The ceremony was over. The afternoon was golden above the treetops and she must attend to putting out the fire and riding home before the sun disappeared. Freyja came up behind her and nuzzled at the starry hood. Jemima turned and kissed her nose.
‘Yes, it’s time to go,’ she agreed.
She sprinkled the last of the mead into the flames and spread the glowing twigs out to the edge of the firestones. Her finger was still throbbing where the flesh was bruised and ragged around the wound. She went to the spring and plunged her hand into the blissfully cold water, watching the blue light gather around her fingers. The throbbing eased. She filled the silver jug and drank. She was content.
Sir Jonas sat back and breathed a long sigh of relief. Caz stood up and stretched the tension out of his arms and shoulders.
‘How did she find out about all this stuff?’ he asked. ‘I haven’t said anything. Have you?’
‘Not at all,’ the old man replied. ‘I can only conclude she has had access to my grandmother’s book on the subject. Lady Christina exhibited some ability as a seeress, particularly in her youth, and consequently undertook to make a study of the rites of Frija. She believed that Frija, or Frigga, the wife of the High One, and Freyja, in her role as the fertility goddess, were dual aspects of the same Great Mother deity. It was her particular area of research, for which we must always be grateful. Without her foresight Mista would never have been sent to stud as young as she was. The bloodline would have been lost and Brynhilde and Valkyrjan would never have come among us.’
‘But how did Jem get hold of the book? Was it up in her room?’
‘No, it has always been kept in my study.’
‘Is it still there now?’
‘Yes, and I find it curious that I have never missed it. She would have been obliged to keep it for a least a day in order to gain sufficient knowledge to conduct the rite. I am convinced no other copies were ever made. My grandfather kept a list. I have it in the desk in the study. It’s very odd, very odd indeed.’
Caz guessed what had happened. The old man has no idea what computers and digital cameras can do together, or how quickly they can go about it. He looked down at him, eyes narrowed. ‘So are you going to have it out with her? That cloak should be under glass in the exhibition room.’
The blue eye was benign. ‘I have no intention of taking any action for the present,’ said Sir Jonas mildly. ‘The Goddess commands and we are her instruments. We must maintain our silence and wait.’
They turned back to the screens. Jemima was already mounted. Freyja cantered out of the clearing. They followed their progress out of the labyrinth and back through the checkpoints towards the manor house.
Long before they reached the paddock, Kyri lifted her head and called out. She leapt over the rails into the copse. Seconds later Caz heard Freyja scream, as he had never heard her scream since she stood chained for sacrifice at World Tree. She careered out from under the trees, rider-less and panic-stricken. There was no sign of Kyri.
He bolted out of the room, shouting, ‘Watch the screens!’
Sir Jonas trembled all over, moaning, ‘Are we invaded? Is this the hour of our reckoning? Are we undone? Are we finally undone?’
White-faced and shaking, he scanned the screens in fearful anxiety, his hand quivering on his sword hilt. His heart was banging so hard he feared he would faint as he watched Caz vault over the gate and race across the paddock into the copse.
Five agonising minutes passed before Kyri reappeared and galloped to where the mares were clustered around the colt under the beech tree in the farthest corner of the paddock. Caz climbed over the rails, carrying Jemima, and headed towards the house. Sir Jonas hastened upstairs to the study to collect the shotgun.
CHAPTER 69
By the time Maddie arrived home late after a long and delightful day working in London with Charles, she was more concerned about Jemima being out of school than worried about the accident. Sara and Daisy had already assured her that the cut on Jemima’s lip, although deep and bloody at the time, would heal without scarring and the doctor was satisfied that she would soon be on the mend.
Caz was feeding her soup when a woman they barely recognised swept into the room. Her long black hair had been cut short and sharp into a bob at ear-level, making her neck seem even longer and her eyes larger than ever, emphasised by the fringe cut to sweep away from the centre point between her brows. She looked absolutely stunning – perfumed and elegant in her smart new clothes, and very tall in her high-heeled shoes.
Maddie regarded her wayward children with suspicion. As far as she was concerned the spectre of the truancy officer was merely put off and might be back to haunt her with a vengeance at any moment. Charles had been very understanding when she had talked it through with him over lunch, and very complimentary about her new haircut.
‘Why weren’t you in school, Jem?’ she demanded. ‘What were you doing riding in the forest on a weekday afternoon?’
Jemima was propped up on the pillows, looking very battered and very small in Lady Christina’s enormous bed. Her chin was bruised and her cheek was badly scratched. The cut on her lower lip had been stitched and taped. She whispered. ‘They sent me home. I had a headache.’
‘Then why didn’t you stay at home and rest?’
‘I thought I could ride it off.’
‘On Freyja? What on earth possessed you to even attempt to ride her?’
‘It wasn’t her fault. She was really good. She wasn’t angry or cross. I only fell off at the end when she jumped the fence into the paddock.’
Maddie sat down beside her and stroked her forehead. ‘It seems I can’t turn my back for a moment.’ She looked directly at Caz. ‘Was this your idea?’ she said coldly. ‘Have you been putting her up on Freyja without discussing it with me?’
Caz returned the look. ‘I didn’t know anything about it until I picked her up in the copse.’
‘Is that true, Jem?’
She nodded and began to cry. The whisper bubbled through barely parted teeth. ‘He didn’t know, he really didn’t. You can’t blame Caz or Freyja. It was my idea and my fault, no one else’s. You have to believe me.’
Maddie melted, but only at the edges and not as much as Jemima wanted. She did smile. ‘Well, perhaps I’ve got something that will make you feel better. Maybe much better.’
‘What?’
‘Charles took a call from the agency just before I left. You’ve got your wish, Jem. Andy will get his chance to be a hunt horse.’
Jemima’s eyes sparkled. Smiling pulled the stitches. Laughing was out of the question. She whispered instead. ‘I told you he would. I was right. I knew I was right.’
Maddie kissed her wounded daughter. ‘Yes, you were,’ she conceded, ‘at least about Andy at any rate. Try and get some sleep now. You can stay here tonight but you’re banned from the yard and the house until that cut has mended. I’ll be taking you home in the morning before I start work.’
Jemima looked solemn. ‘How long am I banned for?’
‘Until the end of next week. You will go back to school on Monday and I will see that you work until then. I will liaise with Mrs Gerson about extra homework. In future she will see to it that I am informed when you are ill and I will collect you myself. You’re gated for two weekends. No negotiation.’
Jemima was horrified. ‘But what about Jas’s party? I can’t miss that! And how am I going to say goodbye to Andy?’
‘I said no negotiation and this time I mean it. I’m not having the truancy officer after me for two miscreant children. You can say goodbye to Andy in the morning before you go home.’
This time Jemima’s tears didn’t work at all. Her mother swept out of the room, leaving her to dab gingerly at a drop of blood oozing around one of the stitches through her lip.
‘Ma didn’t believe us, did she?’ she said miserably.
Caz shrugged. ‘No.’
‘I’ve never been gated in my whole life.’
> ‘There’s a first time for everything.’
‘I’m sorry I got you into more trouble with Ma.’
‘Nothing that wasn’t there already.’
‘But I couldn’t tell her all the truth, could I?’
‘Neither could I.’
‘So you knew I’d taken Freyja?’
He nodded. ‘I knew when you left.’
‘Why didn’t you come after us?’
‘Because I knew she was going okay and I guessed you were going to Thunderslea.’ Caz picked up the bulging backpack and shook the shining cloak out onto the bed. ‘Now you’re going to tell me what really happened in the copse, all of it. You don’t have to worry,’ he added quickly, seeing the look of consternation in her eyes. ‘No one’s going to be mad with you. I think you did really well with Freyja but I need to know what spooked her, because she was spooked, wasn’t she?’
‘Yes.’ The whisper blurred. ‘Will Sir Jonas take the cloak away?’
‘Not as long as you keep your mouth shut and you let Daisy help you look after it.’ He sat down on the bed. ‘Take your time. I know it’s hard for you to talk but, for Freyja’s sake, I have to know everything that happened before you forget any of it.’
Jemima swallowed hard and reached out a grateful hand for him to hold, while she tried to find the words to explain how the magical afternoon had almost ended in disaster.
‘We were nearly home,’ she began. ‘I thought I’d take the short cut so that I could turn Freyja back out with the others and no one would know we’d been away. We were in sight of the paddock and the horses, and then suddenly Freyja made a horrible screaming noise and reared up, and I couldn’t hold on. I fell off and banged my face on a branch. When I looked up there was blood everywhere and she’d gone.’ She closed her eyes and gripped his hand and shuddered.
‘Go on.’
‘Then I thought I saw a bird. It was black. I think it was a crow. But the sun was low and the light came right into my eyes, and it just disappeared. It was weird. I was looking at it and then it was gone. The weirdest thing is, I’m sure I saw Kyri disappear too.’
‘How?’
‘She vanished with the bird.’
‘Tell me exactly what happened.’
‘I don’t know. It was hard to see but I saw her disappear. I know I saw that.’
‘Then what happened?’
‘That was weird too, because suddenly she was standing beside me and breathing on my face like she was trying to help me. Then you came and found us.’
‘So she didn’t disappear, did she?’
‘I suppose not, but what about the bird?’
‘It was probably a rook.’
‘It wasn’t a rook and it can’t have been a ghost. You don’t see ghosts in daylight, do you?’
Caz shook his head. It was easiest to lie. ‘No.’
‘So what was it then?’
Everything about her story suggested visitation, but the marks on her face should have faded within minutes.
‘I don’t think it was anything,’ he said calmly. ‘I think you passed out, maybe only for a couple of minutes, but you took a pretty big bang in the face and things get mixed up in your mind when you’re out of it. Doing rituals up at Thunderslea don’t help either.’
‘It wasn’t a ritual. It was just a ceremony to the Goddess to help Andy.’
‘Call it what you want, gods and goddesses drive a hard bargain.’
Jemima looked doubtful. ‘But I got it right this time and it worked, didn’t it?’
‘It did,’ he agreed.
She brightened immediately. ‘It was a perfect ceremony and Freyja was perfect too. She was amazing, even better than Rúna to ride. It’s such a shame that it all went wrong at the end.’
‘It doesn’t take much to spook Freyja these days.’ His tone was commanding. ‘Look at me, Jem.’ Her eyes were wide and clear grey. He was reminded of the sea.
‘You’re not taking her out ever again,’ he said. ‘Do you understand me?’
Jemima’s eyes filled. The whisper faltered. ‘Not even with you?’
‘Not even with me. I don’t let the old man risk Freyja. I won’t let you either. You’ll have me to answer to if anything happens to her again and it will be a lot worse than being gated by Ma. I’ll see to it that you’re banned from the yard for life.’
Tears rolled down Jemima’s cheeks. She looked away, trying not to sob. ‘Don’t be angry with me. Please don’t be angry.’ Devastating disappointment set her heartbeat quivering.
‘I’m not, but you have to understand that you can’t weep your way out of your responsibilities any more. Ceremonies aren’t baby games, Jem. They come with a big price tag and you have to grow up and pay. We all have to pay, even the horses, and I won’t let you risk Freyja again. I want you to take responsibility for what you’re doing when you go to Thunderslea. Next time let me know first, and Kyri and I will keep a look out for you in the forest. I want you and Nanna back in one piece.’
She studied his face anxiously. She had no doubt that once he made up his mind to ban her from the yard it really would be for life. But his eyes were kind and he touched the end of her nose, as he always did when he was being extra nice.
‘Now you should sleep,’ he said. ‘It’s getting late and I’ve still got a lot to do outside.’
‘Will you stay with me while I go to sleep?’
‘Yes. Let’s get you settled.’ He gathered up the cloak and the headband, and pointed to the dressing room door. ‘Is that where they came from?’
She nodded. ‘The key’s in the dressing table and there’s a hanger in the long wardrobe.’
He went about the room closing the curtains and seeing to the fire. She sat up while he straightened the bed and shook the pillows, and then lay back gratefully, snuggling under the covers. He took her hand and sat down beside her.
‘At least Julien won’t have to see me looking like this now that I’m gated,’ she murmured drowsily. ‘But I think I know why I had the accident. It’s because I didn’t do enough blood at the ceremony.’
‘Well, you’ve done enough now for a hundred ceremonies.’
‘Do you think so?’
‘I know so. Next time stick to water from the spring. It’s just as good for what you want.’
‘Okay. Don’t forget to bring me some back when you’re up there tonight. It goes blue when I put my hand in it. It’ll make me better.’
Her eyes closed. When he was sure she was soundly asleep, he lit a candle and carefully examined her damaged face. The wounds were healing normally. It would take several weeks before the scars were no longer visible. But whatever had happened that afternoon was no figment of her imagination. The mares’ reactions were confirmed on film.
My enemy grows bold, he thought. The fight’s out into the family now and he must be challenged. I will cast the runes.
He stood up slowly. Jemima was deeply and peacefully asleep, her red hair tousled over the pillow. He realised how different she looked from him. Theirs was a similarity in expression and body language rather than the few physical features they had in common.
We all wear the imprint of our ancestors. Which of them sits beside us and shares the watch?
Sir Jonas spent the evening in the observatory. He had wrapped up warm and opened the shutter, tracking the moon across the sky while he waited for Caz to take the mares for their customary run. When the clattering of Freyja’s and Rúna’s iron-shod hooves rang under the dome as they passed in front of the house, he left the telescope and knelt on the top step of the ladder, steadying Sir Julius’s antique mahogany spyglass on the lip of the dome aperture before he trained it on the viewpoint on the hills.
The blue eye watched Caz trace the outlines of the casting circles with the tip of the spear in the thick hoar frost covering the smooth stone at the crown of the hill. The eye widened when the boy raised his hands to cast the runes and blinked in bitter frustration that no instrument in the obs
ervatory could mark how they fell. But the set of Caz’s shoulders as he stood up and threw his arms around the Galdramerr’s gleaming neck told the old man all that he needed to know.
‘He has cast the Runes of the Deathless!’ he gasped, ripping off the eyepatch and raising his afflicted gaze to the gleaming yellow star directly overhead. ‘May the God strike him down if he has cast all three!’
The mares’ pale coats shone silver-bright under the hard, white face of the moon. They gathered around the boy, calling out as he raised the spear and shouted his triumph. His voice echoed around the valley but Sir Jonas failed to catch the words.
‘We await you, Shape-Changer! We await you!’
DECEMBER
CHAPTER 70
Percy Poore woke up with a start and realised it was still daylight. There was no pale horse crashing gigantic hooves down on the Jeep and sending it careering off the road into the manor wall. There was no demon rider staring at him through the cracked windscreen, and no sign of the weird blue spook-lights that had followed him, as he drove the damaged vehicle home, and crept down the bedroom walls every time he closed his eyes. The thumping pain in his head had reduced to a mild throbbing over his swollen nose. He pulled irritably at the surgical brace around his neck and groaned.
‘Perce!’ His wife shouted from the bottom of the stairs. ‘Do you hear me, Percy?’
‘Yes, yes! Tone it down, will you?’
‘I’m dishing up! Come down and eat, Percy!’
‘I’m coming, woman!’
‘Hurry up then, or else your dinner’ll be cold.’
‘Give a man a minute, will you?’
By force of habit he wiped the back of his hand across his broken nose. The bone grated. He yelped in pain. Footsteps were coming up the stairs. He pushed back the bedcovers and sat up, holding his head in his hands. Ivy came into the bedroom.
‘Are you feeling poorly again, Perce?’ she asked anxiously.
‘Of course I’m poorly,’ he grumbled. ‘I’m rotten, rotten all the way through.’
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