I chuckled. “Considering your service to the crown far outranks mine in tenure, be my guest.”
“Ah, the age jokes never grow old.”
“Are you certain?”
Lionheart winked at me.
Lionheart took my arm, and we crossed to the site of the dig. The men were busy excavating one of the burial mounds that dotted the landscape around the circle of stones. The sight unnerved me. This was a tomb, not a historical curiosity. And lay people didn’t know what lingered on the other side of that doorway they were shoveling into.
“Good afternoon, gentlemen,” Lionheart said. Alpha of the Templars no more, Professor Richard Spencer was on the case.
One of the workers jostled a man wearing tan trousers and matching hat; the man was dressed as if he were on a dig in Egypt.
“Sir, there is a gentleman here,” the worker told the man.
The stranger turned around. He eyed Lionheart over. “Good afternoon, sir. May I help you?”
“Sir Richard Spencer. King’s College.”
“Oh, very good, very good,” he said, extending his hand to Lionheart. “Professor Eckhart. Trinity College. A pleasure to meet you.”
Lionheart gave me a sidelong glance then said, “My wife and I were passing through and noticed your dig. I say, quite an impressive project you have underway.”
“Indeed, indeed,” the man agreed. He looped his thumbs in his belt loops then tipped forward, extending his stomach proudly. “We’ve unearthed two torcs already this morning. I believe we are getting close to the body.”
“Whose body?” I asked.
“Someone of great importance. A chieftain. Maybe even a druid.”
“Ah, there are the druids you were looking for,” Lionheart said, giving me a playful wink.
I rolled my eyes at him.
“We were hoping we might catch sight of the druids, in fact. No luck it seems,” Lionheart said.
“Well,” Professor Eckhart mused, “they do come around at midsummer, I’m told. But you won’t be seeing one today unless you’d like to dig.”
“I’ll dig,” Jericho offered.
“Ah, that’s a good lad,” the professor said good-naturedly. “Lucas, grab that boy a shovel and set him to work. We can’t find the owner of all this treasure,” the man said, motioning to the table where some artifacts lay. “Maybe your son will bring us some luck. Would you really like to try, young man?”
Jericho nodded vehemently.
Professor Eckhart looked at Lionheart who nodded in approval.
The worker, Lucas, handed Jericho a small shovel and led him to the mound.
“Come, see what I’ve found,” Professor Eckhart said, motioning us to a table where the dig finds had been laid out. “What’s your specialty, Professor Spencer? I’m a Celtic scholar. Not fashionable, I know. I should join my colleagues in Greece, but I’m something of a nationalist.”
Lionheart chuckled. “Then you are among friends.”
“My husband is an expert on the Templars,” I interjected, giving Lionheart a playful look.
He smirked in reply.
“Oh, good. Good,” Professor Eckhart exclaimed.
“Any chance you’ve uncovered a goblet?” Lionheart asked.
The professor laughed. “Still hunting the grail, eh? Unfortunately, no,” the man said then lifted a silver wrist torc. The piece was beautifully crafted. “Fine Celtic smithwork, though. And some Roman coins. Dagger, though it’s much corroded,” he said as he lifted each piece, showing it to Lionheart and me.
The discoveries were fascinating, but I had a distinct feeling that they should have been left where they were found.
Lionheart lifted the coin. “Do you think it was contemporary to the other pieces?”
“No. The rest of the artifacts suggest the body was laid in the ground after the retreat of the Romans…” the Professor continued, but I got distracted as my skin rose in goosebumps.
A soft breeze blew across the windy plane, ruffling my hair.
Clemeny.
Clemeny Louvel.
I turned and looked all around.
First to the stones.
Then to the mounds.
Clemeny.
Clemeny, come.
Come home.
I turned and scanned the landscape, narrowing my gaze, looking past all the revelers and eyeing the land with my mooneye. There was magic everywhere. And everyone was missing it. The stones shimmered with opalescent light, and there was a strange aura around them. The monoliths wavered. They had one foot in this world, one foot in the Otherworld.
But I saw more.
As I looked, I saw shimmering silver light trailing away from the henge. Lines of energy moved through the ground. They traveled to the mounds and then beyond, spreading like a web across the land.
I had seen this once before. Lily Stargazer had used it to make her airship speed over the land.
A group of children cheered as one of the players whacked their ball through a wicket. Ladies gossiped and laughed as they drank tea. Everyone was so oblivious to the magic around them.
I stared at—and into—the stones. For a brief moment, the image in front of me shifted. For just a brief moment, a woman appeared at the center of the stones. She wore long blue robes. I could not see her face clearly, but I knew her gaze was on me. She beckoned to me.
I stared at her, then past her. There, on the rise in the distance, I saw great Glastonbury Tor, which was dozens of miles from here. I saw a silver line of energy running from the ancient henge to a place of legend: Glastonbury. Just like I’d dreamed when I’d stayed at Cabell Manor.
“…I’d place it well after Boudicca’s rebellion, but—” Professor Eckhart was saying when his worker, Lucas, called out to him.
“Professor Eckhart. Sir, come look,” Lucas shouted.
Worried about Jericho, I turned from the vision.
“What is it?” Professor Eckhart called.
“The boy,” Lucas answered.
Oh, damn.
I turned to Lionheart, both of us wearing panicked expressions. We rushed to the dig.
There, Jericho stood with his hands on his hips, his small shovel in one hand, a smile on his face. In the dirt in front of him, one could make out what looked like a bone.
“You found it!” Professor Eckhart exclaimed, giving Jericho a clap on the back.
Jericho smiled up at Lionheart then to me.
I returned his happy gaze.
“Well done,” Lionheart told the boy who beamed at him.
They exchanged a warm glance.
My heart did a little dance.
“Your son has a nose for archeology,” Professor Eckhart said, smiling back at me. “Just like his father.”
I opened my mouth then closed it again. What could I say?
“Well done, Jericho,” I told him, giving him a hug.
“You’ll need to dine with us tonight. We have a club in Salisbury. Join us,” Professor Eckhart said.
“I’m afraid we can’t,” I said. “We’re on our way to Glastonbury.”
“Shame. Shame,” Professor Eckhart said. He removed his fancy explorer’s hat and set it on Jericho’s head. “Well, maybe one day you’ll join my crew again, young man. In the meantime, keep that as a memento of your success on the expedition.”
Jericho touched the rim of the cap. “Thank you, sir.”
“We should be off? To Glastonbury?” Lionheart asked me, a quizzical expression on his face.
I nodded.
Lionheart nodded then turned back to the professor. “It was a pleasure to meet you, sir.” He gave the man a short bow.