‘Will she?’ Cal threw herself down in a chair and clasped her hands on the table in front of her. They were still shaking.
Athena nodded. ‘She will. She has to be.’ She reached for the kettle and plugged it in, glancing at the door. ‘Where are the dogs now? Did they go with Mat?’
‘I suppose so.’ Cal gave a wan smile. ‘Don’t open the door!’ she called as Athena turned towards it.
‘He’s gone, Cal. Your Roman has gone,’ Athena said. She sounded, she realised, a lot braver than she felt. ‘After all, I didn’t see him when I came in. I’m going to call Mat. He can’t have gone far.’
He hadn’t. He reappeared almost at once, his face white, the bread knife still clutched in his hand. ‘I wish Ben was here,’ he said, throwing it down. He had bolted the door behind him again. ‘I wish everyone was here!’
‘He’s gone for now,’ Cal said at last. She didn’t point out that a bolted door had not kept Flavius out. ‘The dogs will know if he comes back before we see him.’
‘And if he does?’
‘Perhaps by then the others will be back. At least he knows now that Abi isn’t here.’
‘But why should he be after Abi?’ Athena put in.
‘Because Abi has the stone? Because Abi can tell the story? Because she can tell the world what a shit he is?’
‘And you don’t think he will follow her and the stone to Wales?’
‘If he does, at least she isn’t there on her own,’ Cal said after a minute. ‘The others must have got there by now. They are all there. Kier followed them. They rang and told us he was outside the cottage. Ben went after them with the bishop and the bishop’s chaplain and another man called Greg who’s an exorcist.’
Athena stared at her. For a moment her face registered horror then slowly the corners of her mouth started to twitch. ‘You are telling me that, what, three vicars and a bishop are on their way to Justin’s house? Our Justin. Druid Justin?’
Cal nodded. After a moment she started shakily to smile as well. ‘I would like to be a fly on the wall, wouldn’t you?’
Athena nodded. ‘Indeed I would,’ she said slowly.
‘Give it to me.’ Kier had risen from his chair and moved stiffly towards the table. He reached out for the crystal. ‘I’m going to help her.’
‘No!’ David Paxman stood up and reached across the table to intercept his outstretched hand but he was too late. Kier picked up the Serpent Stone and turning back to his chair by the fire, subsided once more, clutching the stone between his hands. There was silence in the room.
Abi turned to Justin in appeal but he shook his head and put his finger to his lips, watching Kier’s face. Ben had risen to his feet anxiously, but Greg put out his hand and pulled him down into his chair. ‘Wait,’ he whispered. ‘See what happens.’
Mora was clutching her side. She could feel the hot blood welling up between her fingers, cooling, turning sticky. In front of her Flavius had stepped back towards the empty fire pit, moving quietly, on his toes, his eyes fixed on the doorway where the shadow of the man hovered, just out of view, the silhouette thrown, strangely distorted by the sunlight outside onto the wall.
‘In the name of Jesus Christ, come out!’ The disembodied voice echoed strangely in the shadows of the house.
Mora shrank back. The silhouette had straightened. The shadow figure outstretched a hand and she could see the shape of a cross thrown slantwise across the wall. He was holding something. Was it a reversed dagger? Crossed sticks?
Flavius shifted the grip on his blade and moved, light as a cat on his feet to the far side of the fire from where he could see out of the doorway. She saw his face tense, his concentration absolute as he looked from side to side. For a moment he hesitated and she saw a flicker of puzzlement as he crept closer. ‘Who is there?’ She heard him mutter the words as she slipped lower onto the ground. Her strength was going, her mouth dry. She could only watch as he moved again. He had reached the door and carefully, back to the wall, he peered outside. ‘Nothing!’ She heard the sneer in the words. ‘A dream.’ He moved outside, out of the shadows and she saw the light fall across his face. Then, ‘Who are you?’
Again the voice, further away this time. ‘Jesus Christ is here. He will save these women. He loved them.’
Mora could hear the blood pounding in her ears. She was struggling for breath. ‘Yeshua,’ she murmured. ‘Save Petra. Save me. I can’t do it alone without you.’ She could see the shadow growing larger. There was someone out there.
‘Who in Hades are you?’ Flavius’ voice rang out, sharp with fear, then she heard him scream.
As she subsided into unconsciousness she heard quick light footsteps running towards her and Lydia’s voice, gentle in her head. ‘Hold on Mora. I am here, my dear. Hold on.’
‘Kier?’ The silence in the room had lasted for several long seconds before Ben rose to his feet again. ‘Are you all right?’
Kier had fallen back in his chair. The stone had rolled from his hands onto the floor, falling onto the hearth rug where it lay inert, the crystal faces gently reflecting the flicker of the flames from the fire. Ben moved towards him and took his arm, shaking him gently. ‘Kier?’
Greg stood up. He walked over and stood for a moment looking down at him with a frown, then he reached out and put his hand to Kier’s throat, pressing his two forefingers below the jaw. ‘His pulse is steady.’
‘Thank God!’ Ben glanced up at him. ‘For a moment, I thought the worst…’
‘That was his voice we heard. With Flavius and Mora. There. In the past,’ Greg said thoughtfully. ‘It was. Wasn’t it? I’m not imagining it?’
Both men turned towards Justin. He stood up. He moved over to Kier and took his wrist, also testing the pulse. ‘That is amazing,’ he said quietly. ‘You are right. We heard his voice from the past. He is a walker between the worlds. A natural shaman.’ The other men looked at him sharply, but to Abi’s surprise no-one said anything.
It was several seconds before the bishop rose to his feet and moved over to join the other men looking down at Kier. ‘We shouldn’t have allowed him to do this. Will he be all right?’
Justin nodded. ‘He should be.’ He looked troubled. ‘In theory he should sleep it off and wake naturally after a time, only…’ He paused and put his hand on Kier’s forehead.
‘Only?’ Bishop David prompted after a moment.
‘He is untrained.’
‘Meaning what?’
‘Meaning that he could get lost; not know how to return, am I right?’ Greg looked across at Justin.
Justin chewed his lip for a moment. ‘He used the crystal as a signpost, or an access point, but then he dropped it.’
‘Then give it back to him!’ Abi elbowed her way passed the bishop’s chaplain who seemed to be incapable of movement as he sat beside her, and pushing between the men, she scooped the crystal off the floor and put it between Kier’s hands, trying to fold his fingers around it. They were inert. The ball rolled off his lap again.
She stood back in horror. ‘Go after him!’ She looked across at Justin. ‘You can, can’t you?’
Justin nodded doubtfully.
‘Well then?’
‘It’s not that easy, Abi.’
‘Of course it is. You have to.’ Instinctively she had put her hands over Kier’s. She could feel the healing warmth flowing out of her. Closing her eyes, she pictured Yeshua. ‘Help me help him,’ she breathed silently. For a few seconds there was silence in the room then Greg reached forward and put his hand on her shoulder.
‘Leave it for now,’ he said. ‘I think Justin’s first idea was the best one, to let him sleep it off. With luck he will wake naturally and remember only that he has had a dream of the past. You, take the crystal again, Abi. We need to know what has happened.’
Abi hesitated. She was looking down at her hands. Justin stood up and came over to her. ‘You have the gift of healing Abi,’ he said quietly. ‘I sensed it. But this is not the right time. Kier has something to do, or somewhere to go. Over there, in the past.’
She met his eyes doubtfully, then quietly she nodded and turned away.
Bishop David shook his head. ‘I don’t believe any of this!’
‘Of course you do.’ Greg managed a quick grin. ‘Come on. You’re known for your broad-mindedness. Let us pray
