by Mark Hayden
Li lifted his dagger and stared at the well. My head started pounding again, and I saw a shimmering ribbon of gold form between Li and the water. I had to force myself not to crush poor Desi’s hand again as my fingers burned with transferred power. Li’s mouth became a rictus of pain, and the dagger shook in his hand. He shouted something in Cantonese and the ribbon of light became a laser.
Vicky groaned and her hand gripped his shoulder so tightly that his jacket bunched up and Francesca had to tug back to stop Vicky pulling him over. Then, with a scream, he fell to his knees, and a flash of golden light blinded me, like turning to look at the sun when you’re flying above the clouds.
‘Hello, son,’ came a voice in front of me. ‘Which one’s your girlfriend?’
I’m not sure, but I think Vicky said, ‘As bad as each other.’
11 — Unto the Tenth Generation
The burning in my fingers eased, and Desi pulled her hand away from mine. I heard the rasp of fabric as she gave it a wipe, and I dropped my arm from Francesca. As my eyes cleared, the shape of my 11xGreat Grandfather came into focus.
Spectre Thomas doesn’t resemble me that much, but he’s a dead ringer for a younger version of my dad, an idea emphasised by the sharp three-piece suit in blue pinstripe and by the red tie.
I cleared my throat. ‘Grandfather, this is …’
‘…The Keeper of the Library. Well met, madam.’
Francesca shocked me by stepping forward and shaking his hand. Li Cheng must have put a lot of Lux into that summoning for Thomas to have full corporeality.
‘Francesca Somerton,’ she said. ‘How d’you do.’
‘Thomas Clarke,’ said Grandfather in a strong Lincolnshire accent. He let go of Francesca’s hand and turned to me. ‘Give me a hug, Conrad. We’ll only get one chance.’
So I did, and his suit was as real as Father’s, even down to the weave of the cloth. His face was warm when we kissed, and he held me close and tight. When he released me, he finally looked round properly and caught sight of the Morrigan, now glowing in the darkness that had fallen.
He bowed low and said, ‘My Lady. Here we are again. Where are the others? And who…’ He pointed to the tree where Odin’s raven was perched.
Again? What happened last time?
‘Well met, Thomas,’ said the Morrigan. ‘Much has changed since then, and that is for Conrad’s generation to worry about. I am here to give you safe passage to rest with Alice, so tell your tale and be gone.’
He bowed again. ‘Thank you, great Lady,’ he said, then turned back to us and spotted Vicky. ‘Sweet Witch, thank you for your help.’
Vicky coloured slightly, but stepped forward to embrace him. ‘No one’s called me sweet for years,’ she said, ‘but you’re welcome.’
Li had collapsed into one of the camping chairs and was wiping his face with a handkerchief. Thomas was looking at the other three women, but if I didn’t introduce Li first, he’d get the hump.
‘May I present the Royal Occulter, Dr Li Cheng, also today’s Summoner.’
Li dragged himself to his feet and shook hands. Instead of releasing his grip, Li held on and frowned. ‘It wasn’t just you,’ he said. ‘So much Lux – where’s it gone? Is there someone else?’
‘Aah. About that,’ said Thomas. ‘She’ll be along when I’ve gone.’
Li let go and turned to me. ‘What’s this?’
‘You can shout at me later,’ I said. ‘Let’s move on, shall we?’
I introduced Desirée, then Mina gave him the full namaste and said, ‘It is an honour beyond words to meet such an ancestor.’
Thomas bowed back and gave me a sidelong wink. ‘I wish I could stay to know you better,’ he said.
When I introduced Myfanwy as our new housekeeper, he sighed and said, ‘So many Mages together. I wish I could stay and learn, and Alice would be thrilled.’ He leaned in and whispered something to Myfanwy, who then gave me a funny look.
Vicky and I had brought quite a few bits up to cover contingencies, and one of them was an old cloak we’d been keeping. I spread it on the wall around the well, and invited Thomas to sit. I also slipped him my hip flask, then moved away to stand with Mina and light a cigarette. Francesca took one of the camping chairs, and after checking that Li was okay, Vicky took the other.
Thomas took a swig of the Islay malt, raised his eyebrows and said, ‘So that’s what I’ve been missing. Thank’ee Conrad.’ He took his time screwing the cap back on, and looked at his feet for a moment.
When he looked up, he stared at where the Morrigan was glowing patiently and said, ‘How many generations does it take to wash clean a sin? It is written that a bastard may not come into the Lord’s congregation until ten generations have passed.’
‘What is he talking about? Is he illegitimate?’ whispered Mina.
‘No idea, love,’ I said.
Then Thomas looked directly at me and said, ‘This is the story of Brother William. First of the Clarkes.’
Thomas spread his arm to encompass my house, the land around it and the village beyond. ‘In the time of Edward, King of the Sea, this was all church land. Every acre belonged to Winchcombe Abbey and had done for generations.’ He paused to take another sip from the hip flask. ‘That would be Edward III to you. Middle of the 1300s, and there was no village called Clerkswell. In fact, there were only two stone buildings at all: the chapel of St Michael and the farmhouse. Elvenham Grange. That was where William was born.
‘He didn’t have a family name, but they didn’t call him William Witchborn for nothing. From birth, the monks in St Michael’s Chapel kept an eye on him, taught him to read and took him to Winchcombe to join their chapter, for Winchcombe Abbey was a Sanctuary House.’
‘It means they took in Mages,’ I said to Mina. ‘And locked them up, effectively.’
‘William was barely a man,’ continued Thomas, ‘when the first travellers brought stories of God’s judgement, of how the plague was spreading throughout the kingdom, sweeping all before it. And one day, a French Monk arrived at the Abbey, seeking shelter and bringing with him a book.’
Thomas turned to look at Francesca. ‘I’m glad you’re here, Keeper,’ he said. ‘It will save me a lot of time knowing that you can fill them in when I’m gone. You know, don’t you.’
Francesca had recoiled from my ancestor and was chewing a finger, unable to speak. She waved at Thomas to carry on. This did not look good for my family’s reputation.
‘The monk was Father Stephen of Potigny, special Inquisitor, and the book he brought was the Codex Defanatus Britanniae. Not long after Father Stephen arrived, so did the plague. In the confusion, Brother William killed Father Stephen, stole the book and fled home. To Elvenham Grange.’
Thomas looked at me again. ‘That was the sin, Conrad, and he compounded it.’
I didn’t think it could get much worse. The rest of the group were stealing glances at me already, but my ancestor had more. Oh yes.
‘William had always known that here in these woods was a weak spot, a place where sometimes the Fae could appear. When he returned from Winchcombe with blood on his hands and the book in his bag, he made a Calling, and brought forth a Fae Count. In the dead of night, he made a compact. A bargain. He did a deal with the unhumans.’ Thomas smiled grimly. ‘It was bad, but I can’t throw the first stone. Not after what I did.
‘William’s compact was simple. He was to dig a well. This well. And then to use his magick to make a door into the sídhe of the Fae. The Fae Count was to keep the Codex Defanatus, and so long as an offering was made every seven years, the waters of the well would keep the village safe from the plague.’
‘An offering?’ said Mina.
‘A boy child,’ said Vicky, grimly. ‘A boy child was to be handed over. I’ll explain later.’
‘During the first seven years, refugees from plague-struck settlements flocked to Elvenham, and the village grew. The chapel of St Michael became the Church of St Michael at the Clerk’s
Well, and William became known as William the Clerk. The Abbey granted him Elvenham Grange as a hereditary tenancy.’
Desirée was giving me daggers. It looked like I’d gone back to being top of her hit list.
‘William resigned his office and married,’ continued Thomas. ‘And when the first seven years were up, he did the one decent thing in all this. He refused the offering and the plague did its worst, but by then the village was big enough to survive, and survive it has. The Fae Count kept the book, William died, and his son was no Mage. The compact was forgotten and things remained that way for generations. My grandfather married an heiress from Lincolnshire and removed himself to her lands. Elvenham Grange was rented out. When he died, he left the Grange to my father, also Thomas, who was his second son.’
Francesca coughed. ‘And your father was the first Keeper.’
‘He was, and I followed him. My father was a great scholar, but barely a Mage. Many of the volumes in the Esoteric Library were sealed with enchantment, and he never opened them. I did, and one of them was the Oxbridge Scroll.’
‘No!’ shouted Francesca. ‘You can’t have!’
Thomas looked at his hand-tooled brogues. ‘I did.’ Then he looked up. ‘Blame the King. My Alice was a known Witch. If he’d let me marry her and retain my post as Keeper, none of this would have happened.’ There was a grim set to his face, and no one said anything. ‘I fled here, and brought the Oxbridge Scroll with me. When Alice and I settled in the Grange, we found the Fae door. It was hidden behind the Dragonstone, the one that now sits above the doorway, Conrad.’
‘That explains a lot,’ said Vicky.
‘The Fae Count returned the book to me, as he had to, and that left me with a dilemma.’
Francesca was rigid with fury. ‘There was no dilemma. You had both codices. You should have returned them.’
‘No,’ said Thomas. ‘I was the Keeper. I kept them, and kept them safe. I even joined them together – one Codex Defanatus covering the whole of England. I know about the world because I’ve read the newspapers and watched the news, or I used to, but I know nothing of the world of magick save what I’ve gleaned from Keepers who’ve come looking over the years. Sixteen of them, and some of them two or three times.’
It was getting distinctly uncomfortable out there by the well. Desi had moved slowly to stand by Francesca, and Li was now next to Vicky. Myfanwy didn’t know which way to turn.
‘Tell me this, fellow Keeper,’ said Thomas. ‘How would your Invisible College have faired with access to the Defanatus?’
Francesca wanted to argue, to defend the integrity of her predecessors, but something stopped her.
‘I thought so,’ said Thomas. There was a shimmer from the garden, and we turned to look. The Morrigan was getting restless. Thomas gave an ironic smile. ‘Making the single book was a mistake. That’s when the Dæmons started appearing.’
‘Like real demons? From Hell?’ said Mina.
‘Amongst others,’ said Thomas. ‘Many others. I had to act, and I had to keep the book safe.’ He looked towards the impatient goddess beyond the well. ‘I threatened to destroy the book. Once word got round, there was nearly a pitched battle, here at Elvenham Grange. Thank you, great goddess, for your aid. I was unworthy.’
‘You were unworthy, and you still are.’ The Morrigan’s words boomed across the grass. They could probably hear her in the Inkwell.
‘There was a … a gathering, you could call it,’ said Thomas. ‘It lasted all of one winter’s long night. Sixteen long hours, and at the end, there was an agreement. A bargain made that avoided what everyone feared and gave us all the promise of a future.’
‘All?’ I said. ‘Who was there?’
‘Some of this I can remember,’ said Thomas. ‘The Morrigan stood guarantor, and the rest of us signed in blood. Count Ealdhun of the Fae, the Dwarf Niði, the Bull of Evesham, the Spirit d’Houllac and at least two great Dæmons. Their names have gone. And there was Helen of Troy.’ He paused and took a sip of whisky. ‘I’m not going to forget her. The terms of the agreement were that the Fae Count would be promoted and allowed a new land. He is long gone, and his doorway sealed. What the Dæmons wanted or received was expunged from my memory. The Bull was on my side – he wanted the book gone, and that was what I couldn’t achieve. The Codex Defanatus survived, but it was sealed under the great seal of the Morrigan.
I’ve spoken to Thomas before, of course, and I could guess what was coming next.
‘It was up to the Morrigan to decide for how long, and the Morrigan being who she is, no date was set. She said that the book would be sealed Until the Clarkes leave Elvenham or until Thomas is born again to his own mother.’
Mina had slipped her hand under my coat to wrap around my waist. She looked up. ‘Is this going to make sense? Ever?’ I pulled her even closer and let Thomas continue.
‘I did one more magickal thing before I committed my greatest sin, the sin of self-slaughter. Alice and I rebuilt the Grange farm house, and when we did, I put the Dragonstone over the lintel, and I enchanted it. Did you work it out, Sweet Witch? My apologies. Did you work it out, Doctor Robson?’
‘I’m no more a doctor of Chymic than I am sweet,’ said Vicky, ‘but I did work it out. I didn’t believe it, but I worked it out.’ She turned to face me. ‘Your ancestor bound himself to the stone in a special way. His sons, and his sons after him could only conceive children in that house.’
‘What on earth for?’ said Myfanwy.
Francesca answered, ‘To ensure the Clarkes carried on living here, I imagine.’
‘True,’ said Thomas. ‘I did that, and I spent over three hundred years nudging them to stay. The odd haunting, the occasional manifestation. Just a nudge. It worked.’
I spoke out, ‘Until it came to pass that Alfred Clarke wooed a girl from Cambridge, a girl who’d grown up in the Fens. My mother.’
Thomas picked up the thread. ‘And your mother was my sister’s daughter’s daughter’s daughter up to the fifteenth generation. Alfred Clarke had my father’s Y chromosome, and Mary Enderby had my mother’s mitochondria. In you I was born again to my own parents.’
‘No!’ said Myfanwy. ‘Really?’
‘Close enough,’ said Thomas. ‘Give or take the odd X chromosome. When Conrad was born, the Codex Defanatus was unsealed. I must say it’s taken a long time for it to come into circulation. Thirty-seven years. And I had so little energy, I couldn’t stray beyond the house. Thank you, Doctor Li, for giving me the Lux to manifest. It is now time for me to join my Alice and wait for God’s Judgement.’
‘You’ll have a long wait,’ said the Morrigan with the sort of laugh that makes you very worried. ‘My promise to you is discharged, Thomas Clarke. I have made sure your story was heard, and now I shall go.’ Her hard, haunted eyes scanned the group. ‘One of you, at least, I will see again in this life.’
Deities, I’ve discovered, don’t do goodbye. She turned to where Odin’s raven had been watching, and bowed her head. The raven cawed in return, and then she was gone, leaving nothing but an image of glory on the retina.
‘You can’t go now,’ said Francesca, struggling out of her chair and pointing at Thomas. ‘What was in the full Codex? And where is the Codex?’
He moved off his perch on the well, brushing lime and grit from his suit. ‘I don’t know what was in it, because I had to forget. I only remembered Helen of Troy when Conrad met her and told me she was free.’ He shrugged. Badly. Out of practice, I suppose. ‘As to the book’s whereabouts, I last saw it disappear down a hole in the ground under the arm of Niði the Dwarf. You’ll have to ask him. Now, Conrad, will you and your lady escort me to Alice?’
‘But …’ said Francesca.
Thomas stepped forwards and took her hands. ‘Hush, Keeper…’
She snatched them back, ‘Don’t you dare talk to me like that! I am not a serving girl to be hushed. You will stay and answer for what you did.’
Thomas bowed. ‘Forgive me. I d
id not mean to insult your sex, Doctor Somerton. Be that as it may, King James could not keep my Alice and I apart, and neither can you. I must take me leave of you all. Conrad?’
‘Aren’t you forgetting something?’ said a rich, Indian voice from behind us.
We all whirled round to see the curvy form of Pramiti, hands on hips, by the well. I’ve mentioned her figure because she was naked, and you sort of couldn’t ignore it.
‘Put the cloak on,’ I said. ‘I left it out for you.’
She flicked her hair and picked up the cloak, drawing it round her and making sure that there was plenty of Pramiti still visible. I also noticed that instead of a gaping wound in her side, she had a scar. So that’s where all our Lux had gone.
‘What is the meaning of this?’ said Francesca, boiling over with fury and directing it at Thomas and me with equal venom.
Mina upstaged her by marching up to the Nāgin. Pramiti was on a slight rise, and a good six inches taller than Mina anyway, but that didn’t stop Mina jabbing her in the chest with a finger and saying something in Gujarati.
Pramiti replied in a language that sounded different. Hindi?
Mina shook her head, jabbed her finger again and ranted at Pramiti for a good ten seconds. Then, without waiting for a reply, she turned round and came back to me. She turned to Vicky and said, ‘Give her food and send her on her way. I want her gone by the time we get back, and Vicky?’
Vicky was not looking happy. No one was looking happy. Even Pramiti looked like a vegetarian who’s won the meat raffle.
‘Aye?’ said Vicky.
Mina darted to Vicky’s side and whispered in her ear. Before anyone else could react, Mina grabbed Thomas’s arm, then mine, and dragged us away from the well.
12 — You can Choose your Friends
No one followed, and Mina slowed down as we passed Rachael’s dilapidated tennis court. She let go of Thomas’s hand, keeping hold of mine. ‘That was scary,’ she said. ‘And it was a good job I’ve felt magick before. I would not have liked that to be my first time.’
