by Tim Flanagan
This was the first time that Joe had actually been up close to the stones, although he had often seen them from a distance or heard about them at school, but now that he was standing amongst them he felt a strange feeling come over him almost like an electrical energy that caused static to crackle in the air.
‘Interesting place this,’ said the voice of an old man who had also walked up to the circle. Joe hadn’t noticed him at first and was quite surprised to hear another human voice in the empty air. But he was even more surprised when he turned to look and saw that it was the white-bearded man that had followed them into the church.
The old man was standing at the entrance to the circle near to where Joe had left his bike. He leant on an old twisted walking stick and was dressed in the same brown suit as the previous day. He stayed where he was and didn’t approach any closer towards Joe who now moved towards the two central stones, cautiously keeping an eye on the man whilst still looking for any evidence of Peter.
‘Do you know the story behind this place?' asked the old man who had now sat wearily on the top of a smooth lower stone, almost like he was settling himself down for a long conversation.
Joe tried to remember what he had heard at school, although it probably wouldn’t be as much as Max would know if he had been there.
‘Isn’t it to do with the moon or something?' replied Joe.
‘That’s what your teachers will say about most stone circles, but this has a different story and one you might find interesting,’ he paused before adding, ‘especially if you’ve lost something.’
Joe looked quickly over to the old man, trying to think what he could mean by his last comment. Did he know anything about Peter? How could he know that Joe had come up here looking for Peter? The old man’s striking blue eyes seemed to focus sharply on Joe like a hawk on a rabbit.
‘Look at the inscriptions on those two stones you’re standing next to. They read Belphoebe and Gawain.’
Joe cautiously looked up at the inscriptions: