large enough to fill it.
“‘Through conquest of kingdoms, unconquered this wall endured.’”
Nefyn’s voice startled me. He was right behind me. “Who said that?”
“It is from the writing of the old people of England. They came after our old people. Took many of their lands. When they saw the works of the old Romans, they were astonished.”
“And so are we. And so are we. Look at it. Over two thousand years old. No one would think of building like this any more.” I looked around at what appeared to be nothing but desolation. “This was once a city?”
“One of the greatest. Filled with people. Laughing. Singing. Buying. Selling. Fighting. Drinking. Men. Women. Children.”
“Now they are gone. What is left of their city belongs to us. You. Me. Eluned. Perhaps Gwenllian.”
“The travelling women. Sometimes. And the ghosts.”
“The ghosts? What are they?” I assumed he meant the vagabondi when he said ‘travelling women’.
“Those who could not leave. Those who left their spirits here. Of the many generations, most left when the old Romans left. Some remained. Now they are gone. But they did not leave willingly.”
When Nefyn started to talk in this manner I tended to switch off. He became increasingly negative. Speaking of the past as if it was only yesterday. As if he could have changed the past, given the chance. I knew that was not possible, so his words simply irritated me. The future was all that concerned me. What was I – what were we going to do?
“Come on,” I said, turning to him. “Let’s go back inside. What we see out here always makes you sad.”
I put out my hand, but he did not take it. Arms by his side, his fists clenched, he turned away and headed back to the hidden room.
Chapter 16
“What do these words say?” I asked as we crouched down to crawl along the corridor leading to the Room. Along one side of the corridor there were words, carved into the rock face. No one answered. I had asked that the first time I had entered the room. I had been terrified, even with Nefyn crawling along in front of me, and Eluned behind me, constantly touching my foot to reassure me. With only the faint light from Nefyn’s candle, the tunnel had seemed to go on for ever, deeper and deeper into the cold, damp earth.
Since that time I had learned not to fear the darkness of the tunnel, even once crawling along it on my own without a candle, not something I wished to repeat. Each time I entered the tunnel I forced myself to memorise one or two of the carved words, then as soon as we arrived in the Room, I picked up my notebook and wrote them down, as near as I could. None of the letters were particularly clear, so some words I just made up, writing in the same jagged way, hoping that it would become clear once I had it all.
As I wrote down the final pair, Nefyn came up behind me and snatched the book away from me.
“The words in the tunnel,” he said.
“Yes. So what?”
“You can read them?”
“I don’t know yet. Those are the last two words. It’s complete now. Do you know what they say?”
“Of course not. They’re not English, are they?” He threw the book back to me. “You waste too much time.”
I crawled off into my corner, taking one of the small candles from the table. Eluned came to sit next to me.
“You must not fear him, my lady.”
“Fear him? I don’t fear him. He’s an idiot.”
“No, my lady. Not so. What did he wish to see in your book?”
I showed her the page in my book where I had written the words.
“You know these words?”
“What? Oh, they seem familiar. Somehow. I think they may be in Welsh. Like The Gododdin.”
“Yes, it seems so to me. But I think they are not written as they should be.”
“What do you mean? I wrote them down two words at a time, as they were written on the wall. At least, I think that’s how they were written. It’s difficult to be sure when I only get one chance, by the
“‘Through conquest of kingdoms, unconquered this wall endured.’”
Nefyn’s voice startled me. He was right behind me. “Who said that?”
“It is from the writing of the old people of England. They came after our old people. Took many of their lands. When they saw the works of the old Romans, they were astonished.”
“And so are we. And so are we. Look at it. Over two thousand years old. No one would think of building like this any more.” I looked around at what appeared to be nothing but desolation. “This was once a city?”
“One of the greatest. Filled with people. Laughing. Singing. Buying. Selling. Fighting. Drinking. Men. Women. Children.”
“Now they are gone. What is left of their city belongs to us. You. Me. Eluned. Perhaps Gwenllian.”
“The travelling women. Sometimes. And the ghosts.”
“The ghosts? What are they?” I assumed he meant the vagabondi when he said ‘travelling women’.
“Those who could not leave. Those who left their spirits here. Of the many generations, most left when the old Romans left. Some remained. Now they are gone. But they did not leave willingly.”
When Nefyn started to talk in this manner I tended to switch off. He became increasingly negative. Speaking of the past as if it was only yesterday. As if he could have changed the past, given the chance. I knew that was not possible, so his words simply irritated me. The future was all that concerned me. What was I – what were we going to do?
“Come on,” I said, turning to him. “Let’s go back inside. What we see out here always makes you sad.”
I put out my hand, but he did not take it. Arms by his side, his fists clenched, he turned away and headed back to the hidden room.
Chapter 16
“What do these words say?” I asked as we crouched down to crawl along the corridor leading to the Room. Along one side of the corridor there were words, carved into the rock face. No one answered. I had asked that the first time I had entered the room. I had been terrified, even with Nefyn crawling along in front of me, and Eluned behind me, constantly touching my foot to reassure me. With only the faint light from Nefyn’s candle, the tunnel had seemed to go on for ever, deeper and deeper into the cold, damp earth.
Since that time I had learned not to fear the darkness of the tunnel, even once crawling along it on my own without a candle, not something I wished to repeat. Each time I entered the tunnel I forced myself to memorise one or two of the carved words, then as soon as we arrived in the Room, I picked up my notebook and wrote them down, as near as I could. None of the letters were particularly clear, so some words I just made up, writing in the same jagged way, hoping that it would become clear once I had it all.
As I wrote down the final pair, Nefyn came up behind me and snatched the book away from me.
“The words in the tunnel,” he said.
“Yes. So what?”
“You can read them?”
“I don’t know yet. Those are the last two words. It’s complete now. Do you know what they say?”
“Of course not. They’re not English, are they?” He threw the book back to me. “You waste too much time.”
I crawled off into my corner, taking one of the small candles from the table. Eluned came to sit next to me.
“You must not fear him, my lady.”
“Fear him? I don’t fear him. He’s an idiot.”
“No, my lady. Not so. What did he wish to see in your book?”
I showed her the page in my book where I had written the words.
“You know these words?”
“What? Oh, they seem familiar. Somehow. I think they may be in Welsh. Like The Gododdin.”
“Yes, it seems so to me. But I think they are not written as they should be.”
“What do you mean? I wrote them down two words at a time, as they were written on the wall. At least, I think that’s how they were written. It’s difficult to be sure when I only get one chance, by the
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