The Palace Library (9 page)

“Yes,”
said Edwin simply.  Then he added sarcastically, “That is all.”

Then
they all stayed silent, nervous and apprehensive, except Grace, who suddenly
remembered where Hell’s Bay was.

“What on earth are you
doing?  You’ll burn yourself,” said Master John, standing up and bumping
his head on a low wooden beam across the ceiling.

Master
Edwin, the blacksmith and armourer, had sat back in his chair while they all
digested his story and Harry’s comments about going to the edge of Hell.

“Relax,
Master John.  I’m used to the heat of the furnace.  As Anwen well
knows.  She treats enough of my burns.  The fire relaxes me and it
helps me think.”

Edwin
pulled a small wooden bowl off the shelf.  It was attached to a narrow
tube, and he filled the bowl with herbs from a jar.  It was when he pulled
a burning ember from the fire and set fire to the herbs that John stood up and
questioned him.

“It’s
just a pipe,” said Harry.  “I’ve seen Great Uncle Jasper with one before.”

The
room filled with a cloudy smoke. It was a sweet smell with the herbs
burning.  It disguised the smell of the forge and the food they had eaten
for dinner.

“Relax,
Master John,” said Anwen.  “It helps him think.”

The
dwarf continued puffing on his pipe, pleased with his story.  Eleanor had
been learning about the discovery of America at school before and she whispered
to Grace, “I don’t think they’ve invented tobacco yet.  It’s not
surprising John is alarmed!”

But
Grace was not listening. 

“I
remember where Hell’s Bay is,” she said.  “We went there last summer for
our holidays.  It was when I first really got to know you both.”

They
were all wide awake now.  Whether it was the excitement or Anwen’s potion,
they didn’t know; they didn’t care.

“You
mean in Scotland?” asked Harry, remembering the fun time they had all had there
with his and Eleanor’s parents and friends.

“No,
no, before that.  Don’t you remember? Before that.”

Harry
and Eleanor looked at Grace as if she were simple, a younger cousin who didn’t
know much, but she had the better memory this time.

“Come
on, we sat at the beach looking at the island opposite with the sun going down
every night.”

They
still looked blank. 

“You
were sick on the boat, Eleanor.  You must remember that!”

“I
certainly do,” she replied.  “That was the wrong way to travel!”

“That
doesn’t bode well,” commented Edwin, puffing on the pipe again, but they
ignored him.

“The
island opposite had a place called Hell’s Bay.  That’s where I’ve heard of
it before.”

This
time, Edwin sat up.  “You really mean you’ve been there before?”

Grace
looked around, uncertain how to answer.  ‘Before’ was certainly not
accurate, given they had jumped back in time, but she was nervous about sharing
this, especially after what the Queen had said.  So Grace answered a
different question, thinking about the time she had spent on the boat overnight
(not being sick) and looking at the stars.

“We
went west from here.  The sun always set in the west.  Then we went
across the sea and went to some islands.  They were beautiful.  That
was where Hell’s Bay was.”

“Beauty
and the edge of Hell.  That doesn’t exactly match.  Are you sure?”
said Edwin.

“Yes,
yes. I know.”

“Humph!”

Harry
was the next to speak.  “It does make sense.  We went past Land’s
End.  That’s where we saw the dolphins.  What if Land’s End is the
same as World’s End in the Prophecy?  As far as England is concerned, the
end of Cornwall is the end of the world.  I bet Grace has put us on the
right path.  We can get there by boat. They aren’t so far away to persuade
the Captain to go there.”

“But
I don’t remember a volcano there,” said Eleanor.

“No,”
said Grace, “but remember it’s nearly a thousand years ahead.”

The
children looked around, worrying their secret had been let out.  Anwen and
Eloise looked at them suspiciously, but said nothing.  Master John simply
sat quietly.  Master Edwin puffed at his pipe, as if he had noticed
nothing.

Then
he said, “Well, that at least is a plan.  We head west tomorrow.” 
They nodded in agreement, not least since no one had any better idea. 
“That’s the first thing this council has concluded.

“Now
you had better see St George’s box.”  It seemed he had really decided to
trust them.  Perhaps the pipe had done him some good.

Edwin
stood up and went around the back of his furnace, before bringing out a
rectangular metal box.  It didn’t look like much: just a plain metal box.

“Is
that really the box?” asked Eleanor, suddenly enchanted.

“It
is,” replied Edwin.  “It’s not so much the box that matters, but what it
contains.  After George subdued the dragon and had him in his power, the
lance, Ascalon, broke into pieces.  Many, many tiny pieces.  Its job
was done, but the power it had was retained in all the smaller pieces.  My
ancestor Edwin spent weeks collecting them from the ground.  They were
difficult to find as the blade splintered. Within this box, are the pieces that
are left.  They’ve been handed down from father to son for generations and
are in my care.  My great
great
grandfather
placed one in the blade of the Sword of State that is now lost.  That was
annealed in a volcano, but I don’t know how.  I was privileged to place a
piece in the dagger you wear, Eleanor, but that was never annealed in the
volcano. It hasn’t the same power.”

Edwin
opened the box.  The pieces within glowed green, just as Eleanor’s dagger
had before.  He looked up at Anwen.  “I’ve never seen them this
bright before.  There is much danger and treachery about, but that’s no
surprise in the circumstances.  We must all watch out.  For ourselves
and each other.  And we must have eyes in the back of our heads.”  He
looked harsh.

They
all looked around the table, suddenly uncertain of who to trust.  The children
knew and loved each other well, but what did they know of all these others?
Eloise was difficult to get to know since she could not speak, but Edwin had
proven to be grumpy and difficult.  Did he trust them?  Should they
trust him?  Master John was a cheerful soul and Edgar had told them about
him, but was he leading them astray? It was hard to know.

It
was Sophie who broke the atmosphere.  She pushed her nose up at Eleanor’s
pocket to reveal her book of plants.  Eleanor looked at her and realised what
she was saying.  It was time for her to talk to Anwen about plants, herbs
and healing.  It was not the first time Eleanor thought that Sophie had a
clearer judgement about who to trust and who not to.  Perhaps it was the
sense of empathy that Edgar had spoken about.  Eleanor remembered she must
speak to Harry and Grace about the way Sophie had behaved when Guy of Caen had
pushed past them in their audience with the Queen.  She would need a
moment alone.

Eleanor
stood up and moved to sit with Anwen and show her the book.  “It’s time
for me to show you my book.  I think it’s important and it’s special
too.  I have read it, but you have the experience.  Will you help
me?”

“Of
course I will,” said Anwen.  “You have a difficult journey ahead of you
and you will have to learn to be the healer.”

“Aren’t
you coming with us?” asked Eleanor.

“No. 
I cannot.  But come over here and let’s see what I can pack for you and
teach you.”

Eleanor
still wasn’t quite sure whether to show her all the secrets of the book after
the discussion about treachery, but Sophie decided things for her.  She
flicked the book out of her hands on to the floor and started scratching at the
page it opened.   A lavender bush seemed to grow out of the book and
the room became full of a soothing fragrance. 

“Clever
dog,” said Anwen, unsurprised at the magic of the book.  “That will soothe
all our nerves.”

“She’s
called Sophie,” said Eleanor.  “A man called Edgar sent her with us, but I
think she belongs to the Queen too.”

“Perhaps,”
said Anwen, “she is wiser than us all at the moment.  Come.  We will
pack some herbs and plants.”

Anwen
seemed to move all around the room gathering dried herbs and plants from
everywhere.  Eleanor followed and listened. “This is good for sea
sickness.  It sounds like you will need that,” Anwen said.  Then, she
looked affectionately at Edwin and said, “These are good for burns if you mix
then with mead.  I know all about them from treating Edwin after his work
at the furnace!”  They spent several hours at this.

Whilst
Eleanor and Anwen looked through their book and prepared potions in the
kitchen, Grace had fallen asleep and Master John had carried her to a straw
mattress at the back. 

Harry
read his book, quietly asking it questions. But whenever he said, “Where are we
going?” the pages just said
Peto
and
Invenio
as if they’d
forgotten how to speak English.  He was fed up with it again.

The
storm outside had settled down and it was not long before they were all asleep
on straw mattresses on the floor.

In the late morning, Eleanor
walked ahead with Anwen, clutching a bag of dried herbs and spices, which they
had supplemented with fresh pickings from the hedgerows.

Grace
and Harry walked behind talking to each other.  Master John had stayed behind
with Master Edwin to pack his heavy tools into a cart and bring them down to
the Harbour Inn, where he had promised to meet them to make their farewells.

The
forge was outside the main part of the village and the night before they had
barely seen Axmouth at all.

“Edwin
is rather scary isn’t he?” Grace said to Harry.  “Do you think he is the
traitor?”

“Well,
I wouldn’t think so,” replied Harry.  “He calmed down a lot after first
meeting us and seemed to be helpful.  But I suppose he could have been just
pretending.  Anyway the Queen seems to trust him, even if no one else
does.”

“But
that’s the whole point, isn’t it?” replied Grace.  “You trust people and
then they turn out to be a traitor and let you down.”

“I
suppose so,” said Harry.  “But how could he be the traitor?  He can’t
have been on the ship when the Sword was thrown overboard.  But on the
other hand the Prophecy talks about traitors, not one but more.  Maybe
there’s a conspiracy.  What do you think of Eloise?  She’s seems to
be a dark one.”

“But
she’s the Queen’s private maid.  And I think she’s sweet,” said Grace.

“Sweet?”
said Harry.  “With that funny face and the sort of moody silence.”

“Well
you can’t exactly blame her for being silent with a missing tongue or for that
scar.  Anyway, she was giggling when you talked about a fart in the
carriage. Most adults don’t do that.  Sophie has a feeling for people too
and she hasn’t growled at her.”

“But
Sophie hasn’t exactly been affectionate to her either.  Who could it be
then?” asked Harry.  “Master John?”  They both agreed it was unlikely
to be him.  Anyway, they liked him too much.  “He just seems too
honest and easy to read,” added Harry.

“It’s
that Guy of Caen that I didn’t like,” said Grace, “but we’ve seen so little of
him, it’s not exactly fair to judge.”

“We
had better just be very careful and keep an eye out for ourselves.  At
least we know each other,” added Harry as they turned the corner towards the
River Axe.

The
village didn’t look like the Axmouth the children knew, but they could hardly
expect it to.  But they saw the lie of the land and recognised the big
hills around them, with the old - or not so old - hill fort up above
them.  What surprised them all was how busy the little place was, with all
sorts of inns and activity.  It was a major port, Master John had said.
But neither of them could imagine how the river they knew with its mud flats at
low tide could possibly be a major port, even with a thousand years of
difference.  A few people looked at them strangely, especially at Harry’s
plus fours and wax jacket, but when they saw they were with Anwen, the dwarf’s
wife, they soon turned away.  These were different people, and there were
often strangers in the place too.

Then
the children saw the ship moored up beyond the Harbour Inn.  It was quite
unlike anything they had seen before and looked magnificent.  There were
two masts, one at the front and one towards the back.  Gold and red
lantern sails hung from them both.  Then at the back of the ship - the stern
- was a high poop deck with
castellations
around the
side and living quarters below.  Each side had holes for huge oars.

But
soon, they noticed the river and it distracted them from the boat. 

Eleanor
ran to them, “Look at the river.  It must be half a mile wide and Anwen says
it’s really deep.  That’s why this is such an important place.  The
ships can come up here and park away from the bay when it’s stormy.  It’s
amazing.”