A megalithic moon, p.1
A Megalithic Moon, page 1
The Adventures of Sarah Tremayne
Book Two
A Megalithic
Moon
By
T M Rowe
A Megalithic Moon
T M Rowe
Published by T M Rowe at Smashwords
Copyright 2014 T M Rowe
Smashwords Edition – License Notes
This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be resold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you are reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to your favourite ebook retailer and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.
This book is available in print at most online retailers.
Table of Contents
Meetings
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-one
Chapter Twenty-two
Chapter Twenty-three
Chapter Twenty-four
Epilogue
Acknowledgements
Notes on the Neolithic
About the Author
For Adrian
“Chaste goddess, who silvers these sacred trees,
Show your face to us without a veil,
Bring peace to earth as you have brought it to heaven.”
Vincenzo Bellini ‘Norma’ (1831)
“Fantasy is escapist, and that is its glory. If a soldier is imprisoned by the enemy, don’t we consider it his duty to escape?
If we value the freedom of mind and soul, if we’re partisans of liberty, then it’s our plain duty to escape, and take as many people with us as we can.”
J.R.R. Tolkien
The following is the true and (largely) unbiased account of
the Mhyres an Loor born
Sarah Tremayne.
“Mutatis mutandis”
Things have been changed that had to be changed
MEETINGS
It was a night of darkness. The moon was showing her dark side, the cheerful twinkling stars dimming as they hid behind the clouds gathering in the night sky. The wind, once nothing more than a breeze now whipped through the hedgerows. A fox stopped to sniff the air, turned tail and headed back to her den. This was not a night for animals, four legged or otherwise to be out and about. A storm was brewing.
Even so, four hooded figures made their way along the path to the circle of stones, in silence, without illumination. The dark no hindrance, their steps were sure they had come this way many times before. Reaching the circle the four walked around it touching each of the stones in turn, pausing but still silent until they reached the last, a giant slab of quartz. Even without any light the stone glowed in the dark. Each of the four placed their hands on the stone and bowed their heads as if in prayer. All was silent and still within the circle.
“I don’t like this, there is no moon, it’s far too dangerous for us to be here at this time”, whispered one, her hands fluttering nervously.
“We have already gone over this. What better time to meet than when it is least expected”, said a second voice.
“Does it really matter? We are here now against our better judgement or otherwise, so can we get on with it?” A third, exasperated voice joined the discussion.
“Yes, yes, yes. I wanted to discuss the issue of Sarah. I am concerned that our policy of non-interference is going pear-shaped. One of us needs to step in, put some controls on her. Without a mother to guide her, she could head off the rails,” said the second voice tentatively.
“Pear-shaped? Off the rails? For goodness sake! You were the one who first suggested that she should be left to her own devices. Suddenly, after just one short journey you are getting cold feet, hmph”, a fourth voice interjected.
“I know, I know. There is so much at stake, but if she really is the one the prophecy speaks of then what is she doing accepting the amulet of some jumped up Viking god?”
“We should trust in the Goddess, I am sure that she trusts Sarah to do the right thing and so must we”, said the third voice with a pious calm.
“That is easier said than done”.
“Listen, I don’t want to rain on your parade but we can’t stay here together much longer. This is their time, and if we stay too much longer, even in the circle, we will be detected,” said the voice with the fluttering hands.
“I know, it was risky, I think my nerves just got the better of me. You gave her the amulet, do we stay on this path?”
There was a pause as the owner of the fourth voice thought carefully. “Mmm yes we do, remember the way is never clear at the beginning but time tells all and so it will with Sarah. She is special and she will be the one to right the balance”.
“It’s decided then, are we in agreement?”
“Of course we are, now let’s go before all hell breaks loose, and I don’t mean the weather”. The four turned and walk out of the silent, still circle into a fury of wind.
Not that far away, only a short distance as the crow flies, two others were also discussing Sarah.
“It was quite incredible Mum, Sarah fitted into the dig perfectly and even on occasion gave some very thoughtful and intelligent suggestions, chip off the old block, I think” said Michael Tremayne pride tingeing his voice.
“Well, as my old mum used to say ‘she’s not as green as she is cabbage looking’, she’s a clever one our Sarah. I’m happy to ‘ave ‘er ‘ere, she can be some help to me when she ain’t at school and then maybe in the holidays you and ‘er can spend some quality time together,” said Nan, one hand stroking the silky ear of Brad the Dog.
“Has she said much about our trip to Denmark?”
“Good grief lad, she ain’t stopped talking about it! You’d think she’d met some Vikings for real the way she was talking about ‘em.”
“Yes, I did notice that she was very good at making the past come alive. I’d really like to foster that. It might keep her out of trouble.”
“Not much hope of that Michael, she is also ‘er mother’s daughter remember, an’ Julia were always jumping into trouble with both feet. Not forgetting though Sarah is ‘er own person, she will be the one making up ‘er mind about things. T’is our job to be there when things go to custard - if they do. What about that little turn she ‘ad at the beginning of your trip?”
“It only happened the once, I think it was a combination of excitement and not enough to eat.” The Professor had his fingers crossed on that one.
“Didn’t Julia ‘ave similar fainting fits?” Nan asked casually, watching her son carefully. Choosing to ignore his mother’s question Professor Michael Tremayne continued with his previous line of thinking before other more painful memories came rushing in. If it was one thing he was good at, it was not thinking about his late wife Julia.
“I know I haven’t been much of a father to her but I want to change that, yes you’re right we’ll ask her in the morning, let her decide. School terms here with you while she’s at school in St Ives and in the holidays we will spend time together, maybe travel a bit.”
Nan smiled; she already knew what Sarah would say. Sitting half way down the stairs, listening intently to the adults’ conversation, Sarah smiled happily to herself. She also knew what she was going to say.
Two hundred miles away in an old, disused tube station another meeting was taking place to a backdrop of flickering fluorescent lights and the distant roar of passing trains. Two men and a corpse were also discussing Sarah, albeit sitting in comfy armchairs around a brazier each with a brandy in hand.
“Mmm perfect,” sighed one of the men, after taking a sip of his very expensive brandy, “can you feel it? Everything is going so well, isn’t it? Chaos is our friend gentlemen.” Contentment was written on his face.
“Really? And what of this girl, Sarah Tremayne?”
“What of her? Without her mother to guide her, she is no threat”.
“I’m not so sure of that, her actions recently were…unexpected,” the corpse grimaced, remembering.
“Yes, well, I have to admit she certainly put a spanner in your works didn’t she? But it is a minor hiccup. On her next journey she will be dealt with.” The man took another sip of his brandy, closing his eyes as he savoured it.
“She should be mine to deal with as I wish.” The corpse had not yet touched his brandy. The silence stretched out, waiting to be filled.
“They are concerned, they doubt their path. We should make use of that. Perhaps their faith in the Tremayne girl needs to be shaken,” the second man spoke at last.
The contented man smiled without warmth. “Mmm, maybe. Or perhaps we need to show the young Miss Tremayne exactly who she is up against. Show her she won’t win so why should she?”
“Her next journey? Do we know where and when?”
“The where? Well yes but the when is a little vague...” It
Suspicious as always, the first man frowned a little and turning to the corpse said. “You can go too, but stay out of sight, keep our new trainee in line. I want regular reports and I want chaos, lots of chaos. Understood?” He closed his eyes and smiled with pleasure, his blood tingling with the anticipation of all the chaos his favourite could inflict.
The corpse nodded, pleased. He may yet get his chance. Sarah Tremayne could yet be his.
“Oh, and will someone please deal with that bloody flickering light!” The man shouted over his shoulder, instantly the light went out and only the brazier served to illuminate the three.
“Right, now that we have dealt with that little matter shall we turn our attention to the Middle East? How are the Crusades going? Do we need a bit more bloodshed? Which side? Personally, I’m all for dealing to some nuns; suggestions gentlemen?”
Two men and a corpse sat surrounded by the dark, plotting chaos for eternity.
CHAPTER ONE
“Stop! Stop! Stop the bus please...”
Sarah ran frantically trying to catch the bus as it chugged away from the kerb, the girls on the back seat laughing at her attempts to get the drivers attention. Damn, another long walk home, shouldn’t have picked up that book, THEY could have told the driver…But Sarah knew that even here in Cornwall there were mean girls, girls who were too cool to be nice. With a resigned sigh Sarah shouldered her backpack and started the long walk from St. Ives to Zennor, grateful the rain had stopped and she had worn sensible shoes today.
It was not the first time and Sarah couldn’t decide if she was just a really bad time keeper or if there was some conspiracy to make her walk home. There was a group of kids at her new school who had decided because she came from a ‘toffee-nosed’ boarding school and spoke with a fancy accent she needed to be taken down a peg or two. For Sarah this was especially irritating, all she wanted to do was quietly get on with things but bullies really got up her nose and backing down was not really her style. She had made a few friends but no one as close as Rosie, her best friend from boarding school who now lived at the other end of the country, in Orkney of all places.
Thank goodness for the internet. Every day after school Rosie and Sarah would meet online to chat, gossip and even (on occasion) help each other with their homework. Rosie had settled in well at her new school. It was hard not to like Rosie, her sunny smile always made you forget what had been annoying you in the first place. Even though she had made lots of new friends she always made time for Sarah, something which gave Sarah a twinge of guilt. She had not yet told her about the amulet and her unusual trip in Denmark. Sarah kept telling herself that it was not something you could tell someone over the phone or the internet. You never knew who might be listening…When I see her face to face next I will tell her! Sarah silently promised, one hand on her amulet tucked away under her school jumper.
Even though at times the events at the beginning of last summer seemed to have been a dream, the small but perfectly formed Thor amulet sitting snug against her own amulet told her otherwise. Ever since she had come back from Denmark she had been hunting down answers, with not a lot of luck. Resolutely, putting one foot in front of the other Sarah let her mind run through what she knew so far (for yet the gazillionith time).
It all had something to do with the amulet the crazy lady had given her (many hours had been wasted walking to and fro, sitting on that rock up on Carn Galva hoping to see her again), her mother and a strange group called the Myhres an Loor. An internet search of the Myhres an Loor only turned up the translation; it was Cornish for Daughters of the Moon. That in itself turned up nothing useful except for some vague references to witchcraft and moon worship. Typing in ‘the goddess’ into a search engine got a lot more information, but so much so it gave Sarah headache trying to fathom out what was relevant and what was not.
So at this point all she knew, or thought she knew, was that the amulet meant she was part of some super-secret Cornish Wiccan cult that worshipped the moon as a goddess and could time travel, all of which seemed very, very far-fetched. Shaking her head, Sarah trudged along the B3306 past Rosewall Hill (yet again).
The words of the Berserker echoed in her head, “Your goddess won’t save you now. I have never had a double before, first the mother then the daughter”. Sarah knew that he had killed her mother. She had seen it, literally, in his eyes as he lay dying at her feet. It made her wonder at how much her dad knew. After all, he was the one that had told her that Julia had died in a car crash. Obviously Julia’s death was covered up, made to look like something else, but by whom and why? Not for the first time, she asked herself if maybe she ought to come clean and tell her dad and Nan everything. But even as she thought it, her mind balked and the amulet began to hum painfully in her mind, protesting.
Whilst Sarah was sure that Nan would get it, having always been a little bit fey herself, Sarah’s father was another story. His scientific mind didn’t have room for those things that were unexplainable. The look on his face when he found her on a pagan website was enough to convince her that for now it had to be her secret. Thinking about her dad brought a rare smile to Sarah’s face. He did seem to making more of an effort to be a father.
Apart from the time travel thing, the trip to Denmark had been quite a success. The Professor seemed pleased at how useful Sarah was on the dig and even listened when she made a few interpretative suggestions. At first she had been hesitant to speak up but when the eager students had become more and more fanciful in their interpretations it just got too much. Sarah had found it difficult to keep her mouth shut, especially when she knew from firsthand experience what it was like to live in the Viking world. There had been no more trips back in time since then and although a part of her was kind of hoping that would be the only time it happened, there was a much larger part that knew it was just the beginning and if she was being absolutely honest with herself, she was looking forward to the next time...sort of!
She had spent the last few months since getting back from Denmark trying to learn some bush craft skills. At least she could now start a fire with a flint (subsequently an item she always carried), however walking through the forest without leaving tracks or making too much noise had turned out to be more difficult then she had anticipated, although there had been some improvement. Sarah had also read up on all things that are edible in various wild situations, taking copious notes and testing herself when on one of her walks. She had found that Nan was a great source of wisdom in this area, her knowledge of plants was encyclopaedic.
When alone and unobserved Sarah had reluctantly been practising with her throwing knives, remembering that she had killed real people made her feel sick, the fact she had not hesitated either made her wonder what kind of person was she, who am I? What am I becoming? The Berserker, she had no sympathy for, he was outright evil, but the other guard…well, it was a violent time and she was sure he would have done the same if the tables had been turned. Still, her stomach churned. I will not kill again…unless forced to.
She had also been practising some of the other ‘gifts’ that appear to be part of the whole amulet/goddess package. Being able to observe people without them knowing was a useful gift as was seeing the short term future. Unfortunately, they didn’t work so well on this side of the time continuum either that or it was a case of ‘needs must’.
Pushing the unsettling thoughts to the back of her mind Sarah turned her mind to more pleasant thoughts such as the upcoming trip with her father. So far, he had kept his word and during the school hols Sarah had the pleasure of his company. During the Christmas holidays he had come down to Cornwall and they had spent plenty of time exploring the ancient landscape on good weather days and playing endless board games or just sitting reading on the bad weather days.
