was whimpering and struggling along but sending her no messages even though she was holding his hand. He seemed incapable of even the limited communication they usually managed.
‘It’s not far now, Maggy,’ she said encouragingly. ‘Can you see that great rock up there? We just have to get there and then we can rest.’
They came to the place where the labyrinth of stone ended, at the head of the quarry where the hill rose sharply above in a high cliff of stone. Now they must climb up the side of the quarry along the narrow path. It was their last ordeal and a difficult one, especially as Leveret couldn’t hold on to Magpie. By the time they reached the point where the stepping boulders led up to the top of the Snake Stone she was crying tears of frustration and exhaustion. Her chest was heaving and Magpie’s near continuous moans of pain and distress upset her terribly. They sat together on a boulder to catch their breath before attempting the final climb.
‘Is it really hurting? Poor Maggy – it’s your ribs. If things were different I’d have put on a poultice and bandaged you up. You should be lying in a warm, soft bed, looked after and cared for. But there’s no chance of that, not for either of us, is there?’
Magpie hunched next to her in his filthy old coat, his breathing still laboured. She took his dirty hand in hers and rubbed it against her cheek. He laid his head on her shoulder, almost knocking her over.
‘I tried to tell them you were hurt and in danger but nobody would listen to me,’ she continued sadly. ‘Nobody believes anything I say. So we’ll take our chances, you and me, Maggy. We’ll leave this place and move on to the Otherworld. Mother Heggy’ll look after us there, I know she will, and they say it’s a wonderful place with none of the horrible things here. I can feel Mother Heggy waiting for us just on the other side. Come on then – we’re almost there now.’
She pushed, dragged and cajoled Magpie up onto the great boulders that acted as steps to the Snake Stone. She was so small compared to him but also very determined, and eventually she heaved him onto the stone platform, the stage for Magus’ final moments of life. Leveret looked down over the quarry; the shadows were deepening on this very short day and she felt another jagged thrill of fear. She was sure there was something lurking down there. Maybe it was just a wild animal – a dog or fox, or even one of the big cats that were rumoured to inhabit the Wildwoods to the east. Whatever it was, she was very pleased to be out of the dark pit below.
She tried to dismiss her dread and gently helped Magpie to sit down, not wanting him to topple over the edge to a slow death of broken limbs. It was a truly gigantic pillar with a very steep drop, but there was room for both of them to stretch out on its top.
‘Look at these carvings, Maggy. Can you see the great snake here, coiled up? And here are the cups – I heard they used to hold moon eggs made of this special sparkling stone. It has magical properties, you know; it stores up moon energy channelled by a moongazy maiden. Mother told me all about this and what happened to the old Magus.’ She paused, the memories of her mother telling her stories as a child difficult to bear. ‘Let’s just rest now and get comfortable and then we can do it.’
Magpie lay down on the rock and curled into a foetal position, whimpering softly. Leveret sat next to him, cross-legged, stroking his face. He was filthy and his hair crawled with lice, but she was beyond caring about things like that. She loved him – she was the only person in the world who loved him – and if things had been different she’d have cared for him and made sure that he was happy, as much as he could be. But she had no power and she couldn’t stand by and watch him suffer any longer. If she did he would die, at the hands of either Jay or his mother, and it would be a slow and brutal death involving much suffering first. This was kinder. At least this way they could go together and it would