Devil's Rock Part 17

At last, Mrs Ball straightened. She threw a desperate glance in my direction. I could see how her hands were shaking. My whole body began to tremble uncontrollably as the cold sweat ran down inside my clothing. Crab was smiling a nasty smile. I was sure I was about to die.

The flickering light, my cold, shaking body, the rush of fear, reminded me of the night of the Devil Dances. I remembered the Edura his old body transformed, powerful, the hideous mask on his face, standing over me as I lay with Una on the ground. I closed my eyes and thought I would faint but instead I seemed to slide, merge with the Edura's image. I was the shaman and he was Riri Yakka, the Demon of Blood. I felt my body swelling, my face transforming; I was becoming the demon.

I heard a cry. Looking down, I saw Crab cringing away from me, the gun in his hand. He fired, but the shot bounced harmlessly from my body. Mrs Ball stood, her mouth open, shaking her head in bewildered disbelief. In the low room, I had to bow my head to avoid b.u.mping it on the ceiling as I stepped towards Maunder. My impulse was to use my mighty devil's body to crush the life out of him, but instead my hand plunged into his chest, plucked out the bullet and then gently closed up the flesh. The Edura's bracelet had given me the power to cure but not to kill.

In a flash, it was over and I was myself again. For a moment there was absolute silence, then Maunder began to roar, Mrs Ball screamed and Crab gibbered and whimpered nonsense in the corner. Quickly, I took Mrs Ball's arm and drew her out of the house. When the uproar inside had subsided, I instructed her to re-enter Maunder's house with me and to behave as if nothing out of the ordinary had happened. I knew that both men had taken a good deal of rum before we arrived and I hoped that they might put the apparition they had just seen down to the effects of the drink.

We cleaned the blood from Maunder's chest and I made a great play of dressing the wound, although there was now not even a scratch on his body. I knew this sleight of hand would not hide the truth for long and that Maunder, when sober, would come demanding an explanation for the 'miracle' cure, but I needed time to think. I was sure I could use the events of the night to my advantage but I needed to work out how.

It was almost morning by the time we returned to Mrs Ball's cottage. Una was waiting. As soon as Una saw us safely home she wanted to leave, to go down to her place on the rocks by the water's edge. I forced her to remain with us while I told Mrs Ball about our lives in Ceylon, about the Edura and his gift of the bracelets. I even showed Mrs Ball how I could make the grey cat appear and disappear. Mrs Ball listened and watched without asking any questions. Perhaps, being a midwife and a healer, she already knew a good deal about that mysterious thing we call life. Had she and the Edura ever met they would, no doubt, have sat down together and discussed the efficaciousness of different charms and herbal cures. When I had finished my story she called us to sit by her on the settle. She put an arm around each of us like an old mother hen who spreads her wings over her chicks. 'I have done what I can to protect you,' she said, 'but you have shown your hand. These are terrible wicked men. Take care, my dears, take care.'

I did not need Mrs Ball to warn me of the danger we were in but it touched my heart to know that there was still one person in the world who cared for our safety.

Midday brought Maunder to the door with Crab trailing at his heels. 'I've come for the witch,' were his words when Mrs Ball opened the door to him.

'Leave the girl be,' Mrs Ball pleaded, but he pushed past her with a growl and an oath.

'Here I am,' I said, as steadily as I could, holding my ground as the giant advanced, menacingly across the room.

'How do you explain this, witch?' he demanded, opening his s.h.i.+rt and thrusting a chest covered with matted hair into my face. 'Where's the wound?'

'It appears to have healed,' I replied, coolly, taking a step back.

'Witchcraft! That's what this be witchcraft!'

'Witchcraft, aye, witchcraft,' echoed Crab, sidling around Maunder.

'Shut yer hatch,' snapped Maunder and Crab hopped quickly back behind his master.

Maunder placed a huge, rough hand on the back of my neck. 'What you did last night I want to know what you did last night and I want to know how you did it.' He tightened his grip on my neck and I felt that with one twist and he could snap my spine like a twig.

My mind was racing. For a start, I didn't know how I had summoned the demon, it had just happened. Secondly, I had no desire to reveal the secret of the bracelets. In addition, I had learnt one very important thing the night before and that was that the bracelets had the power to mend but not to destroy. They could not be used as weapons.

'I will reveal the secret of my powers,' I said, grandly, 'but to you and to you alone. If the secret were to fall into the wrong hands, it could be used against you.'

A sly smile spread across the brute's face. 'Crab, get out!'

'No,' I said, 'I can't show you now. I need to make some preparations and I need to be certain that we will not be disturbed.'

Maunder's face darkened with suspicion but I stared him out. 'All right, I'll give 'ee till tonight. Meet me on the beach.' He released the hold on my neck and marched out of the house. Crab scuttled after him but paused before leaving. 'You'll see what we do to witches,' he sneered before disappearing.

So, I was a witch, was I? Then I would make a witch's brew. As soon as Maunder and Crab were out of sight, I took up Mrs Ball's basket and set out to collect those leaves and berries I knew to contain deadly poisons. If I could not use the bracelet to rid the world of Maunder, then I would use the secrets Mrs Ball had taught me. As I gathered my ingredients I began to plot how I might persuade Maunder to swallow my medicine. The skull of a sheep, complete with curling horns, lying by the cliff path gave me an idea. Maunder was already half convinced that I was a witch. I might not be able to call up a demon any time I wished, but I could create phantasms: birds, animals, serpents, anything I was capable of imagining I could bring to fleeting life. With a bit of stagecraft and imagination I would become the witch he imagined me to be.

Returning to the cottage, I set my evil brew over the fire while I prepared the properties for my performance. The sheep's horns would be my drinking vessels, its skull and leg bone would be my drum, and Mrs Ball's cooking pot would be my cauldron. I mixed wood ash with fat and made a grey paste with which I painted my face in a ghostly mask. With a finger dipped in charcoal I drew black rings around my eyes. I rubbed red earth into my hair and plaited small bones into the ends of the matted tresses. I chewed berries until my mouth turned blue. My clothes were already worn to rags; it took little effort to convert them into a witch-like costume of shreds and tatters.

Mrs Ball's screamed with horror when she caught sight of me, but I wonder whether this ruse would work on Maunder?

As the sun began to set, I hid my disguise beneath a hooded cloak borrowed from Mrs Ball, placed the sheep's bones and horns in a bag, took up my cauldron and stepped out to keep my rendezvous. The brave old lady offered to accompany me, but I begged her instead to look after my sister. As I made my way down the hill into the darkness of the valley, I wondered if I should have told Una of my plan.

Approaching the beach, I saw a cl.u.s.ter of shadowy figures out on the pale sand, some holding lanterns. Drawing nearer, I saw others held unlit torches made from timbers dipped in pitch. To my dismay, Maunder had brought a group of his vile henchmen with him. 'Who are these people and why are they here?' I demanded with as bold a voice as I could muster.

'Some friends o' mine.' Maunder replied. And I recognised Crab's evil sn.i.g.g.e.r from amongst the gathering.

'I said we were to be alone!'

'Follow me,' was all the answer I received.

I was now very much afraid that my masquerade was all for nothing and felt like a silly little girl who dresses up to play-act for the amus.e.m.e.nt of adults.

The tide was out and Maunder led us across the estuary's sandy floor. My steps faltered as the realisation struck me; we were headed for Devil's Rock! Was I, like that poor unfortunate who attempted to shoot Maunder, to be thrown to my death from the rock's black summit? Two of the party were carrying spades. Maybe they intended to bury me in Stapleton's field. I chased these morbid thoughts from my mind. No Maunder wanted to know the secret of my powers. He was not about to kill me before he had gained what he wanted to know.

Reaching the opposite side of the empty estuary, we stopped by a low, seaweed-covered cliff. Half a waning moon peered through the branches of the trees on the hill above and the long ribbons of kelp that hung from the rocks glistened in its thin light. All this would be below water at high tide.

'Wait here,' Maunder ordered his followers. 'You, come with me.'

'Where are we going?' I tried to sound forceful but my voice shook.

'Ye'll see.'

I began to follow Maunder around a boulder that sat like a ball in front of the cliff.

'I'll need a fire,' I said, stopping, 'to brew the potion that will give you my powers.'

Maunder retraced his steps and stood glaring down at me. Then he turned to his men. 'Light two of the torches.'

A taper, lighted from a lantern, was held to each torch until it burst into spluttering flame.

'Give one to me and one to the girl.'

'Tell your men to leave,' I said imperiously.

'I don't follow your bidding. You'll do as I say. Last night you did change yourself to a fiend from h.e.l.l. Heaven knows what dark powers you may possess. These men will wait until we both come out. If you should come out without me, they have orders to kill you.' And again I heard Crab's demonic giggle.

Now I saw how stupid I had been. A rogue like Maunder does not survive without being cunning. I was a fool to think he could be tricked so easily. Even if I could persuade him to take the poison I had prepared, I would not escape with my life.

Maunder led the way into the low mouth of a cave behind the boulder, the shadows twisting and leaping in the light from our flaming torches. Once inside, I saw we were in a pa.s.sage, partly the work of nature, partly hewn by human hands. Soon rough steps climbed upwards and then we entered a chamber with a soft sandy floor. Around the walls were piled sea chests, boxes and oak casks that I a.s.sumed contained liquor. Here was Maunder's treasure trove that part of the plunder that he hid from Stapleton.

Maunder threw back the lid of one of the chests, revealing silver tableware, ornaments, jewellery, and candlesticks, all jumbled together.

'Do right by me, maid, and a share of what you see could be yours.' He slammed the lid shut. 'Cross me and I'll slit yer throat!' He unsheathed his knife and ran his thumb menacingly across its sharp edge. In the confines of the cave, the man seemed huge, taking up all the s.p.a.ce, breathing all the air, his monstrous shadow dancing across the rough walls and ceiling behind him. How could I possibly prevail against him? What hope had my puny plan? I was in despair. All was lost. I was too young, too weak, too small. Why was there no one to help me? I felt again my mother's hand slipping from my grasp. I closed my eyes and saw her gentle, smiling face. Then anger and hatred boiled up inside me. Here was the man who wrecked our boat and caused her to drown. Here was the man who killed both my parents and drove my sister mad with grief. He, Maunder, had done this. He must pay for what he had done!

'Lay your torch on the floor!' I commanded.

Maunder looked surprised, but slowly did as he was bid.

'Sit against the wall.'

I laid my torch by his and placed the pot between them. The smoke began to fill the air, lit eerily by the flickering flames. I tipped the bones and horns from my sack on to the sand then threw off my hood and cloak, revealing, for the first time, my painted face and witch's hair. I s.n.a.t.c.hed up the skull and leg bone and began to walk slowly around the fire, tapping the bones and chanting the numbers one to ten in Singhalese, hoping that to Maunder it sounded like a mystical incantation. Time to create some phantasms; I would start with a snake.

In my mind, I pictured a huge, writhing python. As soon as I had all the details clear in my head, the serpent appeared sliding across the cave floor. I sent it slithering towards Maunder, who cried out and struck at it with his knife, but I turned it into a hundred crawling spiders that swarmed across his legs. Then the spiders became a cloud of bats that rose up and flapped their leathery wings around his head, forcing him to crouch, striking out in all directions. Next I pictured a snarling tiger that pinned Maunder to the wall. Its roars echoed about the chamber, to which I added my screams as I leapt through the smoke in a frenzied dance.

Seizing one of the sheep's horns from the floor, I scooped up a lethal dose of poison from the pot, intending to thrust it into Maunder's hand then froze. If he drank it and died, my fate would also be sealed. Crab and his companions were waiting like hungry wolves just outside the cave. A mad, desperate scheme presented itself. I put the br.i.m.m.i.n.g horn to my lips, threw back my head and swallowed the bitter contents in one gulp. As the first agonising spasms gripped my stomach I concentrated on filling the cave with as many beating wings, writhing bodies, snarling mouths and flas.h.i.+ng eyes as I could hold in my head at one time. I needed Maunder to be utterly terrified. But I needed to work fast. The poison was already in my blood. My heart would cease to beat in less than a minute.

I let my spirit slip from my body into Maunder's. What I found there was a mind half crazed with fear and a spirit that was crushed and cowering. I must drive his spirit out. I went to work in his mind, raising up the image of the Demon of Blood, Riri Yakka. I knew that if Maunder's spirit left his body it would go straight to the nearest living thing and that living thing was my poisoned body. As the demon's image filled his deranged mind I felt the flood of fear cascading through every cell of his being then he was gone. I had become Maunder and he me he was trapped in my dying body like a doomed mariner in a sinking s.h.i.+p. I watched as my own body writhed in its death throwes on the sand, a hand gripping at its heart, black mucus oozing from its nose and mouth. Seconds crept by and then it lay still.

Maunder's spirit did not return to Maunder's body. I had it to myself. But oh, the abomination of that loathsome mind! All his past crimes, debauchery, desires and cravings were there. A mind corrupted by greed and addicted to cruelty. To live in that body was to live in a cesspit of depravity. Surely it would have been better to choose a clean and honest death? But I had to think of Una. My spirit had to lock the door on Maunder's thoughts and memories and tune his mind to my purposes.

I lifted the body that had been mine and laid it on a low stone shelf by the cave wall. I must have the bracelet. I attempted to slip it off the lifeless arm. But it would not move! It was as though it were welded to the flesh. I tugged and twisted but I could not free it. Should I cut it loose and mutilate what had so recently been me? No, my spirit recoiled; I could not bear to do it.

I had betrayed the power of the bracelet and now it would not be mine. I had killed, even if the body I had killed was my own. Had the bracelet the power to resurrect as well as cure? Might my body return to life and Maunder's spirit with it? I must seal the cave. With what? How? Even with the strength of Maunder's powerful body, I could not do it alone. But I was Maunder! His gang would obey me! I need only give the order.

I blundered through the blinding smoke to the cave-mouth. As I emerged, the faces of the waiting men, half lit by their lanterns, turned expectantly. My instinct was to flee but I reminded myself that who they saw was Maunder. 'I have killed the witch!' The shock of hearing Maunder's voice speak my words momentarily confused me.

'Do we bury 'er, Cap'n?' asked Crab.

'No! We must seal the cave.'

'What of our booty?' asked another.

'Aye!' the others chorused.'

'You wouldn't be tryin' to double-cross us, would 'e, Cap'n?' wheedled Crab. 'Yer wouldn't be thinkin' of keepin' our share to yourself? The girl is dead?'

'You have my word she's dead,' I said firmly. But I saw my mistake. They would never close up the cave with the treasure inside. 'We will empty the cave and divide everything between us.' No sooner were the words out of my mouth than there was a stampede for the cave. 'Don't touch the girl, or anything she's wearing!' I shouted.

Fighting broke out almost immediately, but I drew Maunder's pistol and forced them to make a pile of the chests and casks on the sand. When the cave was empty, I ordered the rest of the torches lit and then set them to work shovelling the sand from under the boulder on the side of the cave-mouth. While this was being done, a runner was sent to bring ropes, timbers and as many extra hands as he could muster. When all was ready, I a.s.sembled my crew around the boulder some to push, some to pull, others to lever it into place and the great stone was rolled into the mouth of the cave, where it fitted with remarkably few gaps. Those s.p.a.ces that remained were filled with smaller stones until I was satisfied that no creature could enter or exit.

'Crab,' I said, 'see that the booty is fairy divided.' I knew the mayhem this would unleash, and I was not disappointed. As I strode off into the darkness, the sounds of shots, cries, curses and the clash of steel echoed about the valley.

The business of sealing the cave had occupied me so fully that I had had no time to consider my own predicament. I was alive but, to the rest of the world, I was Maunder. I was desperate to see Una but without the bracelet I could not give her warning of my transformation. I took the path out along the headland towards Mrs Ball's cottage but when I drew near I chose a vantage point where I could observe the house and still remain hidden among the gorse and rocks.

As I expected, Una's thin figure appeared as soon as the sun was up and struck off down the rough track to the sh.o.r.e. I waited a few minutes and then made my way down to the cottage. The door stood open as Una had left it (as Una now always left it). The cottage was empty. I had hoped to find Mrs Ball to explain to her the situation and ask her to speak to Una. But the old lady must have waited for me to return and, when I did not, gone to make enquiries. I pondered what I should do. I was concerned that, having rid themselves of one witch, Maunder's pack would decide to rid themselves of the witch's sister. Perhaps I could watch over Una without showing myself to her.

I knew where Una would be and, keeping out of sight, I climbed down to a ledge from which I could observe her. She sat motionless on the flat rock like the statues of Buddha I had seen in Ceylon, legs crossed, hands resting in her lap, the palms open, gazing out to sea. There she remained throughout the day, never moving while I waited and watched. I longed to go to her, to put my arms around her and hold her. She was all that I had left to love. My sole reason for being alive. But I knew I must not. Her poor disturbed mind would never grasp what had happened to me. If she caught sight of Maunder, she would believe I was dead.

It grew dark and still she sat there. I could bear it no longer. I left the ledge and crept down close to her, keeping behind rocks, then whispered as softly as I could, 'Una it's me Rhiannon.'

I waited. There was no response. I whispered again louder this time. But no not even the slightest movement.

At last I went up to her and laid my hand gently on her arm. To my horror it was cold. Not the coldness of one who has sat too long in the wind, but the coldness of death. I held my hand by her nose and mouth was there a faint breath? I laid my ear to her chest, praying for a heartbeat but I heard nothing. Her eyes were open, unblinking. Her spirit had stayed away too long. If not already dead, her body would die very soon.

Being Maunder, I had no trouble lifting her. I carried her up the track to the cottage. Stepping through the doorway, Una's body limp in my arms, I came upon Mrs Ball.

'Murderer!' she screamed. 'Wicked, evil monster! Wasn't it enough for you to murder Rhiannon that you must murder her sister as well? Poor simple creature, what harm could she do you?'

Seeing what she saw, what else could she believe? I tried to stammer an explanation but she rushed past me, only pausing on the threshold to shout, 'You will hang for this!'

I laid Una on her bed. Kneeling on the floor beside her I let my head rest on her still body and my hand toyed with the bracelet around her thin, cold wrist. Let them hang me. What did I care? I had no desire to live as Maunder and with Una gone there was nothing to tie me to this world. I comforted myself with the thought that Una was where she loved to be, swimming in the body of a dolphin. A great tiredness weighed me down and sleep soon released my spirit to travel where it wished. I was with Una. We were dolphins together, leaping and playing, sending pearls of spray glittering high into the sunlight.

Daylight woke me. As the fog of sleep cleared I had a vague sense that something dreadful had happened or was about to happen. I half raised myself and saw Maunder's huge body slumped on the floor beside the bed. A swirl of confused thoughts filled my head. I was back in my own body! But my body was dead and sealed in the cave. I should be Maunder but now Maunder appeared dead! My body felt familiar, yet unfamiliar, lighter, yet still a perfect match for my spirit. On my wrist was the bracelet but it was loose now I could slide it on and off. Gradually my careering mind slowed and steadied. I was Una and I was Rhiannon. My stricken spirit and her dying body had been drawn to each other, had merged and become one. Perhaps, we always were one. Born of the same cell, we became two halves of the same self. I let the realisation take hold, then closed my eyes and searched for her spirit. Like an ent.i.ty of pure joy I found her revelling in the intoxicating freedom of her life in the ocean. At once I was certain of two things: that she would never come back and, nevertheless, I would always wait for her. I wept. And when I had finished, I dried my eyes and swore I would never weep again.

Maunder's body was dead stone dead. It took me an hour to drag it outside and down to Mrs Ball's herb garden. It took a further four hours to dig a hole big enough to bury it behind the sage bush. That done, I returned to the cottage to await Mrs Ball's return.

Mrs Ball did not return for two days and when she did it was with the excise men of the Plymouth garrison. She was astonished to find Una (as she believed me to be) recovered. I told her and the men of the garrison that Maunder had left me for dead and was probably miles away by now. A search was mounted but, of course, he was never found. Maunder's followers were rounded up and marched to Plymouth, where many were hanged when the Honourable Robert Stapleton, seeing which way the wind was blowing, informed against them. The rest were transported to Australia.

Once they had gone, I searched the abandoned hovels for the plunder from the cave. Not for myself, I wanted no part of their booty, but I did not want it to fall into Stapleton's hands. I took everything of value to the one place I thought he would never look, the top of Devil's Rock, where wind and weather had carved out a deep creva.s.se. It took three nights to haul it all up there but there was no one to disturb me. And when I was satisfied I would find no more, I filled the remainder of the hole with loose stones and built a cairn on top.

One piece I did keep, a locket my father had given to my mother the Christmas before our departure from Wales. The two miniatures it contained were much damaged by salt water but I could still make out my dear parents' faces. It is all I have to remind me that I once had love and happiness.

Drinking and gambling soon reduced Stapleton to penury and the estate was sold to cover his debts. The new owners had no enthusiasm for farming the fields around the Orme and so we were allowed to remain in the old cottage where I cared for Mrs Ball until she pa.s.sed away.

After the old woman died, I could not bear to remain alone in the cottage. I left and took work where I could get it in the great houses of Devon and Cornwall. Ten years pa.s.sed, then twenty and thirty but, as the years went by, I found I grew no older. Others grew up, had children, raised families, aged and pa.s.sed on, but year after year my sixteen-year-old face stared back at me from every mirror. At first I thought it a blessing to always have my youth, but I soon learnt it was a curse. If I remained in one place for any great length of time, people would begin to remark on my enduring youthfulness, then the whispering would start and I would be forced to move on.

I understood now that when Una left her body to live with the dolphins and I took Maunder's body and then her body for my own, we had violated the great universal law that says you cannot move from one life to another without first dying. We had broken the cycle of birth and death. I was trapped in a body that would never change, that could not change until it was reunited with Una's spirit. Only then could we both be freed. So I returned to the Orme, to the cottage certain that Una's spirit was still out there somewhere in the great ocean. But how to find her? I became obsessed by the idea of having my own boat with a boat I could search for my sister, and I could earn a livelihood. My obsession finally drove me to climb the rock and do what I swore I would never do I took some of Maunder's treasure and sold it.

Now I have my boat and I work the oyster beds in the season, and I fish, and I call the dolphins, and I search the sea for my sister's spirit.

Dear stranger, that is my story. Pray for me. Pray that one day I may be free. Pray that one day my sister will remember me and return.

Oh, Una, wherever you are, when you do return, you will find me here, waiting.

Chapter 19.

Zaki looked at a.n.u.sha to see if she had finished reading. a.n.u.sha nodded and Zaki closed the book. Neither spoke but when their eyes met, a.n.u.sha let out a long breath. Zaki climbed up on deck and stood looking at the familiar scene a few dinghies out sailing, the South Sands ferry busily making its way down the inlet, the harbourmaster's launch going about its business. How could everything appear so normal? a.n.u.sha emerged from the steps and stood beside him.

'It's Maunder. That's what got into me in the cave.'

'But how could he still be there? It was over a hundred years ago! And she killed him.'

'No. She poisoned her own body thinking Maunder's spirit would die with it. The bracelet held his spirit until I put it on, then it pa.s.sed into me. I let it out. I released it from the cave. I'm like a carrier. It's like I've got a disease but I don't know the cure.'

'What about the girl Rhiannon maybe she knows what to do?'

'I think she's as puzzled as we are. She's been watching me ever since we got back from the Orme.'

'The cat?'

'Yes.'