Kingsholt (11 page)

Leela smiled. ‘You’re right. And there’s quite a story to it.

A long time ago, when I was decorating the cottage, I was scraping the wallpaper in the hall and I found a door and some stone steps leading to a cellar. Behind the door there was an old shopping bag with this ink inside it, and —’ she nodded at the fireplace, ‘I also found the silver pendant and one or two other things, maybe put there for safekeeping by one of the family. Perhaps your grandmother, Emily Penfold…’

‘Did you ever explore the cellar? asked Sam.

Leela shook her head. ‘I kept the door locked and threw away the key. After all, I didn’t want little Tyler wandering down there, did I?’ She looked thoughtful. ‘The story might be of use. Uncle George told me that a hermit once lived here and used a passage from the cellar to the stone mines. But I don’t know.’ She poured out some more tea for Aidan.

‘Anyway,’ she said, ‘don’t dwell on these things, Sam. My point is that if you do your calligraphy, it’ll take your mind off
what happened last night. You could make a quill out of that feather in your pocket. There’s nothing like a craft to keep the mind calm. I do rugs myself.’

‘Thanks, Leela. ‘Sam smelled the concoction again. ‘Yes, it is made of oak galls. That’s what the scribes used.’ He screwed the lid back on and carefully put the bottle into the plastic bag, shoving it into his pocket along with his other useless things. He smiled at Leela. He was already feeling more normal and looking forward to kicking a ball around. At least it would remind him of the lads back home.

That afternoon, when Sam and Tyler were playing ‘Look out’ football, as they called it, Tyler kicked the ball up so high it landed in the wood. He ran to get it then came back to Sam. ‘It’s Tammy. She’s watching us.’

‘Spying on us,’ said Sam loudly, as he walked slowly towards the wood. Tammy came out of hiding and leaned against a tree as if she had been there all the time.

She defiantly opened a string bag that hung round her neck, took out a packet of rolled cigarettes and offered one slyly to Tyler.

‘Don’t you take that,’ said Sam, as Tyler leaned forward, ready to take whatever was offered to him.

Tammy lit up and blew a ring of smoke into the air.

‘Findings keepings, that’s what we say.’

‘What are you talking about?’

‘You’ll find out soon enough, Sam Penfold.’

She puffed another circle of smoke up into the trees.

‘Nimbus can make people disappear.’

‘But he can’t bring them back,’ said Sam.

Tammy’s eyes went blank. She spoke in a softer voice, half to herself. ‘It’s true. For all his powers, he’ll never bring Rosie back.’

Then she smirked. ‘There’s no stopping him now.’

‘Stopping him from what?’

Tammy threw the cigarette down and scrunched it with her heel. ‘You don’t know anything do you, Sam Penfold? Well, let me tell you this: Nimbus has the map and he’ll have his revenge very soon. You’ll see.’

‘Sam’s hand went up but Tyler caught it and held on.

‘Come on, let’s get back to football.’

‘That’s all you two are fit for,’ said Tammy. ‘You wait. Nimbus says before tomorrow’s out, he’ll have everything he wants.’

Sam made another lunge for Tammy but Tyler took hold of his shoulders and forced him down the slope.

‘Let go!’

‘If you touch her you’ll be in trouble,’ said Tyler urgently.

At that moment they were distracted by a noise that was coming from the wood, a high clear whine.

‘That’s Aidan,’ said Sam.’ We should report back.’

They went through the trees, with Judy straying and returning, following old tracks and scents. A slight wind rose and carried the smell of the pit through the air. It seemed worse somehow, now sunlight packed the wood and there wasn’t a cloud in the sky.

They found Aidan high up in an oak tree, secure in his spiked boots and his cradle of rope. He was sawing at a branch with such speed and concentration he didn’t see they were there.

Sam looked round. The afternoon sunlight already pierced the pit, turning the vegetation gold and the flints silver.

Then Aidan caught sight of them and shouted, ‘Keep back!”

Another branch crashed into the undergrowth and from the gap in the fork of the trees the sun blazed in a circle of gold. Without forewarning, one of those timeless moments suddenly overtook them. ‘I feel breathless,’ said Sam as he became aware of something greater than himself.

‘That’s where we’ll build the chapel,’ shouted Aidan, his whole face lighting up, ‘and that’s where we’ll sing again.’

At that moment a shaft of light pierced the pit like a sword.

Tyler and Sam sat down and watched Aidan saw off more branches. Now the late afternoon sunlight swayed with the grass and bushes, rippling over the stones, gathering itself up into low shafts of light, until a cloud cut into the sun and everything gold slipped into shadow.

‘That’s no cloud,’ Tyler told Sam, ‘that’s the old buzzard. He’ll swoop soon if Nimbus has left meat in the pit.’

As he spoke the buzzard flew down, picked something up in its hooked beak and swung up again into the trees.

Tyler squinted. ‘Dead rat – that’s what it looks like.’

There was a rustle in the leaves as the bird flew off to a quieter place.

Then the low sun re-appeared, casting a halo round the valley.

As they all made their way home, Sam told Aidan what Tammy had talked about.

‘I thought it must’ve been Nimbus who took the map from the library!’ said Aidan. ‘I don’t suppose Chloe could do much about it.’

When they reached home, they sat round the kitchen table eating cheese sandwiches. ‘Nothing like food to get the brain cells going,’ said Sam. ‘The next puzzle is: Does Nimbus know what the map means? Chloe told me he can’t read.’

Aidan handed out diet cokes. ‘It depends how much Chloe was forced to cooperate,’ he said thoughtfully.

Sam took a gulp and looked up sharply. ‘Tammy said Chloe told him what the map meant.’

Aidan took a long drink from his coke can. ‘It depends what you mean by that. It’s more likely that Nimbus put her in a trance – after all he was a hypnotist by trade. In that sort of state you sometimes know what you don’t know.’

‘That would come in useful before exams.’ Sam laughed and
reluctantly chucked the last bite of his sandwich to Judy, who was looking up at him hopefully. ‘Chloe’s safe with Leela, isn’t she?’

Aidan smiled. ‘As safe as she could be with anyone. But we can’t afford to wait. We’ve got to do something soon. Otherwise Nimbus may find whatever there is and then who knows what he would do?’ He looked hard at Sam. ‘But there again, I don’t know how we’ll get anywhere without a map.’

‘Why don’t we ask Chloe?’ said Sam. ‘She’ll remember.’

Aidan shook his head. ‘Not now, I doubt if she’ll remember anything now.’

‘Why not?’

‘Nimbus will have made sure she won’t.’

‘And I can’t help,’ said Tyler dolefully, ‘I don’t know anything about that sort of thing.’

Aidan smiled. ‘You’re a walking map, Tyler. You know more about the valley than anyone else. Come on, we’ll go up to the library. We’ll turn ourselves into a think-tank. One of us is sure to come up with something.’

The library was flooded with low sunlight and the mirror caught the late sun, turning it into a burning jewel. Now he had eaten something, Sam felt renewed. Aidan pointed to the highest shelf opposite the mirror. ‘I found the map at the back of those books – inside an old ledger.’

‘How did you know it might be there?’ asked Sam.

‘I didn’t,’ said Aidan. ‘I was going through Uncle George’s diaries and I came across a reference to his mother, Emily. Apparently she used to copy her father’s accounts into a ledger in her beautiful, small handwriting. Then I came across the ledger just before you arrived, Sam. It was hidden behind some of the books, up there, on the highest shelf. Emily’s notes were at the back of the accounts with the map that Nimbus took. I think she must have copied it from a much older map.’

Aidan flicked over the pages of one of the diaries. ‘Here we
are. A page of Emily’s writing, stuck in by Uncle George in memory of her.’

Sam looked at it closely. ‘What were her notes about?’

‘About the Viking raids and about King Alfred. Like me, Emily had a great interest in him, especially because of the local legends. She was sure the name Kingsholt referred to King Alfred.’

Sam jumped up. ‘I’ve just had a thought.’ He saluted Aidan as he reached the door. ‘Sherlock Holmes at the ready!’

He rushed up to the attic and opened the puppet box. He took out the little notebook and ran back to the library. ‘Here we are. Another Emily Penfold thing.’

Aidan examined it carefully. ‘It’s the same writing,’ he said, ‘small and beautiful.’ He looked up. ‘Rather like yours, Sam. Well done! I must say, I didn’t think about looking in the attic.’

Sam leaned over Aidan’s shoulder and spoke in a deep Sherlock Holmes voice.

‘Sounds like a couple of childish riddles,’ said Aidan.

‘It won’t be a game, Aidan.’ Tyler spoke urgently. ‘If Emily Penfold knew the valley like I do, she wouldn’t play games with its legends. There’s something she knows.’

Aidan looked up at Sam. ‘Did you find anything else?’

He shook his head.

‘This may be enough,’ said Aidan. ‘I’ll try and work it out. You two take a break. There’s nothing more we can do today.’

Sam and Tyler went back to the attic and poked around but there were no more clues. Tyler decided to take Judy for a walk but Sam stayed in the attic to make sure he had not missed anything that would help. He found nothing so he took the jar of silver sand downstairs and emptied it into one of the big iron pans. He put it into the top oven of the Aga. By now Tyler had come back and he watched Sam in astonishment.

‘I haven’t gone mad,’ said Sam, ‘I’m going to make a quill. First I have to soak the feather. Then I’ll strip it and cover it with the hot sand to harden it. Then I’ll cut the nib.’

Leela was right. There was nothing like doing something practical to sort yourself out. He was definitely feeling better. That night Tyler and Judy slept in Sam’s bed and Sam settled down in an old sleeping bag that had once belonged to Uncle George. He woke about four o’clock, haunted by a nightmare; Nimbus was tying Chloe to the Nimbus Tree and Uncle George was bound to another tree. Uncle George was in green pyjamas and was shaking his head like some old puppet! Sam felt the walls close in on him so he slithered out of the bag, crept out of the room, along the corridor and past the library where a light was still on. He ran down the main stairway, opened the front door and stepped into the garden. That was better! He breathed in the cool night air.

Moonlight flecked the sheep and – Sam tried to find the right word –
tampered
with the sundial. Without warning, it swam out of focus and took on the shape of the ghostly monk who was pointing above the porch to the saluki dog. Sam looked away and then back, and to his relief the monk had disappeared and the sundial was standing firm again, silvery in the moonlight. Was this some sort of a message? Of course! The sundial was where the sun’s shadow fell! This must be the place!

The moon slid behind a little cloud as he ran back into the house and up to his bedroom.

‘Tyler, wake up, it’s important.’

Tyler groaned and yawned.

‘Come on, there’s no time to waste.’

Tyler clambered out of bed and pulled on his trousers and old jumper. He and Judy followed Sam downstairs and out into the drive.

‘Where’s east from here?’ asked Sam, standing by the sundial.

Tyler pointed to the stars. ‘Let me see. There’s the plough and there’s the North Star. East is in front of us.’

Sam peered over the flagstones. Little flowers and moss were pushing up in the cracks.

‘Somewhere here,’ he said, ‘that’s where we have to dig for the map.’

Tyler looked at him with an open mouth. ‘What
now
?’

‘If we wait until morning it might be too late. There’s spades and garden forks in the lobby. I’ll get Aidan.’

Tyler yawned again. ‘It doesn’t seem right to wake him up,’ he said.

‘He’s already awake,’ said Sam.

It took the three of them an hour to lift the paving stones and dig down and another hour to find out there was nothing there. Aidan sat back and wiped his forehead. ‘It was a game after all. Emily Penfold was having everyone on. I’ve already spent too much time on those riddles and I still can’t make head or tail of them. Let’s face it, she was only a little girl having fun.’

Sam looked at the oak front door and the pediment and the dog who appeared whitish against the dark sky. It was standing like any hunting dog, nose in the air, long legs stretched, barrel chest ready to bear the breath of its speed. Sam knew it was mad, but he had a strong feeling the dog was also part of it. Emily Penfold’s riddle beat in his head.

‘Of course,
that’s
where we should be digging,’ he said urgently, ‘under the dog. The sun’s shadow falls there when the sun goes over the roof. I wasn’t thinking hard enough.’ Or taking notice of the monk, he thought. ‘Don’t you see, the dog is a hunting dog and the words
‘the hunt is on’
is a reminder, isn’t it? The dog’s a hunter and so are we. We were wide of the mark, that was all.’

Aidan looked tired. ‘Sam, you had a nightmare. You have an over-active imagination. You need a proper rest.’

‘
Please,
Aidan.
Please.
’

‘I’ve been trying to remember the map,’ said Aidan. ‘’I’ve put bits together. It’ll probably be enough.’

‘Please, Aidan.’ Sam looked into his friend’s tired, grey eyes. ‘It’s worth a try.’

Dawn was breaking behind the house. They stood in silence and at last Aidan said, ‘All right.’ He turned to Tyler. ‘You keep a lookout for Nimbus. It’s nearly morning and God knows what he’s up to. We’ve been too long as it is.’