Tregarthur's Revenge (Book2 - The Tregarthur's Series)

Tregarthur’s Series Book 2

Tregarthur’s Revenge

Alex Mellanby

Cillian Press

First published in Great Britain in 2014

by Cillian Press Limited. 83 Ducie Street, Manchester M1 2JQ www.cillianpress.co.uk Copyright Š Alex Mellanby 2014 The right of Alex Mellanby to be identified as the Author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Design and Patents Act 1988.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means without the prior written permission of the publisher, nor be otherwise circulated in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without similar condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser.

British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data.

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

Paperback ISBN: 978-1-909776-06-7 eBook ISBN: 978-1-909776-07-4

Published by Cillian Press – Manchester - 2014 www.cillianpress.co.uk

This book is dedicated, as before, to Pat Read and all the walkers who have and will take up the challenge of the Ten Tors.

It could not have been completed without my wonderful wife Carolyn and her endless re-reading of drafts and suggestions which straightened the plot from its meanderings. Cillian Press have, as always, been fantastic and put up with my rantings and ravings which were entirely generated by the characters in this book.

Contents Captive.......9 The Moor.......21 Empty Houses.......32 Bodies.......46 The Village.......53 Farming.......63 Nurse-Mary.......77 Freedom.......85 Tithe.......93 Soldiers.......111 Sir Henry.......124 Witchcraft.......137 Fire.......151 The Hunt.......162 Black Marks.......173 Bedside Manner.......181 Departure.......192 Zach.......203 On the Run.......212

-1-

Captive

T

onight was nearly here; my last tonight. I was on the menu for a caveman meal.

My arms were bound and my legs tied to a rock with thick creepers. I couldn’t have escaped, even if I’d been free.

There were too many of them. Then there were the injuries.

I didn’t think anything was broken – yet, but I had bruises all over my back from Zach’s beatings.

Our cave home had been wrecked. Pottery bowls smashed, rush beds burnt on the fire that smouldered near the entrance, even the rough partition thrown down the deep hole we used for a loo. Now it was a gloomy cavern lit only by orange rays of light from the setting sun.

Everywhere was crawling with Trogs, the name we’d given to the hairy cavemen – Neanderthals someone had said. If that wasn’t bad enough, into the cave came Zach; I thought he was dead, he should be dead. Zach the school bully turned murderer, followed by Demelza Honey, his queen bitch.

‘Are they going to cook him?’ Demelza’s voice was full of fake concern. She had recovered all of her old nasty self.

‘Nah, they eat everything raw,’ Zach laughed.

The group of Trogs, sitting cross-legged by the fire, turned towards me – and dribbled.

9

‘Big man now, aren’t you Zach?’ I did my best to sound brave. I didn’t want to let him believe he’d won.

It earned me a crashing blow from behind – Zach’s orders.

How had he made this tribe follow him?

‘No one calls me that and lives.’ Zach turned to make sure he was in full view of the Trogs: ‘It’s King Zach.’ Zach raised his arms above his head and shouted, ‘King Zach!

King Zach! King Zach!’

The Trogs whooped and cheered and grunted and spat and howled, although no one seemed able to actually say the words that Zach wanted.

‘Tonight,’ Zach sneered over his shoulder at me. ‘Tonight, Alvin Carter is on the list of specials – the dish of the day.’

I did my best to snarl, but for once I wanted my family around me. Dad would know what to do – probably involving guns and baseball bats. But Dad wasn’t here. He was rotting in jail with more of the Carter clan. I was on my own and a zillion somethings away from home.

Where were the other three who had stayed with me in this weird world? Alice Tregarthur’s weird world. I hoped they had escaped when the Trog army stormed our home and took me captive.

Would I ever see Jenna again, my fabulous Jenna? She had been down at the river with Ivy and Sam, finding food.

Had they hidden or had they been killed?

My thoughts were broken by a sudden howl from outside the cave. Zach and the Trogs ran out. Demelza smirked, blew me a mock kiss and went after them.

I heard a scream.

Straining against the creeper ropes I still couldn’t see what 10

was happening. More screams followed and the sound of fighting. One Trog ran into the cave, behind him three clubwielding men followed – not so much cavemen, despite the body hair and lack of much clothing. And that awful smell.

Oh yes, these three looked like the Stinkers I’d met before.

I slid down behind the rock and watched the fight. It was three against one. The clubs crashed down on his skull.

I heard the crack of bone. His lifeless body was left on the cave floor. The three victors barely gave me a glance before rushing back out howling and waving their clubs.

I didn’t think that meant much change. Last time I’d met the Stinkers they were trying to stone me to death. Maybe that was better than being eaten – but only just.

Sounds of a battle crashed on. I heard new shouts, different sounds from those of the cavepeople, whatever tribe they came from. Then a woman’s wail, one ear-piercing scream cut short. Was that Jenna? Had she died trying to rescue me?

The grunts and howls grew louder, the noise of fighting coming towards the cave. Then suddenly it stopped. Screams of triumph echoed around me but I had no idea who’d won – the stone throwers or the cannibal Trogs? I slumped down and waited.

‘Are you there?’ were the first words I heard. And they were Jenna’s.

She rushed over and flung her arms around me. I winced as she squashed my bruised body, but I didn’t care – she was 11

alive. Big Jen was alive.

‘What happened?’ I said when she finally let me go and untied my ropes. ‘Where did you find the Stinkers and how did you get them to fight for you?’

‘I didn’t.’ Jenna pursed her lips and when she spoke again I thought she was avoiding something. ‘I don’t think they’re the same Stinkers – just look like them.’

‘But …’

There wasn’t any more time to talk. More people were arriving – I couldn’t believe who I saw.

‘Jack? Mary? You came back. What …? How …?’ I mumbled as I stared up at the two of them.

They were so clean – and normal. We all must have looked like that once.

‘But how did you get here?’ I was full of questions but two more stepped into the cave.

‘What are you doing here?’ I said, startled, recognising the identical shaven headed Peta twins – one was Kan and the other Van but I didn’t know which was which.

‘Alvin? Alvin Carter? Did we come all this way to save you?’ one of them said with a smile. ‘You didn’t say it was this Alvin.’

‘You know each other?’ Mary sounded cross.

I nodded. They weren’t my best mates but I knew them.

Same age as me, their family just as dangerous as mine – more dangerous. Both standing head and shoulders above the others.

‘Thanks for coming guys,’ I said weakly. I was missing something, but somehow my mind felt clouded, things around me blurred. I tried to stand. Everything went blank 12

and I sank back down to the ground. Mary came to my side and handed me a water bottle.

‘We not do much,’ one of the Petas explained.

‘Oh that’s Kan – don’t mind his accent, I’m Van.’ The Petas were doing all the talking. What was happening?

Van looked at me. ‘Full on battle going on when we arrived between your …’ Jenna stopped him from speaking. That meant there had to be something worse.

‘Zach and Demelza have run off, but it’s not all good news.’ Jenna didn’t sound as though she wanted to explain.

‘Alvin, I’m … so sorry.’ She choked on her words.

‘What?’

Jenna turned towards the cave entrance. The rest stood silently watching. Jenna beckoned to a group of the Stinkers.

Slowly the men stepped forward together. Everything slowed down as they moved. They carried the body of an injured woman. I could see blood dripping from under the deerskin that covered her.

They laid her on the ground. Everyone turned to me, not saying anything. I didn’t understand. I couldn’t see her face.

Who was it? My pulse started to race, then I knew.

I jumped up, ignoring the pain from my bruises, and pushed through the men to stand over her. I stood and stared. I couldn’t focus, everything started to go dark in front of me. Jenna grabbed me as I slid back down, crying out: ‘Mum? MUM.’ It all went blank.

When I came round nothing had changed. ‘Mum, Mum,’ I groaned. I was still next to her. How could this be her?

13

She had deserted me and run off to this weird world, all part of the plan that we had been dragged into – Miss Tregarthur’s awful promise. I’d been told Mum had died.

It never seemed right but what was she doing here? What had happened?

I could see the movement of her shallow breathing, so I knew she wasn’t dead. But the blood, so much blood, could she survive?

The cave had filled with noise as the victorious Stinkers crowded in, pushing and shoving. I leant over her.

Slowly Mum opened her eyes. ‘Alvin. Did we save you?’ she mumbled.

‘Yes, Mum, all saved,’ I croaked.

‘My fault you got into this mess,’ she said and I could see the pain in her eyes.

‘Doesn’t matter now.’ I turned to the others. ‘Can’t we do anything?’ I tried to shout but my voice was weak. ‘Anything?

Anything?’ I saw only blank faces.

Jenna knelt down beside me and pulled away a corner of the deerskin. A huge gaping wound was open in Mum’s side. I gasped. Mum gave a strangled yell. Jenna covered the wound.

‘Mary …?’ I turned to her but she just shook her head.

Then Mum stirred again. She seemed to gather all her strength and her hand grasped my arm. ‘Alvin. Take everyone back. Take everyone. You MUST take everyone. If you don’t, it will never end. It’s up to you. Get them all back.’ It was her last effort. Her head lolled to one side, her eyes stared, unblinking, and she said no more.

‘NO! Mum.’ I slumped forward, my head falling on to 14

her body, she didn’t move. I felt blood running down my cheek. ‘Mum,’ I sobbed. No one moved or spoke. Slowly I looked up. Her breathing had stopped, no flicker of her eyes.

I was lost. So many things I needed to know, but did any of them matter? Mum had come to save me, now she was really dead. Did anything else matter – how she got here, how Zach was still alive, how all these other people had arrived? I stayed holding on to her lifeless body.

Before Jenna could explain any more, the sounds of a grunted argument echoed into the cave. The Stinkers had moved back outside and something was happening, something was wrong.

‘I’ll be back,’ Jenna said as she ran to find out.

I pulled myself up, wanting to follow her. I stepped forward but the sight of my mother’s body stopped me. I froze, thoughts scrambling in my mind.

Mary bent down, pulling the deerskin over her, covering her face. Then Mary held me in a hug, closely. It was enough, I pulled away to go after Jenna.

The tribe who had fought the Trogs were gathered outside the cave entrance.

‘Eesa!’ their leader grunted and the rest joined in chanting.

‘I guess they mean your mum,’ Jenna said. ‘They’re trying to say her name – Theresa – Eesa’s the best they can manage.’

The Stinkers were restless, moving around, grunting and pointing.

Jack appeared. ‘I think they’re planning to leave.’ And as he spoke the whole tribe, there must have been twenty or 15

so, turned and made off at a run.

Van and his brother Kan joined us.

‘Don’t think we should have let them go,’ Van said, staring at the disappearing group.

That didn’t register with me. I had something to do, to bury Mum. Nothing else mattered. I turned away to go back into the cave.

‘Er, Alvin.’ Van grabbed my arm.

‘What?’ I shouted and tried to pull away.

‘Now your mum’s army have left, the other lot will probably come back, and soon. Need to get out of here.’

Van held me in a strong grip. I almost hit him, but looking into his eyes I realised he was right. The danger wasn’t over, there were more people than just me to think about.

‘I don’t think getting away from here is that simple. Mum said before …’ my voice broke and I turned away.

Jenna took over: ‘She said we had to take everyone back or it wouldn’t end.’

‘We can’t take the dead people, can we?’ Jack sounded anxious. ‘But we need to get Ivy, she broke her arm in the battle. We need to get her home.’

I hadn’t seen either Ivy or Sam since I’d been released.

Now I saw them walking up towards us. Ivy winced as she walked. Mary went to help her. I thought it was worse than just a broken arm.

Suddenly I staggered. Was it from thinking about Mum or had the ground moved?

‘Small earthquake,’ Jack said confidently and turned to the Petas. ‘Happens all the time here.’

I wasn’t so confident and I looked anxiously into the cave, 16

not quite sure what would happen in another earthquake.

‘What was that?’ Van lifted his hand to his ear, listening.

‘It must be the Trogs,’ Jack cried. ‘Coming back with Zach and Demelza. They’re here again.’

Screams and shouts came from the direction of the river.

Then a much larger tremor shook the ground. Slabs of stone fell from the cliff above. Was a blue light coming from inside the cave? Another wave of shocks moved under our feet.

‘The tunnel,’ Jenna shouted. ‘The tunnel in the cave is opening again. It’s the way out of here.’

‘What about Zach and Demelza?’ Jack was holding on to me to stop himself falling but he nearly pulled me over, it hurt but I was feeling stronger now.

‘They come,’ Kan Peta said, pointing down the slope.

Two figures came running out of the bushes. Zach running ahead of Demelza, who kept looking over her shoulder.

‘Help,’ screamed Zach. ‘Help, they’re coming to kill us,’ he shouted, more breathless this time, as he ran up to us and collapsed. ‘Help, quick, do something, they’re going to club us to death.’ Zach pointed backwards.

A group of Zach’s Trogs emerged from the direction Zach pointed. They were standing and watching.

‘They’re waiting for the rest of them,’ squealed Demelza.

‘Help us.’

‘What have you done to upset them?’ I said. They didn’t answer. ‘Ok, I think we’ll just watch,’ I said with a tight smile. ‘Remember they like raw meat.’

‘Get Ivy into the cave, quick,’ Jenna told Sam. ‘Go through the tunnel with her if you can.’

‘The tunnel.’ Zach stirred. ‘Let’s go.’ And he jumped up.

17

Ivy and Sam were already disappearing into the blue-lit passage.

‘Not yet.’ I turned and, despite all the pain, I knocked Zach back down.

‘It was a joke,’ Zach moaned. ‘They weren’t really going to eat you. Come on, let’s get out of here.’

‘Mum.’ I put my foot on Zach’s chest. ‘You killed her.’

‘No he didn’t,’ Demelza said in a frantic tone. ‘If she hadn’t turned up here there wouldn’t have been a fight. She started it …’

I leapt at her, squeezing my hands around her neck. The two Petas grabbed me.

‘Later, Alvin,’ said Kan. ‘We go now, good idea.’

Zach was trying to get up. I kicked him down again.

I didn’t need to hurry. ‘We can’t take any dead people.

Mum must have meant we had to take the living people home. We leave him here and the Trogs kill them both. Job done.’ I prodded Zach with my foot.

‘That sounds like a proper Carter to me,’ Van laughed.

‘That’s what your dad would have done. Fine. Let’s leave them.’

I felt the hurt from Van’s words. Just like Dad. I thought I’d escaped from all that. Van was right. Leaving Zach was what my dad would have done. I took my foot off his stomach, pulled him to his feet and kicked him towards the cave. One more earth tremor shook the ground and brought a howl from the approaching Trogs. Zach was already making for the blue light.

There were a lot more Trogs and they were coming at a run.

They were nearly on us. One threw his club and it whistled past my ear, smacking into Zach’s shoulder. Another club 18

flew through the air, and another. We made for the cave.

I held back, this wasn’t right. I couldn’t leave Mum’s body unburied. Rocks were falling all around me.

Jenna tried to drag me forward. ‘Come on, there’s nothing you can do.’

I shrugged her off.

‘But your mum said take everybody,’ Jenna cried.

I turned away.

Then I felt the strong arms of the Petas. I struggled against them but they lifted me into the air and ran towards the back of the cave where the tunnel had opened.

‘My pack! Must get it,’ Mary shouted back to Jenna, who grabbed the backpack.

Then from deep inside the mountain a rumble started, rushing through the rock, thunderously loud. The shock wave hammered towards us. The earth was breaking around us.

‘The tunnel, quick, it’ll be too late,’ Jack shouted, stumbling towards the gaping hole that had opened up. ‘Look out.’

He shouted again as a massive lump of stone fell from the cave roof. We were only a few feet away. Would the Trogs follow us? If they did we were all dead.

‘It’s not right.’ Mary stopped and we fell into her. Zach was ahead, going into the dim light of the passage. ‘The light’s changing.’ Zach and Demelza vanished.

The hazy blue light became a mist, changing through purple to red. A violent heat came from the tunnel walls. I heard Jack shriek as his hand touched the side.

‘It’s the only way.’ Jenna pushed us on.

We were following Zach with no idea where this would 19

lead. Behind us the Trogs had stopped. They stood in silence as we disappeared from their view. They didn’t enter the tunnel. Was that because they couldn’t, or was it because they knew where it went?

20

-2-

The Moor

C

old. The burning red heat of the tunnel ended in a cold damp drizzle. The Petas dropped me on the ground beside a mound of rock.

‘We’re back,’ Jack brushed himself down and shivered.

‘Back on the moor.’

‘Where are Sam and Ivy?’ Jenna asked.

‘Must be somewhere,’ I said, looking around. Damp grey light hung over miles of open countryside. Hills in the distance topped with huge stone outcrops. I could see Jack and Mary but no sign of Sam or Ivy. ‘They went on ahead,’ was the only explanation I could give.

‘Well, we’re back at the Hanging Stones.’ Jenna ducked around the rocks and I followed her out onto the hill, surrounded by black mud and patches of struggling grass; damp air squeezing out its drizzle.

I’d seen the Hanging Stones before; they looked like two balanced stones ready to fall at any moment. The stones I’d seen were back in the caveman world, much larger than the ones here, these had been worn down over thousands of years of rain and wind and ice. Years that the tunnel had somehow carried us through in seconds.

‘That’s how I sent for Jack and Mary,’ Jenna said as 21

she started to explain just one of the things that I didn’t understand. She went on: ‘After you’d been captured I went to the stones and left a note. They seem to act like a letterbox.’

‘How did you know that?’ Jack watched one of the Peta brothers climbing up the rocks.

I was glad he asked. I had so many questions but I couldn’t get over what had just happened. I’d left my dead mother.

Left her dead body with the band of savage Trogs. Why had I let myself be dragged away?

So I was only half listening when Jen explained that something had drawn her to leave a message there, but I took more notice when Mary said that they’d been to see Miss Tregarthur and she had told them to look under the same stones.

‘She’s stuck in a nursing home,’ Mary told us. ‘Been there since she got hit by a rock and that stupid promise of hers went all wrong.’

‘Not before she got us into this mess.’ Jack poked the rock with his finger. ‘She’s playing with us.’

‘So you just turned up at the Hanging Stones and the tunnel opened for you?’ Jenna asked.

‘That’s just what happened,’ Jack said. ‘I suppose that’s what Miss Tregarthur expected to happen.’

‘She said …’ Mary stopped when she saw my face.

‘What?’ I snapped, cross with anything – especially myself.

‘Miss Tregarthur told us it would never end,’ Mary said quietly. ‘Words like your mum said.’ And Mary turned away. I think my expression must have shown too much of the way I felt.

‘You should have left me back there,’ I shouted at her as I slid further down a tuft of grass.

22

Jenna stood over me. ‘They’d have killed you.’

‘So?’ I should have died, like Mum. I’d deserted her.

‘That’s not what she would have wanted,’ Jenna said in a louder voice. ‘Your mum didn’t rescue you just to let you die.’ We were both getting angry. But she lowered her voice: ‘I didn’t want to see you die.’

I hung my head. Jenna’s words made sense and I didn’t really want to die. I wanted to be with Jenna, but I couldn’t find the right words.

‘Anyway your mum said we had to take everyone or it wouldn’t end,’ Jack added, and I could see that he was trying to make it better for me, but I wasn’t ready for being better.

‘Didn’t work,’ Kan called from up on the stones. ‘Not same place,’ Kan continued in his strange accent as he shielded his eyes against the weather and peered out.

Van joined him. ‘Definitely not the same place and there goes Rat Face, what’s his name – Zach?’ Van pointed.

‘Yeah and girl,’ said Kan. ‘I thought he was dead,’ I muttered.

‘You said you found his bones in the Tiger’s cave. You told me he was dead.’ Mary was getting angry now, we were all getting angry. I didn’t know what to say.

Jenna tried to answer. ‘Demelza never spoke much and she vanished one day. The next day she came back with Zach and the Trogs. No idea how he survived. Too late to ask him now.’

We watched Zach and Demelza running as fast as they could down the hill and disappearing into the distance.

Jack wandered away further up the hill, probably to get away from me. He shouted down to us: ‘Kan’s right. It’s 23

not the same place.’

I thought it looked like the moor and smelt like the moor.

Just like the place we had come to all that time ago and as bad as the first time. I looked back to see if there was any sign of the tunnel. There wasn’t. It was impossible to see where it had been. The rocks looked so solid. The tunnel had been red heat and smoke, it had rolled into itself and disappeared. Nothing there now except dark grey wet stone.

No tunnel and no way to go back to Mum. ‘Why is it different?’ Jenna asked. ‘Looks just as miserable as before. Didn’t we walk up that valley?’ She pointed down the hill towards an open area of moor.

‘Trees,’ said Kan. ‘Trees,’ said Van. ‘There are too many trees and no noise.’ Jack came back to join us.

‘What noise would you like?’ What did I care if we weren’t in the right place? Going home had never seemed like a good idea.

‘Cars.’ Jack took no notice of the way I’d spoken. ‘You can’t hear any cars. We could hear them in the distance when we came on the moor to find the tunnel, echoing up from the main road. There’s no noise here at all.’

We stood and listened. Silence. Cold, wet, drizzly silence.

Until we heard the howl.

‘What was that?’ Mary moved closer into the huddle.

‘Sounded like a wolf,’ Jack muttered.

‘How you know wolves?’ Kan said in his chopped speech.

‘Don’t you have wolves in Poland?’ Jack said, trying to laugh.

24

‘Maybe.’ Kan looked as though he was actually trying to remember.

‘Poland?’ I didn’t understand but no one explained.

‘Well it sounds like they have wolves here.’ Jack was more serious. ‘And if we have wolves, silence, and too many trees then we might be in the right place but it’s not the right time.’

‘But Mum said …’ I trailed off. The rest looked at me.

‘She said, take all of us. Well, didn’t we do that?’

‘Not the dead ones … not … not your mum,’ Jenna stumbled over her words.

‘What? You mean we were meant to drag her body into the tunnel?’ I turned on her, trying to shout but my voice breaking. ‘Dig up the other bodies and carry them into the tunnel. Is that what you mean?’ I was sure I was missing something.

But Jenna said nothing and just closed in on me, put her arms round me and hugged. I felt myself collapse, fold in on myself. The air didn’t seem to be getting into my lungs until I gave a great sob and turned away. The rest appeared too embarrassed to say anything. Even the wolf howls had stopped. But I couldn’t help feeling that I’d missed something, something Jenna still hadn’t told me.

‘What we do?’ Kan poked the soggy ground with his foot.

‘We get wet here.’

‘We could follow Zach,’ Mary replied. ‘Even if it isn’t the same time there might be something down there. I saw a small village when we started out on the moor – it looked old.’

‘It’s probably been there forever,’ said Jack. ‘It was all stone buildings. So, do we go?’ Jack looked at me. I was beyond talking.

25

‘I don’t know,’ Jenna replied for me. ‘If we aren’t where we started from then maybe we should stay here. Perhaps the tunnel will open again. Maybe if we go into it again it’ll be different.’

The Hanging Stones felt as though they were the key, but was that wrong? The tunnel had opened in our cave, nothing to do with the stones. If we wanted to find it again were we in the wrong place?

‘The tunnel was different this time.’ Jack was still looking around. ‘Not really a tunnel at all, and I can’t see where it was.’

I could see what Jack meant. Once we were in the tunnel nothing had felt solid, as though we were in a mix of swirling gas.

‘There’s nothing there now.’ Van had wandered around the Hanging Stones. ‘No tunnel, nothing.’

‘I think we should stay here,’ I mumbled. ‘Stay here at least tonight. See if anything happens.’ I didn’t want to leave, lose all chance of going back and at least burying Mum. ‘I don’t …’ Jack started but Jenna held her finger to her lips.

‘I agree with Alvin,’ Jenna said firmly. ‘In the night at least we can see if there are any lights anywhere.’

‘Ok, but what about the wolves?’ Mary didn’t sound happy with that plan.

‘If we build a fire, then we should be alright.’ Jack seemed to have understood that I needed to stay here.

‘Plenty of wood,’ said Van. ‘We go get some.’ Kan took a step forward. ‘You work on plan while we gone.’ And the twins were off towards a group of trees.

26

I wasn’t sure who was going to work on any plan. I certainly didn’t have one. My mind might be full of other thoughts, but no plan. I still wondered why Kan spoke in his strange way and why Jack had mentioned Poland.

Looking around Jack had found a gap in a pile of huge boulders, almost a cave, a few steps away from the two balanced stones. We moved into it, although it didn’t provide perfect shelter from the damp.

The Petas returned carrying bundles of wood. Mary pulled out a lighter from her pack and gave it to Jack. The damp branches smouldered, but Jack was good with fires and he blew hard on it to get a flame. Then he moved the other wood nearer, to dry it out. Mary shared out some of the food they’d brought.

‘What we do?’ Kan said as he helped Jack.

‘Wait and see if the tunnel opens again.’ I didn’t sound hopeful, just useless. I heard Jenna give out a frustrated sigh.

I knew I’d have to get over my feelings. I wasn’t the only one who mattered, we had to survive. Jenna needed me to get through this.

We did wait. The wolves howled.

‘They’re getting nearer.’ Mary shivered. ‘I thought I saw a shadow moving out there.’ She pointed, but it was getting dark and we couldn’t tell if it was just the rocks or if the wolves really were closing in on us.

Darkness fell outside our shelter, a deep dark blanket hiding everything until the moon slid from the clouds, its faint light silhouetting the towering rocks over the moor.

Huge dark shapes in an empty land.

27

‘If there is anyone out there, this is the time we should be looking for a light.’ I stood by the fire.

‘You ok?’ asked Jenna.

‘No,’ I replied, not really understanding what she was asking. ‘But I was the one who said we should stay and I’m going out to look.’

‘We come,’ said Kan, looking at his brother who nodded.

‘Take a piece of burning wood.’ Jack reached down to the fire and pulled out a burning branch. ‘It’ll keep the wolves away.’

I thought that unlikely and anyway the flames would soon die out on one branch. ‘We need to do this in the dark or we won’t see anything.’

‘Or anything see us,’ said Van and I nodded.

The three of us moved out from the rocks. Our eyes adjusted to the moonlight and we could make out the valley below. A tumbling stream with a ghostly spray caught in the silvery light.

‘Lights.’ I pointed into the distance. ‘Looks like Zach was right to go that way.’

‘I think there are more.’ Van touched me on the shoulder.

‘Over there, in the distance?’

‘Maybe, but they’re faint and flickering – like they’re fires not electric light.’ I strained to see. Then I turned, hearing a rushing sound.

Out of the dark a shape sped towards me. A snarling beast 28

launched itself at my throat. In that instant I wished for Jack’s burning branch. I hurled myself sideways. I felt fur brush my head as I fell. Shooting past me, it turned with a slavering growl ready to leap on my fallen body. I could see the row of savage teeth caught in the dim moonlight. I couldn’t move, my body rigid, locked in fear. The animal sprang.

So did Kan and Van. The three met in mid-air and all fell on top of me. With wild screams Kan and Van attacked the animal – gouging, biting, tearing and more screaming. Probably the screaming had most effect, the creature left almost faster than it had arrived. Disappearing into the dark it let out a scalded howl.

Kan and Van rolled away from me. They were laughing.

While I tried to move, they were still laughing. I thought I was going to puke, waves of nausea hit me. They were still laughing. I tried to join in the laughter but it was more a retch with hot bile forming in my mouth.

‘Come on.’ Van pulled me to my feet.

‘We get under cover.’ Kan turned towards the rocks. They’d both stopped laughing.

‘Thanks,’ I said, trying to hide my fear even though I could hardly stand. ‘Strange wolf.’ I added, looking into the darkness in the direction the animal had disappeared.

‘Wolf?’ Van said with mock disbelief. ‘I wouldn’t have attacked it if I’d known it was a wolf. I thought it was someone after us.’

‘Is there someone after you? Is that why you came?’ I said quietly. I needed some more answers despite the wolves.

‘What’s all this strange accent and talk of Poland?’ I knew the brothers had a reputation for being wild – but Poland?

29

As we stood in the dark drizzle Van explained there had been a bit of trouble – quite a lot and I knew what that meant, so when Mary asked them to come on this trip they agreed rather quickly to get away.

‘She not explain about lost world,’ muttered Kan. I guessed they probably hadn’t told her they were on the run either.

‘We’d been trying to make out we came from Poland,’ said Van. ‘I’ve told Kan to keep up with the accent. Have to be realistic, just in case.’

I couldn’t see why, but I guessed I’d find out some time.

Jack came out to listen as Kan said, ‘And eat goulash. I hate goulash.’

‘Have to get it right, brother.’ Van had laughter in his voice. Jack started to say something but stopped.

Van looked into the darkness. ‘Not sure if it was a wolf.

More like a big dog.’

‘More out there.’ Kan waved us back towards the fire.

Inside the rock cleft Jenna looked up at me from behind the fire. I knew that only the Petas could have saved me. As I moved under cover I could feel my legs start to give way.

Van grabbed me and I slid to the ground. Jenna yelped and came to me, asking if I was alright.

‘Yes, alright thanks to these guys, useful to have on your side,’ I said, almost forgiving them for having dragged me into the tunnel. I rubbed the bruises I’d got from falling onto the rocks when the wolf had leapt, but that was all – the injuries from before were gone. All the bruises and injuries 30

I’d suffered when Zach had me prisoner had vanished. Had that happened in the tunnel?

The Petas’ craziness seemed to follow us. We were all a little crazy. Even Jack and Mary were laughing as Van explained how they had chased off the poor little doggy. It took my thoughts away from the awfulness I’d left behind. I still thought the poor little doggy had awfully big teeth.

‘Oh, Kan.’ Jack tried to be part of the laughter. ‘Just to let you know that although they do make quite good goulash in Poland it’s really sausages they are famous for.’

A moment of silence in the gloom.

‘But you said we had to eat it.’ Kan slowly turned towards his brother. ‘I like sausage, don’t like goulash.’ Kan leapt across the fire at his brother, who darted out into the night.

We heard the two of them shouting wildly. Van’s laugh of: ‘Goulash, goulash,’ mixed with Kan’s, ‘I kill you. I kill you,’ as he chased after him.

‘What about the wolves?’ Jack called out in a strained voice.

‘I think you’re right to worry.’

I sounded so serious that Jack turned to me. ‘What do we do?’

‘I guess we call animal welfare if the Petas find any of them.’

Jack laughed as he finally got the joke and we built up the fire. Kan and Van were soon back and we all kept behind the burning wood. The Petas might be wild but they seemed to know how to handle danger. I think the noise they’d made running around outside the cave was probably better protection than any fire. Good to have them on our side.

31

-3-

Empty Houses

J

ack kept the fire burning through the night.

We dozed, leaning against the cold rock. For me it was time to think – more about Mum. I knew she had come with Alice Tregarthur to the caveman world but I thought, like Zach, that she had died ages ago. I’d even been taken to her supposed grave. She must have got away, but how had she turned up to rescue me?

Jenna was talking to the others, trying to make sense of what had happened. ‘I was up at the Hanging Stones,’ she said, shaking her head. ‘But I’d only put the note down for a few minutes and then you and Mary turned up.’

‘This tunnel thing really messes with time,’ Jack chipped in sleepily. ‘We got the message but it was a couple of days before we could get anyone to come with us.’

‘And in your caveman time we’d only been away for a week or so.’ Mary looked up. ‘Back at home it was a year at school for us.’

‘But Mum? Jen, don’t you know anything?’ I said and everything was questions – no answers.

‘It was like Van said. We all came down from the stones and the battle was already going on. I could see a woman leading the Stinkers. She shouted something about being 32

your mum but we couldn’t talk and then …’ Jenna stopped looking at me in the dim light of the fire. I still felt that I was missing something.

But I had to put my guilt on hold. Mum was dead and we had enough problems here.

‘What happened to Sam and Ivy?’ I asked, realising we still hadn’t seen them.

That stirred Jack. ‘They escaped. They went into the tunnel ahead of us. It must have taken them home. I just don’t get this – the tunnel does whatever it feels like – took us home before, brought us back. Didn’t matter how many people we had with us.’

‘It’s not just time it messes with,’ said Mary, looking at Jack. ‘It moves.’

‘Eh?’ Jenna and I said at the same time.

‘The Hanging Stones must be important, that’s the way we came, but …’ Jack rubbed his face, thinking. ‘Then when the Trogs chased us the tunnel opened at the back of the cave.’

‘Maybe the earthquake had something to do with it,’ I said that, but it wasn’t really what stuck in my mind. I thought that whatever the tunnel did, the trouble it caused, where it took us – it was because of me and I wasn’t going to say that.

We talked round and round in circles, trying to guess at what might have happened. In the end I suppose I dozed off again. The rest carried on talking for a while. In my fitful sleep I heard Mary ask about Zog – the cave-child who had stayed with us after Zach had bludgeoned her mother to death.

33

‘She went off with Demelza,’ Jenna said. ‘Never saw her again.’

Just another question with no answer.

Dawn came as the firewood ran out. The others stirred. The Peta twins were the last to wake.

‘Anything to eat?’ said Van, stretching out his large body.

Jack handed out the last of the food – bread and a chocolate bar.

‘Mine,’ Jenna and I screamed at the same time, both grabbing for the chocolate. It might be the last of the food but we hadn’t seen chocolate for ages. Jenna won, but she did share it.

Mary laughed. ‘We did bring you some clothes,’ she said, looking in her backpack. ‘But they were in the other packs we left behind. Just one thing left.’ She handed a plastic bag to Jenna.

I heard her squeal, ‘Clean knickers,’ and scuttle to the darkest corner.

The clothes Jenna and I wore were pretty much all deerskin and worn out. We were going to need something to replace them pretty soon. Walking over the moor would be hard in worn out moccasins. But we did need to leave this place.

I’d already been out to the Hanging Stones, no sign of any tunnel.

‘Time to move.’ I stood looking out at the grey mist which hung over the hill, but at least the rain held off. We had to go. Staying here just meant starving to death. With no tunnel, we were going to be following Zach.

34

‘Down into the valley?’ Jack was ready to go.

I nodded and we set off.

After a few steps I stopped. The moor stretched out in front of me. Despite the trees it felt a huge space of hills and valleys. Stone outcrops on top of the hills, huge menacing clusters of black rocks. Anyone could be hiding out there.

‘Let’s stay on the higher ground for a while,’ I called the rest to follow me. ‘See if anyone is around. Watch out for Zach.’

‘You think that boy cause more trouble? We sort ’im.’ Kan smacked his fist against his other palm.

I watched Kan, glad that we had him and his brother with us. But what could Zach be up to? Somehow he’d managed to get a whole tribe of Trogs to obey him for a while until they turned on him. Could he do something like that again?

What tribes were out on the moor this time?

We had to go down a little further and skirt round another rocky peak before we could walk along the hills that stood above the valley. We trudged on slowly, squelching over soft and boggy ground. Soon all of us were wet and covered in dark sticky mud as we tried to avoid the wettest parts.

Dodging between painful spiky bushes with yellow flowers and purple plants that hid all the holes.

‘Gorse,’ Mary said. ‘The spiky one’s gorse, purple one’s heather.’

‘Thanks Mary.’ My foot had just disappeared into a treacly black hole. ‘Good to know what they are.’ I’m not sure the sarcasm reached her.

Much later Jack called out: ‘There’s a track.’ He’d been keeping to the highest ground and his call came from a distance away. ‘It leads up there,’ he shouted, and pointed 35

to a huge round hill, purple with Mary’s heather and dotted with small stunted trees.

Any track felt better than struggling through the bog, wherever it went. We stumbled over to Jack. A wide path led across the moor, heading straight for the round dome in the distance. We stopped for a while, sitting on rocks and looking down at the valley.

I found a stream, took a drink and refilled the water bottles Jack had brought with him.

‘You think it’s safe?’ Van dipped his hand into the stream.

‘Probably,’ I replied, taking a drink.

‘Even with those dead sheep?’ Van pointed down the hill.

Several dead animals lay across the moor side. I could see birds pecking at one of them.

‘Should be ok, ’cos the dead sheep are below us,’ Jack said, and I took another drink even though I saw an old rotting carcass further up the hill.

‘Someone must look after the sheep.’ Jack scanned the moor. ‘Just can’t see anyone.’

‘They’re not doing a very good job.’ I picked up a sunbleached bone; there were lots of bones scattered over the grass. I chucked it away as we set off towards the hill that loomed in front of us.

Soon after we’d started climbing, I saw a strange group of stones on one side of the track. Ten or more rough pillars of rock had been set in the ground, arranged around a huge flat stone lying in the middle.

‘What’s that?’ I pointed, expecting Jack or Mary to have some explanation.

‘It’s a stone circle.’ Jack was almost excited. ‘It’s ancient.

36

Probably where they used to have sacrifices.’

‘Maybe they still do,’ said Van. ‘Should we go and take a look?’ Jack sounded as though he was on a school trip again.

‘No. We need to get on.’ The clouds were gathering. I knew the weather could change quickly. Being stuck out here on the moor with only dead sheep wasn’t a good idea.

We needed shelter and food before night.

‘Hang on,’ called Jenna from some way behind. ‘There’s something else over there.’ She pointed. ‘Aren’t those houses?’

A short distance from the stone circle we could see a group of grey buildings. Not modern houses. These were rough stone structures with straw thatched roofs. I led the way towards them. The rest followed, speeding up as we neared a small village. A small ancient village.

‘This not like home,’ said Kan as we looked at the mud track, the low stone houses with cracked wooden doors.

It wasn’t like home. These houses weren’t like anything I’d ever seen. A cold and uncomfortable sort of place to live.

The windows were just small holes in the wall with a few wooden bars. Everywhere there was mud.

‘Strange we see no light here.’ Kan paused. ‘We go careful?’

I’d felt a bit stupid being so terrified by the wolf on the previous night, so I didn’t take much notice of Kan’s words and pressed on. I went towards the first house. The stone walls were solid enough but the thatched roof had half fallen in.

‘Hello. Anyone here?’ I shouted. There was no reply.

There were a few more houses on both sides of the mud road. Deserted houses with their wooden doors hanging 37

open. I poked my head into another one and shouted again, but still no reply.

‘Where is everyone?’ Jenna stood at the door of one of the intact houses. ‘There’s no sign of anyone. They left stuff inside – chairs, tables, pots and things. They’ve had a fire in there.’ She pointed back into the house. ‘It’s not burning, but they can’t have left that long ago.’

‘They all disappear?’ said Kan as we all walked over to see what Jenna had found.

‘Perhaps they’ve all been sacrificed up at that stone circle,’ said Van. ‘Then who did it? And where are they?’ Mary hadn’t gone into any of the houses. She’d just stayed outside, her face creased with worry.

Almost without a sound a pack of animals appeared at the end of the mud track. A huge grizzled beast, teeth bared, stood at the front and growled. I shuddered, thinking he might be the same animal that had leapt at me last night. The rest of the pack, seven or eight of them, gathered around him.

Then with a howl they sprang forward, bounding towards us.

Everything seemed to stop and we were just staring at them, not moving, until Jenna yelled, ‘In here, in here,’ as she threw herself into the house next to her. ‘NOW.’ We all dived in behind her, slamming the door as the snarling barking pack crashed into it.

‘Wild dogs,’ shouted Van with his back pushing against the door to keep it closed.

‘Maybe dogs, maybe wolves.’ Kan joined him.

The animals were still trying to get in, hurling themselves at the wooden planks.

38

‘Empty village, wild dogs and no people. Strange,’ Kan shouted against the noise.

The door looked strong enough to hold, but we needed something to jam against it.

‘The table,’ Jenna shouted.

‘Move it.’ I grabbed one end, Jack took the other. We turned the table on its side and laid it across the closed door.

‘Not enough.’ I saw that every time the dogs threw themselves at the door, the table moved.

‘We sit.’ Kan and his brother sat with their backs against the overturned table and jammed their feet into the mud floor. The table didn’t move after that.

The house had only one room with two windows, both open to the air and protected with wooden bars. The dogs couldn’t get in that way. But they were on the opposite side and it meant we couldn’t see what they were doing.

‘If the dogs can’t get in, then we can’t get out,’ Mary sobbed. ‘Great idea coming to rescue you, Alvin, and getting trapped ourselves.’

‘You sound as miserable as Ivy.’ I tried to laugh. Then I thought about the other two – Sam and Ivy. Where were they now?

Mary seemed to read my mind. ‘Ivy?’ she blurted out.

‘Ivy’s not miserable now, she’s back home and we’re stuck here for ever.’

No one had anything to say after that. We just listened to the growls and barks from the animal pack. Slowly they became quieter, but the dogs stayed by the door. From time to time more howling and yelping made it sound as though they were attacking each other. After they stopped hurling 39

themselves against the door Kan and Van moved into the room and we piled the chairs against the table.

While we had been barricading the door, Jenna had been searching the corners of the house.

‘Might be something to eat,’ she said. She was standing near to a low partition that cut off one corner of the room.

‘There are some jars. Mostly empty but there’s something like wheat or barley in one of them.’ Jenna waved to Mary.

‘Come and see.’

Mary didn’t move from the middle of the room. Tears were running down her cheeks. She stood silently, except when her whole body heaved with another sob.

‘Come on,’ Jenna gently pulled her over to the corner.

Mary tried to shake her off, but Jenna just pulled harder.

The two of them shuffled over to the stack of pottery jars.

Mary wiped her face and joined Jenna in the search for food.

‘There’s a pile of wood over here,’ Jack called from another corner.

Why had this place been deserted? It made no sense.

Whoever the house belonged to, there wasn’t much, but they’d left their life behind.

The small windows gave a gloomy light, making it difficult to see where we were treading. It wasn’t long before Kan trod in a pile of dung.

‘Now you smell like goulash,’ muttered Van and soon the twins were throwing straw and mud from the floor at each other and laughing. That started the dogs off again and the two of them had to move back to hold the table, but it 40

didn’t stop them shouting or laughing.

‘Don’t know how they keep doing that.’ Jenna smiled.

‘Don’t know why they keep doing that.’ Mary didn’t smile.

Jack started to make a fire in the middle of the room.

‘There’s a hole in the roof and I guess that lets out the smoke.’

He pointed to the ground. ‘You can see where they have made the fire before.’

‘Glad you explained that,’ I joked. ‘I thought you were going to burn the place down.’

Jack just kept blowing on the glowing wood, he always seemed slow to see the funny side of anything. Perhaps he was right – there wasn’t any funny side to being stuck here.

I moved some more wood. Looking up at the hole in the roof I wondered what happened when it rained.

‘Any water?’ Jenna called out, holding an iron pot that she’d found near to the jars of grain.

‘I’ve two bottles in my pack.’ Jack glanced up from blowing at the fire.

‘Enough to make some stew.’ Jenna pulled out the plastic bottles.

‘Jenna’s stew,’ I shouted. ‘Jenna’s famous stew, keeps you alive all winter.’

‘Maybe we eat dogs.’ Van was watching Jenna preparing her stew.

‘Yee-eew,’ said Mary.

Jenna put a mixture of grain and water into the pot and hung it over the fire. There was a metal chain fastened to a roof beam with a hook at the end which held the pot.

Probably the owners of the house cooked this way. Why hadn’t they taken these things with them when they left?

41

The mixture bubbled and Jenna stirred it with a piece of stick. She picked up a bowl that had fallen from the table, gave it a sort of wipe and filled it from her pot. ‘More porridge than stew,’ she said, passing the grey gloop around.

After we had finished trying to eat whatever it was, Kan stood at the door listening. ‘Can’t hear dogs,’ he said. ‘I look.’ He moved the table a fraction.

With a crash the largest animal hurled itself forward, ramming its snout through the opening. Yellowed fangs bit into the wooden door frame as it held on and threw its body, trying to smash a way in. Kan was knocked down.

The door started to open.

We all screamed.

Van and I dived at the table, pushing and scrabbling to close the door. The other dogs had joined in, throwing themselves at the gap. We smashed the door into the nose of the first animal. It leapt back with a wild howl. Together we all shoved and slowly pushed the table, closing the door against the pressing weight of the snarling beasts.

The dogs weren’t going anywhere.

‘I think that big one is more wolf than dog,’ muttered Van with his back to the table again. ‘Not the same one we saw last night. Nice place for a walk, this moor.’

Van had almost slipped into his brother’s way of talking.

It would be difficult to tell them apart unless Kan was the only one who stuck with the chopped accent. They pretty much had the same clothes. It made me wonder.

Day slipped into early night. Jenna passed round more 42

porridge. No one talked. We stayed sitting on the floor.

There were two rough straw beds behind the partition. I persuaded the Petas to take them. I thought we needed to keep them in good condition, Jenna agreed. So she and I swapped and lay down against the table, in case the dogs tried again. Jack and Mary huddled in another corner.

I didn’t think we would be able to sleep. The growling and sniffing went on into the night as the dogs shifted and snuffled at the door, letting us know they were still there. But slowly I drifted into fitful nightmares. Images of snapping jaws and dagger-sharp fangs woke me throughout the night.

From the moans and groans around the room I think we were all in the same dream.

In the earliest glint of light I turned over, desperate for a wee.

‘Bucket in the corner,’ Jenna mumbled.

I found the bucket, but not before standing in something soft and smelly. The previous owners weren’t strong on household cleaning.

Standing at one window gazing blearily into the thin grey misty light, I thought I heard the blast of a horn, far in the distance. And was that the sound of horses? I couldn’t tell and I wasn’t going out to look. I snuggled down alongside Jenna’s warm body.

The next thing I knew, sun shining through the window had lit the room with stripy bars of light. The rest were all awake. Jenna had woken the Petas, moved the bucket behind the partition and stretched some sacking in front to give a little privacy.

43

As my mind moved into gear, I felt a shock of fear, remembering the vicious animals outside the door. What could we do?

Nothing, I thought. We were the dogs’ next meal.

‘Trapped,’ said Jack.

‘There’s not enough water to make any more porridge,’ Mary moaned.

I clenched my teeth. Did they have to say that?

‘Easy,’ Jenna said quietly. ‘They only came here to help us.’

I muttered a few words and Jen poked me.

‘Can’t you suggest something then?’ I mouthed at her.

‘Ok,’ she said.

I was startled, wondering what she’d thought up.

Jenna went to the back of the house. ‘We have to kill one of them,’ she said loudly, and everyone turned to her. ‘If we can kill the big one then the rest might clear off.’

‘How?’ Jack sounded as though the idea was useless. ‘Unless you’ve found a gun there, Jen.’ ‘No, just these iron things.’ Jenna held up an iron rod.

‘Maybe they used them to poke the fire. Alvin – any ideas?’

I smiled. Jenna didn’t usually ask me for a plan unless she had planted an idea in my mind. ‘Give it a go,’ I said, getting up. ‘Jack, heat up that fire, we’re going to barbecue some wolf.’

I said ‘wolf ’, in case we did kill it and had to eat it. I didn’t think that Mary would be too keen on eating someone’s pet doggy, even if it had tried to savage us all. Jack piled wood on to the fire and I put the end of the iron rod into the flames. Soon it glowed a murderous red.

‘Right, Kan and Van, you two pull open the door. When woolfy throws himself at me, I stick him with the poker.’

44

‘It will never work,’ said Jack. I gave him a dog-like snarl and he said, ‘Sorry.’

I didn’t think it would work either but if Jenna thought we should try, I was going to do it.

‘Ready?’ Van and Kan stood by the door. I counted to three. Van heaved the table away. Kan pulled the door open.

I gave a yell and charged forwards holding the heated iron bar. I tripped and sprawled out into the mud and worse.

‘Alvin,’ screamed Jenna, Mary, and Jack together. The Petas just laughed. The dogs had gone.

45

-4-

Bodies

I

picked myself up and looked around, nothing. The rest joined me and we walked slowly down the muddy lane between the houses. Ready to run back into the house.

No dogs. I thought I could hear sounds of barking way off in the distance. I also thought I heard screams but maybe I was imagining it.

‘Why they go.’ Kan sniffed the air as though he might smell them.

There was a smell of something but was it dogs?

I told them about the horn, the noise I had heard in the early morning. ‘And I thought I heard horses in the distance.’

‘Could be someone is hunting them and that’s why they left,’ Jack said. ‘The dogs must have belonged to whoever lived here.’

‘Nice pets.’ Van stepped to one side, avoiding what the animals had left behind.

‘Not pets – they probably used the dogs for their own hunting.’ Jack was full of information.

Van and Kan disappeared between two broken down shacks.

One of them gave a shout and reappeared.

46

‘I think we’ve found the people.’ Van waved us towards him. He held up his hand as we got nearer. ‘It’s not very nice.’ He stood aside to let us pass.

Behind the building, on an area of open moor, stood a graveyard. A few broken crosses were scratched with names, no dates. In the middle a shallow pit had been dug, not deep enough to hide the pile of uncovered bodies.

We stood in silence. The dogs had been at work here.

‘They must have died some time ago,’ said Jack.

‘How you know that?’ asked Kan. ‘There’s not much smell.’ Jack sniffed. ‘They only really smell when …’

‘JACK,’ shouted Jenna. ‘No need for details. Shouldn’t we cover them up?’

Jenna took a step forward but Mary held her back.

‘Wait. Don’t go near them.’ Mary looked anxiously towards the bodies. ‘Something’s killed them all. Maybe it was just some fight between the villages, but why have they put the bodies here and then left? If they lost some battle wouldn’t the people who’d won have taken over the village, why would they take the trouble to pile up the dead and then leave?’

‘Some disease, most likely,’ said Jack and that stopped us all.

‘What disease would wipe them all out?’ I asked.

‘I’m not sure,’ said Mary, looking at Jack.

I could tell they had an idea. Why didn’t they want to talk about it? By then we were all backing away from the pile of bodies.

‘I think we should get out of here, in case the dogs return,’ I said.

‘Wait.’ Mary held up her hands. ‘If we go down to the 47

next village, we look pretty strange. You and Jenna probably look like you could live in an old place like this, but us four don’t. We’ve got modern gear and I’m not sure what your T-shirt says …’

‘It’s Polish,’ said Van. ‘Means don’t come near me or I’ll bite you.’

‘I think the lion’s mouth gives it away even if you don’t understand it,’ I laughed.

‘Anyway,’ Mary went on. ‘If we turn up looking like this then …’ Mary stopped and I wondered what she was going to say.

‘There are clothes left in several of the houses.’ Jenna pointed at the nearest one. ‘They’re pretty rough but I guess that’s what they wear here.’

I heard Jack muttering something about whether they were safe and Mary saying they would be ’cos they’d been left there for quite a long time. It didn’t make sense to me but I wanted to get on so we went into the houses and started sharing out the leftover clothes. Strange – I looked better after I’d put on some sort of tunic. Even the old boots I found were better than my moccasins. Van and Kan wouldn’t swap their trainers but Mary persuaded them to rub a bit of dirt into them.

‘Look like a band of yokels,’ said Jack.

‘Perfect,’ replied Mary, but I thought we still all looked a little odd.

‘Come on. If we’re going on to the next village we need to get started.’ I led them back up the track and we hurried towards the stone circle again.

48

The dark ring of stones cast shadows reaching across the flat rock in the middle. Was that used for sacrifices? Human sacrifices? I shuddered, imagining a body held down. I imagined the screams.

Jack tapped me on the shoulder. I jumped.

‘You’re sure we should head for another village?’ Jack said quietly.

‘What choice do we have?’ I said, feeling a bit stupid at being startled.

‘This disease may be everywhere. It might not be safe.’

Although Jack tried not to let the others hear, they all gathered round.

‘Jack, we can’t find any tunnel, there’s no way we can get out of here. We’ve no food, we have to get off the moor.’ I pointed to the clouds. ‘There’s no shelter. We won’t survive out here.’

‘We might not survive in the next village,’ Mary said, staring at the ground.

‘But Alvin’s right,’ Jenna said firmly, ‘we have to go on.’

‘Have you any idea what happened to the last villagers?’

I was still looking at the clouds and wondering if Jack or Mary would tell me what they really believed.

‘It must be some sort of infection.’ Mary looked up. ‘I’m not sure what.’

I turned to her and caught the slight shake of her head as she mouthed ‘no’ at me. So whatever they thought this was, I knew it must be pretty awful. Jenna saw what was going on.

‘Jen?’ I wanted her advice.

Jenna shrugged, ‘No choice, as you said. We’re following 49

Zach. He’s probably just as bad as this disease thing.’

‘Maybe not,’ muttered Jack.

Jenna went on: ‘Even so, I think Zach will make more trouble. He tried to kill us so he’ll think we’re after him.’

‘Don’t care if I never see him again,’ I said. ‘But come on.’

Kan and Van had already started down the hill into the valley. They’d stopped to drink beside a stream. There were a few live sheep but a lot more dead carcasses.

‘Didn’t want to wait ’til we were down below them,’ shouted Van. We followed and soon we were walking beside a stream.

It felt familiar.

‘Is this the stream …’ I started.

‘That Zach pushed me into,’ finished Jack. ‘I think it is.’

We walked on. I thought about that first day when we had set off with Miss Tregarthur on the school hike. I couldn’t help feeling that she still had something to do with whatever was happening now.

‘Do you think sheep get this disease?’ I asked Mary as we passed more dead animals, but she had no answer.

Further down we could see a small hut. As we neared it I thought it looked like the sort of place a shepherd might use. The door was hanging open. There didn’t seem to be anyone around.

Van looked inside and backed away. ‘Don’t go in there.’ He made a slicing motion across his neck. We all saw the body.

Had this disease wiped out everyone? But we had seen lights, so someone must be out there. We plodded up another hill 50

towards the place Jack and Mary said they had seen the village.

But if this was a different time, would there be anything there now? The clouds still looked threatening above us.

We started to notice more trees, much larger than the stunted twisted trunks on the open moorland. A track led into the wood and we followed it. We heard a bark. That made us stop and close into a huddle near one of the trees.

‘Sounds more like an ordinary dog,’ said Jack.

‘Move on.’ I stepped back onto the track.

Further along we smelt burning wood and I saw a wisp of smoke rising above the trees. The track became wider, opening out on to a flat grassy area. Ahead we saw houses.

Some were similar to the last village – stone walls and a straw roof. Others were wooden and looked as though they were only just standing up. Further away there was a grander house, but the rest of this village looked very poor.

We went on, keeping as quiet as possible. Between the first two houses a gate blocked the way, but it was only held closed by a loop of rope. Kan lifted the rope and pulled the gate open, it squealed on rusting hinges. The noise startled me, everything had been so quiet. Pulling the gate closed we walked on. We only made a few steps.

‘Halt.’ Five men armed with what looked like farming tools stepped out from behind one of the houses. Most of them were dressed in rough smocks with ragged leather boots. They were all bearded and none of them looked too clean. One wore a tattered jacket and pointed a vicious looking scythe towards us. ‘You stay right there,’ he said as firmly as he could, but I could see fear in his eyes. ‘You just stay there while we get the bailiff.’ He turned to one of the 51

others. ‘Ned, go get him – tell him they’re the ones he told us about – foreign people. Quick.’

Van whispered to me, ‘Do we rush them? They’re not up to much.’

‘No, let’s see what this bailiff person has to say before we do anything,’ I said. ‘It seems as though they’ve been expecting us.’

- End of Extract -

52

About the Author

This is Alex Mellanby’s second novel in the Tregarthur Series.

Alex’s medical career fell apart when he failed to pay his GMC registration, not necessarily a bad move for humanity. He is now writing full time. The current series was inspired by the timeless nature of walks on Dartmoor. Mostly timeless for him because getting un-lost took unimaginable time.

Apart from the current series he is working on a number of short stories and very different novels.

www.tregarthurseries.com

Join in on the conversation at facebook.com/tregarthurseries

Click below to pick up a copy at

or any other major online retailer and selected bookstores

Brought to you by