Black Feathers by Joseph D'Lacey Read Free Book Online

instinctively, Megan turns away from the river, its sparkles still glowing inside her eyes, and listens.
    “I’m an old man. Older than you think. But I wasn’t even thought of on the eve of the Bright Day. The first of the Keepers was there, though, and he showed those who followed him the way of remembering those times forever. We call it the eve of the Bright Day, but really those times went on for many years. Everyone thought the world would end and that people would be wiped out. It was a bad thing to dwell on. Belief can make things happen, you know. Perhaps that’s why we came so close to making it true.”
    Smoke obscures Mr Keeper’s face for a moment. He waves it away.
    “Ha! Listen to me, rambling already. Never let an old man tell a story unless you’ve got all day, remember that.
    “The point is, even though I wasn’t there, I saw it all. Every Keeper returns to those times. There’s a way back through the Weave but it only opens for a few. I wasn’t born until generations later but I was there in the time of the Crowman and the Black Dawn. By moving between the strands of the Weave and retrieving the events of those times, I proved myself a Keeper. The Crowman said he’d live on in all of us, that he’d keep the land strong if we kept his story alive. And we do still tell Crowman tales at festival time, don’t we? And we tell his stories at the fireside when winter comes.
    “Children are still frightened of the Crowman and I think the grown-ups are too. If he knocked on your door after dark, you’d take a fright, wouldn’t you? Anyone would. But that’s not because the Crowman is bad, it’s because he’s powerful. All good and all evil exist within him. He was powerful before the Black Dawn and the mightiest of people were frightened of him even then. Scarecrow, they called him. Or Black Jack. They made him out to be a monster.”
    Megan sees a wild fire in Mr Keeper’s eyes. She glances at her parents but they don’t notice it. The old man points his pipe at his audience, then at his chest.
    “He was just like you and me. A person. With a good heart. Good as ripe corn and pale ale. But he carried a burden – the burden of power. And that darkened him over the years. The more power you have, the more dangerous you become. Takes a strong back and a strong will to carry it. He had both, though I think sometimes he doubted it.
    “He charged the Keepers with keeping his story alive, even though he’s long gone. Before my own time comes I must find a new Keeper, a child with a strong back and courage enough to carry the story. They don’t come along very often, I can tell you, but when one does the Crowman will show himself to them, he’ll mark them out. That child must rediscover the story of the Crowman and keep it alive until they find the next Keeper. And that Keeper in their turn, the next. And so on. That way, the Crowman will always be with us.”
    Mr Keeper glances up as a cloud dulls the sparkles in the river. When it passes, he continues.
    “You don’t want to go back to a world without the Crowman. That really would be the end of everything.
    “There’s a little bit of him in all of us, you know. But he’s stronger in some than in others. It’s my belief that the Crowman came to Megan in Covey Wood today. This is nothing short of a miracle, because I was beginning to think a new Keeper for these parts would never come along.”
    “Are you saying that our M–”
    Mr Keeper’s glance at Megan’s father is enough to silence him.
    “She’s been chosen. All I can do is find out if she’s worthy. That will take time and it will mean no more schooling for her other than what she learns from me. I won’t be able to feed or house her – you’ll continue to do all of that. But she must spend six out of every seven days with me from before dawn until after sunset. If she’s worthy, one day she will return to you, not as Megan any more but as Keeper. And if she fails then