After ten minutes walking down the hidden path, Jamie thought she was lost. The path was hard to follow at first, then she saw a clearing ahead. Aha, someone’s backyard. I knew I’d hit one.
The clearing was large, equal to two city lots. A two-story log cabin sat in the middle, with a swinging sign, smoke rising from a brick chimney, and the sounds of people inside. The sign, in an Old English font, read, “The Book of Dreams.” The cabin was wood on the first floor and whitewashed wood on the smaller second floor. A pile of chopped wood leaned against one wall, and a vintage-looking well was nearby. Scattered around a barbecue pit were modern wooden picnic tables, although no one was using them. A small path continued to the other side of the clearing. Like the path she had taken, it faded into the trees. The trees and bushes surrounding the clearing were denser, hiding the cabin from the pathways.
Jamie looked down at her phone. Google Maps showed she was about halfway between the path she walked on and the suburb west of the forest preserve. But no clearing showed when she zoomed in. According to Google Maps, she was still among the trees. She zoomed in and out to be sure. Nope. She took a picture of the area and walked forward.
The door opened, and a woman dressed in period-looking medieval dress stepped out and waved. The dress was a linen smock in an off-white color and a blue tunic that was belted at the waist. She was heavyset, with a tousled braid done up in a bun and a weather-beaten but kind face. “Hullo there! Welcome! I’m Winfred. Come on in. The stew is fresh. I made it myself this morning.”
Jamie hesitated. “What is this? Where am I? What is the Book of Dreams?”
Winfred laughed. “Where all the favorite books you have ever read come to life. Your favorite characters are here, sometimes, and other people who are readers like you. And if you stick around long enough, you might meet someone special.”
Jamie walked forward. “Has this always been here?” She had never heard of this cabin. No one in her local book club had ever mentioned it. Was it one of those well-kept secrets or something like Fight Club? She’d always been an avid reader, and she had plenty of favorite characters from books she had read over the years.
“Yes, it’s always been here, over twenty years. That’s when I started working here.” Winfred said. “Some people, like you, have dreamed of finding a place to go to where you can meet book characters. You have always wanted to meet your favorite characters, right? So here you are.”
“So, I’m awake,” Jamie said, “not dreaming. This is an actual place, and you are a real person? Do you live around here? Or are you someone’s dream character? What do other people see, those who don’t dream about meeting book characters?”
Winfred looked at Jamie. “So many questions! I can answer most inside and the ones I can’t, customers and book characters will be able to. I will tell you that those who don’t dream or read, see nothing. No clearing, no cabin. Just the overgrown pathway you were walking on. But few people come this way. Time works differently here. You won’t miss anything at home.” She held out her hand. “What’s your name?”
Jamie took another step forward. “I’m Jamie. Will my phone still work, you know, in case of an emergency?”
“I don’t know about the phone, as no one has ever mentioned it. Come. I make a great stew, good for days like this.”
Putting her phone in her back pocket, Jamie followed Winfred into the cabin.
Inside was a room—warm, noisy, and about halfway full of customers. Jamie thought she saw a few familiar faces. Are they characters from books I’ve read, as I’ve always imagined they would look like? Or are they members of the local book club dressed up?
A bar lined one wall, while tables, benches, and booths filled the rest of the room. There was a fireplace at the other end of the room. The room resembled one of the many taverns in old fantasy stories that Jamie loved to read. The bartender; who said his name was Barney, had a kind, weather-beaten face. Jamie guessed he was in his late 50s. He wore a white tunic, breeches, and a sleeveless, laced-up vest, just like Winfred. Customers wore a mix of period and modern clothing. Noise came from the kitchen, and a few servers, also in various forms of period dress, carried food and drinks. Stairs led to the second floor, and Jamie wondered if there might be rooms to rent out. Everyone looked up as she walked in.
“This is Jamie, everyone,” Winfred announced. “Please make her welcome. It’s her first time here!” A few patrons raised their mugs in welcome. She pointed to an empty booth and said she’d fetch some stew and ale.
Jamie grinned and asked if there was wine instead. “I can try ale, but since I’m not a beer drinker, I’d rather have wine. White, if you have it.”
Winfred laughed. “All right then! A glass of white wine! Make yourself comfortable!”
Jamie leaned back into a booth that had a soft padded seat and looked around the cozy room. A fire roared in the fireplace. Plush seating made the booths along the walls more comfortable. Weathered benches and long tables filled up the rest of the space. Despite the noise, the place wasn't crowded, and people had plenty of room to move around.
A man approached the booth. “Mind if I join you? Winfred’s stew is the best. I never pass it up.”
Jamie almost fell out of her seat. It was one of her favorite characters in a series of her favorite mystery books she had read, dressed how she had always imagined him.
Sir Nicholas of Leeland was a famous detective from a series of mystery books set in the English countryside during the Edwardian era. The mysteries took place on the moors, in old manor houses and the surrounding towns. In one of the more recent books, Nickolas received knighthood, and standing before her now, he wore the attire for his new title of Sir Nickolas. He looked as if he had been to high tea. He used a cane (which was for show) and had a top hat tucked under his arm.
“You are Sir Nicholas! You started off as—”
“Yes, it is I. And yes, I look just as you imagined me. And for the couple over there—,” he pointed. “I look as they imagined. Do you mind if they join us?” Without waiting for Jamie to reply, he waved the couple over.
Winfred and a server showed up with heaping bowls of stew, an enormous basket of fresh bread, custards, and bottles of wine and ale. “This is Jamie’s first time here, so everything is on the house,” she said. “It’s the rules! Enjoy!”
The couple introduced themselves as Janice and David. Like Jamie, they wore modern clothing.
Janice leaned across the table, helping herself to custard and bread. “We are regulars, but we’ve never gotten around to dressing from the Moor Mystery series, our favorite of Sir Nicholas’s.”
Jamie didn’t know how to process what she was seeing. She helped herself to a bowl of stew and bread. Gathering her thoughts, she said, “I have so many questions for all of you. I guess I’d love to know how this place came to be, the history behind it, and why only certain people can see it. How much of this is real? Or is it something else?”
Sir Nicholas poured a round of ale and wine for the table. “I can provide you with some details. I’m real while I’m here. I can’t leave the confines of the clearing when I’m here, but I’m not always here, if that makes sense. As I’ve said to you, Jamie, I look just as you have imagined. Janice and David see me as they had imagined. I guess there’s some sort of magic—as you call it—at work.”
He continued, “The tavern has always been located here, as far as I know. He gave a questioning look to Winfred, who shrugged. “I don’t know if there are other places like this in your world,” he said. “If there are, I haven’t seen them. I’ve been appearing here for a few years now. There’s a portal, for lack of a better word, in my closet at home. I found it by accident when I was looking for something to wear for a case. I opened the door in the closet, and I ended up here. I guess that was a few years ago, but time works differently here. When I feel like coming here, I go through the portal. I end up in one room upstairs. I think it’s something like another series of popular books I’ve heard about, Narnia.”
Janice passed around more bread. “We’ve been coming here about once or twice a month for a few years. Since we’re from Iowa, we drive in and walk the pathway. Winfred has told you that you can’t always see characters. But now and then, Sir Nicholas joins us or someone else from one of our favorite books. We see other characters as well, but if they’re not from books we’ve read, we don’t always recognize them.”
Jamie picked up her phone but figured it wouldn’t work inside the tavern. “I live a couple of miles away,” she said. “A path runs through the forest preserve, and I’ve always noticed a smaller path shooting off from it. Today I followed it, so here I am. Winfred mentioned the cabin has been here at least twenty years? Did she and Barney and the rest of the staff just start appearing? Are they real or magic, or—”
Winfred walked by to see how everyone was doing. Overhearing Jamie’s questions, she answered, “Barney, the staff, and I come with the tavern, so to speak. We can’t leave, and we can’t go past the clearing. But we’re not characters in any one book. We are here to make sure everything runs smoothly. We host events, fairs, and markets in the clearing in the warmer months. There’s no way, of course, to notify customers, but you guys figure it out and spread the word.”
Jamie looked around the booth. Someone had dragged a bench over, and a small group of people offered advice and welcomed Jamie into the fold.
I don’t want to go home. I have found my people. I belong here. Jamie turned to Sir Nicholas. “Have you ever tried going beyond the clearing? I reread the Moor books almost yearly, and I never tire of them. You are amazing at, well, everything! Sorry, I sound like such a silly fangirl.”
“And that’s how I got here. From your believing and reading and being such a fan of the books. Look at Zeebee,” Sir Nickolas nodded to a tall character in a space suit that looked like she came out of a 1960s pulp novel. “She’s got an enormous fan base among the science fiction crowd. And yes, I’ve tried going past the clearing a few years ago out of curiosity. It’s just a, how do you say, endless loop for me. I would imagine it’s the same way for all the book characters and the staff.”
Zeebee nodded. “I come here to improve my English, but some of you speak it differently.”
She had a thick accent that Jamie couldn’t place. She wasn’t much of a science fiction reader, but from friends who raved about her tales and heroics, Jamie felt honored to meet Zeebee.
A small, waif-looking girl sitting next to Jamie spoke up. “I enjoy meeting fans. All of you have such interesting ideas and theories about our stories.” Jamie realized she was sitting next to a young Eponine from Les Misérables. Jamie gave her a hug. “You’ll be happy to know you are one of my favorite characters in Le Miz.” Eponine beamed as she reached for more stew.
Janice passed a scrap of paper to Jamie. “That’s our phone number. We can let you know the next time we’re here. Phones work at the edge of the clearing.”
Jamie scribbled her cell phone number down for Janice. “Thank you! I was wondering about the phone thing.”
Jamie glanced around the table. Most of the tavern’s customers were now gathered around. Winfred had brought out another round of drinks and more stew and custard. She waved
away any sort of payment. “It’s days like this,” she said, nodding at Jamie, “that makes working here worth it. That’s payment enough.”
Jamie spotted a familiar face and recognized a young woman from her local book club, who was another path walker. “How long have you known about this place? Do you always dress up as a character?” The other woman wore a toga.
“Hi,” the woman said. “I thought I recognized you. I’m Alice. I don’t always dress up; only when the mood strikes me. I’ve been showing up here for about a year. I’m guessing you were always wondering where the path led to, as I did.”
Jamie realized she did not know how much time had passed. She asked a server what time the tavern closed, or if there were rooms to sleep upstairs.
“We don’t have a set opening or closing time,” he said. “Characters from books will leave, and customers will depart when they feel like it. If that’s what you imagine is up there, then yes. But visitors don’t spend the night here. Book characters sometimes use that as their exit point. It’s hard to explain unless you’ve been coming here a while. You’ll get the hang of how things work soon enough.”
The tavern was starting to empty out. Feeling like it was time to go, Jamie bade her goodbyes to Sir Nicholas, Zeebee, Eponine and a few other book characters she had met. She gushed over Winfred’s stew and thanked Barney for the choice of wine. Alice said she’d walk with Jamie back to the main pathway.
As the women were walking back, they exchanged phone numbers and discussed the current book they were reading for the book club. At the main path, Alice waved, turned north, and headed home. Jamie gave one last look at the other pathway and tried to plan when she’d be free to visit the tavern again. She was looking forward to learning more about the cabin’s history and seeing who else she would meet.