Chapter Eight, That's Heaven
Kaitlyn had greatly enjoyed the long train ride towards Sunset Peak in the morning, when the air had been fresh and rushing briskly against the open window and Kaitlyn's face, the sun newly risen in the sky. She had been roused from her sleep just before daybreak by her father, as had been the plan, dressed, ate a hasty breakfast and departed towards the train station upon Clive's aging mare, seated in front of Catherine so that she would not fall off. Clive had been walking beside them, faithfully holding onto the reins.
They didn't have to take much with them for two reasons. Everything they would need would already be there at the Heaven, ready for usage, and they did not have much to take with them anyway. Depressing, but hopefully not for long. Kaitlyn could understand Clive's opinion of the horse now, she was slow and plodding and broken, with a deep curve in her spine where the rider was meant to be.It reminded her of an old lady and she had felt bad for so carelessly sitting on her back.
Clive was slightly worried that the mare would not last as long as he needed her to. She was not a sickly animal, but was very worn by age and unreliable to their needs. To compensate, they had left earlier in case they were forced to walk to the station, mindful of some sort of injury on the horse's part. Clive knew it would be better to be safe than sorry, especially if his new job was on the line. They should get there in time for their train. Clive was sure of it.
Fortune was with them and the animal held up for the entire journey to Westwood Station, where Clive respectfully gave her an apple and sent her on her way. Kaitlyn waved goodbye as the horse lumbered away, but was quickly ushered into the underground station by both of her rushing parents. There was a building beneath the green Westwood soil, she found it funny that it was so contrary to current reality. She had been in train stations before, but nothing like this. Provided, this wasn't the first time she had been in this building, they had come from Humphrey's Peak using this rail line, but she had been sound asleep then, having fallen into a slumber on the train.
This time she was awake and it was simply a novel experience. The train ride was fun, Kaitlyn deciding that when she got older she would have to make a great many more of these trips in the future. It was like the world was running away from her, from all her family, taking all the bad things along with it. It seemed true when she looked at her parents, there was nothing bad living within their minds at the moment, even daddy's Bad Thing seemed to have been swept away by the blessed pulling of the train. Kaitlyn liked this part most of all.
First there was darkness in the tunnel, dotted with sparse sparkling lights, paraffin lanterns hooked onto the walls. They were like lasers flashing past, protected from the wind in the tunnel by their glassy containers. Far stronger than this, a much brighter light engulfed the carriage and they were outdoors again, the sun momentarily blinding them for a second. There were paddocks and fields, some empty and already grazed for their sweet grass, others housing horses and cattle and other beasts of burden. There was to be another tunnel coming up soon that would take them deep under the ocean of sand towards the next continent, but Kaitlyn just wanted to look at the farm animals until then.
"Cathy, what is the difference between a lifesaver and your father?" Clive asked, smiling as he looked out of the window with Kaitlyn in his lap. He found himself thinking of the strangest things as he watched the farmlands go by, most of them fond memories of his own distant childhood on the farm, where his parents had worked tirelessly to send him through the trials of school. Things had been harder back then, but at the same time, so much easier.
"I don't know, they are both brightly colored?" She guessed.
"No."
"They both float on water?"
"Uh-uh."
"They are both big and round?"
"Hah, good point, but no."
"They both have a hole in the middle?" Kaitlyn innocently piped in, coming out of her quiet little shell for a few seconds.
Clive tried hard not to laugh and succeeded in shaking his head. "No, no. Incorrect. Do you know what the difference is?"
"I suppose not, Honey." Catherine smiled, "What is it?"
"No difference." Clive answered at last, and started to laugh. There was a considerable degree of relief in his laughter. Catherine paused for a second to get the joke and then faithfully joined in with him. So he was still thinking about that as well, but at least he had found the frame of mind to joke about it. That seemed like progress to Catherine, good progress.
The second tunnel grabbed them after a time and they were once more plunged into darkness. Clive started to make ghost noises in order to make Kaitlyn feel better, until the little girl began to lightly job him in the ribs with her small elbow, prompting him to finally quit it. Only babies were scared of the dark, and Kaitlyn knew that this darkness was harmless; she had been through much, much worse. But that was so far away at the moment, so she ignored the thought for now. As long as she was here, in her daddy's lap, nothing would ever be able to hurt her.
The ride took longer than what Kaitlyn would have guessed and by the time they had reached the warming platform of Sunset Peak station, the respectable sun was now reaching the pinnacle of its ascent in the sky. Clive checked it and took note. Good, they were running a little early. Time would favor them should something choose to go wrong. Catherine and Clive gave Kaitlyn their used-up tickets, for the girl had expressed a desire to start a collection of the things. One of the Duke's servants would be waiting outside the station with some horses for them to use, as per the plan. Pertaining to their earliness, Clive wondered if the servant had gotten there yet.
He was not disappointed. A young green-haired teen was loitering by the ticket booth, two strong horses tethered calmly to one of the fence posts. One was a pretty whitish-grey with small dapples, the other was a dark black one with a glossy shine. They were most likely the most expensive animals Clive had ever seen. Walking up to the lad, Clive affably nodded his head in greeting. "Sorry we are late." He said, wanting to see the youth's reaction.
The boy's head snapped up, he had been previously wandering off in his own little world. Rubbing a smudge of dirt from his cheek, he straightened up like a soldier addressing their captain. "Oh no, sir! We just got here ourselves, if anything you are early!"
"I know." Clive said benevolently, "I was only testing you. You are an emissary from the Duke Begucci?"
"Yes sir. My name is Pike, I'm the ostler for the Gunner's Heaven." He relaxed somewhat, now aware that formality was not needed. He seemed to be simply a county boy at heart, with a job that far exceeded his breeding, at least from an upper-class point of view. But that view was not Clive's, so he was not aggravated in the least when the boy let out a soft sigh of relief. "These are the last two stallions left here, the rest have been shipped to Claiborne for the winter. I'm shipping myself there too, once you take these ones out of my hands. The stable boy will walk them back here after you're done with them. The white one there, his name is Music, and the black one's name is Crochet. They're pretty meek, but they can have their wild moments. You know about horses?"
Clive shrugged. "What adult doesn't?"
He didn't mean his reply to be offensive, but Pike took it as a blow against his profession. His tone became rather dry. "The Duke wants to personally show your family around his Heaven, he's quite proud of it. I'm just glad I'm going home." He gave both the reins to Clive, then purchased a ticket and ascended the staircase to wait for the next train. One of the horses shook his head at the tautness of the reins, snorting.
Kaitlyn wanted to ride on the pretty white horse, so Clive helped her get onto the back of the animal and then saddled up behind her. The white horse whinnied when he felt the extra weight. "I'm listening to Music!" Kaitlyn exclaimed, giggling. Clive also smiled at her remark, always pleased when his daughter showed such wit. Gently, he dug his heels into the sides of the beast and Music trotted forward, instinctively waiting for its companion animal to join them. They must have both been carriage horses together in the service of the Duke, for both of them appeared to be unable to move forward without the other at its side. That worked fine for Clive and Catherine, just fine and dandy to them both.
Though the horses looked and felt proud, they were also quite functional and obeyed their commands without fault. They headed in the direction of the Gunner's Heaven, the place where adventurers and warriors would gather to test their strength. A beaten path wound up and through the small cliffs that edged the area of Sunset Peak, hardly dangerous, but still annoying.
Clive pondered, as he had the day before when he embarked on his job interview, about the number of people that had trodden this path only to be beaten down in the arena, into the smears of blood and snot and saliva that had coated the ring. And the nobles would have cheered, and the life was spared to be removed from the spotlight and sent limping home with whatever parts of themselves they had left. This was not a road to purification and honor, as many had said, but a road from perdition and disgrace. Yet he could agree with the next thought he had had. Whatever pleased mankind was to be shown to all, regardless of morals and ethics, and some people, himself included, partook in the feast. The pang of desire burnt in his chest for a few seconds, for a simple tiny sip of drink, but he bravely forced it away. Not now. Not ever.
"Look, there it is." He said instead.
It appeared at the edge of the rising horizon, like a small shapeless grey blob amongst other blobs, slowly gaining distinction as the trio grew near. Clive had seen the sight before but Catherine had not, and she let out a little something that was like an exclamation of surprise. "Oh, Clive!" She said, amazed and drawing both of her hands near her face, "That big castle⦠Is that the place we will be staying at?"
Clive smiled and looked knowingly at Catherine, pleased by her response to their new temporary home. Subconsciously he licked his lips. "Yes Catherine, that's Heaven. It is quite a sight, is it not?"
Gunner's Heaven was, in more technical terms, more of a keep than a castle. High granite walls surrounded a reinforced stone body, like rocky skin upon a great ancient beast. Its navel was a huge oaken door, crisscrossed by particularly attractive iron grapevine hinges and knocker, far too big for a mere human to operate by themselves. Small windows higher up in the keep's walls were sometimes accompanied by balconies looking out across the lands beyond, and all in all, the building must have been large enough to comfortably house a thousand lively men. Like a dragon within a great slumber upon a desolate wasteland.
This was what Kaitlyn saw. To the others, it appeared as a shining beacon of hope, the hope to start things anew. Kaitlyn looked down at the borrowed horse's stronger flank. The animal was unfamiliar and somewhat haughty of its position, this made Kaitlyn idly wish that she were back with that old straggly mare once again. She recognized the Heaven, it was the place within her dreams, or her nightmares. And Jet wasn't here this time to make the nightmares go away. She had to rely on her father now, more than anything else.
And there was still the question of the Thing within that place, Kaitlyn certainly didn't want to run into it in the future. But Daddy said it was safe, then shouldn't she believe him? It was merely a reiteration of her thoughts the night before, but they still rung as clear and as true as they had done so previously.
Despite this, like the bite of a mosquito long thought to be swatted, the sharp sting of dread pierced the back of her neck in the form of an inner shriek of memories, the voice of the Thing, the hundred screaming voices, and the murmur of the Heaven itself.
