Amanda Cadabra and The Hidden Depths by Holly Bell (best love novels of all time txt) 📕

table and chairs are? Between there and the ends of the aisles?’

‘I do.’

‘I could have sworn I’ve … seen things in precisely that place.’

‘I believe you,’ Amanda assured him. She knew all about ‘seeing things.’ ‘What sort of things, Jonathan?’

‘Like a sort of hole, an entrance in the chalk that’s deep underneath the ground, and …’

‘Yes?’

‘There’s a drain there but it’s odd,’

‘What?’

‘It isn’t connected to anything. There’s no pipe to take away the water,’ said Jonathan earnestly.

‘Just ground underneath it?’

‘There must be. And …’

‘And?’

‘And then I’ve had dreams … I fell asleep down there once. I’d been reading very late the night before, and I was in the stacks cataloguing, and I just dropped off. It’s not the sort of thing I do. But I remember feeling sort of woozy and then I had a —’

‘You had a dream?’

‘Yes,’ Jonathan replied eagerly. ‘I was going down the hole in the floor into a cave, down steps cut into the chalk. And there was a vast network of tunnels and rooms, cave rooms, and it was all strangely spacious. And some were watery, some were sunken, and there was one huge vault, like a cathedral, where there was a figure. A woman, I think, in long robes, and a couple of other people who seemed like acolytes or servants.’

‘Interesting. Do you know who the she was?’

‘No, but she must have been very important. She had a sort of throne, a great seat in the stone. And there was a narrow pool beside her. It seemed to steam or emit some kind of vapour. I can’t be sure which. Suddenly, she looked straight at me … like she saw into my soul.’ Jonathan’s eyes widened. ‘It was so alarming that I woke up. I got up into the library, shut the place up and got into the fresh air as soon as I could.’ His face became pensive. ‘It was the strangest thing. I had this feeling that she was all-knowing. And she looked up at the ceiling of the cave as though she knew who I was and where I was from.’

‘Good gracious! What an extraordinary dream. What did you make of it, Jonathan?’

‘I didn’t know what to make of it. But I’d swear it was absolutely real.’

‘Have you had experiences like that before?’ Amanda enquired carefully. She’d always wondered if there was more to Jonathan than met the eye.

‘Not on that sort of scale!’

But Amanda had. She knew of overlapping time zones, where the present could give way to the past, in locations that seemed perfectly ordinary.

‘Well, let’s see. Shall we try and unpack this?’ She knew that that would appeal to the scholar in Jonathan. He nodded with relief. ‘First of all, were there chalk caves here in the past?’ Amanda asked.

Jonathan, distressed from his disturbing recollection, gathered his wits. This was the sort of question he could handle.

‘There is chalk here. We’re at the edge of Hertfordshire. Chalk has been mined for thousands of years. It’s possible it was mined here too, and that would account for the caves. They might even still be there, I suppose. Or I was just having a vision of the past.’

Amanda sidestepped that one. ‘Good. Thousands of years is a big scope, though, so let’s try and narrow down the time period. You mentioned that the woman wore robes? Could you get a date range from that?’

Jonathan picked up his cup and took a sip of tea as though for inspiration.

‘Well, let me see … she had a long, belted dress, I think. Very long, onto the floor around her. It could have been white. Over the top was a cloak, but like a monarch would wear. It was trimmed, lined with … with fur, I’d say.’

‘Any jewellery?’

‘Yes! A necklace.’

‘And the belt?’ asked Amanda.

‘Erm … woven metal … filigree … and jewelled,’ replied Jonathan. ‘I’m not sure what metal but the necklace was gold, I’d say. It was a twisted, thick necklace that looked like a torc.’

‘And her hair?’

‘Complicated plaits and a headdress that reminded me of a bird.’

‘Sounds like a mixture of periods,’ Amanda mused.

‘Yes, iron-age Celt and medieval fashion, and very high status,’ replied Jonathan, who was something of a history buff.

‘Around the 11th century?’ she suggested.

‘Perhaps. Only … I had the sense that the woman was … far older.’

‘Hm. You used the word “acolytes” for her attendants,’ recalled Amanda.

‘Did I? Yes. So perhaps she was a priestess of some kind.’

‘Aha, like …?’

Amanda and Jonathan looked at one another. Vapour … robes … ancient priestess. They both spoke at once:

‘Delphi!’

‘An oracle?’ suggested Jonathan excitedly

‘Why not?’

‘Is it possible there was an oracle here once?’ speculated Jonathan. ‘Deep below?’

‘Surely possible.’

‘Was I having a past life experience?’ he pondered tentatively.

‘I hadn’t thought of that. Maybe you were an acolyte?’ Amanda hazarded.

‘Or a supplicant,’ wondered Jonathan.

‘No,’ responded Amanda thoughtfully. ‘I think more likely you were a member of her court or whatever, and that’s why she accepts your presence there.’

‘I suppose that would fit. Do you think it’s possible she communicates through the books?’

‘That would explain the way they come and go, Jonathan.’

‘Maybe she wanted to communicate with Samantha?’

‘Hm,’ Amanda demurred. ‘Doesn’t seem likely. I wouldn’t have called Samantha intuitive. But what if Samantha was there for her own purposes and the priestess or whatever didn’t like it?’

‘Could the Oracle have caused the shelf to fall on Samantha?’ asked Jonathan wide-eyed.

‘Maybe. We both felt the tremor, didn’t we?’ responded Amanda. ‘But only we two.’

‘What does it all mean?’ Jonathan asked.

‘I don’t know. But if she is an oracle, she’ll have the answers.’

‘Oh Amanda, I would never risk falling asleep in the stacks again. I wouldn’t want to dream of going down into that cave ever again. I had the strongest feeling that, whoever she is, she is an extremely dangerous woman.’

But, thought Amanda, if we in Sunken Madley are to continue using the library and she considers it part of her domain, somehow we have to connect with this Oracle. Not just for answers