The Londum Omnibus Volume Two (The Londum Series Book 12)

by Tony Rattigan

  ‘Well,’ said Adele as she marshalled her thoughts, ‘Glastonbury has always been a sacred place to many of the religions of Briton. The Keltic Druids had a settlement there long before the Ancient Italians invaded Albion. Originally called “Avalon” it was believed to contain a tree with sacred apples. Apple in the Keltic language is “Aballon” – hence Avalon or the “Isle of Apples”. Then as the Kelts were driven out of Albion by the Italians, the place began to be called Ynis Witrin, the “Isle of Glass” which over time perhaps became “Glass-Town-Borough” shortened to Glastonbury. But the name “Avalon” lived on in myth. It was said to be the entrance to the Underworld. After the Italians left Briton, we went back to worshipping the Ancient Pagan Gods that had been banned by the Italians and their worship was centred on Glastonbury.

  ‘It’s in the Somerset Levels so it’s low-lying country. In earlier times there were no sea walls or land reclamation as there is now, so there was nothing to stop the Severn Estuary from flooding inland and so Glastonbury was permanently surrounded by water. You could sail directly from Glastonbury out into the open sea.

  ‘There have been many religious sites built on Glastonbury. The Abbey had been built and become prosperous by the time Arthur came along. It was a centre for pilgrims from all over the world. According to books, Arthur’s reign is supposed to have been some time between the years 470 and 540. That’s as close as we can get from the documents that mention him and now we have Morgan to attest to that. But as Queen Eloise stated, her memory is inaccurate about actual dates.

  ‘King Arthur is said to have been taken there, mortally wounded, after the battle of Camlamm versus Mordred. And there he died. This of course was all regarded as myth and passed down as legend until there was a great fire in Glastonbury Abbey in 1184. The rebuild of the Abbey took several years during which, in 1191, they supposedly found a grave containing a massive wooden coffin. Inside the coffin there were the bones of a huge man and the smaller bones of a woman. The man had apparently been slain by sword wounds to the head.

  ‘According to the monks there was a stone tablet above the coffin which read in Ancient Roman “Hic jacet sepultus inclytus Rex Arthurus in Insulia Avalonia”.’

  ‘Forgive me,’ said the king. ‘My Roman isn’t as good as it should be. What does that mean in Albion?’

  ‘It translates as “Here lies interred in the Isle of Avalon the renowned King Arthur”. ’

  ‘Was it really Arthur and Guinevere?’ asked Victor.

  ‘Who knows? Maybe, maybe not. It’s been suggested that the monks made up the story to entice the pilgrims to carry on visiting Glastonbury even though the Abbey was destroyed. A very lucrative source of income for the Abbot and his monks.’

  ‘So what did they do with the bodies?’

  ‘I’ve visited the Abbey several times and according to a plaque that is there now, they removed the bodies to a specially built black, marble tomb in the Abbey, in the presence of King Edward I and his wife Queen Eleanor in 1278. Alas, the tomb was removed and the Abbey ravaged during the dissolution of the monasteries in 1539 by Henry VIII, but the bodies remain there to this day, buried in the grounds of the ruined Abbey. If ... the stories are true, that is,’ she qualified her statement.

  ‘So, do we believe all this?’ the king asked her and Eloise. They looked at each other and Adele shrugged so Eloise answered him.

  ‘Your Majesty, Morgan le Fay is sleeping next door. She has got to be at least thirteen centuries old. If we accept that then I think the time for doubting the rest of it, is long past. She attests that she attended that reburial in the hope that it may somehow give her an opportunity to remove her curse but to no avail. And she is adamant that she could sense it was Arthur in that black, marble tomb.’

  ‘Thank you for the history lesson, Miss Curran, most informative. I suggest you stay close, it will be useful to have an Arthurian scholar to hand. Eloise, it looks like we must allow ourselves to be guided by Madam le Fay, at least for the moment. I suggest we all get a good night’s rest, I’ve got a feeling tomorrow is going to be a long day, full of surprises. Whether they’ll be good or bad ones remains to be seen.’ With that he finished his drink and stood up. They of course did the same and Colonel Frost ushered them out of the carriage to make their way back to their sleeping compartments.

  ***

  Shortly after dawn the Royal train pulled into Glastonbury station. Despite the early hour several dignitaries were lined up on the platform. Field Marshal Harcourt had telegraphed ahead to the local regiment who had set the ball rolling in preparation for the Royal visit.

  As His Majesty prepared himself to disembark, Colonel Frost jumped down onto the platform and amidst a flurry of handshakes and salutes, found out the identity of those present so he could make the introductions to the king.

  Finally, the king was ready and stepped down from the train, followed by Queen Eloise and her entourage. First the king’s Aide-De-Camp presented Mayor Downey and then Colonel Sanders, commanding officer of the Somerset Light Infantry.

  ‘Apologies for the disturbance at such an early hour but it’s important and time is short,’ said the king.

  ‘Your Majesty’s instructions said that you wish to visit the Abbey?’ queried the mayor.

  ‘Yes but I assure you that this isn’t just some idle tourist visit, it’s war business.’

  The mayor and Colonel Sanders looked uneasily at each other as neither of them had any idea of what was going on. The war was taking place up north, wasn’t it?

  ‘My men have sealed off the Abbey as you requested, sir,’ confirmed Colonel Sanders. ‘And what is more we’ve commandeered Abbey House, which overlooks the ruins of the Abbey, to use as your base of operations. Your Majesty can get a good view of the Abbey as my men carry out, err, whatever it is you want them to do ...’ he tailed off, vaguely.

  ‘Excellent, well done gentlemen. Right let’s be on our way shall we? I presume that is our transport?’ The king indicated the convoy of carriages that had been hastily assembled. (The convoy, not the carriages.) ‘Good. Eloise, perhaps you would like to travel with me, the mayor and Colonel Sanders? Colonel Frost, get everyone into the rest of the coaches and follow us will you. Make sure Madam le Fay is well looked after. Incidentally, bring our troop of soldiers along. I think that any close-in work like excavation should be done by our men while the Light Infantry can handle external security.’

  ‘Yes, Your Majesty.’ Colonel Frost saluted and set off to round up everyone and get them to the coaches. The king and his party climbed aboard their coach and headed off into Glastonbury.

  The horses clip-clopped their way up the hill until they came into the centre of town. The train station was on the outskirts of town, down on the flat, whereas the town of Glastonbury is elevated on hills. As they turned onto the High Street the mayor commented, ‘The Abbey is down there to the right, behind the Town Hall but we are going around it to approach Abbey House from the rear. The house is raised up above the Abbey and gives excellent views across the ruins.’

  They went past the George and Pilgrims Inn and made their way up the High St. then turned right into Chilkwell St. About a hundred yards or so along the street they turned into grounds surrounded by a high wall. They were presented with a large two-storey house, built of the local limestone which was the basis for all the buildings around Glastonbury, even the Abbey.

  ‘Is this new?’ asked the king. ‘This isn’t from the time of the Abbey, surely?’

  ‘No, Your Majesty,’ replied Mayor Downey. ‘It was built earlier this century. The gentleman who built it also owns the land the Abbey ruins stand on, so it all belongs to him.’

  ‘And how did he react to us taking over his house, like this?’

  There was a slight pause and then the colonel answered, ‘Due to the urgency of the situation, we didn’t have time for niceties so we had to ask politely at the point of a gun. The family are confined to their bedrooms at the moment.’

&n
bsp; ‘I see.’

  ‘Perhaps a personal thank you for their assistance from Your Majesty might go some way to smoothing things over,’ suggested the mayor.

  ‘Don’t worry, Mr. Mayor, I’ll see to it,’ agreed the king with a grin.

  They disembarked from the coach and the colonel led them past the armed guards stationed at the entrance into the house and through to the large drawing room at the rear. The windows looked out onto the Abbey ruins. There was a short hedge running around the edge of the house gardens to give them some privacy from the visitors to the Abbey, but the windows of the house were sufficiently raised to see over the hedge and down into the Abbey grounds. Fortunately it had turned out to be a bright, sunny day so they could clearly view all the Abbey grounds.

  As the house servants bustled about bringing tea, the mayor gave the king and Queen Eloise a brief explanation of what they could see through the drawing room windows. In front of them they could see a full wall on their left and a partial wall on the right. Beyond them were two large pillars each containing an arched doorway. The two pillars if still intact, would have met to form a massive arch which would have helped to support the roof. Walking between those pillars would have led you back to where the congregation sat.

  ‘Directly ahead of us is what was the main body of the Abbey, the church part of the structure. Over to the left is what used to be the cloisters and accommodation for the monks. Down below you can see where the high altar was and beyond that where King Arthur is supposedly buried.’

  ‘King Arthur’s grave, you say, where?’ asked King Victor, rather too keenly.

  ‘That first small chain fence is the site of where the high altar stood and further away you can see the plaque standing at the head of those paving slabs. That is where Abbey legend has it Arthur was reburied when they destroyed his tomb ...’ his voice tailed off as he saw Victor and Eloise move close to the windows to try to get a better view. He divined the purpose of their visit. ‘But it’s only a legend designed to attract pilgrims and tourists, you can’t actually believe that it’s true?’

  ‘Supposing I told you that I had credible information that it was more than just a legend and that we are here today to find out the truth of the matter?’ King Victor asked him.

  ‘But that’s impossible. I don’t believe that could be true.’

  Just then the rest of the party began arriving and the mayor’s disbelieving protest got lost in the crowd, so to speak.

  Once everyone was assembled the king gave them a brief précis of what the mayor had told him. ‘And now, we must ask Madam le Fay what is required next to raise Arthur.’ He looked down at her in her bath chair. ‘Do we need to disinter his body?’

  ‘No, fortunately that won’t be necessary. We just need to conduct the ceremony over it. I shall need Excalibur and the support of all these witches present. Everyone else should remain here in the house. We need to go to his grave and then we can begin.’

  ‘But I had intended to be present,’ he protested.

  ‘Your Majesty,’ Queen Eloise interjected. ‘It may not be safe. We shall be protected by the Magick circle we shall form but for anyone outside that circle, well, there’s really no telling what might happen to them and we cannot afford to lose you at this stage of the war. You will have a good view of the ceremony from here. Please sir, think about your safety.’

  ‘Very well,’ he conceded but you could see he was bitterly disappointed. ‘Colonel Frost, get our men to take Madam le Fay down to the Abbey ruins and then fall back to a safe distance. Someone give Excalibur to Queen Eloise.’

  One of the soldiers from the Royal train stepped forward and handed her the sword, wrapped in its velvet cover. There were doors from the drawing room leading out into the garden and at a sign from her the soldiers opened them wide. She curtsied to the king and led the way through the windows and across the garden.

  As Adele made to follow, ignoring the king’s instructions Won Lungh came to her and said, ‘I come too.’

  ‘I’m sorry, Won Lungh, you’ll have to wait here. This is witch business.’

  There was a gateway through the hedge, past that, the ground began to slope away down into the Abbey. It was a gentle slope so Morgan le Fay’s bath chair was able to easily cope with the incline. However, the accompanying soldiers held on to it tightly.

  As Adele followed the others to the Abbey she looked around her. From down here she could see the other parts of the ruins, the whole site was covered in neatly trimmed grass. Before they reached the high altar there were other parts of the Abbey exposed as barely more than foundations. Short, stubby walls that showed the outline of where rooms had previously been, the bases of pillars that had once supported the missing roof. She knew that there were only two places remaining standing that were virtually intact, the Lady Chapel and the Abbot’s Kitchen. All the rest was broken pillars and collapsed walls. After the dissolution of the Abbey, the locals had been allowed, nay, encouraged to re-use the limestone blocks for their own building needs.

  They passed the site of the high altar, a chain fence supported by short, metal posts, and arrived at the site of Arthur’s grave. It was still early morning and the sun had not yet risen over the high wall to their right, so the grave was in shadow. Looking through one of the empty windows, Adele could see the tower on Glastonbury Tor, away in the distance.

  As they stood at the base of the grave, looking back towards Abbey House, before them were twenty-eight square paving slabs laid out in a four by seven grid. Beyond that there was a rectangle of grass, bordered by kerb stones to give it an edge. The rectangle seemed small, at best the size of a normal man, not the large man that was reputed to have been found in 1191. That presumably was the actual grave, not the paving slabs.

  Finally, at the head of the grave stood a plaque on a metal post. It read:

  SITE OF KING ARTHUR’S TOMB.

  IN THE YEAR 1191 THE BODIES OF KING ARTHUR AND HIS QUEEN WERE SAID TO HAVE BEEN FOUND ON THE SOUTH SIDE OF THE LADY CHAPEL. ON 19TH APRIL 1278 THEIR REMAINS WERE REMOVED IN THE PRESENCE OF KING EDWARD I AND QUEEN ELEANOR TO A BLACK MARBLE TOMB ON THIS SITE. THIS TOMB SURVIVED UNTIL THE DISSOLUTION OF THE ABBEY IN 1539

  Adele always felt a tinge of sadness as she looked down on this meagre monument to what (assuming he was real) had been a great man and one of Briton’s greatest kings. He should still be honoured with a marble tomb, not just this mere tourist information sign. Perhaps after this war was concluded satisfactorily and if he did indeed save Briton, she should mention to King Victor that he had earned a more fitting burial place and a worthy memorial.

  Eloise had, on Morgan’s instructions, ordered one of the soldiers to stick Excalibur in the ground between the grave and the paving slabs. Then she had instructed all the soldiers to withdraw some distance. They fell back to outside the Abbey ruins where they sheltered behind the remaining structures. It was not far, the walls should protect them, however, they didn’t want to be too far away as the witches were about to open a door to another reality and there was no telling what might come through. As a precaution their commander ordered them to fix bayonets to their rifles as they might have to fight hand-to-hand.

  Morgan had herself wheeled to the foot of the paving slabs and Eloise took position on one side of her. Eloise motioned for Adele to take the other side. All the other witches arranged themselves in a circle around the whole grave. Morgan held out her hands for Eloise and Adele to take hold of and the rest of the witches followed suit.

  ‘Ready to begin?’ Morgan asked Eloise.

  She looked around the circle. They all returned her gaze steadily. Eloise had taken care to bring the most powerful witches she had to call on in Londum and that, including Morgan, they totalled the mystical number of thirteen as they circled the grave.

  ‘Ready,’ she told Morgan.

  Morgan began to speak the ancient Keltic words of the ritual. Although she had the knowledge she simply didn’t have the Magickal power for what the
y were about to attempt which is why she needed the other witches. By holding hands they were able to transfer power to each other and ultimately Morgan le Fay. It was like chaining batteries together in series, so the end result is the power of each battery multiplied by the number of batteries, to give you a sum total of the voltage.

  ‘Llun eich hun yn eistedd ar draeth tywodlyd edrych dros Fae Ceredigion gwylio dolffiniaid, beicio lawr lonydd gwledig neu Klaatu barada nikto ddim ond mynd am dro hamddenol drwy un o nifer o drefi marchnad bychain Canolbarth. Ydy ei fod yn go iawn. Dianc prysurdeb bywyd a ffwndwr ar hyn o bryd ac yn ymweld chanolbarth gogogoch.’

  Several times she repeated the conjuring spell and every time she seemed to gain strength from it herself, her voice grew louder and more confident, as if she was drawing power from the incantation, as well as it fuelling the ceremony.

  Adele felt a vibration running through her and by looking around the circle she saw the others felt it too. The loose hairs on her head started to stand away from her head, fellow witches with unrestrained hair saw it stand on end, and then the lightning of electricity began to crackle between members of the circle. First from Morgan to Eloise and Adele, who she was touching, and then it slowly spread from witch to witch until it ran through the entire circle. Fearing some might panic, Eloise called out to the group to remain steady and resolute.

  As Morgan continued to give voice to the enchantment, despite it being morning the skies above the Abbey grew darker and darker until all around them became as black as night. The only illumination was the streaks of electricity, sparking from witch to witch.

  Adele could hear a humming sound but she wasn’t sure if it came from around her or whether it was merely in her head. From nowhere a tremor shot up her spine and into her skull, snapping her head back. As the humming grew louder and rose in pitch the crackling of electricity intensified until it flowed freely between all the witches.