the other side of the veil waiting for us? Please give me a sign that this is the right thing to do.’
She felt the thing below creeping closer and had a sudden image of death, of broken and bloody bodies lying amongst blasted stone and thick choking clouds of stone dust, of something feeding on the death. And then there was another image of weapons – piles of bloodied weapons and more bodies, mutilated beyond recognition, and more feeding. But the hunger couldn’t be satisfied. She saw a man with silver hair and black eyes laughing, but then the hunger devoured him too.
Leveret shuddered, knowing that they had no choice now – Quarrycleave had them and they too must feed this hunger with more bodies, poisoned ones. This was why she’d been called here and it was the right thing to do, to join her Stonewylde ancestors at this special place.
‘Maggy, you must eat both these caps quickly now so we can go to the Otherworld together and find Mother Heggy. Look, see Levvy doing it? Mmn, delicious. Eat yours too – good boy. Swallow! Is that both of them gone? I know they taste a bit funny but never mind. Have you swallowed them both? Now we’ll curl up together here and go to sleep.’
He squeezed her hand and she felt the radiant love in his heart.
‘I love you too, Magpie. We’ll be together in the Otherworld, don’t you worry. I’ll always look after you, I promise.’
Strangely, as she closed her eyes she thought she heard the long, anguished cry of a wolf howling in the winter’s night. But that was ridiculous. Leveret smiled with relief – they’d done it and now they were free. There was no turning back now.
By the time Clip arrived in the old Land Rover they’d been asleep for a good couple of hours. He’d first had to get back down to the Hall from the Dolmen and find a vehicle. The place was deserted – many of the senior adults were involved with the Rites of Adulthood events, others were observing the Solstice Eve at the Stone Circle and most of the young people who lived in the Hall were down in the Village, presumably helping with the final decorations around the Village Green. Clip had no idea what he’d find when he reached Quarrycleave, but he threw in a first aid kit just in case he wasn’t too late and could do something to save them. He also brought blankets and water, and then thought of torches too.
Clip stood in the kitchens frantically wondering if there were anything else he should bring. His heart was pounding and he felt scared, knowing the urgency of the situation but not used to acting so decisively. He phoned up to the hospital wing hoping to find Hazel but she was down in the Village, so he raced around to the barn near the stable block where the vehicles were kept. He spotted Tom’s son, Fletch, and asked him to come along to help. Luckily the keys sat in the Land Rover; Clip felt very strange sitting in the driver’s seat. It was so long since he’d driven but Fletch had already had a couple of glasses of cider and was worried about driving all the way to Quarrycleave, especially over the rough ground. Soon they were bouncing up the track and then turning onto the ridgeway, Clip calling on the Goddess to save the youngsters’ lives and not let them die. He should’ve known! Leveret had as good as told him and he hadn’t listened. If he were too late he’d never forgive himself.
After an interminable journey the Land Rover pulled up at the quarry mouth and Clip and Fletch jumped out. They hurried through the quarry calling Leveret, their voices bouncing strangely off the rock faces.
‘How do you know they’re here?’ asked Fletch. ‘Did Leveret tell you?’
‘Not in so many words,’ replied Clip, ‘but I know they are. I can feel it … and something else too. Come on, we need to get to the head of the quarry and climb up to the top of the Snake Stone. That’s where we’ll find them.’
The relief Clip felt at discovering their bodies on top of the Snake Stone was short-lived. At first he thought they’d merely meant to jump but had changed their minds and were now sleeping here for the night. But when he tried to awaken them and found them drowsy and confused,