The Arrowhead Moor Adventure

by Fleur Hitchcock

  “Well, I’m not sure. Is it easy to find?” The woman was sort of hissing down the phone as if she didn’t want to be heard, so of course Chloe strained to hear every word.

  “Yes, so, right out of the drive, I got that. And then left at the barn to the standing stones. Mmm. Yes, I see. Right. I’ll leave it there in … twenty-five minutes? OK? And what about your part of the deal?”

  The woman paused, listening.

  “Where we agreed? You leave that while I leave yours. But I can’t drive there. So you’ll have to wait for a confirmation call. And I might have to find another call box.” The woman’s mac squeaked against the glass. “And what about the rest of the deal?”

  There was a pause. “I don’t know it, but… Yes, I do – there’s a garden there… The Japanese one? With ponds?” Another pause. “In the temple? Or the icehouse? Oh, yes. I get it.”

  Another pause. “Eleven o’clock tomorrow.”

  The woman listened. Chloe listened to the woman listening.

  “No, we absolutely mustn’t meet. Of course I understand the need for discretion – I’m not an idiot.”

  The phone clanked as the woman ended the call and then she began to walk fast. Her heels clicked on the path as she headed away, and Chloe crawled out from her hidey-hole behind the phone box, dying to share what she’d just found out.

  Keeping low, Chloe followed the woman through the gardens. The woman had a large black zippered holdall hanging from her shoulder.

  Chloe ran back to the picnic area. Ava was standing alert, Aiden was trying to persuade Bella to sit in his bike basket, and Josh was fiddling with his shoelace. Ava saw Chloe and tilted her head towards the woman who was walking through the car park. Surprised, Chloe nodded in agreement. Their picnic had been packed away, and as she reached her cousins they mounted their bikes.

  “C’mon,” said Ava, holding out Chloe’s bike.

  “I think,” said Chloe, shouting at their disappearing backs, “that I might know where she’s going.”

  They kept the sports car in sight for about two minutes before the woman revved the engine and shot off over the moor. They pedalled madly for another minute before running out of breath.

  “We’ve lost her,” said Josh. “Now what?”

  Aiden stood on his pedals, panting, watching the car until it vanished round a bend.

  Ava flopped over her handlebars. “You said you knew where she was going?”

  “I did.” Chloe heaved in a lungful of air. “She rang someone from the old call box back there, and said something about standing stones. Are there some near here?”

  “Map?” said Ava.

  Everyone looked to Aiden, who hurriedly pulled the map from his backpack and spread it across his bike seat. “Here’s Arrowhead Moor House. We’re here…” He pointed. “But see here – the Old Maidens. The stone circle, remember? We had a picnic there once.”

  “When Josh fell in a bog?” asked Ava.

  “I didn’t really fall in a bog,” protested Josh. “I just put my foot in some mud. Anyway, Ava, you got stung by a bee and turned into a giant cross balloon.”

  “What?” said Ava.

  “Yes, when Josh fell in a bog, and someone got stung by something,” said Aiden. “Anyway, they’re pretty remote. If you wanted to meet in secret, it would be a good place. If we take this bridlepath It’ll only take us about twenty minutes of cycling.”

  “That long?” said Chloe, sighing and looking down at her feet. Her flip-flops had worn a massive blister between her toes on one foot and the other was just sore.

  Ava had been thinking. “For your information, Josh, it was a wasp.”

  “Plan?” asked Josh, ignoring his sister. “Get there and spring a surprise? We could dig into fox holes and surround them, or—”

  “Or we could go home,” said Chloe, examining her blister.

  “What? And leave her to go around hanging bags in trees?” said Josh. “I mean, that’s, like, so suspicious. Why would you go around hanging bags in trees?”

  Ava frowned at her brother. “It’s not actually against the law.”

  “Anyone got a plaster?” asked Chloe.

  Very slowly, Aiden looked from Josh to Chloe. “I think the rest of us want to go and see. Can you keep going?”

  “Yes, course,” said Chloe, crossing her fingers behind her back. “I’m fine.”

  It was only a couple of miles of a lumpy bumpy track, and the rain held off while they cycled. Josh stopped at every turning, but Aiden pointed to the left each time.

  They passed a barn and, away to the left, saw a ring of standing stones. The Old Maidens.

  “Yay!” shouted Josh, and he shot off, crashing through bracken and gorse all the way to the stone circle. Bella leaped out of Aiden’s basket and gave chase, barking all the way.

  Ava and the others followed more cautiously, pushing their bikes along the rabbit-nibbled paths until they reached the stones.

  While Josh stamped around, looking at tyre tracks and writing things in his notebook, Chloe examined her feet and Ava checked for signs of anything hidden near the small gravel car park, just in case.

  “No bag,” she said.

  With Bella trotting at his heels Aiden wandered out of the circle and down to another prehistoric feature that rose from the cropped grass like a giant rabbit warren. It was a long barrow, an ancient series of underground tombs accessed by a low doorway at one end. As he bent to peer into the darkness, he wondered how much it had changed in two thousand years. It might once have had a few more trees round about, he supposed, but the yellow broom must have flowered and the gorse and the bees probably hadn’t changed. It was an ancient landscape. As his eyes adjusted to the black interior of the barrow he shuffled forward between the stones. There wasn’t much here except for a few old candle stubs left by walkers.

  Bella galloped in, sneezed, and immediately galloped out again.

  There was no bag.

  Aiden shivered, spooked by the darkness. Straightening up, he walked back to the circle. The others were sitting on a large flat stone to one side. Chloe was cutting an apple into four. Josh was licking the tinfoil that had been wrapped around the chicken.

  “Anything down there?” asked Ava.

  “Just the long barrow. No bag in it,” said Aiden. “No anything. Perhaps Chloe got it wrong.”

  “Perhaps I did,” said Chloe, reddening.

  The sun broke properly through the cloud and fell on his face, hot and bright. The breeze had dropped. He closed his eyes for a moment and listened. No sheep, no cars. Just distant birds.

  Suddenly the roar of an engine shattered the peace and apparently out of nowhere a small open-top red car screeched into the car park.

  “Hide!” hissed Josh.

  “Too late,” said Ava. “Stay here.”

  The door of the car creaked open and the woman stepped out. She’d abandoned the mac and wore a neat grey jacket and skirt. Brushing her skirt flat, the woman leaned into the back of the car and reached for something. Then she paused, turned and looked at the cousins.

  “Keep eating. Act normal,” muttered Ava, trying not to stare at the woman.

  “Hey,” said Chloe to Josh. “You’ve eaten all the Scotch eggs.”

  “So? You don’t even like them,” said Josh, chucking a piece of tinfoil at Chloe. “Anyway, it was Bella.”

  “Oh my god! Cut it out, you two!” said Ava, slightly too loud.

  The woman wandered over to them. Aiden noticed the bag hanging heavy on her shoulder. It was a large zipped black holdall. The kind of thing his dad took to the gym. Josh’s eyes widened.

  “Hello, kids,” said the woman. “Nice lunch.”

  “Thanks. Yes,” said Aiden, “it is.” He couldn’t think of anything else to say. He wanted to say “What’s in the bag?” and had to practically bite his tongue to stop the words coming out.

  Bella, who had been rummaging in the gorse, trotted back and sat staring up at the woman, her tongue han
ging out, her head tilted to one side.

  “Don’t I…?” the woman began, then she looked at them in turn, her gaze settling on Josh.

  “Have you got any plasters?” asked Chloe, holding her hand above her eyes and peering up at the woman.

  “Pardon?”

  “I’ve got a blister on my foot from my flip-flops. I wondered if you had any plasters? Please.”

  “Oh yes – her foot’s a real problem,” said Ava.

  In an awkward silence the woman leaned forward and slipped the heavy holdall from her shoulder. “Let me see,” she said, checking the much smaller shoulder bag she was carrying. “Oh yes,” she said, handing one over to Chloe. “Here.”

  “Thank you,” said Chloe. “Can you help me get the wrapper off, please?” She handed it back to her and nodded at Josh, who leaned away from the picnic and laid himself on the grass, his arms spread wide. His hand was almost touching the holdall.

  The woman tutted and pulled a pair of pointy glasses out of her shoulder bag. “Um…” She put them on and fiddled with the plaster.

  Josh wriggled his fingers up to the zip on the holdall.

  “There!” said the woman, handing the opened plaster to Chloe and swinging round to grab the handle of the holdall. Josh only just had time to whip himself back into a sitting position.

  “Bye then,” said the woman and she wandered around the circle, stopping for a long time in front of the bronze plaque that described the history of the stones.

  “Keep going,” hissed Aiden, reaching across for a sandwich he didn’t really want.

  Ignoring the warning, Josh stood up and wandered back to his bike, rolling it across the circle towards the barrow. He knelt and fiddled with the brakes.

  Aiden glared at him. It was far too obvious, but luckily the woman was having more difficulty trying to look normal, her heels sinking into the soft peaty turf, the bag heavy on her shoulder. Ever so slowly, she wandered out of the circle and down towards the barrow until she was out of view.

  Aiden rose to his feet and crept across the circle. From here he could see down to the barrow entrance. The woman stood in the doorway, her back towards them. She was obviously struggling to see into the dark interior.

  Aiden slunk back and sat with Ava and Chloe, all three trying to look utterly uninterested.

  Josh, however, tiptoed even further forward until he was skulking behind the nearest of the standing stones, peering down towards the barrow and hissing things back to the others. Bella trotted along to sit beside him. “She’s in there,” he whispered.

  “Shh,” said Ava.

  “She’s putting it down.”

  Aiden glared at Josh and put his finger to his lips.

  Suddenly Josh launched himself across the turf, scrabbling to reach them. A second later the woman appeared at the top of the path. This time with no bag and a tight smile on her red lips.

  “Well,” she said, looking at them doubtfully as if she’d just remembered where she’d seen Josh. “See you around.”

  “Yes,” mumbled Chloe, and the others chimed in with feeble responses.

  They waited.

  Aiden stood and stretched, letting his eyes pass over the car park. The woman was now standing by her car, looking back towards the cousins.

  Aiden waved at her and then leaned down. “I think we should pack this lot up and look as if we’re heading out. She’s watching.”

  “Can’t we…?” Josh nodded towards the long barrow.

  “In a minute,” said Ava.

  Slowly the four cousins gathered their belongings, before picking up their bikes and wandering across the stone circle towards the lane.

  The woman clambered into her car. Ava clambered on to her bike.

  The woman started the engine. Josh pedalled – once, twice.

  The woman drove slowly away, and the cousins pedalled very slowly after her, Bella cantering along the road.

  When the red car disappeared over the top of the hill all four of them stopped, waited, then turned, pedalling frantically back towards the standing stones.

  Ava was the first to abandon her bike in a bush, racing down towards the long barrow and stopping in the doorway blinking. Bella followed, barking and dancing as if this was the best game.

  After hiding their bikes, the other three charged in behind her, but Chloe hesitated in the doorway. “It’s very dark,” she said.

  None of them answered. Instead they crept down the narrow stone tunnel, bent at the waist.

  “Can’t see anything,” said Ava.

  “Ow!” yelped Josh. “My head!”

  The barrow smelled of dead animals. And cold stone and wee.

  Aiden switched on the screen of his phone and a dim light revealed the dripping ceiling of the barrow. It stretched ahead of them into a low dark cavern. There were stone built alcoves on either side big enough for a crouched person.

  “Creepy,” said Ava.

  “’S a grave,” said Aiden.

  “Did they used to bury people in here?” asked Josh, examining the walls.

  “In jars,” said his sister.

  “Ugh!” said Josh.

  “I don’t like it,” said Chloe from the doorway.

  “It’s a very old grave,” said Aiden. “Thousands of years since anyone got buried in here.”

  “Still don’t like it.”

  “Where’s the bag?” said Josh.

  All three of them were getting in each other’s way. Ava switched on her phone and shone it at the roof, the walls and finally at the ground. There, tucked into the bottom of the wall, lay the holdall.

  “Yay!” crowed Josh. “Here – let me—”

  “Shh! There’s someone coming,” hissed Chloe, and she rushed into the barrow, shoving her way past Josh and towards the damp back of the cavern.

  Footsteps thumped on the turf alongside the barrow and all four cousins scuttled into the furthest darkness. Bella remained at the entrance.

  “Bella. Here,” whispered Josh, but she wagged her tail and stood firm outside, looking up towards the path.

  “Bella!”

  “Shh,” said Ava.

  Aiden, who was nearest the entrance, waddled forward and grabbed Bella’s collar, dragging her with him into the barrow. She let out a protesting yelp.

  “Shh, Bella,” he muttered, hugging her to his chest. He could hear his heart pounding and Bella’s breathing sounded far too loud. He wondered if anyone else could hear it.

  Something wet moved against the back of his neck and he jumped, banging his head on the low ceiling. Slowly he reached round to find a snail investigating his hair.

  Letting out a silent scream, he placed it on the floor of the cavern and shuffled even further back against the wall. He swallowed. He and Bella weren’t really hidden.

  The footsteps got closer and then Aiden saw a pair of booted feet and jeans in the light of the entrance.

  “Got a torch?” said a voice.

  Torch? Oh no!

  “Shh,” hissed Ava somewhere at the back of the barrow.

  “Hang on a mo,” said another voice. The boots stepped away from the entrance, presumably to fiddle about with a phone.

  Aiden seized the moment. So silently he could almost hear the bones move in his shoulders, he clamped Bella under his arm and rolled the black bag as close to the entrance as he dared. Bella let out the tiniest whine, and Aiden clamped his hand round the end of her nose.

  “Shh,” he whispered, scuttling back into the dark of the cavern and jamming himself into the tiny alcove beside Chloe. He pulled his sweatshirt down over Bella’s pale fur, willing her to keep quiet, but she scrabbled against him, scratching at his chest until her head popped out of the top.

  A shaft of bright light bounced off the wall opposite, just catching the toe of Josh’s shoe and resting on a pile of small bones lying on the packed-earth floor. Aiden closed his eyes, waiting for the moment when they were spotted.

  “There it is!” said the second voice. �
��Over there!”

  Aiden opened one eye.

  “Proper Bronze Age thing this,” said the first voice, the man with the boots. “If we had a bit of time, I’d take a look around.”

  “Well, we haven’t,” said the second, Scottish voice. “I’ll just take a look at the bag, if I may.”

  Aiden opened his other eye.

  Feet shuffled on the floor of the cavern and the light bounced back and forth, catching Josh’s shoe and Ava’s elbow. They both eased back into the shadows.

  Aiden stared at the half-lit pile of bones. A rabbit?

  From behind him came a strange clacking sound. Chloe’s teeth? He nudged her and she let out something that might have been half a giggle or perhaps a whole sob.

  His leg began to itch.

  Bella licked his face. His eyes watered, and his glasses began to steam up. Brilliant. Now he couldn’t even see properly.

  There was the sound of a zip being yanked open down the length of the bag and then an intake of breath.

  Aiden and Chloe risked leaning forward together.

  Torchlight lit the entrance to the barrow and bounced up towards the men’s faces. Through his steamy specs Aiden took in their fuzzy silhouettes before his eyes fell on the contents of the bag.

  “Wow,” said the Scottish man.

  “Forty grand,” said the other one.

  Even with the fog Aiden could see purple – banknote purple. Next to him Chloe let out a tiny squeak.

  “What was that?” One of the men shone the torch straight down into the barrow and Aiden and Chloe sprang back. To his right Aiden noticed that there was a tiny gap in the stones and he peered through to the entrance, hoping desperately that the men hadn’t seen them.

  The torchlight bounced around the chamber for a moment longer before the Scottish man spoke. “’S probl’y nothing, but let’s not hang about, eh?” But the men still stared into the open bag and Aiden stayed in the darkness, staring at them through the tiny chink in the stones. One wore a yellow jacket with red stripes down the sleeves. The other wore black from top to bottom.

  “She’s done her half of the bargain,” said Forty Grand eventually. “Hope our half is still there.”