by Ruth Eastham
‘Oh Robbie,’ she whispered. ‘What harm did you ever do to anyone?’
Emmi went over to Miss Carter and put an arm round her.
Jon bit into another chocolate digestive with a look of alarm and Aidan shuffled his feet.
Emmi handed Miss Carter a tissue from the box, and the teacher dabbed her eyes.
Aidan thought about their teacher at the protest. The festival banner hanging across the room reminded him of how she’d rallied the crowds against the fracking; the way she’d stood up to Lord Berryman in the museum meeting. She seemed like a different person now; it was as if all the fire had gone out of her.
‘Do you need any help getting stuff ready for this afternoon, Miss?’ said Emmi.
‘Thank you,’ Miss Carter said. ‘But it’s all under control for now.
‘I’ve got the part of Boudicca this year.’ She forced a smile. ‘I get to dye my hair red. It doesn’t come better than that.’
Her face dropped, and she started adding more sugar to the teacups. She looked like she was going to cry again, and Aidan saw Jon shove a third chocolate biscuit into his mouth.
Aidan felt Emmi nudge him with her elbow. She raised her eyebrows, gesturing with her head towards the window.
The rain had actually stopped, Aidan realised. A slice of sun was peeping through the clouds and lighting up the weapons on the table.
‘Thanks for the biscuits and tea, Miss,’ Emmi said. ‘But we should be going now. If there’s anything we can help with though, just send us a message. See you at the festival later!’
They pulled on their wellies at the door.
‘There is one thing …’ Miss Carter’s voice faltered as she stood in the doorway. She cleared her throat. ‘Maybe it’s silly …’ Then she shook her head. ‘No. Don’t worry.’
‘Tell us!’ Aidan chorused with the others.
‘Well,’ Miss Carter continued slowly. ‘Well, when you do see Robbie, Emmi, could you put this on his bedside?’
She held out a small figure carved from wood. A hare. ‘He’s forever giving me cute little presents as you know and, well, it’s something I made for him. A Celtic charm. A healing charm actually. For good luck. I wanted to do something, and didn’t know what. Silly I know. But I always was a superstitious thing!’
‘It’s really lovely,’ said Emmi softly, squeezing her teacher’s hand. ‘Thanks, Miss.’ She put the hare into her pocket. ‘I’ll keep it safe with me until I see him.’
The trees closed in. They were getting really near to the clearing now. The only sounds were their breathing and their footfalls on the narrow woodland path.
At one point a message pinged through on Aidan’s phone from Dad; he was held up in the city and wouldn’t be back for the festival. But Aidan managed to push away his worries about the chariot race. Imagine they found something in the clearing! Imagine the news he might have for Dad when he came back!
They broke out into the space, the huddled circle of woods at its edges. Aidan saw the mound rising from its shadowy centre, and the ancient horse chestnut tree that grew on its top, its thick roots breaking the surface of the slope. The strange pocket of silence where no creature stirred. Its eerie blue shadows.
Now he was here again, Aidan felt a strange awe.
He remembered the cloaked woman he’d seen there. That same face in the glass of the museum case, with its grey-green eyes.
A shiver brushed the back of his neck.
He thought about that aerial shot the drone had captured. The dark gold circle marking out this clearing like the shining centre of a target. The torrential rain would have washed away all traces of it now, for sure. But this was the place. He was certain of it.
‘Come on!’ Aidan said to the others, scrambling up the incline.
Close up, the ancient horse chestnut tree looked more dead than alive. It loomed over them, a cage of great branches twisting over and round in a gnarled mesh.
There is something here, Aidan told himself. There has to be.
Anything seemed possible in this secret place of mysterious mist-blue shadows.
Emmi and Jon looked at him, bright-eyed, and the three of them crouched in a line, ready to search.
‘Let’s find that tomb,’ he said.
– CHAPTER 15 –
ROOTS
Aidan sat down heavily at the bottom of the mound.
‘This is not looking good,’ said Jon, trying to rub the mud off his face and instead managing to smear it all over his forehead. ‘Operation Tomb Boudicca is crash and burn.’
Aidan bit his lip. They’d been searching for the best part of an hour; an hour of digging and scraping and tugging, and still they’d found nothing.
‘We can’t give up that easily!’ Emmi scolded, waving her trowel at them. ‘We’ve got to search again; even more carefully this time.’
Jon puffed his cheeks and blew out a breath. ‘OK.’
They began to walk over the mound again, faces creased with concentration, making a spiralling path that gradually moved upwards, being sure not to miss any sections; checking old ground and being certain to include unexplored segments.
Nothing … Nothing …
Nothing.
And then …
Jon let out a shout from the other side of the mound, and Aidan almost tumbled down the slope in his rush to get there.
The three crowded round the spot.
When you looked really closely, there was definitely something different about this patch of ground. There was a brownish tinge to the mossy covering, as if the plants had been ripped up and then stamped back down again. The sparse grass stuck out in spiky, withered patches. In places the knotty tree roots that riddled the surface were ragged.
Aidan knelt down. Emmi and Jon crouched to the ground as well, and all three started prodding the earth with their fingers and the points of the trowels; pulling at the thick, stubborn roots …
Tree roots like snakes.
For some reason, Robbie’s words came into Aidan’s head as he worked, and they reminded him of just that. The leathery strands seemed to move disconcertingly under his touch, as if they were alive, and curled round his fingers in a none-too-pleasant way. All in his imagination, of course.
He heaved at one of the roots, digging his heels into the slippery slope to get a better grip. There was a ripping and a snapping sound and he tumbled backwards in a damp shower of dislodged soil.
At first the ground had seemed solid, but after some stabbing and scooping, more soil began to crumble away – unexpectedly downwards, the sound of the pieces showering against a surface somewhere deep inside.
The three of them stared at each other, and then Aidan jabbed the trowel harder. Excitement growing, he began kicking hard at the patch, the others joining in.
All of a sudden the patch of ground in front of him caved inwards, clods of earth collapsing to leave a gaping hole.
A moist, cool smell wafted up.
‘Woah.’ Jon gazed in amazement. ‘Operation Tomb Boudicca is … is …’ His words dried up, and he swallowed. ‘Have we found it?’ he asked.
Aidan peered into the gloomy space, heart hammering.
‘Do you think this is it?’ said Emmi in a thrilled whisper.
Aidan felt his breath catch as his eyes adjusted.
Because there, inside the hole, were steps.
Steps.
A narrow, stone stairway descending into shadow.
The three of them exchanged stunned glances, and then, with only the slightest hesitation, Aidan started to go down into the dark, cool silence.
The steps quickly levelled out and they found a passageway, a narrow tunnel curving out of view.
Bones through the gaps … More of Robbie’s words echoed unnervingly round Aidan’s mind … Trapped down there in the dark …
But they soon gave way to another internal voice, one it was impossible to keep quiet – his own:
We’ve found the entrance to Queen Boudicca’s tomb
!
– CHAPTER 16 –
UNDER CARRUS MOUND
Aidan took out his mobile to turn on the torch, noticing there was no signal.
‘We’re out of range down here,’ whispered Jon.
Aidan turned on the light and their shadows stretched up the rutted walls of the tunnel, only wide enough for single file.
Recover her bones from the Roman foe … The Carrus chant ran through Aidan’s head as he led the way. It was kind of calming. Hide the tomb where none dare go. Bury her bones. Bury her sword, In a stone-carved tomb, with a royal hoard.
Royal hoard. Aidan’s skin prickled. What were they going to find?
He thought about the gold bracelets showing Boudicca and her daughters in their chariot. They were only the beginning! There was that magnificent sword Jon had read about, the hare with the huge ruby eye engraved on its hilt.
If this tunnel was going to lead them into Boudicca’s tomb, the find was bound to stop the fracking before it could start. The Enershale deal would fall through, Berryman would keep his horses, and he and Dad wouldn’t have to leave Carrus and could continue looking after Centurion. The plan tingled deliciously through Aidan’s mind.
‘Looks dodgy up there.’ Jon eyed the roof as they crept on, and Aidan now saw the cracks criss-crossing overhead. The closer he looked, the more the whole thing appeared to be held together by nothing more than the lattice of horse chestnut tree roots dangling like ragged nooses of rope. He swallowed, trying not to think about the tons of rock and soil right above their heads.
The only sounds were the echoes of their footsteps and their breathing.
Despite the risk, this place felt so right to Aidan. He half-expected the ghostly flames of the will-o’-the-wisps to appear ahead of him, or the sadly beautiful figures of Boudicca’s daughters beckoning them forward.
He followed a curve in the passage, then drew to a sudden halt. Emmi and Jon bunched up behind him. ‘Look at that!’
Ahead of them the passage gave way to a low doorway framed by pitted columns of rock, the beam of light from his phone lost in the space beyond. He exchanged glances with Emmi and Jon, then stooped to go inside.
Aidan found himself in a kind of small underground cave. He used the light to trace out the slab stone walls, and a low, rock and earth ceiling. He held his breath, illuminating and investigating the room. Emmi had pulled torches from her rucksack for her and Jon, and the three of them fanned out, searching along the floor, the walls, and every corner …
A crushing feeling grew in Aidan’s chest as he combed the whole area.
Emmi’s voice was incredulous, echoing round the chamber. ‘There’s nothing here!’
‘But …’ Jon stuttered. ‘But, there has to be!’ His beam flitted over the floor and walls, more and more erratically.
Aidan rested his forehead against the cold, hard wall.
‘It’s just an old bunker or something.’ Emmi’s voice was thick with disappointment as she lowered her torch. ‘Maybe from the war, who knows? It’s nothing but a dead end.’
‘But might someone have been in here?’ said Jon desperately. ‘They could have taken whatever was inside!’
‘This isn’t the tomb. It can’t be!’ Emmi swept a hand round the space. ‘Does this look like the stone-carved tomb of a Celtic warrior queen to you? There’s no engravings in the rocks at all!’
‘Unless you count graffiti,’ said Jon. ‘Come and look at this.’
They gathered round Jon to examine something scratched into the stone wall; a patch of letters and numbers.
‘BP,’ read out Jon. ‘And a date. From ten years ago. Huh!
‘Even if this was the right place,’ he said glumly, ‘any treasures were cleared out long ago. This place isn’t going to convince anyone; and especially not by seven o’clock this evening when the fracking starts!’
Aidan let out a shout of frustration.
Above him he heard a faint, but definite creaking, like the earth was shifting a little, and a drizzle of powdery soil was caught in his torch beam.
Jon gripped his arm. ‘Keep your voice down, Aide!’ he hissed. He jabbed a finger at the ceiling, and Aidan saw the cracks he was pointing at.
‘I think we should go,’ whispered Jon. ‘Mission abort! There’s no way that roof’s stable. And I tell you, we do not want to be down here if that lot caves in.’
– CHAPTER 17 –
COLD LIGHT OF DAY
Aidan’s stomach churned as they made their way back through the narrow passage. He climbed up the gloomy stairway and broke out into the weak sunlight. Jon and Emmi stood by him, blinking and panting.
Aidan leant against a tree trunk and closed his eyes. He hadn’t got a clue what to do next.
And as if that wasn’t bad enough, Berryman was still expecting to see Centurion pulling the chariot in that afternoon’s re-enactment. Now what was going to happen?
As Aidan stood there, his phone came back online. An email from Mr Williams appeared in his inbox marked URGENT. It was copied to the long list of people in the anti-fracking group.
Emmi and Jon had the same message on their phones and all of them opened the email link.
BREAKING NEWS
They stared at each other in disbelief as they simultaneously scanned the story.
‘It’s not possible!’ Emmi gasped.
‘No way!’ stuttered Jon.
An age-old question about where Queen Boudicca’s final battle with the Romans took place may finally have been answered, with a startling new find in the Watling Street area of the Midlands.
‘But that’s miles away from Carrus!’ protested Aidan.
‘An arm bracelet has been unearthed,’ Emmi read out loud as Aidan enlarged the image on his phone, ‘bearing the royal symbol of Queen Boudicca …’
‘But it’s the same!’ Jon interrupted as Aidan peered at the screen. ‘It’s the one Robbie sketched – the bracelet stolen from the museum!’
Emmi frowned as she continued to read.
‘But this sensational artefact was just the beginning. In the same grave the skeletons of two girls were found …’
‘What?’ said Aidan. His shoulders tensed.
‘Preliminary tests indicate that the bones are likely to be first century,’ went on Emmi, ‘and several historians have proposed they could credibly be …’
She gazed up at the boys.
‘Boudicca’s daughters.’
Aidan swallowed. ‘The bracelet and bones must have been put in a fake spot by whoever stole them!’
‘Yeah,’ agreed Jon. ‘Probably by the same person who ran Robbie down to shut him up.’
‘The same person who doesn’t want Queen Boudicca getting in the way of the fracking!’ spat Emmi. She frowned. ‘Someone from Enershale, I bet. Or a corrupt Westminster politician!’
‘Special government forces,’ suggested Jon darkly.
‘But what proof do we have of any of this?’ Emmi said. ‘Robbie’s the only one who can back us up.’ She looked at the ground. ‘And he’s not going to be talking any time soon,’ she murmured.
Aidan’s thoughts churned. He had the niggling feeling that he was missing something. Something important.
‘We should have gone to the police when I said,’ muttered Jon.
‘No point trying to lay blame on other people, Jonathan Clegg!’ Emmi snapped back. ‘I seem to remember it was you who said we shouldn’t!’
‘Jonathan!’ Aidan stopped suddenly, grabbing Jon’s arm and shaking it so his friend went wide-eyed in alarm. ‘BP!’
‘What?’ Jon shrugged. ‘I’m totally lost, Aide.’
‘The graffiti in the chamber!’ Aidan told him. ‘Jon’s short for Jonathan. What’s B short for?’ He appealed to Emmi to cotton on.
She shook her head at him at first, but then turned it into a rapid nod.
‘Bob!’ she exclaimed.
‘Robbie!’ she and Aidan said together.
‘BP is Robbie Pickersgill!’
said Emmi. ‘Everyone used to call him Bob when he was younger.’
‘Robbie did find the bracelet down there!’ said Aidan. ‘The bones too, but he left them in peace; remember what he said?’ He thought a moment to get Robbie’s words exactly right. ‘Got to leave those kind of bones where you find them … wouldn’t be right.’
‘Yes!’ said Emmi. ‘By those kind of bones, he meant human bones! Then someone with zero respect came and put them and the bracelet in a completely different place to fool everyone and … oh!’ Emmi suddenly covered her mouth with her hand. ‘That’s why!’ she said.
‘Why the daughters appeared to us! Why now! Don’t you see?’ she gasped. ‘It’s because their bones were stolen! Their final resting place was disturbed!
‘But Boudicca’s body can’t have been with them,’ she added. ‘Or her bones would have been planted at the fake place as well, to make the find as convincing as possible.’
‘That’s true,’ said Jon. ‘Her tomb must be somewhere else.’
‘Maybe there’ll be clues as to who the thief was.’ Aidan scanned around the hole. ‘A footprint or something.’
‘Not much chance after all that rain,’ said Jon doubtfully. ‘But let’s look anyway.’
They started to hunt around in the bushy undergrowth.
After long minutes of searching, Emmi gave a shout and held something in the air. A spade.
‘Well, that would explain how they got in,’ said Aidan, examining it. ‘This is the same make as the tools we use on Berryman’s estate.’
‘Doesn’t mean much,’ said Emmi. ‘Anyone could have got hold of it.’
Aidan kicked the ground. ‘So what now?’
The three of them stood in silence a while.
‘We could check the drone video again,’ Jon suggested doubtfully. ‘In case we missed some clue about the hit-and-run driver. I mean, the thief and the driver have to be connected. That’s if they’re not the same person.’