Chichester Greenway Read online

CHICHESTER GREENWAY

  by Alton Saunders

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  Cover by Robert Saunders:

  veryrobert.com

  This book is available in various formats

  Text copyright Alton Saunders 2011

  Cover illustration copyright Robert Saunders 2011

  The right of Alton Saunders to be identified as the author and Robert Saunders as the cover illustrator of this work has been asserted by them in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. All rights reserved.

  All the characters in this book are fictitious, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

  vikapress.com

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  CONTENTS:

  01: A City of Silver and Gold

  02: Finding Frogs

  03: Let’s ask Vortinn

  04: Mrs Warbloff

  05: The Pattern

  06: Dark Clouds Gathering

  07: The Golden Palace

  08: The Chase

  09: An Earthquake?

  10: Or Giddiness?

  11: Trench Warfare

  12: Out into Space

  13: Land of the Waterfall

  14: Aliens

  15: A Dreamlike Sensation

  16: Ice, Sea and Libraries

  17: What is School For?

  18: Where is Vonn?

  19: Akkri Goes Shopping

  20: The School of Northern Light

  21: The Atoll

  22: Below the Waves and Far Above

  23: The Price of Pearls

  24: Tommy’s Story

  25: Vestre Lillesund

  26: St Paul’s Cathedral

  27: The Endlessness beyond Time

  28: Farewell

  Links: More Books by Alton Saunders

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  Chapter 1:

  A CITY OF SILVER AND GOLD

  The sky was by now the bright green of early afternoon. Vonn and Akkri were playing on the beach. The soft white sand glowed in the golden sunshine. Close by, a cluster of rock pools caught and reflected the sky like emerald mirrors.

  They often came here when the morning’s work was done. Although Vonn was nearly fourteen and Akkri just a few weeks younger than her, they still delighted in making sandcastles and barricades, diving down among the fish, and throwing food to make the seabirds swarm.

  They were busy digging a pool with their hands, while at the same time trying to keep the sand from sliding back and silting it up. Two small red sea frogs had hopped in and seemed quite unconcerned by their activity.

  “First call,” said Vonn. Akkri had felt it, too, the momentary awareness of contact. There was plenty of time, but nevertheless they should soon be on their way.

  “One more dive!” Vonn loved to plunge down among the shoals of silver fish, feeling their little bodies touching against hers. She strolled to the water’s edge, swung her arms back and flung herself out over the gentle waves, then deep down amongst the forest of seaweed, her eyes quickly adjusting to underwater focus. There were no shoals of silverinoes to be seen today, but a large orange-coloured fish with thick lips and placid bulging eyes came out from behind a rock to look at her. She swam gently towards it, hoping to touch it, but with a flick of its tail it disappeared into the seaweed fronds.

  “Time I went back!” Kicking strongly with her legs, she shot to the surface and up into the sunshine, where she flipped into a back somersault, landing on her side with a great splash and a gurgle of laughter. The water streamed off her tunic as she stood up, and it was already dry by the time she reached their pool. Akkri had made a channel down to the water’s edge so that the frogs could swim back to sea if they preferred that to hopping.

  “Shall we go now?” He got up off his knees, stretched, and they set off towards the sand dunes. The path was narrow between the tall, swaying grasses, so Vonn followed along behind, with one glance back at the shining sea. They could come back any time, whenever they wanted to.

  At the foot of the sandstone cliff they launched off together and were soon walking along the cliff path, then inland through spicy shrubs and the buzzing of bees, towards the gold and silver sparkle of the city.

  They had been work partners from the age of the first sorting, when their mutual curiosity about the why and when of things had become apparent. Their destination right now was Library Seven in the Halls of Knowledge, where a meeting was scheduled in the marble gallery.

  “Hello!” The little voice came from somewhere inside a tangled bush with silvery leaves and purple starry flowers. Akkri squatted down and gently parted the twisted grey branches. As he had expected, a lannek was curled up underneath, a dark brown, furry creature, its long tail neatly coiled. It looked at him sleepily with its big blue eyes.

  It was one of several lesser species with what was usually described as limited self-awareness. It had a flexible mouth and tongue and could easily imitate human speech, though to what extent it understood what it was saying was never completely clear. Usually the words made sense in their context but were not particularly informative.

  “Lannek,” said the lannek.

  “Hello, lannek, what are you doing today?”

  “Warm,” said the lannek, and closed its eyes. They could be stubborn little creatures and Akkri knew that however hard he tried he would probably not be able to coax it to say any more. Vonn grinned, and they walked on, hand in hand, towards the city.

  A broad curve of the river skirted the bluff on which the city was built, and a wide wooden bridge reached out across it. The balustrades were decorated with brightly painted carvings in a variety of styles, many of them produced by children making their first attempts with woodworkers’ tools and paintbrush.

  “My cousin Sokat made that one,” said Vonn, pointing to a multi-coloured tree with fish sprouting from the branches instead of leaves.

  “Clever Sokat! He’s only eleven, isn’t he?”

  “Yes, eleven three weeks ago.”

  They stopped for a moment to look at the rapids south of the bridge. High up as they were, they could hear the distant thundering of the waters. “Second call,” said Akkri. There was no urgency in it. They could get there very quickly if necessary. Even if the meeting had already started, any late arrivals would be greeted with a welcoming smile.

  The various buildings in the City of Silver and Gold were surrounded by what was really a continuous park, with avenues and lawns and flowerbeds and canals. The sky was beginning to turn yellow as they reached the wide marble steps leading up to the library and it took a moment or two for their eyes to adjust to the gentler light inside the lofty entrance hall. Vonn always glanced up at one section of the murals that covered the walls, a panel depicting a village with white-painted wooden cottages and children carrying spades, and a flock of sheep. It reminded her of the village where her grandmother used to live. In the evening the wall lights would come on, but now the hall was lit from the great windows that looked out towards the mountains beyond.

  Akkri and Vonn walked up the marble staircase on the right-hand side of the entrance hall, then turned right at the top into the gallery from which you could look down on the hall below. A polished wooden table with thirteen chairs was set out with notepads and pencils and a small tray of refreshments at each place. A couple of boys were already sitting at the table, one of them folding a sheet from his notepad into a complicated star shape. A lady with grey hair was leaning on the balustrade, looking at the murals on the opposite wall.

  “Why, it’s Annilex!” Vonn exclaimed. She was delighted to see her old mentor. Annilex came over from the balustrade and opened her a
rms wide to give Vonn one of her big, enfolding hugs. The teacher-pupil relationship was often one of the most enduring in one’s life.

  “So you’re in this, too,” said Vonn. “What fun! Do you know what ‘this’ is, by the way?”

  “I’ve no more idea than you have, but I expect we’ll soon find out. I’ve a feeling it’s something big, though.”

  Several more people had come in while they were talking and there was a general move towards the table. Akkri had been standing back so as not to be in the way while Vonn and Annilex were greeting one another. He came forward now and gave Annilex’s hand a friendly squeeze. “Hello, Annilex. Nice to see you again.” Even now, when Akkri and Vonn had been working together for several years, their mentors still put in an occasional appearance for old times’ sake. Akkri had met Annilex on several occasions and Vonn was well acquainted with Akkri’s mentor, Ferdil, too.

  He sat down and glanced around the table. Mostly children, two older men, perhaps in their forties, and Annilex, who was sixty four last birthday. One or two places were still empty and a pale-faced girl, about twelve years old he reckoned, was standing back from the table with a thoughtful look on her face.

  “I think I’ll take the meeting today, unless anyone else feels it should be them,” she said in her clear young voice, and there was a quiet murmur of approval from everyone present. She sat down, not at the head of the table, but next to Akkri, and the remaining three places were quickly filled: by a woman of about thirty in a green robe, and a couple of boys who looked as if they might be cousins or non-identical twins, one of whom sat down in the last empty chair at the head of the table.

  “I’m called Viney,” said the girl. “I know one or two of you by sight, but I’ve never worked with any of you. Let’s all say who we are and what we do, shall we?” One by one they each introduced themselves. Akkri noticed that there was a general interest in the gathering and classifying of knowledge. He felt at home with this newly-formed group already.

  “Let’s see if we can find out the purpose of this group of ours.” Although she was only just twelve, Viney seemed to be a natural leader, and everyone was content for her to shape the meeting any way that seemed appropriate to her.

  They sat back and relaxed in the comfortably padded chairs, and gradually thoughts and feelings and images began to take shape in their minds.

  “I don’t think it’s here on Vika,” said Annilex after a while.

  “What do others think about that?” asked Viney.

  “No, somewhere far off and very different. Not altogether a comfortable place, I think,” said the cousin called Yask, from the head of the table. They were cousins, not twins, and were thirteen years of age like Akkri and Vonn. The other cousin was called Sumar.

  “Maybe we could all see something together,” Vonn suggested.

  They pushed their chairs back and stood up. For a while nothing happened, then the polished surface of the table began to take on a milky, translucent appearance. Suddenly it cleared and they were gazing at a ring of planets poised around a central sun. One of the planets, a gleaming sphere of blue and white, became the focus of their attention. It seemed to rush towards them, nearly filling the field of view.

  It was tiring work, even with several experts in the field, and by mutual consent they allowed the vision to fade.

  “I wonder where that is?” said Sumar.

  “A long, long way from here, I’d say,” said Annilex.

  “I think we’re all getting rather tired,” said Viney. “How about meeting at the same time tomorrow and perhaps we’ll find we’ve developed a clearer idea of what this is all about.”

  Vonn and Akkri walked down the marble stairs together. The light from the great windows had taken on an orange tone. Evening was approaching. Their meeting had taken much longer than it had seemed at the time and, as usual, far more had been going on than any of them had consciously been aware of.

  “Do you want to go home yet?” Vonn asked.

  “I’m in no hurry. How about having something to eat and then we could go back to the cliff top. I always like the way the sun and the sky are reflected in the water just before the sun goes down.”

  “Fine by me. Let’s go to the restaurant by the main canal.”

  They walked on through the park, where people were making their way towards one or other of the graceful buildings, while others were strolling by the flowerbeds, enjoying the varied scents of the evening. Lights were beginning to come on as they reached the restaurant and sat down at an outdoor table overlooking the canal. A bunch of children in canoes were splashing one another with their paddles and a gallin was sitting on the bank, barking at them.

  “What would you like?” A boy of about their own age had appeared at the table.

  “I’d like a cold meal, something with fish in it,” said Akkri.

  “Same for me,” said Vonn. “You choose. I like a surprise.”

  “Coming soon then,” said the boy, with a friendly smile.

  They had some work to discuss while their meal was being prepared. Vonn had been studying records of the early days of their city. She wanted to find out why it had been constructed and the process by which such a large undertaking had been agreed. She loved the city and was eager to find out more about it. Since this was a direction of research which Vonn had initiated, Akkri’s role at present was to be her research assistant. These roles had been reversed several times during their time together as work partners.

  Akkri was always pleased when he was able to present Vonn with some extra, unexpected glimpse of the past, something that might give them a new perspective on the knowledge and understanding they had already acquired. They were clear that their work was primarily for their own enjoyment and fulfilment, but it was always fully accessible to anyone else who might be interested, and other avenues of research and discovery might well develop out of their findings.

  Their meal arrived: pickled silverinoes in a creamy sauce, crisp brown rolls and a bowl of salad. The boy had also brought a jug of the juice made from the yellow cloudberries that grew in the higher reaches of the forest.

  By the time they had finished their meal the sky was a deep red. The sun was still up and there was plenty of light for them to see their way back to the cliff top. Vonn waved to the boy as they got up from the table. “Thanks, that was lovely!” The boy looked pleased. It was one of several jobs he was doing at the moment. He liked food and he felt pleased when others liked it too.

  Akkri and Vonn walked back to the bridge and across the moorland to the cliff top. They sat down in the grass, which was leaning back from the cliff in the evening breeze. The sky was gradually turning from red to infra as the sun sank down into the sea. They gazed at it in silence, waiting for the moment when the last gleam of sunshine would disappear below the horizon.

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