by RD Le Coeur
Chapter Seven
Jen had not slept well. She had dreamed of magic and what Sunny had discovered. It troubled her greatly. Was it good or evil? What if Sunny got mad at her for something stupid and turned her into a pig. It had been a never ending night of what ifs.
She was still tired when she awoke, and if she was honest a bit grumpy. She had chomped her way through a bowl of cereal and torn the toast into strips and munched it with little regard to table manners and the odd disapproving glance from her Mother.
"Who's got out of bed on the wrong side this morning?" her father asked.
Jen hated that saying. How could you possibly get out of bed on the wrong side?
There was no wrong side. The sooner she was out of the door and with Sunny for today's expedition to the crypt the better. She harrumphed at him and left the dining table and went to get her wash bag. Her parents were in deep conversation as she left for the toilet block. She overheard
the word hormones and little else.
Happy at her escape she took her time in the toilet block and scrubbed her face and cleaned her teeth. She could have done this in the caravan but she preferred to have her own space. The thought dawned on her that Sunny could use these facilities if he wanted. It was certainly much better than what he had to put up with.
When she arrived at the caravan Dad was already at work on the car and she was advised that Mother had popped to the camp shop for some fresh milk. Jen told her dad that she was spending the day with Sonia again and they were going to walk around the headland to the next bay.
He said it was about time they met this Sonia, but to have a nice day and to be careful of the tides and rocks. He would tell her Mother where she was going and not to worry about her... Mother and not worry did not seem to fit properly in the same sentence to Jen.
Her mood brightened significantly when she saw Sunny. He was equally as delighted to see her. She asked how Moonbeam was, and was pleasantly surprised to discover that Moonbeam liked her, and she thought it about time that Sunny had a girlfriend. Jen was not quite sure how to react to this last bit. They were friends undoubtedly, they had grown close over the last few days, drawn and bonded together in the mystery. But to be honest boyfriend/girlfriend was not something she had really considered. She had never been a girlfriend to a boy. What were you supposed to do? How were you supposed to act? If it meant acting like some of the girl's back home she was not impressed by their behaviour. All they did was whinge like stuck pigs about " you never guess what so and so did last night” or accuse one another of stealing their boyfriends away. The petty jealousies were endless. No, she did not want that. She couldn't really look to her parents for guidance. Their relationship was not exactly going to set the world on fire, but at least they were one of the few who were not divorced yet, in some nasty local scandal that seemed to plague her neighbourhood. That brought the word hormonal back into her mind again. She had heard her Mother tell her father that it was all hormonal. Father had said that there should be a compulsory medicine for it.
"You're not listening, Jen! "
"Sorry, Sunny I was miles away. What did you say?"
"I said it's a fair walk, do you want to go the same way as yesterday through the woods or do you want to go up the lanes?"
"Lanes would be nice for a change. Less sand between my toes."
"Fine. Follow me then."
They set off in a different direction from the beach and cut over the stumpy sand dunes until they came to the road. Sunny explained that it was the same road as she had arrived by when she had first come. If she had gone out of the site and turned left, then she would end up here. The weather was nice and they ambled along in their own time taking time to see the vistas that unfolded as they progressed along the coast. They came to a cross roads and took a left turn down a narrow lane. The signpost indicated that there was a church down this road. That was fine as long as you did not have a great big car thought Jen. This lane was ancient and must have been laid when horses and carts were the biggest things on the road. The hedgerows were high and you could not see over the tops of them into the fields or whatever it was that lay beyond them. They had gone about a quarter of a mile when suddenly on her right hand side the hedgerow stopped and revealed a large pond with trees surrounding it.
Three youths were smoking and chucking things into the water.
Sunny's pace hurried a little as if he wanted to get past here quickly. The larger of the boys came towards them. He looked about seventeen going on twenty two and despite the heat, he was wearing a studded leather jacket. He approached them with the other two loitering behind
him.
"What have we got here then boys? Fatboy Halliday and a stick insect."
"Bugger off, Muldoon.” said Sunny.
"Heard about the pig, Cool trick. How did you manage to smuggle it into class with no one seeing it?"
"It was easy, now get out of my way."
"Going for a bit of grope a dope are you?"
"I bet your willy is as big as your brain." said Jen, copying one of the regular catty comments from the school playground.
Sunny pushed his way past and they continued on. The louts jeered at them but they ignored them.
"Nice one Jen, that cut the Muppet down to size. I could have taken him you know. A quick right in the belly would have dropped him like a stone."
Jen could almost smell the nervous testosterone emanating from Sunny. Hormones again she thought.
"Let's not think about those numpties," she said to calm the situation.
"How much further is it?"
"About another quarter of a mile down this track. It won't take long. I just hope it's open. I don't fancy trying to find a vicar and explaining what we are up to and could we please have a key."
Jen laughed. It had been a strange morning for her and the laughter relieved some tension that was slowly building up inside. She had been called a girlfriend. She had been called a stick insect and those horrors thought that she was going into the woods for a "grope a dope' whatever that was exactly. It did not need much imagination considering the small brains who had suggested it.
"Why did he call you fat boy Halliday?"
“ 'cos it's my name. Sunshine Halliday."
"You're having a laugh, Sun."
"Nope. I've never thought to ask you, what's yours?"
"Jones, believe it or not. You don't think I look like a stick insect do you?"
"I think you look beautiful, " he said colouring slightly.
Jen definitely blushed this time. The word Hormones came unbidden into her mind again.
"Now that we know that the last clue does not involve midnight adventures what are you going to do about the bogus treasure hunt?"
Jen was glad the subject had changed.
"Dunno, seems a pity to waste the opportunity and all my hard work. The weirdos are expecting me to go on it with Sonia. I can't let them down." she said with a smirk.
"Why don't we go to my favourite place? It looks stunning when it's dark. It has an atmosphere all of it's own. You can eat at ours and then we'll go for a wander up the hills. You won't be disappointed and besides my best friend should know where my special place is."
"Sounds fine to me. Tonight it is then. Now let's crack on with this damn puzzle and get it solved."
They continued in silence until they arrived at the ancient church. It was very old and very small. The roof had seen better days and was completely encrusted with mossy lichen. The dry stone wall that surrounded it looked equally as ancient and the tiny graveyard was neatly kept. The grave stones looked as aged as the hills and there were no vases or any other wreaths laying on top of any of the tombs.
There was a wizened yew tree in one corner and this seemed to be the only form of life visible in the small enclave. They entered through an old wooden covered gate and the gate squeaked and groaned as they entered.
"Loud enough to wake the dead, that gate." quipped Sunny.
J
en smirked at his remark and entered behind him. It was very still, quiet and peaceful in the churchyard. They followed the path to the main door and a small flock of birds took flight with a deafening noise.
Jen looked up to watch them.
She noticed an old clock on the tower that had stopped sometime in history at three thirty. She also noticed the fierce and frightening gargoyles that looked down upon them from on high. She knew about gargoyles, but could never understand why you would put creatures from the underworld on a building that was supposed to represent the way to heaven. It made no sense to her.
Sunny had only been to this church once before. He had come with his Mum when she had been into brass rubbings. She had this bright idea that brass rubbings would go down well at boot sales for the tourists but it hadn't really worked out so good.
Brass rubbings were all very well for the person who was doing them, but for the child that watched his Mother, it was boredom personified.
Sunny had wandered off and had looked into every nook and cranny.
He had scaled the tight winding stone spiral steps to the top of the tower, he had looked out to sea from the cracks in the clock face and had seen where the bats lived. He had poked around in the vestry and been down into the crypt and had a poke around in there too.
Jen closed up behind Sunny as he firmly gripped the round black iron door handle and twisted it. It opened with a groan and he pushed the heavy door, which creaked very loudly disturbing the quiet peace of the church itself. He peered around the door and entered. It was very cool in here out of the sun, and it seemed to have an atmosphere all of its own. Jen came inside as well and looked around. The stained glass windows were picturesque and filled their coves with colourful light. It was all too quiet and the echoes of their footsteps seemed too loud for the place. The wood was all polished to perfection and the pews gleamed. There were fresh flowers down by the altar, some of them lilies, judging by the awful heavy scent that permeated from that direction.
Sunny pointed to a red velvet curtain that was held up by rings on a black pole. He went towards it and she followed. He stopped in front of it and listened intently.
There were no noises to hear.
"No-one about," he whispered ever so quietly to Jen.
"Then why are you whispering?" she said in her normal voice.
"Seems like the right thing to do in church, " he responded.
"Well stop doing it. It's creepy enough in here as it is. I don't need you making me even more nervous."
"OK. Sorry." he said quietly, but not quite whispering.
Sunny pulled the curtain along the pole to expose a small black door. The curtain rings clacked as they went. It sounded with the echo, like a stick on railings. This door was even more noisy and creaky than the main door. He gently eased it open and exposed a downward spiral staircase. It was pitch black and smelled musty. He flapped his hand around in the dark until it alighted on a black very old light switch. He flicked it down and a single unshaded light bulb sprang into life and illuminated the stairwell. It looked very steep and Sunny told her to be careful, as it was easy to lose your footing, as the treads were so narrow. Jen wished she had worn trainers. These clumpy sandals were not the best things ever invented for going down steep spiral staircases. She had worn them as she was fed up with emptying her trainers of sand every day. Mother was fussing about the amount of sand being traipsed into the caravan every day. It made more work, and this was supposed to be a holiday. People should be more considerate.
Whenever Jen's Mum used the phrase 'people', she really meant Jen or her Dad.
Sunny went down the stairs first, Jen followed slowly and very carefully behind him.
They arrived at the bottom in complete darkness and Sunny told her to "wait a mo," as he struggled to find another light switch. At last he found it and three unshaded bulbs sprang into light. The atmosphere down here was damp, cold and very musty. Jen had goose bumps formed all up her legs and arms. The crypt ceiling was low and arched.
There were enough cobwebs on them to support an entire colony of giant spiders she thought and shivered involuntarily. There were recesses in the walls, small stone plaques and frankly a lot of damp dust and odds and ends. There was an old Scout flag furled in the corner. There was an antique tombola and unused bingo tickets. Here was evidently where they kept most of the church vases. Although this was a very ancient place there were enough modern pieces of bric-a-brac to take your mind off more creepy things like demons and ghouls. Sunny edged further in to the crypt carefully examining the walls and ceilings.
"What you looking for Sun," she whispered.
"Who's whispering now? I'm looking for electric leads. If we follow them we should come to the alarm bell."
It was logical. All the old wiring in here for the lights were simply cable tacked into the stone with grey clips. They followed the cable deeper and deeper in to the crypt.
There was a loud bang from upstairs and they both nearly jumped out of their skins.
"What was that?" asked a very nervous Jen.
"Dunno. We'll find out when we go back up I suppose." said a sheepish sounding Sunny.
Still unnerved, they followed the electric leads to the end of the crypt but could find no alarm bell. Sunny looked at Jen and shrugged holding his palms upwards.
"I don't understand this. There has to be an alarm bell. It clearly says so in the clue and everything has been very precise and followable till now."
"Perhaps we should just look around for a bell. Any bell will do and see where we go from there."
"That's as good a plan as any Jen. You take this side and I'll take the other and we'll have a good rummage all the way back to the stairs. I bet you it will be right where we came in, and right under our noses."
They set off very slowly keeping abreast of one another. They got about halfway back when Jen spotted a dull gleam from a deep recess. She had not noticed it on the way down as she had been concentrating on the wires on the ceiling. She nudged Sunny to join her. Peering into the darkness of the recess they could make out the shape of a bell.
Sunny put his hands into the recess and grabbed the object to pull it into the light. It gave off a dull bong as he moved it. It was set on a once polished wooden base.
It had an inscription etched into brass on the base. He carefully brushed all the dust of it and angled the thing to the light. The inscription read as follows.
Ship's bell from the wreck 'Eleanor' 1827. Used from 1850-1923 as a warning bell for shipwrecks on the Cardigan Coast. Lost to a tidal surge in 1923 and regained from the sea in 1925 by fishermen who found it in their nets.
"Nice bit of history there, Jen."
"Stuff the history! Where's the clue?"
"All in good time. All in good time."
Sunny leaned the bell against the side of the wall on a handy stone shelf and probed inside the bell. The bell was too heavy to tip upside down and it would require two hands just to hold it. He felt the paper almost as soon as he found the clapper. Working blindly he gently prised it free and out into the light. Jen smiled. It was exactly the same paper as had been used in all the other clues and this gave them both a quiet satisfaction that they were still on the right trail. Sunny handed the clue to Jen, whilst he concentrated on putting the bell back in it's hidey-hole. She opened it carefully and angled it towards the light. She knew as soon as she saw the bell that it was yet another clue. You couldn't stuff a load of treasure into the insides of a bell that size. Not unless it was a wodge of uncut diamonds, she suddenly thought. She read the clue out aloud.
SEVEN DEADLY SINS INITIALLY CHANGED PLACES FOR SEVILLE MARKER
"More brain power required I think," said Sunny.
"I haven't got a clue either. Never mind I am sure we will suss it eventually. Now lets get out of here, it gives me the creeps and I am sure we are going to get told off by someone for being down here."
Sunny led the way back up the spiral stair case making
sure that he remembered to turn off the lights in the crypt. As they came to the top they saw that the door was closed.
That's what the bang was, thought Jen. Those louts at the pond have locked us in for a laugh. She did not think it was funny, and was letting her mind run riot with how long they would have to be incarcerated before someone found them, when she noticed that Sunny had opened the door. She quietly cursed her fertile imagination and scolded herself for being so stupid. When they were both out, Sunny closed the door and drew the velvet curtain back across the doorway. They looked about for signs of life, but saw no-one. They tippy toed out of the church and Sunny closed the door behind them.
A loud voiced boomed at them from across the grave yard. They both turned startled.
"Was you youngsters down the crypt?"
"Yes," said Sunny because he could see no point in denying it.
"Sorry if I frightened you when I closed the door. Mrs Llewellyn don't like the smell from down there up in the church."
He didn't wait for any response and returned to scything the grass in the grave yard.
"Nice of him to let us know," said Jen.
The sun was high in the sky and it was well past midday. Sunny was feeling peckish now and Jen was wondering where the time had gone.
"Let's go back past the horses' grave this time. We won't have to bump into those louts that way."
"True, and we can stop at mine and have a bite to eat and then get to work on the next clue."
"Let's give our brains a rest for a change and think about it later. Will Moonbeam mind if I stay for tea tonight for our night trip to this secret place of yours?"
"No she won't mind at all. We'll ask her when we get home now."
"Is your Dad back yet?"
"Nope. Mum says he won't be back now till the weekend. She called him at uncle Pete's from the call box last night. Looks promising for the paintings she said."
"Good I'm pleased for him although I haven't met him yet. Have you got any of his paintings in Home Meadow you can show me?"
"A few. He took the best one's with him though."
They trekked across the field, down past the horses' grave and through the oak wood and all the way back to Home Meadow. Jen had just realised that she had done more walking on this holiday than she had probably done in the whole of last year.
Moonbeam had been busy making candles and she was hard at work creating the molten wax arty decorations that criss crossed the barrel of the candles. She was lost in a world of her own and did not hear Sunny and Jen arrive.
"Jen's gonna' be here for tea tonight, Mum."
"Cool." said Moonbeam not for any second letting her creative talents be interrupted by idle chatter.
"Got any grub? We're starving."
Moonbeam had finished the candle she was working on and looked up.
"What was that?"
Sunny decided to start again." Jen's coming for tea tonight and have you got any grub now? We're starving."
"Oh. sure. There some sarnies over by the cool store I made you. Share them between you and I'll knock up another round whilst you are munching on them. Want some parsnip crisps to go with them?"
"NO thanks, Mum. I don't think Jen is ready for your crisps yet."
Moonbeam looked a little hurt at this last comment, but said nothing. She got up and went to make another round of beetroot sandwiches.
Sunny took Jen over to where the cool area was and got out the sandwiches. The beetroot juices had seeped into the bread and it looked like road kill. Sunny gave one to Jen. "These are delicious Sun." she said after taking a bite and as a dribble of juice slid down the corner of her mouth. Sunny laughed and wiped the dribble away with his finger. It was a tender moment in an untender situation.
He laughed. "You look like a vampire with blood dripping from your mouth." he teased with glee.
Moonbeam came over and handed them another plate of beetroot sandwiches.
"Staying for tea? What are you two up to?"
"I'm going to take Jen up to Wood henge tonight. You know it's my special place and I want to show it to her."
"Cool. Wanna stay the night? You can sleep with Sunny if you like."
Jen looked horrified at the suggestion.
"No Mum. She has to be home by ten. Tea will be fine and as soon as it's dark we'll go up the mountain."
"Cool. It's a magical view from up there. You can really feel part of the universe as you look out to sea and have the stars all around you."
Jen munched on her beetroot sandwich and sat with Sunny enjoying the peace and quiet of Home Meadow. The 'sleeping together' incident was playing on her mind but she decided that to say nothing would be best, and hopefully it would all be forgotten.
"What's the plan Stan?" asked Sunny.
"Well, I will have to go home later on. The leaflet that I've left hanging around the van clearly states that it is a six "o' clock start on the harbour side. So I suppose I can hook up with you again at 5.30 and we'll come back here. Mum might make me have tea first, or even worse, take a packed tea with me."
"Worse things can happen. Won't they follow you to see you off?"
"Nah. I'll say my ta ta's at the van and skip off in a hurry."
"Considering how they are with you, it all seems a bit easy to me."
"It'll be OK. Trust me. I will have to be back before, say eleven at the absolute latest, or they will call out the police and say I've been kidnapped. Better still if you can have me back by tennish it would be a lot safer. I can say that Sonia's parents will be around and one of them will escort me back to the van. When I'm back in, I'll say that they wouldn't come in, as they did not want to disturb you, as it was so late. That'll do."
Sunny was still not happy that he was Sonia to her parents. Was she embarrassed at him or was it really just easier for her to lie to her parents about a potential boy/girl situation. He thought quietly for a few seconds and decided it was the latter.
"Want some squash?" he enquired.
"Is it the same as yesterday?"
"Why, didn't you like it? We've got some elder flower cordial somewhere if you prefer."
Jen had no idea what elder flower was and decided the fruit cocktail would do as a push. Sunny went and got some and brought it back. It was a lot darker than yesterdays brew, and when she tasted it, it had a lot more of a blackberry flavour. It had also been thoroughly strained this time and the lack of pips and seeds was nice for a change.
"S'pose we had better settle down and re read the clues Jen. Come on over to mine. It's more comfortable on the cushions and I feel I can concentrate better there." Jen followed him over to his tepee and they settled themselves inside.
Sunny pulled the clues out again and was feeling much happier now that the munchy cravings had left him. He looked at the clues carefully and handed them to Jen.
He read the clues out aloud and Jen came and sat next to him.
SEVEN DEADLY SINS INITIALLY CHANGED PLACES FOR SEVILLE MARKER
"Maybe it's gonna' be easier than the last one?" said Jen hopefully.
"I doubt that, it looks like a cryptic clue from the crossword puzzles. I have to warn you that I am not very good at those. I prefer the straightforward question/answer types. What about you?"
"You are the bof, Sun, I'll just follow where you point on this one."
Sunny struggled to admit that this one had him completely stumped. He tried different word patterns and different ideas out on Jen but all to no avail. He actually needed help but he could not think of who to turn to. Jen was getting fidgety and was a bit disappointed that he had not gone
"It's Mr plum in the conservatory” as he usually did.
He was getting nowhere fast and he also wanted to do something different. If he could not think about it then maybe the answer or a least a clue to the answer would pop into his brain. He had a bright idea to cheer her up and divert the stress away from his brain. He offered to show her Geronimo's paintings. Jen was pleased to chang
e the subject and she was actually looking forward to seeing his father's work. She was good at art in school and her teacher had always said that she had a natural eye.
This had always amused Jen, as everyone knew she did not have a false eye.
She followed Sunny out of the tent and over to another tepee, the flap of which was covered in paint splashes and smudges.
"This is my Dad's unofficial studio. Well, actually the store room and winter quarters for his painting and paints. He likes to paint out doors in the nicer weather. Something about the light, although I don't pretend to understand that, as he only paints abstracts."
Sunny opened up the flap and let Jen in. She was dumbstruck by the vivid colours and shapes. It was truly mesmerising and she did not have a clue what they were all about. It was just a vivid colour experience and your eyes were drawn all over the place. There were no discernible shapes she could relate to. Her art teacher would have had a fit if she had submitted any of this type of work and probably have sent her to the school nurse for a drug test. Collage and still life, this was not, but she actually quite liked the experience, it was different, and had a vibrancy to it that kept her attention.
"This is not his best work, like I said, he took all that to London."
"Is it the same as this though, generally?"
"I'm afraid so. The nude ones of Moonbeam are really something else though."
"Your Mum in the nude?"
"Well it's not what you think. I know that they are of my Mum and so does she and him, but you would never know it was her or even for sure it was a woman. It's like pieces of her in various places on the canvas. I can't really describe it to you."
"Sounds interesting. Has he always painted?"
"He went to the Slade School of Art and so did my Mum, that was how they met.”
“How exactly did your parents meet?" asked Sunny.
"I dunno for sure. It must have been an act of God. I still can't figure out how they ever met or even talked to one another! "
"Maybe they met at a weirdos fancy dress party?"
Jen laughed a false laugh. It was all right for her to mock her parents but she wasn't absolutely sure if she liked someone else doing it.
Moonbeam appeared as if out of thin air and asked what they would like for tea.
They were offered a small choice and decided together to try moonbeam's home-made veggie burgers in soda bread buns with fried onions and a spicy herb relish. Two each would be fine, and Jen decided against having melted goat’s cheese on hers. Goat and cheese did not really go together as well as cow and milk and cheese in her view.
Sunny, sensing her unease at the goats' cheese, made all sorts of goat noises to wind her up. To be fair it amused her and it was in a happy mood that she returned with Sunny back towards her caravan to carry out the misdirection of her parents. She never thought for one minute that it could go wrong, and she had total confidence in her abilities to con them and get away with it. Sunny was nervous for her and feared it could all end in tears as he waited patiently at the allotted point for her. He truly hoped that it wouldn't all go wrong, as he really wanted her to see a Wood henge at night. It was spectacular and after all it was his very own special place. He need not have worried, she was back after a very short time with a huge grin on her face.
"How'd it go, Jen?"
"Like dream. Just got to run back so as they can see me and wave to prove Sonia's parents are here to escort me and then we can go."