Adam and Eve 3/5

Eve, this time accompanied by her husband, once again took the bus to town and walked along the path which eventually led to the spot where Leah had opened the door to the alternate world. Adam was careful not to disturb the post holes which were already there, but placed his own posts a few inches away.

Once the door was open Eve had a quick look through and was delighted to find a view of the river just below the bridge where the troll lived. Over to the left she could also see the cliff road which she knew led round to the timber yard. Everything appeared to be normal and just as she remembered it. She deactivated the door after they’d both passed through and together they went for a walk.

Adam was delighted with the water wheel which was in use driving a saw cutting logs into planks. He also saw two of the company carts with the red and white badges painted on their sides. Both of them had just delivered logs and were being re-loaded with newly sawn planks.

“This is wonderful, we’ve obviously found an easier way of travelling around this world, I wonder why nobody has done it before? It would save a lot of effort if doors were arranged in the right places. Let’s go back and re-position our door and see where we get to this time.”

Once they had returned to their starting point Adam thought for a moment.

“Now then, judging by our previous experience if I move the posts about a foot forward, we would end up in the river. I wonder what happens if I turn them ninety degrees to the right?

He followed his own suggestion and Eve opened the door. One thing was certain; they had definitely not landed in the river.

“I don’t recognise this place at all,” said Eve as she stepped out into their new location. “It looks quite pretty though.”

The couple had arrived in the bottom of a very steep sided valley. A waterfall ran down one end, into a river which followed the valley all the way down until eventually disappearing underground at the far end. A few small cottages could be seen, while almost in the exact middle of the valley was a larger building with a sign on the front. There was nobody to be seen and now that Eve was looking more carefully, the whole place had a run down uncared for atmosphere about it.

Eve left the door open; just in case they needed to get away in a hurry and together they walked towards the largest building to see if they could find anyone about. All the cottages were in a very poor state of repair. They didn’t look as if they’d had a coat of paint for years. There was still no one to be seen and they began to wonder if the whole place had been abandoned. Eventually as they got closer to the large building they could read the sign, ‘The Happy Valley Saloon’

“Well I don’t know about you, but I could do with a drink after all this time,” said Eve, “I’ve got plenty of the sort of money they use round here, so if there’s anyone inside there shouldn’t be any problems.”

Adam went inside first just to make sure the building was safe, took one look and said “It’s OK, there are people in here!”

It was quite dark inside especially after coming in from the bright sunshine; it was a great contrast to the bright cheerful atmosphere of the George and Dragons in Lurbridge. As her eyes became used to the dim light she could see that there were certainly a lot of customers sitting at tables inside the saloon.

She had become used to the fact that people in the alternate world, were normally shorter than the inhabitants of her own world, but strangely, everyone in here seemed to be even shorter than usual. If it hadn’t been a public house she would have thought they were all children, not only that but most of them appeared to be asleep.

She walked up to the bar and asked for two beers. The barman opened one eye sleepily.

“Ain’t got no beer lady there’s ‘moonshine’, ‘firewater’, ‘mothers ruin’ or ‘rot gut’. Take your pick it’s all free, that’s why it’s called Happy Valley.”

Adam and Eve looked at each other in horror. “I think we ought to leave,” said Eve quietly and headed for the door.