Chapter 01 part ii

As Mary made her way along the path, the way grew a little wider; the subtle hint of the crashing waves behind her gave way to a sweet murmuring.  "The air seems cooler," Mary thought to herself, as the murmuring grew gently louder.  Moving along the path, Mary saw the walk bubbling up quietly from some unseen source; where the water flowed, along the path, the slope of the hill fell.  "Wow, natural spring water," Mary thought a she held her flask against the current.  The left and right side of the path were covered in a clear, clean stream, and the center of the path held rocks that continued the path, sloping upwards.  Having taken a few solid gulps and filling her flask, Mary hopped onto the first rock, being careful to land in the center.

"How curious," considered Mary, as she looked at the stepping stone.  "It appears to be made of wood but decorated as if it were stone."  Looking forward, Mary noted the stones continued on their steady path up the hill as the water meandered to hidden curves.  Several dozen steps forward Mary's stones led her to a bed of moss sitting atop a large stone outcropping.  Once atop the moss, Mary noted the edges were lined periodically with smooth stones.  "This moss seems particularly dry," thought Mary as she pulled several pieces of loose moss from the ground and stored it in her pack.  "I wonder if I'll need to grab some to start a bit of a fire.  Can't be too careful."

Fifteen yards from the edge of the moss, Mary noted the end of the moss and the beginning of a small clearing.  Walking in roughly the same direction found Mary nearing the center of the clearing.  Approaching the center, a small metallic object sitting on a base became visible; the slight wind whistled softly through several of its holes.  "I couldn't see that from the outside of the clearing," thought Mary as she drew closer to the object.  "I wonder what it does."

As Mary stood in front of the strange device, a picture of a long, metal tube appeared in her head.  "I can just remember sitting behind ... something," said Mary, as she walked around the base of the object.  "The ... tube was long, metal, and I kept looking through a small hole on the one end.  There was some sort of shape on the outside of the tube that was shaped just like this thing.  I wonder what it is."

Closer steps drew closer inspection and she realized the object sat on a small, stone well.  "How odd," Mary commented, as she walked around the well.  Stones in the well were held together with some kind of white cement; atop the well lay a small wooden stage; atop the stage lay the base of the strange metal object.  "If I could just touch it," said Mary as she considered the object.  "I feel as if things would make more sense."

After a moment's consideration, Mary said a quick prayer and touched the metal.  The soft brass sloped gracefully in on itself and various numbers identifying positions along the outer curve were comfortable to the touch.  "Whoever created this was a master craftsman," thought Mary as she slowly drew her finger along the outer edge of the brass circle.  "Who would have thought that a mariner's ...." said Mary as her mind almost recalled the name of the object.

"I have seen these before; old sailors used to ... why can't I remember?" asked Mary, as she gently touched the various components.  The other side of the outer circle revealed a separate brass circular disk labeled similar to the first; several free-moving arms were able to slide, one for each circle, and each arm ended in a small pointer.  "I can tell how to use it, I remember spending hours working with these things," brooded Mary as she lined up the arrow to her shadow.  "Why can't I remember what it does?"