Chapter 5.
It was bedtime and nothing out of the ordinary had happened. Murphy was contentedly brushing his teeth and heading in the direction of his room and his bed. Tired as he was, he had enjoyed his day really – especially having one of his favourite lessons – History with Mr Devine. He had had a lovely tea with his dad and Darla – sausages and mash – and had spent the evening watching the TV: a lazy indulgence which his dad didn’t always allow him to be honest.
He made his way along the corridor and for some reason instead of heading straight for his room, something made him turn towards the staircase and that mirror. It seemed that, despite his experiment he still had not lost his fascination with it. Or his confusion and disbelief at what he saw in it. He approached the mirror carefully and quietly, almost afraid that he might scare something/someone away if he made too much of a noise. He peered into the mirror cautiously: nothing. He sighed and smiled to himself ruefully. Why could he not just give up on this? It was so silly.
He turned and headed for his bedroom and began the process of clearing a path to his bed: clothes, school stuff and other assorted paraphernalia were blocking his way at the moment. He fought his way over there: why did he never think of how tired he would be at bedtime when he just dumped his stuff all over after school? Maybe because he was so tired at that point too. He had just about managed to clear a path when something caught his eye: a movement, or what seemed like a flash of light. He whipped round to see where it had come from and before he could do anything about it he found himself being dragged and drawn in the most peculiar way, against his own will. His feet weren’t moving at all and in fact his whole body was pretty much frozen in shock. He was being dragged towards a light in the corner of his room – he couldn’t explain it at all. He tried to cry out but found that his mouth wouldn’t co-operate with him. Nothing came out at all. Then he realised where he was being drawn towards. The mirror in the corner of his room.
No sooner had that thought crossed his mind than he was tipped unceremoniously into the mirrors surface. He braced himself as he approached the hard surface but there was no need to: he fell right through it as though it were liquid. He felt like he was falling for the longest time. Lights swirled around him and he felt dizzy and disorientated. He still found he was unable to make a sound as he fell, and there was nothing he could grab onto to stop himself. Wherever he was heading for, he would land there with a bump – that was for sure. The speed he was travelling was a real worry, and he seemed to be speeding up as he went along. The falling sensation ended as abruptly as it started. He suddenly found himself standing quite unharmed in the middle of a dusty country road. It was daytime wherever he was (which he vaguely registered in his brain as not being quite right) and he was surrounded by thatched cottages and fields. He had absolutely no idea of where he was at that moment and no concept of how he’d gotten there. One minute he was fighting his way towards his bed past his clothes and other bits and pieces: the next he was in what appeared to be at least a different county, if not another country altogether. He looked around him cautiously, his head still spinning from the journey here. As his eyes began to focus he could see more of what surrounded him, and more of the people milling around, seemingly going about their daily business. Seemingly totally uninterested in the young boy who had just appeared within their midst.
He rotated slowly on the spot to get a better view and jumped in shock. He came face to face once again with Jake, smiling as ever. He tried to form some words, ask some questions, but his mouth still wouldn’t co-operate with him at all. It was like it had shut down altogether.
“Hi Murphy. Long time no see,” Jake was holding out a hand to him, smiling nervously at the sight of him so stunned and confused, “Did you get here OK? You’re not hurt are you?”
Murphy quickly checked himself over: no visible damage and he felt OK. Well, despite the overwhelming sense of confusion and bewilderment. If you put that to one side though, he was definitely OK. Murphy blinked at Jake stupidly: he was still waiting for an answer.
“Yeah,” Murphy had to clear his throat, but finally his voice was working. “I’m OK, I think. What just happened? Where am I?” Murphy felt like his head might explode with all of the questions swimming in it. What had just happened to him and how did he end up here?
“You look totally shocked – let’s go and sit down and get you a drink. We can talk about it all then. You have a lot to catch up on, and lots of new things to learn.” With that, Jake led Murphy off down the dusty road towards the cottage on the corner of the street. It was a lovely place with roses around the door, a lovely little garden, and he could see when he peeked in the windows that it had all of the usual furniture, ornaments and other nice things you would expect to see in a cottage like that. That was at least a relief to him – he didn’t know where he was or how he’d quite gotten there (he was already talking himself out of the notion that he’d travelled through the mirror in his bedroom) but at least where he was being taken to seemed normal and friendly.
Jake knocked on the door and waited, and gradually the sounds of someone pottering around inside became louder and louder as they approached the doorway where they were. The door opened very very slowly, and it looked to Murphy as though it had opened on it’s own. He found himself backing away slightly, but at the same time he couldn’t peel his eyes away from the door itself. Who or what had opened it? Why couldn’t he see them? Murphy’s head started to spin wildly once more.
*
The next thing he was aware of was the feel of a nice comfortable pillow under his head, and of whispered talk going on in the room around him. Murphy felt relief whoosh through him: he had been dreaming, that was all. He must be in his bed now with his dad and Darla making sure he was ok. He opened his eyes, ready to tell his dad all about his crazy dream - only to find himself face to face with it once more. Jake was standing off to the left of him talking in whispers to a man he couldn’t quite see. He was guessing he must be the man who had opened the door to them. It was all coming back to him now – the journey through the mirror, the strange place he found himself in somehow in the middle of the day when it had been night time. Jake being here – missing Jake. The Jake he had seen in his bedroom mirror. It was all completely NUTS! He struggled to keep himself calm – he had obviously fainted away outside – there was no point in him fainting again. He took some deep breaths and tried very slowly to piece it all together in his mind. He’d been at home about to get into bed. He’d found himself somehow pulled towards his mirror in his room until he fell right through it as though it was liquid, not solid. He’d fallen down what felt like a long chute which was full of swirling lights and shapes and had made him feel exceptionally dizzy. He had then landed in the middle of a dusty country lane, in the middle of the day, surrounded by people (exceptionally small people now he came to think of it) and cottages he had never seen before. When he’d turned around, Jake had been standing there – smiling as per usual. They had then headed to this cottage he was in now, knocked on the door and Murphy had fainted at the idea of what or who was inside. That was about the size of it so far. Another deep breath had to be taken, and let out in a huge sigh. Murphy was struggling to remember a time when he hadn’t been totally baffled and confused. Really struggling.
At the sound of his sigh no doubt, Jake and his companion turned to him, all smiles and happy to see him awake. Murphy tried to force a small smile in return but found that nothing would come. That vaguely paralyzed feeling had stolen over him once more.
“Hi Murphy, how you feeling? Any better?” Jake was sitting next to him now, smoothing down the little blanket Murphy realised had been put over him. The other person seemed to be keeping out of the way for fear of scaring Murphy once again. “You really fell with a bang just then – you’re not hurt anywhere are you?”
Murphy ran a mental checklist up and down himself – all seemed to be in order. “No. I’m not hurt. Just really really confused. I don’t know where I am, or how I got here, or what’s going on,” Murphy seemed (finally) to have found his voice. “I just seemed to land here after some really bizarre stunt with my mirror and nobody has told me why or even asked my permission actually,” Murphy was now getting to be quite cross, “And I demand an explanation. Right now. And if I don’t get one then I’ll be leaving straight away. I didn’t sign up for this at all, whatever this is, and I’m not going to let myself be kidnapped or whatever just for someone else’s entertainment.” Murphy had sat up by this time, and had his arms folded across his chest and an extremely indignant look on his face. There was an edge of fear to him which hadn’t quite been there before. It had settled on his chest at exactly the same moment as he’d said the word kidnapped. He silently hoped and prayed that this wasn’t what was happening to him. It certainly would explain why the local missing boy was here with his parents and half of Whitleby frantically looking for him.
“Ok, Murphy, ok. You deserve and explanation and you will get one I promise. This will all make sense to you, I hope once you’ve heard it. Just stay calm and try not to get upset. We are not going to hurt you.” Jake looked really concerned about Murphy as he sat carefully next to him on the sofa. He hadn’t expected Murphy to faint, or for him to come round feeling so upset and fed up about the whole thing. He was quite shocked really at Murphy’s reaction. He just hadn’t thought of the situation being interpreted like that. “I’m going to let my friend Jacobi here,” Jake was indicating the little guy who’d obviously let them in with his arm, “he’s going to fill you in on all of this, as he knows much more than I do. Jacobi?” Jake handed over to his friend who smiled winningly at Murphy, his thumbs tucked into the braces holding up his worn old trousers. He strode forwards self importantly, turning out his black booted feet as he went, only stopping when he was directly in front of Murphy. At which point he rocked on his heels a moment and seemed to settle himself in, ready to begin what Murphy feared may be a long explanation.
“Murphy my boy – very good to meet you. My name is Jacobi, as Jake here told you already, and I am an elder of the townspeople here. It is part of my job to welcome new arrivals and to make introductions and explain circumstances as and when necessary.” He rocked a little once more, running his thumbs up and down his bright red braces in a satisfied manner. “Now, you are wondering about lots of things right now – how you got here, where here is, when you will be going back home, and why you have been sent here not someone else. I will aim to answer all of these questions in a logical and straightforward manner. I would like to point out to you that you will be returning home: we definitely haven’t kidnapped you. Ok?” Jacobi looked over at Murphy for confirmation of his understanding and he nodded back, feeling exceptionally relieved.
“Very good, then, very good. I will begin my story at the beginning – or at the very least very near to it. Try to keep up my boy – you will be learning a lot today about things which most people know nothing about. You are privileged, but with that privilege comes a great responsibility. I hope you are up to facing that responsibility.” At that, he took a very deep breath, looking around the room. His eyes focussed on a chair on the opposite wall. He held up his hand, palm open, fingers outstretched. He didn’t even have to utter a word and suddenly the chair moved over to him and settled itself at his feet. He dusted off the top of the seat, sat himself down and Jacobi began his tale.
*
Way, way back in the history of the earth, in the forgotten times – the lost age – my people (the Montalians) lived alongside yours. We lived a simple and happy existence, with each providing for the other. What one race could not do, the other did for them and vice versa. We did a lot for your kind, but they were grateful and gracious in their acceptance of our help.
Naturally, they were the race in charge of the earth – they are it’s custodians after all. It is their given right and responsibility – we have others. So we submitted to their rule, their regulations and in return received their shelter, company and friendship. Life was good for both races, and the earth’s population was a contented one. Unfortunately, this happiness wasn’t able to last.
As I said, we used our skills, and your people used theirs to work together for the greater good. But then your people changed. It’s hard to describe really; some of them became more ambitious than ever before and therefore saw some of our skills as a potential threat, which they never had done previously. They started to spread suspicion among the others and soon the two races began to drift apart from one another, with settlements of houses becoming distinctly separate. My people returned to the mountains which were originally their homes (hence our name) and yours continued to make your villages, towns and cities in the lower plains of the land. It was a fairly slow and gradual process, but in comparison to how long the two races had lived side by side in harmony it seemed to happen in the blink of an eye.
Now, my people certainly weren’t all blameless in what followed. Some were, but others….. well, I’ll let you hear the whole story and you can make your mind up yourself. In response to these people spreading sometimes terrible rumours about us there were those among the montalians who wanted to teach the human race a lesson. They wanted to show people what we were capable of and to make them submit to our rule and law. This was a huge mistake and a grave error. That was never the way this was meant to be. We all took a sacred oath back when we were introduced to one another that the human race were in charge of and responsible for ruling and using the earth in the most responsible way possible. The montalian race were the cinquicians. Their role was a different one. They were to use their skills and powers to assist the human race in their achievements and their control of the earth’s resources, but they were never to rule. It was feared that if the montalians ever did rule the earth then their powers would make them eventually into tyrants who ruled through fear. It was thought that would be a natural reaction from the humans to a race with so much more power than their own. And obviously, the montalians didn’t want to have another race of people in fear of them, so they happily submitted to the idea of being second in command rather than the leaders of the earth.
This was the way the word worked in what we call the forgotten times – the lost age. We all lived in harmony. All of that changed. Some of the montalians decided that, in response to the growing suspicion amongst the humans, they would do better to rule over them. Some of the most high powered and important families among our kind became involved in the rebellion to overthrow and ultimately enslave humanity. It was and is an intensely embarrassing period of the montalians history. About which most of my race are very much ashamed. Some of the things which were done to your people at the hands of my kind were utterly appalling and inexcusable. It also became apparent that the montalians involved had been thinking of this course of action for a long time. Way before humanity started to become more ambitious for themselves and more and more suspicious of us and our powers. There was a certain (high powered) faction of the cinquicians who had longed for and indeed plotted for power over the humans for generations. It was only this dark time which brought all of this out into the open once and for all.
The other, law abiding and oath sworn montalians rallied round the humans and protected them as best they could, but inevitably they couldn’t save them all. They set up protection for them and hunted down and captured those responsible. It took many many months of terror and some of the most catastrophic acts we montalians have ever known took place at this time. But eventually all were captured or forced into hiding and retreat. Some of those remain there to this day – hiding from the law and from the truth. Protected by their families from the punishments they so rightly deserve.
At this point Jacobi hung his head in shame and shook it very slowly. He seemed lost in his own thoughts. Murphy was struggling to keep up with what he was hearing. He had thought he knew a lot about history. It was one of his favourite subjects after all. But all of what he had just heard was entirely new to him. The lost times and a whole new race living with humans on planet earth: he had no idea how that could be possible without there being any real record of it. It all seemed crazy.
He looked around at the only other face in the room who had been privy to this lesson in apparently forgotten history: Jake. He was looking sad and troubled too, much like Jacobi. There was no hint on his face of disbelief or of amusement. No shock, no humour in his eyes. It began to dawn on Murphy that this version of history may well be true after all. That what he had heard may well go some way towards explaining how and why he was here in this strange place. He looked to Jacobi and met his eye. He nodded: that was the cue for Jacobi to continue the story. The room was darkening as he continued, and with a click of his fingers the lamps in the room were lit, surrounding and suffusing them with a soft glow. With a deep breath he continued on.
So, it was a pretty dire time for all of us here on Earth. The two races were almost entirely in opposition, and the sheer amount of suspicion between us was overwhelming. The human race had lost almost all of their trust in us, and communities began to segregate. Montalians tended to reconstruct their houses together in districts, withdrawn from the communities of humans and living close by but with very little if any interaction between the two. Only the minimum of contact was preserved. The humans on the whole couldn’t forgive the Montalians for the way they had tortured and abused them during this reign of terror, and the Montalians who were left were the ones who hadn’t actually participated in any of the atrocities anyway. It made for an uneasy truce between the two races, which would only have needed the tiniest spark of a conflict to ignite it once more.
The Council of the Cinquicians was called and it was agreed amongst them all that the two races could no longer live harmoniously side by side. The Montalian race had lost touch with the human race and could not expect to live in the same way they had once enjoyed. None of the Montalians wanted to leave the Earth however, as they still felt it was their sacred, oath sworn duty to continue to assist the humans in protecting the planet and preserving it as best they could for future generations. They didn’t want to simply leave and abandon that duty. They decided then to go into hiding. It wasn’t that difficult – most of them were living on the edges of human towns or up near the mountains anyway, so we just had to devise a fool proof way of making ourselves invisible and undetectable.
This required some powerful magic and it took the entire council’s strength to pull it off. They all had to join together in the same recitation to cloak their existence from the humans. It took a lot of consultation between the members of the council to come up with a strategy that worked, but we have lived for hundreds of years since then in almost total separation from the human race, but still able to fulfil out role in maintaining the earth. So, the magic was devised, our way of life retreated from human view, and the humans astonishingly promptly forgot all about us. We are not mentioned in your history books, no one ever disturbs our quiet but purposeful way of life, and the world continues to turn and evolve as it was meant to.
Our version of the world operates in contrast to your own: when you sleep we wake. We are charge with the task of cleaning up what we can of your messes and mistakes which would cost the earth dearly. We also protect the human race from those who might still wish to do you harm. Remember, there were families who were forced into hiding who had taken part in or supported our uprising. It cannot be forgotten that they may wish to return to their task once more and try to rule the earth as they feel they should.
Very few people know of our existence. You are one of a very privileged few who gets to see our world and be a part of it. Although I’m not sure that will seem such a privilege to you right now. Jacobi chuckled to himself at his own joke. Despite himself, Murphy found himself smiling. Somehow being privileged to see all of this did make him feel a little better. Jacobi seemed to have come to the end of his tale, or at least for now. Murphy glanced at Jake, who smiled encouragingly at him. He sensed a change of purpose in the air: they had finished telling him about things. They now wanted to show him, to get him involved. And strangely enough Murphy felt OK about that prospect. He nodded at Jake and they all got up from their seats and headed towards the door and for Murphy at least, towards the next stage of this adventure.
*
