The Dream Weavers by Barbara Erskine (books you have to read txt) 📕

was not at his prayers, sometimes Abad Elisedd dared to wonder where she was and if she was still alive. He heard stories from time to time, even from the seclusion of the prayer desk. He heard of the murder of Beorhtric from the lay brothers who had it from a pedlar; he heard of her exile from a pilgrim come to the shrine of St Tysilio from far away Canterbury. And then came a mendicant friar who brought the bones of a selection of saints to sell to the abbot, with a story about her death. Elisedd did not believe that the bones of a sheep had somehow transformed into the sacred relics of a holy man, but he could not dismiss the possibility that Eadburh was dead. How would he ever know the truth?’ There was a long pause. ‘My own wanderings took me to the clas as the spring sunlight filtered across the land and the shadows of the mountains shortened, and I made my confession to the Abad Elisedd. As I knelt before him, I let slip that once I had known the daughter of Offa and that in my dreams I saw her, now an abbess, safe in a convent in the northern forests of the empire. I may have hinted that she too had yearned for her only love, whom she believed dead, murdered by her father.’

‘So, you told him?’

‘As I left, he gave me a tiny gold enamelled cross, such as the metalworkers of Offa made. I wondered if it had been hers. And I wondered if he had understood me, but I had interfered enough with the plans of the sisters of Wyrd. It was not for me to say more. If he followed the meandering paths of my reminiscence, that would be up to him. I asked for his blessing and I left the clas to return to the forests of my own land.’

‘But you had told him she was still alive!’

‘I had made my confession after the fashion of the Christians, that was all.’ She was staring away again into the deep green shadows of the forest.

Bea was afraid the enigma that was Nesta was going to fade into the shadows again. ‘I need your advice; your help. There is so much going on. Eadburh and Elisedd haunt me. And Emma is at risk.’

‘Eadburh and Elisedd need no help from you. Their time is past, their story written.’

‘Yet Emma has become involved.’ Bea sighed. ‘It’s hard to understand what is happening. I dream the story of Eadburh; as she lives her life, it unfolds before me. Emma dreams Eadburh’s dreams of still being a young girl in love.’

Nesta nodded slowly. ‘You are all weavers of dreams. Emma has the beautiful ripe body of a girl. What woman would not want to borrow that for her dreams as she sees herself wasting away in the lonely confines of a convent cell?’

A gentle breeze blew through the glade and the new leaves overhead seemed to whisper agreement.

‘We all may wish for younger bodies,’ Bea heard the wistful note in her own voice, ‘but we don’t go out to hijack someone else’s. I am very afraid for Emma. And there is more. You warned me about her once, a woman, an erstwhile colleague of my husband’s, who seems to have set out to destroy me. Somehow she’s become involved in all this, but now she’s threatening Emma too. We have to stop her.’

Nesta turned to look at her for the first time. ‘And how can we do that?’

‘I expected you to know.’ Bea spoke more forcefully than she had intended. ‘You have the knowledge.’

‘You have taught the child that time is but a plaited rope, looped and knotted as the fates dictate. You have shown her what to do. It’s up to her if she makes use of your advice. Maybe she wants to sleep with a prince. She has already done so in her dreams. Dreams are powerful,’ Nesta’s voice was soft, almost indistinguishable against the breathing of the forest, ‘Eadburh’s voice is seductive. Impossible to resist. The child would need to be very strong to push it away to go back to her schoolbooks.’ Sunlight was filtering through the branches overhead, casting mottled shadows over Nesta’s face. The silver streaks in her hair beneath her shawl caught the gleam of the setting sun and as though sensing the touch of the light she pulled the shawl closer. ‘But this other woman,’ she paused thoughtfully, ‘becomes ever more powerful through her mission to destroy you. She invited evil in and she plays with fire without even realising how near to the abyss she walks.’

Bea shivered. ‘Sandra. I don’t know how she has suddenly transformed into this awful mirror image of herself. She scares me.’

Again she saw Nesta glance towards her. This time her look was withering. ‘You have to be strong. You are the only one who can deal with her and to do so you will have to abandon caution and hesitation. You are not yet fully committed to your path. If you want to walk with the power of a wise woman, you have to have the courage to face demons.’

Bea drew in a shuddering breath. ‘I’m not sure I have that kind of strength.’ She looked down at the ground. When she was a child her father had once told her there were dragons in this forest. She had been scared then and she was scared now. Taking a deep breath, she looked back towards Nesta.

The log where the woman had been seated beside Bea was empty. The moss and leaves showed no sign that there had been anyone there.

‘Nesta?’ Bea scrambled to her feet. ‘Nesta? Please. I haven’t finished. I need you!’

But the moment of magic had passed. The sound of her raised voice had scared the birds. The robin flew off, its alarm notes cutting through the silence followed by the sound of wings high up in