The Moonlight Boy | Ferry's Tale # 1

The veiled lady

It looked like a perfect Saturday morning. Eileen Donovan was off early in the morning to the Pride Mansion; the Pride family was throwing a big party and everything had to be perfect. So Ferry was home with his father. Inside the workshop full of boards, nails, chisels, and other iron tools, Ferry felt like a stranger. He couldn't do much, for he was in danger almost every time. So he had nothing else to do but chatting on and on, the few occasions his father asked to keep him company. After Mr. Donovan was sick and tired of answering to the most unusual questions about the moon, sky, sun, and stars, he finally decided to let him spend the day with Matilda and Ben.

Ben greeted him the moment he saw him. They went to pick up Matilda, for the three of them were planning to go to the hills and play. But right before going out the door, Matilda's father warned her one more time to stay away from the Shepherd's Forest. For some reason, that seemed to be the advice the parents were giving their children increasingly often.

Just to feel safer, Matilda brought Shadow along. No one had mentioned anything since the pet incident. Nor Ferry would tell the strange meeting he had witnessed in his backyard. But he was certain those animals were not just animals. And that they were connected to him somehow.

Now they were walking towards the hills, making a lot of noise, laughing and chatting. Matilda was telling them about Shadow's new mishap (although Ferry knew that his real was actually Sage). The dog didn't seem to pay him any attention. Instead, he was walking behind his mistress as a loyal dog should.

They almost reached the town's outskirts when somewhere ahead a long silhouette appeared. It was looming, blown by the fall's wind. Ferry thought it was just another figment of his imagination and said to himself that no matter how scary that creature was, he would pretend it wasn't there. And he would pass it by as if not there.

But the silhouette was not vanishing and continued to walk towards them. He could clearly see it in the gloomy light of the day.

He closed his eyes, clenched his fists and walked on, praying that the creature wouldn't be the hag of the mist, the omen of death he once met. He didn't go very far for he noticed his friends stopped talking, for some reason. Ferry turned and saw them way behind. They stood still, staring at the floating silhouette. So they could see it, too. Even Shadow could see it. He was snarling without taking his eyes away from the creature.

"Ferry, stop! Come back!" Ben shouted behind him without moving.

Ferry stopped, but it was too late. The tall, thin figure was coming towards him, faster than he could ever imagine. Ferry was so amazed, he couldn't move. It was the first time his friends were seeing the eerie creatures he was seeing.

When the strange being was close enough, Ferry could observe it better. It was dressed completely in purple clothing. By the old-fashioned dress, he could tell she was a woman; a very tall woman. The dress seemed from another era, so old, it looked like the dress of a ghost. Her face was completely covered with a long, thick, almost opaque veil, and Ferry could see her grey hair through that veil, falling down her shoulders like a river, all the way to her waist. She was wearing a big, slouch-hat, also purple. Feathers of all sorts and sizes were decorating her hat, but not the kind of feathers he would see at the usual birds. In fact, he had never seen such feathers, not even in books. That creature was now even closer, so Ferry could feel the perfume she was wearing. She smelled like moist soil, moss, and fresh grass.

"Run, Ferry!" he could hear Matilda screaming. But for some reason, his legs didn't listen as if made of lead. He stood still, holding his breath. The purple creature was so close to him, he could see her breathing, betrayed by the veil which was sticking to her nostrils. But even so, the veil was too thick to see any feature of her face. Still, he could see her sparkling eyes, staring at him from behind the purple veil. Her head started to move slowly, on one side and the other, observing him. And to his horror, her gloved-hand stretched extremely close to his neck. She stopped a few inches away from his chest, waiting to grab the... raven's stone, well hidden under the thick sweater. When she was about to grab him, something hissed in his ear and hit the creature's hand. Matilda had used her sling with extreme precision. The hand retreated and the purple creature turned away and ran on a back street so rapidly, the children lost her.