think. But I reckon it could do with some attention smartish if we don’t want yet more hassle.’
She shook her head. ‘I don’t think I could.’
Huw said, ‘Oh, aye, I think you could.’
‘You were the one who tried to talk me out of this whole thing!’
‘That were because there was no tradition
‘What?’
‘Bugger the Malverns, they’ll not go away. Take the lad up to Dinedor and do a little service of restitution for the spirit of this Katherine Moon. And for her brother. And their parents. See what happens.’
‘I dread to think.’
‘Don’t dread,’ said Huw. ‘Second Law of Deliverance:
‘Will you come?’
‘I will not. It’s not my patch.’
‘What about the major exorcism? Who do we consult?’
‘I think…’ Huw looked up at the enormous stained-glass window, suddenly aglow with unexpected winter sunshine. ‘I think we can leave it alone. Stand back, lass.’
He began to lug one of the stone panels of the Cantilupe tomb to one side, revealing a bundle of white and gold cloth about the size of a tobacco pouch. He bent down and gathered it up.
Merrily leaned over his shoulder. ‘What on earth have you got there, Huw?’
‘Picked it up before I fetched Dobbs from the hospital. Planted it here before the service – with all due ceremony, naturally – so it was there throughout.’
He unrolled the cloth. There was a fragment of what looked at first like brick: dark red-brown, and brittle.
‘Holy relics, lass.’ Huw said. ‘The undying power of holy relics.’
Dark red.
‘Oh, my God,’ Merrily said. ‘His bones were supposed to have bled, weren’t they?’
‘Bit of the skull, apparently. Borrowed it from some monks. Location classified.’
‘God.’ She put out a finger.
‘Aye, go on, lass. It’s all right. You wouldn’t have got within ten yards of the bugger when he were alive, mind, but there you go. Times change.’
He let her touch the piece of bone, and then rolled it up in its cloth again and slipped it into an inside pocket of his blue canvas jacket, next to his heart.
‘Come on, then, Tommy,’ he said.
Closing Credits
IT’s ALWAYS DIFFICULT setting a novel in real locations without appearing to implicate real people… which is why I’ve always avoided meeting the Bishop of Hereford.
However, the book would have been impossible without invaluable background information from a Hereford Deliverance minister, who prefers, like Merrily, to keep a low profile; from the Director of the Hereford Cathedral Perpetual Trust, Sue Embrey, who provided crucial information on the Cathedral and the tomb of Thomas Cantilupe and was always really helpful and encouraging; from Ron Shoesmith, the archaeologist overseeing renovation of the Canty tomb; from Richard Powell, of Capps and Capps, the mason who performed the actual renovation (without losing any bits) and from Brian Chave, who showed me Merrily’s office and Mick’s lair.
For information on Dinedor Hill and Cathedral-related hauntings, thanks to Hereford journalists Nicola Goodwin and George Children (whose excellent book,
Also thanks to Nick Whitehead, Andrew Hewson, Jill Dibbling, Penny Arnold and, of course, Pam Baker for the awful story of The Real Denzil Joy (oh, yes, there are some nurses who still have nightmares…). And Mark Owen thought it was time he got a mention, so here it is.
Finally, at the production end… thanks to my wife, Carol, who combined a massive, wide-ranging and detailed four-week professional (if unpaid) edit with some absolutely vital plot-surgery.
Lol Robinson’s songs can be found on two full-length CDs,
The
Full details on the website www.philrickman.co.uk
PHIL RICKMAN was born in Lancashire and lives on the Welsh border. He is the author of the Merrily Watkins series, and
THE MERRILY WATKINS SERIES
The Wine of Angels
Midwinter of the Spirit
A Crown of Lights
The Cure of Souls
The Lamp of the Wicked
The Prayer of the Night Shepherd
The Smile of A Ghost
The Remains of An Altar
The Fabric of Sin
To Dream of the Dead
The Secrets of Pain
OTHER BOOKS
The Bones of Avalon
