Time's Legacy (33 page)

‘Which means he’s been watching the house.’ Abi glanced towards the window. ‘Oh God, I hate this!’

‘Do you want to go and stay with Ben?’ Cal eyed her sympathetically. ‘Just for a few days. Kier won’t hang around forever.’

Abi shook her head again. ‘No, he’d guess where I’d gone at once. Besides, I am not going to let him chase me away.’ She hesitated. ‘Unless you would rather – ’

‘I’ve told you before.’ Cal headed for the door. ‘You can stay here for as long as you like.’

‘It will be good if you’ve got guests this weekend, though, Cal.’ Abi followed her to the staircase. ‘More cars outside. More people in the house at night.’

‘And I’ll make sure Mat leaves the dogs here when he goes out. They may not be the world’s greatest guard dogs, but they do bark at the right moment.’ Cal reached over and touched her arm. ‘Don’t worry. You have the Cavendish clan behind you. If he comes back we’ll be ready for him. He’s not going to be allowed to pester you and he’s not going to find your stone. I can show you somewhere to hide it which Kier will never find in a million years.’

It was in the garden. Cal left Abi to tuck the stone away and walked back to the house. Abi watched her go with a fond smile, then, almost without realising she had done it she turned aside to the bench and sat down, with it still in her hands. ‘What happened?’ she whispered. ‘Mora? Romanus? What happened next?’

‘Tell me about Judea. I’ve never been anywhere very far from here. My sister was born near there, wasn’t she?’ Romanus and Flavius were walking side by side now, the horse’s rein over Romanus’s shoulder, the horse plodding behind them. The fog had grown thicker.

Flavius nodded. ‘Indeed she was. My first posting when I was a young man was to the service of Herod the Great in Jerusalem. I was in the legion which went to Galilee to put down the uprising at a town called Sepphoris. We taught them a lesson they wouldn’t forget in a hurry. I was noticed by my commanding officer and selected to join an elite force of undercover agents and we were ordered to look for a family of insurrectionists who claimed to be descendants of King David. They were expecting the birth of a child who people claimed would inherit the throne according to some sort of prophecy. The Jews are always talking about prophecies.’ He shook his head disparagingly. ‘Herod knew they would use it as an excuse to revolt again, so our mission was to find the kid and kill it.’

Romanus frowned. ‘A baby?’

‘Yes. A baby who would grow up to be a traitor.’

‘And did you?’

‘As it turned out, no. We killed a good few babies while we looked, but it turned out none of them was the right one. The parents knew we were after them and they fled to Egypt. It took us a while to find out. All the time we were a few steps behind them. They returned to their home town eventually, but they were protected all the time by people who knew about this wretched prophecy of theirs and hid them, and the boy grew up and left home.’

‘And this is the man you are searching for now?’ Romanus was frowning.

‘That’s it. He’s dangerous.’

‘But how can a healer be dangerous?’

Flavius looked down at him again. ‘Because he’s bright and lippy and thinks a lot of himself, or he did as a child, and the Jews think he is a king, that’s why. And so he is a danger to the Empire.’

‘And so you are still working for Herod?’

‘For his son. The old king died. His lands were divided. A new Herod, Herod Antipas was given the governorship of Galilee by the Emperor, and I work for him.’

‘I see.’ Romanus was still frowning. He was wondering how his uncle had found it so difficult to catch up with this man and kill him. He obviously wasn’t a very good assassin. He didn’t say so, of course. ‘And you’ve travelled the world in the search for him?’

‘It wasn’t as easy as you may think.’ Flavius had picked up on the unspoken criticism. It infuriated him. ‘Everywhere he goes he blends in. He is hidden. People like him. They fall for his charm. Somehow I am thwarted every time I come close. It is as if he is protected in some way.’ He scowled. ‘But here, at last, I have caught up with him. I know where he is. I just had to get him away from the druid school. I have no intention of going there and finding they have hidden him, or that once more he has slipped away in the night as I arrive or that I am spotted and forced to back away. He is waiting for a ship to take him back to the port of Caesarea. I have to do the deed before it arrives. And it has to be secret. Rome does not want me to be seen. Rome must not be involved. When this man dies, he dies from an accident, or he disappears. No-one must ever suspect that I have had a hand in it. That part of the Empire is always on a knife edge of rebellion and for the Jews to find out that a Roman agent has killed one of their number could cause another rebellion. He must disappear silently and without suspicion. I thought maybe he would drown in the lake, but up here in the mountains with these great limestone crags, he could as easily slip and break his neck or be savaged by a bear. And when his uncle arrives he will find that his nephew has disappeared without trace and all their prophecies and plans will have evaporated into this confounded fog.’

One glance through the shop window next morning told Abi that Bella was again on duty. Athena opened the door of her flat so quickly Abi realised she must have seen her walking across the courtyard from the balcony. ‘It occurred to me that you were the only person who might know where Justin lives,’ Abi said as they at down in the living room. She saw at once that the clavichord had gone. ‘Please, Athena. It looks as though he might be the only person who could help me.’

Athena gave a humourless chuckle. They were drinking herb tea this time, from the same pretty green mugs. ‘OK,’ she said. ‘I grant you Justin might have more knowledge than Ben about some of this stuff, but summoning him back to the OK Corral might not be the way to tap into it. He’s likely to tell you where to get off in no uncertain terms.’

Abi scanned her face. ‘You said you and he fell out?’

Athena nodded. ‘Oh yes.’

‘Can I ask why?’

‘No.’ Athena sat back against the cushions, and shook her head. She was wearing a peacock-blue sweater with lapis and silver beads.

‘All right. Sorry. Well, at least tell me, he made it clear he’s no Christian. Is he a fully paid up pagan?’

Athena smiled. ‘Oh yes, I think you could say that.’

Abi bit her lip. She was silent for a moment, then she shrugged. ‘Can I have his phone number?’

‘I can give you his mobile number. But it may not be up to date.’

‘I’ll try it and see.’ Abi waited. When nothing else was forthcoming she went on, ‘And can I have his address? Then if the phone doesn’t work I can at least drop him a line. Unless he has an e-mail address?’

Athena snorted derisively. ‘As if.’

‘Why not? He’s a writer, he’s doing research. It would make sense, surely.’

‘It might make sense to you, dear,’ Athena said, caustically, ‘but I doubt if he would go in for that sort of thing.’ She shrugged. ‘OK, I’ll give you his address. He lived in Wales. But for all I know, he left there a long time ago. He might even be back here by now, after all he seems to drop in at Woodley quite regularly.’ She got up and went over to her desk which stood between the two French doors onto the balcony. After a lot of rummaging around amongst piles of papers and notebooks she produced an old address book and began to flip through the pages. Eventually she found what she was looking for and reaching for a notepad copied it down, tearing off the piece of paper for Abi.

‘Powys?’ Abi looked down at it curiously. Her heart sank at the thought of how far away that sounded.

‘It’s a little cottage, high up on a mountain. Very remote. Which is just as well as I’m sure he would annoy the hell out of any neighbours he might have!’ Athena said tartly.

Abi smiled. ‘You and he really don’t get on any more, do you?’

‘I told you.’

‘I’d love to know what he did to you.’

‘Well, you’re not going to. Are you going to come and have some lunch with me over the road or are you going to rush off and ring him now?’

‘Lunch,’ Abi said decisively. ‘I’ve got lots to tell you. My priestly stalker is back. He searched my room and he’s giving me the creeps.’ It helped to talk about it and Athena was a good listener. The irritable and mysterious Justin could wait.

The wind had risen. It screamed across the countryside, tearing leaves from the trees, whipping the water into waves. The sky was the colour of lead, the clouds towering columns of darkness promising thunder and lightning across the length and breadth of the land. He smiled, feeling the tingle of excitement through his blood. He could feel no threat, no promise of retribution here. This was the land and the sky speaking their own words.

Why still the rage of the storm when it was glorious?

13

Kier had driven faster than he had ever driven in his life after Cal caught him in Abi’s bedroom. His face hot with humiliation, he threw himself into the driving seat and accelerated out of the gate, his seatbelt flapping, turning onto the road almost under the wheels of another car which hooted violently. Heading towards Glastonbury he slowed down slightly as he reached the first roundabout then he headed on into the town, keeping going resolutely until at last he pulled into the coach park outside the abbey. There he sat for a long time, his head resting on his hands on the steering wheel. He knew her room was at the front, he had seen her there at the window, but once inside he had only found it by accident. It was the second he had looked into and he had recognised the jacket thrown on the bed. At least he hadn’t touched anything. Never again would he put himself in such a stupid, insane position. How could he have even thought to do it? Why had he listened to Professor Rutherford? The man was obviously deranged. A magic stone indeed. A bewitched, stupid, magic stone. ‘You have to find it. You have to get hold of it and dispose of it.’ The man’s voice echoed in his head. Stupid.

When at last he looked up he stayed where he was, staring blankly out of the windscreen. It was some ten minutes later that he saw a man striding across the car park away from him. It was Justin Cavendish. Kier frowned, watching. He was heading towards the entrance to the abbey.

Opening the car door Kier climbed out, intrigued. Where he was going? He glanced round, spotting the pay and display meter only feet from his car and cursed under his breath. Knowing his luck he would be clamped if he didn’t buy a ticket. He scrabbled in his pocket for change as Justin disappeared out of sight, following a high stone wall at the back of the car park. Seconds later Kier had slapped a ticket inside his windscreen and ran to follow, keeping far enough back to stay out of sight. Justin was going into the abbey; into a sacred Christian place. Why? Kier followed cautiously, close enough to hear him exchange cheerful banter with the woman inside the ticket kiosk; he obviously knew her. His curiosity piqued, he crept after him. Justin turned right into the museum. Kier paid for his own ticket and followed him at a safe distance, listening to the sound of monks chanting in the distance as he made for a display cabinet and ducked behind it. He was consumed with curiosity about what Justin was doing here, but he didn’t want him to turn round and spot him. After all, he had shamed and humiliated him in front of Abi. Another surge of anger shot through him and he clenched his fists, forcing himself to breathe steadily. He had to know what the man was doing in here. He peered round the glass case. Justin was standing staring at something in another display. Moments later he turned and headed for the doors that led out into the abbey grounds. Kier watched him from the window. He was walking slowly along the path which led towards the west end of the abbey ruins and in seconds he had disappeared behind a stone pier. Kier let himself out of the museum and hurried after him.

The grounds seemed very empty. He felt exposed as he walked past the huge wooden cross which stood by the path and headed towards the archway where Justin had disappeared, hoping the man wouldn’t reappear suddenly in front of him. He stood and looked at the notice which informed him that this was the Lady Chapel, then he ducked inside the archway and cautiously he made his way down the steps into the open area of the chapel itself. It was deserted. He stared round. At the east end there was an altar, under a roof area but here the place was completely open, the high ruined walls soaring up towards the open sky. He was suddenly regretting the impulse which had brought him charging in in Justin’s wake.

‘I take it that you are looking for me.’ The voice came from immediately behind him.

He spun round. Justin was standing in the shadow of the wall, his arms folded. He regarded Kier with what appeared to be an expression of calm interest. He was dressed in shabby moleskin trousers and a dark green much-worn Barbour with frayed pockets and cuffs and yet he made Kier feel like an ingénue schoolboy caught in the act of perpetrating some pathetic little felony. Kier felt his face colour with embarrassment. ‘I saw you in the distance, yes.’

‘And you felt we had unfinished business.’ Out here Justin seemed far more in his element than in the kitchen at Woodley.

‘I suppose I did, yes.’ Kier shrugged. Perhaps Justin was right and that was his real motive. ‘You interfered in matters which were not your concern.’

Justin smiled. He was a good-looking man, with a shock of fair hair and a weatherbeaten face which seemed to indicate an outdoor life. He exuded a quiet confidence as he stood without moving, his arms still folded. ‘Abi made them so.’

‘What is she to you?’ Kier felt a surge of jealousy as the man used her name.

‘Nothing at all,’ Justin said quietly. ‘I barely know her.’

‘Then why were you there?’

‘As I believe I told you, Woodley is my house. At least, I share its ownership with my brothers. Abi therefore is in a sense my guest. She is there by invitation, you, it seemed were not. If she wanted you out of there, it was for me to see that her wishes were adhered to.’