In today’s episode we read the chapter 12 – The Letter – in which an unexpected letter will change the course of James and Farfalla’s lives... forever.

This week's podcast partner is Haunted or Hoax: https://linktr.ee/HauntedorHoax

The Skylark Bell official website - http://www.theskylarkbell.com

The Skylark Bell on Instagram: @theskylarkbell

Author/Producer: Melissa Oliveri - http://www.melissaoliveri.com

Join Melissa's Patreon for early access to podcast episodes, music downloads, and more: http://www.patreon.com/melissaoliveri

The Skylark Bell on Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi.com/theskylarkbell

All music by Cannelle: http://www.cannellemusic.com

Cannelle on Instagram: @cannelle.music

Official Merch Shops: http://www.melissaoliveri.com/store

The Skylark Bell is brought to you by: Phaeton Starling Publishing and Things with Wings Productions.

FULL TRANSCRIPT:

Things with Wings Productions presents: Chapter 12 of The Skylark Bell, Skyedive. I am your host, Melissa Oliveri.  

In last week’s episode we were introduced to James and Farfalla’s daughter, Magpie’s great-grandmother, Elisabeth.

In today’s episode we read the chapter 12 – The Letter – in which an unexpected letter will change the course of James and Farfalla’s lives... forever.

Today’s podcast partner is Haunted or Hoax, a proud Boopod Network member. Hosted by Jennifer and Kristen, Haunted or Hoax takes your favorite ghost stories and separates fact from fiction. They also research various lesser-known paranormal stories from around the United States, ensuring they have original content that hasn’t been covered countless times by others. Be sure to check the show notes for a link to the Haunted or Hoax podcast.

Now, it’s time to settle in… grab a blanket, and a warm drink… and let’s get started.

May 2nd, 1932

The letter came today. 

The one that will change everything. 

Everything.

I can only hope that the letter leads us to a new, bright and beautiful life. Elisabeth deserves parents who openly care for one another. She deserves to live in a place where she and her family are not shunned and feared and excluded. She deserves to play with children who will not be frightened of her. She deserves to run through fields of tall grass and watch foxes play and birds fly overhead. She deserves all the most wonderful things that the world has to offer, and I am putting my hopes into the hand-scrawled letters stretching across the page in James’ hand.

~~~~~~

James sits in the rocking chair, a sheet of paper in his trembling hand.

“James? What’s going on?” asks Farfalla, walking in the front door and putting a basket full of blackberries down on the floor.

“Mama!” shouts Elisabeth, racing over to her mother. Farfalla takes Elisabeth in her arms and carries her into the living room. She sets Elisabeth at James’ feet then joins her on the floor. They pass a ball back and forth while Farfalla studies James’ face. She can’t read him very well. She hasn’t been able to read him for several months now. Ever since the incident with the hobby horse, in fact. James has continued to provide and care for her and Elisabeth, but there is a distance between them that wasn’t there before.

“James?” she prods, gently. She glances at the paper in his hand. It is a letter scrawled in ornate cursive handwriting, black ink stretching from edge to edge of the page in a flourish.

James looks down at her and blinks, like he hadn’t realized she and Elisabeth were even in the room. “It’s a letter,” he begins, “from my Uncle George Archibald in Scotland. Well, from his estate. It would seem he has passed away,” says James in a strange, robotic tone.

“Oh James, I’m so sorry. Were you close?” she asks, laying a hand on his knee.

James shakes his head, “That’s the thing, I hardly knew him at all. My father had mentioned him in passing a few times, but I don’t recall ever meeting him.” James pauses here and takes a deep breath. “Farfalla, he’s bequeathed his house to me. An entire property on the Isle of Skye.”

Farfalla’s eyes grow wide. “James, that’s amazing!” she gasps. James looks at her silently for a long while, long enough for Farfalla to begin to feel uncomfortable. “What is it, are you not interested?” she asks.

“I never felt at home when my mother and I lived overseas, I sacrificed my relationship with her because I wanted to return to Pocket, to the place and the people I know… or knew,” he corrects himself. Farfalla feels the sting of his remark. She knows his relationship with her hasn’t been all that he’d hoped. She knows in her heart she has let him down. She decides then and there to make a valiant effort to make it up to him.

“Home is wherever you and I and Elisabeth are, together,” she says, taking his face in her hands. 

“Lissabett!” pipes up Elisabeth, causing them all to laugh and lifting some of the tension in the room for the first time in a very long time.

Farfalla feels relieved as she sees James’ shoulders relax a little. She kisses him softly and moves back to look him in the eye. “Let’s at the very least take a trip to go see the property, it will do us good. We can have Elisabeth stay with my parents or Paloma while we go settle the estate, and if we like it there then the three of us can move. It’ll be a fresh start,” she gives him a knowing gaze. A fresh start is exactly what they all need. She should have done it long ago, but she held onto the hope that Pocket would somehow turn back into the place she once knew and loved. She has finally come to the sad conclusion that this will never be the case.

Elisabeth lets out a loud yawn and rubs her eyes. “I think perhaps it’s someone’s bedtime,” says Farfalla, picking her up off the floor.

“No Mama, no sleep,” mumbles Elisabeth before yawning again.

Farfalla wraps her arms around the little girl. “I’ll read you your favourite book, about the cat in the painting,” she says.

Elisabeth nods, “And Mama sing, sing the wind song,” she says. Farfalla smiles at her, every night Elisabeth asks Farfalla to sing the French lullaby to her as she falls asleep. 

“Yes, my love, then I will sing for you,” she says, disappearing down the dark hallway toward Elisabeth’s bedroom.

“Okay, she’s asleep,” says Farfalla, walking back into the living room some time later. She takes a seat on the sofa across from James, so they are facing each other. “Tell me more about this house, about your family,” she says.

“I only know the stories my father told me. Carnifex House, that’s what they call it, has been in our family for generations. It’s just outside a small town called Pòcaid. There is a caretaker’s cottage on the property as well as a pasture where they raise horses. I think there is a path that leads down to the beach at the very back of the property as well,” he says, staring off in the distance as he tries to recall the few details his father told him about his old family home.

“James, that’s sounds absolutely lovely!” breathes Farfalla. She can already imagine Elisabeth collecting shells on the beach, and ambling around the fields picking wildflowers, or going for horse rides into town.

“I suppose so…” he lets his voice trail, and Farfalla gets the sense that there is something he is not telling her.

“Is that all you remember?” she asks tentatively.

James shakes his head and groans. “There are… stories…” he begins hesitantly. Farfalla leans in even more closely. “My father always said Uncle George Archibald was a… character. He believed whole heartedly that there was a druid witch living in the forest at the edge of their property. He used to say that she would cause people, often children, to vanish. He had a name for her… I can’t recall now.”

Farfalla feels a chill run down her spine. She’s not quite sure if it’s the mention of people accusing someone of being a witch, or the mention of people vanishing that she finds most troubling. “Well, like you said, they’re just stories, and those were different times. I think we should plan a trip to Scotland, it will be good for us,” she says, walking over to the wingback chair he is sitting in and settling down on his lap. James looks surprised at first, then sadness washes over his eyes. It is in that moment that Farfalla realizes a part of her truly does love him. She kisses him then, desperate to erase all the hurt and sadness she has caused. They sit together in silence for a long while, each lost in their thoughts.

“Okay,” James says at last. 

“Yes?” says Farfalla, leaning back to look at him. James smiles at her and nods. Farfalla lets out a quiet squeal so as not to wake Elisabeth. She hops off his lap and stands up. James stands to face and holds her by the waist. They stare into one another’s eyes for a long time, comfortable with the stretch of silence between them. Somehow, they have found their way back to each other. Somehow, in this precise moment, it is like nothing in the past; not Marius, not the people of Pocket, not the horrendous winter of 1925, not druids or witches in the Scottish woods, not even vanishings, could come between them. Somehow, Farfalla has finally found a way to truly make room in her heart for James.

Thank you so much for listening.  Join me next week for Chapter 13 – A Night on the Town – in which Farfalla and James travel to the city to bring Elisabeth to stay with Farfalla’s sister Paloma while they travel.

The Skylark Bell is brought to you by Phaeton Starling Publishing and features original music by Cannelle. If you are enjoying this story, please consider leaving a rating or a review, they are both greatly appreciated. You can also support my work by subscribing to Patreon or Ko-Fi, where you get early access to episodes as well as MP3 downloads of the music, artwork, behind the scenes videos and more! You can also find The Skylark Bell exclusive merch on my website, www.theskylarkbell.com. Just check the show notes for all necessary links.

Once again, thank you for listening – I’m Melissa Oliveri, writer, host and producer of The Skylark Bell Podcast.  

Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/theskylarkbell/exclusive-content

Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands

Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy