The Green Stone

by Graham Phillips

  As they talked, the clock struck 7.30 pm. Martin and Andy were sitting on the couch facing the fireplace. Graham was at his desk. For a reason he cannot now recall, Martin looked up at the radio, which was on the mantelpiece over the fire. As his eyes registered the set it was gone, arching into the air to the right as he looked at it. The radio flew upwards, arched over the stereo speaker next to it and crashed downwards, smashing into the record player, badly damaging the plastic lid.

  The three quickly examined the mantelpiece. Could it have fallen and given the appearance of lifting into the air? Impossible. They had all seen it happening. Besides, the unit was split nearly in two by the force.

  Quickly they decided to leave the flat and discuss the events over some drinks. They left at 8.30 pm, leaving the office light switched on as a burglar deterrent. They stayed in the warmth of the pub lounge until 11 pm.

  When they returned the crescent was dark and empty. A light breeze swept along it as they made their way back to the flat.

  ‘My God,’ said Martin, ‘the light’s off!’

  They looked. The large bay window was in total darkness.

  ‘The door,’ said Andy.

  The front door was wide open. Martin knew damn well he had closed it, for he had been the last to leave. There was no doubt about it - someone or something had broken into the house. Perhaps they were still inside?

  The three men ran into the pitch-black room. Martin flicked the light switch. Nothing! They ran from room to room, fearing at any moment an attack by intruders. They searched the place from top to bottom. It was in total darkness and empty. They tried the light switches in each room. None of them worked. Whoever had broken in had fused all the lights.

  Whilst Andy and Graham found candles, Martin phoned Marion. As he spoke to her, she had the mental impression of two men, one tall with dark hair and a beard, the second of average height and clean shaven. She saw no more, but she was certain it was these men who had broken in.

  ‘Quick! Martin!’ Andy shouted.

  He dropped the receiver and ran to join Andy and Graham in the candle-lit hallway. The smoke was thick, swirling and spiralling through the corridor, a dense cloud of musty incense filling their throats. With the candles, they searched again unsuccessfully for the source. As the smoke began to thin, Martin went back to the telephone and apologised to Marion for having dropped the mouthpiece while she was speaking. As they talked Andy again called out, this time more frantically than before. Again Martin dropped the receiver and ran into the hallway.

  The flickering half-light of the candles cast indistinct shadows on the white kitchen walls. The three men were huddled in the doorway, a solitary candle illuminating the table and cupboards in the kitchen. As usual, they had left their dinner plates on the table. Splattered all over the plates, the table and the Formica surface of the cupboards were dark blue masses, amorphous forms of blue jelly, like jellyfish.

  They edged forward into the kitchen. Andy held the candle over the largest mass. Martin leant over and smelt it, but it was odourless.

  ‘Better not touch it,’ he said. ‘It might be poisonous.’

  They examined it with the candles, totally lost for a logical explanation. Graham and Andy continued to examine it while Martin hurriedly returned to the phone.

  On hearing the news, Marion was very disturbed. She told him they must leave the flat immediately or something terrible might happen. But they felt they could not possibly leave the scene of so baffling a mystery. Then, said Marion, if they must remain, they had better prepare themselves for the night ahead. They must draw a double circle of chalk on the floor and stay within it. They must also make a circle of salt around that. This would act as a psychic protection so long as they stayed inside which, she insisted, they must. She said they must also barricade the doors.

  Hurriedly they did as she had said, and with a length of string and a piece of chalk scribed out the double circle on the brown carpeted floor of the office. Then they stood the couch on end to block the door, supporting it with chairs.

  As they finished, and Andy was placing the chalks on the mantelpiece he suddenly began beating frantically at the front of his coat. Martin smelt burning as he stood next to him. Andy’s coat was on fire. The nearest candle was feet away. Quickly, Andy beat out the flames. If this force could set light to a coat, then it could just as easily set light to the whole flat. They hurried on with the protective measures.

  Fortunately, they had sleeping bags and lying within the circle they talked into the night. Somehow the force, whatever it was, had attacked them, sending emissaries to break into their headquarters. It had also used psychic attack, poltergeists, strange smoke and now one of them had come close to being seriously injured. They prayed that the circle was powerful enough against such a concentrated assault.

  All was quiet. The talking slowed as sleep overtook them. Three recumbent figures, cocooned in sleeping bags, encircled by a white chalk circle.

  The flames licked high into the air, rapidly engulfing the sleeping bag. His body began to burn. In his half dream Graham saw them. A dream? It was no dream. It was real. He shot up from the floor.

  ‘Andy!’ he yelled.

  Martin sat up quickly.

  Huge flames engulfed Andy in his sleeping bag. He leapt from it, beating his arms and then the bag, dowsing the flames. He ran to the kitchen, plunging his hands and arms under the cold water. How had it happened? The candles had been nowhere near him. The nearest, three or four feet away from where he lay, had somehow projected and fallen on him. Andy returned, his sleeping bag in rags. He was badly burnt, his thumb and index finger blistered. Quickly they returned to the circle and found another blanket for Andy to use with what remained of his sleeping bag.

  Had it been a warning, this literal festival of fire on the night of the Grand Sabbat? (1)

  Andy Collins with the burnt sleeping bag

  The welcome light of day filled the room. Now, at last, they were able to fix the electrical system before telephoning Terry to tell him what had happened. Terry reported that throughout the previous evening his wife Pat had experienced an unnaturally sore throat. All night she had been terrified, and in some way she had connected it with something dreadful, convinced that the three of them had been in terrible danger.

  That Saturday evening, Martin had to return home. On his arrival his mother, completely unaware of everything, told him how they had discovered something very strange indeed that morning. Snow had been falling on Staffordshire for some days. Martin’s father had parked the car at the top of the driveway. In the morning, he had found a set of footprints, in single column, leading from the house and coming to an abrupt halt just before the car. He had told his wife and although they examined the prints, they were quite unable to account for them.

  The coincidence was too great. Besides, his father was a complete sceptic. If he thought something was strange, it certainly was.

  Andy and Graham travelled to Marion’s for the weekend. Gaynor, until then, had said nothing of the attack. Now she spoke. The evil force was using every means to destroy their power to use the Stone. If they were unable to halt it, then they would fail. She suggested that everyone must concentrate on the Stone, symbolically channelling their energies through it to oppose their adversary by psychic means.

  All those who had become involved agreed to do as she told them. At 7 pm that Sunday night, they sat for five minutes in their own homes concentrating their thoughts on the Stone, which Gaynor was holding. At five minutes past seven, Gaynor handed the Stone to her mother, smiled and told her quite calmly that the psychic attack was over. Their adversary no longer had the means to subject them to such a terrifying ordeal.

  By using the Stone, Marion had already succeeded in taking the power that enabled the evil force to use the witch coven. Never again could it use them. Now it had launched a psychic attack, using further living agents to break into the headquarters and stick the dagger in the doorstep. Gaynor w
as certain that their having meditated on the Stone that weekend had finally destroyed its power to use and manipulate people. At least for the time being.

  Quite how Gaynor had been capable of using the Stone in this way she could not, or would not, say.

  Hilt of the sword showing the personal monogram of Mary Stuart

  Martin Keatman & Graham Phillips ten years later

  Chapter 13

  “She That is with You”

  They had been brought together by a power beyond their understanding. They had been led to discover a mysterious green stone and had been attacked by some unknown force of evil. But still they did not know why. Why them? Perhaps they would know if they could find out what had happened to those who had once possessed the Stone, and had fallen heirs to the secret knowledge of the Megalithic culture? The Nine! Had it all ended in the early seventeenth century after almost 3,000 years? Surely the loss of the Stone had not brought about the end of The Nine. The whispering voice speaking through Graham via Joanna had told them that the Stone had been hidden before, during the period between Gwevaraugh and the Knights Templar, yet the secret society continued. What had happened after the Gunpowder Plot? What became of The Nine?

  The researchers had already tried to trace the later history of the Rosicrucians in searching for an answer, but this had led nowhere. The original Rosicrucians could conceivably have been involved, but the groups claiming to be Rosicrucian which followed them would, in all likelihood, have had no connection with this mysterious and nameless society, The Nine. Like the Templars before them, they would probably have known nothing of the original intentions of their founders.

  Perhaps, after the fatal error of judgement leading to the Gunpowder Plot and the loss of the Stone, the society had decided to disband.

  Marion had spent many hours pondering these questions when an intense impression suddenly struck her. It was as powerful as any of the earlier psychic messages she had received, and it told her that the sword was not as old as they believed. It was not the original that had been hidden after the Gunpowder Plot. At first, she could not accept this. Surely, the sword must be the one hidden by Pakington and Gertrude Wyntour? Yet she could not shake off the impression. Eventually she decided to do something that, under the circumstances, the others had decided against.

  On Monday, 3 March 1980, Marion took the sword and casket to the Grosvenor Museum in Chester. Dan Robinson, the assistant curator, was impressed. He had never before seen such a casket and was certain it was of medieval origin about 400-500 years old. However, Marion’s message about the sword was confirmed when he said that it was in fact only about one hundred years old. The method of casting determined its age.

  Trusting in her latest psychic impression, Marion felt sure that the original sword had been replaced with the one they now had. But why? And who had found the original? She was certain it had been replaced by the successors of those who had hidden it. This was logical. If it had been inadvertently discovered by anyone else, then a replacement would not have been made. In addition, the sword had enabled Gaynor to locate the tower where the strange experience with the swan had taken place. The sword itself must have contained a psychic message, forged into it in the late nineteenth century, by a now forgotten process. This threw more light on the swan incident in the tower, which would not have existed in Pakington’s day. Perhaps this was yet another form of incredible psychic tape recording made by The Nine in Victorian times, a powerful thought-image so strong that when released it created physical effects.

  If Marion was correct, and The Nine had continued, why had they not located the Stone? After all, they had found the original sword. Marion felt that Graham had known where to dig since he had been able to ‘tune in’ with Gaynor when he had accompanied her into the tower. The tower and sword psychic messages had been left by The Nine in Victorian times, so clearly they knew of the Stone and its whereabouts.

  It seemed unlikely that the Victorians had repossessed the Stone and later hidden it again. So why had they left the Stone hidden? Who were they and what had happened to them? When Marion told Gaynor of her discovery, Gaynor said she felt that something tragic had happened to them, which had brought about the final end of their Order.

  On Wednesday 28 May, they discovered the next piece in the jigsaw. Andy and Graham were at Marion’s when Alan Beard arrived. While there he had the impression of a fishing village and an old house. He felt that something important had taken place there during Victorian times. Gaynor then explained how she had been experiencing a recurring dream, which she felt was also connected. In the dream a group of people were fleeing, attempting to escape the country from what seemed to be the same village Alan had seen. One of them was stabbed, a second poisoned, and another two died in a tunnel cave-in. She felt that the people had been corrupted by the power they possessed, and that the Order had divided in terror and chaos.

  A new sword had then been forged, which contained the message, and it had been replaced in preparation for those who would be brought together.

  But what had drawn them together in late 1979 and 1980 to continue the work of the disbanded Order? Whatever it was it knew about the location of the sword. Gaynor’s dream of the running man and Alan’s vision of the sword near a mill house proved that. It also appeared to know where the Stone had been.

  But had Gaynor, in her dream of the runner, seen something taking place in Pakington’s day or in the Victorian period? She could not say. All she was able to recall was that the man’s clothes were strange, dirty and wet. Maybe the original sword had not been in the bridge foundations at Knights Pool. It had obviously been near Knights Pool because of the clues in the Nine Worthies depictions at Harvington, but perhaps in another building. It was unfortunate that they had been unable to discover the precise age of the bridge, otherwise they would have known this was the case. Either way, the message in the sword showed that whoever made it knew where the Stone was hidden. But also whatever was behind the psychic messages, impressions and visions had known of the whereabouts of the Stone.

  It knew where the sword and the Stone were hidden but did not lead them directly to them because of the opposition. It had wanted to be sure that both were safe.

  So who or what was guiding them?

  Who had Marion seen when she’d had the vision of the woman with agitated hands at the conference? Was it a woman who was guiding them? It seemed possible, because of Alan’s words, ‘I am she that is with you.’ They had communicated with her via Joanna, and once through Marion. Their only clue was the Meonia fore Marye inscription on the sword. Was she this Mary? The sword inscription had been made in the late nineteenth century, so she was unlikely to be Mary Queen of Scots. More likely a woman who had lived during the Victorian era. But who? (1)

  Confirmation that their guide was a woman from the past came when Terry and Alan called on Penny Blackwill to see if she could help. While they were with her, Penny had a clear vision of a woman in a long white dress, standing beside a lake, which they assumed was Knights Pool. Penny was sure that the woman had something important to say.

  Gaynor also said that she felt the woman was trying to speak to them, to explain that there was something they must do.

  Terry’s wife Pat began to feel that she was being called to by the woman, and on numerous occasions had the distinct impression that she was nearby. Other members of the Shotton family also felt the strange presence. Once, it was so strong that it was felt in every room in the house. Terry and Pat were out at the time and only Terry’s mother was home looking after the two children. She said later that ‘it was as if time stood absolutely still’. She had never experienced anything like it. She had been in the living room when Terry’s ten-year-old daughter came running downstairs, saying she had felt something strange in her room. The presence remained for some time before the place returned to normal.

  Some days later, Pat was outside when she saw a human sized column of what seemed to be white smoke at the
bottom of the garden. At first, she thought her eyes were deceiving her, but on closer examination she was certain. It was definitely there. After this, she knew that the woman wished to speak through her but was having difficulty in doing so.

  A day or so later she saw the smoke again, but this time she was able to run into the house and alert Terry who also saw it.

  Everyone was sure that the woman wanted to communicate with them, but the terrifying events since the finding of the Stone made them too frightened to fall into trance. Perhaps someone new would be able to go into trance to enable the woman to manifest.

  Jane McKenzie, a Wolverhampton school teacher, had first met Graham, Andy and Martin during the Autumn of 1979. Although she knew about the discovery of the Green Stone, Jane was somewhat sceptical about paranormal phenomena. That was until one night in September 1980.

  That evening, as she, Graham and Martin and Jean Bosicombe, another of the teachers who shared a house with Jane, were talking in the girls’ living room, Jane suddenly felt that something was happening. She lay down on the settee and fell quiet. To everyone’s surprise, Joanna spoke through her and announced that there was something important that they must know about the past. But the trance was not to last. Joanna apologised and said that she must go. Jane awoke and complained that she felt sick. Joanna had left, since it was too risky for her to speak through Jane. Although Jane was a good subject, the procedure would have apparently made her ill. She was disturbed, but not unduly frightened by the episode.

  So the woman had now spoken through Jane, once again using Joanna as an intermediary. Jane felt that the woman was still nearby, and both Jean and Martin also felt her presence. She said she felt the woman could give a message to Graham, who tried to go into trance but failed to do so.