don’t fancy spending a night here”.

James scanned his surroundings, on the lookout for anything that might be dangerous. Hearing and seeing nothing, he caught up to Samuel. They walked along the trail for a few minutes, guided by the moonlight, and the town started to seem a little closer.

As the rocky path sloped downward Samuel’s steps softened, then slowed, then eventually stopped.

James, who had been gazing at the stars ahead and trying to figure out where they were, tripped over Samuel’s left foot and stumbled a few paces.

“Sorry James. I didn’t mean to startle you”.

“Ah it’s okay, least I didn’t bail”. James glanced at the older boy, his face a dark picture of concentration, brow furrowed and jaw set. “What’s up?”

“Nothing. At least, nothing I can remember. I thought it was coming back to me for a second” Samuel said as he resumed walking, his shoes making barely a sound as he stepped.

“What was?”

“What happened to me. And how I ended up here”.

“As in…out on that fire escape at St. Thomas’s?”

“Yeah. It’s the weirdest feeling, like I know but I don’t. It’s in here somewhere”, and Samuel tapped the side of his head with a finger. “I’ve just got to get it out”.

"Well, what’s the last thing you remember?”

Samuel shrugged. “It’s all blurry. Bits and pieces floating by”. His voice was casual, but James heard the slightest hint of uncertainty mixed in. He really didn’t seem to know what was happening, so at least that made for two of them.

James hesitated. “Do you…think we’re dead then? Or maybe dreaming?” James offered, his arms swinging nervously as they walked on, inching closer to the lights ahead. The words had escaped from his lips before he could catch them, tumbling out quickly in a desperation to be voiced.

“Dead?” Samuel’s voice rose sharply. “We better not be” he said.

“Yeah- I’ve got to get better! Way too many things I haven’t done yet” James exclaimed, prompting a raised eyebrow from Samuel.

“I don’t think we’re dead James, otherwise we wouldn’t be walking along this trail in the middle of the night with no idea of where we are or where we’re going” Samuel stated in a flat tone. “We’d be nothing anymore” he said.

In response, James pointed down the trail. “We are heading towards the light though” he offered.

“Mmm. Only one way to find out I guess” Samuel murmured.

They walked a bit further, through the sloping hillside between what looked like vineyards and farmland. Twisted vines sprang out of the ground, illuminated as fragile and unmoving creatures by the moonlight, and the boys could make out deep furrows in the soil alongside them.

“I dunno if we’re dreaming either Samuel” James remarked, prompting a frustrated exhale from the older boy.

“Sorry…I know I talk a lot. Mum says too much sometimes” James continued in response.

“But you never realise you’re dreaming when you are, right? It feels fine when you’re in one, and it’s only after that you see how un-normal everything was”. Samuel made no remark, so James ploughed on. “So if we’re questioning whether we’re dreaming, we can’t actually be. And if we’re not dead then where does that leave us?”

The younger boy’s question hung in the air until Samuel’s shoes slid to a halt, the harsh noise of rubber grinding rock breaking the steady rhythm of James’s stride.

“Here” Samuel said evenly, looking straight ahead.

A small farmhouse stood silently to their left, alongside a barn, stables, and two little wooden sheds. Beyond the timbers of the house lay fields as far as they could see, stretching out to the edge of their sight. Brown soil lay bare in some, while others were covered in vines, and others still in what looked like fresh produce. James could just make out the outline of a few cows asleep in the nearest paddock, while two horses slept across the fence from them.

Samuel made as if to climb the stone wall that separated the farmlands from the trail, and his hands were already rasping rock when James piped up.

“Wait!” he whispered urgently. Aren’t we going into the town?”

“Not tonight” Samuel sighed. “Those lights aren’t powered by electricity, or haven’t you noticed? They’re flames. That means there’s actually a possibility we’ve gone back in time, as ridiculous as that sounds. And if that’s the case, then I’d much rather figure this all out in the morning after a couple hours of sleep, rather than wandering around an empty town in the dark”.

Following Samuel’s gaze to the town, James realised he was right. White buildings of stone with flat roofs were cast in shadow by the gentle flicker of what looked like lamp-posts, with a flame burning on top. They were dotted here and there, in front of houses and in the streets, and every now and then James’s eyes caught the faint movement of legs moving, then standing still.

Guards.

Where were the power lines? This didn’t make any sense.

Samuel tapped James on the shoulder. “Come on, let’s get some rest. Maybe this will be clearer in the morning”. He hoisted the younger boy onto the wall, which stood to James’s chest, then hauled himself across.

James felt his bare feet sink into the cool soil on the other side of the wall, and when Samuel hopped over they headed for the wooden barn at the end of the field. Green plants no larger than James’s knee lined their path, their long leaves splayed out at regular intervals.

“Corn” Samuel said quietly, pointing to the larger rows near the sides, whose ears had grown over James’s head.

Reaching the barn they squeezed through a side-door that had been left slightly ajar, and once again found themselves in darkness. Waiting for their eyes to adjust, Samuel sniffed the air.

“It doesn’t smell as strong as I’d have thought. Maybe they keep all the animals in the stables or the field”.

“Very kind of them” James whispered, secretly relieved that he wouldn’t be woken up by a horse hoof or chickens scurrying about.

Slivers of moonlight cut in through the beams in the roof, and the boys searched around for a place to lie down. There wasn’t much to see; a few buckets, a stall in the far corner, a workbench to their left, small piles of hay clumped together, and what looked like a very heavy old-fashioned plough leaning against one of the walls.

Samuel bent down to inspect it, and gave the metal frame a tug. It didn’t budge.

“Iron” he said thoughtfully.

“Samuel, there’s no tractors in here, or harvesters or anything with wheels. Where have we ended up?” James cried in exasperation, the same question that he’d voiced more than once tonight.

Samuel settled into a hay pile and began to take off his shoes. “Honestly? I have no idea James. I think you’re expecting me to have answers and I’m sorry but I don’t. It feels and looks like we’re way out in the countryside, but the flaming torches and this metal beast over here? Your hair? My brain is turning in circles, and I don’t think it can handle any more questions tonight” he groaned, stretching out onto the hay.

“Okay. Sorry. I didn’t mean to annoy you” James said quietly, searching for a place to close his eyes.

James felt an overwhelming sense of exhaustion hit him all at once, like a wave of fatigue washing over. Perhaps he only felt it now they had stopped for the night and were safe, if that were true. He curled into his own pile, feeling his muscles gradually relax. The smell of fresh hay soaked the air around him, but he was too tired to care.

All was quiet for a minute, then came a rustling from over in Samuel’s pile. He had sat up, and seemed to be thinking.

“James…I know that this is a whole lot of weird to take in, and maybe you’re feeling like you’d rather be back in your hospital bed. You don’t know where we are, or even who I am. But one thing I do know, is that this is your best chance of getting better”. He paused again.

“And I’ll do my best to make that happen. There are things in motion right now greater than you or me, and we have to trust in that, whatever it is”.

His words were sincere and warm, and James felt a lot better all of a sudden.

“Thanks Samuel. I really hope so. And hey- maybe we can figure out a way to help you too!”

The older boy made no reply apart from an indistinct grunt, and shuffled back into the hay, having said what he wanted to.

James felt his eyelids grow heavier, and he grabbed a few curls of his hair just to make sure that it was still there. Winding it tight around his fingers, he held on tight. Would it still be there when he woke up in the morning?

Just before his eyes closed and he drifted off, he thought he heard Samuel whisper, “Maybe. Hopefully”, so quiet that James might have just imagined it.

It seemed like barely an hour had passed when the two boys were woken up by the screech of a rooster outside the barn. James had slept through the night but woke with a jolt, and his skin was cold. Rubbing his eyes, he sat up reluctantly and waited for them to adjust as Samuel started to wake, cursing the existence of such an animal.

“Why? Why? What is it about the sunrise that makes them decide to tell everyone else about it?” he grumbled, grabbing a fistful of hay and flinging it in the general direction of the rooster, whereby it gently tumbled to the ground, rather defeating his purpose. “There isn’t even any sun yet!”

“I think that would be biology Samuel” James answered. “Roosters have circadian rhythms just like us, and they know when it’s sunrise even in a darkened room. They use it as a way to mark their territory too, so that other roosters stay out of their way. They actually crow a lot during the day as well”.

Samuel rubbed his head. “Thanks for the science lesson Professor…what’s your last name?”

“March” James said. “Like the month”.

“Got it. Well James March, since you seem to know so much about these blasted creatures, do you think you could get this one to shut up?” Samuel said, yanking on his shoes.

James couldn’t help but grin at how annoyed Samuel was becoming over the continuous wake-up call they were receiving. It sounded like the rooster had heard the complaints and was choosing to ignore them, strutting around the farmyard. One could almost be forgiven for thinking that the rooster somehow knew they were in there, and wanted to make completely, utterly sure that they were awake.

“I don’t think I can stop it, and I don’t see us getting any more sleep this morning” James said with a straight face.

Samuel, whose efforts to put his shoes on while half-awake and in the dark were failing miserably, smiled in spite of himself.

“Well if we can’t sleep, at least everybody else will be awake as well” he said with a rueful look.

“Everyone else…Samuel we’re on a farm! They’ll all be getting up to do the morning stuff- the milking and sowing and harvesting!” James said in a panic.

They both stood up at the sudden realisation, and were about to make for the dim outline of the door when the sound of footsteps caused them to freeze in their tracks. James thought about diving into his pile of hay but Samuel quickly shook his head.

A boy appeared in the doorway, his olive skin and short dark hair barely visible in the low light of pre-dawn. He wore a garment of white cloth that covered his body like a toga. James didn’t think he could have been much older than himself, but the corded muscles of his arms and his lean legs marked him as someone who worked with the land. He took in the strange sight before him and cocked his head sideways.

“Who are you?” he asked carefully, in a heavy accent that James placed somewhere in Europe.

The two boys paused, looking at each other, and James raised his eyebrows at Samuel.

“Seeing as you know my full name now, you may as well lead the introductions”.

Copyright 2024 © Joe O’Connor

Author’s Note: this is a novel I’ve been slowly writing since 2019. Most of it is still in my head, lots of it has been written, and some of it I’m going to publish here, chapter by chapter. If you have got this far and read through, feel free to let me know what you thought- I’m after honest, constructive feedback as it’s very much a work in progress, so no need to sugarcoat it😊