Reagan (Hengist-People of the Horse Book 3)

by Jacky Gray

  Kalen stood and stretched. ‘I think our plan should be to visit each horse and check the alignment with the energy lines.’

  ‘If we start with the ones Smith didn’t visit, there may be a local who knows about the history.’

  ‘Good idea, Reagan. We should wait to see if Blaise comes this moon; it’s full in two nights.’ Kalen wandered out.

  ‘Why wouldn’t she come?’ Archer listened as Reagan shared his dream spirit adventures and the problems two moons ago when he didn’t recognise a white horse.

  ‘But you recognised Uffington, surely.’

  ‘Of course. We knew it should be Westburgh next.’

  ‘And was it?’

  ‘I didn’t know for certain, I’ve never been there. I couldn’t even tell which direction we were going in so I had no chance.’

  ‘What did it look like?’ Archer picked up Smith’s book.

  ‘We hadn’t done much work back then, so I wasn’t very familiar with the different styles and shapes. They all looked the same to me.’

  ‘What about the size then? Westburgh’s much bigger than most of them, it’s fifty paces long if I remember right.’

  ‘It’s difficult to tell when you’re seeing them from a distance; there is nothing to compare them with.’

  ‘What happened?’ Archer looked up from the white horse pictures as Reagan explained his nightmare.

  ‘Blaise got annoyed, stamping her feet and rearing up. I woke with a terrible headache so Malduc said I must take the sleeping potion the following night and wait for full moon.’

  ‘I can see from your face it wasn’t good.’

  ‘I studied every detail of the Westburgh horse, from the ears to the tail. But I should have been looking at the others. It’s obvious; Westburgh is the only horse standing still. All the rest are walking or trotting.’

  ‘So the horse she took you to wasn’t standing?’

  ‘Blaise didn’t come on the full moon. Nor the next two nights.’ Reagan looked down as he continued bitterly. ‘It’s as though she’s given up on me for being dumb.’

  ‘Rubbish. Dumb is one thing you are not. Not even close. Did she appear last moon?’

  ‘No. Kalen said the full moon coincided with the vernal equinox and the energies might have been too powerful. I think I’m simply too stupid.’

  ‘Forget it Reagan, you’re fishing for compliments. You don’t need me to tell you how much smarter you are than anyone else. No-one else spotted the fifteen year cycle and that’s without all of the information.’

  ‘But I think Malduc already knew.’

  ‘If he did, it’s only because he had information you couldn’t possibly have found out. I think you would have spotted it easily if you knew all the dates.’

  ‘But if this is so important, why didn’t he tell me everything he knows already? Surely he must realise we will solve this quicker if we know all the information?’

  ‘I’m sure he does, but he’s got a lot on his mind at the moment.’ Archer was quick to defend him. ‘People are panicking about these accidents and it’s not just Aveburgh. There are reports coming in from other areas.’

  ‘Really? I haven’t heard anything.’

  ‘You wouldn’t. They are trying to stop people from finding out. If you’d been in the first part of the meeting, you would know why. When panic sets in it can get pretty nasty, I’ve seen films where …’

  ‘Films?’

  Archer frowned. ‘Damn. It’s really hard when no-one knows what you’re talking about. Look Reagan, you mustn’t talk to anyone about anything I’ve told you about the place I go to. I can’t tell you how important that is. If Malduc finds out anyone outside the council knows, he will take measures to find out who talked out of turn and there will be serious consequences. ’

  Reagan sensed they withheld a lot more information, but he nodded his agreement. For now.

  22 First Crop Pattern

  Everything changed the next day. Hearing a commotion, Reagan looked up to see a messenger arriving at the council house. ‘It’s a crop pattern.’

  Kalen looked up sharply. ‘You can read him from here? That’s the first one of the year. We should find out, maybe it’s something important.’

  Malduc’s assistant waved them in as though expecting them. The messenger, a young man who’d not long received his medal of majority, seemed quite overwhelmed by the council house.

  ‘Good. What do you make of this?’ Malduc held out a crumpled, sweat-stained sketch showing three circles and retreated to his desk and familiar pose with steepled fingers.

  Kalen glanced at it, needing more information. ‘What’s your name and where do you come from?’

  ‘Colten, sir. From Burford. North of Uffington.’

  ‘Do you know when the pattern appeared, Colten?’

  ‘Farmon woke up a couple of hours before sunrise because of the dogs barking. He saw a strange light in the field but thought it might be moonlight reflecting on something.’

  ‘The moon was very bright last night. Continue.’

  ‘When he got up, he saw it. He sent his lad over to wake me and we tried to work it out so we could draw it for you. Each circle measured about ten paces across.’

  Kalen examined the paper and gestured for him to continue.

  ‘Then I borrowed father’s best stallion to get here fast.’

  Kalen nodded. ‘But this sketch is not very precise. I cannot tell much from it without exact measurements and location.’

  ‘It was nigh impossible to work out. We couldn’t see it plainly from inside the pattern.’

  ‘Don’t worry, Colten. I didn’t mean any censure.’ Kalen’s smile reassured. ‘You’ve done a remarkable job in getting this to us so quickly and we appreciate it.’

  Malduc broke his silent contemplation. ‘Please pass this message to Farmon. If he stores the seeds of the affected crops, they will produce a bumper harvest for the next three years.’

  Colten nodded vigorously as Malduc stood. ‘You performed a valuable service and should feel proud of yourself. Well done, Colten, but you must be tired and thirsty. If you’d like to follow me, I’m sure Fenella will provide some refreshments.’

  Kalen waited until they’d gone. ‘I hope he’ll be ready to move out soon. I’d like to get back as quickly as possible. It’s a message. Where have you seen that shape before?’

  Reagan studied it. ‘If you were to connect the centres of the circles, it could be one of the triangles from my map.’

  ‘Exactly. Which is why it’s so important to get the precise measurements. It could be directing us toward a particular triangle, which means a particular horse.’

  ‘And if we drew it to the same proportions, we would be able to tell which one.’ Reagan was excited by the thought of another piece of the puzzle. ‘But you will need help to measure it accurately; I should come with you.’

  ‘Any other time I would say yes, but it’s more important you try to contact Blaise tomorrow night.’

  ‘But I can do that from anywhere. All I need is a bed. Who else would help you to measure?’

  ‘Colten will help. I don’t think Blaise will come if you’re exhausted from two day’s journeying.’ Kalen’s words were enforced by a strong mental message which echoed inside Reagan’s mind. This is important. You must be here so Ganieda and Malduc can help if something goes wrong.

  Reagan blinked, remembering a faint echo of the pain from the last time he’d failed to connect with Blaise. Malduc had used a memory charm to stop him from experiencing the full impact of that night. They’d insisted from now on, all his willow-moon dreams should be done under close supervision and only on the actual full moon.

  Despite his enthusiasm for the quest, Reagan was glad he had not gone. On his return, Kalen described it as the hardest two days of his life; he didn’t do particularly well on horseback. The young lad seemed so in awe that he wasn’t the best company for the long journey. By the time they reached their destination it was nearl
y dark. Kalen barely had time to confirm all three circles were indeed exactly ten paces across using a pace wheel before the light went.

  ‘But the pace wheel didn’t work in the thick crops, making it almost impossible to measure the exact distances between the centres of the three circles.’

  ‘How did you manage it?’

  ‘I had two measuring tapes of ten paces each. Colten and the farmer’s lad Jorge helped me to stake out the lines in between the circle centres.’ He shook his head. ‘The hardest of work.’

  ‘Why?’

  ‘Because they didn’t understand the simplest ideas of alignment and precision. And Jorge kept moving off.’

  ‘So, it would have been better if I’d gone. I knew it.’

  Kalen shrugged. ‘Possibly, but you would now be feeling so tired you could hardly think.’

  ‘I suppose.’ Reagan studied the triangle. Is it right angled?’

  ‘It looks like it. Of course I’ll have to use rigorous geometry to determine the exact angles …’

  ‘You mean Pythagoras’ theorem? Square the longest len –’

  ‘I do know how to do it. But not tonight, Reagan. I need rest and you need to clear your mind ready for your dream. I recommend lavender oil in your bath with jasmine candles and an extra half an hour meditation.’

  Reagan pulled a face. Although he recognised the need for preparation, there were certain parts he didn’t enjoy. Like when his sister teased him about the girly bathroom smell.

  Although he tried to practise the mind-clearing techniques Kalen had shown him, he could not prevent triangles from dancing through his mind. He finally fell asleep, one hand clutching the willow wand under his pillow. Blaise seemed different this time; as though she knew she would only get one night this moon and had a lot of ground to cover. Instead of galloping from Aveburgh, she flew straight to a horse he recognised easily. The only one standing.

  ‘Westburgh.’ He said the name straight away and she altered her course. She flew a little south of the rising sun and he worked out the direction: east of south-east. As they passed over Stonehenge, he knew where they were heading and said the name aloud even before they reached it. ‘Woodhenge.’

  Blaise seemed pleased and whinnied softly as she changed her bearing so they were now flying in a north-easterly direction. Reagan pictured the map he’d studied so often. Uffington was generally to the north-east, but he remembered another horse much closer. Although he’d only seen one picture of the horse and knew little about the surrounding area, he had an idea which one it could be.

  This horse was walking – there were only two, so it must be Marlburgh or Ham Hill. But he knew the Marlburgh horse quite well – thin and much closer to Uffington than any of them. He hesitated for a second and Blaise circled round, then started to lose height as though about to land. That made up his mind and he crossed his fingers in hope: ‘Ham Hill.’

  She whickered in pleasure and turned again, this time almost due north. He could not mistake Uffington’s elegance and when he said the name, Blaise turned west. Again he tried to visualise the map, but he did not know much about the horses to the north of Aveburgh, they’d not found many records. His head began to throb with the effort. This was, without doubt, his longest dream with Blaise. As he sighted the fifth horse, Reagan knew he could not last much longer and only had time to notice one thing before sinking into the familiar dark void.

  23 Numbers & Shapes

  Kalen and Malduc were keen to hear about the dream. Ganieda said he dreamt for most of the night and, apart from one point just before two in the morning, it had been peaceful and positive.

  Reagan felt the easiest way to describe it would be to draw the path on tracing paper placed over the map. As he started, a message came through saying Malduc was needed at the winter house, so he left them to it. Drawing the lines which connected the Westburgh horse to Woodhenge and on to Ham Hill, Reagan explained to Kalen how this dream had been different with Blaise flying between the horses.

  ‘Of course it’s a lot easier to tell the direction if you travel in straight lines.’ Kalen watched the shape appear.

  ‘And she didn’t take me to them in date order.’

  ‘Maybe because she knows you have worked out the connection with the dates.’

  Reagan finished connecting the line to Uffington and held up the tracing. The shape looked like part of the star constellation known as the Plough. ‘But why take me somewhere she knows I haven’t been?’

  ‘The fifth horse? Where was it?’

  ‘That’s the problem. I don’t know. We travelled a little south of west for a similar time to the other journeys and when we landed it was quite flat, hardly a hill at all.’

  ‘Mmmm. Each stage of the journey seems to be about the same distance apart. I have an idea.’ Kalen took a piece of twine and used it to determine the distance between the horses. It measured the same each time. ‘If the fifth horse is the same distance from both Westburgh and Uffington, we will have a perfect pentagon.’

  Reagan desperately wanted a go but waited while Kalen used the twine to find the point equidistant from both ends, which he marked with a cross. He placed the tracing over the map, marking the spot with a pin.

  Reagan looked at the area around the pin. ‘Highway. Sounds familiar. Someone mentioned it recently.’ He closed his eyes and tried to summon up the memory, but it refused to come. The first time this happened, he put it down to after effects of the memory charm. He tried pushing deeper, but to no effect.

  As was happening more often lately, Kalen beat him to it. ‘Five dead rats. At Highway. I believe we might have it, the omens are good. Let’s see what it looks like joined up.’

  Reagan joined the cross to the two points completing the pentagon. They studied it in disappointment. It just looked wrong; the angles were not all the same to make it regular. It looked strange, like a barn with sloping sides and a very shallow roof. Highway was too close to Aveburgh.

  Kalen stood and yawned. ‘I think we need a break. I’ll see if I can find some refreshments to recharge our spirits. Have a stretch and clear your mind.’

  Reagan stood and stretched his arms up to the sky then down to the ground, part of the exercises Kalen had shown him to get the blood flowing round his body again. He stood in front of the map, rolling his shoulders forward then back and allowed his eyes to focus away from the detail of the map. As before, he was surrounded by flying shapes, except this time they were all pentagons. Not regular ones with five equal sides, but all spinning around an axis of symmetry. As he watched, they flew onto the map one-by-one, each one aligning themselves on the map so their axis of symmetry pointed approximately North West. As the last one settled, he saw where the fifth point landed.

  By the time Kalen returned with a tray of lemon tea and gingerbread, Reagan was busily drawing another line on the sketch. ‘What’s all the excitement? I could almost hear your thoughts from the kitchen.’

  ‘I’ve just had another vision like at Imbolc. Lots of pentagons flying onto the map, pointing here.’

  ‘Is that where Blaise took you?’

  ‘I’m not certain, but there’s an earth spirit line which passes down the stone avenue, through the centre of Aveburgh and Windmill Hill and on to Clack mount and Cam’s hill.’

  ‘Show me.’

  He placed a ruler on the map and they followed its path up to Malmesburgh and back. Reagan stabbed a finger on a town just below the ruler. ‘Seagry. Who was talking about that? Your painter friend. Theart?’

  ‘Thearl. What about him?’

  ‘He mentioned a white horse at Seagry.’

  ‘Of course. I’d forgotten about her.’ Kalen fetched a picture.

  ‘Yes, that’s the one. I’ll mark it on the tracing.’ Reagan joined the points to complete a new pentagon.

  ‘Are you sure about this?’ Kalen held up the tracing and turned it slightly to the left and right. ‘It doesn’t look quite right to me.’

  ‘Which is th
e whole point. It isn’t quite right. Blaise wants me to make a new horse because the horse at Seagry is wrong.’

  ‘What makes you say that?’

  ‘The obvious thing is it points right where all the others point left. That was the one thing I noticed in my dream. And Thearl said the horse wants to sink back into the ground.’

  ‘Actually, I said that. He said it was in the wrong place.’

  ‘Because it’s not on the spirit line?’

  ‘I’m not sure. We could ask him.’

  ‘After my vision, I’m certain the horse is supposed to be somewhere on the spirit line from Aveburgh, but it could be anywhere on that line.’

  ‘Not quite. It needs to be on a hill or embankment so it can be seen from some distance. Part of the reason for the horses is so people visiting the area are guided toward the temple.’

  ‘But surely you would only be able to see them from fairly close, a few miles.’

  ‘Not at all. One of my professors at Oxford came from Salisburgh, and he said you could see the Milk Hill horse from Old Sarum. In the right weather conditions and with a good viewscope.’

  ‘But that’s over thirty miles away.’

  ‘I know. But imagine how useful it would be if you wanted to go on a journey and you could see the markers. You would know you were going in the right direction.’

  ‘That’s not the only reason for the figures is it?’

  ‘No, but it’s one of the reasons why it’s important to make sure they are in the right place. Which is why it’s important we visit each of the sites. To ensure they are properly aligned and visible.’

  ‘We should tell Malduc.’ Reagan was keen to get started.

  ‘Before we go much further, I’d like some verification. Building a new white horse is not trivial. We’ll ask the truth pendulum.’

  The crystal did not help much, merely confirming the Seagry horse was wrong and should be replaced. It indicated the new horse must be on a spirit line, but could not give detail concerning the exact position.