In today’s episode we continue our adventure with Chapter 23 – will Magpie find the Skylark Bell in time? There’s only one way to find out!

Music: Nightbridge by Cannelle (www.cannellemusic.com)

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TRANSCRIPT:

Things with Wings Productions, with the support of Whimsical Productions and Collected Sounds presents: Episode 23 of The Skylark Bell.  I am your host Melissa Oliveri.  

In our last episode, Magpie was cautiously making her way through the house at Meadow Lane looking for the Skylark Bell. We left off with her standing just outside the door to what had once been Farfalla’s room.

In today’s episode we continue our adventure with Chapter 23 – will Magpie find the Skylark Bell in time? There’s only one way to find out!

So get settle in… grab a blanket, and a warm drink… and let’s get started.

Magpie instinctively anticipates a squeak as she pushes the door, but of course she remains enveloped in thick, oppressive silence as it swings open.  Through the dusty window, she can see the blurry sky turning yellow, orange, purple and pink.  Sunset already?!  Her gaze sweeps across the room.  An ornate bed takes up most of the space.  She can see shreds of tulle hanging from the canopy above.  Next to the bed is a rocking chair with a teddy bear sitting on it, its smile almost disturbing in the dusty, broken room.  Magpie suddenly recalls Farfalla’s words; “You must find the Skylark Bell!”  She starts looking around the room.  First, she peeks under the bed, but save for decades of dust finds nothing.  She gently opens the closet and pushes a few crumbling dresses out of the way, no luck.  She checks the drawers in the nightstand, then looks behind the rocking chair, all to no avail.  Tucked away in the corner is a small vanity.  Magpie gently sits on the stool in front of it, and looks into the large, round mirror.  In a sudden flash, she is hit with a vision.

She is shocked to see herself in the mirror!  But something is different; her hair is falling in ringlets down to the middle of her back and there are large fabric bows in it.  She is wearing a long dress with many layers and worn brown leather shoes with a low heel.  Looking at herself in the mirror she sees stains on her cheeks, like she has been crying.  The room around her is the same as the room in the old house at Meadow Lane, but there is a lantern burning on the night stand, the dust is gone, the windows and mirrors are not broken, the linens and dresses in the closet are intact… it’s like she’s traveled back in time!  She hears a voice call from downstairs, “Farfalla, it is time to go!”  Of course!  The vision is not of herself going back in time, it is a vision of Farfalla in her youth!  They look so alike that if someone were to put them side by side it would be very difficult to tell them apart.  She watches Farfalla get up from the stool and turn her back to the vanity.  In the mirror, Magpie’s eye catches a quick gleam of light reflecting off something as Farfalla moves a floorboard under the handmade rug in the center of the room.  

The vision fades away sharply and Magpie, surrounded once again by the dusty, tired atmosphere of the old house, sits completely still on the stool, trying to understand what she has just seen.  Her mind is racing, thoughts swirling around, creating confusion.  The sunset is fading fast and she knows her time has almost run out.  She closes her eyes to think; Farfalla put something under the floorboards just before leaving the house, it had to be the Skylark Bell!  

Magpie quickly pulls back the frayed pieces of fabric that were once part of the rug and scurries on her hands and knees to inspect the floorboards.  They all look the same at first, but then she notices one of them has a small notch carved into one side.  She slips her finger in the notch and gently lifts up the board.  Underneath she finds a small wooden box with a feather carved into the top.  Unable to hold back her excitement she fumbles around trying to open it, but to her dismay she notices there is a keyhole on the front.  

Completely discouraged she sits in the center of the room, exhaustion and frustration taking over, tears threatening to spill over the edge of her lower eyelids.  She can’t risk damaging the bell by smashing the box open and she doesn’t have the strength, or the necessary tools, to pry it open.  After all her efforts, it can’t end like this!  She feels despair wash over her.  

Out of nowhere, a small white feather drifts slowly back and forth from the ceiling.  She watches it, mesmerized, as it floats through the air, rocking like a small boat from side to side, slowly making its way down, and disappearing just before it comes within her reach.  Something about the feather stirs her memory… Of course!  The silver feather-shaped key from the picnic basket, it must have been from Farfalla! She reaches around her neck and feels for the fine, silver chain.  Her fingers find it instantly and she gently pulls it over her head.  Relief washes over her when she finds the key still looped around it.  She slips the key into the lock, noting that it matches the feather etched into the top of the box.  The key turns smoothly despite its age and she feels a slight pressure where she normally would have heard a ‘click’.  Ever so gently, she raises the cover of the box and there, still shining brightly despite its decades beneath the floor, lays the Skylark Bell.

She carefully pulls the bell out of the box and holds it up.  It truly is a stunning work of art.  A lark, head turned toward its back, clutches a large blackberry in its beak.  It sits surrounded by an ornate vine that twists through its wings and between its feet before looping down to the small silver bell hanging below.  The bell is etched with a string of flying birds all around, spiraling into infinity, and some words in a language that Magpie doesn’t recognize:  Chan eil clag an speur a ’bualadh ach airson crios an Eilein Sgitheanaich (The skylark bell rings only for the belle of Skye).

Reminding herself time is of the essence, Magpie picks herself up off the floor and walks to the window.  At the top of the window frame she finds a small, ornate hook drilled into the wood.  Magpie pushes the window open as best she can and slips the skylark’s beak onto the hook.  She delicately removes her hands from the bell and takes a step back.  She waits a moment, it feels like an eternity, and nothing happens.  The entire house, the land around it, and the bell remain perfectly still.  Magpie’s heart sinks.  

Behind Magpie, outside her line of sight, a mist forms behind the glass of the vanity mirror. Slowly, the face of a woman fades into view, she is looking out of the mirror toward the window, her long red hair cascading down her shoulders. Behind her, a silent ocean roars as it pushes its waves over a rocky, unforgiving beach. The woman smiles, her eyes an almost impossible, almost mystical shade of blue, and ever so softly she starts to sing a sad, strange song. ***

At first Magpie seems oblivious to the singing. After a moment she takes notice and leans her head to the side, trying to hear better. The sound slowly crescendos, and wraps around her like a soft blanket.  Magpie instantly feels relaxed and almost… hypnotized… like her mind is drifting from her body and giving in to the sweet melody. 

Out of nowhere, Magpie feels an ever so slight breeze ruffle her hair, instantly bringing her back to reality.  Outside the window, a scattering of birds suddenly lifts into the sky, casting a quick shadow across the field.  The singing fades away as the wind picks up, bending the tall grass around the house.  **WIND** Magpie stares, fascinated, as the bell starts rocking back and forth, like a feather.  A bird calls loudly from a fencepost in the meadow **BIRD** and the Skylark Bell begins to ring.  **BELL** And ring.  **BELL** And ring. **BELL** Its ringing echoes through the house, through the fields and the clearing, down the dirt road, over the pine river bridge, and cloaks the town in rich, bright sound.

Magpie rushes out of the house, racing through the lush, green grass to the road. **GRASS FOOTSTEPS**  Behind her, in the last few remnants of daylight, Meadow Lane no longer looks foreboding or somber, it looks hopeful for what the morning will bring.  

Thank you so much for listening.  Join me next week as we pursue our adventure and read Chapter 24 of Meadow Lane and the Skylark Bell – where Magpie learns that Lucas’ grandmother, Gemma Starling, was a friend of Farfalla’s, decades ago.

Before I go, I’d like to thank Phaeton Starling Publishing for this fantastically eerie story, and Cannelle Elanion for composing equally fantastic and eerie music for this podcast. If you're enjoying this story, please consider leaving a rating or a review, they are both greatly appreciated. Thank you.

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