Aynchant Chronicles Page Eleven: Twin Tales

By J.K. Murphy

A classic fantasy fiction adventure in a huge & detailed fantasy world.
The young Aynchant family members return 'home', to a place they never knew.
They find themselves thrown into a medieval world, where everything they understood about life changes from digital to magical.
The race is on for them to acclimate & learn the customs & magic needed to survive their new life & claim their birthright.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lulu.com
• Release date: Apr 4, 2024
• ISBN: 9781304496454

Book preview

Prologue

The Great Book was written by Light.

It exists as a record of creativity and folly.

Once upon a timeless, there was only Void, no light and no dark existed.

The Void was potential.

Random occurrence delivered an Awareness, Consciousness to the Void.

Awareness experienced the Void as boundless.

The Void was eternal, immeasurable, infinite.

Through these things, Awareness experienced it's existence.

Awareness experienced Randomness, and had it's first conception.

One IS!. A process was initiated.

What IS One?

Awareness sought expression of itself.

In that millisecond, which was by the way the first, a Sun was manifested Time had begun.

The Sun shone alone for numerous aeons creating light and heat. Awareness experienced life through its creation, and the Sun experienced itself, through the  Awareness gifted to it during its creation.

Awareness observed the Sun, its creation. Realisation!

. . . Another? . . Manifestation!

Another Sun now illuminated the Void. A second generation. Aeons passed.

. . . Again? . . Manifestation!

Again, a new Sun illuminated the Void. A third generation.

Awareness observed the three Suns. Having long experienced its existence through the first, mature Sun. Now it also observed and experienced its existence through the two newer Suns.

. . . One!. . . One!. . . Two!. . . Three!. . . Again! Manifestation!

Awareness simultaneously created two more Suns. A fourth generation.

Now there were five Suns, each burning brightly, and by contrast, darkening an area of the Void around themselves.

Awareness observed.

Aeons passed.

Realisation!. . . One, One, Two! Three! Five!. . . Pattern!

. . . Again!. . Manifestation!

Awareness simultaneously created another three suns. Now there were eight Suns illuminating the Void.

Awareness observed.

. . . A Design?

Awareness observed. Aeons passed.

Realisation!

. . . A Design that could generate itself?

. . . Begin! . . Manifestation!. . . Now the speed of Sun creation took on a life of its own and accelerated. There was less than a millisecond between each expansion of the Design.

The Design was Creation, was growth, was life. Now thirteen Suns. Now twenty-one Suns. Now thirty-four Suns. The Design continued.

Awareness observed for long ages. Aeons passed.

Randomness occurred. Awareness observed itself.

Realisation!. . . Awareness knew its creation was Good and took Pride in it. Awareness Loved its creation. Its creation was love manifest and experienced.

Awareness had become more than itself.

Realisation!

Awareness was Good! Awareness was Love! Awareness felt Pride.

In their turn, the Suns, having their own gifted part of Awareness, thus its creative and experiential potential, experienced themselves, and occasionally, Randomness.

The myriad Suns randomly changed with the passage of time. They soon created and emitted more than their heat and light.

As the suns developed and aged, they began expanding, contracting and exploding, creating vast clouds of various, random, Sun-generated substances.

These clouds were illuminated by the living Suns, bringing sparkling beauty to the Void. The clouds were affected by the nearby Suns, changing the structure of the Sun-matter which later condensed into new, different Suns.

Some Suns gathered, using their gravity, the newly created substances around themselves, slowly developing into beautiful rings of shimmering, varicoloured particles.

The substances organised into narrow striations of density and type, gravitating to, and then staying close around the new and old Suns. Aeons passed. The striated matter gathered around larger debris that became caught amongst it.  Microscopic gravity drew in more particles, increasing the density, thus the gravity. A cycle of growth began. Over aeons the striations became planets of various mineral and chemical make-up.

Awareness observed as the increasingly complex Design continued.

Awareness experienced life, death and reincarnation through the Suns and all that was created by The Design, for a connection and a seed of Awareness was always passed on through The Design.

As time passed, Awareness experienced more, first, through the Sun's offspring, the condensing planets. Then later still, through their offspring; plants, animal life, finally observing and experiencing the lives of conscious Beings.

Aeons passed. Awareness grew to be vast in experiences, love and pride.

Awareness now knew that It, and Its Designs were Good and Love filled evolutions of Light.

Knowing itself to be Good and Love and the creator of Light thus everything, Awareness considered, and named itself- Creation.

Random occurred. The Awareness, self-named Creation, had a new conception.

What could not be thus? . . Manifestation!

BAD MOVE!

Now there was a Dark Sun in the Void.

This new, Dark Sun, was all that the Light Suns were not. It did not emit light, nor heat. It absorbed it. The Dark Sun hung in the Void, drawing nearby Light Suns closer to itself.

Creation observed. Aeons passed.

Creation did not feel pride at its new accidental creation. Fascination.

The Dark Sun drew in and then devoured the Light Suns around itself, and all that they in turn had created and nurtured.

Creation felt shame in observing the destruction of parts of The Design, and grief at the loss of connection with The Design's creations as they were absorbed and destroyed.

Creation did not create another Dark Sun, and assumed that it would be the opposite of The Design and diminish then destroy itself.

Creation observed. . . Countless aeons passed.

Another Dark Sun randomly appeared in the void, then some aeons later, another.

Creation observed that the Dark Suns did not proliferate, and was happy that their occurrence was rare and random.

Creation sought to contain the Dark Suns and banish them from the Light-Sun spangled Void.

The Dark Suns could not be affected.

Creation tried harder, apparently nothing was changing. Creation continually expended vast energy fighting to contain the Dark Sun's ability to destroy creation. Many aeons passed.

Realisation!

Vast energy was being used to no visible end, where did it go?

Creation observed. Random occurred. Creation had a new inspiration.

Is there an opposite energy? A light, love and Life devouring One?

Manifestation!

VERY BAD MOVE!

Creation had manifested again! Brought into being an alter-ego. Destruction!.

Random organisation of The Dark Sun Design began to occur across the Void.

Creation and Destruction began their eternal struggle.

Creation sought to re-create the love-filled Void. The Dark Suns stayed.

Creation attempted to de-manifest the last manifested inspiration. It did not happen. Instead, vast amounts of his energy were depleted, almost destroying Creation momentarily.

Destruction had some control in, and of, the new reality.

Destruction had power, the power Creation had been expending over many aeons to contain the Dark Suns. They had been absorbing and holding it.

The Dark Suns were an aspect of embryonic Destruction. Light, heat and life absorbing things.

Creation halted trying to restrain the Dark Suns with the intention to use the power to better ends, to overwhelm Destruction with Light, Love and new manifestations.

The Dark Suns, once free of restraint, showed their true Design. They were portals into Destruction's Domain, the space where Destruction could create, manifest.

By the will of Destruction, the Dark Suns began to rapidly draw in the Light Suns once more, destroying them, absorbing their power to give up to Destruction's intent in that negative space.

Destruction had the will and the matter to manifest. It willed Devils and Demons into being, and sent them forth into the realms of the Light Suns, to feed on and destroy Creation's Design's creatures, to suck out the life-force from animals and beings, and give it up to Destruction.

Creation created Gods to nurture and protect the Design's creatures and beings, and because of the nature of Creation, Creation and the Gods won most of the battles.

Destruction observed. . . Aeons passed.

Destruction experienced realisation.

Destruction could not win the larger battle! Destruction and its domain existed as a small, random part in Creation's creation, and was limited. Creation had created first here, and had imagined, manifested and initiated The Design.

Destruction could only grow in the finite negative space inside and beyond the Dark Suns, feeding on what was pulled in, or what little its Devils and Demons could steal from Creation's creatures.

Creation could not destroy Destruction, nor the Dark Suns. It had neither the nature, will, nor the thought to do so. Creation could not envisage how to destroy or corrupt anything, and did not want to, whatever the cost to the Design.

The battle raged continuously on.

Thus is the history and description of the First Page of The Great Book, an analogy that describes the primal dimension.

Many aeons passed.

Destruction observed. Experienced a conception.

Destruction could create its own, dimensions! Manifestation!.

Destruction appeared in a blank, grey Void, where no light and no dark existed.

The Void was potential.

Destruction was creator here. . . And did so.

Destruction desired to imitate Creation's Design. It worked. A Light Sun was hanging in the Void. Then another, then another, then more.

A Pattern. . . A Design. Aeons passed.

Destruction observed as life emerged in all its forms proliferating in the new void.

In this place, Destruction had come first, so its Demons, Devils and parasitic creatures flourished.

Destruction could now absorb the energy from dying Suns, planets, creatures and beings in its domain directly.

This halted regeneration and reincarnation, changing and perverting the Design in this new dimension. Destruction paid no mind. This was its Domain, its dimension.

Destruction used the energy it leached, to send myriad Devils into Creation's dimension, to feed on Creation's creations, channelling the energy back to Destruction.

The Battle raged continuously on. . . Aeons passed.

Thus was created the second page of The Great Book.

Creation observed.

Realisation!. . . Imagination!. . . Manifestation!

Creation could win by making more dimensions to overwhelm Destruction's intent.

Creation had initiated a new Design that created dimensions! One, two, three, five, eight, thirteen, on and on faster and faster.

Aeons passed.

Creation observed.

Destruction observed. . . Also initiating a dimension creating Design.

The Battle continued.

This sounds like a repetition of an old story, and so it is, but the balance has been tipping from Creation's favour because Destruction's intent is ruinous and knows no love for its own creatures and beings.

Destruction deliberately created fast-breeding prey-creatures- from insects to humanoids- to fill its dimensions, then other parasites and predatory creatures to consume them, making whole worlds and universes filled with nothing but fear and death. Thus Destruction could feed on their life-force. Notwithstanding the fact that its primitive, cold, soulless creatures have to die by the hundreds of thousands to create the life-force of one of Creation's good beings.

The inordinate rate and number of deaths in both Creation's and Destruction's realms are nourishing to Destruction, enabling it to strike into Creation's realms with Demons and Devils more frequently, killing and sucking the life from, possessing or corrupting Creation's creatures.

Thus, new dimensions were created by Creation or Destruction. They filled The Great Book, page by page, until The Great Book became so full of dimensions it became cylindrical.

The cover that binds and names The great Book, is pressed open, front to back. Each page compressed tightly to its neighbours. There is no Space for more, there is no Time for more. Thus, the near Completion of The Great Book, came to be.

The Battle continues still.

Creation observed. Considering. . . How would this seemingly eternal conflict end?

Creation received a random Insight, a download of every moment, every possibility, in every dimension, so could see it all. The Purpose.

Creation consciously produced an ethereal conduit for its creative energy to be channelled to its creatures and beings, a way they could utilise Creation's power directly, designed to protect, defend and create. Through this connection Creation pulsed gifts, ages apart, growing in intensity. The gifts were Awareness, Knowledge, Will, Self-determination, and thus, Magic to all beings!

Chapter 1. Granny's Hamlet

Evelyn was jarred awake. Teresa was coughing in her face. She felt tiny specks of spittle freckling her cheek. 'Oh, sorry, did I wake you from your baby dreams?' asked Teresa in her sweetest sarcastic tone while smirking.

They both hated sharing a bed. Usually Evelyn preferred to sleep on the sofa rather than to share space with her spiteful twin sister. But when it was this cold, Granny insisted. Granny's word was unquestionable law in her cottage home. Evelyn sighed. At almost seventeen years old, it was just too much!

'Yes Teresa. Again.' Evelyn sighed, thinking sadly to herself, it's going to be another one of those days!

There were two types of days with her twin Teresa.

There were the rare days when their bond was strong, like back when they were younger, when they could be on that special private level. Sometimes there was almost a tangible telepathic link between them, they shared the same thoughts, humour, and would chat and laugh for days on end.

The more common days, as they had grown, were and days like these! Evelyn turned to look at her sister.

'Why wake me just to be a bloody horrid bitch? do you have to be nasty as soon as you open your eyes?' Evelyn asked. Teresa gave Evelyn one of her looks- a long, wide eyed, cold stare- her icy grey-blue eyes boring into her sister. Evelyn returned the look.

'Well, if you weren't such a lazy, boring, immature, dull, slob, you could wake me.' Teresa smirked again as she climbed out of bed and gathered together her chosen clothes. 'I get to shower first, again. It's always your choice to be so slow and lazy.'

'Guess so.' Evelyn replied, wondering to herself why Teresa put so much effort into hurting her feelings. Sighing again Evelyn snuggled further under the eiderdown quilt and blankets turning away to look through the tiny, ice crazed, windowpanes at the falling snow.

Today Evelyn was adamant that she would not rise to her sisters baiting, she took a few slow deep breaths to calm herself.

Every school break was the same, and being cooped up over Christmas was the worst holiday of all. If Teresa was going to be so bitchy, separate rooms would be nice, separate homes would be better and separate counties preferable.

The twins hated being so damned close to each-other. The novelty of being twins had long worn off. Their special, twin sisterly closeness mostly a thing of the past. They had developed in completely differing directions in every way but their looks.

They both found it annoying and unnerving to wake up and spend the day looking at a copy of themselves and having only expression, eye tone and hair texture to define their individuality. Evelyn's hair was finer and her eyes a darker grey-blue.

Evelyn was pondering how and why the rift had grown so wide, when they had once been so close, whilst gazing absently out of the window.

Sparkling, brilliant white snow blanketed the countryside. Deep drifts covered one side of the road, and were creeping up the hedgerows and tree-trunks, smoothing out the landscape. The shadows were blue-grey and subtle. The stunning winter beauty of the morning took her mind away from her concerns.

Evelyn let her eyes soak up the beautiful view, as an orange-red sun painted the scene with surreal colours as it crept above the horizon under dark-grey, snow-laden clouds. She lay watching, as the two tors visible from the window sparkled and shone gold and silver with mid grey shadows.

How could something, so cold and hostile, be so beautiful? An obvious answer sprang to mind. Teresa!

Evelyn was always confused by her feelings for her sister. There were so many mixed emotions constantly vying for predominance, love, jealousy, anger, frustration and a deep yearning for them to be good friends again, as they had been once been.

Evelyn wondered daily why Teresa was so bloody mean to her. Was it more because of their differences or their similarities? It was a constant puzzle to Evelyn as she had never done anything spiteful to Teresa- without provocation.

Her mind wandered back in time. It hadn't been Evelyn who had cut off Teresa's hair when they were six; to make them look different, or tripped her sister up to make her look a fool in front of friends or Darien. As if she needed help to make herself look a fool in front of him.

Evelyn noticed a change in the weather, she could see no snow falling between the local tors. Excellent! she thought. I will go out today. I will go and visit Darien. She smiled at the thought. Darien, her first and only crush.

Her eyes wandered to the delicate rose patterned curtains and walls of their cottage bedroom, so familiar and comforting. The room began to glow golden, lit far more brightly than usual, because of the light reflected up from the snow.

Evelyn loved being here at Granny's, so much more than staying at school.

At school, the dorms were draughty and spartan and the girls were so very bitchy.

She literally shuddered at the thought of returning there after this Christmas break.

All too soon, Evelyn and Teresa would be back to a world of cold, stiff, starched sheets and the even more starchy, tutors. Thank heavens, there were only a few more tortuous months to go before leaving that dreadful place for good.

Teresa returned from showering and was dressed. 'See ya later lazy-bones. Hope you weren't planning to hang out with Darien today.' Teresa said in sing-song tones, then laughed as she left the room, not waiting for a reply.

Evelyn rolled over kicking her feet and pounding her fists into the bed in fury.

Why did I tell her I liked him? I must need my head examining! Thank heavens I didn't say more, or how I felt about his beautiful sparkly blue eyes, his gorgeous curly blonde hair, his manly voice, his walk.

Evelyn's eyes stung as tears of frustration came, she rubbed them away angrily. 'So begins another day!' she said through gritted teeth, flopping back and trying to relax. She turned again to the window, trying to find solace in the beautiful winter scene outside. The sun had risen high enough now to disappear above the dark grey clouds, stealing the glitter and shine, if not the light from all but the distant landscape.

Granny's Hamlet was the family name for their inherited land. It had once been part of a huge estate which had been sold off to local farmers and to Granny's family when the manor-house had burned down two hundred or so years ago.

Evelyn was sure Granny's Hamlet was like nowhere else in the county.

The three tors on their land seeming to make an almost perfect triangle sheltering the families small farm, homes and chapels. Evelyn could see why the family had stayed here, and how lucky they had been to have inherited this place. It was beautiful when covered with snow, or in bright, spring-green or autumn colours, or the parched sandy tones of summer. It was an almost magical place.

Evelyn wondered if Granny's Hamlet had been landscaped when it belonged to the Estate years ago, as it was almost too perfect. The trees seemed perfectly shaped and had grown in excellent positions around the houses and beside the lake. Wherever you walked here, you could stop and create a stunning landscape painting of the view.

Evelyn heard Teresa laugh downstairs, her attention was drawn back to the tiny cottage bedroom and then to thoughts of her twin.

Teresa was such a charmer, shallow as a puddle, but charming nonetheless. She had a ready smile, was outgoing, and always had the perfect thing to say in any environment. Mother's friends were all mesmerised by her, as were the girls at school, and the entire younger-half of the male population.

None of these people knew how Teresa mocked them in private with mother, both nit-picking, bitching and criticising, finding faults in friends and people that were invisible or totally irrelevant to Evelyn.

But, Teresa's most scathing remarks were always reserved for Evelyn, in public or private, it mattered not, Teresa delighted in humiliating Evelyn in any way she could.

Evelyn partly blamed her mother for creating, then charging her sisters unnecessary resentment towards her. As Granny would say- ''An idea oft enough seeded, tends to persist.''

On the twin's fifth birthday, Jentil, their mother, pointed out that Evelyn was ten minutes older and had jokingly called Teresa 'baby'. It had been a turning point.

Jentil could see it enraged Teresa to be called that, but the rage and tantrums it created in her cute little daughter, seemed to amuse Jentil. So the nick-name Teresa saw as an insult- and Jentil saw as humour- stuck. Evelyn had called Teresa baby only three times she remembered, each time she had been rewarded by a savage slap around the mouth from her sister. Evelyn could still remember the painful, physical and emotional stings those slaps caused, no wonder the third time was the last.

Although what difference ten minutes made in a lifetime, Evelyn could never fathom. To Teresa though, the nick-name was a grave insult which had began a mostly one-sided war between the twins.

From that time onwards Teresa's personality amplified, she had always been the more demanding of the two girls, both for attention and things, always wanting to be first, noticed, and best. Teresa had not liked being a twin for  as long as Evelyn could remember clearly. Evelyn never figured out why it bothered her sister so much, especially, as they were not quite identical.

The twins were physically the same in most dimensions, unfortunately, their clothes these days, were also often similar, despite the girls intentions and always shopping separately.

To the relief of both girls, their eyes were slightly different, both in colour and shape and their hair had differing textures. Enough differences for people to know who they were speaking to; once they knew them.

Evelyn had dark grey-blue eyes and Teresa had light grey-blue.

Jentil revelled in the comments and attention that having beautiful twin daughters brought her. When they were young she had obsessively dressed them identically, even down to hair ribbons.

Evelyn snapped to attention and sat up when she heard the back gate click open. She looked  down into the garden to see Darien standing his sled against the drystone garden wall. She watched him walking up the freshly brushed, crazy-paved path. 'Damn'! She said aloud, as she quickly shuffled herself off of the high double bed.

In a panic to quickly put on her jeans, she stubbed her toe viciously on the bed leg, letting out a small squeal, she started hopping about rubbing her toe.

She hopped back banging her hip against the elegant, old fashioned, rosewood  wash-stand, sending the jug, water, flowers and bowl crashing down. Water, flowers and smashed china now decorated the floor. She grabbed the towel and threw it on top of the worst of the mess relieved that none had landed on the beautiful fringe-edged carpet. She sat exasperated back upon the bed.

Darien would think her a fool after hearing that. She didn't want to go downstairs now. Eyes stinging again, she flopped over and sobbed into the quilt. There she stayed for a time, listening to the muffled chat and laughter downstairs.

Teresa had not shown the slightest interest in Darien before Evelyn had mentioned she liked him. Now, Teresa was playing her best flirt games with him, constantly.

The chat and giggles moved into the garden, the gate clicked, Evelyn seethed for a moment then cried again.

Presently Evelyn took a tissue from the box on the night table and blew her nose, then a second time. As she was wiping her eyes there was a tap on the door, in walked Granny, cup of tea in one hand, dustpan, brush and an old newspaper in the other. 'Never mind. Here you go dear girl. Wrap the broken china in the paper and have a nice cup of tea.' She told Evelyn with her sweet smile.

'I will cook you some breakfast while you clear up this mess. Oh, could you make the bed and bring down yours and Teresa's washing also please?' Granny carefully put the tea on the crochet mat on the rosewood dressing table, and the other things on the floor then returned back downstairs.

Dear Granny, thought Evelyn, never a cross word. A big smile spread across Evelyn's face. She loved her quaint little Granny.

Granny always wore a long-sleeved, ankle-length, black dress, with a white frilly piny, and wore her shiny grey hair piled into a simple bun. She looked like someone out of a nursery rhyme to Evelyn, who considered the differences between her mother and her Granny as she proceeded to clean up the mess, as she had been asked.

It was hard to believe Granny was her mother's mother. The two women seemed worlds apart. Granny was more than content with her simple country life. She baked the family's bread daily and they all ate the simple, fresh foods from Granny's greenhouse and the small family farm.

The farm was worked mostly by Uncle Groggy and Aunty Lore, helped by all at Granny's Hamlet at busy times.

The family here needed little from the outside world, each cottage kept some hand-reared ducks and chickens for fresh eggs and meat.

Evelyn and Teresa's father was almost totally absent from their lives. He was an explorer, and would be gone for years at a time on his various adventures in far-flung places.

The twin's father did pop and see them at Granny's Hamlet, some Christmases. He was always laden with souvenirs and other expensive gifts. He also supplied their allowances and trust funds, but he was almost a stranger to them.

The twins had known, for as long as they could remember, that their parents were totally separated, being married in name only.

Their mother also, was not concerned with spending much time with the twin girls. Jentil had packed them off to a boarding prep-school as soon as they were old enough.

Their mother very seldom had the twins to stay for any length of time with her in her city homes, unless there were a few social functions to attend. Their mother constantly told them how she disliked the boring, quiet, country-life.

Jentil seldom came to see her daughters during school breaks which they always spent at Granny's. If their mother did visit, she rarely stayed for more than a few hours in 'Bumpkin Land'- the name Jentil used to describe Granny's Hamlet.

Evelyn's mother had a passion for parties and entertaining, and for the fine food, clothes, shoes, and especially for the wines and spirits that went with the first-class city lifestyle she had.

Jentil was obsessed with her figure, eating like a sparrow so as to carry off her expensive couture dresses. The desire to look like a designers mannequin often led her to skip meals, so she would get tipsy easily. Jentil thought this highly amusing, as did her circle of equally reckless girl-friends. None of which had seen dawn for years, unless it were from the wrong side, and then, it was only ever in a drink and drugged haze, after all night parties.

Evelyn hated the endless rounds of social events and parties she attended with mother and Teresa. She always felt out-of-place somehow, totally self-concious,   uncomfortable and awkward in her ridiculously expensive party frocks and high heels.

There were so few people at the do's that didn't overdo the drink and, or drugs that were freely available. Both of which made Evelyn feel either clumsy and foolish, in the case of drink, or tense, sick, or paranoid when she had tried the various drugs.

She just did not fit in. There was never anyone at social functions to talk to about anything other than fashion, dresses, sex, scandal, drugs, or who was to marry who. All of these subjects having little or no real interest for Evelyn.

Of course there were plenty of introduced 'young gentlemen' to speak to, but Evelyn had eyes for none of them. They could not charm her with their drunken, drug-fuzzy, boasting of trust funds and universities. Half of her suitors didn't even  understand that the only qualifications that got them into their bragged about universities, were their parents standing and fortunes. Bless 'em, she thought and smiled broadly remembering some of their amusingly fumbled attempts at etiquette, kissing and seduction.

The whole social scene was a tedious effort for Evelyn, but Teresa and Mother lived for it.

Evelyn definitely took after Granny in her tastes and habits, and would rather come here to the quiet cottage, than to mother's apartments and social whirl any day.

A tap at the back door brought Evelyn back to the present, she smiled to herself, glad to be here. Picking up both the broken china wrapped in newspaper, and the bundled washing she made her way carefully down the narrow, doglegged stairs to the kitchen.

'Come in.' Evelyn heard Granny say, as with arms full, she pushed open the tiny door at the foot of the stairs. It was aunt Gwyna, Darien's mother. 'I have popped in for tea and chats Granny. Darien has gone out, and no doubt all the young ones have gone sledding too. So, I thought there is no point in us both sitting in alone'.

'You're always welcome my dear, come sit near the range while I make us a fresh pot'. Gwyna did so.

Evelyn said 'Hi aunty Gwyna.' as she made her way through the kitchen to the scullery to put away the dustpan and brush and dump the washing and broken crocks in respective bins.

Breakfast was, as ever a pleasure, eggs, bacon and tomatoes with fresh-bread toast.

Granny's chit-chat over breakfast, about how life would be wonderful soon enough, and how small things like broken crocks and hearts soon mended when you were young, made Evelyn smile. Evelyn, of course could not agree on the latter, but was glad of Granny's attitude about the crocks. The ancient looking blue, white and gold wash bowl and jug were surely antiques.

Evelyn pondered that maybe Granny had collected a few sets, which accounted for her lack of rage at their destruction. Evelyn could remember Teresa breaking a very similar set when they were here on holiday some years ago.

Granny never seemed to get angry about anything. Evelyn guessed it was something to do with being ancient and always having lived a secluded rural life with almost no contact with the outside world.

Granny often said with a wry smile, 'If this world leaves me alone, I will gladly leave it alone'. Granny's philosophy was easy enough for her to live out, she had always lived in Granny's Hamlet.

The family land included the three farm cottages, a few tiny chapels, and the land between and around the three tor's. It was three miles travelling down their bumpy private lane to the nearest country lane, never mind an A-road or a motorway.

The cottages each had their own well for water, which could be hand pumped from and into the scullery sinks. Uncle Groggy had never gotten around to adding them to the system he devised that used a vertical mast with dozens of  little round windmills to constantly pumped water into tanks in the roofs for use in the bathrooms, heating and kitchens.

Each cottage used wood or coal-burning ranges for cooking, warmth and heating water. The families had small generators for electric lights and useful appliances, again, powered by the little windmill masts. The system was almost silent. None of the families had a phone line or television. This was sometimes frustrating for the twins, as their mobile phones had no signal here. But, they were accustomed to the seclusion. Evelyn rather liked it, but sister Teresa bemoaned the quiet and being ''cut off from friends and everything!'' constantly.

Groggy and aunty Lore's children seldom left the hamlet, travelling only to the local towns or to visit family, and to attend some of the 'do's'. So they did not miss modern technology and communications at all. Unlike Evelyn, Teresa and Darien, they had grown up living only here and had been home-schooled so never had, nor thought they needed it.

Evelyn had always envied her cousins, whereas, Teresa was eternally grateful for the twins more cosmopolitan lifestyle. Darien had left school now. He too had always been either boarding there, or living here.

The twins circled between Granny's Hamlet, school, and their mother's London apartments, which were ever chaotic, and often in a new location when the girls were chauffeured home from school.

Teresa loved the shopping and social life she had in London and at school. Evelyn's sister was totally at home in the hustle and bustle of city life, the endless functions they attended, and the frequent entertaining their mother did. It all suited her gregarious personality perfectly.

As Evelyn ate, she listened to the other two women chatting about how their hens were laying and speaking of how this cold snap made them wish for spring. She interrupted. 'Thank you Granny, lovely breakfast as ever. Do you need a hand before I go?' she asked- getting the reply she hoped for. With her usual sweet smile Granny said, 'No dear, you run along now and enjoy yourself, I have plenty of time to fix things up.'

Minutes later, wearing boots, scarf, hat and gloves, and with sledge in tow, Evelyn set out. She noted Darien's and Teresa's footprints heading off towards Green-Man's tor, inches apart, so she headed the other direction, to call in for her cousins Harley and Emma. The air was crisp and fresh, Evelyn could feel the cold biting her exposed skin. It was seeping through her clothes and up her sleeves. She noted the chill of it, as it passed through her nose and throat. She laughed at how stiffly she was walking, while noting her breath looked as dense as white smoke, in the chill, still air.

It was the best type of cold day, quite, still and well below freezing, but the weather was that oddly dry cold, that you could feel, but did not leach the heat from her body.

The deep snow squealed and crunched under Evelyn's feet as she trudged up the lane under a very slow moving, slate grey sky. The inch of pale yellow brightness around the horizon caused some areas of snow to look bright and sparkly, and beautifully odd, set in the landscape of blue-white snow and purple shadows.

All of the tree's appeared black as she passed them, branches drooped and bowed low with the pressing weight of the snow. It radically changed their shapes. Familiar features were gone from the landscape. All around her looked smoothed out and rounded by the encroaching drifts. Evelyn's eyes drank in the scene.

If the cottage she was approaching were not as distinctive, unusual and familiar to Evelyn, she could have imagined she were somewhere else entirely.

As she neared the cottage Evelyn paused to look a while, smiling. She loved the lived-in, chaotic look of Emma and Harley's home.

There were snow-covered cars and motorbikes parked all over the garden, and in the driveway. The vehicles were in varying conditions, some being partially scrapped donors. Some would say it the property looked a mess, but Evelyn knew of the hard work and dedication it had taken to create this abstract, multicoloured metallic garden ornamentation.

A couple of the family's vehicles were works in progress, a few were fastidiously renovated.  The over chromed and highly polished 'seventies', VW Camper, motorbike and Ford Popular were clearly the family's cherished favourites.

Evelyn thought Harley and Emma's parents were classics also. They looked as though they had both fallen out of the seventies, with no thought to ever landing in modern times. Evelyn loved the quirky, free-spirited family.

Uncle Groggy and Aunty Lore had always spoken to Evelyn the same way they  did to their own children- as if she were an adult.

Many of their conversations were either deep, political or fanciful, but always very stimulating to a lively young mind which was usually, either stifled by the rigours and routine of her boarding-school, or suffering the other extreme of her life, the wild and pretentious social scene.

She sighed, mood dropping, Evelyn had another week of freedom here, until she would be back to her tedious school-day routines. A deep, chilled in-breath. She resolutely refused to even think about it, and was determined to make the most of this time. Another deep breath, feeling the chill flow deep into her lungs.

Evelyn knocked the door. Uncle Groggy, as he liked to be called, opened it. 'They are out round the back.' he said, with the ever present, very long and smelly roll-up bobbing up and down between his lips as he spoke.

Evelyn knew what he was smoking, but Groggy was the most hard working, productive and creative man she knew, so she just smiled to herself and wondered why all the weed smokers she knew in the city never achieved anything but red rimmed, squinting eyes, lethargy and a ridiculous craving for food.

Groggy always looked relaxed, no wonder. He had an odd posture too, as if he had begun to sit, changed his mind half way down, and walked instead. Evelyn decided his height and living in a low-ceilinged cottage may be the reason for this, as he was otherwise agile and neither old nor lazy.

'Thanks Groggy.' said Evelyn with a smile, turning to make her way around the back of the cottage to the garages.

There, emerging from the first of the garages, were Harley and Emma. Evelyn grinned at the sight of them.

I love these two she thought. So easy going and so natural.

Their parents did not approve of standard 'conformist education' and had taught their children the three R's and how to do practical things, creative things, survivalist things, and about country-life instead. As a result brother and sister were close and very good friends. They both had wicked senses of humour and were total optimists.

Evelyn so loved Uncle Groggy and Aunty Lore. They both had devoted much time to her and Teresa over the years. They made every effort to make each day a joy for them all. Groggy termed the cousins, an old word for clan, they liked it. They also found it highly amusing that Groggy often referred to Granny as 'G', in the modern sense of meaning- Gangster. The idea of likening granny to a gangster was so ridiculous, Evelyn had to chuckle every time he said it, which was often, but never within Granny's earshot.

Unlike dear Granny, Lore and Groggy had been able to play rough and tumble and have outings and small adventures, with their children, Darien, Teresa and herself. The hamlet family's outings were always a fun, wonderful, family time. The list of beautiful memories of those childhood times was endless, a blur of seasons filled with picnics, imaginative, fantasy play, learning and excitement.

Evelyn's growing up and living at Granny's Hamlet had always been, and still was, a total pleasure.

Harley was dragging 'the Beast' up the path. She could hear it's runners hissing through the snow as Harley and Emma made counterpoint with their crunch and squeak footfalls in the snow.

The beast was the most ridiculous sled anyone could have imagined. It had a motorbike seat set on a steel framework above long, highly polished runners at the back. The front end boasted cow-horn handlebars; adorned with six wing-mirrors and four indicators which flashed constantly, all set above another, smaller, pivoting steering runner. The Beast also had two sets of foot-pegs and a back box for a battery, 'munchies', drinks and Harley's tobacco.

'Hiya' said Emma smiling, cheeks and nose rosy with the cold.

'Alrighty?' greeted Harley with a big grin. 'We're off to Green Man's, you coming?'

'I'd love to go with you two, that's why I'm here. Darien and Teresa are heading up there already.'

The three cousins trudged up the now very narrow, snow-drifted lane towards Green Man's tor. It was the one closest to Granny's house. It was the best for sledging, as it had far fewer trees on it. The other two were almost covered by woods to their tops.

The sled blades created an almost musical sound as they swooshed along, accompanied by three sets of feet, beating a crunching, squeaky bass rhythmic into the silence.

As the three reached the bottom of the small hillock, Evelyn heard, then saw Teresa and Darien sledging down the tor, squealing with excitement at the speed. On the same sled!

Evelyn felt a wave of jealousy, her knuckles were clenched white in her gloves, but she consciously, slowly, shook the feeling off. She was determined not to become stressed, anxious or sulky today.

The five climbed the zigzag path up the steep tor.

'This is the clearest path, we go from here.' said Darien, taking control, as usual, when they reached the spot where he and Teresa had been starting from.

Harley and Emma were the first to set off down the hill, followed by Darien then Teresa. Evelyn set off last.

The friends spent an hour and a half, clambering up and speeding down the tor. The whole time laughing and yelling, with any hair escaping from under their woolly hats spinning into ringlets behind them. Soon enough, they were all exhausted, cold and damp because of their sweating and snow getting into their clothes after the second snow-ball battle.

Despite the exertion keeping them warm, painfully cold fingers and toes made them all decide to go home. On the agreed last run, Teresa asked Harley if she could have a go on The Beast. 'Sure thing man.' replied Harley 'But you had better go two-up, and let Darien drive, as she's a bitch to handle at the bottom if you're not strong.'

Teresa looked across at Evelyn and smugly grinned as she sat behind Darien and pulled her body up close, wrapping her arms around him. 'Bring my sled Ev,' she commanded. 'I have no hands, coz I have to hold onto Darien.'

Bitch, bitch, bitch! thought Evelyn as she imagined delivering a quick left-hook punch on her sisters nose. Damn! I wish she was out of my life! was her next thought as she stood watching them hurtle down the tor through the sparse trees.

The Beast went into a skid near the bottom, Evelyn saw Darien fight for control. He put down a foot and yanked the handlebars into a lock as they rapidly approached some large trees.

They came to an abrupt halt, well, The Beast and Darien did. Teresa carried on,  following their original trajectory and speed, flying straight into an oak tree.

Serves her right. Thought Evelyn who laughed loudly at the crumpled heap that was her sister, legs akimbo and face in the snow.

Evelyn felt a sudden chill, as if people were parading across her grave. The world was silent, her mind was too silent. Then her stomach tensing up and her heart started pounding against her ribs. Teresa was not moving.

Evelyn, forgetting her own and her sister's sled, instantly starting run headlong down the tor. Darien was rolling Teresa over. Evelyn tumbled over, barely stopping to pick herself up. Darien was patting Teresa's hands and cheeks.

Harley and Emma slid past her, then past Teresa and Darien. As one, they slowed  jumping from their sledges, running quickly back up to the still crumpled heap which was Teresa. Evelyn's heart was in her mouth.

Teresa still had not moved. Darien stood up and was looking, wide eyed towards the rest of them. Evelyn's stomach was now in knots and she felt sick with dread as she approached the others.

As Harley and Emma neared Teresa, they slowed, standing away, but both clearly looking for signs of life. Evelyn ran straight to Teresa, dropping to her knees beside her sister. There was a blue-tinged, egg-like lump on Teresa's forehead, dripping blood from a small cut to melt a tiny deep hole in the snow.

'You OK Teresa?' Evelyn said, about to feel for a neck pulse, she moved Teresa's scarf slightly, she could see a pulse beating under Teresa's ear. She sat back on her heals, heaving a sigh of relief. The tension in the air evaporated. All of the teens  relaxed, thinking silently about what they feared had happened. Laughing now with relief, they all spoke words of encouragement to rouse Teresa. Teresa didn't answer them at first, but to everyone's relief she did start mumbling. 'Father? Why?' and 'What?' and again 'Why?'

'Stop messing about!' Evelyn said angrily. 'You gave us a right start then!' Darien snapped at Evelyn. 'Don't be mean!' He knelt down, lifting Teresa to sit her up then he carefully brushed the snow from her face and hair.

Evelyn stared for a moment. Then snapped back 'It was all your fault anyway, so don't tell me not to be mean!' Darien looked away, feeling guilty and hurt. 'Aww, heavy shit.' said Harley. Emma burst into tears. Her big brother put his arm around her and snuggled her close.

Teresa opened her bloodshot eyes, blinking a few times. 'I'm OK' she said. She attempted to stand, her ankle gave way, she let out a yell and almost sat again, but was saved from falling by Darien.

Fifteen minutes later they all arrived at Harley's house. The walk there had been torture for Evelyn, Darien was fussing Teresa all the way, as he and Harley pulled her along on a sled.

Emma rushed past the older four as they