by Finegan, KT
This was the drawing I’d seen in the book, but it wasn’t a two-headed monster. This had three heads, two yellow-pointed horns on each, dripping with blood. It lashed out at the dragons, who continued to outsmart it, flying fast to remain out of the way of its claws as they ripped through the air. It roared and screamed in outrage as the dragons zoomed in and out of its reach, spitting fire as they swooped.
The beast suddenly seemed to notice that its thousands of prey were now free, and that the black cords were pulsing out what I could only assume was its own venom. It was pooling around the monster, and seemed to be tiring it. If this was how it had gained its strength, it was bound to be less powerful without it.
At that moment I heard what sounded like an explosion, and saw the whole side of the cavern drop away. Rocks and mud fell down on top of the monster, but the light bodies were unfazed and waited. There must have been a landslide outside, and now I was looking through the gap, up and out towards the quarry site. The full moon and stars lit up the cavern. It felt like days since we’d stood there sipping hot drinks and trying to stay warm. Instead, I was inside the hillside, held in the air by an angel and surrounded by light.
A wide dazzling beam of light appeared through the gap, filling the chamber with even more light until I was dazzled. It sparked and frazzled in a dynamic energetic column, and the light beings serenely and silently slipped onto it, each holding a broken soul as precious cargo, then disappeared from view. The light was too bright for me to look at, and it filled the cavern, burning brighter and brighter as each of my wonderful ancestors joined the procession of light upwards.
I heard another roar, and with one last effort the monster threw itself into the air, grabbing at the dragons, catching two of them and pulling them towards its stinking, rotten mouths. They screamed, yellow fire sparking out against its death hold. One in each hand, it started to crush them, and their screeches filled the air.
In answer to their pain, I saw the blue white light ball drop quickly towards the heart of the beast, as if to protect the dragons who had distracted the monster for as long as they could. It all happened so quickly, but it had the desired effect, and the monster let go of the dragons as its huge claws ripped through the air, screaming, roaring, filling the chamber with the sound of outrage. Released, the dragons escaped back to their cavern, their work done. I knew they’d be safe.
I screamed for my gran. I didn’t know how things would work out, but I could not watch and let her sacrifice herself any more. Not for me, not for this town. Without thinking of what I was doing, I pulled myself from my Guardian Angel’s grasp and felt myself drop quickly through the air towards the monster. It was my turn to protect my gran, to sacrifice myself for her. I fell hundreds of feet towards the monster, without fear or worry about what this would mean for me.
As if by magic, I managed to land in the middle of the monster’s back, and grabbed tight to its stinking, oily hair. What I could do, I did not know. I was tiny, probably powerless, but I hoped that the distraction would give Gran enough time to get away if she wanted. But it was too greasy, and as the monster bucked and screamed, grasping towards the ball of light, my hands slipped. One of its huge stinking heads turned towards me, like I was a flea on a dog. It knew what we were doing, we were sharing the data as if we were all wired into the same computer.
I looked into its gigantic jaws of putrifying death and it was as if everything slowed down. The sounds, the smells, the darkness and the light, all slowed and stopped. We were all frozen in time. With a final shake, it threw me off and I felt myself slowly fall backwards. As I did so, I saw the column of light expand even more and reach the monster, then it too rose up in the beam and disappeared from view. I realised that everything was able to return to light, nothing was evil or terrible enough that it couldn’t be redeemed. The chamber was almost empty.
I had a sensation of floating, a feeling of peace, my hands reaching up towards my family, my gran’s face smiling, my mum, my ancestors all smiling at me as I fell.
27
When I opened my eyes, I was sitting on the stones beside my gran’s grave. I could hear sirens in the distance and saw blue flashing lights racing on the road towards the quarry. Sleet hit me in the face making me blink, and I saw and heard Angel and Grizelle running towards me, calling my name. I was out. I was safe and free. I flexed my hands and stretched my body; everything felt fine. All my scratches and scrapes had disappeared, although my clothes were damp and ripped. Another bit of magic. I was out of the cavern and it didn’t surprise me at all. I felt good, satisfied, energised and peaceful inside.
‘How did you know I’d be here?’ I croaked, then added, ‘Sorry. Stupid question.’ And they both laughed.
‘We came straight here,’ said Angel. ‘As soon as that door closed on you, we knew we could find you here.’
‘You came straight here? How is that possible? I thought I was away for hours. It certainly felt like it. Do you know what happened? I felt you were both there.’
‘We were,’ Grizelle said.
‘And we weren’t!’ laughed Angel.
Grizelle began to explain something about how perception of time is always relative, but I didn’t fully grasp what she said. I was just so relieved to be with them both again in the cold night air.
‘The fire engines and police are off to the quarry. You’ll know there’s been a landside,’ Angel told me. ‘I think that’s the last we’ll hear of any further expansion at the quarry. Kirsten, and of course, her granddaughter, did well.’
I smiled and hugged them. These two ladies had been an amazing help to me since I arrived. And now I knew and could feel that I had lots more support. That felt good. I had a vision of Gran smiling at me, and I knew she wasn’t far away. For the first time ever, I got that.
We linked arms and left Gran’s grave behind, crossed the road, and walked back to Angel’s flat in silence. We didn’t need to say a word. We had all witnessed something amazing, but something I personally didn’t have any words for. Grizelle hugged us both and went home. She looked tired but happy. We could hear the sirens of more emergency vehicles racing out to the quarry, but I knew it would be fine. No further work needed and the Stones would be safe. Gran’s work was concluded.
Upstairs, Angel quickly lit the fire and prepared some hot drinks and cakes for us, and we sat silently in front of the flames, both lost in our own worlds for a while.
At the edge of my consciousness, there were was something that had been bothering me about the experience.
‘Angel,’ I asked. ‘You know how you and Grizelle were in the chamber with me. Did you feel it?’
‘We both did, Kirsty. We did a walking meditation, holding you surrounded by love. We knew you’d be fine. It’s in your blood, after all!’
I relaxed back into the comfortable cushions and sipped my tea. ‘My gran was really special in the whole experience, as you can imagine,’ I told her. ‘My mum and my other grandparents were there. Even though they died before I was born, I recognised them and they were all behind me, with lots of other relatives and ancestors. It was incredible really, to feel all that power and strength and love.’
I hesitated for a few moments. ‘There was one thing that was strange, though.’ I looked nervously at her, wondering if she had already guessed. ‘There was a man. It was my dad. He was there, but rather than stand behind me like the rest of my ancestors, he was off to the side, like you and Grizelle. What do you think that means?’
‘What do you think it means?’ she replied quietly.
‘I’m not sure, but if he was with you and Grizelle, then I’m thinking that it’s because he’s not dead. Is that a crazy idea? But he was there. Grizelle said something about him being from an old Celtic family, like mine. Is that why he was there. Does he do stuff like Gran?’
‘I really don’t know, Kirsty.’ She shrugged her shoulders. ‘I’m
sorry I can’t help. Why don’t you ask Grizelle?’ She looked at me closely, as if she was going to say something else but changed her mind.
We agreed to talk more the next day when Grizelle was with us, but for now I needed to get to bed. I was exhausted from the whole experience.
For the first time ever I was asleep as soon as my head touched the pillow. There were no nightmares, no dreams, and no church bells to wake me.
I slept until ten o’clock the next morning, and woke to a beautiful cold but sunny day. Like the kind of winter days I remembered from my childhood. No fog, no rain, just blue sky and a topping of snow sitting on the far hills.
I felt bright and peaceful. I knew my family were all around me, and that made me feel loved and supported. It didn’t matter that I couldn’t see them physically. The feelings were there just the same. I realised in a way that it was simpler because they knew how much I loved them too.
I checked my phone and there were texts from London. What was I doing? When was I coming back? I knew then that I wouldn’t be. I didn’t want to be in London. It was time I made a life with some fun in it. I’d carried the ghosts of my childhood for too long, and there was no need anymore.
I replied to my friends, sent a quick email of resignation to work, and then decided not to bother replying to Derek. He didn’t deserve my attention. He’d made his choices and so had I. My future didn’t include him.
I quickly dressed and ran downstairs. I felt like I was bursting with energy. Angel’s Cakes was full. People were chatting and animatedly talking about the protest and the quarry collapse. From the conversations I overheard, the council had announced an enquiry into the granting of planning permission, and decided that no further expansion would ever be permitted as the ground was so unsafe.
Delighted, I managed to squeeze into a recently vacated seat at the window, close to the angel displays. It felt Gran and Mum close by, and when I looked in the steamy reflection it was as if I was sitting in the middle of a big group of people. I know it was probably a trick of the light, but it made me smile.
Angel popped over with some mugs of coffee and hot buttered toast, and settled down with me for a brief break.
‘What do you plan to do now?’ she asked with an encouraging smile. ‘I’m sort of feeling that you won’t go back to London, will you?’
I laughed. ‘It’s hard to describe but I feel that I want a simpler life, you know? I’m finished with pointless paper-shuffling. I feel it’s time I did something for me. Maybe something creative, I don’t know. I’m sure something will turn up, and I get the feeling that I’ve not to worry about it.’
I sighed. ‘For such a long time, I’ve felt as if I wasn’t happy. Just like you were saying about when you were married. I wasn’t unhappy but I knew I could be happier. I know I’m the kind of person who fills her mind with work so that I don’t have to look at what I really want. So I think I should take some time out. Is it too trite to say I want to “find myself”?’ She shook her head, her bright eyes shining back at me.
‘Last night showed me that I can do anything, and that I am always loved and supported,’ I told her. ‘So that’s good enough for me for now. I also realised something that might sound a bit daft. I realised that I take life too seriously. I don’t let enough fun in, and yet I was missing out on the important stuff, you know?’
‘I understand,’ she said. ‘For me, it’s about letting things happen rather than feeling that I have to control everything, which is the way I used to be. If you try to control things, there can only ever be one outcome. When you let things go a bit, there is space for other possibilities to happen. And do you know what? It’s less stressful. That’s what I found and that’s the life I like. Somehow, though, I have the feeling that you won’t be sitting around for long’
The café door open and Grizelle strode in. She spotted us near the window and she stooped to give us both a hug.
‘I’m so proud of you,’ she whispered in my ear, ‘and your gran and all your family are, too.’
I smiled back as she released me then sat down at the table. Her words were good to hear and I felt my family somewhere close, drawing in around me, comforting me. I remembered something Angel had once mentioned about honouring ourselves, and I knew that was what was really important to me. It was as if the whole experience had altered my core beliefs about myself. As if I had returned to the person I had been a long time ago, the one who had sat hidden inside me somewhere.
The life I had been leading was not honouring me. I wanted to lead a more simple life; one that was more fundamentally close to who I really am.
As we chatted quietly, surrounded by relieved, happy people, a group of the environmentalists arrived. Several of the customers cheered as they were spotted, and a few people went over to shake their hands, thanking them for all their efforts at the quarry.
Maggie was wearing a bright bandana to cover her hair. She looked pale, but smiled at everyone as she waited near the door. Sally caught sight of us and popped over to give Angel a brief hug. She assured us that Maggie was fine, the cut had looked worse than it was. They were delighted that the quarry expansion had been cancelled, so they were returning to the peace camp at Faslane, further up the river, and had come to say goodbye.
We wished them all well and they headed off alongside Grizelle, who had to get back to the shop.
The café was still fairly busy, and I noticed a number of people looking through the angel shop area. Sunbeams picked up a large picture of Archangel Gabriel and it shimmered in the light, as though it was something significant, a message of some kind.
As I sat wondering what it could be, one of Angel’s staff came over and told me that there was a phone call for me.
‘Are you sure?’ I was surprised that anyone knew to reach me here.
‘He asked if you were here,’ the young girl replied. ‘He’s hanging on. The phone is through the back… just go through.’
‘Who is it, Angel? Who could possibly be calling me here?’ It must have been someone from the town. No-one else would have known that I’d be here with Angel.
I got up and walked slowly across the shop then squeezed in behind the counter to go into the back kitchen area. I had a really odd feeling again, like everything had slowed down. As I looked around at the shelves filled with food, ovens, the dishwasher, I couldn’t seem to clear my head. It was like there was someone else there.
I picked up the receiver. I was feeling separate again from everything. Who could be calling me?
‘Hello… Kirsty… is that you?’
A voice across twenty-five years. Instantly recognisable. I felt my breath catch in my throat. I tightened my grip on the receiver, holding it closer to my ear. ‘Yes?’
‘It’s Dad, Kirsty. I’m at Newgrange in Ireland. The Stones have been moved. Kirsty, I need your help…’
THE END OF THE THIRTEEN STONES
Now turn over to read a preview of the
next novel in the series
The Chamber Within
K.T Finegan
1
The sound of silent anticipation filled the old stone chamber as I stood with a hundred other souls. All of us lost in excitement, awaiting the winter solstice sun to appear through a tiny hole in the wall and fill the cavern with dawn light. The way it had for over five thousand years. It was as if I could hear my ancestors whispering in my ear. This was the right place for me. This felt like home.
We stood in reverence to the power of the sun and the ingenuity of Stone Age people, who had built this amazing place by hand from rock and soil, perfectly aligned with their vision of the winter sky. We waited, cameras and tablets ready to catch the magic moment of light in this temple to the sun, in deepest Ireland.
We waited. Someone official, perhaps from the tourist organisation who managed the ancient site, finally counted down to the dawn ma
jesty and we stood ready as silent witnesses. Standing in the darkness towards the back of the monument, I couldn’t see a thing. Faintly from outside, I could hear a dull drum beat. Hundreds of people stood there, unable to get inside but, like us, ready to welcome the dawn, and the new year. The shortest day; from now on, more sunlight. Like our ancient ancestors we, too, wanted to see the end of the winter.
The drums reached a pounding rhythmic crescendo, and then there was nothing but an unexpected, unnerving, deathly silence.
There’s always that moment when you just know that something isn’t right. You can hear it unsaid, an energy, an awareness that grips people. Nothing happened. No sunlight lit the chamber. Some people shuffled, some coughed, no-one spoke. No-one wanted to be the first to spoil the moment, to break the spell that had surrounded us. The special ones. Twenty-first century mystical believers, standing where our forefathers had stood, celebrating the sun.
And then it happened. Panic. No-one knew what to do. Pushing, pulling, running in the darkness. Hitting the sharp, rugged stones of the cave. Shouting, trying to reach loved ones. Fear. Screaming. Fuelling more panic. Not knowing where to go, and all thoughts of specialness gone. Instead, primeval survival; perhaps we were closer to our Stone Age ancestors than we had realised.
The crowd ran around as a wild group, hunting for the hidden exit then bending down almost double to crawl back along the tight, low passageway outside the monument. In haste to get away, and yet not knowing what awaited them.
But for some reason they couldn’t see me. It was as if I was invisible. And as they all turned to run, screaming in panic that the sun hadn’t come up, I was knocked off my feet and fell to the floor. My face forced into the cold, dank ground, I could taste its bitterness. I couldn’t shout out with earth in my mouth and nose. I felt the pain of winter boots on my back and head, treading me into the floor of the cavern. Standing on me, kicking me, bruising me, and I felt myself faint. Dropping into a darkness, a rushing pulse in my ears, pain in my body. I felt myself give up. Give in. No oxygen, my nose and mouth filling with soil. I was dying.