Lost

You enter the walled garden and before you shivers a small girl, her hair is unkempt and her face is buried in filthy hands.

She is crying and there is know one but you for comfort. You step closer and see her shawl is finely made but thread bare, the silver brocade is dull and old.

You notice her bare feet, which are dirty and bony and look more like stone or alabaster than flesh. She is tiny, a mere waif but crying so hard her shoulders are shaking. A deep sadness comes over you and you gently touch her shoulder.

She jumps at this shocked and withdraws as if you were going to hit her but then calms and controls herself her eyes wild and sharp like a cornered animal. Her gaze then locks upon yours and you realise she is not a young girl but a Faery.

Help me. she says and now there is only one purpose in your life, nothing else in the world matters. All you manage to say is how? as you speak the words seem to come from the earth, like the sound of a shovel being pushed into the ground.

You feel dizzy, light headed and she sees this in you, as if she can see right through you to your feelings and emotions.

She gathers herself and it is obvious she is thinking about where to start, with another glance at you and a little shrug of the shoulders it is obvious that her assessment is complete and not particularly favourable!! Here sit in the arbour beneath the Wisteria for a moment. She pulls her shawl tight and waits for you. If you are to help me then I cannot promise to protect you. I have waited here many years and still I am unable to unwind the charm that has tethered me here. But perhaps together it can be un done.

She frowns lightly and her tears are rubbed dry.

It is obvious that her spirits lift at the prospect of your assistance, but what must you do, and what is this tethering charm and more to the point, how can this charm be lifted?

You ask all these without saying a word and she replies I know you know nothing of the Faery realm or its ways, but they are here always, in the same way you cannot see radio waves, or though walls.

We exist like the comb of the honey bee, side by side, all the same but not the same. And I am stuck here away from my home, but if we are quick, and work together we can un-stitch this charm and I will be free. I need to tell you about charms, and enchantments. They are made of five parts, but all are as important as each other.

The first is the word

It is the shape of words as they leave your tongue, the way they rise from inside and flow on your breath.

When I ask you to speak out loud, I expect it to be done, you must pledge this now or our time will end here. Please pledge to me, out loud now these words, and this charm shall begin to unravel.

All in your party must say

I will help thee, Faery Queen.

It is important, it is the start and we must start well.

Say it now.

Have you all spoken?

I can hear Typhus coming, so we must move from here and begin, come quickly, you must do this next task without delay.

To protect you from any ill effects of contact with the Faery realm you must gather a leaf or twig from the Mulberry tree, only a small one as they are fragile things trees and I sleep in their arms often.

She is the largest tree in the Garden and bears the sweetest fruits. Place the leaf or twig in your left hand and go to the gate that leads into the next garden. As you pass the gate you must blow words through the key hole. This is what you must say and Typhus will not follow so easily.

lock thee behind me.

Blow these words through the key hole and hold your leaf fast for it will be needed later.

Have all done as requested?

Good.

The Queen draws you through the gate and next garden then on to the Dove Cot.

Typhus will not be long behind us, this place is nasty in my world, and the stink of it should help us be swift away from him.

He will pleasure himself here and be lost for a time, and time is what we need.

She turns to you and says.

The second part of an enchantment is movement, this could be about a place,

a dance,

a gait,

or the negative of this,

stillness and calm,

these are important too.

Now kiss your leaf or charm, keep it in your left hand and step in to the Dove cot.

Those that have courage should do this alone, and those who covert fear should close the door and count three breaths.

Do it now, before reading on.

Your trail will be lost in the mire to Typhus.

When all have done as bidden, then we shall away to the well.

As we journey pick up a little stone or pebble, only small though, perhaps the size of a ravens eye, and no bigger than a marble.

You will need it at the well.

Here in the wall you see the well,

oh no!

it is gated, I shall not be able to pass through this way.

She is obviously disturbed by this and her plans need to change.

No matter, still let us discover the depth of the ground waters. Drop your stones, one at a time and count till you hear the sound of the waters beneath.

The ground waters rise with season and tide, and she listens along with you as you drop the stones.

When all in your party have done this then we can progress.

These sounds will possibly call Typhus to our position.

I said before that all enchantments were made of five parts,

One, the word, you spoke through the lock.

Two, movement we are about the village, weaving and unpicking the charm as we go.

The third part is Earth,

matter that is alive or dead,

is from ancient times or stolen fresh,

stones,

sticks,

water,

glass.

All of these make the substance of the charm.

Now up the hill to the Butter Cross it is on the village boundary and is an old safe place, from there we can rest a moment and gather ourselves. Come it is not far.

She leads the way up hill, as you wonder what the other two parts of a charm might be.

The Faery is resting on the stones of the Butter Cross enjoying the broad sky.

The spell is unwinding as we speak here look.

She shows her wrists and dangling from them are two chords, they hang loose but where they meet flesh they bind under the skin more like a vein.

This then runs around her wrists many times like a blue worm.

This is the winding charm and I am becoming free. She skips and dances with a lightness that seems not of this earth.

When I was young we came here on the 1st of May to dance and sing.

We would come when the dew was fresh on the ground and the birds singing strong for the dawn chorus.

They were special days long ago now.

She goes to the Ash tree as you rest and after a while finds a leaf that seems fitting for her. This she brings back to the cross and says

Even Ash I thee do pluck
Hoping thus to bring me luck
If no luck thee brings to me
Then I wish that I had left thee upon the tree.

Do you still have your Mulberry twig or leaf?

If not you should do as I have from the Ash tree here.

We will need the leaf at the waters edge, and perhaps a lot more.

Where are we going? you ask

Down into the village, and there these shackles should be finally free from me by the river. A beaming smile is on her face and you feel like the sun is shining on your very soul.

But there are a few places we must stop on the way there.

If you find any feathers they will be handy. She says matter of fact like and empty snail shells, they will be useful too, or anything else that seems interesting of shape to you.

You are not sure what, interesting, really means, and she sees your confusion, so answers before you are capable of forming words.

As I said the third part of an enchantment is matter,

it could be a stone with a hole in it,

a nut,

or sheep wool from the fence.

But more important than this, is the very act of you finding it, and collecting it.

Have you ever found a mossy stick whilst on a walk and taken it home? That is what you must do now, find what ever you can, look in the branches, along the walls, in the hedge backs, keep your eyes peeled and bring your hoard for it is powerful and can be used to strip this enchantment.

She then kisses the butter cross stone and sets off down the hill back into the village with a positive gait.

You are expected to follow to the Church yard.

Slowly through the church yard gate, she passes as light as the wind in the summer, looking along the path edges all the time, her arms are now full of petals and feathers, little bits of string and ribbon.

She has collected these since the Butter Cross but how you are totally bemused as you have hardly seen anything worth picking up.

Do not worry, there are plenty of special things between here and the Bridge for you to collect.

Do not be afraid it is your choice now scout around the yard here and do your best to find what you can, for with them we will make charms.

She sits down and becomes totally focused on her task of making little charms with the feathers and leaves she has collected.

She sings a pretty song and as she does, you begin to understand the fourth part of the charm.

It is about the sequence of events, a little like baking a cake with all the ingredients and processes happening in the proper order.

Find a comfy spot and thread the things you have found together, you are welcome to use the Mulberry leaf if this fits with your other findings. The church is beautiful inside and can provide a more congenial working space for your little treasures if the weather is inclement.

You may make a single piece as a group or lots of little pieces it is your choice, but please use organic material.

This is also a good spot to take pictures of your charms.

When you are ready she is waiting for you at the southern entrance to the Church Yard, leading down West street.

As you follow you see the trails of her binding charm dragging on the ground like wet rope, she seems unaware of this and goes down mill lane to the left.

Follow the metal finger posts to Gallox Bridge, that is your next stop.

No whistling by the waters edge please, she says as you follow, for Typhus will be summoned.

Come onto the bridge, over the water for here the spell is weakest.

She leans over and stares into the water up stream for sometime, her charms have been placed in a neat line along the wall above the water, you are amazed at how prolific she has been. It appears she has found a birds skull as well as a dried toad amongst her hoard. All these have been sewn into neat and simple charms.

Then she turns to you and speaks.

What have you made? Good, good, that will be useful.

As you hold these parcels tight, think strong thoughts of the winding charm being undone.

This is also a good place to capture a still of your charms before they leave your hands for ever.

All together, count to three then all throw your wishes into the stream so they flow under the bridge.

As they fall to the water speak these words to release my bonds.

Faery Queen,

Faery Queen,

unwind the charm about me,

Your all drop your wishes into the flow and see whose comes out the other side first, but as you watch the waters flow turns blacker and then there is a splash.

You look about but the Faery is not with you, has she fallen, has she jumped?!

Then you see her floating beneath the water flowing away down stream!!

Fast you must try and catch her.

No, not this one, go further down the next bridge crosses the river again below the castle, and there is no fence.

You are just in time, over by the Bamboo bushes and Gunner roots you haul her from the icy water.

Is she dead, can she die?

She is sopping wet and lifeless, where is her breath, did she breath before?

You shake her, the water soaking into your clothes, running down your legs. You push the wet hair away from her eyes then see the chords still attached to her wrists.

The winding charm is not yet broken. What can now be done?

You feel an immense sadness engulf you.

Then she coughs and splutters, leaving a big pool of the river by your side. She is slow and drawn from her ordeal but eventually stands and looks at you wondering if the charm can ever be broken.

What went wrong. you ask.

I jumped into the river with the charms, that is when the sequence was right, but it was not enough. She shakes her arms and the chords shake too still attached.

There is more to do before I am free.

She reaches beneath her dress, she pulls out a pendant of Amethyst and inside is a tiny silver key.

Perhaps this will be all that is needed.

She pulls herself together slowly and then stands.

Quietly she says come.

You follow a little damper, and shaken, thinking how this will end. She takes you across the fields to a copse of great trees.

You watch as she approaches the ancient tree with respect, as if she is in the court of an ancient and great King.

Around the tree she walks until she spies a tiny hole in the trunk, then she puts the silver key in the hole.

It appears that this turns in a hidden lock and then a huge door opens and you see inside.

There hanging like human flesh is a slow beating heart, glowing and full of the life force within the mighty Oak.

She reaches gently inside. Then bang, the door slams and the Faery is spat across the lawn and is lying on her back laughing.

In her hand is a red orb, is it the heart of the tree?

Would she have stolen the heart of the mighty Oak!

Why would she do a thing like that, you are aghast and a bit shocked.

Up and running now again she is gone out of sight over the hill without any explanation.

Surly this will all end soon, but by the way she is moving you feel certain that the end is truly in sight.

You follow up and over the crest of the hill to the kiln, not wanting to miss this.

She is inside the Pottery Kiln with the heart of the Oak, the bars seem no problem to her here.

There is only one chord now attached to a little part of her wrist and she knows that she is nearly free.

Good, this is the last thing I shall ask of you my love, we have come far around this village and I have been locked in the garden for more moons than I can count, but you have released me.

This is the last gate way, and she points to the Kiln.

The fifth is the will, the minds want and the hearts desires.

Holding a thought is the precious thing in itself, it is a human purpose that drives all the elements together and completes the charm. This charm is an unwinding one, it is a seam that we have picked apart to reveal the patterns of cloth.

All I ask is that you join hands, all in your party must do this, ring a roses style.

Then circle widdershins, which is counter to the movement of the sun in the sky.

Go faster and faster until you fall in laughter then the release shall be complete.

Quickly now for Typhus approaches, he listens through the ground water, and when I opened the tree he knew it was me.

You join hands and begin to unpick the last of the charm.

The last of the spell unwinds.

and the Faery is gone.

A small man fully formed but the size of a boy, approaches swiftly on foot from the south. Is he Typhus?

His eyes are the same as the Faery.

What have you done! He says reaching into the kiln and picking up the red heart of the Oak.

Around it lie the blue tethers from the Faerys wrists, dripping and heavy like sea weed.

The heart no longer glows full with life but is dimming and spent.

I must put this back as best I can, before the tree is forsaken, wait here until I return.

Typhus runs to the Mighty Oak, leaving you confused and bemused as to what has just happen.

The Faery has gone, released from the binding charm, but what was the cost, the soul of an Oak tree?

And now she is gone, you think more clearly without her Faery charms to taint your judgment. Typhus now returns to you.

You have questions which I cannot answer,

Who was she?

Why was she imprisoned?

What did she do to be punished so?

I am bound by the court of the Faery realm and cannot tell you why, but I can tell you this.

Her theft of the trees heart is the least of her crimes, she is the poisoner of dreams, she is the blue mould on your bread, she is a trickster across the two worlds.

Her entrapment has kept a peace for a time, but now that she is free she will bring vengeance and vitriol to us all.

Typhus then thinks for a minute then says, but perhaps all is not lost.

He looks inside the Kiln and then turns to you again.

You have helped unstitch this jailing charm but all can be reset. You were not aware of the evil of the Faery, but now that you are, all can be turned around.

Typhus seems rather pleased with himself and this new possibility.

All you must do now is go to the Yarn Market, it is the heart of the village and the church of the Ancient Oaks.

Go there and touch every standing timber and she will be imprisoned again.

That is all.

It is a simple task, but you have walked the girth of the village today, you must be tired,

is there one amongst you who still has the strength for this?

That will be the end and the circle complete, whistle on your way for the sound of the song will heal the charm.

Typhus points down hill away from the castle towards the coast and says

It is easiest to go down the field here, and round the back of this building, then walk back into the village up the Steep.

Touch every upright timber of the building and the re stitching of the charm is complete.

Well done, you may sleep well now knowing that the Faery will not foul your dreams and is safely trapped in the walled garden once more.

The small trickster is imprisoned again, and hopefully this time her jailer will be more proactive in his job, for she nearly slipped through his fingers this time.

Perhaps you may visit her again, and if you look closely at the beams in the Yarn Market you will see a canon ball hole from the civil war.

Thank you for playing the Winding Charm.

I hope you enjoyed the experience and wove some beautiful spells.

I am very interested in the artefacts you have made, so please share, and email me through www.storywalks.info or chris@storywalks.info

The cache is hidden in the flowerbed, which is to the left of the porch of the Luttrel Arms Hotel. There is a half stone sphere and it sits on top in the wall. It is located with full permissions of the owners but is very public so good luck signing and retrieving, perhaps you should grab the box and a coffee to read previous walkers comments.


Kind regards

Christopher Jelley

Storywalks have been created primarily with support from Number Seven Dulverton, with additional funds from Creative Pathways Professional Development Project funded by Somerset County Council CIDF LARC funding (Local Action for Rural Communities)

All rights reserved Christopher Jelley