Beyond the Wall
an excerpt

Chapter 1
Stumbling over the uneven ground, Mike Burrows knew he should turn around and go home. I should face Brian and tell him what I saw, he thought. I should give him a chance to explain. Something moved to his left. He stopped and peered into the growing darkness. He hadn’t realised it was so late. It would be dark soon, he thought as he listened and watched for whatever had caught his attention. Only the sound of traffic fro the road he had detoured from filled the twilight around him. A blast of a horn sounded. Mike jumped and looked around as though he half expected the car to be right behind him honking him out of its way.
He’d never been in this part of the woodlands before and he thought the trees were taking on eerie shapes in the half dark. Branches from either side of the narrow path seemed to stretch out and over him like old gnarled fingers. Witches fingers was the thought that popped into his mind at that moment.
Mike straightened taking a deep breath. Now I’m being stupid, he thought. “Witches fingers” he scoffed out loud. A fourteen year old boy afraid of a few trees.
Mike wandered for awhile longer trying to make sense of what he saw his brother do. He’d always looked up to Brian. He was proud that his brother had just been picked to captain the kangaroos next football season. Many people and even more children looked up to Brian. If what Mike saw got out it would ruin Brian’s career and worse still would impact on their family badly.
A sound startled Mike once more out of his reverie. He stepped off the path to see but hesitated when he hear what sounded like a sob. He listened. Another then another sounded until they joined together and Mike knew it was a child crying.
He rounded a ghost gum and in the moonlight he thought at first he was looking at a pixie or some other brightly dressed magic bush creature. It had its face covered by his arm enclosed in an oversized purple sleeve.
“What’s wrong?” Mike asked. “Are you lost?”
The child dropped his arm from his wet red face. “Yes”, he said and hiccoughed.
“What’s your name?” Mike asked, trying to sound not dangerous in the least.
The boy hiccoughed again. “Mern.”
What a weird name, Mike thought as he moved alongside the child and crouched on his haunches. ‘Where do you live?”
A low rumble sounded beneath the pair immediately followed by the ground shaking. Mike threw his hand against the white trunk of the tree. “What in—” But his question was cut off by another loud rumble.
The boy threw his body against Mike. “I’m scared,” he cried.
Mike was confused. It was definitely a tremor but earthquakes just didn’t happen in Townsville.
A crack sounded on the other side of the path. Mike lifted his head in time to see a tree falling toward them. He scooped the small boy up and rolled both of their bodies out of the way. The ground shook as the tree crashed to earth.
The tremors kept moving like waves beneath them. First a rumble like a cornered dogs low growl then the wave. Mike didn’t know how long he lay there with boy in arms wondering if the ghost gum roots could hold on but just as he expected the tremors to increase into a fully fledged earthquake they stopped. Mike waited a few minutes before he relaxed and let go of the boy. He hadn’t realised just how tense his muscles in his arms were until he released them. He hoped he didn’t hurt the boy as he pried his arms out from around the child.
“Are you okay?” he asked the boy.
The boy’s scared green eyes blinked and he nodded.
Mike shook his head and looked around. He could only see the one fallen tree but he assumed there would be many more. Standing up, he patted the gum and silently thanking it for its strength.
“This is strange,” he said more to himself than the boy as he watched what could only be described as a mist blanket the moon and descend on the forest. His family only had just moved to Townsville from Brisbane but he had researched the area as soon as his father had told them he was being transferred to Townsville barracks. Mike had learned Townsville was a ? city and it was sub tropical in climate. Hot nearly all year around except for a few cold weeks in July. It was October now and already the daytime temperatures were climbing over the thirty degree centigrade mark. So, Mike thought, holding his arm out in front of him and not being able to see his hand, the mist could be fog. I guess they get fog in north Queensland but that doesn’t explain the earthquake. I never read anything about earthquakes here.
Mike crouched down again and was surprised the fog didn’t reach the ground. Although it was dark his eyes adjusted enough that he could see the boy’s now blotchy face.
“I want to go home,” the boy said.
“Of course you do,” Mike said. “Which way do you think it is?”
The boy stood up and pointed behind Mike.
“Okay,” Mike said, taking in Mern’s appearance. Curly brown hair flopped over his ears. His oversized shirt was orange with purple sleeves and it was tied at the neck with a red chord. Like something hippies might wear, Mike thought. The boys green shorts stopped just below his knees and he didn’t wear any shoes. Mike looked closer at his feet. Mern, or someone else, had glued little white wings to the back of his heels.
“Were you going to a fancy dress party?” Mike asked, pointing to the wings.
“What is a fancy dress party?” Mern asked.
“It’s a party where you get dressed up.”
“I have been to parties,” Mern said, “and we do wear our best clothes. Is that what you mean?”
Mike shook his head and felt his forehead crease into a frown. “What’s with the wings then?”
“I am a messenger.”
“Oh,” Mike laughed. “Of course, they make you go faster don’t they?”
“Yes.”
“Okay little messenger, lets get you on your way. You mother will be having a fit by now.” Mike stood back up and saw that the fog had disappeared. “It must be past your dinner time.” He took the boys hand and turned around. A giant grey wall not three steps away, blocked their way. “What the?”
The moons beams now free to travel to the earth shone and shimmered on the metal. A metal wall, Mike thought. In the middle of nowhere. He looked up but couldn’t see the top. Nor could he see where it ended in either direction. He wondered if it stretched on forever but quickly decided it only looked that way because it was night. In the daylight it probably wouldn’t look so big either, he thought. It’s just a wall between gardens or something. Two doors about three meters apart stood in front of them.
“Which one’s yours, Mern,” Mike asked thinking once more that the boy had the weirdest name he’d ever heard.
“I don’t know.”
“Well it’s got to be one of them.” Mike tightened his grip on the boy’s hand. “Come on.”
Mike pulled but the boy didn’t budge. “Now what’s the matter? Scared there might be a big dog behind the wrong door? Don’t worry, kid, I can handle dogs.”
“No one can know what’s behind the doors,” Mern said clearly terrified. “I was lucky I found you but there could be monsters,” he eyed the doors warily one by one, “in there.”
“Now you’re just being a dimwit,” Mike said and yanked Mern toward the nearest door. “We may as well try door number one.”
“No,” Mern yelped as Mike pulled the door open. Sunlight poured through the opening and Mike knew his mouth was wide open but he didn’t seem to have the wherewithal to shut it. He spun his head around. Night this side, he peered back through the door, day that side. Impossible, he thought. As he was staring at the rolling green plain before him, Mern ducked under his arm.
“It looks like my world,” he said as he barrelled through the doorway.
Mike followed him and immediately wished he hadn’t. The slam of the door behind him had him wheeling on his heels. There was no handle on that side of the door. Mike felt the metal, hard but smooth, against his palms. He slid his hands all over the door but could find no indentation or sign that there was ever a handle.
He let his shoulders slump as he stood back and took in the length and height of the wall. He could see it clearly in the sunlight. Its height stretched up and into the puffy white clouds and to the right it appeared to shrink towards the horizon but to his left the wall disappeared into a forest. Maybe that’s where it ends, he thought as Mern’s sobs distracted him.
“What’s the matter?” Mike stepped beside the boy.
“This isn’t my home,” Mern cried, rubbing his eyes with his tiny fists.
“This is not my home world,” Mern shouted and cried and flung his arms about.
Mike didn’t even try to stop the gasp from retching from his throat as he watched Mern’s feet run on the spot faster and faster until Mike could only see a blur where the boy’s feet were supposed to be.
He blinked in disbelief and in that instant, Mern ran towards the forest and before Mike could guess that the first trees were at least a kilometre if not more away the boy was back again.
Tears ran down his cheeks. “We lost my father through those doors now my mother and sister have lost me.”
Mike tried to concentrate on what the child was saying but all he could do was stare at Mern’s feet. “You really are fast,” he said though he knew he sounded stupid.
“I told you, I am a messenger. Messengers have to be fast.”
“Of course, how dumb of me not to realise that,” Mike said trying to collect his thoughts. “Hang on you said this wasn’t your home world. What exactly did you mean by that?”
“My world is different,” Mern said. “Just as yours is.”
“We’re not on Earth?”
“I don’t know where we are but I’m scared that we’ll never see our worlds again. My world is called Salteren.”
“Never heard of it,” Mike said as rolling thunder grew in his ears. “Shush. Listen.”
Mern looked like he held his breath for a moment, before saying, “It sounds like horses.”
Mike didn’t have to strain to hear the thundering hooves behind them. They turned from the forest and all Mike could see was a wide black horse’s chest bearing down on him. He flung his arms up to protect his face and head at the same time falling to his knees.

Chapter 2
“Hankley, get here,” one of Shankley’s heads said.
“Yeah, Hankley, you better get down here now,” head number two said, shaking a tight fist above both of their heads.
“What are you yelling about Shankley one and Shankley two? Can’t you see that I’m busy?” Hankley floated into view, long brown robe filled with air and a three tiered sandwich.
“Yeah,” Shankley one said, “feeding your fat face again.”
“Someone’s got to do it,” Hankley said around a mouthful of ham and cheese sandwich. “You know,” he swallowed loudly, “with two mouths, you’d think you’d spend more time eating than anyone.”
Shankley two screwed up his nose and wiped wet crumbs from his cheek and the front of his white robe. “Look what you’ve done now,” he said jabbing his thumb down below them.
Hankley looked to where he pointed. “Oops. Not again.”
“Oops doesn’t even come to describe the trouble you’re in when I tell the great Oln,” Shankley two spat not caring that he showered Hankley in the least.
“Hang on, you were here too. So how can it be all my fault.”
“You were left with the simple job of watching the wall,” Shankley one said.
“Yeah,” Shankley two said, “we had to tell Oln about that little messenger kid.”
“Hey, that wasn’t my fault.”
Shankley two put a hand over Shankley one’s mouth and glared at Hankley. “You were supposed to make it invisible to any human who might come across it until we can figure out how to fix it. How hard could that have been? You are a real dunderhead, Hankley spankley.”
Hankley waved his arm and the black horse that was about to trample the human boy, jumped up and over the boy’s head. The three horses following veered around the boy.
He nodded his down at the still kneeling boy. “So where did he come from then?”
“Honestly, Hankley,” Shankley two said, “he obviously came through the door with the messenger boy from Earth. That’s where the little boy from Saracen went through to in the first place.”
“Oh, so he was trying to help the poor little blighter,” Hankley said smiling a sickly sweet smile. “Isn’t that nice?”
Shankley one shook Shankley two’s hand off his mouth. “Are we going to tell Oln, number two?”
“No,” Shankley two said.
Hankley grinned at both heads. “I thought you said you were going to tell.”
“Oln has enough to worry about,” Shankley two said. “He has to find out how the boy ran through the door in the first place. He thinks Gart might be back and playing tricks with him.”
“Gart?” asked Hankley.
“Yeah,” Shankley one said. “That’s Oln’s brother.”
“I know who Gart is,” Hankley said. “but I thought Oln had banished him from our plane after the last fiasco.”
“He did,” Shankley two said. “but Gart is smart and Oln thinks he might have found his way back.”