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  THE SUN gODDESS

  of Cargill's Castle

  A YA fantasy novel

  A YA Novel by Neisha Nilsen

  Copyright © 2019 Neisha Nilsen

  ISBN:

  978-0-473-48048-6 (Softcover)

  978-0-473-48049-3 (Epub)

  978-0-473-48050-9 (Hardcover)

  978-0-473-48051-6 (Kindle)

  978-0-473-48052-3 (ibook)

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed or transmitted in any form or by any means, without prior written permission.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are a product of the author’s imagination. Locales and public names are sometimes used for atmospheric purposes. Any resemblance to actual people, living or dead, or businesses, companies, events, institutions, or locales is completely coincidental.

  I wrote this story for my beautiful daughter Brooke.

  I wanted to write something she could read as a young

  teenager, and here it is - my YA book

  "The Sun Goddess of Cargill's Castle."

  CHAPTER 1

  I followed the music as it enticed me closer towards its melody like the Pied Piper. I floated towards the sound, up some wide stairs and stopped in front of a pair of elaborately decorated wooden doors. Two butlers dressed in their black and white finery opened the doors for me and the music boomed out as it escaped its confines of the ballroom. It was magical. Women danced beautifully in brightly coloured dresses, their tiny waists pinched in with corsets, their hair piled high on their perfect heads, with small stray strands tickling their cheeks. Men were dressed in their finest black suits matched with their shiny black shoes. The men and women danced closely together in pairs and they looked spectacular. I looked up at the magnificent chandelier hanging from the ceiling and marveled at how the reflecting candlelight flickered and danced over the walls. I could feel the joy, feel the emotions of these people. I put my head back and laughed as I spun with my arms out wide. I knew this was a dream and what a great dream it was. I watched as a young brown haired girl around the age of ten, pull her father onto the dance floor. His smile touched my insides as he lifted his daughter and balanced her little feet on top of his perfectly black shiny shoes. Her squeal filled the room as they twirled around the dancefloor with her ringlets swinging wildly in the air behind her. The painted walls came alive with the shadows of the dancers, the fire and the candles. What a magical place, I didn’t want to leave, I had stepped back in time. The little girl looked at me as she was swept through the dancers and smiled at me. I nodded my head in acknowledgement. What a great Dad! I thought to myself, that little girl looks so happy.

  ◆◆◆

  “Brig!”

  I could hear someone calling my name.

  “Brig, time to get up!”

  The ballroom started to ripple and become watermarked as my mind started to wake up to the reality of my life. No, I didn’t want it to stop. I closed my eyes tighter, trying to crawl back to my dream, I wanted to dance, and I wanted to float.

  “Brig!” My Mum yelled from the bottom of the stairs. I knew she’d keep going until I answered her.

  “What!” Why can’t she go away so I can go back to sleep? I could hear her footsteps gently climbing up the stairs. Argh, I threw the blankets up over my head. Of all the mornings, why can’t I sleep in? A knock came next on my bedroom door. “I’m sleeping Mum.”

  The door squeaked gently open. “Brig” my Mum whispered. I could hear Winkles our cat meowing downstairs.

  I threw the blankets off me in a huff. “What!”

  My Mum smiled, “come on, get up.”

  “Why?” I moaned, “It’s the weekend.”

  “We’re going to Cargill’s Castle this morning.”

  “What?”

  “We’re all going to Cargill’s Castle this morning. I’ve someone meeting us there to let us through the fences.”

  “Mum, why?”

  “What do you mean why? We’re going on a family outing, and we’re all going to have fun.”

  “Argh Mum” I moaned. “I don’t want to go to stupid Cargill’s Castle, I just want to sleep.” I pulled my duvet back over myself and started to sink back down into bed.

  She pulled the duvet back off me. “No way Brig, you’re coming with us.”

  I sat up, rubbed my eyes and put on my best not interested face.

  “Nope, not going to work, you’re coming.” She walked out the door and yelled behind her, “twenty minutes Brig, then we need to be out the door.”

  There was no getting out of this. Once my Mum had her mind set on something, it was set and there was no changing it.

  ◆◆◆

  I begrudgingly got into the car. It was late summer and the sun was still present, rain was forecast for the late afternoon, but my Mum in her determined manner was adamant that we would go to Cargill’s Castle and we were all going to have an awesome time. I was 17 years old and have lived in Dunedin, New Zealand my whole life. I’d never been to Cargill’s Castle, I’d heard of it, but never been, not even for school. It wasn’t like the ruins of the great castles of Scotland or Ireland, but New Zealand was a relatively new country compared to them and Cargill’s Castle was our equivalent and yet I’d never been. Isn’t that always the way. You live in a place for so long and you never visit its historical landmarks. Well today we were going to this abandoned ruin and according to Mum, I was going to have the time of my life.

  ◆◆◆

  “Mum!” I yelled over Dad’s loud irritating county music.

  She turned the volume knob down slightly. “Yeah?”

  “Who are we meeting there?”

  “Jason from work, I don’t think you’ve meet him. His family owns some land that backs onto the castle. He’s kindly said he’ll take us through the fence so we can wander around and take a look. But guys, just letting you know that we shouldn’t be doing this, its private property.”

  “What? Then why are we doing it?”

  “Because we can and it’s part of our heritage and we should learn about it.”

  I slumped back into my seat. There was no point arguing, we were on our way and now that I’d woken up a bit, I was a teensy bit excited about going to see the old place… not that I’d ever tell my Mum that especially after my protest this morning.

  ◆◆◆

  Dad pulled up beside a small round-about at the end of a cul-de-sac street by the St Clair Golf Course at the top of St Clair Hill. I could see the murky sea below the cliff in front of us. It was hauntingly beautiful.

  “So where to now Alice?” My Dad asked.

  Mum looked around. “I think his family lives in this house” she pointed to a peachy coloured house to the left of us which over looked the cliff. “Look, there’s Jason.”

  We all looked to where she was pointing. An old man with grey thinning hair was waving frantically from out the top window. Mum waved back as she opened the car door.

  “Righto, everyone out.”

  I got out and breathed in the fresh air. I could hear the waves crashing against the cliff and smelt the sea air. The sun was starting to come out and I could feel its warmth tickle my skin.

  “Tom, leave it behind please.”

  “Aw Mum!” My brother whined.

  “No, leave it.”

  “Fine!” He threw his iPad gently on the back seat of the car in protest. I rolled my eyes at him. He was a couple of years younger than me. We generally got on well, but lately he’d been so god dam moody. He had these crazy teenage hormones running through his body, which made him unpredictable and a bit of an ass. Unlike myself who was perfe
ct. He poked his tongue out at me as he chased after Mum.

  We followed Jason across a field of grass that flanked the cliff. I shoved my hands deep into my jean pockets and hunched my shoulders against the wind. Man it was windy up here. We stopped when we got to a tall wire fence. You could clearly see that people had been jumping or going under the wires trying to get a look at Cargill’s Castle, some parts looked broken. It was a shame. It was tucked away and land blocked by private property. It was a landmark of Dunedin and my Mum felt it was important for people to see it. It was part of our history after all. Jason opened the tall wire gate and we went through. We walked into another field of grass flanking the cliff and stopped at an old stone fence. How awesome, I thought to myself.

  “How cool is this fence! How did they get all those stones to stay there?” All the stones were lying on top of each other, nothing was sticking them together. I mean it was a bit of a mess, there were rocks lying on the ground everywhere, but it was years’ old and it was still standing, well partially standing.

  “Great balance and hard work” Jason replied. Jason had on beige corduroy pants that were pulled up way too high. I smiled secretly to myself. So not cool, but he was old - he could get away with it.

  I nodded my head as I imagined the men that would have placed all of these rocks into place. It wouldn’t have been easy.

  Dad, put his hand on my shoulder as we walked through the little wire gate that was placed in a section of the stone gate. I smiled up at him and walked through. There were huge weathered trees on this side of the fence all leaning inland. The leaves on the side to the sea had been stripped off by the wind. A shiver ran up my spine as we walked around to the front of the abandoned castle.

  “Is this it?” Tom moaned.

  Mum gave him a stern look then looked away ignoring him. “Wow, this would have been amazing back in its day.”

  Tom crossed his arms across his chest. “Yeah I suppose so.”

  “Why don’t you go and have a look around.”

  It was certainly a castle, not your classic castle, but with its left-hand turret, it certainly fitted the description. I’d seen pictures of it a long time ago and I’d heard the story of Tunnel Beach where Mr Cargill made his servants chisel a tunnel by hand through a huge rock so his daughters could go to the sheltered beach that was below. The castle had been stripped completely bare of all its finery. No windows, no nothing, except spray painted graffiti all over its once majestic walls. It was made of a white greyish concrete that was now covered in cracks, moss, and gangster tags. It must’ve been a two story building at some stage, I could see the window shaped holes in the upper level. There were two large looking palm trees to the left of the tall turret with the rest of the vegetation taking over the landscape. There were large wide concrete stairs leading up to the main archway. This must’ve been the entrance.

  “Cargill’s Castle was originally known as The Cliffs at least that’s what Edward Cargill wanted it to be called.” Jason told us. “The Cargill’s family helped make Dunedin what it is today.”

  My Mum nodded her head in acknowledgement.

  “He was also elected the Mayor of Dunedin back in 1898.”

  “Was he? I did not know that” My Mum said.

  “Yes, very influential and very clever, just like William Larnach was.”

  “Is that the man who built Larnach’s Castle?” Tom asked. Larnach’s Castle was another castle in Dunedin, on the Otago Peninsula, but unlike this one, Larnach’s Castle had been well maintained throughout its long life. It was a huge tourist attraction in Dunedin and cost a small fortune to get in. I’d only been there once.

  “Yes, the one in the same.”

  I looked out to the ocean, what a view! Imagine waking up in your castle bedroom every morning like a princess and looking out to the sea from your clifftop palace. “Such a shame it hasn’t been looked after” I said, and I truly meant it as I kicked a rogue rock away from my foot.

  “Yeah, but imagine the cost of doing that” my Dad piped in.

  Jason nodded his head. “It proved to be too much for some, hence why it’s been left to nature to look after it.”

  “Go, go and have a look around” my Mum pushed me forward, encouraging me to investigate. “We’ll probably only be here once, may as well make the most of it.”

  I agreed this castle was very interesting. I was going to have a walk around and I was going to start by going up these stairs leading up to the entrance way.

  As I moved toward them my mind blurred slightly. I shook my head to clear the fog. It wouldn’t go away. I could feel a tug on my heart, a tug on my legs. I was being moved towards the archways, towards the stairs. I was floating, mesmerised by the intensity of wanting to touch the stone of the castle, to rub my cheek against its cold surface. I couldn’t stop the pull. I had to touch it.

  “Brigid!” my Mum yelled.

  I could hear her calling me, but the pull was too strong, too intense. My eyes started to glaze over. I could see the building taking a new shape, a new façade, a new era.

  “What’s that on her arm?” I heard Tom call out.

  I knew what it was, it always appeared in the sunlight. Normally if I’d been in the sun for too long or for too many days in a row, a discoloured pattern would appear on the lower part of my arm and gradually move like flames over my hand. It had always happened for as long as I could remember.

  I felt arms wrap around me, holding me. “Brig, are you okay? Brigid?” My mother gently took my hand and held my arm up to look at what my brother was talking about. It was then that I snapped out of my hypnotic state and looked down. My breath left my lungs, the mark on my arm was glowing, dimly glowing, but glowing none the less… it had never done that before.

  “What the..?” I shook my hand violently out of my mother’s gentle grip trying to shake the glow out of it. “What the hell?” It wouldn’t go, it started getting brighter. I screamed and starting running hysterically. “Get it off me, get if off!” My ears were buzzing, I was freaking out. I had to get this glow off my arm. I could hear my family yelling my name, reaching out to me but I wasn’t listening. My heart thumped and my mind started to swirl. I stopped in my tracks and looked down at my arm again. It was still glowing – argh! I took off again towards the fence, screaming the entire way. I was turning into a lunatic, a raving bloody lunatic. Before I got to the trees, something stopped me. I stopped running, I couldn’t explain it but it felt like I’d just ran into a brick wall but nothing was there. The hairs on the back of neck started to stand on end. What was going on? I looked down at my arm again and it was gone, the glow was gone. All that was left was the normal discolouration I have always dealt with throughout my life.

  I felt my Dad come up behind me. He pulled me close to him as my tears streamed down his back and soaked his shirt. “What just happened?” I whispered.

  He pulled me closer to his chest. “I don’t know Brig, I don’t know” he whispered back. He held me tight. “But we’ll figure it out.”

  CHAPTER 2

  There was a knock on the door. I looked at my bedroom door and groaned. I couldn’t be bothered with my family right now.

  “What!” I yelled, not bothering to hide my annoyance.

  “Hey Brig, it’s just me.”

  Relief hit me when I heard his voice. It was my best friend Hayden. He poked his head around the door and gave me a goofy smile.

  I laughed. “Hey.”

  He jumped on the bed beside me and stretched out his legs. I was sitting in the middle of my double bed, surrounded by my baby pink comforter with my knees up to my chin, looking like a complete slob. “What’s up?” He asked as he squeezed my shoulder. “You’re sounding a tad grumpy this morning.”

  I looked at him and burst into tears. “I don’t know, I have no idea what’s going on?” I leaned my head on his shoulder and watched my blond wavy hair splay down the length of his chest.

  He sighed and I felt the weight of his he
ad on mine. “Tell me all about it Brig.”

  So I did, I told him about Cargill’s Castle and how my world started to spin and drag me towards it. I told him about my arm glowing. He already knew what happened to my skin when I’m out in the sun for too long, but it had never glowed.

  Once I’d finished, he fell silent. We both fell silent. I leaned closer into him and closed my eyes. I could smell his aftershave and it comforted me. “Are you sure it glowed?” he asked quietly.

  I looked into his brown eyes. He was looking straight at me, holding my stare. “Yes” I replied. I jumped off the bed and sat in the chair beside my desk, slightly annoyed that he may not believe me. “Yes” I repeated, “my family saw it too.” I threw my hands up in the air to emphasise the fact that I was not lying and what ever happened to me at Cargill’s Castle was unexplainable.

  “Alright, alright, I was just asking” he said quietly. He pulled himself over to sit at the side of the bed. The wooden floorboards creaked, protesting with the change of weight.

  I put my head between my legs and started to rock. I needed to go to bed, to sleep and wake up again to start anew.

  “Let’s go there” Hayden said. “Let’s go there this morning.”

  “What?” I asked in disbelief. “Are you serious? Why would I want to go back there?”

  Hayden looked at me and smiled. “Because I want to see if your arm really does glow or if you’re just telling me porkies.” He stood up and poked me playfully in the ribs.

  I stifled a laugh as he smiled at me and starting tickling me. “No fair, you know how much my ribs tickle.”

  He backed away and put his hands in the pockets of his denim jeans. I looked at his ruffled dark brown hair and back down to his now solemn eyes. “Seriously Brig, you should go back. I’ll go with you, it may help you feel better.”