Daughters of Fire (62 page)

Tiptoeing down the landing, Viv paused outside Pat’s room. There was no sound from inside. ‘Pat?’ Cautiously she knocked. ‘Pat, are you there?’ There had been no sign of Pat all evening. She tried the handle. The door opened. The room inside was dark and she reached for the light switch. The window was open and the curtain flapped in the wind as she surveyed the litter of Pat’s clothes and papers and books. Her headphones and a pile of CDs lay on the table beside her laptop. She had disappeared.

Turning out the light, she pulled the door closed and crept to the top of the stairs. The light was on in the hallway but there was no sound from any of the rooms. Her heart in her mouth, she made her way downstairs. Pat. Peggy. Hugh. Suddenly they were all enemies. She didn’t know what to do. She wanted to leave, to run away and never come back. Only one thing stopped her. Carta. The voice was there, in her head, constant and insistent until she thought she too was going mad.

The farm office, beside the front door, was in darkness. Quietly she pushed open the door and slipped inside. Picking up the phone she stood for a moment listening to the silence in the house behind her, then she punched in the number of Steve’s mobile. The sound of his voice, even as a recorded message was reassuring. ‘Steve? It’s Viv. Can you come back to the farm? I need you. Please. It’s really urgent.’ She slotted the receiver gently back onto its base, then she paused, staring round. She had heard something; a slight scraping sound on the flagstones in the hall. She froze. She wasn’t alone after all. There was someone standing immediately outside the room. She could hear breathing. Soundlessly she flattened herself against the wall, waiting for the door to open. It didn’t and after a minute she heard cautious footsteps heading down the passage. Seconds later the front door opened. It closed again and she was left with a cool waft of night air, then nothing. Whoever it was, had gone.

Silently she pulled open the office door and ran on tiptoe to the front window. Pat was hurrying up the path. She let herself out of the gate into the lane and turned up towards the hill.

Without a sound Viv eased open the door and with a cautious look back at the sleeping house, followed her.

Pat walked swiftly up the track to the steps over the wall, climbed over them and set off across the hillside, walking easily in the bright moonlight. Cautiously Viv followed her, hoping she wouldn’t turn round. Once they were on the open hill there was nowhere to hide. Almost at once Pat veered off the track across the rough grass, skirting limestone outcrops and tell-tale patches of bog cotton with ease. Viv walked more slowly. This was dangerous country but Pat seemed to know exactly where she was going. She was heading for the limestone pavement. Her heart in her mouth, Viv closed the gap between them, out of breath now as she hurried on. Pat was walking at the most extraordinary speed, heading directly for the spot where Viv had hidden the brooch.

Medb.

Medb knew where she had put it and she mustn’t be allowed to get her hands on it!

Stumbling on the rough ground, Viv swore to herself. How was it possible that this was happening? Hurrying again, she tripped and half fell, catching her knee on an outcrop of rock. A shaft of pain shot through her leg, but already Pat was drawing away again. Forcing herself to her feet, Viv stood up and hurried on, limping.

Reaching the pavement, Pat climbed onto it and at last she stopped, looking round. Viv was only about ten yards from her when Pat turned and looked back the way she had come. Viv froze but Pat didn’t seem to see her. Viv could see her face clearly in the moonlight. It was closed and angry and in a strange way totally blank. Viv crept closer. ‘Pat?’ she whispered. ‘What are you doing?’

Pat continued her scan of the horizon as if looking for landmarks. Slowly she turned away from Viv. There had been no hint of recognition in her face. Viv bit her lip, trying to steady her breathing. She crept closer. ‘Pat? Can you hear me?’

Again there was no response.

Turning, Pat walked a few steps further on. The pavement was like moon rock beneath the moonlight, the stunted thorns contorted figures throwing black skeletal fingers of shadow across the fissures in the smooth limestone, leading deep into the underworld. Viv stared round. By this strange eerie light she couldn’t tell herself where she had hidden the brooch. Every area of rock, every thorn,
looked the same. She felt a bolt of panic shoot through her. What if she couldn’t find it again herself?

Pat moved on, looking down now at her feet. ‘Where is it?’ Her voice was clear in the silence of the night.

Viv was only a couple of yards from her now. ‘Leave it, Pat,’ she whispered. ‘You won’t find it.’

Pat didn’t react.

‘Leave it, Medb,’ Viv tried again. ‘The brooch is not for you.’

Nothing. In the distance a flicker on the horizon showed where another storm was drifting across the hills. She could smell the rock and the grass and the pale, sweet meadowsweet growing in the deep cracks in the stone around her feet.

‘It’s gone, Medb. Back to the gods,’ Viv whispered.

Pat moved on a few steps. She stared round again, pausing as she looked at Viv, so close beside her, then looking away without comment, continuing her sweep of the countryside. ‘It must be here,’ she said, suddenly. She sounded petulant. Was it Pat’s voice, or Medb’s? Viv wasn’t sure. ‘But there is nowhere to hide it.’

Viv smiled. On the contrary, there were a thousand places to hide it; the problem would be finding the right one.

‘You won’t find it, Pat,’ she said softly. ‘Let’s go home. The storm is coming back.’

‘I have to find it.’ Pat’s voice suddenly sounded nervous. Viv wasn’t sure if she was responding to her or speaking to herself. ‘I can’t go without it.’

‘You have to go without it. It’s gone. The gods have taken it.’ Viv grimaced. For all she knew that was true, and she couldn’t look for it herself with Pat here. There was a rumble of thunder from far away. ‘Did you hear that? Come on. You don’t want to get wet again.’

Pat walked a few paces further on. She was standing very near one of the twisted thorn trees. Its shadow lay before it, a grotesque silhouette across the ground, but was it the right one? Viv bit her lip. She was looking down studying the area as behind them black shadows were racing across the limestone as clouds streamed across the sky. The wind was rising; she could hear it moaning in the distance. The fells were coming alive with the sounds of the night and suddenly they were enveloped in darkness as the clouds obscured the moon. Viv didn’t dare move. ‘Pat?’ There was no response. ‘Pat, be careful. One could so easily fall in the dark.’ Why
hadn’t she brought a torch, that was stupid. ‘Pat, can you hear me?’ She was no longer whispering.

A patch of moonlight showed up in the distance, illuminating part of the ramparts above them. It shifted and the spot of moonlight moved swiftly across the ground towards them. It reached Viv’s feet and she gasped. Pat had gone.

She scanned the rocks desperately, and at last saw a movement in the distance. Pat was walking back the way they had come, once again moving with astonishing speed down the hillside. As she plunged into the darkness, she did not appear to slow down.

It took Viv a long time to find her own way back to the track and walk down to the farm. The house was once more bathed in moonlight as she opened the gate and headed up the path. There was no sign of Pat. Pushing open the front door, Viv stood for a moment in the hall, listening, before creeping upstairs and back to her own room. She had no idea if Pat had come back and she was not sure if she cared.

‘Steve? … I need you!’

When Steve picked up Viv’s message he was sitting in the almost empty bar of a small pub in the Scottish borders. He frowned, glancing at his watch. If he got in the car now he could be back at the farm in the early hours. He glanced at the half-drunk pint on the table in front of him and pushing it away, got up and walked out into the rain.

He had had no luck in tracing his father. Every possible avenue he had followed had drawn a blank and he was seriously worried. More than worried. Frightened. He had even driven upto see his sister in Stirling. That was where he had been earlier in the day, wondering if Gordon had gone to his daughter’s and asked her not to tell Peggy where he was. It turned out that she had been telling him the truth when she said on the phone that she hadn’t seen their father for months. Now she was as worried as he was.

Pulling open the car door he threw himself inside with a sigh.
What could have happened to upset Viv? She had sounded really scared. Backing out of the car park he swung the car onto the deserted road and put his foot down, his anxiety deepening with every second.

Cartimandua. Pat. Medb. Peggy. The energies whirling round the farmhouse had been building for days. It had been a relief to get away, but he hadn’t stopped thinking about Viv.

He would never stop thinking about Viv.

She was fond of him, he knew that. The fact that she could turn to him in a crisis proved she relied on him. If Hugh would just bugger off and leave her alone she would be able to relax and enjoy her success. And maybe see what was under her nose. That he, Steve, was there for her. Was always there for her when she needed him.

He swore as a signpost flashed towards him out of the rain and he hauled the car onto a side road. It was a shortcut home.

Viv hardly slept at all. Exhausted, she had locked her door and put the key under her pillow, then she lay awake, her eyes fixed on the window, her ears listening for any sound from the passage outside. The rain had stopped and the sky outside was the colour of forget-me-nots when at eight o’clock the next morning she tapped on Pat’s door. Pat, her hair wet from the shower, was up and dressed. Her clothes from the night before were lying in a heap on the floor.

‘You look tired.’ Viv raised an eyebrow sarcastically.

Pat nodded. She didn’t rise to the remark and Viv left it for the time being. ‘I wanted to tell you, I’m going back to Edinburgh today.’

Pat had been combing her hair. She sat down on the end of her bed, her face wan. ‘Not yet.’

‘Why not? We’ve seen more than enough of Ingleborough. We’ve experienced the atmosphere. Haven’t we just!’ Viv gave a hollow laugh. ‘We’ve got far more material for the play than we could ever use, and if I need any more when I come to write my book, then I can always come back.’

‘But there are still things to do,’ Pat said slowly. ‘The re-enactors -’

‘Have gone. The weather is too unsettled for them, I expect. We don’t have to be here to record children playing. I’ve had enough, Pat.’ She paused. ‘I don’t feel comfortable here any more. I want to go home. Peggy frightens me.’ And so do you. The last words were unsaid.

Pat let her brush fall on the blanket and sat, looking down at her hands. ‘Peggy’s probably always been a bit odd, if you ask me,’ she said wearily.

‘Well, it’s getting worse. Haven’t you noticed? Her reaction to men. She’s becoming, sort of,’ Viv hesitated, ‘obdurate. She’s threatening. And obsessed. I don’t like it.’

‘That’s strange, coming from you. Obsession and possession seem to be the name of the game round here.’ Pat’s laugh had a bitter edge.

Viv sat down next to her on the bed. She gave her a quick look. ‘Pat, did you know you went out last night?’

‘Out?’

‘You walked up the hill in the moonlight.’

Pat laughed. ‘I don’t think so.’

‘You did. You went up the track quite a way.’

‘Why?’ Pat frowned.

Viv shrugged. ‘I followed you. I tried to persuade you to turn back, but you didn’t register that I was there.’

‘Shit!’ Pat began chewing her lip. She glanced up. ‘Medb?’

Viv shrugged again. ‘Who else would it be?’

‘Was I looking for the brooch?’

Viv nodded. ‘I think so.’

‘Are you going to give it to Hugh?’

‘Of course. It’s his.’

Pat shook her head. ‘It’s more complicated than that. He might want it, but Venutios must not get it. Don’t you see? If you give it to Hugh, you are handing it to Venutios.’

‘Well, the problem might have solved itself,’ Viv said with a shake of her head. ‘I’m not sure I’ll be able to find it again, anyway. When I hid it, I thought it would be easy to find the place. Now I’m not so sure.’

‘Do I gather Medb knows where it is?’

‘I don’t think she can know exactly or you would have found it.’ Viv stood up. ‘We ought to go down.’

‘Don’t say anything to Peggy about leaving. Not yet,’ Pat said quickly.

Peggy was sitting at the kitchen table. Steve was standing by the Aga. They appeared to be in the middle of a heated argument.

Peggy swung round the moment Viv opened the door. ‘You had no business to ring Steve and tell him to come back!’ She looked furious.

‘I was coming back anyway, Mum,’ Steve put in. ‘I told you, I can’t find any sign of where Dad went. He hasn’t been in touch with Uncle Bob or the Cowans. Nobody has heard from him for days. He’s disappeared.’

‘Rubbish.’ Peggy clenched her fists on the table in front of her. ‘He was in a pique because we had words. He’s gone off to sulk somewhere.’ She turned back to Viv. ‘Why did you ring Steve? Our affairs are none of your business!’

‘I’m sorry.’ Viv sat down across the table from her. ‘I felt things were getting a bit -’ she shifted on her chair, ‘out of balance.’ She hesitated again as she looked at Steve. ‘We were missing you.’

There was a pause. Peggy’s face softened a little ‘Of course. Of course you’d miss him.’ She looked at Steve. ‘Well, are you going to give us all a cup of that coffee, or are you just going to watch it sit there?’

Steve reached for the mugs and began to pour. His face was set grimly. He glanced at Viv and then at Pat. ‘I think I’ll go and speak to Dave later. See if the dogs are OK. See if he’s heard from Dad.’

‘I wouldn’t bother.’ Peggy sipped her coffee black. ‘You’ll just unsettle them. Leave be, Steve. He’ll come back when he’s good and ready. If he wants to.’

Steve exchanged a glance with Viv. ‘Dave’ll think it strange that none of us has been in touch.’

‘No!’ Peggy said sharply. ‘Leave it! I told you!’

‘I can’t do that, Ma.’ Steve looked at his mother with a frown, then he turned to Viv. ‘I’ll stroll over there this morning. Do you want to walk over with me?’ It would be a chance to talk alone.

Peggy stood up as soon as they had gone. ‘I need to go to the well. You come with me, Pat.’ She walked into the garden and picked some flowers in stony silence, then Pat followed her across the paddocks towards the river. Peggy went into the cave first. She brought out the vase, threw away the dead flowers, filled it with water from the falls and then went back inside. It was a long time
before she reappeared and came to sit beside Pat in the sunshine.

‘Why didn’t you want Steve here?’ Pat asked cautiously. She glanced at Peggy, Viv’s warning very much in her mind.

‘I told you. This is women’s business.’

‘But Steve believes in the old gods, doesn’t he?’ It seemed like a good bet. ‘Isn’t that how he got interested in Celtic studies?’

Peggy nodded. ‘He’s a good boy. That was why I welcomed Viv into the house. He’s so in love with her.’

Pat smiled. ‘I thought perhaps he was.’

‘She believes in the goddess too, of course.’

Pat said nothing. After a few hours of blessed peace Medb was suddenly there with them. She could feel those questing ice-cold fingers probing her soul; her body. She shivered.

‘Let her come to you, Pat.’ Peggy had seen her too. ‘Don’t fight her all the time. You could learn from her.’

‘She wants the brooch.’

‘We’ll find it.’

‘I went to look last night.’ Pat paused, trying to remember. ‘Viv followed me. She says I went upon the hillside and wandered round.’

‘Did you find it?’ Peggy looked at her sharply.

Pat shook her head. ‘I didn’t know where to search.’

‘Then we have to make Viv tell us where it is.’ Peggy’s eyes narrowed.

‘She won’t. She wants Hugh to have it back for the museum.’

Peggy frowned. ‘That’s not going to be possible. No man should have that brooch. Ever. It contains female power.’

Pat sat up. ‘What do you mean?’

‘As I say.’ Peggy fell silent for a few moments. ‘Viv told me all about her quarrel with the professor. He has to be disposed of. He is dangerous.’

‘Disposed of?’ Pat echoed.

Peggy smiled. ‘You’re not squeamish, I hope.’

‘Not usually.’ Pat was cautious.

Peggy laughed. It was a light, carefree happy sound. ‘Don’t worry. If you find it hard, I am sure we can call on Medb to help you.’

‘Find what hard, Peggy?’ Pat could feel her skin crawling at the other woman’s words. There was a cruel hardness in her eyes which hadn’t been there before.

Peggy shook her head. ‘You’re still fighting her. Don’t try. She is more powerful than you. Let her come.’ She paused again. ‘Maybe we should wait for Lughnasadh.’ She saw Pat’s look of incomprehension. ‘August the first. Lammas. The festival of the god, Lugh.’ She paused. ‘But Venutios is particularly devoted to Lugh, isn’t he,’ she added thoughtfully, ‘so perhaps that’s not a good idea. Perhaps we shouldn’t wait that long anyway. Leave it with me. I shall plan something appropriate.’

‘With Steve’s help?’ Pat had begun to feel sick.

‘No, bless him. This is nowt to do with him. He can distract Viv when the time comes.’ Peggy paused. Again that happy gentle laugh, so at odds with everything she was saying. ‘Once Cartimandua is gone they can come and live here when they’re married. That will be nice.’

Pat frowned. ‘Married?’ She was finding it harder and harder to follow this conversation which veered from the bizarre to the ordinary and back.

‘Why not? I know she’s a little older than he is, but that doesn’t matter.’

‘Peggy, Viv doesn’t love Steve,’ Pat said incredulously. She laughed. ‘She’s fond of him, but she’s not in love with him!’

Peggy stared at her, shocked. ‘Of course she is.’

‘No. She likes him. She finds him fun. That’s all.’

‘But I thought -’

Pat shook her head. ‘If Viv is in love with anyone, I think it’s with Hugh. That’s the whole problem. That’s why they keep sniping at each other. Neither of them realises it yet.’ She stopped suddenly, seeing Peggy’s face, wishing she could bite off her tongue.

Peggy had gone red. ‘She doesn’t love Steve?’ she repeated.

‘I don’t think so.’

‘But they’ve gone out together. They’re out together now.’

‘As friends. To look for Mr Steadman.’ Pat hugged her knees nervously. ‘I’m so sorry. I shouldn’t have said anything.’

‘No. You were right to tell me.’ Peggy’s face looked pinched and angry. ‘That changes everything.’

‘In what way?’

For a long time Peggy didn’t answer. They sat in silence, the sound of the falls behind them, then she smiled again. This was a different smile. Cold and hard. ‘It makes it easier to deal with the situation. I will consult with the goddess. Go home. I’ll join you in
a little while. Go and wait. When they come back we’ll be ready for them.’

Standing up, she ducked back into the cave, leaving Pat alone.

‘So, what was wrong? Why did you ring?’ Steve asked as soon as they were out of earshot of the house. ‘It sounded urgent.’

‘It was. I was scared. Pat and your mum were behaving so oddly.’ Viv shrugged. ‘I feel much safer with you here, Steve.’ She smiled at him and reaching out touched his arm gently. ‘I’m sorry, maybe I shouldn’t have rung you. It all seems different in daylight, but the whole thing was getting on top of me. I felt really threatened.’ They turned up the lane, their feet slipping on the loose stones. Within seconds the farmhouse was out of sight. ‘Did you know your dad and mum had a row about the well?’ Viv went on at last.

Steve nodded. ‘Dad has been threatening to fill it in for years. It’s such a special place. He doesn’t understand and Ma gets apoplectic about it.’

‘So he doesn’t worship the old gods like your mother?’

‘No.’

‘Do you believe in them, Steve?’ She asked it cautiously, watching his profile as he walked beside her.

He paused, staring out across the fells. ‘Yes.’ He didn’t look at her.

‘Does your father know?’

He gave a wry smile. ‘Why court danger? No, he doesn’t. He thinks I’m a bit of a nancy boy, as he puts it, anyway, for studying history!’