Ben thrust his hands through his wildly disheveled black hair. Ellie found, to her surprise, she recognised the meaning behind his instinctual gesture. Ben was feeling out of control. Hardly surprising. Weren't they all?
“Come, I have my car parked just up there. Let’s put the bikes in the back, and I can give you a lift,” Gerhard suggested.
"So, you think we are being held within a confined area? That we're prisoners?" asked Ben.
Rubbing his chin, Gerhard shook his head. "No, not imprisoned within a specific area. I think we'll find we're free to move wherever we want to go as long as we are together. I think it's bound us together. We can't leave each other, or at least not wander far from each other. However, together, I suspect we are free to move anywhere. It would be expedient to identify the radius of our binding."
"Hang on a goddamn minute. Are you telling me this thing has tied us together?"
"Yes, Ben, I think that is exactly what's happened. Very succinct précis of the situation."
"Well, how do we untie ourselves? It's not practical. You have a shop, I've my school, and Ben is going to Egypt soon. We need to countermand this thing."
"That, mein liebling, is the question. I believe this sphere has a purpose for us. Obviously, it's something to do with Egypt, and unless I am misguided, we'll not be free until we have done its bidding. Now I don't know about you, but I'm exhausted. I would love to extend my hospitality to you, but my accommodation is limited to just one bedroom. Would it be an extraordinary discourtesy to ask if I may stay at your school, Ellie? I presume you have vacant student rooms, and as we can't stray apart for the time being, we'll need to sleep in the same building."
"No discourtesy at all. We have loads of spare rooms. To be honest, I would love to go home and put my head under a pillow. This day's been trying in the extreme."
Smiling at her, Gerhard, with Ben's help, stowed their bikes in the boot of his Volvo and murmured, "Let's do that. There's always tomorrow."
Theories and Thoughts
Ellie awoke as a sunbeam danced lazily across her cheek, the dust fairies pirouetting and swirling in the golden ray. She smiled and nestled down into her pillows, snuggling into the cosiness of the feather duvet. The golden glow of sleepy peacefulness didn't last long as, one by one, the memories of the previous day unfolded, and a grey dread replaced all sense of wellbeing.
Surely, it had all been a dream. Oh, please let it all have been a dream. Didn't soap operas always have a dream scene where the hero wakes up and realises the ludicrous events he'd just experienced were just figments of his sleepy brain? In this situation, a dream would make more sense than the reality she'd experienced.
There was a gentle knock. "Yes," she said.
"Guten morgen, Ellie. I took the liberty of making breakfast. It's on a tray. I'll leave it by the door."
"Oh, thanks, Gerhard. Is Ben up yet?"
"Yes, we're having breakfast in the kitchen."
"Okay, I'll just have a quick shower and join you."
She let the glorious hot water pour like a waterfall over her. Throughout history, so many had achieved moments of profound clarity in showers and baths, but not today. Not Ellie. She found just a modicum of peace. With her hands raised on either side of the shower and her head bowed under the stream, she remembered her grandmother's words:
"What doesn't kill us, Ellie, will always make us stronger."
Oh, Granny, I wonder how much it takes to kill. Sometimes I feel like I'm just a millimetre away from a fatal dose, she thought. Yet again, she did what Elspeth had taught her so well. She raised her head and fixed a smile to hide her festering wounds.
It was one of those crisp, bright, and sunny winter days that help carry the average Englishman through the drudgery of the endless overcast and dreary months. She found the guys reading papers at the old and well-scrubbed kitchen table. The scene of normalcy was jarring. It could be any Sunday morning scene across the breadth of the land, a family enjoying a cosy breakfast over the papers. Except they weren't a family.
Ben glanced up from The Sunday Times and beamed. “Hey, Ellie. Did you sleep well?"
Nodding, she helped herself to a strong cup of coffee. "Surprisingly well, under the circumstances."
"Gerhard thinks we should test the boundary today to check it's active and, if so, its size. Are you up for that?"
"Um... yep, sure," she mumbled absentmindedly.
Gerhard took his glasses off, swinging them as he watched her. "I've been thinking about this all night. It seems clear we are bound by an unexplainable force, ja?" he said, checking to see she concurred. "And whilst we have freedom to wander to some extent, we have a clear boundary we can't pass. To test this boundary, we need to understand its radius and circumference. We must identify if it's a stationary or a mobile area based on our proximity to each other. To do that, we need a large, empty area out of sight of the general populace. I estimate the radius to be around two or three kilometres, although that's a rough approximation. Ellie, is there anywhere we could use to put the theory to test?"
"I'm not certain off the top of my head. Longleat has a straight drive, but it's only a mile or so long. Otherwise, there are old, disused railway lines that have been converted into cycle paths and a couple of World War II airfields. I’d need to check on a map to be certain.” Crossing to the Welsh dresser, Ellie rummaged around in the overflowing drawers, pulled out an Ordnance Survey map, and unfolded it onto the table, smoothing out the creases.
"Here's the Bristol to Bath cycle path, and here's Longleat," she said, pointing towards a large estate on the map. Gerhard and Ben huddled in to get a better look and quizzed her on the various options.
"To be honest, none of them are ideal. The only remote area I can think of would be somewhere on Salisbury Plain, but that's under tight military control. The Fosse Way is super straight. It's an old Roman road, but it's busy."
"Let's use the cycle path. But it would be prudent to do it under cover of darkness to hide any, shall we say, unexplainable occurrences," Gerhard said with a smile. "In the meantime, we should plan the coming few days until we can free ourselves from this little problem. I will need to organise help for Stefan, and I guess you'll need someone to teach your students."
"Ben's my only student, and we can fit our lessons around you."
Ben poured himself a glass of fresh orange juice and bit into a pain-au-chocolat. "My lessons can wait. We should spend our days at your place, Gerhard. We need to research what's happened to us, and there's no better repository of mythical and magical information than your store. Charlie can help Stefan, so the three of us can focus on the problem."
"Hang on one minute, Mr. Ellis. It may have slipped your memory, but Charlie works for me, and she's a critical part of my business. You can't just allocate her willy-nilly without checking with me."
"Jeez, Ellie, don't lose your hair! Your business won't do so well if you're following me around the world for the rest of your life. You can be damn sure I won't be kicking my heels in rural Somerset forever."
Pulling her shoulders back, Ellie glared at him. "I'm not denying it's a sensible move, simply your assumption you can decide what my employee does without consulting me. I'll call Charlie and see if she is amenable." Turning to Gerhard, she said, "Charlie is my housekeeper, but she also acts as my personal assistant, and I would trust her with my life."
"Yep, she's great. You can totally trust her. She livens up this place," Ben confirmed.
"That sounds infinitely suitable, and it would give me a degree of comfort to be on site as Stefan is far better suited to the catering side of the business. I can be on hand to help Charlie if she has any customer queries."
After organising things with Charlie, Ellie and Ben went to the study to gather their laptops and pack up their bags.
"Listen, Ellie, I know you can't stand me. That's been obvious from day one, but we need to work as a team. You've got to put your animosity on the back burner until we've s
olved this issue and then I will be out of your hair, and you'll never see me again. I didn't ask for any of this. It's no picnic for me either, but if we don't figure it out, we'll be stuck together for a hell of a lot longer. Neither of us would savour that. So, how about it? Truce?"
"I don't dislike you. I have no particular feeling about you, but I agree it would be simpler if we could work peaceably, so okay. Truce."
Ben watched as Ellie ducked her head down and focused on packing her laptop away. Why did she hate men so virulently? Just the other day, he'd seen her prickle like a grouchy hedgehog when the postman had launched a harmless charm offensive. She'd asked Shannon to replace a young, fast but flirtatious plasterer with another, who was past retirement and slow as hell even though it cost her double.
It wasn't all men. He'd noticed that much. She'd been enamoured by Stefan and enchanted by Gerhard's old-fashioned grace. Yet, the only man he'd seen her relaxed with was Shannon, and he was in his mid-fifties and gentler than a newborn faun. Ben decided he'd get to the bottom of it as he threw his mobile office into his capacious and well-travelled brown leather satchel.
Testing the Boundary
As it was Sunday, Black Cat Books was closed. So, whilst Gerhard gave an over-excited Charlie training on the till and the reference system, Ellie and Ben focused on trying to dig out information from the plethora of books on Egyptian mythology.
Ellie trailed her finger along a shelf lined with twinkling fairy lights, scanning the ranks of books for inspiration. She paused, pulled out a directory of Egyptian gods, and flopped into a velvet armchair, which was already surrounded with mounds of discarded books. She chewed on a flapjack whilst flipping through the various chapters on the vast number of gods worshipped by the ancient Egyptians, stopping every now and again to note down a word or phrase of interest.
She’d written “Khepri”, the name of the scarab that had attached itself to her, in the middle of her pad. Lines shot from the word with random phrases topping them: creation, renewal of life, pedestal statue - Karnak Temple. She created similar spider maps for Sobek, Ben’s crocodile, and Bastet, Gerhard’s cat. Both deities appeared to be linked to warfare and protection. Bastet also wore the mantle “Guide to the Dead”.
Following the only trail she could find to Khepri, Ellie searched for more information on the statue in Karnak Temple but found only silly stories of eternal love boosts for people who circled the statue. The rumours appeared to have been created by modern tourist guides to entertain their visitors. Sighing, Ellie attacked the shelves again, searching for other sources that might add some enlightenment.
Ben and Ellie worked diligently until dusk started to pull its cloak over the light of the day, nibbling on leftover cakes from the café as they scoured books. All too soon, it was time to leave.
The trio drove in silence towards the cycle path, each deep in their own thoughts. All they'd found out after an entire day's research was the religious and mythological relevance of the three animals; the scarab, the cat, and the crocodile. They'd discovered no reference to anything like they'd experienced in any of the conspiracy or paranormal websites, which led them to believe it was unique to them. Most of the unexplained surreal episodes on the sites were shared by reams of people globally. Not one site mentioned blue orbs and animating Egyptian gods.
They arrived in a small street lined with compact Victorian terrace houses, uniform in their cloaks of ubiquitous Bath sandstone. The houses fought to express their individuality via an array of gaily-coloured doors. Gerhard looped around, searching for a vacant parking space to accommodate the Volvo, and eased into a gap outside a house with a door of vibrant chartreuse. To ensure they didn't draw attention, they'd arrived as dusk was descending and parked a distance from the cycle path.
"Gerhard, pass me your mobile, please. I'll download the movement tracker app. I've already loaded it onto mine and Ellie's. It'll enable us to plot a starting point, track our GPS location as we move apart, and to gauge our finishing distance relative to our starting point. We should also be able to pinpoint each other in real time on this satellite map."
Gerhard peered at the screen on Ben's mobile and handed his own to him. "It's fascinating what one can do with technology now. My father would have loved this. It would have made his tours around the mountain passes of Peru so much easier - wonderful. Ja - wunderbar."
They ambled along as Ben set up the app on Gerhard's phone. Moving past the Victorian terrace, they followed the road past industrial buildings before passing large council houses.
"I spent time this afternoon planning the best way to plot and gather data to help us understand what's binding us. I suggest we define a starting point on the path and then move out in a triangle formation. You two follow the path in opposite directions, and I'll go cross-country. That way, we should be able to triangulate the extreme boundaries of the bond. To correlate our findings, we need to gather data as we go – any weather or temperature changes, when they occur, and where - by placing GPS flags. We should also gather photographic evidence to examine later. Does that sound practical to you?"
Ben eyed the other two, who nodded their agreement.
"Good. Both your phones have a data sheet where you can enter the details. I've added a shortcut on your home screen. I think once we've reached the limits of the boundary, we will know we can't move forward, but can we move sideways? Let's test that. I'll co-ordinate via text message."
They'd reached the gate to the Bristol to Bath cycle path. Dusk flowed into the darkness of night, and a chill curled around their ankles. Ellie gazed around nervously. This was eerier than she'd expected and would only get worse. Steeling herself, she strengthened her resolve. She had to get on with it. Fear of monsters in the dark was all very well, but being tied to Ben for the rest of her life was worse.
The path started with a strong, galvanised steel gate positioned in a peninsula between two hedged roads. Ben stepped over the low cycle barrier. This place was much creepier than he'd expected. Maybe they should have done this in daylight. He knew this would be harrowing. He'd been struggling all day to find a way to spare Ellie. Although she exasperated him, he was protective of her. He didn't like putting her into this position. She projected an icy veneer, but he understood that was what it was: a veneer. Underneath, she was vulnerable. The best he could do was put her on the path that would end in a lit area, but it made him uncomfortable.
He'd studied the maps all day and chosen a perfect start point from which he had the easiest cross-country route, so he guided them towards it. When they arrived, he took their mobiles and registered the GPS starting point. Then he showed them how to enter the climatic and positioning data into the mobile. After they'd both completed a couple of dummy spreadsheets, he was confident they were ready to start.
"Okay, guys, we're good to go, but remember to note every experience down accurately. We don't want to do this again. Oh, and keep your eyes open for any messages. If any of us find ourselves in difficulty, retreat and send the word 'Abort', then we'll re-meet at point zero. Everyone clear?"
Gerhard gave a sharp nod and turned to Ellie. "Take this, my dear. Give an old man peace of mind. Please, mein liebling, okay?" He handed her a small canister of pepper spray and bent to place a tender kiss on her forehead. Both shocked and touched by the obvious affection, she accepted the spray wordlessly and slipped it into her jacket pocket.
Typical, thought Ben. If I'd done that, she would've bitten my head off and spouted feminist protestations of independence. Just typical!
"Come on, guys," he snapped. "We don't have time for sentimentalities. We've got a mystery to solve." He positioned them in a triangular formation around point zero, with Ellie pointed back the way they'd come, Gerhard facing the other direction, and he towards the open fields. "In five, four, three, two, one, GO!"
Ellie walked back in the direction they'd come. She'd assisted Sam in many digs during their marriage when they couldn't bear to be parted. She'd done al
l the grid drawings, descriptions, and photos (under Sam's patient and conscientious tutorage) until she'd garnered quite a reputation among his peers for her acute attention to detail. It was this she harnessed now, slipping into the routine like a well-worn body armour, using its familiarity to protect herself against her galloping nerves.
The road had grown much darker in the short time since they'd travelled it. Shadows weaved and slid across the path, and icy fingers of frost crept up her legs, searching for any exposed skin, but Ellie was impervious to the normal elements of a winter's night. She was searching for unexpected details she wouldn't associate with a normal evening on a deserted cycle path.
Somewhere to her right, a pheasant darted out of its cover, hooting in panic as something – probably Ben – frightened it from its night roost. Ellie jumped as the bird flew low across the path in front of her. With a deep breath, she moved on, vigilant for any slight changes.
After a few minutes of walking, Ellie felt a slight shimmer of energy cross her palm. A haze of blue energy sparked and crackled across it, growing in intensity with every step she took. The energy focused on her palm and formed a discernible outline, one she'd seen just the day before, although it seemed so much longer ago to her. She stopped and took a GPS position and noted its location, and she took photos from several angles. The scarab had become fully formed and was moving around her hand.
She checked on the app and saw that both Gerhard and Ben were also stationary. I guess they have little visitors as well, she thought as she moved the scarab closer, so she could see it better. "Hey, little fellow. Aren't you a beauty? If only you could tell me what was going on, it would make life much simpler."
House of Scarabs Page 5