The Ghost Roads (Ring of Five) (16 page)

M
any things worried Marcus Brunholm when he was alone in his quarters, but there was one thing in particular. That morning he had woken, stretched and gotten out of bed to do his exercises, twenty sit-ups every morning. He had brushed his teeth and fetched a crushed velvet suit from his closet. It was only when he’d gone to lay the suit out on the bed that he’d noticed them, carved in a flowing script on the wooden head of his bed, put there during the night as he slept, the initials that he now stood before, tracing them with a trembling finger:
S & G
.

THE DARK STREAM

T
he journey on the ghost roads was coming to its end, and as it always did on those lost roads, a hint of autumn had crept into the air. It was cold when they got up in the morning, cold and fresh, and a hint of brown had started to creep into the leaves. Nana had gone out to a little clearing in the woods to think. She had seen no ravens on the entire journey. It worried her for a while, but she was old and wise enough to put it to the back of her mind. The ravens would do what they wanted, with or without her, and there was no point in worrying about it.

But she did worry about Danny. All she could do was give him space to be himself for a little while. He was a dangerous mixture. Child of a human father and a Cherb mother, to start with. She had to tell him what she knew
about his parents, but she was afraid it might unbalance him even more. She sighed.

“I wish the ravens were here to help me,” she said.

“What do you need help with?” The voice was Danny’s. He had approached her quietly and was watching her calmly. She met his gaze and tried to read his heart, but it was shielded from her. There were two sides to his character, and the treacherous side made her shudder.

Nana thought she saw that side now. Danny was smiling as he watched her, but there was no warmth in the smile.

“What do you know about me?” he asked.

“Why is there a question on your dear lips, child, and none in your eyes?”

“I can tell, you know, when you’re keeping something from me.”

“Knowing can be dangerous betimes, Danny. It’s for the likes of me to judge when you’re ready for another burden to carry. The gray hair on my head is hard-earned.”

Danny had moved to Nana’s side and stood close. She could feel the force of his personality, what he was thinking.… If she never returned from this clearing, what would happen? … He could lie to Beth; he was a good liar, and she would believe him. Nana closed her eyes.

When she opened them again, Danny was standing moodily at the river at the edge of clearing. He picked up a stone and threw it in. The clear surface of the water rippled and became opaque.

“I’m sorry,” he said without turning around. “If I
relax too much, then Danny the Spy finds a way into my head.”

“Is that what you call him?”

“Danny the Spy? Yes.”

“Hear me now, son. There is but one Danny Caulfield, not two, with all that is right and wrong about him.”

“You don’t know that.”

“I know what I know.”

Nana left him on his own in the clearing. Tomorrow they would come to an end of the ghost road. She would have to trust him with what she knew tonight.

D
anny had been sleeping for a few hours when he was shaken awake.

“Get up and get dressed,” Nana said. “Wrap a blanket around your shoulders. It’s cold. You too, Beth.”

It was a clear night. Danny shivered and was glad of the blanket.

“Look up,” Nana said softly. Danny did as she said. He had never seen so many stars shining bright and cold and clear in the blue-black night sky.

“Come,” Nana said. Without talking, Danny and Beth followed. Nana led them into a wood. The path closed in until they couldn’t see the sky anymore, but Danny knew it was there, shimmering, majestic. Nana lit a candle, placed it in a small lantern and took them deep into the woods, the path sloping downward. They walked for a long time.

All at once, Danny was aware of steps beneath his
feet. They were descending into the living rock. He put his hand out to steady himself and felt the stone worn smooth, as though multitudes had descended into this place, their shoulders brushing the stone over centuries.

Deep into the rock they followed the stairs, until in the end they came to a little wooden door. It was latched but not locked.

“There’d be no stealing from this place,” Nana explained as she opened the door and led them in.

They followed a narrow stone corridor and emerged into a great space. The lamplight did not reach the walls or the ceiling, but Danny had an impression of vastness. In the distance there was a whispering as of many voices, millions, perhaps. He felt Beth inch closer to him and put her hand in his.

“Where are we?” he asked.

“On the banks of the river,” Nana said, and Danny did not have to ask what the river was. He already knew.

Silently they followed Nana until they could go no farther. They had reached the river. It flowed dark and powerful at their feet, neither fast nor slow, and they could not see the other side. A black stone jetty jutted out into the water, but no boat stood at its side.

“A boat will come when you need it,” Nana said. “This is the river Styx, which you must cross when you have left life behind.”

Danny and Beth could hear voices, whispering and innumerable, from the other side.

“Why have you brought me here?” Danny said.

“Two reasons. First, it was where I last saw your
mother and father, as they made ready for their final journey.”

Danny felt Beth’s hand tighten around his.

“They were long hunted, wounded, poisoned, and knew it was their time.”

“What … what were they like?”

“Your father was a great spy. He was impatient, would let you down as soon as look at you if it suited him. A liar too. But he fair made me laugh. He’d charm the birds out of the trees.”

“And my mother?”

“Serious, a thinker, gentle as the day was long. Beautiful too. She had a tiny waist, and such a dancer as you never seen. But a born spy as well.”

“But she was a Cherb.”

“You see, you’ve got your thoughts backways. Because your mother was a Cherb, you got to thinking that the Cherb part was the bad part, Danny the Spy. Because that’s the way they think about Cherbs at your school. But it was your dad was the hard one. Your mum’s the better part of you. She made sure you’d be looked out for when they were gone.”

“How?”

“Your mum picked the people to look after you. Your dad set up a devilish web such as you’ve never seen, so that no one would ever find you. He was a devious one and no mistake.”

“I thought …”

“It started to go awry in the last years. There were a lot of grim, smart folk trying to get to you. Pearl and
Stone didn’t help. They started poking around trying to find out about you and they brought the whole shooting match running after them, blew their cover.”

“So who … who was in charge of me—the government or something?”

“Lord, no,” Nana laughed, her voice sounding strange in the echoing cavern. “There was no government or nothing looking after you.”

“Who was it, then?” Danny cried.

“It was me, Danny,” Nana said. “It was me.”

Danny looked at her in wonder. He had thought that some shadowy secret service had been in charge of his upbringing, and instead it was this elderly traveler lady!

“Little I had to do, Danny. Your mum chose your guardians and your dad organized all else. But I was there. You never noticed the caravan. Many’s the time we camped at the bottom of the road near your house. People never pay any mind to the travelers. We come and we go and none to care.”

“Why did they go?” Danny thought that for a moment the whispering on the other side of the river got louder.”

“They were ill, hunted, dying. The folks in charge didn’t want to see humans and Cherbs in love, but they wanted you, Danny. They wanted the power of the Fifth.”

“Two reasons. You said there were two reasons for bringing me here,” Danny reminded her.

Nana looked troubled. “For those who know the river is a thing to cross over from one side to the other. But it is a river. It flows around where we are and who we are all
the time, son, and more than you think. This river will carry you to Wilsons. There is danger, hauntings, but if the need is there you will take the river.”

A question hung in the air. It was Beth, standing to one side, almost forgotten, who spoke it out loud.

“If he doesn’t make it down the river, if he has to go to the other side, will he see them there, his mum and dad?”

“Will he?” Nana’s voice was stern. “Your mother and father are dead. Will you see them when you cross? My ma and da are dead these many long years. Will I see them when I cross? I know not, pet. It is not my business, nor is it yours. Leave that to the whisperers in the shadows.”

“Then it is time to leave this place,” Beth said firmly. “There’s work to be done in the world we have, Nana.”

The old woman bowed her head, accepting the rebuke. Beth took Danny’s hand. They turned their back on the whispering of the dead and made their way out of the shadows until they stood in the open under the stars, the myriad constellations that set the night alight with white fire.

“This is where you belong, Danny,” Beth said. “In the open, away from the shadows.”

The next morning they drove through fields stiff with frost. No one spoke. They stopped in a meadow. Beth cooked bacon and eggs, and they ate in companionable silence, washing it down with hot coffee. Danny suddenly realized what Nana had been doing, surrounding him with warmth. He reached across and squeezed her hand. She bowed her head.

“Nothing I’ve done for you or yours comes to anything,” she murmured.

“You can’t say that, Nana,” Beth said. “You do what you can, and you never know what the world will turn it into.”

“You’re right,” Nana said, straightening. “And it’s time we were on the move. You and Danny take the dishes down to that well over there and wash them. I’ve got things to do.”

Nana watched Danny and Beth as they ran to the well. They are the teachers in this world, not me, she thought. She remembered Danny’s mother and father and how she had left them to fetch water. When she’d returned, they breathed no more, but between them on the dry earth was written a single “S” and a single “G,” and between those, a heart.

A FAINT ODOR OF CORRUPTION

N
ana halted the van at an old wrought-iron fence and motioned to Danny to step down. He saw that the van had stopped at a graveyard. Ancient yew trees and ivy overran the place, but he could see crumbling headstones and mausoleums. Nana motioned to him to enter. Beth watched with a somber expression.

“What is this place?” Danny asked.

“A portal, a gateway into the world. On the other side lie dangers and enemies. You do not have to leave the ghost paths, Danny. You can go back.”

“I have to finish. Too much depends on me.”

“Well then.” Nana moved closer to him, her sharp eyes like berries in her wrinkled brown face. “Well then. Be wise like the owl. Be cunning like the fox. Be kind like
the dove. Be ruthless like the hawk. Forgive the weak their cruelty. Reward the brave. Remember that courage does not draw attention to itself and asks for no reward. Go with my blessing.”

Flanked by Nana and Beth, Danny walked slowly through the graveyard. The far gate was closed, but he knew what lay beyond it. Ten feet from the gate, Nana and Beth halted. Beth kissed him on the cheek. It was a light kiss, but its imprint lingered. Without looking back, Danny approached the gate, opened it and stepped out.

The roar of traffic. Office workers walking briskly along worn pavement. High buildings towering over him. Danny felt as if he had traveled through centuries in a few steps. He flinched as a bus passed close to him, diesel fumes blowing in his face. He moved uncertainly along the pavement and turned to look at the graveyard, a gray wall with a tiny gate in it, dwarfed by the buildings around it, and almost invisible now.

He began to take in the streetscape around him, and he soon realized how much the world he had come from had changed. For a start, every third or fourth vehicle was a jeep or a military truck. The streets were full of men and women in uniform, and important public buildings like police stations had sandbags around their entrances. This city was on a war footing, he realized. People looked up nervously as a military jet passed overhead.