Chapter 2
The Tying of Hands
Jack had barely settled into his new abode and he was already feeling more at ease then he'd had in the past few months. What should I expect? I've got a roof over my head and nothing out there can force me out! He really should have been feeling more tired considering he'd been up for a few days, but maybe the exhilarating feeling of what he had accomplished gave him this boost in energy. Either way, it didn't stop the demanding sound of his stomach in its incessant need for food, so Jack had to go out and find some. Maybe the settlement near the frozen lakes would have something he could snatch up.
As he stepped through his castle doors, with pep in his step, he was still feeling that little tingle left over in his chest…. until he saw THAT, which sent his hollow stomach plummeting down to the soles of his feet. Someone had left a large bag sitting just his side of the stairs. Someone had been there while he was in his new home! Jack, himself, had barely gotten there, so how? The implications of what this bag could mean almost made him rush back inside and shut the door, but he could clearly see that no one was around now. Did they run away? Why had they left their bag here? What was in the bag? did he have to worry about them coming back? Jack made his way over to the item and, without touching it, gave it a good look over. A leather bag with a pull strap to shut it, pretty standard, A sleep roll with thick blankets, a must have out here for anybody, A tent, obviously. Finally gathering up the courage to open it and rifle through its contents, his eyes wide in mild shock and delight. aaaannnd enough canned and dried food to last a few weeks on the road! Whoever you are you just became my hero! He almost lugged the bag away just then when he noticed that it was missing tools that would have been included if someone had just run away. No hatchet or flint, no water skin or rope, as if it was not accidentally left behind in someone's hurry to flee back down the mountain. With that thought in mind, Jack looked towards the stairs again for signs of who had been there and saw the trail of footprints, two sets! Jack moved over to the stairs to find that it truly was just one. The person had seemed to be in a rush to get up to this point, but after passing the stairs they'd stopped and turned back around to head down the mountain. However, the placement of the tracks suggested they didn't run but walked. Strange. Jack knew he was going to have to keep an eye out for anyone coming back in the future, but for now, they wouldn't be using anything in their bag.
Jack had to drag the bag into the castle, having lost a lot of his body strength and the bag being full of metal and other essential materials. Once inside he didn't even bother to make a table to place the bag on, he was hungry now! Once the contents were spilled out on the floor he began with the pieces of jerky, it had been so long since he had tasted something so salty, salty but good. He let the first bite sit in his mouth for his tongue to savor while he started separating and categorizing what was what. Cans in one corner, jerky in this corner, bread over there, and trail mix to the left of that. He was going to have to make a cupboard for this stuff somewhere, but that could wait. As he turned to the nonedible stuff in the bag, the sleep roll, the tent etc. he stopped dead. The bag itself had been tied closed and had a peculiar little item hanging from the top made up of round red and blue threading dowls tied together with knots of string. Jack placed the little item in his hand, and he felt all the joviality evaporate. Jack had made this for his dad when he was seven, his mom had brought home some paints for his birthday and had decided he was going to turn some leftover thread dowls into a charm. It was a simple string of wood pieces dipped in two of Nicholas's favorite colors and his father had given him the biggest hug for his hard work. The little gift had been put on his father's travel bag right away and every time Jack saw him go out with it, he'd always see the little gift he'd made…. This was his father's bag.
With this revelation, Jack rushed out the castle doors and down the mountain, following the snowy trail his father had left behind. If he was quick enough, he'd be able to catch up just before the bottom. How had he not recognized the bag sooner? He must have seen it at least a thousand times and known it meant his father was going hunting. Why hadn't he come in, or at least knocked? Jack was nearly to the edge of the snow when he spotted his father's receding figure and, that's when he skidded to an abrupt stop.
"Jack, what have you done!" His mother screamed in his head.
He couldn't, there was his dad, and he couldn't go up to him. Every muscle in his body had somehow become paralyzed, even his voice was caught in his throat. He wanted to go to him and jump into his arms so badly, but Jack was just standing there frozen by his own thoughts. The sight of Nicholas had brought back the memories of the pond and his sister's cold form trembling as he pulled her from the icy water, of his mother's frightened voice screaming at him, and his father's angry words and fury smoldering in his eyes.
"You're so desperate to be out in the world, then go on! Throw yourself to the wolves!"
"Do whatever you want but stay away from Sophie."
Jack had never forgotten what he had done. He was supposed to stay in the house, not use his magic and be ever calm so that he had them under control. It was such a simple request and he had failed to adhere. Because he had been selfish, his sister had gotten hurt. Was she alright, did he even have the right to know? Whatever his dad's reason for being up there, he didn't knock, he didn't call his name. He Hadn't wanted Jack to know he had been there. He clenched his fists to his chest as he remembered the ice coating the side of a house and the fear filled expressions of other people in the night air…. Snow doesn't hurt snow….
Nicholas kept walking, and Jack could only watch from where he stood.
Emily was asleep in bed when she heard her front door open and the familiar sound of her husband's footsteps filled the house, he was early. Even though it was the middle of the night she was tempted to rise and ask him if he wanted her to heat up a pot of water for coffee, but she felt the bed sag as he sat down next to her, and she could feel the chill on his clothes still. She lifted her head to look at him and noticed something different, he was tired like he always was when he came back, but where there had been defeat and a burning glint in his eye that told her he hadn't given up even with the lack of success before, there was now no glint at all. She placed her hand on his shoulder and gave it a squeeze, sharing a silent fear with Nicholas as neither of them wanted to wake up Sophie from her sweet dreams in the next room.
"What's wrong?" she whispered; her voice hoarse with sudden anxiety.
Nicholas re-situated himself so that he could better look at her. Even though he was looking at his loving Emily, he could also see Jack looking back at him with his brown hair and fawn eyes, afraid and in need of his father's assurance after a bad dream. "Oh Em, nothing is wrong…. It's just been a long hike back." He took her hand and pulled it close to his heart and gave a small sad smile and with his own voice barely above a whisper he continued. "I found him, Em, I found our Jack."
Emily instantly sat up and Nicholas saw the fire of hope spring to life in her face as she expected to see their son standing in the doorway, then be replaced with fear when she turned back to him wanting an explanation. "Is he alright, where is he?" Nicholas put both hands on her shoulders to keep her from jumping out of the bed in her rush before he could give her the facts. He just wished there was a better way to start.
"He's run a long way, I picked up his trail in the forests on the edge of the northern basin…. He's been using his magic." Emily stayed silent and still, it was hard now that her husband was giving her the greatest news any mother would want to hear but Nicholas' face was still grim, possibly even fearful, why? Her expression was all he needed to explain further. "I think it's changed him." Emily couldn't help thinking, What? She moved so that she could sit against him. "Tell me everything." She soothed with her other hand on his back and her full attention on his face.
Nicholas spoke of the moment he'd found Jack's birdhouse made of ice and the trail of glowing snowflakes in all the wonder he had at spotting it. Of the hike up the North Mountain and all the things he'd seen of Jack's making. He did not shrink from telling her every detail of the climb all the way up to-"It was just before sunup that I reached the summit and there before me was a glass-like stairway across a chasm in the mountainside. The stairs were so finely made I was almost afraid they'd break under my feet, and that's when I finally saw him…." Emily had kept up with the fantastic journey her son had taken him on, hanging on every word.
Ice grown trees, flameless lampposts, hopping bunnies made of snow. So many wonderous things that her son could never have made at home. A staircase of ice that is strong enough to carry people over empty air safely. She listened on silently just as Nicholas had gotten to the climax of his journey. Marveling at the telling of how he witnessed an ice palace take shape without the use of a single tool.
"And there he was at the heart of it, His hair is as white as the snow around him, and skin so pale like pearl. If he wasn't wearing his clothes from that night, I would have believed I'd found a winter elf from Skadi's court. He looked so happy Em, so carefree, I just couldn't bring myself to get any closer. So, I took just enough to get me back home out of my bag and left it there for him." Nicholas said this last part in shame as he looked down at his feet, knowing she would be upset by his last choice and not wanting to see her glaring at him. However, her rising from the bed was not something he was expecting.
Emily was moving to the trunk at the edge of her bed that held all their winter clothing and yanked it open. Nicholas Followed her and took her hands away from the clothes. "Em, stop, don't do this. It won't hel-" Emily cut him off by trying to pull her hands free of him. "You let go of me right now husband or so help me I will scream!" She hissed; her threat filled with venom. How could he have just turned and left Jack there, their son who had been missing and alone since January! She was going to go get him back to where he would be safe and, in her arms, again. Her husband had let fear of what her son looked like get the better of him, she just knew it. Afraid that his magic had made Jack something he wasn't, but not her, Jack still needed his parents, and she was going to bring him home!
"Stop and listen to me a moment before you march out, please." He begged her, pulling her into his embrace so that she couldn't struggle out of it, worried that their noise wouldn't go unheard by the sleeping girl in the other room. "No! He's still out there and he needs to come home! What if something happens to him? What if someone finds him?" she continued to thrash against his hold but to no avail. As soon as she had settled, Emily had to begrudgingly sit and hear what her husband was waiting to tell her. Once Nicholas was sure that she'd surrendered he changed his hold from restraining to cradling her against himself.
"Jack is alright, he's alive and safe," He stopped when she tried to deny what he was saying. "But what would he do once he got home?" His voice never hinting at anything other then his usual gentle tone when he wanted her to listen. "The people around us don't want him here. Remember how they banged on our door the first month after Jack left, how they shouted and threatened us with a trial for holding a sorcerer in our midst? We would have to sneak him back into town and he would have to be kept inside without leaving even a clue for the other villagers to think he was back." He felt Emily start to shudder as he knew she was recalling those horrible days. She had to brave walking her daughter to school after almost pulling her to be homeschooled like they'd had to with Jack.
It was thanks to the teacher Mrs. Groa coming to their house one afternoon almost a week after Jack's show of power and demanding an explanation for Sophie's absence. Mrs. Groa had listened to Emily's reasons and then she gave her the greatest feeling of ease she had felt since the whole event began. She placed a warm firm hand on hers and the look in her eyes was nothing short of compassionate, saying she'd liked to have gotten a chance to teach Emily's boy and then her gentle featured face steels, "I expect to see Sophie at school tomorrow bright and early." The older woman had given a silent promise that Sophie was safe while with her and had left as if nothing had happened. The relief that someone was not going to harm her or her family in this village when everyone else seemed to think the Overlands had in some way betrayed them all made her cry and the very next day, she took Sophie to school and was warmly welcomed by Mrs. Groa standing outside the school building.
Nicholas remembered being afraid to go to the mill those days, not because of how the other men were treating him, but the possibility that they or other men would go to his home and DO something to his wife and child, that he might wind up running home to find it set ablaze. After several days of seeing the men around him slink in his presence, Nicholas came to realize none of them had enough spine to go through with any such plan for his family and Nicholas could easily fend any of them off with a glare. However, that didn't mean they would remain that way should his son return to home.
Emily started sobbing into his shoulder finally surrendering to the reasoning of her husband and feeling hopelessness settle once again over her heart. Her Jack couldn't come home, and she was helpless to change that. Wherever Jack was he had to stay there. She pulled back a little so that she could wipe away the tears and compose herself. "So, what can we do? I don't want him believing we're happy he's gone, that we don't care."
Nicholas had had the last two days and night to think about this solution, even though it was unfair, it was the best option he could come up with.
"We continue like we have. Don't let on that we've found him. I continue to go out on searches for him and bring him food and other things we want to give him."
Emily didn't like that she couldn't go but she understood that she would have to stay home to take care of Sophie, Sophie…. "What do we tell Sophie?" she watched as his face contorted into a grimace.
"We can't tell her, it's for her own safety. If she knew he was safe she'd have to keep it a secret and I wouldn't want to force that burden on her if someone should take it upon themselves to interrogate her in the form of a friendly chat."
Sophie had been approached by their neighbors and the other kids and their parents while she was waiting for her mom to come pick her up from school, having asked her a few veiled questions in the form of friendly conversation. Sophie was only six years old; it was almost certain that she would let something slip even if doing her utmost best to keep the secret. It hurt to keep her in the dark, but she really was safer not knowing about her brother. Emily gave a sigh, nodded her head in agreement and her husband helped her up from the floor and back onto the bed where she slid over to her side and settled in under the covers. Nicholas got into his nightshirt and decided he was going to go down to see Sophie before turning in.
He gently pushed on the door to make sure it didn't creak as it opened. As he looked in, he saw his little girl curled up in the bedsheets with her arms around the teddy bear that had once been her brother's, but Jack had gifted it to her when she was still a baby to help soothe her to sleep. She looked so tranquil lying there and Nicholas worried he'd wake her if he did anymore. So, Nicholas closed the door and with a grateful sigh turned and went back to his room, crawled into the bed covers beside his wife and shut his eyes.
November 20
Jack had left his mountain early the night before and had decided it was time to go down to the lakes where the harvesters stayed. It had been several days since he had gone anywhere, content to just remain in his palace in seclusion. He had added new areas to it over the last month when the whimsy took him. He had his bedroom and balcony facing the sunrise which gave him a stunning view of the sun coming over the mountains, but he could do more with the space presented so he expanded the palace by adding a wide stairway that wound down and around the sheer side of the mountain where he put in a third level. One almost the same size as the ground floor with near transparent walls that allowed one to see everything on the sunset side and a small annex where he had shaped a larder, he didn't have to worry about food spoiling at least, it was too cold for it to go bad. If it weren't for the sheer emptiness of it, Jack would be carefree and surely living better than any nobleman below a king, and he was a pauper! Alas his restlessness prevented him from ever staying put there and he constantly ran off to go find other more interesting things to do with his time.
It was mid evening when he arrived at the lakes edge. He spotted a few dowsed campfires and tracks that promised he wouldn't regret sneaking down to search for treasures. Jack made his way over to the first one and found some old tin forks, knives, and plates which he could take once he'd given them a good scrubbing. Someone's knitted hat was half buried, who lost their money? A real shame. A few scarves, one was almost as long as he was tall. A half-eaten carrot, ew. Not bad for the first camp, on to the next. He was out there scrounging for another hour in which time the sun had set, and the sky was in the last moments of twilight. That's when he felt it.
A strange sensation filled the air and Jack dropped what he had been doing as the hairs on the back of his neck and arms stood straight up. Were there wolves? No, he'd faced them before, and the feeling he got from them wasn't nearly as thick as whatever this was. Nevertheless, this was a palpable sensation of what it must feel like to be hunted because he'd already felt the first warning signs, but he saw nothing. It was suddenly too dark for comfort, Jack needed light, NOW!
Rushing out over the frozen lake, Jack stamped his foot hard against the icy surface and a huge snowflake pattern spread out to every corner and lit up the night. He still couldn't see anything, but it was still there. Just what was it? Jack couldn't hear anything either, and yet this, whatever it is, was definitely making its presence known. Jack had his hands at the ready to defend himself and he proceeded to turn so that he could see in every direction.
Movement off to his right snapped up his attention as something seemed to waft towards him. Jack would almost have believed it was smoke or vapor from how it didn't seem to be solid, almost. But this gaseous thing was coming closer, and Jack could see the thing had a distorted face! Two large misshapen eyes that seemed to reflect the light off his magic, he couldn't see ears or a nose, but he clearly saw what was its mouth which didn't conform to any shape or length as it flowed with the rest of the things body.
This smokey black wisp only seemed concerned about the light for a moment before continuing to move towards him. Of course, Jack had never seen something so bizarre in his life, but every fiber of his being was feeding his fight or flight reflex, but which one was stronger? Suddenly the creature let out a raspy, hissing breath. The sound told Jack that it was ravenous and now that it knew of him it was never going to let him go, that he'd never escape. An undeniable sound of impending doom.
Fight! Definitely fight!
Jack's hand shot out and streams of sleet flew at the monster. The creature hissed as his magic went through its body and it dissipated only to reform within seconds! Jack used his second hand with a stronger blast, same result. What is this thing made of? The monster sped towards him; Jack fell backwards, barely keeping himself from using his hands to catch his weight. Jack pulled his hands up instead to prevent the wisp from descending with another blast of sleet. It is then that Jack noticed, he was hurting the thing! It was becoming clumpy with Ice crystals and starting to slow down. It was too close for Jack to think of anything like strategy and just went back to pouring more of his magic into his next strike. Something akin to the light beneath him filled the next blast and the…. 'Freaky' thing was engulfed in the frosty element, Jack had shut his eyes against the glare and in doing so, took his sight of the threat. Thankfully it didn't matter, for the creature was frozen solid, encased in glowing ice. Out of breath, Jack stared at the thing. He'd truly never seen anything like it before and he'd been out in the wilds for almost a year. Deciding not to stick around if there were more of them, he ran with all the adrenaline he had left in his veins for home. Just as he reached the stairs, he realized that he'd left his loot behind.
As if I'm going to go back there to get it, Nu-uh! He thought himself half-crazy that the idea of leaving it in his hurry to escape concerned him at all. One thing he wasn't worried about was this; he was not sorry he attacked and more than likely killed that thing.
Jack made it to his front doors and was starting to breathe a bit more steadily after coming down from the adrenaline rush when he spotted a new bag sitting right in front of them. He didn't know what to think of this other than it being another trick of some kind, so he proceeded with caution.
It turned out to be a simple ruck sack like the kinds used to hold vegetables and it was full almost all the way to the top with different items of varying shapes and sizes. Had to have been his father who left it, only Nicholas knew that someone was living up here. Jack furrowed his eyebrows in confusion, Why?
He pulled the bag inside and down to the larder where he intended to put all the food away first. Unlike the last time, Jack was not nearly as desperate to fill his belly having managed to develop a rationing habit that made it so he wouldn't go completely hungry. Eating one thing in small portions throughout the day not only made the food go farther but for some reason, ever since he'd made and moved into his home atop the mountain, he was less hungry and much better rested with fewer hours of sleep. His record for waking hours was six days and holding without hallucinating or nodding off, and he was grateful for that because less sleep meant way fewer nightmares.
There was a table he'd made for the little food area where he started placing the everything he took from the bag, more canned goods, smoked meats and fish, wow, All the edibles were of the type one didn't need to cook, and the cans had fruits in them. This bag of goodies was expensive! Jack came down to the last bit of what he knew was food and it was in a different kind of container. Tentatively he lifted the lid, and he gasped the moment the scent hit his nose. Krumkaker! Mom's strawberry krumkaker! Instead of ripping the lid off and digging in with abandon, Jack shut it tight once again and held it to himself like a greedy thief hiding his spoils. He couldn't believe it, there had to be something in the bag that explained this.
Jack placed the delectable on the table with the rest of the food and reached back into the bag in search of a likely note but instead found himself pulling out clothes! A new waistcoat with fine trimmings, some other clothes from his bedroom, a pillow filled with actual down, and last but not least, a new pair of boots! The contents of the bag finally made it clear what this was all about…. It was the twentieth; they had remembered his birthday, and these were his gifts. Jack felt a knot rise in his throat and his chest tighten once again. Outside, Snow began to fall.
Jack found the letter he was expecting all the way at the bottom of the bag, and he retrieved it and hurried to open it:
Dearest Jack,
First and foremost, I hope that you are well and safe where you are, your father seemed to believe you were, last time he saw you and he said you looked so happy.
Are you happy? I only wish I could see you right now but again, your father is convinced it is best to leave you be and after how things became when you left, I only agree in the case of your safety. If I had my way, I'd have marched right up there and pulled you into my arms and never let you go!
Your baby sister is fine, has taken it upon herself to be your knight at school and she has forsaken all her friends in her oath of fealty to you, I swear she'd make some man very happy to have her someday. She believes you're out there and the poor girl can't understand why you haven't come home or why everyone has become such strangers to us. Maybe when she's older she'll understand a little better.
I won't bore you with the details of our goings on around here, it really is not worth mentioning and you would only worry, I remember how you get when that happens so never you mind.
What you should be thinking about is the fact that November twenty-third fifteen years ago a little bundle of gentle, sweet, and loving energy came into our lives and took everything we thought we were ready for and turned it on its head. We thought we knew what it meant to love someone with all our hearts before but the child in our arms that day tore away that notion with just the smallest of baby noises. I could see it in Nicholas face then, he would face down any danger before he let harm come to his precious son. I can still see that fire in his eyes even though you are so far away.
Maybe we will see changes in the village and people will be ready to look at you as we do someday, a loving sweet boy who only ever thinks of others with such care as to put them and their needs before himself. Oh how I wish that day would come, oh how I wish my baby could come home. Stay safe and sound my baby!
We love you my little Jackson Overland
Happy Birthday.
Mom
Warm tears dropped to the paper as Jack read it over again. His parents didn't hate him, they loved him. His father had come here to give him his birthday presents, and he hadn't been home. Would he have been able to answer the door if he had been? Jack was glad his mom had written the letter; he would have been too afraid to face his dad and find out. Now, the heaviness he'd carried around on his shoulders had lessened and he felt a small fluttering sensation around his heart. He, the boy who could only keep people cold, had a warm place deep inside.
His family loved him.
The next morning, Emily had managed to get Sophie out of bed, her hair brushed, dressed, breakfast eaten, and off to school. She was wondering if Nicholas had gotten the delivery to its intended address yet and if her son would have a message for her upon his father's return, she had to admit that she was looking forward to it, even impatient. She hated waiting.
Stepping up to her front door she noticed something glinting in her windowsill. A glass bird shaped brooch. As she stood there admiring the detail and beauty of the jewelry, how did they know of her love of birds? She wondered who would leave such a gift, certainly not anyone she knew except for maybe Mrs. Groa, but the lady was of a more sensible mind. After all, she was already looking after Sophie. It wasn't any of her relatives, they'd either passed away or moved to Germany.
Emily reached over and picked it up and gave a barely audible breath. It was cold, this wasn't a gem or piece of shaped glass, it was ice!
She quickly opened her door and stepped inside slamming the door behind her with her weight. She slid to the floor and held the little bird to her chest and cried in joyous relief. Her Jackson was safe, he was free.
And he loved them!
