THE END!!

It is over! Here is the end of the story! I finished with a 1300 word conclusion and The Forgotten Children is 15 039 words. I am quite proud of it. Sure, there are things wrong with it, but it's basically an interesting story. In December, I'll get into editing and polishing. Of course, the challenge now is to ensure that this blog doesn't become an anything book.. I'll do my best!

So, the final statistics. In November writing month, I wrote 15,039 words of The Forgotten Children, plus 7025 words for 2 contracted pieces of work. That's a grand total of 22 064 words for the month, or an average of 735 words per day. Not bad!

But enough of the stats. Here is "the end of the end!" Thanks for reading! (Oh and Emma - watch out for Peg...)
****
Everything seemed to happen in slow motion. The owl dived at Sixpence, who leapt out of the way, hissing and spitting. In the sudden silence, the children awoke from their trance. On seeing Hannah, Charlotte gave a cry of joy and raced towards her. The other children followed. Richard and Sarah grabbed their hands and pushed them one by one through the hole in the rock, which was already beginning to close.

Desperately, the stranger tried to grab the pipe, but his leg was bleeding and he limped painfully. Troy was faster. Sprinting to where the pipe lay, he picked it up with a cry of triumph.
“You will not control us anymore!” he yelled at the stranger. He ran towards the rock, confident that the injured man could not follow him. But just as he ran through the entrance, he heard a frantic cry.
“Troy! Help me! Please help me!”

Turning, Troy saw James. In the commotion, the young boy had tripped and was struggling to get to his feet. Troy began to run back towards him. With a screech, the owl flew in front of James, so close that Troy could feel the beating of its wings. The bird perched on the shoulders of the terrified James, who sobbed as the sharp talons dug into his flesh. Before Troy knew it, he was looking into the eyes of the bird. Immediately, he heard the voice of the stranger in his mind.

Leave him, said the voice. You have no time left. The rock is closing! Leave the boy with me. He is of no use in your village. He wants to stay here anyway.
Troy shook his head, trying to rid his mind of the hypnotizing voice. “He does not,” he said. “He wants to come back with us.”
James continued to sob. It was too late. He was trapped. “Save yourself, Troy,” he cried. “I do not matter.”
You see? The voice was insistent. He wants to stay.
With an almighty effort, Troy tore his eyes away from the bird. “No!” he yelled. He ran at the owl waving his arms, causing the to rise into the air once more. He grabbed James’ hand and together they took the last few steps towards the rock. With the rumbling loud in their eyes, they dived into the hole. Dimly, Troy was aware of an angry, almost inhuman howl behind them as the rock closed.


“Oh, thank God! They are all right!” Sarah was sobbing as Richard helped a shaken Troy and James to their feet. Troy looked over to see the rest of the group sitting on the ground nearby. The children, who looked dazed and confused, were being comforted by their relieved parents. Charlotte sat enveloped in her mother’s arms. On her lap sat Sixpence, who was purring loudly and looked quite proud of himself.

“Mama?” Charlotte said. “How did you.. When did you.. I don’t understand.”
“I will explain everything when we get home,” said Hannah. She looked around at the others. “I think we should all go home,” she said. “I don’t know about you, but I have no wish to stay on this mountainside any longer.”

Moments later, the group traipsed back along the twisting and turning path towards the village. No one but Sixpence noticed the mule that brayed as they passed by. Peg looked at Sixpence, who was travelling contentedly in Charlotte’s arms.
You found them then, Peg seemed to say and Sixpence miaowed in response.
The village lights blinked invitingly as the party made their way to their cottages and fell into an exhausted sleep.

***
“No! I won’t allow it!”
The next morning, Sarah was protesting loudly as a meeting of the village was held. Troy stood at the front of the group, the stranger’s pipe in his hand.
“But I have to, Mama,” he said. “It is only right. I will be perfectly safe.”
“No.” Sarah shook her head again. “We are fortunate that everyone survived,” she said. “Why on earth would you want to go back up the hillside and risk being taken again?”
“I won’t be taken,” said Troy. “I have the pipe and I resisted the owl. I will be quite safe. But if I don’t do this, we may be in danger again. Would you want other children to be taken in the future?”
“Of course not,” said Sarah, defeated.

Charlotte stepped forward to stand next to Troy.
“Troy is right,” she said. “The stranger spoke of a debt unpaid. He did rid the town of the rats. You all promised to pay him, but you didn’t. That’s why he took us. If he isn’t paid, the debt will remain and he might come back.”
“Besides,” said Troy. “I won’t go through the rock. I am just going to play the pipe so that the entrance is visible. Then I can throw the stranger’s fee through the opening. The rock will close again and the debt will be paid.”
“Then we can destroy the pipe, so that this never happens again,” added Charlotte. She looked around the group of adults, who were reluctantly nodding.

At last, Richard stepped forward. “Very well,” he said. “But I will go. It was my fault in the first place that the stranger was not paid. I will not put you all in danger again.”
“But I want to go,” said Troy.
“So do I,” said Charlotte.
“And I,” said James.
“We are part of this village,” said Troy. “Soon we will be adults ourselves. You can trust us with this task.”

Hannah stood up. “Our children have shown more wisdom than we did,” she said. “We should let them go. But we will be close by.”
“Let’s go now,” said James. “It is full daylight. The owl will be sleeping. It will be safer.”
“James is right,” said Troy. “Come on!”

A short while later, they were standing back in front of the rocks. Despite their bravado, all the children looked uneasy. Troy held the pipe to his lips. “Here we go,” he said. He began to play and the music filled the air. But in his hands, the melody sounded different. Instead of an intoxicating tune, the notes were gentle.
“You see?” whispered Hannah to Sarah. “Our children are making peace.” She smiled as Charlotte stepped forward, a heavy cloth bag in her hand. As the rock opened, she flung the bag through the hole.
“There!” she called. “Our debt is paid! Now you can leave us alone!”

The bag disappeared through the opening and Troy stopped playing. Everyone watched in silence as the gap in the rock closed.
Troy held the pipe out towards James. “Would you like to do the honours?” he asked.
James smiled. He placed the pipe on the ground in front of him and took a step back. He removed the small axe that he had slung over his shoulder and brought it down on the pipe, splintering the wood into many pieces.
“It is over!” called Troy. “Now let’s all go home.”
The cheers of the crown echoed around the mountainside.

***
It was night. A limping figure prowled the shadows, stopping to pick up a cloth bag from the foot of the tree. “Well well well…” he said softly. He spread out his cloak with a flourish and immediately a large owl swooped down from the sky, dropping a small bundle at the man’s feet.
The stranger picked up the pieces of wood and a smile spread slowly across his face.
“Well done, my night wanderer,” he said. Carefully, he opened the bag and dropped the pieces of wood inside.
“It is time we were on our way,” he said. He dropped his cloak and together they disappeared into the dark.