Awaken_A Rose Caldwell Tale

by JM Bannon

  9:30 AM, The Cathedral of St. John the Baptist Chester, England

  “William! Is William up there?” yelled Rose.

  Rose stood at the foot of the scaffolding looking up. Several men glanced down at her.

  “Up here. I’ll be down in a moment,” William hollered back.

  Rose watched as he made his way down the various levels of the scaffolding. He had taken over the Cathedral repairs for the Mason family. It kept them on the biggest job in the county and helped out the Mason girls.

  “What can I do for you, Sister?”

  “I heard you found out the source of what caused the scaffolding to collapse,” said Rose.

  William just looked at her.

  “Well, what was it?” Rose demanded.

  “No offense Rose, but just what does this have to do with the convent?”

  Nothing, its personal, your family are friends and I don’t believe this was an accident, there’s more to it than that.

  “It’s a sorry world is not? Where the deaths of my uncle and cousin are left to be investigated by a nun. It’s a shame the Sheriff is not the Bishop, we might see him get off his behind and look for the man who killed them.” Williams said bitterly.

  “The thing of it is, what you heard was nothing to do with the scaffolding coming down.”

  “I’m not with you William,” Rose said in confusion. “I heard that….”

  William interrupted her. “What you probably heard is the news that we have found out why this old wall is tilting in the first place and needs the work Uncle Edward was starting.

  When we dug down to put in shoring, we found a space that shouldn’t be there. Nothing on any surveys or drawings see! We all thought we knew everything there was to know about this site and the churches built here. Seems we was wrong but that didn’t kill Uncle Edward. No, this tunnel or whatever it is, has been there since the first Church was built back in Saxon times or before most likely. It’s collapsing and that’s why the wall is leaning.

  “Could you show me, William?”

  William hesitated.

  “Please William it’s important!”

  William grunted then nodded and moved off.

  Rose followed him to the front of the church where he unlocked the door before pushing it open.

  “Got to keep it locked until we make it safe” he explained.

  He led the way down the nave then turned to the right and the steps leading to the crypt. He lifted two oil lamps from a shelf at the top of the stairs and lit them, then handed one to Rose.

  He appraised her for a moment, her face a mix of curiosity, fear and excitement. He shook his head then led the way down the steps. The crypt was not that large considering the size of the church above. Their lamps easily lit the space, though supporting columns left shadowed areas.

  William pointed to the far wall where oak timbers as thick as a man’s thigh had been braced against the ceiling and wall to hold it. To one side was a small opening in the brickwork, large enough for a man to pass through. This too had thick timbers supporting the weight of the stone above.

  “We are going to have to fill in behind that with stone and mortar to support the wall above. We are going to start later this morning.”

  Rose moved closer trying to see into the space beyond.

  “Rose! Be careful, it’s only those timbers keeping the whole structure in place at the moment.”

  Rose lifted her lamp in front of her as stepped into the cramped space beyond the wall, crouching slightly to avoid touching the support timbers. It was clearly an old stone tunnel, the walls cracked and crumbling.

  “Please Rose! I would never forgive myself if this all caved in on you!”

  The tunnel only ran for a short distance before ending in a pile of stone and dirt sloping up to the ceiling.

  “What do you make of this?” asked Rose, ignoring the stone mason. He had followed her into the tunnel space.

  “I’d say this tunnel dates back to the original chapel or even before. The Roman tunnels we find used brick and cement, while this is all stone and daub.”

  Rose approached a niche in the tunnel, and saw that the earthen floor had been disturbed, although the sides of a hole were hard packed.

  “What was here William?”

  “That was there already,” William replied. “None of my men have done anything other than brace the walls.”

  Rose reached into her pocket and drew out a small copper mirror about six inches across with a wooden handle. She had fashioned the object, after reading about scrying in Dee’s book. Piecing together concepts on its design over the past few days. She had fashioned the object from materials she has scavenged about town.

  She held it up at an angle to the lamp she held and murmured the words of the incantation she had read in Kelly’s book. Rose felt a little silly, doubly so with William standing there, but she forced herself to concentrate on looking beyond what was reflected there. She slowly turned the mirror this way and that as she turned in a circle trying to see all of the area.

  There it was, as she came back to the alcove a faint flickering reflection of what might be a child, grey in color, digging up the ground; the image startled her and made her nearly drop the mirror. The image vanished, but it had worked!

  “You all right there?” William asked, concerned. “Just what are you doing Rose? What’s that for? He nodded at the mirror.

  “William have any children been in here?” she ignored the question; her voice was serious.

  “No! Well not that I know of. Of course, a child could slip in but not when we were working and not now the door is locked! Why?”

  “I…. I just had a feeling that a child was digging here,” said Rose hesitantly, her thoughts going to the image in the mirror, a small child, a boy she thought, only naked and grey.

  “Well, I don’t see how that could be Sister, I was here when we broke through the wall into the tunnel and that hole in the floor was already there.”

  “The hole had been dug before you opened the tunnel?”

  “I hadn’t given it a thought, but yes it had to be, you can see from the way the soil is packed down that it has been there a long time. It was made after this was built,” he gestured around him.

  William examined the hole and then looked at the scree slope from the collapsed roof.

  "Now that you mention it, it’s clear that this was dug after the roof fell in, you can see the debris was moved out of the way,”

  With the observation from William, Rose could see that there was a clear spot where the hole had been dug a few steps away from it and the ground was littered with broken stone and clumps of dried soil. She tried to work out in which direction the tunnel went.

  “It’s going to the East isn’t it William?” she asked her friend as she went to examine the collapsed end of the tunnel.

  “Please be careful, none of this has been supported,” urged William looking at the roof nervously. “It should be headed East if I haven’t been turned around coming down here.”

  Rose lifted her lamp so that its light shone on the debris slope. Near the top of the slope there was less stone and more soil and it looked as if something had burrowed through from either the other side or above.

  “William, what do you think happened here?” Rose’s curiosity was piqued.

  The man made his way carefully next to her and held up his lamp. “An animal, maybe a badger or the like burrowed through.”

  “Wouldn’t there be signs of it if that was the case?”

  “Not if it turned around and went straight back out again, same as we should be doing!”

  “Alright,” agreed Rose, “I want to see if this burrow comes out above ground anyway.”

  They made their way carefully back into the crypt and then into the church proper. They extinguished their lamps and placed them on the shelf before leaving.

  William gave a heartfelt sigh of relief as he locked the door. “Rose, God may be holding your
hand at all times, but for us other mortals that was known as pushing your luck!”

  “Let’s go look in the ruins,” said Rose with a smile.

  They made their way to the east side of the church where once the old cathedral had stood. Its remains now littered the ground, along with an occasional headstone, fallen or askew, the names obliterated by time and the elements.

  Now that they knew roughly where to look, the line of the collapsed tunnel could be made out. It had left a shallow depression in the soil which the grass cropped by sheep could not hide. Rose walked towards the back wall of the church and found the torn divots and soil of the burrow leading downwards. It was too small for a child, yet the image from the mirror…

  “Over here, Rose!”

  Rose joined William at the far end of the depression.

  “Whatever was digging into the tunnel, started here!” Said William. “There’s no other digging between here and the one that goes into the tunnel. Dug here first and then over there.” He nodded towards the hole Rose had found.

  “Would an animal do that William?”

  He looked at her and fear was evident in his face. “No Rose, I don’t think so, I really don’t.”

  Chapter Nine: Saturday the 25nd of September 1852

  10:30 AM, The Chester Architectural, Archaeological, and Historic Society

  The sign above the half-glazed door read, the Chester Architectural, Archaeological and Historical Society, but the society had only one member, Mr. John Evans. So, it wasn't much of a society and it wasn't actually historical, as it had only recently been formed by its sole member. Rose entered the tiny shop and a bell jangled above her.

  Evans had always been a history enthusiast and after retiring from his role as a local land agent he had made his hobby official by renting space to show his collection of artifacts and to build interest in protecting the antiquity of the area.

  “Welcome Sister, what brings you here?” The old man asked with a smile on his face. He wore his thin grey hair unfashionably long and his thick grey beard still had some strands of red running through it. The self-proclaimed historian was dressed conservatively in a tweed jacket and hounds tooth vest as befitted his previous occupation, where he had daily mixed with the local gentry. His one concession to vanity was a polka dot bowtie.

  “I was told by Mr. Cooper that you are my best source for reliable historical knowledge and know more than most about the local lore.” Rose returned the smile as she approached the older man and shook his hand.

  “Ah yes, you must be Sister Rose, he speaks of you often.” He gestured to a corner where to comfy high-backed armchairs flanked a small table. “Come and sit down”

  Once they were settled he began, “I assume that you want to know about the old chapel?” He said with a gleam in his eye.

  "Ah, well actually no it was the Roman temple of Minerva I really wanted to ask you about," Rose corrected.

  "Oh, looking to hear some tawdry pagan tales, eh?" He winked at her.

  "Something like that.” She returned his smile.” Something to tell the other Sisters over breakfast!” She couldn’t help giggling at his expression as he realised what he had just said to a nun.

  She waved off his stuttered apologies. “I was hoping you might know about the origin and reason for the construction of the temple and could tell me more about Minerva."

  “How much time do you have?”

  “The temple was constructed at the same time that the shrine was carved into the stone of the quarry. You are aware that much of the walls and buildings including the temple can be dated quite closely by the existence of the shrine?” He cocked his head to one side as he spoke to her. Rose nodded in reply.

  Our best guess for the temple and the shrine is 140 AD, when the walls and other buildings had been completed. Later excavation in the quarry was kept away from the shrine which has been preserved in a remarkable state considering its age. At the time of its construction, Chester was the largest roman settlement in Britain the local clans had either been conquered or had retreated into the marches.

  Rose could tell she needed to direct the conversation or she would be listening to a day by day history of Chester from the Romans to now.

  “So, the temple was built at the same time as the shrine, but why two points of worship for the same goddess? Wasn’t Mithras the usual deity for the legionnaires?” she tried to steer the conversation.

  “Well yes, he was, and I believe near the baths is a shrine to him, but much of it has collapsed.”

  “So, the temple is unusual?”

  “Not as such, there are many temples to her throughout Europe, but this one is probably unique in that it was not built within the walls of the town or fort as it was then. We know from the artifacts that have been recovered that the temple was not for Minerva alone. It’s called Minerva’s temple because of the shrine but in fact it was dedicated to a number of gods and goddesses. Minerva was predominant, she was the goddess of knowledge and wisdom as well of war, but she shared the temple with Nemesis and Invidia.”

  Rose interrupted him, her thoughts swirling with the images from her dreams. “Three goddesses? Three women of power?”

  “Indeed, although there were certainly other gods and goddesses, we have statues of Apollo and Jupiter in the museum that were found at the site but those three were in my opinion the reason for the temple. The Romans took many of these gods and goddesses from the Greeks. Minerva was Athena, the second was Nemesis or as the Romans called her Invidia. The third was Artemis or Diana.

  “Was there any significant event around the time the temple was near completion?” Rose posed the question that was foremost in her mind.

  “There is a poorly documented history, about a high ranking Roman, his name was Praefectus Castrorum Septimius. He was a Centurion and Engineer. Chester wasn’t a town but a military base for the Roman Legio XX. Its purpose was to defend against the Brigantes to the north and Ordovices in Wales. Internal bickering and fighting back in Rome left the Centurion Septimius on his own with no support from Rome.”

  “The history tells that he betrayed the Empire and established himself as a king with the support of his closest lieutenants, the legions he commanded and Brigante mercenaries.” Evans shared, as he straightened his bow tie.”

  “Gnaeus Julius Agricola returned to Briton from Gaul with his army and quickly asserted Emperor Vespasian’s control over the region. Agricola, the Legatus of Legio XX, found this rebellious company under garrisoned. Agricola was a great strategist and besieged the garrison but was then surrounded by the Celtic allies of Septimius.”

  “To make matters worse, his men became ill with a pox. The myth was that Septimius was counseled by local witches and they conjured a beast to spread disease and crush the twentieth Legion sent by the Emperor to quell the rebellion.”

  “They didn’t account for the genius of Agricola however, while he had surrounded and besieged the fort and was in turn surrounded by the clans that had allied with Septimius, he had foreseen this possibility and had sent two cohorts of the twentieth into the forests to the east. He waited for a month before he ordered them to attack the eastern flank. They drove the clans onto the waiting shield wall of the legion and routed them.”

  “With his support from the clans gone and food growing short in the fort the men inside knew they had little time left. Those who had supported him in his rebellion now arrested Septimius and sued for peace and the hope of clemency.”

  Rose was impressed, “Where did you learn all of this Mr. Evans?”

  “I have read a great deal, and in my youth, I spent time in Rome studying history. The irony is, the Romans were better historians of this place than the residents. The Romans managed a massive empire and paid great attention to organization and record keeping, they have more accurate records of that time in history than we have,” explained Evans.

  “What became of Septimius and his witches?”

  “I suspect those supposed
witches were just local women who were brought to the gallows along with Septimius. He was hung on the walls of the city for being a traitor. Hanging was seen as a method of execution only fit for slaves.”

  “The Romans were as savage as they were smart; knowing that if you left no survivors, there was no chance of further rebellion. They crucified all of the rebel legions officers and many of the town’s leaders.”

  “They decimated the legions in the traditional meaning of the word, one man in ten was beheaded, impaled or crucified in front of the others and the rest sold into slavery. The women of the town were also tried by Agricola and many were accused of witchcraft and executed. It was a bloody period in our town’s history.”

  “The temple of Minerva was built in honor of the goddess who had protected the Romans from the witch’s curse and given them victory. Minerva had showered fortune on them and those taken ill recovered quickly with the defeat of Septimus.” The historian paused.

  Rose thought of her dream of when the temple was built. “Mr. Evans has there ever been an amphitheater here in the town?”

  "Sister, this whole city is littered with remnants of the past”.

  “That is the purpose of my society, to protect and preserve our history, so we can learn from our ancestors. I wouldn’t be surprised if there were an amphitheater."

  He continued as he got up and walked over and looked out of the window,

  “Well, that would be interesting, wouldn’t it? I suppose, there could have been a structure that large located here, an amphitheater would help to keep your troops entertained. Quite intriguing! What made you think of that?” He turned to face Rose.

  “I found a small fragment of an old record of those times, that mentioned the games held in the fort and thought that there might have been a structure to hold them.” Rose lied adroitly.

  “You know many of the old Roman structures were pulled down as the locals scavenged the stone. Why cut more from the quarry when there were all those perfectly cut stones there already. I can point to a quite few of the larger homes in the area where Roman stone has ended up in the walls,”