The Mammoth Book of Historical Crime Fic - By Mike Ashley Page 0,79

Don’t you care? Do you want to spend your best years with a sarcastic bitch like me?”

“Oh, I’m quite fond of you really,” smiled Niav, unmoved. “And, besides, Fearn can be fun to be with too.”

She loved being with Fearn – something about the way their minds seemed to set one another’s off, always something to make, something to do; why give that up to be with the spotty youths of her own age?

One day, not long after a visitation of a couple of uncles, Fearn was sitting pensively on his rock. “You know,” he said, “I think that, this time, my uncles were trying to tell me that maybe I’m old enough to look under my rock.”

“Why, what’s under your rock?” said an astonished Niav; it was a vast thing and had taken both of his uncles and his father to get it set in place there, she remembered.

“Oh, he buried something for me underneath, to dig out when I was older. It needn’t be difficult. There are ways of moving big rocks that would simply stun you. People round here probably know, but they don’t seem to feel the need to do it. I doubt if there will be many future changes, either, with your uncle Lurgan smothering any new idea that tries to raise its head.

“Where we lived when I was little, they hefted rocks all over the place when they were feeling religious – it was quite exciting. Still, there is a lot to be said for the way you have things here. You let the children make themselves useful, beachcombing.

“Where we were, they’d have had me down a mine at the first opportunity – Orchil insisted on taking me away at the first mention of it; I prefer sunshine – so did she. But I can remember the amazing things they used to do and my uncles explained to me how they could be done. Maybe we should give it a go.”

“We? What have I got to do with it? Surely it’s meant to be your stone to prove your stupid manhood or something.”

“Look, it took the three of them ages, they were sweating away all night to shift it by brute force. Wouldn’t a couple of kids managing to do it – using my brain and organizational skills – prove my manhood?”

“Prove your bloody-mindedness possibly – I don’t know; it isn’t exactly my problem.”

“Well, I’d like to give it a try.”

Fearn demonstrated the method of using a lever, supported by a second stone, to prize up a smallish boulder. Though Niav had used slats of wood to loosen the odd flagstone in her time, she had never realized about using the smaller stone to help. She was impressed to discover quite how large a rock it was possible for two youngsters to move on their own with a proper-sized lever. However, in the end they called in the aid of Kyle, Estra and Canya who turned up unexpectedly.

All five of them were flung, laughing, on their backs as the mighty block was finally shifted to one side to reveal an intriguing cavity, lined with what looked like river-pebbles packed round a long, well-preserved leather sack.

Fearn knelt down and pulled it out.

With a muffled clang of metal on the stones, Fearn dragged it over to the others and squatted down to loosen the draw string and peel the bag open.

There was a long soft leather case, with a strap almost like a quiver for arrows, and about the same size, but heavy – a solid strip of metal. A bone handle protruded from the top, wound round with a tight string of what might be human hair – raven black, with gold plaited in. Gently, Fearn slid it out of the casing. It was coated with grease and came out easily.

“That’s got to be the biggest knife I have ever seen!”

“But it’s not flint …”

“No, it’s bronze!” breathed Fearn incredulously.

It was the biggest blade of bronze any of them had ever encountered, slender as the finest arrowhead or dagger, but longer than any piece of flint that they could imagine in their wildest dreams. It was ridged down the centre, widening where it plunged into the bone handle. The blade shone, softly golden in the bright sunlight.

Gingerly, Fearn touched the leading edge with the tip of his finger.

“Youch, that’s sharp.”

“You could whistle through a patch of reeds with that one!”

“Reeds, my eye – that’s for killing people!” observed Kyle with relish.

***

Fearn, Niav and Canya were