A Tale That Never Was [Book 1 of Selvina's Tale series]

Chapter 13: Quasimodo

As they reached the top of the stairs they came to a wooden door. Jack grabbed the handle and pushed against it. To their surprise it was unlocked and opened quietly, without a creak. Just as they crept through the doorway the bells began ringing in their mixed cadence. Large ones boomed like metallic thunder, echoing throughout the cathedral. Smaller ones that rang in high tones jingled and chimed, their notes rattling throughout the wooden beams and stone walls of the holy building. All bells of different sizes and tones sang their songs together, filling the evening sky with their music.

Meagre light filtered through windows in the large room they had entered and Selvina saw Jack staring at her with a great smile on his face. "The bell ringer!"

Selvina gulped. Was he real? "It might just be magic, Jack. They ring bells with magic here, right?"

Jack shrugged and glanced around. "Maybe, but I want to make certain." He waved her over as he walked deeper into the darkness. "Come on, Selvy, there's light at the end of this room."

Selvina grimaced, already tired of his nickname for her. She looked up, spotting huge wooden beams that crisscrossed over her head, disappearing into the blackness above. She then gazed around and saw planks of wood, large blankets of canvas, crates, barrels and various other mundane items. The place reminded her of a storage shed or an attic where people stored their junk. She followed Jack toward the grey light and the sound of the bells grew deafening. Looking up, she gasped when she saw them moving, high above. The light touched them just enough to give her the outline of the bells' sizes and they were swaying back and forth, their clappers banging against their sides resoundingly. She tried to find a rope or a chain that she could follow and hope to see someone pulling it but couldn't see anything as it was too dark.

"Selvina!" Jack exclaimed. "Look!"

The opal-eyed blonde turned around and saw Jack standing in front of a large beam of grey light that slanted down from atop a narrow wooden staircase. He waved her over excitedly and she hurried to reach his side. He pointed at the light and beyond it she could see smoky clouds racing through the sky and heard the sound of rain pattering against stone and wood. They ascended the stairs and held hands as it wobbled dangerously. There were two huge curtains of canvas blocking the rest of the view so they walked through the crack between them, where the light was streaming in from, and came upon a great balcony of stone. It stretched to their sides for at least fifty feet in both directions and extended outward for about half that amount. An ornate balustrade of stone rose up at the edges and gargoyles with pointed ears, fanged mouths, and clawed hands sat in the middle and at the corners of the balcony. The balcony was flanked by the massive bell towers that still rose high into the sky, even from the balcony's height of over a hundred feet. The bells stopped ringing as Selvina and Jack walked up to the edge and gazed out at the huge city of Our Lady, their mouths open with awe and their eyes wide with wonder.

The cold drops of rain pattered against Selvina's skin and dress and she couldn't help but smile. She glanced at Jack, who smiled back at her, and then looked ahead once more. Hundreds of rooftops spread out in all directions. Smoke rose out of some but not many, the plumes of grey twisting and curling and rising up into the sky, as if they were creating the grey clouds themselves. Beyond the city there was the dockyard and the forest of masts and sails of all the ships at port. Pulled up closer to the shore was a damaged frigate with tarps of canvas thrown over it. She could see small forms going in and out from under the crude canvas tent and assumed they were the carpenters repairing Jolly Roger, which the ship was, of course. Past the dockyard was the sea but the fog of rain prevented her from seeing much more than half a mile or so out from shore. She looked to the right where she saw great hills of trees and shrubs rise up and undulate into the shrouded distance. To her left was much the same but a thick forest of evergreens blanketed the hills like verdant fur. Since Jack was to her left she met his gaze once more and was about to tell him something when his pleased expression suddenly changed into one of shock.