Eden Relics (A Zac Woods novel #1): Author royalties for Cancer Research

by N Williams

  ‘Well things didn’t end up going so badly wrong after all,’ he whispered.

  Zac pulled the holdall from beneath the table. He opened the zipper and held the sides of the bag apart for Sally and Gates to see inside.

  Gates laughed. ‘You sneaky little bastard.’

  ‘What? What’s that?’ enquired Sally with a mouthful of rabbit droppings.

  Inside the bag were the objects that everyone seemed prepared to kill for - the last mortal remains of Adam and Eve.

  ‘Shit. How did you get hold of that?’

  ‘Not just a pretty face,’ he smiled. ‘I went back up to the cave entrance on my run. The police were so busy over at the quarry that they left the entrance covered in blue and white tape.’

  Gates sniggered through a mouthful of sausage.

  ‘I hid the relics in that crevice in the green pillar chamber. I knew the baddies were so intent on catching us that they wouldn’t stop to look around them. The bag I threw into the river was full of broken stalactites and river stones from the cave. When they finally find the bag we’ll have spirited them away to someplace safe whilst we decide what to do with them.’

  ‘You’re a git,’ said Gates. ‘You let me lug a holdall full of poxy stones when I could have been doing my Jesse Owens impression.’

  Sally laughed. ‘You’re a genius.’

  Zac sniggered. ‘I told you in bed last night that I had other talents waiting to be explored.’

  ‘Would you like me to block my ears?’ said Gates.

  They all laughed.

  ‘So what are we going to do with Mr and Mrs E.T?’ asked Gates.

  EPILOGUE

  The three friends sat in the bar of the Adam and Eve. It had been a hard couple of days and Zac was savouring his Guinness and Jameson’s chaser.

  Gates flicked through some estate agent adverts.

  Sally was enjoying the trawl through the leaflets cast aside by the big man. ‘Have you found anything yet, Bill?’

  ‘There’s a neat flat on offer in one of the buildings below Zac’s tower. Nice view of the sea and a decent price. Might make an offer tomorrow.’

  ‘In the meantime, you can bunk in my spare room,’ said Zac.

  Gates nodded his thanks. ‘I think I’m going to like Swansea.’ He dropped the adverts onto the table. ‘So, now that we’re in the pub… you said you’d tell us what you did with the relics.’

  Zac smiled slyly. ‘I don’t need to tell you anything. In fact, I think it’s best I don’t tell anyone.’

  Sally sipped her gin and tonic, ‘To be honest, I don’t really want to know. I’m glad they’ve gone, and I hope I never see them again.’

  Zac smiled and nodded to Dave the barman as he walked over and took the empty glasses,

  ‘Same again, mate?’

  ‘Cheers,’ replied Zac.

  Dave piled the empties onto the bar. ‘Oh, and by the way, thanks for the addition to the collection, Zac. Ugly bloody things. They look more like them aliens from that alien autopsy film. Still, they certainly fit in with the rest of the exhibits.’

  Sally looked at Gates and then back at Zac. ‘You didn’t?’

  Zac laughed and nodded towards a large glass specimen jar sitting on the shelf high above the bar. The last mortal remains of Adam and Eve were on display for all to see. ‘Sometimes, the best place to hide something is in full view.’

  Sally looked mortified.

  Gates finished his beer. ‘So what do we do now?’

  ‘Well I’m having a few more of these,’ said Zac, holding up his pint.

  ‘I’m looking forward to staying in Swansea for a while,’ said Gates. ‘Dylan Thomas must have been pissed. Not so "lovely ugly” anymore. The bay is stunning.’

  Sally smiled. ‘I’m not doing anything for a while. I can’t go back to the museum, so I’ve been thinking about Sir Eddie’s offer.’

  ‘You're serious?’ asked Zac.

  ‘Although I don’t believe the thing exists, I reckon it would be better for me to make sure no other bloody nutters get their hands on that staff. And he’s offering a cracking deal.’

  ‘Sounds intriguing,’ said Gates.

  ‘Could be,’ replied Zac, ‘but I’m not so sure Sir Eddie has the best intentions in mind. I still don’t trust him. Someone with a background in chemistry tried to kill me.’ Then Zac smiled. ‘But I suppose it would be something to do when the weather’s too bad to fly… why not?’

  Gates nodded. ‘Count me in too.’

  *

  The sound of birds twittering in the trees was the only disturbance in an otherwise peaceful morning. The grass was still damp from the early morning dew as Zac, Sally and Gates walked across to the small wooden cross marking the final resting place of Rachel Powell alongside the graves of two friends Zac had last seen as teenagers. It was too soon to place headstones; the funeral parlour had advised waiting a while for the ground to settle first.

  Zac had already paid for a book-shaped slab of granite to be erected when the time was right, and Sally had written a few words that they felt needed to be carved into the stone – a small gesture to mark Rachel’s contribution to finding the earthly remains of God’s first son and daughter. The families of Hywel and Trudy would be doing something similar to remember their loss too.

  As they drove back along the road towards Swansea, Zac flicked the selector on the CD auto-changer to Freddie Mercury singing the theme tune of the movie Highlander.

  Zac knew the pub wasn’t exactly the most reverent location for the resting place of the last mortal remains of mankind’s modern ancestors, but he still wasn’t convinced that they were what Stockwell claimed them to be. Even if it was true, he didn’t think the DNA traces would be of value to mankind after all this time. The extraction of DNA from the Jurassic Park insect trapped in amber was no more than fiction. Whilst the remains were on display in public, as just another weird oddity, nobody would ever think they were looking at perhaps the most important relics ever discovered. At least they would be safe and left in peace.

  Zac had no idea how long Sir Eddie would last. He seemed like a tough old boy, but that wasn’t his concern. The billionaire was going to employ them to investigate the loss of the Rod. That would keep him, Gates, Sally and Mac active for a few weeks. After that, who knew?

  The song reached the chorus and Zac turned it up to full volume - “Who wants to live forever, who waaants to liiive for eveeeer...for eeeevvveeer.”

  It had been a strange few weeks. He had been forced to face up to many issues from his past. Some he knew he still hadn’t resolved. Life was sometimes strange like that. His life wasn’t always the way he wanted it to be, but it was all he had. Zac loved life, probably even more now, but he was a fatalist. He had to make the most of today. After all, he thought, who wants to live forever?

  AUTHORS NOTE:

  Being a resident of the Swansea Valley, it seemed natural to set the story within the area I know so well. Adelina Patti is a much-loved character in the area and in no way did I set out to hurt or damage the high esteem she is still held in locally - and globally. To use her as a key element in the story was a device to allow me to provide a logical reason for the setting. I also needed a character with a clear link to the area who had the reason and resources to be able to travel and to pay for the transportation of a secret cargo - Adelina seemed the perfect choice. She was incredibly rich for the time; earning over $5000 for a performance. When you consider the castle only cost her around £3,500 you can get an idea of her true earning power and wealth. Yet, she was also a very generous and passionate woman. She looked after her employees, even providing accommodation for them after her death - free accommodation until they died. She was some woman.

  There’s a suggestion in the story that Adelina worked for the British Government. There is no evidence for this, it is pure fiction, yet as I wrote the story I thought it would provide the premise for a series of interesting adventure stories - a Victorian Lara Croft. Per
haps it’s not such a daft idea? I’m currently working on the possibility of creating a series around Adelina in the near future.

  With regard to the rumour of Adelina’s love affairs, I would just like to add that any rich and powerful person moving into a secluded rural area, would inevitably become the topic of conversation and focus for speculation. The inferences to her infidelity arise from a rather public divorce, and no doubt left an unfair and probably unjustified stain on her character.

  During the story, we follow Zac and his friends beneath the castle into an uncharted cave system. Whilst this is fiction, it is based on a conversation I had with Martin Gover, the present owner of the castle. It seems that during, or just after Adelina’s time, staff at the castle knew of a ‘Castle Cave’ but no one knew how to access it.

  The newspaper cutting from 1897 at the start of the book was the inspiration for the story, and the Seton-Karr brothers were the inspiration for the early part of the book. One was an adventurer, whilst the other was a Member of Parliament for Leeds. But that is as far as any connections can be drawn. The characters portrayed in the book are in no way intended to be taken as them.

  Henry Seton-Karr perished aboard the Empress of Ireland - which sank in May 1914, resulting in 1,012 souls lost to the deep. Sir Henry Seton-Karr sacrificed his own chance of survival after he gallantly handed his lifejacket to another passenger. I had planned to use this as a shipping link between North Africa and the UK by having the relics hidden for some years in British Columbia. Sir Henry was instrumental in the settlement of British Columbia. It provided the start but led to so many difficulties and dead-ends, that I eventually decided to simplify the story and stick with a more truncated timeline.

  The chambers referred to under the Sphinx are interesting. There are acres of information regarding conspiracy theories linked to the Sphinx. The Stele between the paws of the big lion displays a diagram that seems to show rooms below the ground. There are also great diagrams on the internet (probably all the product of someone’s fertile imagination) that gave me a vision of what I needed for the story.

  A point in the story I feel needs to be justified - the grenade! I hold my hands up and admit it is unlikely that the grenade would be caught on an updraft and carried in a graceful arc to destroy the helicopter. However, this thread came from walks I had over the mountains in my youth. Some friends and I accompanied a retired army glider pilot, a veteran of the D-Day Landings, Jim Lovett, to the lakes of Llyn-Y-Fan Fawr and Llyn-Y-Fan Fach. There we would throw empty cans off the ridge and watch them fly up on the thermals and back over our heads for us to repeat the fun time and again. So... it could happen. Give me that one, please?

  The parrot with the vocabulary of a sewer is also based on a real parrot that used to reside in the bar of the castle many years ago. Teaching the bird obscenities became a popular pastime for the regular customers.

  Finally, I obviously didn’t wish to offend anybody living or dead during the writing of this book and sincerely hope I haven’t done so. It’s a work of fiction, nothing more.

  EDEN RELICS AGAINST CANCER

  EDEN RELICS author royalties are all donated to a cancer charity. Mesothelioma is a deadly condition brought about by exposure to asbestos. In May 2013, my father-in-law died as a result of this terrible disease. If you enjoyed the book please take a few minutes of your time to give it a rating. I hope you enjoyed Zac’s first adventure and I hope it can, in some small way, contribute to the eradication of all cancers.

  N. Williams

  Nigel Williams grew up in the Swansea Valley and worked as a tour guide at the Dan-Yr-Ogof show-caves during school holidays. Whilst there he grasped the opportunity to explore some of the many miles of caves on both sides of the valley, even managing to endure the famous “Long Crawl” mentioned within the book.

  Upon leaving school he joined the Metropolitan Police and served at Brixton from 1981 - 1984. He transferred to South Wales that year and spent many years as a traffic and firearms officer. He was also seconded for armed Special Escort and V.I.P. driver duties during his time in the Welsh force.

  After an accident on duty left him with a fractured spine, Nigel retired from the police, having received seven commendations during fourteen years service. During recovery, he retrained and achieved a first-class honours degree in fine art, followed by a certificate in post-compulsory education and a Master’s degree in fine art.

  Nigel has taught fine art since 2001 in a college of further education in Swansea.

  He is a fanatical rugby fan and is currently learning to fly microlight aircraft. He is married to a very patient wife, Caroline, and has three children; Adam, Lara and Ciara.

  The story continues in the Rod of Asclepius, coming 2014.

  To find out more about the author:

  http://www.nigel-williams.info

  Or, visit Nigel’s ‘just giving’ page to support the charity at

  www.justgiving.com/Nigel-Williams12