Julian again took the small notepad and pencil from his pocket and began to sketch the floor plan of the room. He stood up, looked around and started to pace the dimensions, 'This just isn't right', he muttered to himself, 'try again, one stride, two strides, three strides.. no something is wrong, think Julian, think.' He sat back down next to Ralph and Veronica and scribbled in his notepad, turning to them he said 'Something is definitely not right about the shape and size of this room, it is just too small.'
Veronica too was puzzled, she felt something was not right, this room still had secrets, but she could not put her finger on what was wrong. Ralph had stood up and was staring out of the window to the mountains in the far distance, beyond the mountains the land of Shenka melted away and ended in a thick red mist which could not be penetrated.
'I was wondering why this tower was built, and I think now I know the answer', sighed Ralph, 'it is so obvious that I am at a loss to wonder why it never dawned on me before, sometimes I am so very stupid.'
Julian walked up to Ralph and placed a friendly arm around his strong shoulders, 'You are anything but stupid my friend, tell me what do you see.'
'I see the tower as a beacon, and look see, this window is exactly in line with the tallest mountain peak, it must have been used as a landmark for the farmers to find their way to the city, now we have roads and signs to point the way, but way back in time I guess there were no roads and no other signs.'
Veronica squeezed herself by the side of Ralph and looked out, 'Oh I see what you mean Ralph, but see the forest is between us and the mountains, surely if someone was in the valley between the mountain sides and forest they wouldn't see anything of the tower below this window, would they.'
Julian hit his forehead with the palm of his hand, 'Of course not, oh now it is me that is stupid, why didn't I see it before, my Lady Veronica you are a pure genius.'
Ralph and Veronica looked up in surprise, 'What is it Julian?' asked Ralph, 'what are we not seeing?'
Julian took a deep breath and turned his back away from the window, 'Okay, now look at this room, to our right are the steps that led us into this room, they are cut away into the floor, we didn't enter by a doorway, but it is as if we are standing on top of the tower. The steps are flanked on the right by the outside wall, to the left of the steps is a low wall, maybe to stop anyone falling over the edge, the room from the window to the far wall measures nine strides, but the width of the room from right to left is only five strides, my friends this room has somehow been blocked off, it is just too small.'
'I see what you mean Julian' whispered Veronica, 'wasn't there something in Garion's journal about finding the scroll behind a loose brick, maybe there are more loose bricks.'
Ralph had been very quiet whilst Julian was describing the room, his eyes were fixed on the far dark corner, the beam of light from the window did not reach that far, and it was somewhere that Ralph had dismissed last time he was in the tower. 'I think we should look over here first' said Ralph as he quickly made his way across the room and disappeared into the darkness. He reached inside his bag and took out a small torch, turning it on a green beam gently illuminated the far corner. Ralph reached up and felt the dark wall in front of him, Veronica and Julian joined him, they too had torches and were frantically feeling the wall.
Ralph's hand moved backwards and forwards, up and down, his face was filled with excitement, 'It's a door, I have found a door, now how do I open it.' He felt around once more, 'Yes I have found a knob, wait, yes hanging from the knob is a small ring, let's see, do I push or pull.'
Julian and Veronica were now standing by his side, eagerly awaiting the secret behind the door to reveal itself, 'I knew there was more to be found, I just knew it', said Julian full of excitement.
'I never doubted you', replied Veronica.
'Wait I have it', called Ralph, 'one more tug, come on open.'
The door swung open, Ralph shone his torch inside the darkness, took on step forward and turned his body to the left, in front of him was another flight of steps.
'You were right Julian', said Veronica, 'there is more to be seen, my poor legs are still aching, but onwards and upwards, get a move on then Ralph, I am getting very hungry, but I don't want to stop for food just yet.'
'Your wish is my command' laughed Ralph, 'I will lead the way then, but these steps are very dark, so we will need our torches, just take care.'
Slowly they walked up the steps, counting as they climbed, one, two, .... twelve, thirteen, at the top of the steep stairs was a small landing, to their right was a plain black wooden door, Ralph pushed the door, it swung open, in front of them was a room which took their breath away. The room lit up as they entered, blue light shone from sconces on all four walls, the walls were decorated with frescos of beautiful colours, in the centre of the room was a glass covered table, under the glass were handwritten manuscripts which were embellished with hand drawn pictures of peoples from Shenka, Grafflin and Earth, holding hands, dancing and praying. Above them in the centre of the ceiling was a glass dome, sunlight shone down from the dome, casting colours of the spectrum across the wooden floor. To their right was a spiral metal staircase, at the top of the staircase was a wooden hatch, in the centre of the hatch was a golden painting of the Earth's sun, beckoning them upwards once more.
'Shall we go on up first, before we examine this beautiful room' asked Julian.
'Can you manage one more climb, Veronica?' asked Ralph.
'Yes, as I am sure this will be the last climb, after this we will be going down, which always seems so much easier,' replied Veronica.
'Right then, up we go', laughed Ralph.
Ralph reached the top of the staircase and pushed the hatch open, the outside air gushed down, Veronica breathed in the sweet air, daylight covered her face, Julian took a deep breath, he too was feeling slightly weary but he hid it well. Ralph scrambled up, he reached down and took Veronica's hand and helped her onto the roof of the tower, he then held out a hand to Julian, who took his host's hand with pleasure. For a several minutes nobody spoke, they stood on the roof of the tower and looked around at the land below and beyond, the tower itself was bordered around it's perimeter with a four foot high wall, at the centre of the tower was a glass dome which was covered with dust and debris of many years of neglect. Looking out they could see the mountains of Shenka which circled the whole of the land, beyond the mountains a mist merged into the boundaries of earth, in places the mist was a deep red, here and there the mist lightened into pink, and in other regions the mist was a calm blue. A river snaked it's way from the tallest mountain peak down into a valley, turning and twisting around the borders of Shenka's forest lands, small hamlets, villages and towns all shone in the afternoon sun, and to the east the city of Pace rose up, tall buildings of four storeys high poked up towards the clouds, people looked liked tiny insects hurrying about their business. The fields of the farmlands were a patchwork of different colours, white cotton fields, orange grain fields, green pasture land, blue fields of sweet smelling herbs mingled with the purple fields of vine groves. To the south was the inland sea of Talar, it's gentle waves caressed the white sands of it's shoreline, a few small boats bobbled up and down, their nets were cast in the warm waters searching for caja fish and sweet tasting sea flowers, and to the north was the frozen lake of Horna, where children would skate across the ice wrapped up in their warmest clothes.
'How beautiful it all looks from here, oh this is the world that we live in,' sighed Veronica, who was the overseer of all the fields below, it was she who saw that the land was well watered and managed, if a farmer wanted to change his crop, it was with the Lady Veronica of the Fields, who would say yes or no, she was responsible for all the farming land of Shenka.
'It is for sure, we must keep this land safe for all future generations, and for Earth and Grafflin, for without it, everything could perish,' replied Ralph.
'We cannot let anything stand in our way' spoke Julian as a
single tear trickled down his face.
Veronica grasped Julian's hand, 'Oh my dear Julian, you were born here weren't you, I can see the old mine shaft from here, it is said that your parents were so wonderful, it pains me still to think of the tragedy that befell them.'
'I remember it like it was yesterday, it wasn't anyone's fault, it was just an accident', sighed Julian.
'Do you want to talk about it?' asked Ralph.
'I think so, if you have time', replied Julian.
'Of course we have time, the room below can wait, come let us sit down here, we can lean against the tower wall, and be in the shade', answered Veronica.
Julian smiled and as requested he sat down on the roof of the tower and leant against the shady wall, Ralph too sat down, his body was aching and in all truth was thankful to be resting his feet.
'I remember the day so well, as you know my father settled here in Shenka, true every now and then he would visit Grafflin and call on Lord Albion, but it was too dangerous for my mother to travel there; and my father being my father would not take any high office here in Shenka, instead he took a job in the mines. We had our own mining village and even our own school, we shared the growing of different vegetables, fruits, crops and the rearing of farm animals, it was such a wonderful place. It was a day like any other day, my father rose early and went off to work, I had my breakfast of porridge, fed the hens for my mother, washed my hands and face, gathered my school books together and kissed my mother goodbye. I can remember the sun was shining and the other children were already outside kicking a ball up and down the street. When they saw me they called me to join them, we laughed all the way to school and when we arrived at the school all the windows were open to let in the sunlight. It was just before we had our morning break, our teacher had told us to put away our pens as today we were going to spend the rest of the day outside, 'It is too warm to stay indoors so let's have a cool drink first, then we shall go insect hunting', she laughed. Then we felt the first rumble, it was deep below the school, the floor shook and a few books fell off the book shelves, I remember our teacher telling us to get outside as quickly as possible, we were only little children and didn't know what was happening, but we did as we were told and made our way out of the school and onto the playing fields. The rumbling got louder, then there was a massive bang and as we looked towards our homes we could see smoke rising from the mine and village. Many of the children were crying for their mothers, the teachers were comforting them, but they too looked so scared, I remember my body shaking with fear, I knew something bad had happened, but I was too young to understand.'
Ralph shook his head, 'We all learnt about the disaster but we too were children at the time, I am sorry we haven't spoken about it before.'
'Do not be sorry my Lord', answered Julian, 'I haven't spoken about it for many years, it is helpful to do so now, not sure why really, but it is.'
'Is it too painful to tell us what happened next' questioned Veronica.
Julian smiled 'No I would like to continue if that is not being to indulgent.'
'It is not indulgent at all, please tell us more' replied Ralph.
'There were ten men killed that day, including my beloved father, nine wives without a husband and fifteen children without a father, but see our house was the closest to the mine, it was the only house to collapse from the blast, my darling mother was inside, she was lost to me too. The next few days were a bit of a blur, one of the mothers took me in, there was so much wailing and crying, but those mothers were brave and put all their energies into caring for the children, the men that escaped the blast cleared away the rubble and closed the mine. The passing ceremony for the lost ones was held in the grounds of the school, and it was there that Lord Albion arrived to take me into his care in Grafflin, and for that I shall always be indebted and thankful to him.'
Veronica wiped away a salty tear that had trickled down her face and onto her lips, 'What happened to the women, I too was only a child, were they looked after?'
'I believe they moved to the neighbouring village when the mine was closed for good, the good folk of Shenka looked after them and the children, and the families that didn't lose a man settled close to the caves of Arton quivered Julian.
'Thank goodness we no longer go deep underground for our fuels and metals' sighed Ralph, 'if only we had discovered more about the caves and the mountain side of Jazka at the time.'
*
Up until this disaster all fuels, metals and gems were mined underground, but the Grand Council decreed that no Shenkan life should ever be lost to mining again. There was already a small industry in the caves of Arton, the caves were shallow and wide open to the outside, here metal ore was found, the extracting of the ore was simple and safe. Within weeks the mountain of Jazka was researched, the stones that covered the mountain side were found to have remarkable properties, they acted like coal but without the smoke, one piece of Jazka stone could keep a fire burning for over one week. There was enough stone for everyone and it was estimated that the supply would last for many hundreds of years. Shenka of course is surrounded by mountains, most mountains have not yet been investigated, Shenkans are curious but prefer not to delve too deep into things until absolutely necessary.
*
The Lady Veronica eyed the two men in her company, she knew she had to break the sadness that had overcome them especially as there was so much more to be done that day.
'We need to eat I think, up here would be a perfect place for a picnic don't you think', said Veronica as she sat down and leaned against the east wall of the towers parapet, 'come on you two, you must both be hungry.'
Ralph and Julian obeyed Veronica's command, sat down by her side and devoured the contents of a simple lunch of sandwiches and fruit, both filling and satisfying; after eating they all relaxed and one by one shut their eyes and fell asleep.
Veronica awoke first, she quietly got to her feet, no wanting to wake the two men who carried such weight on their shoulders. She looked first at Julian, he had so much to bear without Lord Albion Brightly by his side, she knew it pained him so much to be away from Grafflin but at the same time she also recognised that his heart was torn between that place and Shenka. Her eyes wandered to Ralph, his body was strong on the outside, but deep inside his heart he was tired, the news of events on Earth had weakened his inner being, he needed her now more than ever. She turned her face away and looked down at the dust covered dome, 'it needs cleaning', she thought. Gently she took a small headscarf from her bag, 'this will do' she murmured, and poured a little water on it to dampen it. Slowly and quietly she wiped the years of dust from the glass dome, she carried on cleaning until she could see down through the glass to the room below, 'how wonderful it looks' she whispered to herself.
'Did you say something', yawned Ralph who had just awoken from his deep sleep.
'You awake then, sorry didn't mean to disturb you, I was just cleaning the dome, you can see down through it now', smiled Veronica.
Ralph stretched his arms, making sure he did not touch Julian who was still fast asleep, rose to his feet and made the few paces across the roof of the tower to Veronica, who was kneeling down looking through the dome. He knelt down beside her and looked through the now clean glass, 'I think we need to wake Julian, I am anxious now to get back down into this most secret of rooms,' he whispered.
'Did you speak my name?' called Julian, 'Oh sorry did I fall asleep, how rude of me' he added.
'We all fell asleep my friend, come see what Veronica has done, she has thrown light on the matter so to speak', laughed Ralph.
Julian quickly arose and he too knelt down and looked through the glass dome, 'Most extraordinary, most intriguing, shall we go back down now?'
'I think we must, and at least walking down is much easier that climbing up', said Ralph.
'That's what I said earlier' laughed Veronica 'you old copycat you, go on get a move on then.'
Ralph gave Veronica a big grin and winke
d at Julian, 'See we even think alike, always knew she was the woman for me.'
Veronica gave Ralph a gentle push in his back 'Come on less talking, more action.'
Back they went, down the spiral staircase, Julian took the lead, followed by Veronica, Ralph at the rear so he could close the hatch to the roof, as he did so some of the light faded, but the room was now engulfed with more daylight that shone down from the glass dome, enabling them to see clearly all the frescos that decorated the rooms plastered walls.
'I think we should start at the left of the door way and work our way around, that seems the most logical,' stated Julian.
Ralph and Veronica nodded in agreement, as they made their way to the first fresco.
'Ah so that explains it then', spoke Julian.
The fresco showed the construction of the original tower, a tall upright structure with steps climbing up on it's outside walls, at the top of the tower was a platform from which a burning beacon shone out across the Shenkan skies; next was a picture of an outer tower being built, but this tower was taller than the original, at the top of the second tower was a glass dome and on top of the dome was a high flag pole, from which the yellow and blue flag of Shenka blew in a gentle breeze.
They moved on to the next fresco, paintings of fire and destruction filled the wall in front of them, amongst the fire were bodies of men, and in the right hand corner was a woman who sat with her face in her hands, dripping down from her hands were rivulets of blood. They were now in the first corner of the room and so turned to the next wall. Here was a picture of a beach, on the beach two children and two adults sat with their backs to the viewer, looking out to sea, in the sea was a small boy, his arm was in the air waving to the group on the beach, one of the group, a boy, was waving back. To the right of the seated foursome was a man and woman, they were facing away from the sea, the woman was clinging to the man, the man was screaming. Moving along the wall they came to the next fresco, Veronica saw it first, she gasped, 'How on Shenka, can this be'.
The fresco depicted a young Shenkan female, dressed in casual clothes with blue hair blowing in the wind, next to her was a tall elegant Shenkan man and at their feet were two small children, a boy and girl.