Shaman of Stonewylde (55 page)

‘Is he . . . is he alright?’

Jay laughed harshly and drank from the bottle again. The cigarette smoke filled the car as he’d kept the window shut, flicking the ash onto the dirty floor.

‘He knows who’s boss now, put it that way. He won’t be standing up to me no more. But no, he ain’t
seriously
injured.’

She was silent at this and he guessed that her fury was smothered by her fear, which made his lips twitch. She’d always been a gobby little bitch, squaring up to him against the odds, so this trembling silence showed just how scared she was.

‘So, Leveret, the dog’s life is in your hands. I don’t give a shit about the animal, whether he lives or dies. I’d be happy to kick him to death. Or smash his skull open with a heavy rock. Or leave him to die slowly of thirst. Or give him some o’ the poison I got here.’

She jerked in horror and he laid a heavy hand on her arm.

‘But it don’t make no odds to me, so this is the deal I’ll do with you. If you do everything I tell you and don’t make no fuss, no noise, no struggling – I’ll let the dog live. I’ll turn him free and I won’t harm him. But if there’s one wrong move from you, one step out of line, then I’ll make you watch him die. Understood?’

‘Yes,’ she said in a strangled voice.

‘Course, you might decide the pup’s life ain’t worth it,’ he said, pulling out another cigarette. He lit it and inhaled deeply. ‘You might decide that you just can’t be a good girl for me after all – that what I want from you is too much. In that case, Leveret, do you know what will happen?’

‘You’ll kill Shadow,’ she whispered.

‘Yeah, I’ll kill Shadow, and then I’ll force you anyway. I won’t care if you scream and struggle – there ain’t nobody around to hear it anyway. I’ll take what I want whether you like it or not. But it’ll be so much easier for everyone if you don’t fight me. Understood?’

‘Yes.’

Maizie eyed her eldest granddaughter worriedly, noting the frantic way Celandine had started to pace around the cottage.

‘For Goddess’ sake, sit down, child!’ she said.

‘She can’t help it, Granny Maizie,’ said Bluebell, colouring in her picture at the table. ‘It’s the Moon Fullness tonight, and—’

‘
Please
, Granny Maizie!’ said Celandine. ‘Mummy said we’d go onto the Village Green and I need to go there
now
!’

‘I’ll take her,’ said Rufus, getting up from the armchair. ‘I’ll look after her, like Leveret said.’

‘Oh did she now?’ said Maizie sharply. ‘Seems ’tis all decided. Well, I suppose if you wrap up warm enough, Celandine, and promise me you’ll just have a quick dance around the Green . . .’

‘Oh
yes
, Granny Maizie, thank you!’

She was almost crying with relief and rushed to the door to grab her coat from the hook. Rufus found his jacket too and started to pull his boots on.

‘And your boots, missy. You’re not going out in shoes, not when ’tis Hunter’s Moon and so close to winter now.’

‘But she can’t dance in boots, Granny!’ said Bluebell, showing no inclination herself to go out into the chilly evening.

‘I don’t care about that,’ said Maizie firmly. ‘Warm boots or nothing. And not too long, Rufus.’

Yul stood on the cliff top gazing out to sea. He wore no coat but the cold didn’t reach him. The sun had set though the moon had yet to rise, and he watched the dull water with a heavy heart. He hadn’t been up here for so long, hating the place and all the bad memories it brought. But it was fitting tonight, and he almost savoured the melancholy and guilt dredged up by the sight of the round, pale disc of rock. Sylvie – his beloved moongazy girl, and the suffering she’d gone through here at the hands of Magus. He remembered her standing on the stone, her skin chased with the tiny silver threads of light, and the endless moon eggs he’d made her hold. He recalled her collapsing in agony and being forced to lie there whilst Magus leeched her moon magic, stealing her gift to feed his insatiable hunger.

And tonight Sylvie was still suffering and it was he who’d caused it by his betrayal. Miranda had said there’d been a picture left behind by Rainbow which was in Cherry’s hands, but others had seen it too and everyone was talking of it. This must be the ultimate humiliation for Sylvie. He’d inflicted it on her as deliberately and cold-heartedly as Magus had once inflicted pain. He was no better than his father after all, and Sylvie would
be
infinitely better off without him; all he brought her was heartache. As he thought this, a sliver of the dark pink moon appeared above the horizon. It was as if someone had slashed at the fabric of the night sky and made it bleed.

In the Dolmen Clip had fallen into a deep trance whilst staring beyond the dancing flames of his fire. He was wrapped up well against the cold, with layers of woollens under his cloak, a warm felt hat on his head and lined boots on his feet. Even his hands were mittened. He’d been cold for a while now and guessed it was one of the effects of the medication he’d been prescribed. He felt so weary and his head bowed on his chest as the silver wolf led him into another realm, finally revealing to him what was to come and what must be done. In the dark sky, the Hunter’s Moon rose in silence and an owl hooted as it passed over the ancient stone portal, entrance to another world.

Now that the time had come, Jay felt almost reluctant to leave the warmth of the Landrover cab. But he was sure the moon would be rising very soon, if it hadn’t already – it was difficult to see from here. When he’d mentioned his plan to her the other evening, Old Violet had said that tonight during the eclipse, when the full moon was overshadowed, was the perfect time to ensure that Leveret would never fulfil her potential as Wise Woman. The crone had also said that he might get her with child. She wasn’t sixteen for another four months and had no implant. Jay really liked the thought of getting uppity little Leveret knocked up. He imagined her walking around Stonewylde, his child growing in her belly and everyone shocked and amazed, and that gave him a surge of confidence. He felt very male and very powerful, and she was ripe for the plucking.

‘Right then, Leveret, time for us to get on with it,’ he said. He stuffed the cigarettes, matches and mead in his pocket and pulled the keys from the ignition. Then he remembered his earlier plan, and from his other pocket, pulled out the length of fine rope and turned on the dim light inside the vehicle.

‘Hold out your wrists in front of you,’ he said, and proceeded to bind them together, wrapping the rope around and noticing how her hands shook. He enjoyed the feeling of mastery it gave him, tethering her like a slave-girl. ‘Just in case you make a break for it, you won’t get far like this. Quarrycleave’s dangerous and it’d be your neck you’d break, with your hands tied.’

She sat huddled, her head down, and Jay felt omnipotent. He got out of the car and came round to pull her out as she couldn’t manage the door. As it slammed shut they heard a faint but frantic yelping begin. Leveret’s head shot up, swivelling round to hear better.

‘Shadow!’ she cried.

‘Yeah, noisy, ain’t he?’ laughed Jay.

‘He . . . he sounds so frightened! Please can we check he’s alright?’

‘No, we can’t!’

‘Please, Jay,’ she whispered in a small voice, ‘please—’

He took a swipe at her, catching her arm, and she almost fell.

‘Yeah, and he’ll be bloody dead if you don’t shut up and do as you’re told! Remember what I said, Hare-brain.’

He led the way and she followed, stumbling over the rough ground leading down into the open part of the horse-shoe shaped quarry. The closed end was the high cliffs of hewn rock and the entire interior consisted of half-worked rock-faces, canyons that ran between them, and in the more open parts, piles and piles of boulders and spoil. In the gloomy twilight he looked back at her impatiently and then cursed.

‘Bugger! I forgot the torch. Stay there and don’t move.’

Jay hurried back to the car knowing there was nowhere for her to run or hide, not with her hands tied and being miles away from anywhere safe. He grinned to himself as he grabbed the flashlight and made his way back to where she stood waiting, small and defenceless, her head bowed and hands bound. A thrill ran through Jay’s body making him shudder in anticipation of the pleasure to come. The fiasco with Tansy receded and he knew that this time, he’d score the bullseye.

‘Where are you off to now?’ demanded Martin, grabbing Mallow’s arm as she hurried along the courtyard past the kitchens. He’d appeared out of nowhere from the shadows and she gave a cry of alarm, dropping her basket.

‘Stupid, clumsy woman!’ he said, cuffing her as she stooped to pick it up.

‘Nothing’s broke,’ she gabbled, ‘and ’tis only some clean clothes for her and a jar o’ butter.’

‘You’re visiting my mother?’ he barked.

‘Yes, Martin, like I do every evening,’ she said, nodding eagerly. ‘So’s I can build up the fire and help her into bed after her supper.’

‘But why are you going tonight? Are you a complete half-wit?’

‘But . . . but you said I must go every night, Martin. Every morning and every night you said, without fail.’

He located her skinny arm under her cloak and squeezed it hard, making her squeak with pain.

‘And what night is it tonight?’

‘Ooow . . . ’tis . . . ’tis Hunter’s Moon, and—’

With a sharp twist of her flesh he let her go, and she staggered backwards, tears filling her eyes.

‘Never disturb my mother at the Moon Fullness! Have you forgot she’s the Wise Woman?’ he spat, advancing on her again.

‘No! No, Martin, I know she’s the Wise Woman! I just thought . . .’

‘As ever, you thought wrong. I wonder what I did to deserve a stupid goodwife such as you, Mallow. My first wife were daft, but you’re dafter, and you’re not even pretty as she was. And you only gave me one child, which is a disgrace when our Magus were telling us to breed more labour for Stonewylde. Why did I ever saddle myself with a dull, plain mare such as you?’

Mallow stood snivelling now, her basket sitting on the cobbles as she cried into her hands. Martin’s thin face twisted with malice as he looked down at her, but then he heard the kitchen door opening behind and he stepped forward to shield
her
from view. He picked up the basket and thrust it at her.

‘Go home this minute,’ he hissed, ‘and take off your cloak and your boots and get up to the little back bedroom. Don’t take a lantern – stand on the chair in the middle o’ the room in the darkness. Do you understand? I expect to find you there when I return later, and remember I
always
know when you’ve disobeyed.’

She nodded, sobbing convulsively, and he jabbed her bony chest.

‘If I find you’ve not done my bidding, there’ll be trouble tonight. You’ve pushed me to the end of my patience, Mallow, and I’ll stand for no more of it.’

The flashlight seemed to make the darkness deeper, and Leveret tried to place her feet carefully, as she could see nothing of where she trod. Jay illuminated the stacks of hewn stone, scored where the old chisels had cut in. The shadows danced as the harsh white light played on the rock, and the only sound was the puppy’s terrified yelping in the distance. Several times Leveret stumbled and after a while, Jay held onto her arm. He didn’t want her damaged before they’d even started. They made their way through the heart of the quarry but Jay was oblivious to the chill and terror of the place that started to seep into their bones. The sensation of death and menace that crept up from the ground to permeate everything didn’t affect him. Nor did he sense the silent baying for blood that had started all around them.

He walked boldly through the corridors of stone, as might a young warrior with his looted prize. He yanked the dark-haired girl along, making no allowances for her fear nor the fact her wrists were bound. He was intent only on plunder and desecration, and felt his pulse quickening by the minute into a state of aroused excitement. The canyons rustled with glossy ivy and the full moon shone through the gaps overhead. Jay had planned where they were headed, for the Snake Stone was the hub of the place, the core of the quarry which drew everything to it.

Finally they reached the foot of the enormous column of
stone
where the boulders were piled and great tiers of rock clustered, forming a way up to the top. Jay gave off a sharp and pungent odour as he’d worked himself into a sweat, and he perched against a boulder to catch his breath. Leveret stood before him in the darkness, shaking convulsively. He took out another cigarette and lit it, tipping his head skyward to savour the sensation of strong tobacco smoke hitting the back of his throat. He played the beam of the flashlight over Leveret, shining it on her cloak and the long dark curls that tumbled over her shoulders.

‘What are you wearing under that?’ he growled, and reached forward to pull back the material.

Instinctively she jerked away from his touch and with an oath he grabbed the front of her cloak and yanked her forward, almost pulling her off her feet.

‘Bloody stand still, bitch!’ he barked, and slowly and deliberately pushed the two sides of her heavy cloak back over her shoulders. ‘I see you didn’t dress yourself up for me!’

She wore an old woollen robe underneath, with a leather belt round her waist and sturdy boots on her feet. She looked like one of the Stonewylde ancestors and very different to the girls Jay had discovered in the Outside World. He was disappointed that she looked so dowdy, as if she’d done it deliberately to cheat him of the pleasure of feasting his eyes on her.

‘If you’d been done up all pretty like at the Outsiders’ Dance last Yule, I’d have let you keep your dress on,’ he said. ‘But as soon as we get up the top, you’ll take that lot off and I’ll have you naked.’

Leveret’s head shot up and in the bright light, he saw the terror in her eyes. He chuckled and flicked the cigarette butt away. Pulling out the bottle of mead he took a long gulp and smacked his lips. Then he put the bottle away, and slowly and deliberately reached out to place his hand on her breast. Again she flinched, but this time didn’t pull back, standing rigid and quaking. Smiling, he ran his hand over the softness of her, pulling and squeezing as a farmer might examine an animal.