The Stone Read online

  Later that afternoon, after a sumptuous lunch prepared by Vera, Edmund decided that it was time to take their leave, and another surprise occurred. Ben had radioed for a taxi to take them to their hotel. Edmund protested weakly, but Ben would hear nothing of it. The taxi driver helped Paul along the gangway to the waiting Peugeot, followed by Ben, Vera and Edmund. ‘Shalom dear friends, I will see you again God willing.’ Edmund shouted.

  ‘Until then, Edmund, God be with you.’ Ben shouted back.

  ‘And also with you Vera and with you Ben.’ Edmund hugged both of them and slid into the Peugeot. ‘Till then’ Ben shouted, but the two young men were already on their way back to their digs in town.

  8: More Questions than Answers

  Pulteney Bridge - Bath

  As Ellie pointed her car on the route again to Salisbury, on her way to see Rowena, she knew that Gary would soon forget the friction that there was between them. He would be on the plane to Belfast, the excitement of his new job would fill his thinking, and sometimes careers absorb everything in ambitious people, even love. ‘Who knows?’ she thought to herself.

  She soon arrived at Rowena’s new little semi and parked across her driveway. Just as she opened the Polo’s door, Rowena was standing at the front door, tall and beautiful. ‘Not dressed to stay at home’ she thought.

  ‘Where are we going Ro?’ Ellie asked.

  ‘I think we deserve to go on a shopping trip to Bath. If you recall, we were going a couple of weeks ago but....’

  ‘Yes I know something got in the way! Whose car are we taking?’ Ellie interrupted.

  ‘We’ll take mine.’ Rowena smiled, as if she had a secret. ‘But first come in I want to show you something.’ Ellie ran into the house. ‘It’s not much Ellie, but I made it myself.’ She handed over the chain, which was displayed in a flat box.

  Ellie extracted the chain carefully from the box. It was fastened together, and she looked carefully at the clasp. It was quite small, and it needed to be, in order to match the size of the chain. The clasp was fashioned in the shape of a dragon’s head, just as if it had grown out of the end of the chain. The flat part of the head was lit on each side by the smallest of red rubies; the whole thing was totally enchanting.

  Rowena showed Ellie how to unfasten the clasp with a perfectly soft click, revealing the head on one side and a pointed tail-like sculpture on the other end. Ellie gasped with delight, utterly speechless. Rowena then gave her lessons on how to fasten and unfasten the chain so that she didn’t damage the mechanism nor scratch herself in the process.

  Ellie got her breath back as she undid the chain and laid it in the box.

  ‘Ro darling this is so beautiful, you are so talented.’

  Rowena smiled, ‘you know Ellie, I really enjoyed making the clasp, and it took me back to my training in London.’

  ‘The stone, we’ve forgotten the stone.’ Ellie pulled it out of her trouser pocket, and straight away began to thread the tail of the chain through the tiny hole in the stone. She pulled the chain gently along, then suddenly it stopped, as if it was jammed. Instead of yanking the stone any further along the chain, she carefully handed the whole thing over to Rowena.

  Rowena carefully laid the assembly onto the soft cloth and fastened the clasp. She lifted it up.

  ‘Look Ellie, look where it has stuck, precisely in the middle of the chain.’ Uncannily the stone had stuck exactly where it should have done; opposite to the clasp so that it was indeed perfect to wear. ‘You certainly won’t have to worry now it will always be in the right place for you.’ She handed the necklace to Ellie, and she put it on for the first time.

  Ellie looked into the wall mirror. ‘It’s perfect Ro. Look how perfectly the clasp matches the chain, and the stone matches it too.’

  ‘Let’s get going to Bath, Ellie, or we won’t have time to look around, I love exploring that place don’t you?’ She didn’t want Ellie to talk money in respect of the clasp. They quickly swapped car positions in the drive and were soon on their way in Rowena’s little car.

  An hour or so later they were edging their way towards the centre of the city, and Ellie pointed out a car park notice as they passed it, but Rowena carried on, she knew where there was a better one, and right in the centre of the busy city. In her favour, with it not being Saturday, there may be a chance to get in this car park she thought to herself.

  The Abbey loomed closer and Ellie was getting a bit nervous, thinking that there couldn’t be much space around here, when Rowena turned sharp left between two sandstone buildings. It was quite narrow. ‘No turning back now’ thought Ellie. Suddenly at the end of the block, the road opened out briefly, they dived under an arch and there it was: a tiny parking space for about twenty cars.

  As Rowena followed the arrows painted on the floor and looked intently for a space, in the far corner Ellie spotted the white lights of a reversing car.

  ‘Bingo!’ She shouted, and pointed to the exiting car. As Rowena approached, Ellie noticed that it was a big one, a very big one, and the driver was struggling to miss a car parked opposite. Ellie quickly jumped out of the Golf and ran toward the car. It was a silver blue Bentley Continental, and she caught the driver’s attention and guided him out of the space beautifully. The driver stopped the Bentley and got out.

  ‘That was most kind of you my dear.’ A tall, impeccably dressed man in his late forties walked up to Ellie, smiling at her with grey-blue eyes. ‘This must be your lucky day.’

  Ellie blushed deeply, ‘my lucky day, why is that?’

  He handed her a parking ticket. Printed on it there was an expiry time with five hours remaining on it, also she looked at the price of the ticket, £15.

  ‘I’ve had to cut short my visit, urgent call from the hospital.’ He then looked beyond Ellie to the approaching Golf and waved to Rowena. He then gently took Ellie’s hand and kissed it. She felt a tender lip on the back of her hand and she quivered inside. Then he slid back into the plush white leather, gunned the engine and was gone.

  Rowena was in the space like a flash, opened the door and watched the Bentley disappear around the corner. She managed to get the number plate ‘ZB 1’.

  ‘I think I know who that is’, she thought to herself, and decided she wouldn’t tell Ellie just yet, but keep it for later.

  Ellie handed Rowena the unexpired ticket and her eyes widened at the time on it.

  ‘What a stroke of luck Ro’ Ellie giggled like a school girl, ‘Five hours for nothing!’

  In only a few steps they were in the throngs of shoppers and tourists. To the right towered the Abbey, but they went straight on for a while and then left into the maze of tiny narrow alleyways that Bath is famous for. For ten minutes they were dashing down one alley then the next, just passing by most of the little shop fronts beguiling them to go in, until finally they both stood outside a little shop which seemed devoid of colour, quite dark really, and above the narrow door there was a squeaking metal sign, black with gold lettering on it.

  ‘It’s not in a language I know, Ellie’ said Rowena.

  ‘I think that language is Cyrillic. Bulgarian or Russian, sort of Eastern European’ and with that, Ellie opened the door and walked in. Rowena, surprised at Ellie’s prompt response, followed her. The well-lit alley was quite a contrast to the room they had just entered; they had to adjust their eyes for a moment. The only light was from the opposite doorway, and that was low as a curtain of beads shielded it. In a moment a short crouched figure came into the shop, looked at the two young women with a strange smile and beckoned them closer.

  ‘Have you come in for a reading?’ The old woman inquired.

  Rowena stifled a laugh nervously. ‘No we haven’t, and we just came in through curiosity, as we couldn’t understand the writing on your sign.’

  ‘You, the blonde one, come and sit here.’ Ellie was startled for a moment. ‘What is your name?’ The woman asked.

  ‘I’m Ellie, why do you want to know?’ Ellie gulped.
/>   The old woman ignored her question. ‘Come sit on this chair, I wish to talk with you.’

  Somehow Ellie found it hard to resist the old woman, and impulsively sat on the wicker chair, which wobbled when she sat on it. She looked back at Rowena who just stood quietly watching, just as puzzled as her friend.

  ‘What is Ellie? Is that your real name?’ The woman asked

  ‘Eloise, it is Eloise’

  ‘I see the sun in your name, and you will be famous in battle, and you will live by the sea.’ The woman stood closer to Ellie, and as she walked a little around her, she bent closer to her, as if she was looking at something. Ellie turned and looked up at the woman’s face, and the woman was staring at her neck. She saw the woman’s face change from a light smiling one to a somewhat darker feature. Her eyes also seemed to get colder.

  Ellie recoiled, ‘what is it? What are you looking at?’

  Although the woman had stood back somewhat, she looked intensely at Ellie ‘Where did you get the serpent from my dear?’

  Ellie pulled the chain out revealing the stone. ‘Do you mean this?’ She lifted the chain from her neck, revealing the stone to the woman.

  The old woman stood transfixed on the spot, she seemed to be in some sort of shock. Rowena walked towards the woman who waved her away, recovering quickly. ‘My blonde lady, thank you, but I cannot see any more for you. Now I will speak with your dark friend’

  Ellie looked at the old woman, and rose from the chair a little disappointedly. She had expected something a little more interesting. The old woman didn’t look at Ellie again; in fact it seemed all she could do was beckon Rowena to the chair for her to have a go. As Rowena approached Ellie, she touched her hand.

  ‘I’ll only be a few minutes Ellie, see you outside.’

  ‘I’ll have a little scout around, I think I saw a gift shop a couple of doors down, I’ll see you in there Ro’ Ellie said as she walked out of the shop door, breathed in the fresh air and set out to find the gift shop.

  As Rowena sat on the chair, she looked up at the old woman, whose face was fixed on the door, as if she could still see Ellie, who was already out of sight.

  ‘Well do you want to speak to me or not? It’s no bother to me; I’ll just as soon as leave now.’ Rowena said indignantly.

  ‘My apologies dark lady, now tell me what is your name?’

  ‘Rowena’

  ‘Ah, Rowena, you are the Saxon princess. Your name gives you fame and great joy in your life.’ The woman was still looking at the door as if Ellie was coming back. ‘You are the most gifted one, do you work with your hands?’

  ‘Yes I do, in fact I am.....’

  The old lady cut her short. ‘Your friend the blonde one, Eloise, is she close to you?’

  ‘She is my very best friend’ Rowena answered.

  ‘I want to tell you something about your friend that is very important, you do not tell her. You must swear that you will never reveal to her what I tell you.’ The old woman insisted.

  ‘I swear’

  ‘Swear on your life!’ The old woman’s eyes darkened again.

  Rowena became scared, but as the old woman’s eyes strangely filled with power, she said ‘I swear on my life.’

  ‘I couldn’t read into your friend’s future, any more than for today.’ The old woman said.

  ‘What are you talking about?’ Rowena snapped at her.

  ‘Her protector was stopping me my dear.’ The woman looked at the doorway again.

  ‘Protector, what protector do you mean?’ Rowena was getting a little angry with this woman.

  ‘She wears her protector. Around her neck the stone and the snake, they are very powerful, very strong, even stronger than....’ The old woman stopped herself from saying anymore and her eyes looked far away. She regained some composure again. ‘Something good will happen to your blonde friend today, something very good. It will take her on a new pathway, but she must decide for herself. No-one, not even the protector can tell her what to decide.’

  Rowena thought that she would try and get some information from this woman, so she asked, ‘my friend and I want to know something about the stone, what do you know about it?’

  ‘I can tell you nothing, I am but a vessel in all this, it is not of my choosing. Go now dark lady and seek out your friend, but say nothing of what I have said to you to anyone, and that you be sure to remember your oath.’

  ‘Yes I remember, don’t worry, I can keep secrets.’ Rowena got up and walked through the door, and didn’t look back. ‘I wish that I’d never been in that place!’ Rowena thought to herself.

  ‘I haven’t seen anything I like Ro.’ Ellie caught her friends arm lovingly and they walked out of the gift shop and made their way to the Abbey and the light. The whole episode in that little shop was one that they both needed to get out of their thoughts; Rowena knew that Ellie was frightened even if she didn’t show it.

  As they approached the impressive Abbey, they were looking up at it from the pavement, when an open top bus pulled up alongside them. The bus emptied its contents of happy, chatting tourists. The driver unfolded an ‘A’ frame advertising the next Bath tour.

  ‘C’mon let’s go on it.’ Ellie shouted to her friend. ‘How long does the tour take?’ She asked the driver.

  ‘Around forty minutes Miss.’ they looked at each other, and laughed, Ellie paid for the two nine pound tickets and they ran upstairs. The top was empty and they chose the seats on the back. As they sat down, there were two pairs of headphones slotted in the seats in front. Not long ago the guide would use a microphone to point out the sights, and due to the traffic noise had to shout. This had caused trouble with the locals on the route. Some had even poured water from their upstairs windows on them, so eventually the tour operators were forced to change the information method to headphones, which finally appeased them.

  The bus started filling up, and Rowena looked around to see the beautiful Poultney Bridge, and the new perspective on the Abbey from the top of the bus, then glanced at Ellie, who was picking up a discarded newspaper which had been left on the seat on the other side. As she opened up the paper, the Bath Chronicle, Ellie noticed that it was folded in the classified section. There was an entry in one of the columns, which had been circled in thick black marker ink.

  ‘Ro, look at this.’ Ellie shouted, and read out the notice that was circled. ‘We are trying to trace the whereabouts of an E.M. McIntyre who originates from Bradford on Avon. Please ring the following number.’ ‘Do you think that could be me Ro?’

  Rowena swallowed hard, ‘Is this what the old woman was on about?’ she thought to herself.

  ‘Ro, Ro! Can you hear me? Do you think that is this about me?’ Ellie shouted above the chatter from the passengers, grabbing her friend’s hand.

  ‘Sorry Ellie, I was miles away for a minute.’ She looked at the entry that Ellie gave her. ‘Let’s find out, you know what they say: nothing ventured.’

  ‘Nothing gained,’ laughed Ellie, and she pulled out her mobile.

  After a couple of rings, a voice answered ‘Vizards, can I help you?’

  ‘Would you mind telling me who Vizards are please?’ Ellie asked assertively.

  ‘We are the leading firm of solicitors in Glasgow, madam’ said the voice haughtily.

  ‘My name is Eloise Monks, er I mean McIntyre, That is, or was, my maiden name and someone is looking for me according to the Bath Chronicle advert’

  ‘Hold on please, I will put you through to someone.’

  ‘What shall I say?’ Ellie asked urgently.

  ‘Just tell them who you are, be natural.’ Rowena answered.

  ‘Hello?’ A deep voice with a strong Scottish accent came on. Ellie put the mobile on loudspeaker for Rowena’s benefit. ‘Mrs Monks, would you mind if I ask you a couple of questions please?’

  ‘Go ahead.’ Ellie said.

  ‘Three simple questions if you wouldn’t mind answering them: your date of birth, your mother’s maiden na
me and finally your father’s mothers first name, can you do that for me.’

  Ellie reeled off the answers without hesitation, which immediately put the man at ease.

  ‘Eloise it is of great importance that we meet as soon as possible. Can you get up here to my office in Glasgow? Oh, how very rude of me, my name is Alex Macduff; I’m the senior partner of this firm.’

  ‘Just a moment please Mr Macduff.’ Ellie put the speaker on mute as she looked at Rowena.

  ‘Tell him to come to you, if it’s that important.’ Rowena whispered.

  Restoring the loudspeaker, Ellie spoke to him, at the same time clutching her stone.

  ‘Sorry I cannot get to Scotland at this time, I would prefer it if you came to see me nearer my home.’