Death be Not Proud (38 page)

Tucked away in the aisle of a medieval English church in a once-prosperous village lies a broken tomb. Traces of paint decorate the armorial shields and countless hands have polished the folds of marble over the years. The dog lying at his master's armoured feet still guards his rest, and around the slab-sided tomb on which he and his wife lie, his sons and daughters kneel in stony supplication. One of these figures, alone of all the rest, has been defaced – a deliberate act conveying malice, and it was this that caught my interest on a cold spring day. What had driven someone to perform this act of hate in a place of sanctity? Who was the victim, and what story could they tell?

The story of the
Secret of the Journal
series mainly takes place in Maine, USA, and in and around the towns of Stamford and Oakham in the United Kingdom. Although these settings are real, some of the places mentioned – such as Howard's Lake College and Old Manor Farm – are figments of my imagination for the purpose of storytelling, as are all the characters who appear in the series.

The tale, however, has its roots in elements of human nature that preoccupy us as much now as they did in the past: the tendency to mistrust that which is different; the desire for love and acceptance and a community to which to belong; the hollow treachery of some, and the boundless loyalty of others; the need for forgiveness; the hope of all. Persecution is a subject that consumes Emma almost as much as the journal. She is both fascinated and appalled by it and can cite countless examples from her research into the English Civil
War. She never imagined that it would be something that she would experience at first hand.

The genesis of the story revolves around an extinct village a few miles to the south of Oakham, and the house that once stood there. Marooned in the centre of England is the tiny green county of Rutland. A swathe of land now lies under the reservoir near Empingham into which the River Guash (or Gwash) flows. Between the Guash and the River Chater a lone building stands on the crest of a rise beside a few sparse trees and grazing sheep. Once part of the fine seventeenth-century manor house, this is all that remains of Martinsthorpe. The rubble of the house and the original medieval fortified manor crumpling the ground all around beg to tell a story. It is from this scene that I grew Old Manor Farm, where Emma goes in search of answers.

Researching the history of the area involved digging through archival material, including original documents and historical sources dating from the late medieval period and English Civil War. I spent time surveying the archaeological reports and walking the site, taking in the aspect of the land and talking to people who remembered this small rural county before its heart was flooded to make Rutland Water. I visited the surrounding farms and villages that would have existed in the early seventeenth century, and spoke to the very helpful and informative museum staff in Oakham and Stamford.

Unlike Martinsthorpe, Emma's birthplace is very much alive and kicking. Lying on the Old North Road almost at the intersection of four counties, the town of Stamford, Lincolnshire, is riven with the past. Despite the many elegant Georgian façades, much of the town has kept its original medieval street plan, including slender Cheyne Lane, and secretive St Mary's Passage, squeezed under a Norman arch
and leading to the Meadows by the River Welland. Although the museum in Stamford has, sadly, now shut, the Rutland County Museum in Oakham provides an invaluable insight into the region, and the history of both towns is evident wherever you walk.

The region has seen its fair share of intrigue and rebellion. A few miles away is the site of the Battle of Empingham, otherwise known as Losecoat Field (and locally as Bloody Oaks), fought in 1470. Here, Sir Robert Welles, 8
^th
Baron Willoughby de Eresby clashed with Edward IV, and forfeited his head for his treachery.

I took artistic licence and the opportunity to mix fact with fiction. While some of the family names such as Fielding, Harrington, and Seaton are common to the area, “Lynes” is one I have introduced for the sake of the story. The D'Eresbys, on the other hand, I descended from a fictional cadet line of the Willoughby de Eresbys, a family that played a major role in the region for hundreds of years. Like many old families, the D'Eresbys are dwindling. Emma and her sister are the last of her line to bear the name and, with their deaths, the family will pass back into the soil from which it came, and be forgotten like so many before them.

The need to belong and to have a sense of understanding of where you came from weaves throughout the story. Emma has discovered Matthew's origins, but that is only the beginning; in order to prepare for the future, she must also discover his past.

The Secret of the Journal
continues with
Rope of Sand.