Page 15 of Once Upon a Fable

A hideout for some bureaucrat?

I climbed without thinking.

I descended instead of ascended. I left my backpack and recording gear; I turned my back on sensible decisions. I focused only on reaching the valley floor.

I have to know.

It didn’t take long.

The methodicalness of climbing took over my mind and motor skills. Grab a branch, drop down, slide down an embankment, pause. Track left for a better path, then crisscross to the right before trusting my body and a tree growing at a steep angle to catch me as I jumped a small distance.

By the time I leaped the final way from the cliff to the valley floor, sweat trickled down my temples, and beneath my windbreaker, workout hoodie, and exercise t-shirt, my skin was wet.

The babble of the river made my mouth water to drink and swim, but the house was even larger from down here.

A two-story sprawling monster with arched windows, carved keystones, heavy wooden doors with iron hinges, and a footprint larger than any suburban home available today.

It looked abandoned. Sad almost.

I stepped forward, drawn to it.

What are you doing, Gem?

You’re trespassing.

I stopped and looked around, my ears twitching for any sign that someone lived here. That they might have a gun and shoot me for being on their property. But no sign of habitation existed. No footprints, no debris, no smells of cooking or fires, no laughter or TV.

The air shimmered around it as if trying to protect it, to turn it into a mirage and fool me into thinking there was nothing there at all.

I have to see.

Balling my hands, I strode out of the shadowy forest around the cliff’s edge and waded through the long swaying grasses. They rustled around my legs, leaving my black leggings covered in fine golden pollen.

My heart galloped as I reached a heavy wooden door. It hung open slightly as if someone, so many years ago, had left in a hurry and forgotten to lock up. I looked at the stone entryway, searching for signs of animals.

Had this huge building become a shelter for forest creatures? Did bears hibernate inside?

Sucking in a breath, I knocked.

I waited.

Nothing.

I sucked in another breath and pushed the door, expecting to find it stiff and creaky in its old age. Instead, it swung on silent hinges, sweeping over marble tiles and revealing an industrial-size kitchen.

I froze on the threshold.

Neat wooden cabinets, clean wooden countertops, and a skylight directly above the range. The random clumps of dirt and wildflowers growing above blocked the sun in places. Higher still, the crisscross of branches that had once looked like a carpet when I’d looked down from the cliff had now transformed into a ceiling, providing a patchwork view of the sky.

Pots hung from a rack over the sink. Knives waited to be used in a butcher block. Everything was clean and tidy.

Clean!

No dust, no animal debris, no sign of disrepair.

This looked lived in.

This looksrecentlylived in.