Scaderstone Pit (The Darkeningstone Series Book 3) Read online

  Today, in the bright winter sunlight, this part of the site seemed like a sheltered and pleasant spot: the hard lines of the rock face were mellowed by the lush ferns clinging to the slope, and even the curtains of trailing ivy looked quite pretty when they were wafted by the breeze. But even so, Trevor was in no rush to go clambering among the loose rocks and brambles. He’d already ruined one good pair of trousers and he couldn’t afford to damage another.

  Trevor stopped walking and called out to Brian, doing his best to sound reserved and authoritative, “All right, Brian, what exactly is the problem?”

  Brian turned around sharply and shook his head. He shuffled closer to Trevor, looking nervous, and when he spoke, he kept his voice low: “I can’t tell you, not down here. I’m probably wrong about the whole thing and I don’t want that lot taking the mickey. So I thought you’d know for certain if I’m right or wrong. And if I am wrong, then maybe you wouldn’t mind keeping mum about it, so to speak.” Brian looked around as if fearful of attracting attention from the other workers. “If that’s all right with you, Mr. Marley,” he added, and to Trevor’s ears, the man sounded hopeful, almost pleading.

  Trevor frowned. Brian had obviously been upset by something in this this part of the site, and by an uncanny coincidence, this was exactly the place that he’d had his own unsettling experience. But that’s all it was—a coincidence. No one else knew about his humiliating retreat from this place, did they? Unless...unless Brian had been there at the same time, hiding in the dark gorge. But that couldn’t be possible, could it?

  Trevor turned on the workman. “Now you listen to me, Brian,” he snapped. “I’ve got more important things to do than go on a wild goose chase. So if you’ve got something to say, you’d better come out with it right now.” Trevor pointed his finger at Brian’s face and the workman flinched. “But I’m warning you,” Trevor went on, “if you’re wasting my time with some stupid prank, you can go home now and you’ll never work for Grigson’s again.”

  Brian looked down for a moment, and when he looked back up, his face was a picture of downcast misery.

  Oh, for god’s sake, Trevor thought, he looks like a kicked dog.

  “I’m sorry, Mr. Marley,” Brian mumbled. “I didn’t mean any offence, I’m sure. I just thought, with you being an educated man, you’d know what to do right away.” He paused and glanced back toward the gorge. “I suppose I’d better tell the foreman. He’ll want to fetch a policeman I suppose.”

  Trevor felt the blood drain from his face. “A policeman? Why? What have you found?”

  Brian sniffed and looked away, shaking his head.

  Trevor stepped close to Brian and grabbed him by both arms. He bent forward to look the workman in the eye. “Out with it! What have you found? You’ve got to tell me.”

  Brian’s face creased. “Let me go,” he said. “I’ve got to fetch the foreman.”

  Trevor exhaled noisily. This was no good. The foreman was a pig-headed, arrogant man, and a member of the Gas Workers and General Union. Once he was involved, he’d enjoy stirring up trouble. And if he made a scene and work stopped, even for a short while, Grigson would certainly hear of it. And that wouldn’t do at all.

  Trevor let go of Brian’s arms and stood up straight. “All right, Brian, there’s no need for a fuss. We’ll deal with this between ourselves—for now at any rate.”

  “I don’t know,” Brian said. “I ought to tell the foreman. I see that now. I’m sorry to have wasted your time.” He turned and started walking away, dragging his feet over the dusty ground.

  Trevor clenched his jaw and stifled a few harsh words. This day was going from bad to worse. He had to think. He had to turn this situation around and get it back under control. He’d been too hard on Brian and hurt his feelings; it was time to get him back on side. “Wait a minute, Brian,” he called out. “I’m sorry. There seems to have been a misunderstanding.”

  Brian stopped walking. He hesitated then turned back to face Trevor. “Oh?”

  Trevor smiled. “Yes. You see, I thought you were sending me on a fool’s errand—you know how it is with some of the men. They like to send people up the garden path—send them off to ask for a long weight, that sort of thing. I expect they try to play those tricks on you, don’t they?”

  Brian nodded sadly. “Once, they sent me off with a paper bag to fetch sparks for the welding torch.” He sniffed. “They told me to make sure the bag was wet, so it wouldn’t catch fire.”

  Trevor nodded and smiled sympathetically. “They take advantage of your good nature.”

  “Yes,” Brian said. “I suppose so.”

  “There’s no doubt about it, Brian. But I can see through all their nonsense. I can tell that you’re a hard worker.”

  Brian shrugged. “I try to be helpful, that’s all.”

  “Oh, don’t be so modest, Brian. You know, in a lot of ways, we’re alike.”

  Brian frowned. He opened his mouth to speak, but Trevor didn’t give him the chance.

  “We take our work seriously, Brian. We’re determined to get somewhere in life, and those other chaps couldn’t care less about that sort of thing. But our ambitions make them jealous.”

  Brian’s expression softened. “I’ve always thought…” he began, then broke off and looked down at his hands.

  “You’ve always thought you could do better for yourself,” Trevor said.

  Brian looked up sharply. “Yes. That’s it. How did you know what I was going to say?”

  Trevor stepped closer and smiled. “We’re cut from the same cloth. We’re not content to stand still. We want to improve our lot in life.”

  “Maybe,” Brian said. “I don’t know.” He smiled shyly. “It sounds daft, but I’d like to get my own place one day, and I can’t do that on a labourer’s wage, so I have to live with my mum, and that’s all very well and everything but—”

  Trevor held up his hand to cut Brian off. “I understand,” he said. “So I see no reason why you and I can’t solve this new problem together. Whatever it is, we can tackle it on our own.” He gave Brian a warm smile. “We can work as a team, all right?”

  Brian beamed. “Yes, Mr. Marley. I’m sure we can. I’ll do my best.”

  Trevor patted Brian on the arm. “Good man. Now, let’s get down to brass tacks. Why do you think this might be a police matter?”

  Brian’s smile dropped. “Because…because of the bones.”

  A shiver ran down Trevor’s spine, and the sound of a crying baby echoed in the back of his mind. “Bones?”

  “Yes. I found them in there.” He pointed toward the gorge. “And I think they might be from a person.”

  A flood of fearful memories rushed in on Trevor: whispered warnings, the sense of being watched, the noises in the undergrowth. Had he been alone that night among the rocks, or had he stumbled onto the scene of a horrible crime? It made his flesh crawl to think of it. He could’ve been standing defenceless in the dark, while just yards away, a murder was being committed.

  He shook his head to push the thought away. Brian had said there were bones; he hadn’t mentioned anything about a body. “Do they…do they look as if they’ve been there a long time?”

  Brian nodded once. “It’s like they were buried—under the rocks.”

  Trevor’s mind worked quickly. There was still a chance that Brian had made a mistake. “What makes you say they’re from a person? Couldn’t they just be animal bones?”

  Brian frowned. “I don’t think so. They’re too big to be a fox or anything like that.” He paused and rubbed his chin. “I suppose it could be a horse or a pony or something. But I don’t know how it would’ve got up there.”

  “What? Up where?”

  “That’s just it. I’ve got to show you. They’re up on a ledge. It’s quite high.”

  Trevor stared at Brian in silence for a moment. A dozen questions sprang into his mind, but he dismissed them. He needed to take control of the situation. And Brian was right about one th
ing: Trevor needed to see these bones for himself. “All right, Brian, you’d better show me. Where exactly is this ledge?”

  “I’ll take you there. It won’t take long.” Brian started walking toward the gorge, wading into the patch of brambles. “You’d better follow me,” he called back over his shoulder. “And watch your step here, Mr. Marley—it’s a bit heavy going.”

  Trevor eyed the brambles and sighed. What a bloody awful day, he thought. It just can’t get much worse. Then he stepped forward, trying as hard as he could to follow the path Brian had flattened through the undergrowth.

  Chapter 26

  2021

  I DIDN’T SAY MUCH as we took our leave from Audrey. I was still embarrassed about my outburst, and anyway, Cally talked enough for the both of us. But as Cally and I stood outside by the car, waiting for Gerard to bring his gear out, I took a deep breath of fresh air and finally told Cally what I’d been thinking for the last half an hour.

  “I think we should go,” I said.

  “Don’t worry,” she said. “We’ll be going back soon. We could always give Gerard a hand if you want to leave a bit sooner.”

  “No. That’s not what I mean.” I glanced back toward the museum. Gerard was nowhere in sight. “Seeing that amulet again—it proves that we’re on the right track. We have to follow it up. We have to go and look for the stone. Now. Without Gerard.”

  Cally gave me a quizzical look. “What you talking about? We can’t just leave him here.”

  “But we agreed. On the way here, we said we should go and check out the sites and try and find the right one.”

  Cally shook her head. “Yes, but we can’t go right now. We need to do some more research and narrow it down. And Gerard—”

  “To hell with Gerard,” I snapped. “We’ll just ditch him. You said it yourself, we’re so close to the stone right now. It would be stupid not to go and check it out, so if Gerard won’t help us, we’ll have to take it into our own hands.”

  Cally ran a hand across her face. “Listen, Jake, I want to know what’s going on just as much as you do, but we can’t just go charging off around the French countryside.”

  I took a steadying breath and exhaled slowly. “You know the roads pretty well don’t you? How long do you think it would take to drive out to some of these sites, have a quick look, and then come back to pick up Gerard?”

  Cally hesitated. “The nearest one is maybe a 15 minute drive each way. And then we’d have to try and find the stone when we got there. We could easily be away for an hour or more. Gerard won’t want to hang around here on his own.”

  “So what? He’s just a cameraman. Surely you can pull rank on him, can’t you? You could call your boss and clear it with him. Gerard would have to do what he was told.”

  Cally’s expression clouded and she looked down for a moment, shifting her weight from one foot to the other, twisting her shoes against the gravel. I’d obviously hit a nerve, so I stood quietly for a moment, letting her think it through. And when she looked up, there was a spark of anger in her eyes.

  “Sod it!” She said. “Why not?”

  “Really?”

  “You get in the car, and get the laptop ready. I’ll drive.”

  “Excellent,” I said. But as I turned away, the museum door opened and Gerard appeared with his cases of equipment.

  “Just get in the car,” Cally said. “I’ll deal with him. I need the keys anyway.”

  Reluctantly, I climbed into the passenger seat, but I left the door open so I could hear what was being said. If Cally needed any help I’d jump out and see what I could do.

  Cally marched toward Gerard. She spoke to him in French, and from what I could hear, she was saying she needed the car and telling him to wait inside whether he liked it or not. But I heard no mention of where we were going or why.

  Gerard put down his cases of equipment and folded his arms. His face was a picture of defiance. But when Cally pulled out her phone and made a show of making a call, Gerard held up his hand to stop her. Cally lowered her phone and took a step toward him, holding out her hand for the keys. Gerard glanced in my direction then shrugged and took the keys from his pocket, but he didn’t hand them over. He made Cally take a step closer before he dropped them into her outstretched hand.

  Cally turned on her heel and stalked back toward the car. She handed me her phone. “Here,” she said. “I’ve unlocked it. You can make a Wi-Fi hotspot. Connect it up and make sure you have the map ready. You do know how to do that, don’t you?”

  “Please. I could do it with my eyes closed.”

  Cally nodded and headed for the driver’s door. By the time she’d fastened her seatbelt, I’d made the connection and had the map ready. “Head back out the way we came,” I said. “Get us back onto the main road, and I’ll try and take it from there.”

  “OK,” Cally said. She started the engine and set off across the car park, the wheels kicking up gravel behind us. “You need to get the directions right, Jake. We don’t have long.”

  “I’ll do my best.” I glanced over my shoulder. Gerard was watching us from the museum’s entrance, a scowl on his face. I turned to Cally. “What did you tell Gerard?”

  She pursed her lips. “Don’t worry about it. I spun him a line. But it’s only a matter of time before he calls Simon and finds out I’ve been sacked.”

  I stared at her. “What? I don’t believe it. When did that happen?”

  “Believe it,” she said. “That phone call I had while you were drinking coffee—it was the producer telling me to pack my bags. They’re sending me home tomorrow.”

  I stared down at the laptop. “Is this…is this because of me? I didn’t mean to cause you any trouble.”

  She sighed. “No. Don’t blame yourself, Jake.” She hesitated. “If I’m honest, it’s a combination of things.”

  “But if I hadn’t turned up, maybe—”

  “We’ll never know,” Cally interrupted. “But anyway, even before you arrived, the French government were interfering at the dig. It was only a matter of time before things came to a head. So don’t worry about it, all right?”

  “If you say so.” I turned my attention back to the map. Cally was right; this wasn’t the time for recriminations and pointless speculation. I needed to focus on the task in hand.

  I ran my eyes down Cally’s list of possible sites. “Should we just head for the nearest one, or do you want me to try and figure out which is the most likely place?”

  “You’ll have to make that decision,” Cally said. “I need you to figure this out. I’ve got to concentrate on driving on the wrong side of the road.”

  “I’ll do my best,” I said again. I switched back and forth between the map and Cally’s list of locations, copying and pasting the co-ordinates from the list to the search bar on the map then tagging each location so I could find it again. But I couldn’t decide which one was the best bet. “I don’t know,” I murmured. “I just don’t know.”

  “Try the satellite view,” Cally said. “Maybe you’ll see something that jogs your memory.”

  “Oh man, I should’ve thought of that.” I cursed myself under my breath. I was usually good at this stuff, but we’d shot off in a rush and I hadn’t got my head together. That has to change right now, I told myself. I adjusted the map’s settings, but as the digital landscape appeared with its patchwork of fields and neatly ordered woodlands, a sinking feeling settled in my stomach. Thousands of years have passed since I last saw this place, I thought. I’ll never recognise it now.

  But when I viewed each of the locations again, I could rule most of them out straight away; they looked far too flat. In fact, it seemed like hills were few and far between in this part of France. But I carried on, checking each in turn. And when I got to the fourth location, there it was.

  Although the satellite image was two-dimensional, I somehow knew I was looking at the high hill that held the black stone. I opened my mouth to tell Cally, but the words stuck in my throat
. Instead, I clicked on an icon to show local imagery. I stared as the picture slowly resolved in front of my eyes. Because there, in the background of a picturesque landscape photo, was the place I’d seen so often in my dreams. There was no mistaking it. “I’ve found it,” I said and my voice was hoarse. “Cally, I’ve found it. It’s here.”

  She glanced at me. “Good. Can you direct me to it?”

  “I think so.” I peered through the windscreen. “I’m not used to French signs. I think in miles not kilometres.”

  “We just passed a turning to La Varenne. Can you find that on the map?”

  I returned to the map and scrolled, forcing myself to concentrate. “OK, OK. I know where we are. When we get to the crossroads, there’ll be a place called Chaumussay on the right, but we’ll take the left turn. Road number D366. Then we’ll take the third right. We should see it from there. It’s the only hill for miles.”

  “So what’s the plan when we get there?”

  “I don’t know,” I admitted. “I just really need to see the stone for myself.”

  Cally nodded thoughtfully. “Me too. The stone in Exeter—I never really saw it. It was covered in water.”

  I nodded thoughtfully. “And the one in Scaderstone was partly underground, at least that’s what you told me.”

  Cally looked at me. “You remembered.”

  “I’d hardly forget.”

  “Sorry. I didn’t mean to…”

  “It’s all right.” I hesitated. “I remember everything you said. I remember everything about that day. You were wearing dungarees and a T-shirt.”

  Cally gave me a quizzical look. “I don’t know. It was a long time ago.”

  “Not for me.”

  “I guess not. Even so…” She let her voice trail away.

  I shouldn’t have mentioned her clothes, I thought. It made me sound like a stalker or something. I looked back at the map and tried to think what to say, but as we drove on, an uncomfortable silence seemed to fill the car.

  “There’s a crossroads coming up,” Cally said. “Is this it?”