‘Very much so. Your grandfather is ninety and your grandmother eighty this year. Both are in excellent health.’
Gideon’s emotions are in turmoil. Despite her deathbed confession, he still yearns for his mother, and still feels guilty about what happened between him and Nathaniel. Now he is face-to-face with his birth father and a family tree of mythical dimensions that overwhelms him.
The Henge Master senses the dilemma. ‘You will need time to come to terms with things.’ He grips his arm. ‘Thankfully, we will have it. Once the ritual is over, we can get to know each other. Find ways to bridge the years.’
Gideon still has dozens of unanswered questions but not now. Now is a time of silence. Inner thought.
‘So,’ says the Master. ‘Will you accept the task that I asked of you? Can I rely on you to be the last companion for the girl, the chosen one?’
Gideon nods.
‘Good. Very good.’ The Master embraces him again.
As they come apart, they lock eyes. ‘You are no longer Gideon. You are Phoenix. Your given name is Phoenix.’
He is confused. ‘I understood Followers adopted star signs that began with the initial letter of their first name.’
‘They do,’ says Pendragon, his face suddenly stern again. ‘The name I always wanted for my son was Philip. It is what I always called you when I thought of you. From now on, you will be known as Phoenix.’
It feels like a crude trick, a psychological blow to undermine him. This disownment of his name hurts him. Strips him of his identity.
‘Our family motto is a simple one,’ says Pendragon. ‘Temet Nosce. Thine own self thou must know.’
140
‘You nearly broke my damned arm, Jimmy.’ Megan nurses her bruised limb.
‘Sorry,’ he says. ‘I tried to stop you without hurting you. I could have been much rougher.’
She straightens out her clothes. ‘Bully for you. Where the hell did you learn that physical stuff?’
‘Got picked on a lot at school. Ginger hair, makes you a target. My old man took me to taekwondo lessons.’
‘Tompkins is going to kick your arse. You’ve been off radar so long.’ She stretches her arm several times.
‘You told her?’
‘Had to tell someone.’
Jimmy realises he’s at the point where he has to explain things. ‘You didn’t trust me, I could tell, so I went off to find something that would prove to you that I wasn’t part of this crazy cult tied to the dead professor and Stonehenge.’
She looks at him suspiciously. ‘And did you?’
‘I followed Utley and Smithsen. They certainly know each other. Caught Utley at home and followed his Merc. He met up with Smithsen in a lay-by on the A360. They got into the back of Smithsen’s van, maybe he took something out. Then went their separate ways.’
‘Which ways?’
‘Utley back east towards Tidworth and Smithsen headed west.’
She maps it out in her head. ‘There isn’t much out there, not until you loop north to Devizes.’
‘It’s all military. Part of the MOD buy-up.’
‘Did you stay on Utley? Or follow Smithsen?’
‘Decided to go after Smithsen. As far as I could.’
‘And?’
‘He went north past Westdown Camp and Tilshead. After a couple of miles, he forked sharp left. Towards Imber.’
‘Imber?’
‘It’s a ghost town. Way into restricted access. No one has lived there for more than sixty years. It’s just empty houses. Buildings remain standing but no one is home. The church still holds the odd service every year.’
Megan remembers the map on Tompkins’ office wall and her records search. ‘It’s where Nathaniel Chase owns a strip of land. One of the few bits that the War Office couldn’t buy up.’
‘Can’t think why anyone would want to own it. From what I know, soldiers just shoot the shit out of the place. Then drive over it in tanks and even bomb the land around it.’
‘A lot of work for a builder?’ ventures Megan.
‘Doubt it. The army would just fix it up themselves. They’d use squaddies to do basic bricklaying and bang up some boards on doors and windows.’
She weighs things up. If Gideon Chase is still missing, it’s possible he is being held somewhere in Imber. They could be holding Lock there as well. ‘I don’t know what to do, Jimmy. I can’t go to Tompkins with this and your old man and the Chief want me transferred to Swindon.’
‘What?’
‘I’m being bumped. Shifted sideways. It’s a long story. How do we get to look around Imber without anyone at work finding out?’
‘I know exactly how.’ He gives her a confident smile. ‘In fact, I’ve already got someone who can help us. He’s waiting in my car.’
141
The chamber they’ve moved Gideon to is much bigger than the last one. About six metres long by four metres wide, he’d say. A penthouse compared with the matchbox they’ve been keeping him in. But it is still a cell.
The door is open, flanked by two Lookers, one of whom Gideon has seen before with Draco. Inside, high on all four walls are burning torches. On the hard stone ground are two makeshift wooden bunks filled with straw. In the corner of the room, two narrow stone troughs filled with water.
If he’s right, the chamber is no more than a twisting fifty metres of corridor from the steep stairwell that leads to the warehouse. It doesn’t take him long to work out why that is. They bring the girl here so it’s easy to move her into a waiting vehicle.
Gideon hears footsteps outside. A mix of men’s voices, shadows across the gated doorway and then four Lookers lumber into the cell. At first he doesn’t see the woman between them. Two of the men lift her under her arms while others grab her feet. They swing her on to a bunk.
One of the men is Draco. He hangs back while the first two Lookers leave. ‘She is weak, hasn’t eaten anything for almost seven days.’ He puts his arm around the well-built Looker next to him. ‘This is Volans. He’s going to be right outside the chamber. He has instructions to fetch a doctor if you think her condition is deteriorating. Do you understand?’
Gideon nods.
‘Good, because this woman must not die. Her health is our single priority. For the next day at least.’ He gives Gideon a soldierly slap and steps out of the cell with Volans, shutting the iron door behind them.
Gideon wonders if the Master has told Draco about him. About their relationship. It would be the clever thing to do if he was worried about the support of the Inner Circle. It’s what he would have done in his position.
He takes his first look at the sacrifice. Easy to imagine that not so long ago she was very pretty. Even without make-up and her thick black hair matted, he can tell she is naturally attractive. Her short hooded robe has ridden up and he can see a flash of a Union Jack tattoo, a sign of another time, a symbol of flirtatious rebellion and youthful defiance. Gideon bends over her and pulls it down to preserve her modesty.
She slaps his hand away. ‘Leave me alone.’
He is startled and steps back.
The woman sits up defensively in the bunk. Disorien tated. Fear ingrained in her eyes. ‘Keep away. Keep away from me!’
‘I’m not going to hurt you. Honestly, I’m not.’
She looks around. Her prayers haven’t been fully answered but at least she’s no longer in that claustrophobic hell hole. She can breathe and stretch. And lie down. She looks at the stranger near her, her eyes almost black.
‘Who are you? Why are you in here with me?’
142
A mountain of man gets out of Jimmy’s black Golf GTI. ‘Josh Goran, ma’am. Pleased to meet you.’