Heart of the Hill (2 page)

“Adam …
Adam
… what's up?”

Adam woke to find his cousin Owen shaking his shoulder.

“Are you all right?” Owen's voice was anxious. “You were thrashing around and yelling.”

Befuddled, Adam gazed around the moonlit bedroom. He wasn't in his Canadian bedroom …Where was he? Ah yes, he was staying with his cousins, in England.

He struggled to make his mind work. “The lake,” he muttered. “I was running from Vivienne and the lake.”

“You're dreaming. You've had another nightmare, the third this week,” said Owen. “Dream of something else. Something quieter.”

Adam grinned groggily. “Sorry I woke you.” He turned over and found a comfortable spot on the pillow. “I'll think of Myrddin. He will protect me.” Adam conjured up the image of his favorite Wise One, the bearded man with the magical cloak. Keeping the image firmly in his mind, he drifted off to sleep.

Within the Portal below the dark tower on Glastonbury Tor, Vivienne sparkled with excitement. It had been well over a thousand years since her mind had connected with a human mind. Over two thousand years since she had been bound, against her will, as the Portal Keeper. Thousands of boring years, watching her power fade as humans forgot not only her, but Old Magic, and the ancient role of the Tor.

Vivienne cut a glittering swath through the darkness with her sword. “At last someone hears me. 'Tis only a child, but he is a Magic Child. Old Magic is stirring again!” She paused. “I wonder why the power is growing.” She laughed and swung her sword again.

“No matter. I have reached a human mind. The child will become more responsive with each probe.” She dropped the tip of her sword to the ground and stood, feet apart, hands folded on the jeweled hilt, and sent her mind toward the boy once again.

The probe rushed forth, but Adam's sleep was guarded.

Vivienne shouted with frustration. She knew the image in the child's head. “The boy has met Myrddin. The Wise Ones have returned! That is why Old Magic stirs again.” She pondered for a moment. Then she chuckled. “No matter. Old Magic is almost gone from Gaia. Myrddin is no more than a half-forgotten fairy tale. His fire burns low, and few believers follow the old ways. His staff is hidden, its power dormant.

Without it, he is nothing.” She laughed again. “My time has come. My new power makes me his equal! I will send him a sign. I will show Myrddin that in this new age, I am a force to be reckoned with.”

Once more Vivienne concentrated. Her sword glittered with energy.

In response, the probe darted upward and swirled among the clouds above the child's house. The clouds thickened and became a storm. Torrential rains battered the small village of Uffington. As the wind strengthened, the probe surged back and forth under the cover of the darkness, leaving Vivienne's mark on the lawn. Then, its task completed, it darted back to the Tor.

The storm raged on.

Adam, Owen and Holly woke early. Only Chantel slept in. Adam banged on the bedroom door. “Wake up, Chantel! Everyone's eaten breakfast.”

Chantel tugged on a sweater. She yawned. “I'm awake,” she called. “Come in if you like.”

Adam opened the door. “Seen the weather? It's gross. I don't think much of summer in England.”

Chantel pulled the curtains back. Together she and Adam stared at the rain pouring from the thatched roof of the old farmhouse and thought about the endless golden days of a Canadian prairie summer.

Thunder rumbled.

Chantel shivered. “Ugh. I'm staying in today. It was a storm like this that made Snowflake throw me.” She rubbed the cast on her broken leg.

Adam raised his eyebrows. “So? You wish it hadn't happened? That we'd never met the Wise Ones?”

Chantel gave a tiny chuckle. “Of course not. It's been amazing, hasn't it?” She wrinkled her nose. “But I wish the Wise Ones would hurry up and come back, like they said they would. Hasn't Myrddin visited your dreams yet? Equus talks to me in dreams.”

Adam frowned. “No,” he said shortly.

Chantel moved away, sensing one of her brother's snubs, but to her surprise he turned toward her.

“I am having spooky dreams, Chantel…nightmares. It's not Myrddin who's talking to me.” Adam shrugged helplessly. “It's a warrior woman called Vivienne. She wants me to climb a hill somewhere, but I'm scared. What if she's one of the Dark Being's supporters, not the Wise Ones'?”

Before Chantel could answer, the bedroom door shook under another pounding.

“Hey, Chantel, you slept through a heck of a storm.

The road to Uffington is flooded, and part of our paddock is underwater,” bellowed her cousin Owen. “Can we come in?”

Adam opened the door.

“Want to go boating?” continued Owen. “There's a tin horse trough in the horse barn. I bet it will float.”

Crack!

Chantel clapped her hands over her ears against the thunder. Her face blanched.

“It's okay, Chantel. Owen's being an idiot,” soothed Holly, entering behind her brother.

Owen opened his mouth to protest, but Holly poked his back. “Don't be stupid, Owen. You know what happened last time Chantel was out in a storm.”

Owen glanced guiltily at the cast on Chantel's leg.

“Sorry! I forgot.”

“It's okay,” murmured Chantel. She moved clumsily from the window and sat on her bed. “My cast is coming off tomorrow. I'll be able to keep up with you soon.”

She gave a lopsided grin.

Lightning flashed and the almost instant thunder made her smile fade. She pulled the duvet around her head and shoulders.

“That was close!” Adam peered outside again. He could just make out patches of garden between rain gusts. It was wrecked. Tall blue delphinium spikes sprawled across the path instead of standing upright in the flower border. He looked more closely. The lawn seemed to be flattened in a circular pattern. “Er, guys … have you seen the lawn?” he said slowly.

Holly joined Adam at the window. She wiped the glass with her sleeve and peered out. “Good grief, look at the grass— we've got a crop circle.” Holly rushed out of the room. The others heard her running down the stairs.

Adam and Owen followed.

Chantel sighed and limped along behind.

“What's a crop circle?” Adam asked as they pulled on rubber boots.

“Haven't you heard of them in Canada?” said Owen.

“They're gigantic circular patterns found in grain fields. They were first discovered around here. They are really spectacular. Some people think they are made by aliens.”

Light dawned on Adam's face. “I've seen a program about them on TV,” he said. “On ‘Ripley's Believe it or Not.' I didn't know they were from England. They're amazing.” He took a deep breath. “So flying saucers land here. Wow!”

His cousins burst out laughing.

“Mom says it's the young farmers keeping busy,” said Holly.

Adam looked puzzled. “You mean chasing flying saucers?”

“Nope, making the crop circles. It's field art —kind of like graffiti in a cornfield. Then tourists pay to photograph them,” said Holly.

“Two locals were caught and prosecuted last year,” added Owen. He paused and frowned. “But why would anyone bother to make one on our lawn?”

“The ones on TV weren't made by people,” Adam said. “They were too big, and the designs were too complicated. It's not possible.”

“Do you honestly think aliens make them?” Holly asked as she led the way into the garden.

Adam pointed to the lawn. “Something weird sure made that.”

The grass was neatly flattened and swirled into a complicated circular pattern — a spiral that looped back and forth.

“Freaky,” said Chantel. “Did one of you make it? As a joke?” She looked round the group, but everyone shook their heads.

“It's a spiral labyrinth,” Adam said slowly.

Everyone stared at him.

“How do you know that?” demanded Holly.

Adam shrugged. “Dunno. I just do. I've had weird dreams where a voice in my head tells me to go to a hill and walk a spiral labyrinth … and… and … I just know that's the name for this pattern.”

“Then it's Myrddin in your dreams,” said Owen firmly. “That's how Ava contacted me. This must be a sign from him.”

Adam shook his head. “It isn't. I haven't heard from Myrddin since you found Ava's circlet.” He hunched his shoulders “This doesn't feel right. I bet the woman in my dreams made it. She's called Vivienne, and last night she whispered to me. She's trying to make me walk the ‘Spiral Labyrinth.'” Adam shuddered. “I don't trust her. What if she's evil, like the dragon in our first adventure? What if she's from the Dark Being?”

Chantel moved closer to her brother. “We better be careful. The Wise Ones said a dark cloud was coming.”

She looked up at the glowering sky. “Do you think this is it?”

The cousins stared at the clouds scurrying by, but they just looked like the normal aftermath of a storm.

Holly took charge. “If Adam thinks this is evil, let's get rid of it. Now, before the parents ask questions.”

She ran to the garden shed, grabbed a rake and tossed a second to Owen.

From their place in the stars, the Wise Ones looked
down at the small blue planet they called Gaia and
humans called Earth.

“The storms grow fiercer, and the humans grow
angrier and more warlike,” said Equus, the great White
Horse. He shifted restlessly, snorting and shaking his
head. His mane and tail glinted with silver sparks.
“The Dark Being nears, and the humans react to her
influence.”

Ava, the beautiful hawk woman, spread a wing and
touched his back. “The children will prevail. They have
retrieved your talisman and my circlet. Now that they
are rested, they will help Myrddin regain his staff. Once
we all have retrieved our tools from their hiding places,
we can subdue the Dark Being despite her might and
fury.” She turned to Myrddin. “Go, retrieve your staff
of power with young Adam. This task should be simple
for the place of concealment is still honored by humans
though most have forgotten why. Adam understands
Earth Magic. He will walk the Labyrinth willingly and
enter the Crystal Cave beneath the Tor.”