For a moment the bridge seemed to tilt, the brook whirling away. An instant later they were both standing in front of Ravenstone Manor, facing its grand entrance door.
“Why are we back here?” said Jason, staring at the door as he let go of her hand. “Is this where the fleur-de-lis is?”
“Let us see,” Echo said.
She and Jason floated through the door into the large hall. They heard music, coming from a doorway to the right. They ran across, into the drawing room where they saw three people at a grand piano. Echo followed Jason for a closer look. The piano player was a smartly-dressed, grey-haired man. He seemed to be very old but he struck the keys with great skill, filling the room with a jaunty folk tune. Standing to one side of him was a girl with long, curly, light-brown hair. She was aged about eleven and played a violin, doing her best to keep up with him. At the other side of the man was a mischievous-looking boy, his hair blond and untidy. He was strumming a guitar, and seemed to be the same age as the girl. The old man stopped playing and turned to the boy.
“You’re out of tune, Ben.”
“What’s going on?” said Jason. “Where are the Cobalts?”
Echo closed her eyes and pointed to the man. “This is some years before the Cobalts lived here. The old man is called George Megginson, the owner of Ravenstone Manor at this time.” She opened her eyes, but only for a moment before pointing at the girl. “This one is also called Megginson, and her name is Kate. She is not George’s niece but his great-niece.” Finally Echo turned her attention to the boy. “And he is called Ben Wild. He is the best friend of Kate.”
“I don’t get it,” said Jason. “What’ve these people got to do with anything?”
“Kate and Ben are the minstrels we seek,” said Echo. “They are of great importance to us. They are our allies.”
“But they’re no older than we are.”
“We are seeing the past,” Echo reminded him. “In our own time, they will no longer be children.”
The old man reached across to the top of the piano, pressing a button on a small machine.
Echo frowned. “What is the device?”
Jason leaned forward for a closer look. “It’s a cassette recorder. You don’t really see them now, but it’s the sort of thing an old man would have. Looks like he’s using it to record the music so he can play it back.”
“Nay,” said Echo. “’Tis not possible to capture sound.”
Everything paused for a brief moment, the piano and drawing room stretching away. Time moved forward, the gewita transporting Jason and Echo back to the large hall at Ravenstone Manor. The music had stopped, but they heard muffled voices. Jason saw a short flight of steps, leading down from one side of the hall.
“This way.”
He and Echo ran across then hurried down the steps, coming to a narrow, musty-smelling passage. In the wall to the left was an oak door. Further down, the darkened passage continued to an open doorway, then a cellar. Jason didn’t go that far, instead stopping to put an ear to the oak door.
“This is where the voices are coming from.”
He and Echo floated through the door and into a chamber that was partly below ground, the only light coming in through a window high on the opposite wall. To one side, an opening in the wooden panelling led through to a small bathroom. In the far corner of the chamber stood five people, their backs turned.
“What’s going on?” Jason said.
He and Echo walked forward, drifting through the group of people to find themselves facing an old man sitting in the armchair beside his bed, a Zimmer frame nearby. Jason gasped. It was George Megginson, the same man who’d been playing the piano in the last gewita – only he looked very old and frail now. Jason spun around to face the people who surrounded the chair, seeing Scott and Kevin Cobalt. Tiffany was there too, looking no older than thirteen. Completing the group were two shifty-looking men, both aged about twenty.
“Events have moved forward some years since the first gewita,” Echo said.
“Don’t worry, George, they’re friends of mine,” Scott was saying. He exchanged a look with the person next to him, a glowering young man with bleached blond hair and a long, pointed nose. “This is Lee Railton.” The other accomplice was thin with short greasy hair and a black moustache. “And this is Carl Fishburn. They both do kung fu, like me.”
George shuffled in his chair. “I can’t hear a word you’re saying.”
Scott was holding a sheet of paper. He waved the document as he leaned forward to shout in George’s ear. “You need to sign this.”
“What does it say?” asked George. “Fetch me my glasses.”
“Maybe we should do what he wants,” muttered Kevin. “We don’t wanna upset him too much.”
Tiffany found George’s glasses and helped him put them on. Scott handed him the piece of paper and George squinted as he read it.
“Says here it’s a will,” he said eventually. He glanced up at Scott. “Leaving everything to you.”
“Correct,” said Scott. He produced a pen and handed it to George. “Come on, it won’t take a minute.”
“But I can’t do that,” said George, aghast. “Ravenstone Manor’s been in my family since Tudor times. I was born here, nearly a hundred years ago. Anyway you’re only my farm manager. You don’t deserve anything from me.”
“Neither does anyone else,” snapped Tiffany. “You never got married, did you? Never had any children. It isn’t like you’ve any family left.”
“There’s Rose, my niece.”
“Rose died of cancer last summer, remember?” said Scott. “And her husband died years ago, that’s what you told me.”
“What about Rose’s daughter?” said George. “Kate. Yes, it’s all coming back to me now. I did a new will, not long after Rose died, leaving everything to Kate.”
Tiffany scowled. “What’s so special about her?”
“Kate means everything to me,” George replied. “I love her. She’s the daughter I never had.”
Scott was losing patience. “You can’t leave the manor to Kate. She’s not old enough.”
“She’s eighteen,” said George. “And she’s got more sense than the whole lot of you put together.” He pointed to the two shifty-looking men. “What are they doing here?”
“Lee and Carl?” said Scott. “They’re witnesses. As well as you, the will needs to be signed by two other people who shouldn’t be from my family. That’s the law.”
“I’ll tell you the law,” said George. “Ravenstone Manor is my property. I can leave it to who I like.”
“I hear Kate’s moved into some poky rented house,” Tiffany put in. “With that wannabe rock star boyfriend of hers.”
“What of it?” said George.
Scott leaned over and grabbed hold of George’s cardigan. “Listen, you old fool. If you don’t sign this I’ll kill Kate. I’ll burn down her house, with her and her boyfriend inside it.”
“You wouldn’t,” said George, his voice quivering.
“Just try me.”
Anger surged through Jason, a hatred like he’d never felt before. Finally he knew the whole story. This was how Scott had got his hands on the manor, the year before he’d killed Mum and taken Lauren.
“I’ll call the police,” George protested.
“There’s no phone in here,” Scott pointed out.
“I’ll use the one in the hall.”
“You can’t get up the steps,” Scott snarled, his eyes burning with anger. “You’re stuck down here till the nurse comes in the morning. This is your last chance – sign it or else.”
Defeated, George signed the document with a trembling hand. Grinning broadly, Lee and Carl stepped forward to add their own signatures.
“Didn’t hurt, did it?” said Scott with a twisted half-smile. “Don’t worry, I’ll take good care of this place - once you’re pushing up daisies.”
The five villains trooped out of the room in smug triumph, leaving George alone.
He sighed, taking off his glasses, closing his eyes, deep in thought. Then, after a few moments he seemed to perk up. He pulled a lever at the side of his armchair, lowering the footrest at the front. Now Jason could see what had been hidden beneath it all the time; the cassette recorder, its spools still turning.
“I do not understand,” said Echo.
Jason smiled. “I do. The old man must’ve had an idea the Cobalts were going to do this. He decided to hide the machine under the footrest, then he could record the whole thing!”
Jason noticed that the tape recorder had string tied around it, like a parcel. George leaned forward, grabbing his Zimmer frame and heaving himself out of his chair. His legs seemed almost to have given up on him, but his arms were still strong. He turned to one side, managing to lift up the cushion on the chair seat, revealing the other end of the string. With stiff, slow movements he leaned over to take hold of the string with one hand. Straightening himself, he lifted the string to raise the tape recorder from the floor. For a few moments he stood unaided as he gathered up the string with both hands, raising the machine higher. Seconds later he was holding it in one hand, the other pressing the stop button before quickly gripping the Zimmer frame again. Jason stepped forward. He could see the cassette tape, in place behind a clear plastic lid. On the label were the scrawled words Me, Kate and Ben. George let out a groan as he turned to face the highly-polished oak fireplace, over to his left. Still holding the Zimmer frame one-handed he managed to struggle across. Once at the fireplace he put the tape recorder on the mantelpiece, grabbing the shelf to steady himself.
The top of the fireplace, just below the mantelshelf, was decorated with a row of carved fleur-de-lis emblems. George reached over to take hold of the carving in the top right-hand corner. It was set on a rectangular panel, itself surrounded by smaller carvings – some of gargoyles, others of skulls. Jason watched in puzzlement as George’s hand rested on one of the gargoyles. It came loose, and he pulled it free. Sticking out from the back of the carving was a long, thin steel rod the size of a knitting needle. George then took hold of one of the skull carvings, again pulling it from the fireplace. Taking care not to drop either carving, he inserted the steel rod into the place left by the skull. No sooner had the gargoyle clicked into place than the rectangular piece of panelling snapped forward, the fleur-de-lis on the front. The whole thing slid out like a small drawer, and George opened it further.
Jason’s eyes widened. “It’s a secret compartment!”
Now George took hold of the tape recorder and placed it inside the drawer. He slid it shut with a soft click. Then he took out the gargoyle with the steel rod attached, putting it back in its original place. Finally he returned the skull carving to its correct position.
Jason was about to speak again when he felt light-headed. The walls glimmered and danced, as if in a half-dream, before the chamber flickered back into focus. Time had moved forward several hours and now George was lying in his bed. Early sunlight slanted in through the high window. Sitting at the edge of the bed was an attractive, dark-haired woman in her late forties, wearing a blue uniform. She clasped George’s hand.
“This must be the next morning,” Jason said.
“What is it, George?” the district nurse was saying.
George opened his mouth but could only manage a dry, croaking sound. With eyes half-closed he raised his free hand, pointing a trembling finger. The nurse looked all around the room, but saw nothing unusual.
“He’s trying to tell her about the fireplace,” Jason said. “And the secret drawer.”
“I don’t understand, George,” said the nurse.
The old man spoke in a faint whisper. “Seek… piano… violin… Kate… Ben…Cronin’s Hornpipe… F… Fl… Fur… Lee… Lees… tell Kate… tell Ben…”
“He must’ve used the old cassette to record on,” said Jason. “The same tape he’d made with Kate and Ben, all those years before. But it’s too late now – the old man’s lost his senses.”
“Will…” said George. “It will… damn them all… seek… fur… lees…”
Then his hand fell to the bedclothes. His eyelids flickered and closed, his head turning to one side on the pillow.
“No!” cried the nurse, frantically feeling for a pulse.
The gewita changed again, time speeding up, ten days passing in as many seconds. Now Jason and Echo were in bright sunlight, standing in a cemetery.
“I know this place,” Jason said, surveying his surroundings. “It’s the same graveyard where my mum’s buried.”
Nearby he saw a coffin, lying deep in the ground. Some of the mourners were waiting their turn to throw handfuls of earth into the hole. Set apart from everyone else, skulking several metres away, were Scott, Kevin and Tiffany. Echo followed Jason as he hurried across to listen to their conversation.
“At least we’ve got the funeral out of the way,” Tiffany was saying. “Weren’t exactly popular, were we?”
“These idiots can think what they like,” said Scott. “Ravenstone Manor is all mine now.”
“And at least the doctors didn’t find anything wrong with the old codger’s body,” Tiffany added. “Some people think we poisoned him.”
“No point in poisoning someone who’s nearly a hundred,” said Scott. “He was on his way out anyway.”
Jason’s mind was whirling. So, this was George’s funeral. As for the Cobalts, maybe they weren’t poisoners but their treatment of the old man must’ve quickened his end.
“They haven’t mentioned the tape recorder,” Jason said to Echo. “I bet they don’t even know about it. I wonder if the nurse has worked it out?”
He glanced towards the rest of the mourners. Among them he saw the nurse, in dark clothing now, talking to two young people. Jason and Echo dashed across.
“I just don’t understand it, Kate,” the nurse was saying. “Why would Old George make a new will? His previous one is still with his solicitors, and it leaves everything to you.”
Jason turned his attention to her companions. The young woman had light-brown, coiled hair and was aged about eighteen. Holding her hand was a blond man the same age. Jason realised they must be Kate Megginson and Ben Wild, both young adults now.
“George was trying to tell me something,” the nurse went on. “Seek… piano… violin… Kate… Ben… Cronin’s Hornpipe… Fur Elise… tell Kate… tell Ben…”
“Fur Elise?” said Kate.
“We’ve already been through all this, Mum,” said Ben. “When we were kids, we used to make music tapes with George. Cronin’s Hornpipe and Fur Elise were two of the tunes we played. George was just rambling, I guess, with his dying breath.”
Jason’s mind latched onto the word Mum. So, the nurse was Ben’s mother. But they’d got it wrong about George’s final words. He’d been trying to say Fleur-de-lis, not Fur Elise. Kate’s eyes were red-rimmed, and she wiped a tear away.
“I’m really going to miss him,” she said, her voice tremoring.
“We’ll all miss him,” said Ben. “Old George was the one who got me into music in the first place. He changed my life.”
Kate could say no more. She hugged the nurse, tears streaming down her face as Ben put a hand to her shoulder.
“I do feel so sorry for Kate,” said Echo. “It does seem the Cobalts stole everything away from her.”
“Fenella was right,” said Jason. “We’ve got to help her.”
The cemetery lit up in shades of grey before time blinked again. Next instant, Jason and Echo were back in the hall at Ravenstone Manor, standing at the top of the steps that led to the chamber and cellar. They hurried down the steps, and to the door halfway along the passage, but it looked different now. Instead of polished oak the door was made of solid steel, secured with an iron handle and a sturdy lock. Echo floated through first, then Jason followed.
He stopped as soon as he was inside, drawing in a shuddering breath. Now the chamber had a new occupant. Sitting on the bed, legs outstret
ched, her back against the headboard, was a tearful Lauren. Jason rushed to the bed. All he wanted to do was hold his sister in his arms – but he knew it was impossible. This was a vision of the past, and she had no idea he was there.
– CHAPTER NINE –
Crimson Skies
Jason stepped back to look all around the chamber. The oak-panelled walls were the same as before but now the high window was protected by a row of solid bars. The bathroom was still there, although George’s armchair had been replaced by a smaller one. The bed, where Lauren was sitting, seemed to be brand new. It was daytime and she was in jeans and a stripy, sleeveless top. She seemed no older than fourteen, her hair tied in a ponytail, draped over one shoulder.
“I don’t think this is long after the Cobalts took her,” Jason said.
As he spoke, Lauren got up from the bed. For a few moments she glanced up at the window then she moved the bedside chair away from the wall. Using all her strength she pulled the bed across until it was beneath the window. Then she picked up the chair and put it on the bed so its backrest was against the wall. She was climbing up when she heard a key turning.
Jason and Echo spun around to face the steel door. In a panic, Lauren jumped down and pulled the chair from the bed but had no time for anything else as the heavy door creaked open. Maxine Knaggs strode into the chamber, carrying several books under one arm. Instead of her police uniform she was now in casual clothing, her straight blonde hair hanging loose at her shoulders. She stopped in surprise, fixing Lauren with a hard, waspish stare.
“So you thought you’d try to escape,” Maxine said. “Good job it was me who found you, not Scott. You wouldn’t have eaten for a week.”
Lauren held her nerve, placing her hands on her hips. “All right so you caught me this time, but I will get out of here one day.”
“I think not,” said Maxine, tapping her back pocket. “There are only two keys to the door lock – I’ve got one of them and Scott’s got the other.” Then, without warning, she dropped all the books except one. “I bought you these as a present. That’s gratitude for you. And I warned you about those bars.”
Echo McCool, Outlaw Through Time Page 11
