The Real World

It had been a pleasant day. Denzel, Rowan and I had taken our daughters for lunch at the Blackcurrant Café, and afterwards we had taken a stroll through Bluebell Wood - even though the bluebells had wilted some weeks ago - with a view to relaxing at the edge of the village green.

After her initial wariness, Aster had succumbed to the charm offensive by Lena and Beverley, and now they were running about the green in wild abandon. Beverley seemed to have shrugged off her recent "I'm too grown up to do that" attitude and she was again the little girl of two or three years ago.

"Look at them," said Denzel, "Were we ever that crazy?"

Rowan winked at me. "I am proud to be a fully paid up member of the CCC." He reacted to Denzel's confusion with mock surprise. "The Crazy Critter Club. Don't tell me you've never heard of it."

Denzel curled his lip. "It wouldn't surprise me. Who knows what you got up to on your travels? I'm more surprised that you agreed to this Daddy Daughter Day outing. When did that become a thing?"

I laughed but something in Denzel's words struck a chord. I turned to Rowan. "Denzel has a point. After traveling along the coast, you said you went inland, but didn't really give any details up until the time you met Angelica. What were you doing for that year?"

"Oh, I just bummed around."

"No," I pressed, "I can tell that there's something you're hiding. When you stopped writing to Cecile, where exactly did you go, and what did you do?"

Rowan delayed answering as we arranged some seating, chewing his lip before deciding how to respond. With a sigh, he met my gaze.

"I left Sylvania."

o 0 O 0 o

I stared at him. Denzel was looking at him, open mouthed, and he responded before me. He punched Rowan on the arm. "You really are the joker," he said, shaking his head in mirth.

"No, really. I left Sylvania, and couldn't get back for some months. It knocked a lot of the desire to travel out of me."

"This had better not be some practical joke," I warned, "and what about the Ring of Sylvania? How could you leave?'"

"Yeah, that was odd. I can only tell you how it was explained to me." He frowned whilst recalling what he'd been told. "It comes down to the connection that Sylvanians have with nature, the land, and all that stuff. In some places it can become a very strong connection, and that emotional/spiritual link can be almost physical."

Denzel nodded. "You're talking about the Snow Queen."

"I am. Most people raised in Mellowdene - especially those with long family ties - are told about the Snow Queen from birth. Whether or not one actively believes the tale, whether or not she truly existed, it is ingrained from an early age that our love of Sylvania is connected to the sacrifice made by the Snow Queen to provide a land purely for us. In our minds, we are bound here."

"Are you saying you wouldn't be affected as you weren't born here? You weren't raised with the same beliefs as the rest of us. You found out later."

"That's a fair point. Maybe that's why. I've met Sylvanians who hadn't heard of the Snow Queen - nor did they have any comparable belief - and some were able to cross the ocean to other lands. That said, I doubt that would be relevant. I think the reason I was able to leave was that I didn't know I'd left."

o 0 O 0 o

The girls were still fully occupied with their play, sustained by periodic visits to the drinking fountain. I watched them as Rowan continued his story.

"I did go inland. After a brief stay in Purrchester - lovely people there, by the way - I travelled roughly south east through West Woodland towards the mountains."

Denzel raised his paw to briefly interrupt. "The Greybear Clinic is somewhere in that region. Henry Bearbury did some training there."

Rowan nodded. "It's at the base of the mountains. Apparently the doctors there are in contact with the tribesmen in the valleys, and learn new techniques about alternative medicine. Coincidentally, that's why I went there." He chuckled at our reaction. "No - not to the Clinic nor for weirdy medicine. I went because I'd heard of the tribesmen. I was curious how they lived. The rumour was that they lived in caves."

This was news to me. I'd never heard of any tribesmen in Central Sylvania. More to the point, I didn't see how Rowan's journey there had anything to do with leaving our shores. He was going in the wrong direction for that. Still, his storytelling passed the time. I listened further.

"I probably didn't take the most direct route through the foothills but I did find some of these mysterious tribesmen. Or rather, they found me. I looked up and an imposing old woman was staring at me. Dressed in black robes and carrying a staff she certainly was a sight. Turns out she was the tribe matriarch."

Rowan shuddered. "I admit that I was a little scared at that point. Especially when I looked back down and saw that a group of tribesmen had surrounded me.

But I had no need to worry. They were curious about me but they made me welcome. Their fruit drinks were... unusual." He waggled his fingers and rolled his eyes.

"What were these tribesman like?" asked Denzel.

"Friendly. Oh, I see what you mean. They were cats. Grey ones, mainly."

"That's interesting. What with them living in the mountains. And us having the hill cats near Mellowdene."

"Funny you should say that. When I mentioned that fact, it turned out they were in contact with each other. The Mist Cats of West Buniyi Mountains and our own hill cats. I think this fact led to my journey."

"I was wondering when you'd get to that," I commented.

"Patience, Jackson," admonished Rowan, gently. "When I pursued the connection, Felixor - he was the tribe leader - explained how all the mountains in Sylvania are connected by tunnels. Special tunnels, he said. They made journeys shorter. He said that I could walk along them and reach the hill cats in less than half-an-hour."

Rowan saw our doubting faces. "I know. Until they showed me, I didn't believe it either.

But when I was standing on an outcrop looking down on Acorn Valley, I was convinced.

That evening, when I was resting back in their campsite, I was full of ideas on how I could continue my journey.

All those mountain ranges in Sylvania. And those on the neighbouring islands. How far did this network go? And then I thought about Cecile. A quick detour via the hill cat tunnel and a trip down the canal and I could visit my sister before resuming my travels one or two days later."

"But?"

"The tribesmen were happy to help, but it would be a week before they could spare a guide. But I was an impatient idiot. I set out on my own early the next morning.

I thought I remembered the way. I was wrong."

"You got lost?"

"I did, but didn't realise it until after I emerged from the tunnel. I looked about and the landscape was... most unusual.

 I was curious so thought I'd explore, just a little way. Within less than an hour I came to the crazy conclusion that I wasn't in Sylvania any more."

o 0 O 0 o

Rowan smiled at our curious faces and continued. "All the foliage was bigger than normal.

 I climbed down some rocks and had a good look around.

I made my way through the undergrowth...

...until I found a type of stone bridge.

I followed this until I could get down to more level ground.

This was easier to navigate...

...until I saw an enormous structure. I figured if I could reach the top I could get a better view of the landscape. There were some plants I could climb relatively easily, so I had a go.

At the top I looked out." He stopped talking, probably for dramatic effect. Denzel was entranced.

"Well?" he said, "What did you see?"

"It was an unbelievably big roadway. There were cars parked along its length, and gigantic houses at both sides, extending as far as the eye could see.

That's when I realised I was in the land of men."

"Oh, come on," I said, "You and your tall tales. They don't exist."

Denzel nudged me. "There's that dead one in the Snow Queen story."

"Precisely. A story. Rowan's making it all up, as usual. Sometimes he's not in the real world."

Rowan shook his head, amused. "You don't want to hear the rest, then."

"I do," said Denzel, fixing me with a stare almost as effective as Cecile's at her most determined.

Rowan shrugged. "Okay. Well, I was freaked out. I just wanted to get back to the tunnel and to the tribe. I retraced my steps to the bridge, found my way back to the rocks and climbed back up to the ledge by the tunnel entrance. Except that it wasn't there."

"What wasn't?" said Denzel.

"The entrance to the tunnel. I tried brushing some of the trailing plants out of the way, but there wasn't any opening."

"You must have been in the wrong place."

"That's what I thought, but when two tribesmen appeared, they couldn't find it either.

It was Felixor and another tribesman. They had gone there earlier to check whether some special sort of seeds were ready for harvesting.

They were not very happy when they found the entrance missing and seemed to think that I'd disturbed whatever it was that kept the tunnel open when I came through. We were trapped there."

"No."

"Yes, it's true. They said we'd need to wait until someone came to fetch us. In the meantime we'd need to find somewhere to conceal ourselves. That meant leaving the rocks again."

I stared at the two of them - Rowan in full-blown storyteller mode, and Denzel lapping it all up like a little kid at bedtime. It was actually quite funny. I started to laugh.

"Well, I've never heard such a pile of..."

"Daddy?" It was Beverley.

I turned and smiled at her damp little face.

"What is it, pumpkin?"

"I think we're ready for that ice cream now."

"What ice cream?"

Beverley nudged Aster, who edged forwards. Lena was in the background, suppressing a chuckle.

In a shy voice, Aster said, "My daddy said that we shouldn't run about too much, or we'd need some ice to cool us down."

Rowan smiled a tight little smile. "I did say that."

Beverley continued to press her point. "Well, we did run about too much, so..." she said, smiling sweetly.

Lena burst out laughing. "And I'd like a chocolate flake in mine, please."

Three fathers held out their arms, and three little girls gave them hugs before those same little girls went rushing off towards the woods chattering over each other's excited voices. I heard references to vanilla, strawberry and chocolate. We started to follow.

Denzel was the first to speak. "Rowan, what happened next? In the land of men?"

Rowan grinned. "I think that's a tale for another time." He strode off, trying to catch up with our daughters.

Denzel seemed genuinely disappointed. I slapped his back. "What he means, Denzel, is that his imagination hasn't covered that part of his story."

I looked ahead, and I could have sworn I saw Rowan look over his shoulder and wink.

o 0 O 0 o