Gravenhunger (10 page)

Mr Riley shook his head gravely.

“The police decided we should split up and search everywhere again,” he continued. “Some people were given the task of checking the house, while the rest of us went outside to scour the grounds. I was asked to cover the area beyond the river.”

He sucked hard on his pipe.

“I didn’t like doing it, of course. I didn’t like doing it one bit. You can’t live in Gravenhunger all your life without knowing that somewhere between the river and the sea stands the mound, and I didn’t want to go anywhere near it. But those were my instructions, and I could scarcely let everyone down.”

“But why were you so afraid to go near it?” asked Rose, one eye on Phoenix.

Mr Riley stared at her. “Because of the garblings, of course,” he said.

“The garblings?”

“Village talk, young lady. Folklore. Legend. Call it what you will. Age-old tales warning the inhabitants of Gravenhunger to keep away from the ancient mound in the grounds of the manor.”

“But
why
?” asked Phoenix.

“Everyone has their own story to tell,” replied Mr Riley, shrugging. “There’s tales of hundreds of men swarming around up there in days gone by, shouting and singing and carrying fiery torches. There’s some say there’s treasure buried beneath the mound. Others who claim it’s a burial ground. But whoever you listen to, there’s one thing they all agree on.”

“And – and what’s that?”

Mr Riley leaned forward.

“It’s cursed, young man. Haunted. It’s not a place
to be, all right? Not a place to meddle with.”

He narrowed his eyes at Phoenix.

“And it’s definitely not a place for children.”

“So what happened when you reached the river?” asked Rose hurriedly. “Did you get to the other side?”

“I did indeed. The banks were swollen nearly to bursting, but there was a tree trunk lying across the river and—”

“You crossed via the tree-trunk bridge?” blurted out Phoenix. “It was there
then
?”

Mr Riley spluttered on his pipe.

“I
knew
it!” he exclaimed. “You’ve been over there, haven’t you? You’ve been on the mound! In spite of everything I told your cousin at the railway station? In spite of my warnings? You’re playing with fire, young man. Just look where it got your mother, eh?”

“What do you mean?” asked Phoenix.

Mr Riley looked at him darkly. He ran his finger slowly round the bowl of the pipe. “It’s my guess,” he said, “that somebody triggered the curse that day. Went over to the mound and disturbed it in some way. And I reckon that somebody was your mother.”

He raised his hand before Phoenix could interrupt.

“Of course, I’ve no actual proof. By the time I got up there the place had been ravaged by the storm. Any evidence would have been washed away completely by the rain. But something odd was going
on: the freak weather, the unexplained disappearance of the little boy. And there was something in the way your mother…”

He broke off, frowning.

“Go on,” urged Phoenix.

“Well, when I came back from my search, young Elvira was standing by the swings at the end of the garden. It was almost as if she’d been waiting for me. Keeping an eye on me, even.”

“And – and what did she say to you?”

“Nothing,” said Mr Riley. “Nothing at all. She looked at me for a split second and then she turned on her heel and ran back to the house. But in that moment I could tell she knew more than she was letting on. That girl was frightened. And not just frightened for her little brother either – frightened for herself.”

He pursed his lips.

“There’s no other explanation I can think of. Your mother must have been messing about on the mound – and who knows what trouble she’d stirred up by being there.”

There was a long silence.

“I take it you never found Lorenzo?” murmured Phoenix.

Mr Riley shook his head. “We searched for the rest of the day, calling to each other through the mist
and the rain to keep on looking and not to give up. When it grew dark some of us even went back to the village for torches and searchlights. But we didn’t find him, and though most of us agreed he must have drowned in the river, no one ever truly knew what became of him.” He sighed. “It was a dreadful day, a truly dreadful day. And one I have never been able to forget.”

Beside him, Rose shifted on the bench, and glancing towards her, Phoenix could see that her eyes were full of tears.

“In memory of our angel,” she whispered. “Lost but not forgotten.” 

10.
THE PUZZLE

Elvira Phoenix pushed back her shock of jet-black hair and pressed her face against the attic window.

She sighed to herself. Three weeks at the new house, three weeks of perfect springtime exploring weather, and still she hadn’t been past the end of the garden.

She had climbed the apple tree about a hundred times … swung on the swings Dad had hung from its branches until she felt quite dizzy … built dens in the rhododendron bushes … and lit campfires in the space between the fruit cage and the vegetable beds. She had done everything she could possibly think of – and now she was ready for something different. Before she started at her new school next week, she wanted a proper adventure.

Her eyes lingered over the weird-shaped mound beyond the pine forest
.

Exactly what it was doing there she hadn’t a clue. But since finding that book about the area yesterday afternoon, one thing was clear: she had to go and explore it.

She had discovered the book in the drawing room, high up on a dusty shelf – an ancient thing bound in dark red leather. On the front, in faded gold lettering, were the words “A Short History of Gravenhunger”. It was mostly just a catalogue of boring facts, but at the back there were some black-and-white photographs, including a fuzzy snapshot of the very same mound she had been staring at from her bedroom window since the day they had arrived, and underneath it the line: Gravenhunger Mound: Anglo-Saxon burial site – rumoured to contain treasure.

She’d pleaded and pleaded to be allowed over there, but her parents had flatly refused. She wasn’t to go further than the garden, they said. A deep river ran at the bottom of the forest, and there was no way she was going near it on her own. They’d take a look together when things were less busy, maybe. When they’d settled in at the manor and sorted themselves out a bit.

Elvira turned from the window.

If they weren’t going to give her permission, then perhaps she should just do it anyway.

She was almost thirteen, for goodness’ sake.

Really, what was the worst that could happen?

The door to the pub swung open and the landlord stepped out on to the pavement beside them.

“Morning, Bert!” he said, stooping to wedge open the door with a crate of empty bottles. “You’re early this morning. And who’s this you’ve got with you? I hope you haven’t been stuffing their heads with silly nonsense.”

Mr Riley knocked out his pipe on the arm of the bench. “I’ll have you know I’ve been giving these youngsters some timely advice,” he said. “Telling them some local history.”

The landlord laughed.

“Don’t you take anything our Bert says too seriously,” he said, winking at Rose and Phoenix. “He’s got that many stories in him you could fill a book.”

Mr Riley sniffed and pulled himself to his feet. “I’m going inside,” he said. “I daresay I’ll see the pair of you around the village again.”

He glared down at Phoenix. “That’s if you stop your meddling, I might.”

Phoenix flushed.

He watched as the old man followed the landlord into the pub, then leaned forward and put his head in his hands.

“Are you OK?” asked Rose.

“Oh yeah, I’m terrific,” mumbled Phoenix. “It’s a lot to get my head around, you know. It’s not every
day you find out your mother had a brother who vanished into thin air.”

He straightened up and opened his can of drink.

“Lorenzo would have been my
uncle
, Rose. It’s such a weird thought.”

“I’m not exactly finding it easy to take in myself,” said Rose, reaching for her drink. “Still, at least we’re getting some answers now, aren’t we? At least we know what the terrible thing was that happened down here.”

Phoenix grunted. “It’s about the only thing we
do
know,” he said. “I mean, what about everything else Mr Riley told us? Honestly, I feel like someone’s come along and totally scrambled my brain.”

“This garblings business can’t be more than silly rumour, surely,” replied Rose. “Just being on the mound can’t cause bad things to happen. It’s impossible.”

“As impossible as the silhouette I saw last night?” murmured Phoenix. “As impossible as the terrible weather and the glowing bolts?” He sighed. “I don’t know what to make of it, really I don’t. But you’ve got to admit it looks like my mother went over to the mound at
some
point. Think about the bolt you found underneath the floorboard. It’s too much of a coincidence.”

He gathered up their empty cans and threw them in a nearby bin.

“The point is, she obviously felt responsible for Lorenzo’s disappearance. I told you what she wrote in the letter to Dad, didn’t I? About the terrible thing being every bit her fault? About her never forgiving herself? I think Mr Riley’s right, Rose.
Something
happened that day. Something which involved my mother and the mound and Lorenzo too. The question is, what?”

They mounted their bikes and began to make their way back down the high street.

“What were you muttering about earlier, by the way?” asked Phoenix, when at last they had left the village and were cycling along the road towards the manor. “Before the landlord came out of the pub, I mean? Something about an angel?”

“It was on an inscription I read. Inside the chapel at the manor,” replied Rose.

“Chapel? What chapel?”

“You mean you haven’t seen it?” exclaimed Rose. “It’s tucked away in the forest at the side of the house. I came across it yesterday afternoon.”

She shuddered. “Anyway, there was this plaque on the wall. It didn’t have any dates on it, but it seemed quite new compared with all the other ancient stuff. On it were the words, ‘In memory of our angel, lost but not forgotten’. I was thinking that maybe, well, that maybe it was put up for…”

“For Lorenzo?” said Phoenix.

Rose nodded.

There was a moment’s silence.

“Why
angel
, though?” said Phoenix. “D’you think…”

He broke off.

“What?” asked Rose.

“No,” said Phoenix. “It’s nothing. It just seems a bit of a coincidence that the keepsake Mum gave me before she died was an angel, that’s all. I was wondering if there might be some sort of a connection there.”

They rounded the final corner to the manor and braked sharply.

Ahead of them, Dr Wainwright’s car was parked up against the verge at the junction between the road and the track. Dr Wainwright was standing beside it, staring up at the sky.

“Dad?” called Phoenix, pedalling towards him. “Dad! Is everything all right?”

His father spun round.

“Ah,” he said. “You’re back. Well, I suppose that’s one good thing at least.”

“What’s up?” said Phoenix. “What are you doing out here? I thought you were working this morning.”

“I tried to,” replied his father, “but I couldn’t concentrate. It’s too damned cold in that house to concentrate on anything.”

He scowled down the track at the swirling rain and sleet.

“In any case, the weather seemed to have taken a turn for the worse and I thought I’d better come into the village and give you a lift back. I reckoned we could leave your bikes somewhere and pick them up later. And then,” Dr Wainwright continued, “I get to the end of the track and find
this
.”

He turned towards the road again and looked up.

“A perfect summer’s day! Bright blue sky and temperatures off the scale. Just as it was when I went out yesterday. Just as it was the day we arrived, for that matter. There’s no logic to it at all – it’s almost as if the place is cursed.”

Phoenix glanced across at Rose, but said nothing.

“I’m sorry, kids. I know I said I’d give it a few more days, but I really don’t want to stay a moment longer.”

“But—”

Dr Wainwright held up his hand.

“No arguments, Phoenix. We’re leaving. There’s something not right here. I can’t put my finger on what it is exactly, but I’m afraid I don’t like this place one bit.”

He climbed back into the car and wound down the window.

“I’m going into the village to fill up with petrol
and get a few snacks for the journey. Can you two start packing? We can call your parents when we’re on our way, Rose.”

Phoenix and Rose watched as the car pulled off the verge and disappeared in the direction of the village.

The next minute Phoenix had kicked off from the tarmac and was speeding down the track through the wall of sleet.

“Wait for me!” shouted Rose, tugging on her waterproof and pedalling furiously to catch up with him. “
Phoenix! Wait for me!
”

Phoenix reached the driveway, then jumped off his bike and started to sprint towards the garden.

“Where are you going?” yelled Rose. She threw her bike down beside her cousin’s and chased after him. “You heard what your dad said! We’ve got to go and pack!”

At the bottom of the garden Phoenix twisted round to face her.

“Isn’t it obvious where I’m going?” he said. “I’ve got to go back to the mound. I’ve got to see if there’s something I’ve missed. Something that might help explain all this. I need to know, Rose. I need to understand what happened that day.”

He turned back towards the pine trees and plunged into the darkness.

Rose stood there for a moment, her hair white with the falling sleet.

And then she followed him into the forest.

Elvira darted between the pines.

She’d done it! She’d actually done it! She’d made it out of the house and into the forest without being seen. At the last minute she had even managed to slip into the garden shed and help herself to a little trowel that she could use for digging into the mound. After all, who knew what treasure she might find beneath it?

The trees were thinning out now, and ahead of her she could hear the sound of the river running not far off.

It was louder than she had imagined. Quite a lot louder, in fact. And as she threaded her way through the remaining pines, she suddenly saw why.

The snatches of blue ribbon she had glimpsed from the attic window had been only fragments of a massive whole. Close up the river was as wide as it was deep, and it was moving fast too. Beneath the sunlight that danced on its surface lurked currents which would surely drag her under in seconds.

Elvira’s heart plummeted.

There was no way she could swim across this. Even on a beautiful spring day like today, with the sky the colour of a thrush’s egg and nothing but the gentlest of breezes to
ruffle the water, it would be crazy.

Suddenly her eye was caught by something dark straddling the river a little further downstream. She started towards it, her legs brushing against the nettles and brambles.

Now she could see it – a vast uprooted pine tree, its trunk stretching all the way from the edge of the forest to the opposite bank of the river.

Elvira quickened her pace, a smile spreading on her lips.

It looked like getting to the other side wasn’t going to be so hard after all
.