Beyond (Book Two of The Whispered Tales)

Chapter 5

When they had finally arrived, their fear scattered like dandelion seeds blown away by a child's blow. They've entered a spacious room, the guest room most likely. A warm, honey-like light was flooding the entire room and plants of all sorts, with delicate and aromatic flowers, were rising from jardinières on the marble columns of the room, all the way up to the high ceiling. A springy fire was burning in the marble fireplace which was decorated with small branches and rosebuds, sparkling in the light of the chandelier that dangled majestically above a round oak table. The carpets, with long gone patterns, were soft and beguiling and could have been easily used as dreamy beds. A couch, just as soft and made of dozens of colorful patches was waiting for them with open arms. Next to it, out of the light, a cabinet served as host to an old timepiece with golden hands and a huge vase holding every field flower one could imagine. The ticking of the timepiece was joined by the ringing of the kettle that was hanging in the sizzling fireplace. Multicolored pillows of all shapes were scattered around as if they were waiting for a bunch of gleeful kids to either hit the hay or have an all-around pillow fight. And above all these reigned silently, like a wise and patience parent, a bookcase with shelves going all the way up to the ceiling. It was at this precise moment when Victoria noticed that the room had no windows, the bookcase entirely covering up the walls. And the ceiling was completely covered in the most beautiful paintings she had ever seen. Gray, fluffy clouds stretching above a big blue sea, surrounded by rocks and far away in the back, a fisherman's hut. On the pearly beach, a boy and a girl were picking up seashells, while a fisherman was casting his nets somewhere on the shore, smothering them with his warm gaze.

Victoria and Paul couldn't get a word out for minutes. The scenery stretching before their eyes was so different from the wilderness outside. Meanwhile, the woman was taking out cups and teaspoons, jars of jam and honey, cookies and a weird-looking sugar bowl that she frantically arranged on the round table. Even she looked different from the woman who answered the door. Her bonnet was gone, revealing her completely snowy hair, with soft curls coming down her shoulders. She looked more like a granny, keeping herself busy, happy to have her grandchildren over.

'Sit down, children,' she said, pointing at the chairs with colorful pillows. An old tomcat with white-gingery fur slept on one of them, but the old woman swiftly sent it off. With its head in a whirl, the cat jumped off and as soon as it realized they had company, he started sniffing them, as thoroughly as a watchdog. The guests then noticed other cats, hidden in almost each corner of the room.

The old lady poured them each a steaming cup of tea. It smelled like vanilla, forest fruits, and field flowers. The two looked at each other, not knowing if they should dare drink or not. What if the old woman had enchanted it without them knowing while they were in awe of that strangely charming place? Nonetheless, Victoria took the first sip and gave Paul an encouraging look to do the same. The tea was sweet and sour and so flavorful that she could easily have had ten more cups. The old woman sat next to her and poured herself a cup from the same kettle.

'What brings you here?' she asked looking at them with her eerie blue eyes.

"You said you were expecting us, so you must know why we're here,' answered the girl, trying to look bold.

The woman blinked her watery eyes and smiled rather sadly:

'It's true... You're probably wondering what an old woman like me, who the entire village thinks is crazy, might know. But I know you've seen a world unknown to anyone else and you're probably wondering if that world is real or not,' she told Victoria. 'Fret no more, my dear. What you saw really does exist.'

'But how?...'

'There are many things in this world we are too feeble to understand. Trust me, I know what I'm talking about... Because I too have gone through what you're dealing with now... And, like you, a long, long time ago, I also felt the calling towards a world unknown to me. And I wanted to know it better, to embark the adventure of a lifetime. I had no way of knowing I would never go back to my world...'