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

visit the shrine of the Blessed Lady Melangell. He said he had promised you that one day he would take you there. He told me he would make offerings at the shrine and seek counsel from the mother abbess there, then he would go into seclusion for the rest of his days somewhere over there in the heart of the mountains.’

Eadburh let out a little cry of pain. ‘When was this?’ she could barely frame the words.

‘Two years since.’

‘While I was still living a life of comfort and safety in Pavia. God forgive me.’ She was silent for a while as an owl hooted close beside them in the depths of the rapidly darkening wood. ‘I must try and find him. Can you tell me where to go?’

The young man nodded gravely. ‘I will guide you there, lady. He thought you dead, but in my heart I swore to God that if ever I saw you I would try and unite you. It would ease his guilt and his grief. The shrine is a day’s walk from here, perhaps less. There’s a pilgrim path. It leads from our St Tysilio’s shrine here to the shrine of St Melangell, which is on land given to the holy saint by an ancestor of our prince.’ He studied her more closely and she saw concern in his eyes as he noticed she was shivering. ‘The night is growing cold, my lady. I will guide you and your servant to a barn nearby where you will be safe and sheltered. I will bring you food and blankets, then at first light I will return to show you the way.’

Eadburh lay shivering, wrapped in the rugs he had brought them. He had produced bread and cheese and oatcakes and a flagon of ewe’s milk too, which she had shared with Theo and Ava. Even snuggled against Ava’s warm back she was unable to sleep for the cold, and she heard the bell ring for prime as the daylight began to flood slowly across the broad valley.

Sometime later he reappeared, two scrips slung across his shoulders, a second staff in his hand. He smiled as he sat down beside her and began to unroll a linen napkin to reveal a breakfast of spiced meat and bread. This time he had brought a leather bottle of mead. ‘To fortify us on our long walk, lady,’ he said cheerfully.

‘Will you not be in trouble with the abbot if you’re absent all day?’ Eadburh commented as they gathered up their belongings. Each took a rug to drape over their shoulders in the chill of the early morning mist.

‘I will confess all to him when I return, and I will gladly do penance if he requires it.’

The young man led the way confidently, following an almost invisible path, seeming to know which way to go even without the help of the sun, which was still lost in the morning haze.

She followed him blindly, sometimes lagging behind, sometimes catching him up to walk at his side, Ava always at her heels, Theo a little way behind, her thoughts fixed on Elisedd and the fact that before the sun went down she was going to see him again. This man had been a part of her life since she had first set eyes on him all those years ago at her father’s court in Sutton, when the great dyke was under construction with its ditches and ramparts and high wooden palisade, already breached in many places. Now here she was deep in the kingdom of Powys, in the land of dragons and magical hares, coming closer to him every moment as they walked along the river valley, ever deeper into the wild hills. She was going more slowly now on the steep stony tracks. Every now and then the young men ahead of her were pausing to wait for her as she plodded on, her shoes worn into holes, her feet dusty and sore even before they had started their journey. Above them the sky slowly cleared and the sun beat down. Two ravens were circling high above the wooded hills, their croaking calls echoing from the cliffs above the valley.

‘Dad, I’ve had a ping from Emma’s phone.’

Simon was dozing in the car outside the little church of St Melangell, at the end of the long single-tracked road that led from Llangynog when he answered his phone.

‘Felix?’ He sat up and groaned. He was cold and stiff. There was a house nearby, he could make out the outline of it in the dark, but when he had knocked a couple of hours before there had been no one there. It was some kind of religious retreat house, as far as he could make out, and he had hoped against hope that Emma would be there, but the house was in darkness, the church was locked, the car park empty and the valley was silent. ‘Where is she?’

‘Not far from you. Up on the hillside. I just spoke to her. She’s cold and lost, but she’s OK. Phone her now. She knows you’re quite close.’ He clicked off and Simon was left staring at his blank screen.

‘God bless you, Felix,’ he murmured.

‘Dad?’ Emma sounded tearful. ‘I’m lost. My battery is low.’

‘I’m not far away, sweetheart. Don’t worry. I’m beside the church, down in the valley.’

‘There are wolves here.’ Her voice was very faint. ‘I’m scared.’

‘Listen, Em. Save your battery. I’m going to hang up. Leave your phone on so Felix can track you. I’m coming to find you.’

Felix answered at once. ‘I’ll give you her coordinates, Dad. It’s wild moorland as far as I can make out. You might need to alert mountain rescue or the police or someone.’

Simon was outside the car now, gazing up where the high sides of the valley rose above him, black against the stars. ‘Which direction?’

He heard a muttering and distant click of a keyboard as Felix consulted his laptop and he pictured the boy at home