Guess What The Fish Sings To The Hook: The Sabienn Feel Adventures, #5

By Mark Barkley

Sabienn Feel and his brothers enter the rich and powerful country of Upper Deerland. His father, the Grand Inquisitor Profound, has covertly pushed his Secret Police into the country to catch and kill him, as a final act to extinguish his impure blood.

 

Sabienn has undertaken a journey to gain a read on a locket owned by a young woman in his quest to find a missing stone of power. He encounters privileged and violent teenagers and uncovers evidence of terrorism to be committed in the land.

 

When he finds clues that his father is involved, in sensitive matters of sabotage, Sabienn sees a chance to bring his father to book. But an encounter with an old friend proves he's moving towards more trouble than he can handle.

 

"Guess What The Fish Sings To The Hook" is the fifth of twelve books in the Sabienn Feel Adventures.

Interview with the Author

Q – That's five books down. How's the journey unfolding?

A – It feels like peeling an onion. More and more layers. All the characters are evolving. Old characters are returning. Sabienn Feel is learning more about himself. It was a pleasure to write this fifth book in the series.

Q - What inspired you to write The Sabienn Feel Adventures?

A – I've always loved the idea of the epic journey. I'm acquainted with the book Journey to the West but was more familiar with the TV series in the 80's based on the book called Monkey. The idea of four souls travelling across a wide expanse of geography to complete a quest appealed to me. So I planned a series of twelve books to go from one place in the south of this space colony that they live on twice removed from Earth, to end up in the north, meeting danger at every turn.

Q – Why does your main character Sabienn Feel grow wings?

A - Good question. I wanted something very drastic to occur to these people physically. Something that would be difficult to hide and offer an immediate prejudice. The idea of growing wings constantly came up for me. There's a Pearl Jam song I found inspiring that says, "And sometimes is seen a strange spot in the sky. A human being that was given to fly". And in my mind's eye, I could see this figure. Almost like the Led Zeppelin Icarus logo but with bat wings. But they couldn't fly otherwise they'd hit the sky and the journey would be over in no time. I made them only able to swim because being submerged in water has elements of dealing with the subconscious. To me it satisfies all elements of those prophecy, fantasy, epic adventure type of stories that involve friendship and brotherhood.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Mark Barkley
• Release date: May 25, 2020
• ISBN: 9781393649014

Book preview

Guess What The Fish Sings To The Hook

Book Five: The Sabienn Feel Adventures

By

Mark Barkley

©2020

Cover Design: Bonygrafi (Lina) https://www.fiverr.com/bonygrafi

Formatting: Polgarus Studio

All rights reserved. Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise), without the prior permission of the copyright owner.

See more at https://markbarkley.net

Table of Contents

1. The Brotherhood of Confectionery

2. Sledgehammer

3. The Diamond Club

4. The Sieve

5. Wait

6. Bigfeet

7. The Old Man In The Blue Uniform

8. A Means To An End

9. The Director

10. Complicated

11. Bobb’s Country

12. The Prisoner

13. The Witch and The Bitch

14. The Road To Red Pond

15. Big Fingers

16. The Game of Five A’s

17. The Blanket of Trust

18. The Rainbow of Surprise

1. The Brotherhood of Confectionery

Come with me, said the tall thin winged man with no chest. To Sabienn, the man’s breath stunk like he’d licked every toilet at the air transport terminal where the man had walked up to him and his brothers for a donation. Stork in particular with his sensitive nose was keen on keeping a favourable wind direction.

Up until then Sabienn saw that the young man, with his gaunt cheeks and long dark hair, was wearing an ordinary black cloak but now he was pulling from his bag a T-shirt emblazoned with the slogan, A Free Red. Quickly he threaded on the shirt and donned a grand white cat hat and spectacles that made him have blue tubes for eyes.

You said you’d help us? said Sabienn, leaning his winged frame against a nondescript brick-walled building which was somewhere in a broken part of Red Bat City. The sign above him read The Bed College of Arts, and looking around he saw that the light at the end of the day brought the street they were in into shadow. Soon it would be dark and, to Sabienn, this area had the feeling of not being safe, even in the well-lit hours.

You’re looking for a woman, said the man helpfully. You said so at the terminal.

And your name was again? asked Sabienn suspiciously.

Athers, said the man. Sabienn was beginning to sense that, mingling with the stench, there were more lies on his breath than any semblance of sober assistance. He looked behind him at his winged brothers, Bray, Deep and Stork to see they were equally dumbfounded by the turn of events.

We’ll be on our way, sir, said Sabienn politely. To be honest, I saw your wings and thought you’d think like us.

Stork added very firmly, Frankly we’ve had a gutful of attaching ourselves to childish try-hards. Especially with lax oral hygiene. I’m sure you have the right papers and all. But if you want to join the idiots in my life, just get to the end of the queue.

I know this person you seek, said Athers sincerely. He seemed genuine to Sabienn though the integrity of content was out of odds with his bizarre headwear and his weird slogan on his chest. Athers continued, Just wait here. Let me make enquiries. With that he disappeared through a door leaving the four brothers on the footpath feeling lost and confused.

Car, called Bray. The four men instinctively pulled themselves closer into the shadow of the door frame. Sabienn took it upon himself to look up the street and saw a black vehicle traversing an intersection before disappearing. It was a worthy spot for Bray whose eyes were working but still quite swollen from the toxins of the previous day. Bray’s head, with its full head of curly hair, looked left and right to see the street was clear.

Good spot, called Sabienn.

All gloves are off now, added Deep, now pushing his tall frame up to look over his brothers.

Our Dad must be pissed, said Stork, rubbing his stomach. That’s about the fifth car we’ve seen in two hours. He must have pushed a whole army of the Secret Police up here.

All crawling like cockroaches under the floorboards, said Bray. Moving round under Deerland’s feet. Bray proffered across a piece of paper to Sabienn. My eyes are getting better. But I can’t find anything. I’ve read it ten times but there’s no watermarks, no hidden words. It’s just what’s there. It’s ready for swallowing.

Sabienn received the note of final instructions from his mentor Grey Cape. He remembered Eddals the dog just catching them to deliver it just prior to stowing on the fruit transport airlift from Port Steer to Red Bat. He opened it again and gave it another casual read but nothing further was obvious. The words filled his eyes.

Further notes. The world is in turmoil. The destruction of the Temple on Mount Scatt has provided new wind for the sails of the hot-heads. Everyone seeking a free Rotnadge-Minora are emboldened. Assailants now flood through the borders of Upper Deerland to take their fight to the general population. Random acts of terror are the call of the day. And for Hayddland, all roads are leading to war. The next invasion attempt of Cajj Cajj is imminent. Your comments from Trinkett will take some time to digest. Very interesting. Most unexpected. Good job and well done.

On matters of the missing stone, all I can say is that I sense a change. A change in the attitude of The Great Leader and also my brother, your father the Grand Inquisitor Profound. They still seem to seek the stone but the urgency of their quest has waned. It comes at the same time as my ever-decreasing currency of favour. I now move to exile in the Outer Territory of Luck. My survival, though requested, can’t be guaranteed.

It is still my heartfelt belief that the missing stone needs to be returned to the real Holy One, whoever or wherever that person may be, for the planet’s healing to begin. Your quest, to me, is still important.

Subsequently, I have a mission should you wish to accept. As mentioned in the previous note, in Red Bat City, there is a young woman called Bess Wan Jo who is the granddaughter of a native manservant who was at Mission Cinnamon. This man ran to the boats on the night of the seven women’s death, twenty-three years ago. The report said that this man held a pendant that he gave to his wife, one of the seven. As spoken to me, a lover’s pendant on a fisherman’s wage.

This woman, the wife, gave birth to a girl at Mission Cinnamon but already had a daughter aged twelve. This twelve year old girl in turn eventually gave birth to a daughter who is the young woman you must seek. It is believed that the pendant has been passed to her. A read of this could give a vital clue as to the stone’s whereabouts.

As mentioned before, once completed my dog will await you on the outer areas at the Green Zone in Luck.

There’s much for you to take in here. Good luck and safe travel.

Sabienn brought the note down and folded it in two.

There’s all our thumb prints on that, said Stork, indicating Grey Cape’s note. Why don’t you put some salt on it? Make the trip easier on the way down. He produced a salt sachet from his pocket and ripped the top off it. He then poured salt all over the paper which Sabienn then scrunched up into a small ball with the seasoning within.

Why are you always so good to me? said Sabienn to Stork.

Compassion sometimes flares up in me like a massive boil, said Stork. Just needs a good lancing and I’m back to my old self. Sabienn swallowed the ball of paper under Stork’s watchful gaze. I can pack a sachet of sauce next time?

Salt’s perfect, said Sabienn in gratitude. He plopped the ball of paper and salt in his mouth and savoured the seasoning before swallowing. As Sabienn was taking his paper in the mouth, Athers returned accompanied by a younger man.

Superb, said Sabienn to the taste of the paper.

A man after my own heart, said Stork.

Are you sharing? said Ather’s companion. It was then that Sabienn and his brothers took a good look at the new arrival. He would have been a man of about seventeen and had a similar A Free Red T-shirt to Athers and wore a black cat hat and spectacles that made his eyes look like green tubes.

Seems like we’re moving in the right crowd, said Stork to his brothers.

Have you got ‘bend’? said the young man, with the urgency of satisfying an itch.

At that moment, Sabienn could sense a flare up in Bray who moved forward aggressively as if to attack the new man. Sabienn knew Bray had just come out of a coma recently, under the influence of some narcotic derivative of the soso tree, and this man was requesting another substance from the same branch. It would have been a dagger to Bray’s heart.

Quickly Stork stepped in to hold Bray back and then addressed the new arrival. It’s paper, sir, he said. Just paper. My friend’s drafting a suicide note. The wording has to be just right. You know how it is. You don’t want to look pretentious. The man he was addressing seemed to nod in agreement.

Jai, they’re looking for Bess, said Athers to his friend. Do you know where she is?

What makes you think Bess wants to see them? said Jai suspiciously to Athers. And you brought them to your campaign office? Do you really trust them? What if they shut you down?

And how goes the fight? enquired Bray. Sabienn looked to his brother to see he’d mellowed from his height of aggression. Your efforts are known even as far as Hayddland.

Really, said Jai, feeling uplifted.

May I enlighten my brothers? asked Bray pointing to the others. Jai offered a nod in recognition. Bray continued, Think of the rough and tumble world of sugar confectionery, guys. There is a company called Alley Sweets that makes a product. The alley cat. It is advertised on devices by four alley cats. A white cat with blue eyes, a black cat with green eyes, a purple cat with yellow eyes and up until recently a red cat with orange eyes. Imagine to everyone’s dismay when the red cats were pulled from production. Allegedly because the red dye is associated with throat sores. Subsequently disproved but best to keep the product banned just so as not to offend anyone. Our friends here are just fighting for what is right. The reinstatement of a lost confectionery that’s been wrongfully maligned.

We’re talking sweets? asked Sabienn.

We’re talking the brotherhood of confectionery, said Bray. Just as you’d go to the ends of the world to save me, these men are going to save a cat only made reality by advertising. How is that any more different to the brotherhood of people?

A cause is a cause, right? said Deep.

Couldn’t have put it any better myself, big man, said Bray, indicating the T-shirts on the men emblazoned with A Free Red.

And after everything we’ve seen in R-M, said Stork. It’s good to see someone’s tackling the real issues.

We mean no harm to Bess, continued Bray to the men dressed as cats. She can get a look at us and knock us back if she wants. Regardless we’ll always support your fight.

Well, thank you, said Jai uncertainly. Athers here has made eighteen submissions. All knocked back. But management may change at any time.

It’s best to be persistent, said Deep kindly. The words coming from the big man seemed to offer an umbrella of confidence for the cats.

Give us five, said Jai, who then turned to Athers. I’ll need your signature, said Jai. The meeting’s almost done. The two cats disappeared back within the door.

I’m biting my tongue here, said Stork to his brothers. It’s killing me.

Keep biting till we get the read, said Sabienn. Suck on some salt. Stork found his opened sachet and emptied what grains of salt that were there on to his tongue.

Athers and Jai returned without their cat-wear and T-shirts and moved with purpose. They began to walk up the street and turned to the brothers. This way, said Jai. How do you know Bess?

Sabienn turned to his brothers before replying, Bess has something. We’re interested in it. It’s a pendant.

I’ve seen that, asked Athers with interest. Is it valuable?

I don’t think so, said Sabienn. "We share a history with it. How do you know Bess?"

Car, called Bray at the rear of the group.

Give us a moment, said Sabienn to Jai and Athers. The four brothers retreated to the shadows of the doorways. Deftly Sabienn twisted in time to view another black vehicle way in the distance up the street. It slipped out of view just as swiftly as it arrived.

Who are you boys anyway? said Jai, watching them react. You’re hiding from someone.

We have some issues, said Sabienn, still looking back into the distance. But not with the locals.

You ask me how I know Bess? said Jai. Bess is like you. She’s a dealer.

Everyone’s trying to make money, said Athers turning to Jai. "Like we need money."

Man, what’ve you been eating? said Jai. Your breath’s ripe.

Wolf cheese, replied Athers.

Sabienn stole a glance towards Stork as did Deep and Bray. Stork had firsthand experience with the food and looked up to the sky in desperation.

We’re not dealing, said Bray definitely.

Whatever, said Jai blankly, moving his eyes to the street in front of him without interest. You’re hiding. You’re swallowing. You’re going to meet another dealer. I’m only joining dots.

They found themselves at the doorway of an old one story brick hovel draped in tape for demolition. Athers pushed in a broken glass door and the group entered cautiously as there was crackling and sharp rubbish breaking under their boots on the floorboards. Sabienn looked to the end of a corridor using the dying day’s light coming through the door and saw the light from another room flickering like fire. He moved slowly behind Athers and Jai towards the light followed by his brothers. The corridor was strewn with small plastic bags, takeaway packets and old cloaks that smelt strongly of urine.

As Sabienn moved through the door where the light was coming from, his immediate impression was that he was not alone. Three human people of middle age, a man and two women, sat up against the wall to the side. Each of them was carefully injecting some substance up into their arms and was dressed in professional clothing. They all looked to Sabienn as if they could have been the life of the party at one stage of their life but now they were committed to a routine. Even the arrival of six strange men into the room didn’t alarm them or deter them from their chore.

Sniffing the air, Sabienn was aware of the smell of cooked soso and watched its liquid form disappear up into a vein of each of their arms.

The room was lit by candles precariously placed around the walls of the room next to old take-away wrappings. Sabienn’s military eye, sensing the danger, wanted to move in and clear away some of the potential fuel for the fire that may occur, but a rustling amongst the garbage indicated the presence of some unknown wildlife that he didn’t want to put his fingers into.

Hello, came a female voice from the side. Sabienn turned a viewed a tiny young woman of no more than sixteen. She could have been a mixture of human and native heritage in her facial features but it was the way she was dressed and the way she stood that Sabienn found quite striking.

She was a vision of black and white. She wore a modest black dress providing cover to her knees with a white collar that was distinctly old-fashioned, even for Sabienn’s lack of style. Her face was white and her eyes, tied-back short hair and lips were black, augmented by some particular make-up. She stood ramrod to attention with her hands crossed over her belly.

Bess Wan Jo? asked Sabienn tentatively. It was then Sabienn spotted dangling around her neck a faded looking piece of jewellery. His heart thumped at the thought that this may be the locket his quest had called him to get a read on.

I’m Bess, she said pleasantly, keeping eye contact with Sabienn.

Breaking away from their group, Jai moved to the side of the room to grab a small metal box. He’s a dealer, Bess, said Jai blankly. I caught him upping. Says it was paper.

"It was paper," said Sabienn definitely, with some annoyance.

His friend joked it was a suicide note, said Jai returning to a table beside Bess and ripping the top off the box. He and Athers then moved to the contents of the box and picked out a small yellow pill each which they placed on their tongues.

A suicide note? said Bess calmly. Well they’ve come to the right place. She touched the locket around her neck. Have you come here to touch this thing? She looked into the dumbfounded faces of Sabienn and his brothers before continuing, It’s OK. You’re not the first.

We’ve come from far away, said Bray. Sabienn could sense in his brother, as he spoke, an uneasiness. Bray was the one amongst them who had been involuntarily administered with soso back when they were in Turrland. Sabienn knew he’d be walking a knife’s edge being around all this substance trying to seduce him back under its spell.

By your bearing, I’d say Hayddland, said Bess with genuine affection. How goes the revolution? We’re all great fans of The Great Leader.

Oh, we’re just thrilled about him too, said Stork sarcastically. Sabienn had to give Stork a stern look to bring him back on to a leash.

Forgive me, said Bess excitedly. I’m just fascinated. Which one of you is the reader?

Bray, Stork and Deep stepped back and pointed towards Sabienn who saw his brothers wilfully giving him up. It was, to Sabienn, like he had just passed wind badly and the others didn’t want to be tainted with the guilt.

Taking a few steps towards Sabienn, Bess spoke calmly and almost in confidence with him. It must be a gift, she said. But how do you know? What’s reality and what’s an illusion? What’s a hallucination and what’s a reading? Is it a genuine vision and where does it come from? Tell me, do you read in colour?

Yes.

Do you hear sounds?

Yes.

Fascinating, she said. She reached out and touched Sabienn’s cloak as if to feel the feathers of some exotic bird. If I can help in any way.

Well, said Sabienn, his heart was now racing as he saw the locket before him hanging around her neck. The precious reading would soon be his. He held out his hand as if to receive it. May I?

Of course, said Bess. But take this first. She held out in her hand before Sabienn a small yellow pill. All the readers swore by it.

No no, said Bray, swinging into Sabienn’s side like a big brother. He reads just fine. And he’s just had one. It wasn’t paper. It was some kind of ‘bend’.

I told you, said Jai from the side. His voice spoke but his mind was distant.

Not like this though, said Bess, speaking lovingly to the chemical in her hand. She pointed to the three adults against the wall, each with a syringe pushing a substance up into their arm. If you’re worried, we have help. A doctor, a teacher and a mother of four. There’s no shortage of assistance here. Sabienn stole a brief glance towards them to see three people barely capable of looking after themselves than be a source of relief.

The last man heard cannons, said Bess, still in Sabienn’s face.

Cannons? said Sabienn, feeling excited.

And colours. They saw everything. Three sixty degrees, said Bess, looking to her yellow product in the palm of her hand. Colours of a sunset. Interested?

Don’t do it, said Bray, still in his ear. This read’s too important.

We’ll still be here in the morning, said Bess to Sabienn. You’ve got nothing to lose.

Sabienn looked hard at the pill. Is what I see real? When I’m holding the thing and reading? If it were augmented would be any less real? Three sixty degrees? How does that work?

This’s not what we’re here for, chimed in Deep.

Just punch her lights out and grab the thing from her neck, said Stork.

There’s nothing stopping you, replied Bess pleasantly to Stork. Do it if you want. I’m not planning on living past twenty-five.

Even Stork was taken aback by the response. He addressed Sabienn, We’re in the church of self-indulgent wankers. Only thing with sense here are the ceremonial rats in the bread-rolls. This is no time to see the light.

Bess leaned in closer to Sabienn pushing the pill before his face. Three hundred and sixty degrees, she said. That’s what they said. They saw everything. Even looking down. And the colour? They couldn’t stop raving.

Three sixty degrees, said Sabienn, looking longingly at the substance. It was one quick movement. He picked up the yellow pill, put it to his tongue and then let it slip down his throat.

There was an audible gasp of dismay from his brothers but particularly from Bray, the man of intellect. Sabienn turned and saw Bray’s face to witness the expression. It seemed the capacity to be disappointed in Sabienn found a new lower level.

In keeping with her side of the bargain, Bess quickly whipped the locket off from around her neck and placed it into Sabienn’s right hand.

Immediately Sabienn felt competing feelings. There was a stirring from the object. The feeling like a tornado began from the top of his head. But then his heartbeat started thumping and racing like he’d turned up a metronome. The figures of a man and a woman briefly appeared but the door they were trying to enter suddenly slammed in and shut tight. Sabienn put his shoulder in his mind to the door to push but what was on the other side held the door tight.

Then the sweat came. He felt wobbly in the knees. His mind exploded and he was the centre of a flock of blue birds that swooped out of whatever it was that held them in. All around him they came. Three sixty degrees. The light was blinding and bright. His blue birds then became black birds and he was struggling to function. He was breathing like he’d run a race.

Are you feeling well, sir? the voice of Bess in his ears was present and all-encompassing. She stood before him haloed by light. Her facial features of black and white became even more grotesque. Her head became bulbous like a monster. She surrounded him in sound and vision. We’ll get to your reading, she said, her words booming like they’d come through speakers. "But first we need to address your failure. How useless you are. How insipid you are. How worthless you are. How sickening and traitorous and false you are. You stand before your friends as defective. You’ll never be any good."

No! shouted Sabienn bringing his hands up to his face. Why are you speaking this way?

"I’ll speak any way I wish to a man who needs the truth. You have the brains of a dog’s cock. Your mother. Your precious mother. How you failed your mother. But your mother failed you. You should have been tossed with the shit and the afterbirth. You weak, you wicked, you filthy amount of nothing. Nothing!"

In desperation, Sabienn started thumping his chest. He had to remove his heart which was thumping wildly like a scared rat in a trap. It seemed to him that if he could just break through the rib cage, he could get his hands to it and fling it out. Don’t say that, he shouted grimly. I know what you’re saying. I.. I have limitations.

That’s not what I said, shouted Bess. Her bulb-head was all around him. Her voice was maximum amplification. "You are useless. You are untrustworthy. You are filth. And you are nothing!"

At that moment, Sabienn’s knees buckled. He sensed he had fallen and hit the ground hard knocking his head but there was no pain. His mind was full of colour but then the memories appeared. Moments of his life where he failed people. He saw himself bullying Bray back in school, mocking the young thin curly-haired artist as Sabienn spat in his sandwich. He saw himself smashing a window next to an old veteran selling handmade cards and figurines of angels. He saw himself shouting Freak! to anyone and everyone. His mind rolled like a clothes drier. All images tumbling and becoming a lint-filled amalgam of a useless and terrible life.

Then he awoke. Rough hands had grabbed his throat. His head became aware with a jolt. Sabienn was looking into a face in the dark. Get out! said the gruff no-nonsense voice. Five seconds. Get your stuff. Or I’ll hurt you. The hand let Sabienn go and he was flung back to the floor. Sabienn looked around to see the room was dark and all the candles had been snuffed out.

Another strange voice came out of the room they stood in. We have three here, said the male voice. A torch light hit the legs of the passed-out people who’d been shooting up. Just let them cook.

More shadowy figures entered the room and Sabienn heard a familiar voice. Hey, you’re not the thinker of the group, are you? It was Stork’s voice. You burn this with people here, this is a crime scene. Everything’s shut down. You can’t build for a year. How’s your boss going to feel about that? His