Mist & Whispers by C.M. Lucas

The riddle says “ As the sun greets us for the solstice day” – the solstice is the first day of summer, right?’
    ‘Well, it could mean either the summer or the winter solstice,’ Tim said, looking at his watch. ‘Today is the 20 th June, so I think tomorrow when the sun rises will be the summer solstice.’
    ‘Anyone got Google on their phone?’ Anya asked.
    ‘Mine and Tim’s are in the car, I’ll get them – ’
    ‘No need,’ Michael said as he fished his own phone out of his pocket. His fingers flicked over the touch screen and it gave a high toned bleep.
    ‘Battery dying?’ Anya asked.
    ‘Yeah, I didn’t get chance to charge it.’
    ‘Whilst you were stalking me, you mean?’
    Michael didn’t voice a reply but his sharp look was enough for her not to continue.
    ‘The solstice sunrise hits Stonehenge at 5:04 tomorrow morning.’
    ‘So, all we have to do is find out which broken old building this Saint Michael guy laid down in and go there, right?’ This was Stephanie, winding her fingers in her hair.
    Tim smiled at her and a soft laugh escaped through his nose. ‘Not that type of lay, Steph. It’s spelt L-E-Y, as in ley lines.’
    Stephanie’s face was blank while Michael clearly covered up his lack of knowledge by pretending to be deep in thought. His eyes gave him away, or so Anya thought. She could tell he was hoping someone else would speak.  It was all in the way his eyes flitted from person to person.
    ‘What’s a ley line?’ Anya asked.
    ‘A ley line is an alignment of places of historical and sometimes mythological interest, spread across the country. I think some ley lines even stretch across more than one country. Some people believe they have some sort of spiritual importance. I think there is one known as the St Michael’s ley line, I remember reading something about it in one of my uni books.’
    Michael typed the words Ruins, St Michael and Ley Lines into Google. ‘Top search result: Burrow Mump.’
    ‘Burrow Mump?’ Stephanie repeated, screwing up her nose. ‘Sounds like a disease.’
    ‘It’s a hill in Somerset. The ruins of St Michael’s church are at the top.’
    ‘That must be it,’ Anya said, trying to peer at the phone over Michael’s shoulder without getting too close to him.
    ‘We’ll find these books in no time!’ Stephanie exclaimed, clapping her hands like they were attached to each other by a tiny piece of string. ‘I love the internet. I can’t even imagine how people lived before Google was invented.’
    Tim looked back at his watch. ‘It’s just gone midnight so if we set off now, we should just about make it in time.’
     
    ANYA TRIED TO get some sleep on the journey to Burrow Mump but her mind just wouldn’t shut down. The thought of finding more of the Weaver’s stories had her heart beating that bit faster than usual.
    They called past Michael’s house so that he could drop off his car and jump in with them. Anya still felt uncomfortable around him but secretly, she was glad that Michael wanted to help. Feelings don’t just switch off, no matter how angry you are at someone.
    Michael made up a few flasks of coffee to keep them all awake and they continued on their way, discussing the riddle as they went.
    ‘Why do you think he refers to the first four books as silver and the next six as gold?’ Tim asked after they stopped for petrol.
    ‘Maybe the gold ones are the first that he wrote and the silver ones were the second lot?’ Michael suggested.
    Anya, who hadn’t taken her eyes off the parchment for the entire journey, didn’t agree. ‘Maybe by silver and gold he meant their quality? Like, the silver books are second best to his gold?’
    ‘Seriously,’ Stephanie said, ‘could you imagine the look on James George’s face if we found six of the Weaver’s books, all better stories than the four he found! That would be priceless!’
    They all agreed that seeing James’ smug smile wiped off his face was just as much reason