Slater (Hengist: People of the Horse Book 4)

by Jacky Gray

  Grimbold opened his mouth to object, but the elder who had spoken earlier told him to be quiet and let the lad finish.

  Slater had one final point to make. ‘If everyone only works for a few hours each day, and you take it in turns, no one will suffer from backache. If you do, there are herbs you can use in a poultice or in a hot bath.’

  ‘What if it isn’t right moon for your bath?’

  As people laughed at the jest, Slater remembered learning that these people probably only had one bath every year. They did not have the same standards of hygiene as his people. He grinned along with them. ‘Also, you can protect your lungs from the dust by wearing a mask.’ He pulled up his tunic over his mouth and nose to demonstrate.

  ‘But we still have to breathe.’ A new voice joined the debate, entertaining the crowd with his antics as he pretended to suffocate from the sleeve of his tunic.

  Slater realised their clothing was made of animal hide so wouldn’t have the tiny holes of his linen tunic.

  The mood of the crowd had lightened considerably and Mondilla took the opportunity to invite them to vote again. Many of the crowd moved southward, so well over half were in agreement. A dozen or so remained in the northern group with the rest still undecided in the middle. So it was done: Silburgh hill would be enlarged to meet the necessary height and would be used for generations as the focus of the communion with the people and the planet.

  ‘Thank you Slater. Your work here is done.’ Mondilla’s words were for him alone as the Kenit tribe made their way back toward the temple, passing by him without so much as a glance. Diltan and Lunella walked close by but said nothing, even when he called their names. It was as though he did not exist.

  But he couldn’t leave now, there were still so many questions unanswered. About the purpose of the stones in the avenues; how the moon temple worked; the purpose of the earth energy and why did it not extend throughout the country like the sun and moon spirit lines. And the biggest question of all, why did people stop using the temple to renew the earth energy? But all he got from Mondilla was an enigmatic smile as she said goodbye.

  21 – Spurning Jilthaya

  ‘Come on Slater; you’re needed. The bread race is about to start.’

  Waking up with a jolt, he saw the figure of a girl. ‘Lunella? You can see me?’ He noticed her hair was dark.

  ‘Of course I can see you. I watched you hide in here for a snooze. And it’s Jilthaya, not Lunella. Come on.’

  His head protested as she dragged on his hand, pulling him into the bright sunshine. He made it to the bottom of the hill just in time to take up his position with the other two boys in the fourth stage of the race. A loud tone signalled the start, and they could hear the excited shouts from the other side of the hill as the onlookers encouraged their team mates round the course. Although each leg was short, they all had an obstacle or forfeit to make it trickier. As if wearing a cap baked from bread wasn’t difficult enough. The caps were always undersized so they would not fit, but had to be balanced.

  To make it even harder, the cap could not be touched with their hands. A stiff leather mitten could be used to transfer it to the head of the next runner. Not that anyone ran; the greatest speed anyone managed was a fast walk in between the obstacles. In Slater’s leg, this meant climbing up and down three wooden steps, three times within the course. It was a lot easier than Carver’s obstacle; He had to step into a huge sack and wear it for the whole time. But he had a good technique and managed to finish ahead of the other two boys, placing the loaf cap on Slater’s head and handing him the mitten.

  Slater’s trick involved keeping his head level and just tilt his eyes down to track where the steps were. He had measured the distances and knew they were at roughly five, twelve and nineteen paces. His plan worked well, walking in half paces, he maintained the lead. There were no problems passing the cap on to a Magi girl, Luned, whose task was probably the trickiest yet. She had been practising and managed to balance for ten paces along a narrow tree trunk with reasonable ease. Luned passed the cap to a Warrior, Jutt, who stood ready with a large wooden hoop which he had to step through at least ten times during the last stage of the race.

  The girl in second place caused a tricky moment when she lost her balance and her hoop knocked into Jutt’s. It caught the edge of his cap, knocking it onto an awkward angle on his head. Luckily, he only had one turn of the hoop left and managed to keep his head tilted as he walked the last few paces. He crossed the line first to massive applause and the other members of his team clapped him on the back.

  Sawyer’s team came in second and he gave his brother an ironic salute. The final event was the race up the hill. This custom had survived the passage of years; however the senior who had been voted as the Goddess only had one ribbon in her crown. In theory, the contest was open to any of the competitors who had taken part in the day’s activities. In practice, it had become a hard fought challenge between the fastest seniors. They took the training seriously and no one else stood a chance. This year there were three favourites and although Sawyer reached the top first, his grab for the ribbon proved futile. Nolen took the ribbon, claiming the kiss.

  With the games over, everyone trooped off to the field below where the tables were heaving with steaming pots of harvest broth and dishes piled high with colcannon – potato mashed with leek and cabbage. Baskets overflowed with cakes, nuts and seasonal fruits. The face of the hero of the harvest, John Barleycorn, was baked in bread and sitting in an eight-spoked sun-wheel on every table.

  Despite his hunger, Slater climbed to the summit of the huge man-made mound, feeling a sense of responsibility. He knew it was just a dream, but could it be possible that if he hadn’t told Mondilla about their hill it would now be less than half the size? Lining up as close as he could remember to the direction of the Lughnasadh sunrise, he closed his eyes, visualising the Michael and Mary lines as he had seen them approaching the great temple. But when he opened them again, he saw no sign of either line.

  Could it be they had lost all their strength because they were not recharged at the festivals? Walking sunwise round the top of the mound, he closed his eyes and tuned into the energies. When he felt the pull of the Mary energy, he opened them to find himself level with the trees marking the Swallowhead spring. But it felt nothing like the Mary line he had experienced during the Lughnasadh ceremony with Mondilla. It had much less than one tenth part of the power he had felt then.

  ‘Something wrong Slater?’

  He jumped at the voice, he had not heard Cathair approaching. ‘No, Professor, not really.’

  ‘You should join the feast before all the food is gone.’

  ‘I’m not hungry.’

  ‘Are you ill boy?’ He came up and made a show of pretending to feel Slater’s temperature, flinching away from his forehead as though it burnt. ‘That’s the only reason I can think of for a boy refusing food.’

  ‘No, I’ve just got things on my mind.’

  ‘Had another one of your dreams?’

  ‘Yes, but it was different this time.’

  ‘Different you say. How?’

  ‘I was at Aveburgh this time, with the Kenit tribe. But it seemed to be many years later.’

  ‘How do you know that?’

  ‘Their clothes were better and they spoke more like we do. But they were still at war with the Durren tribe and very few of the monuments were the same as they are today.’

  ‘Which is what you said about the Stonehenge temple.’

  ‘Right. And if I hadn’t been there to show them the proper position of the altar stone, they would have put it in the wrong place.’

  ‘What? Explain.’ The professor looked grave.

  Slater described how the shaman had used the centre of the outer henge instead of locating the centre of the water spiral and aligning it with the sunset.

  ‘So you interfered with history and moved it to the position it is now?’

  ‘Not just me. A powerful priest
ess, Aurala, guided it to the final position. With a bit of help from the water line itself.’ Ignoring the professor’s sceptical expression, he explained how energy had flowed through the coils so the stone had floated with almost no help from them.

  With a stern look, he took Slater’s arm. ‘You say the Aveburgh monuments weren’t the same. How were they different?’

  ‘Silburgh hill was less than half the size, so was the sanctuary. Neither of the avenues had been built; nor the outer stone circle.’

  Wincing as though in pain, the professor’s voice cracked as he whispered, ‘Was anything the same?’

  ‘The sun and moon temples and the Swallowhead spring. And the long barrow at West Kennet – at least I think it was the same, but I only saw it from a distance.’

  ‘This is worse than I thought. Everything we have here now is the way it is because you showed them how it should be.’ He sighed. ‘I suppose we should be grateful your eye for detail is so good. But it begs questions about what it might have been like if you had not had your dream.’

  ‘Exactly as it is now.’

  ‘You cannot be sure of that.’

  ‘I can. Their leader showed me a model of the temples before they were built.’

  ‘Really? But I suppose they would not have had much sense of scale or accuracy.’

  ‘Actually it was very detailed with everything in the same proportion as it is today. Except …’ he stopped, worried about the things he could have affected.

  ‘What?’ The professor’s interrogation was cut short as a young girl ran round the hill, squealing as her eager suitor nearly caught her. More couples came up to the summit, hoping to get good places for the lighting of the bonfire. Tutting in annoyance, the professor took Slater’s arm, talking in a low voice as he guided him down the hill. ‘It is imperative you do not discuss either of these dreams with anyone. I shall expect you in my office tomorrow morning to continue with this.’

  Slater nodded, but Cathair was not done. ‘In the meantime, if you have any more of these dreams, you must remember how important it is you do not influence these people in any way. Any changes which result from your suggestions could cause problems in the future. Do you understand?’

  Slater nodded, a feeling of dread turning his insides to liquid. The worst part about the whole thing was the secrecy. He couldn’t talk to anyone about any of it. Not that he usually talked much about his problems, preferring to sort them out on his own.

  Approaching the dining tables, he thought another point of view would be useful. Especially from someone like Carver, down-to-earth and able to see the positive in every action or situation. He was also perceptive enough to spot that Slater had a problem as soon as he appeared. The rest of their crowd were having great fun as they stuffed their faces. Once again, Carver turned his back on them to discover the source of his friend’s discomfort.

  ‘What’s wrong?’

  ‘Nothing’s wrong.’

  ‘So you’re not eating the stew because you think it might taste bad?’

  ‘I’m sure it’s up to the normal standard.’

  ‘And the colcannon’s too lumpy for you? Or have you developed an unexpected aversion to leeks?’

  ‘No and no. Everything’s positively yummy.’ He took a big mouthful of the food, making a face because it had been ready for so long it was nearly cold.

  ‘Well it can’t be the games – you performed well in the bread race and your team won. What did you do before that? Oh, the three-legged with the dark-haired girl – what’s her name?’

  ‘Jilthaya.’ He struggled to say her name with a mouth full of stew and mashed potatoes.

  ‘Jifaya. Unusual name. She was looking everywhere for you – there isn’t anything you’d like to tell me about her is there? She’s cute.’

  Slater swallowed quickly in his haste to answer, but the food seemed to stick in his throat, making him choke. ‘She’s only ten; I don’t snatch from cradles.’

  ‘Actually, I think she’s closer to thirteen. So why was she so desperate to find you?’

  ‘To tell me the bread race was starting.’

  ‘No, I’m talking about long before the bread race. Which reminds me, what happened after the first race? You just disappeared.’

  ‘I went down to the river to cool off and fell asleep. The sun gave me a headache, and it hasn’t gone yet. There’s nothing wrong with me and I don’t fancy Jilthaya.’

  In a cruel twist of fate, she chose that very instant to walk past with some girls on their way to the hill. The Gods had decided to toy with him, stopping all talk on the tables around them at that moment. Although annoyance had only raised his voice a little, the effect was as though he had shouted the words at the top of his voice.

  She stopped dead, a look of complete and utter horror on her face. Slater watched in dismay as her friends gathered around her, shooting him evil glances as they hurried her away, her head bent in shame.

  ‘Now look what you’ve made me do. The poor girl is mortified. And all her friends think I’m some kind of monster.’

  ‘Don’t worry about it. You’ll probably be more interesting to them now – dark and moody, girls like that.’

  ‘But I don’t want girls to be interested in me. They’re just distracting with all their giggling and pouting. I’ve got much better things to occupy my time.’

  ‘Like study, work, study, helping out at home and more study. When do you ever take time off to play? You’re even studying when we’re not at lehren.’ The look on Carver’s face said that this was nothing less than insanity by his standards.

  ‘Because I’m doing advanced “Beliefs and Rituals” and “Healing Potions” – both Magi classes.’

  ‘I know; you started them after the Litha tests.’

  ‘Of course. But it’s shown me how much more they all know about everything. Although we learn a bit about the sabbats and the powers of plants, the Magi lessons studied everything in much more detail. So I have a lot of catching up to do if I’m going to stand a chance at Beltane.’

  ‘You’ll be fine. No, you’ll be more than fine – you won’t settle for anything less than top of the class. Just make sure you spend some time having a bit of fun.’

  That night, Slater’s sleep was invaded by a picturesque handfasting ceremony held at the original Stonehenge. As he approached the garlanded altar stone, he could see the happy couple getting wed were Roldan and Aurala. Unlike the previous dreams, they could not see him and ignored his greeting.

  His body had no substance and it felt more like a vision. Then he travelled to another handfasting, this time at Aveburgh henge. The bride had long dark hair and the groom was – he awoke before finding out. He was sure the dreams were a direct consequence of his experiences that day and Carver’s comment about having fun.

  22 – Stonehenge, Seasonal Calendar

  Slater could never explain to people like Carver, Sawyer or his parents, that finding out about the way things worked was the best kind of fun he ever had. How the lunchtimes spent in Professor Cathair’s room, exploring the rituals he’d observed, were so enjoyable. They had whiled away many happy hours comparing the detail with the current practices, discovering new things about the origins of some of the more obscure customs.

  Professor Jadon interrupted one of the sessions and Slater prepared to leave the room.

  ‘We are not finished, lad.’ Cathair pulled out a chair and Jadon sat.

  ‘But I thought you said …’

  ‘What I told you still holds. You must not speak of this to anyone. But Professor Jadon can be trusted and his help in unravelling this mystery will be invaluable.’

  Slater saw the sense of it immediately. Both men were well respected by the council and would not want to present the information without assessing all the evidence and exploring all the ramifications.

  Fascinated by the unravelling tale, Jadon eagerly contributed his historical expertise to the discussions as they built up a different picture of
the past to the widely accepted one.

  On the day after the Lughnasadh feast, Slater went to Cathair’s office as requested.

  Jadon was keen to complete his understanding of the original temple at Stonehenge. ‘So you’re saying they used a ring of smaller stones as a sun temple. Like at Aveburgh.’

  ‘Some of them were, but not by using the shadows as we do.’

  ‘No? How did they do it then?’

  ‘By counting days and moving markers.’

  ‘It’s all on this picture.’ Cathair pulled out the diagram he’d drawn earlier and Jadon examined it carefully.

  ‘You say you saw this bluestone ring in a dream?’

  ‘Yes. They had just laid the altar stone and were going to use it as a temple for healing. The bank and ditch were the same and so were the heal stones.’

  ‘But it wouldn’t work.’ Jadon pointed to the small mound to the north. ‘This mark coincides exactly with the northern moonstone. And the eastern moonstone would overlap if there was a stone at this mark.’

  Cathair examined the two positions. ‘You are right, but my marks aren’t accurate, they could be several inches out – maybe even a foot.’ With help from Jadon, he looked at the possibilities of moving the whole bluestone ring a little way in a sunwise direction.

  Closing his eyes, Slater visualised the temple as he ran around it, following the water line. ‘There were no moonstones in the old temple, just the bluestones. Maybe they were put up later when the bluestones were moved closer to the centre of the temple.’

  The two professors looked at him curiously. Slater knew they were finding it difficult to accept that the temple had been built to a different design prior to the existing layout.

  Cathair had an alternative solution, explaining how some of the stones had not survived the passage of time and renovation work had been carried out by previous generations to restore them.

  ‘Most of the sarsens were large enough so the part buried below the earth was enough to keep the stone in a stable, upright position.’