Fountain of Secrets (The Relic Seekers) (15 page)

“You cool with hanging out at the house for a few more days?”

There was a pause. “No problem. You have any trouble sleeping here?” Clint asked.

“No.” He wasn’t home often to sleep. “Why? The neighbors being loud?” He couldn’t imagine that. They were all retired.

“I keep waking up freezing cold.”

“Did the temperature drop?” The weather had been mild for October when they left.

“No. But it’s freezing in here at night.”

“Turn up the heat.”

“I did.” Clint hesitated.

“What’s wrong?”

“You ever feel like someone’s watching you in here?”

“Never noticed it, but I’m not there much. Why? You think someone’s got a camera inside?”

“I was thinking more along the line of a ghost. Thought maybe your grandma was still hanging around.”

Last week, he would have laughed if anyone had said something like that. Not now. “If she is, I’ve never seen her.”

Clint dropped the subject and Jake hung up just as Kendall appeared. She still looked beautiful in spite of falling through the maze and into a haunted cave. “You fixed the tear in your pj’s?”

“I found a safety pin in the bathroom.”

“How’s your wrist?” Jake asked.

She turned it over. There was a thin line where it had been cut. “Better. I cleaned it up.”

“You need a bandage.”

“It’ll be fine. I’ve lived with worse than this,” she said. “Where do we find someone who can exchange your money under the table?”

“We’re not going to,” he said, looking across the street. “It’ll take too long. By the time we walk to town and back, the car will be here. Come on.” He took her hand and led her toward a gift shop.

“What are we doing?”

“Getting food.”

“Without money? What are you going to do? Steal it? You’re going to steal it?”

“Do you want to eat or not? It’s just borrowing. We’ll pay for it after we get money.”

“I hope you have some shoplifting skills that I don’t.”

“I do. We’re going inside that gift shop, and you’re going to distract the person running it.”

“How? Hit them, cuss them out?”

“Talk to them about the weather, or King Arthur.”

Kendall opened the door and walked inside. The woman who worked in the shop was on the latter side of middle age and had a chunky, rectangular figure and gray hair caught up in a bun. “Excuse me. Could I ask a question?”

The woman turned a friendly smile on Kendall. “Sure, dear. What’ll you be wanting to know?”

“I’m visiting the abbey and wondered what you might be able to tell me about the area, and about King Arthur, if you have a moment.” From the corner of her eye, Kendall saw Jake easing toward a section with power bars and snacks.

“Of course. I used to be a tour guide, you know, but the old legs don’t like so much walking at my age. We get scads of people coming here, everyone from history buffs to quacks. This was the site of the first Christian church in Britain. Joseph of Arimathea built it, him and Jesus when Jesus was just a boy. Joseph was Jesus’s great-uncle, and he was a metal trader who did business here. They say young Jesus sometimes came with him.

“Anyway, the stories go that when Jesus was dying on the cross, Joseph took the cup from the Last Supper, the Holy Grail—oh, I get goose bumps just saying that—and he caught some of Jesus’s blood. So after Jesus died, supposedly Joseph comes back here with some other men. They came ashore at Wearyall Hill, yonder,” she said, pointing out one of the windows. “When Joseph put his staff in the ground, it took root. That became the Holy Thorn Tree. The one out there on Wearyall Hill was grown from the original tree that Joseph planted. It was vandalized in 2010. Black-hearted bastards.”

“Why did they do that?”

“The man who owned the property had some legal issues. Maybe the vandals didn’t like Christians. The town planted a
new Holy Thorn, but it’s still a sad thing. Anyway, when Joseph buried the Holy Grail in the hillside a well sprang up. The Chalice Well. Of course there are others who say the well is older, something to do with mother earth and goddesses and all that. I guess it depends on what you believe.”

“So there’s a lot of history here,” Kendall said, looking over the woman’s shoulder where Jake had moved on to a stack of clothing.

“Scads. Saint Patrick lived here and died here. Most people think he was Irish, but he wasn’t. He was imprisoned in Ireland for a while. And then there was King Arthur. He and Guinevere were buried here. I’m sure you saw the site if you’ve been to the abbey.”

Kendall shook her head no, but the woman continued on with her story. Kendall didn’t interrupt since Jake was deftly shoplifting sweatshirts and pants.

“The graves were discovered back in the twelfth century. The abbey had burned down, and the monks needed money to rebuild. One of the monks had a dream about Arthur, and sure enough, when they started digging, there were Arthur and his queen buried sixteen feet down. Suddenly, people are flocking from all over to see where the great King Arthur was buried. And that brought money in. Later on, the bones were moved to a black marble tomb, but they disappeared when the abbey was closed.”

The woman seemed to be winding down, but Jake was stuffing something into his boot, so Kendall asked another question to give him a little longer. “When did the abbey close?”

“In the sixteenth century. King Henry the Eighth was getting worried about the power and the wealth of the abbey. He asked for the relics and treasure, but the monks wouldn’t give
them up. The king accused the abbey of hiding them, so he closed them down. Richard Whiting, he was the last abbot. The king had him and two of his priors dragged up to the Tor, hanged, drawn and quartered. Lord, can you imagine? The abbey fell into ruins after that. The stones were carted off, and some of them were used to build houses and shops here.”

Relics and treasure. That rang a familiar bell. “So the king got the treasure?”

“Not all of it. The monks had hidden some of it underneath the Tor. Legend says there are tunnels and caves underneath. Some run underneath the abbey.”

Under the Tor, Kendall thought, her blood pumping faster. She knew for certain that there was at least one cave underneath the Tor. “It’s such a magical place, isn’t it?”

“Magical is a good word. There’s all kinds of stories about the place, not just King Arthur and Joseph. Fairies, ghosts, magical lights. Some people say Glastonbury is Avalon, you know, and that the Tor is the entrance to Annwyn. The lord of the underworld lived there. The lord of the fairies, and not them little cute ones with wings, but tall, beautiful ones who were powerful. They lure men in and when they come out, they’re raving lunatics and they’ve lost days, weeks, of their lives.”

“Lost time?”

“Time is different for fairies, if you believe such things.”

“You really think Arthur was real?”

“I say where there’s smoke there’s fire. There’s too much legend not to have some truth. If only the bones were still here, King Arthur’s and Guinevere’s, they might be able to prove it was him. The king probably stole them, or one of the monks. Maybe even one of Arthur’s knights. They say the ghost of a black knight haunts the abbey to keep people away.”

“Why would he want to keep people away?”

“I don’t know. Maybe the treasure is still hidden there. Or Arthur’s bones. And the locals tell stories that the monks were more than monks, some secret group.”

Kendall’s thoughts started racing. “What kind of secret group?”

“Not sure really, probably like Templars. There are all kinds of stories here. There’s some who say Arthur’s bones are buried in a cave, waiting for the time when the world needs him, then he’ll come back. I’m not sure if they’re talking about resurrection or reincarnation. I’d buy the reincarnation thing, maybe. Wouldn’t that be something if King Arthur and his knights were out there walking around? I wouldn’t be surprised after some of the things I’ve seen around here.”

Kendall felt a chill brush over her skin. Inadvertently, she looked at Jake, who was making his way to the door. “What sort of things?”

“Eerie things. Lights. Strange balls circling above the Tor.”

“You’ve seen them?”

“I have. Gave me the shivers, I can tell you.”

Kendall had the shivers now. She was tempted to touch the woman to see if she could sense anything more. But she didn’t. “When was this?”

“About a month ago. I was here late because I’d left the key to my flat in the shop. I was coming out the door when I felt something strange through my shoulders. You ever get that feeling?”

Kendall nodded yes.

“So I look up at the mountain and I see these colored balls circling around like… like something out of one of them sci-fi movies. The lights circled around for a minute, then disappeared. Would have thought I’d lost my mind, except other people have seen them too. Next morning I had the darnedest headache. So bad I had a lie-in and was late to work.”

Jake was out the door now, so Kendall thanked the woman and left the gift shop as chilled as if she’d been skiing an avalanche. She glanced up toward the Tor as she walked toward Jake, who was watching her with an impatient look on his face.

“Nice beer belly.”

Jake had his arms over his stomach, trying to keep the clothes from sliding out. “I figured we might need extra clothes. It looks like it’s gonna rain.” Just as expertly as he had stuffed the things under his shirt, he removed them and put them under his arm.

“Your deftness at shoplifting is disturbing.”

“It’s survival. We’ll pay them back. Consider it like buying on credit.”

“We’re going to owe Glastonbury a good bit of money,” Kendall said.

“Nathan can afford it.” He handed her a power bar and a bottle of water.

Kendall opened her power bar. “I can’t believe we’re eating stolen food.” He’d taken several power bars and two bottles of water.

He pulled out a travel-sized package of tissues and presented them to her with a flourish.

“Where did you learn that kind of skill?”

“I hit a few rough patches in my life.”

Kendall felt something simmering around him and she knew if she focused, she might see what kind of rough patches, but she didn’t. Partly because she was so hungry, all she could think about was the next bite. “Did you get Nathan something to eat?”

“He’s not worried about food. All he cares about is the well.”

“He has to eat.”

“I can’t figure out if you’re in love with him or think you’re his mother.”

“We work together, that’s all.”

“It’s not like any working relationship I’ve seen.”

“Does Nathan seem like the type to have a romantic relationship? He guards every part of his life, including his heart. So did you get him food?”

“I got him some damned food.” Jake tensed, his body alert.

“What’s wrong? You look like you saw a ghost.” Kendall spun around but didn’t see anything.

“A redheaded one.”

“What?”

“She’s gone now, but I swear it was Brandi.”

“How could she be here?”

“Maybe she found the maze.”

“We’ve got to find Nathan.”

They didn’t have money for the entrance fee. Jake scouted the place while she tried to look inconspicuous. He motioned to her from several yards away.

“I’ve found a place where we can slip inside.”

“We’re turning into criminals.”

“Like I said, it’s survival.”

They climbed over a low fence and kept to the grassy areas to steer clear of people on the path. Kendall had never been here before, but she could immediately feel that there was something unusual about the place.

“You hanging in there?” Jake asked.

“This place is… unusual. I can feel some kind of energy here.”

“I hope that’s a good sign,” Jake said.

The gardens were beautiful. Natural, not overly tended. There were several varieties of trees and plants, including yews and a Holy Thorn Tree. Some leaves had already turned beautiful shades
of red and gold. There was a kind of serenity about the place that soothed her soul. “I could spend hours here,” she said.

“Let’s find this fountain first. That’s where Nathan will be.”

They walked along a serene path toward the Lion’s Head Fountain. Kendall was so enchanted that she almost forgot their reason for being there. Then a whining voice approached and pulled her out of the moment.

“It was his fault. I just wanted to stick my head in the fountain like he did.”

“Of course it was, darling, but you must be more careful.”

“It’s that brat that hit me with a rock,” Jake said.

The boy and his mother walked by, dressed this time in normal clothing, but the boy’s head was wet.

“Excuse me,” Kendall said to the woman. “Did you say a man stuck his head in the fountain?”

The woman looked as unpleasant as her son. “He did. Very poor behavior in front of impressionable, innocent children.”

“He drank all the water up and then stuck his head under,” the boy said. “Hey, you’re the man who called me fat.”

The woman scowled and pulled the boy toward her. “Let’s get you a dry shirt, Arthur, and then we’ll go see the abbey and Camelot.”

“Did you see which way he went?” Jake called.

The woman didn’t answer, but the boy looked over his shoulder and stuck out his tongue.

Camelot. Kendall grabbed Jake’s arm. “Remember Marco said to find Arthur? Well, Glastonbury isn’t famous for just the Chalice Well. King Arthur was supposedly buried here.”

“You think Marco meant King Arthur?” Jake asked. He sounded surprised. Almost hopeful. She sensed something coming from him, but his face went blank and she lost it. He’d
blocked her. Just like Nathan. “Legend says he was buried at the abbey near here. I expected one of your sarcastic snorts, but you seem excited. Did you want to be a knight when you were young?”

Jake shrugged. “What boy doesn’t dream of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table?”

“Adam was fascinated with King Arthur. He spent hours telling me stories.” Some of them, so vivid she felt as if she were really there.

When they reached the fountain, a small group was just leaving. Kendall walked closer to study the spot. A stream of water flowed from a lion’s head into a basin. The stone underneath had a reddish-orange tinge.