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The Bone Cell
The Bone Cell
The Bone Cell
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The Bone Cell

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A spooky dream of a gigantic crow and an old, crumbling church in the lost reaches of a forest. A hint of mystery, murder and mayhem in dark underground passages. A poor magician and his little girl, surrounded and harassed by a group of mad trappers...
These are the visions that bring Ian and Connor to the site of their abandoned tree house where, unsurprisingly, the crow awaits. As they sit in the embrace of the crow’s eerie time knot, the strange bird tells them a nearly two-hundred-year-old story of how a town and great church came to be and of the misery that befell it. Of how the church became home to many animals and birds, and of the massive oak that had since grown up through the floor and slowly engulfed the church’s remains. But now the tree has begun to wither and an avalanche of death will soon follow. The two boys are the crow’s only remaining hope because of an innate talent they have been diligently hiding. They will be required to walk into the teeth of an old crime that has gone years unpaid, and of course the crow cannot promise that they will not be swept up in the flood of danger and madness that is fast approaching. Because something has changed in The Bone Cell and Connor and Ian are the only ones who can do anything about it.

LanguageEnglish
PublisherRichard Futch
Release dateDec 29, 2013
ISBN9781311897886
The Bone Cell

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    Book preview

    The Bone Cell - Richard Futch

    THE BONE CELL

    RICHARD FUTCH

    THE BONE CELL

    Published by Richard Futch at Smashwords

    Copyright 2013 Richard Futch

    This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you are reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to your favorite ebook retailer and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

    Chapter 1: Wake Up Call

    There was still about a half hour until dark and Ian came over the Mason's back fence, through a cat-tail-filled ditch, and then down a seldom used path to where the trail widened. Connor pushed his bike behind a bramble hedge and made his way through a cut in the tall grass off to the right, passing beneath the overhanging branches of an old oak. They came together at the discarded length of sewer pipe that had been there since forever and from there it was nothing to the tree.

    Neither said a word as they broke through the remaining grass fringe that encircled the stand of pine, willow and water oaks. They looked up at what was left of the tree house. That summer was long gone. Now it hung there like a loose, broken tooth, just a jumble of dangerous jags of warped wood and long-lost fun. The last hurricane had really done it in.

    Well, what do you think? Connor said.

    I doan know, Ian replied and kicked at the ground. He looked into his friend's face. A gopher maybe?

    You ever seen one?

    Ian admitted he had not.

    It had wings. You din't see 'em? Ian shrugged. A bat, maybe?

    He shook his head, stared into the tree, said, I doan think so...

    Fifteen minutes later, just before the streetlights were due, a peculiar rustling whispered down from the upper reaches of the closest pine. As both boys strained to pick through the shadows up there, one suddenly took the shape of a gigantic black bird, as big as a Labrador puppy, inching its way into the dying light. The only thing that broke its perfect, midnight hue was a pair of brilliant yellow eyes like honey in a dark barrel. It blinked down at them and cawed. Then, incredibly, it said, in English, I'm glad the both of you could make it.

    The boys looked at one another and took a coordinated step back.

    The bird shrugged its wings into a hunch along its back and bristled the feathers along its spine. Then it fanned its wings, revealing for a split second a large hole through the middle of the right one. It hopped down to a lower, thicker branch and fixed its eyes back on them. Please don't be alarmed, it said. I wish neither of you any harm. I hope you will forgive my dream-intrusion last night, but desperate times call for desperate measures.

    They managed a nod.

    The gigantic crow uttered a short, throaty caw and ruffled its ebony feathers again. I know you think you should be going soon, but please give me a moment. I have a few tricks that tend to make Time a bit...flexible, and with that it dropped down to eye-level and began its tale.

    Chapter 2: Where the Road Ran

    Down past the pond, according to this strange bird, you could still see where the Old Shadow Road trailed weakly back into what had long ago been the Deep Back. This road had been built for logging initially, and later on, had been the only link to a spur of the Illinois Central rail line. But now, if you didn't include the few scattered, rotting cross-ties here and there that poked out of the ground like stumbling-block tombstones, you'd never know it ever existed at all. And I was young then, my lads, it said in its strange, sad, almost human voice. Fresh from the egg. I remember learning to fly as log wagons carted cypress stumps out of the swamp ages and ages ago. It made a dry click in the back of its throat and scratched its beak quickly back and forth on the branch where it stood as if sharpening a knife. It was then the boys noticed that one of its claws was useless, crippled, and pulled into a tight knot at the ebony underbelly.

    It was also then that the boys noticed another more disconcerting strangeness. There was no breeze, no other sound really, other than the bird's voice. A cloud bank that had been skirting across the face of the new moon had gone no farther. There was no sound of crickets. The boys stepped closer together and another step back.

    The crow noticed and said, As I told you, I know a few tricks with Time, which proves lucky for me as I can't tell you everything you need to know in one regular moment. It cocked its head to the side like a dog and the eyes seemed to grow even yellower, verging to the tip of orange. "But you have to understand I would not have called you had it not been absolutely necessary.

    You see my companion and I have a problem, a very bad problem. However, not insurmountable, so I don't think we're done just yet. It shook its feathers out again and let them ride back smoothly into place. I'll cut straight to the facts. Your talent has not gone unnoticed. It paused as the look of wonder spread across both boys' face. A dry cackling laugh escaped it. You thought you held this in secret? It cawed again, that weird half-laugh they recognized now as some bridge between mirth and amazement. Doubtless, you had to think others suspected, your mothers, your friends? It ruffled its wings again, shaking itself out until it was roughly the size of a grown beaver. Ahh, but you were not certain...

    Connor managed to find his voice. What was that about we? he said. The only thing he could think of at the moment.

    Oh yes, my companion and I, the crow replied. She's shy...uncomfortable around people. Perhaps you'll meet her later.

    Ian, a ball of tension, could control himself no longer. What is this all about anyway! he stammered, grabbing hold of Connor's arm at the elbow. For a moment it looked like they would bolt off into the paralyzed twilight.

    Please listen and I will tell you, it said. You have a very great talent, boys. I know you can feel it. But I beg your patience. Rest assured, you'll soon know my point. It glanced up at the frozen cloud bank stuck to the moon. If you're still interested, that is.

    The boys looked at each other and struck a mental bargain. We got a little while, Connor said.

    Good! the bird squawked. First I must tell you about the Church.

    Chapter 3: The Church

    Now it sits broken in ruins deep in the forest about four miles from here, but once boys, it was simply magnificent! All marbled stone and brick, scrolled woodwork and stained-glass windows! And to top it all, beneath it an endless system of tunnels and corridors that wormed underground beneath the thick foundation for reasons unknown. It was built a very long time ago by a foreign woman in fulfillment of a promise to God she'd made years before.

    The boys looked at one another, mystified and a bit unnerved by the thread of this strange tale that sounded a lot like something out of the Brothers Grimm. They'd seen the movie about these German storytellers and had a book of their tales hidden in a small box and buried beneath the drip-line of an old gnarled maple not far from here just because it felt right. And knowing what they did about witches and goblins and other creatures known to feed themselves on waylaid children, they began to be a little afraid.

    But the crow continued on, seemingly unaware. The problem was the woman's husband. He was a round, boastful, lazy man who hated work, having never done any. And even as he whined and complained, his wife secured them passage on a ship leaving for the New World, as they called it. Something silent passed between the boys. New World? What was this crazy bird talking about? As far as she was concerned, the crow continued. "Her mind was made. But to help satisfy this lazy wretch she also purchased a huge

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