Dark Harbour: The Tale of the Soul Searcher Read Free

had the last laugh. Casting a spell in the woods, he strode to the giant tree in the centre, a great oak that was hundreds of years old, and on one of the branches he carved an angel that would keep the evil spirits away.
    Jeremy certainly couldn’t see any ghosts as they walked deeper into the woods, but, even so, he held onto his grandfather’s hand tightly.
    ‘Take me to the angel, Granddad! I want to see the angel!’
    ‘Okay, I’ll take you there. We have to go right to the heart to find her.’
    ‘Do you know the way?’
    ‘Of course I do, my boy! But you can’t tell anyone about her. She’s a secret.’
    Ulric led Jeremy off the main path and in amongst the trees. After fighting their way through the thick growth of bracken and branches that all seemed to reach out and pull them back from their route, they eventually reached the magnificent oak.
    ‘Here she is,’ Ulric announced. ‘The oldest tree of the woods. The oldest and the wisest.’
    It was very majestic, its monstrous limbs reaching for the heavens like the arms of an almighty ogre. It didn’t take Jeremy long to find the carving; his enthralled eyes were magnetised to her before Ulric had even raised his finger to point her out.
    Two feet tall, dressed in flowing robes, her wings were unfurled as though she was magically floating within the timber. Despite the shadow of the canopy, the carving just happened to be at such a point where the sunlight trickled its way through the leaves to illuminate her. She looked radiant, almost as if she was generating the light herself, shining her protective spirit over the woodland.
    As they left the angel behind them, Jeremy wondered how his grandfather knew so much about this place. He just seemed to know everything . The young boy hoped that one day he could be like his grandfather, that he could be so clever and insightful. He hoped that one day people would be in awe of him.
    On the other side of the woods, just a short walk through some wild flower meadowland, was the cove. Ulric had been quite spirited trailing through the woods, but by the time they arrived at the shore he was a little solemn.
    The ageing guardian led Jeremy to the top of a cliff that looked down onto the sea. For about a quarter of an hour he just stood there watching the waves dancing over the rocks. Jeremy did not speak.
    The whispering sound of the crashing surf began to draw the boy into a comforting corner of his mind. He felt lulled by the soothing sensation, feeling cleansed of the unhappy feelings that were polluting his life.
    In this trance, he continued to gaze on the effervescent waves as they swept over the beach, making the grains of sand glisten in the brilliant sunshine as though the sea was scattering jewels across the shoreline.
    Jeremy eventually looked across to his grandfather and it seemed that the salty air was stinging the old man’s eyes. Ulric ran his fingers through his thinning grey hair and then circled his palm over the back of his head, almost as though he was trying to massage his own mind.
    So many questions began to fill Jeremy’s head and he wondered if he should voice any of them. He thought about all the other broken people that had presumably come to Moonlight Cove over the years and he wondered whether they found what they were looking for. He wanted to know how these moonlight-reflecting waters were able to perform such magic. He wanted to know what other secrets were to be unveiled within this town.
    Just as a question seemed to find itself on the tip of Jeremy’s tongue, Ulric drew in a deep breath of sea air and turned to his grandson. He took his hand and then led him away from the sea, back home to the flat. But Jeremy would soon be back here. Sooner than he would have expected.
     
    Ulric went out that evening and left Simon to keep an eye on his brother. He told them he was going to see a friend and that he would return around eleven. Jeremy was easy to baby-sit though. With his Star