The ABC Affair- Stonehenge, Chapter 9 Letter I

[mrua7.livejournal.com]

“My goodness,”April Dancer gasped.”It’s immense!”

“Ohhh luv,” Mark whispered,” you have no idea.”

He lowered his shirt after revealing the large bruise on his lower back.

”I won’t show you the rest as it goes clear down to me bum.”

“How did it happen? You didn’t get into any trouble in Calais that I know of, or are you holding something back from me?”

“No trouble, actually it’s a bit embarrassing. You see I slipped on the floor in the hotel café. Someone spilt something, I didn’t see it and down I went. I landed pretty hard on the bloody tile.”

“You poor darling, is there anything I can do for you?”

“Not really. All I can take is aspirin, though if you’d do the driving to Salisbury, that would really help as I can lay down on my side in the back seat to keep the pressure off my...well, you know.”

“Are you sure it’s just bruised? You don’t think you fractured your coccyx, do you?”

“April, it’s just a big bruise and nothing more. I’ll be fine.”

“If you say so Mark. I can drive, it’s not a problem, but won’t it be a bit cramped for you in the back seat?”

“I’ll manage, now can we just get going?

Slate looked at the Morris-Mini parked there waiting for them and tried not to cringe. Still, being cramped in the back would be better than sitting on his backside, which was more heavily bruised than he’d let on to his partner.

“Well thank goodness it’s not that long a drive,” he thought to himself.

It was an uneventful trip to Salisbury plain, though they did make a couple of quick stops for Slate to stretch out. They arrived in the wee hours of the morning to a darkened Stonehenge.

The sky however was filled with stars and a barely visible moon was just peeking from behind a few clouds.

“Wow, now isn’t that a sight,” April said as she stepped from the car.

Mark grunted as he exited the back seat. “I have to agree luv, it’s more impressive than I remember...granted it’s been reconstructed since I last saw it as a child.”

“Look,” April pointed to the far side of the henge. “There’s a tent and a light’s on.” 

Mark pulled his communicator. ”Open Channel F- Kuryakin.”

The microphone crackled and Illya’s voice came through, but it was faint. Through the static they heard him say that he was in a tent near the henge.

“On our way guv. April and I are here and will be with you in two shakes of a lamb’s tail.”

“Ah yes,” Illya replied, “a shake is an informal unit of time, originally named and defined by the scientists working on the Manhattan Project. Familiar with the idiom in two shakes of a lamb’s tail, the scientists designated a shake to be ten nanoseconds. Being able to measure time…”

“It also means we’ll be there quickly,” April leaned over, speaking into Mark’s communicator.

“Oh yes, that too. Kuryakin out.”

She couldn’t help but chuckle, and wondered how Napoleon put up with a walking encyclopedia at times.

It didn’t take long for them to reach their destination, and as they opened the tent flap they were greeted with a very unexpected sight.

Illya’s head was bandaged and bloodied, his lower lip was split as well. Tied up in a chair, and equally as bloodied was Napoleon Solo.

“Good Lord, what’s happened to you two?” April blurted out.

“A complicated story,”Illya said. “As to the injuries...Napoleon, who had been missing for hours, staggered into this tent and collapsed on the floor. When he awoke, he began swinging like a madman. That is the reason why he is bound to the chair; it took some effort to subdue him.”

“Will you let me loose!”Solo barked.”I need to go.”

“Go where darling?” April wanted to comfort him, but knew better than to touch him since he didn’t seem himself.

“Out there, I have to be out there. They’re waiting for me!”

“He has been spouting that non-stop,”Illya said.”I did not want to leave him to go in search of ‘them,’ but now that you are here I can.”

“Hellooo,” Mark said as he spotted the doctor.”And who might you be luv?”

“Doctor Goodwin-Walker. Mister Waverly requested my presence to help with the investigation. I came here from the University of Edinburgh where I teach paleontology.”

“She is an expert in the field,” Illya interrupted,”as well as being a qualified Medical Examiner.  Those are the skills that have been more of use to us.”

He and the doctor explained the situation regarding the corpses that had been found, as well as the other strange events that had recently occurred.

The details left both April and Mark a bit dumbfounded.

“I suspect these happenings are related to the upcoming Summer Solstice,” Ellery said. “There are people in Britain who still follow the old ways and fancy themselves as druids. Stonehenge has been long believed to be a place of astronomical significance, though there’s a number of other theories as well…among them, human sacrifice.”

“Was, or is the Summer Solstice of great significance to these druids?”April asked.

“According to Celtic mythology, it was one of the three Spirit Nights of the year, the other two being Beltaine and Samhain. Faeries and ghosts were abroad, easily visible to those whose sensitivities made the veil between the worlds appear exceptionally thin,”the doctor said.”

“Druidry had a great reverence for places that are ‘in between’ worlds. They believed there was  great power in places such as these . It is the time of greatest light when the Sun god was crowned by the King of summer. White-robed figures were said to appear at the dawn rituals at Stonehenge. To many Druids it was the turning seasons and the cycle of life, death and rebirth which were significant. Although they worshipped nature, Julius Caesar claimed druids made human sacrifices to appease their gods.”

“Fairies and ghosts? That sounds like a bit of hogwash to me,” April said.

“Perhaps,” Illya said,”Real or not,  we have seen ghost-like figures appear in white robes who performed a ritualistic sacrifice, and I suspect Napoleon is to be their next victim.”

Comments

[laurose8.livejournal.com]

Good stretch, dialogue and moves forward.