Trespass: A Tale of Mystery and Suspense Across Time (The Darkeningstone Book 1) by Mikey Campling
Authors: Mikey Campling
Ads: Link
cold, hunger and aching bones. He would keep his vigil until sunrise. Only then, when the Shades had returned to rest in the earth, would Waeccan return safely to the pit floor and, with the stone’s blessing, work upon the rock face. There may be a sign, or there may not. Either way, the stones would be waiting for him. No power on earth could alter that simple fact.
Chapter 14
2010
“BEHOLD,” SHE SAID IN A PUT-ON , wavering voice. She held out her arms in mock worship. “The Black Stone of Scaderstone.”
I took a sharp breath. I guess I hadn’t seen it before because of the grass on the bank. But now that I stood over it, it was so obvious, so imposing—I was amazed that I could’ve missed it. It didn’t seem like the sort of thing you could hide.
The stone lay flat on the top of the bank, embedded into the ground. And it was perfect. It was an oblong about two metres long and one metre wide, and every edge was straight and true. And there was something special about its size and shape. It wasn’t that it was pleasing to look at—if anything, it was quite ugly—but it was somehow…satisfying. It’s so precise , I thought, so carefully made . How long had it been there? It seemed incredibly old, but there were no chips or cracks. Its surface was smooth, its edges sharp. And through its thin covering of dust and grime you could see the stone really was pure black.
“Well?” she said. “What do you think?”
I’d almost forgotten she was there. I looked at her dumbly for a second. “Wow,” I breathed. “What the hell is that doing there?”
She laughed and said, “Ooh, you have a way with words.”
“No, I’m serious,” I said. “It must’ve taken ages to carve that. All that effort—why leave it up here—on a ledge where no one can see it?”
She gave me a look. “Maybe it was meant to be kept hidden—kept secret.”
“But why? Why make it in the first place?”
She raised a dark eyebrow. “Typical boy,” she said. “Who said it was man-made?”
“Huh,” I said. I didn’t like the way she’d said boy . Typical girl, I felt like saying, always making everything into a fairy story. But I hadn’t climbed all that way to have an argument with her. I hadn’t even found out her name yet. So I took a breath and tried to smile. “Well, for one thing,” I said, “there’s no way it could be natural—it’s just too perfect. And for another thing, it looks like a –”
“But it isn’t,” she said.
I tried to keep the irritation out of my voice. “Isn’t what?” I said.
“I know what you were going to say,” she said. “Everyone thinks that at first.”
“Go on then—surprise me.”
“It isn’t a gravestone.” She smiled at the look on my face. She was right of course. That was exactly what I’d thought. The last time I’d seen slabs of stone lying on the ground like that, had been in a graveyard, covering the dead. I shuddered.
“What makes you so sure?” I said.
“Because it’s not just lying on the top,” she said. “It goes all the way down through here.” She swept her hand across the side of the grassy bank, which was at least half a metre high, maybe a little more.
“How do you know that?”
“Probes,” she said. “They pushed them in from the top, all down the sides. And then they did a load sideways through the soil here. Nothing under there but solid rock. They were going to try the magnetometer as well, but it kept going wrong.”
“They?” I said. “Who are they ?”
“Erm, the prof and the rest of the team. Me and the other volunteers—my so-called friends—we took notes, filled in the record sheets.”
Questions. My head was filled with a dizzying, incomprehensible rush of questions. There was so much going on here that I just didn’t know about, so much that didn’t seem to fit. I shook my head. I had to take a step back, push the questions to one side. I needed to get a few things straightened out.
“Look,” I
Chapter 14
2010
“BEHOLD,” SHE SAID IN A PUT-ON , wavering voice. She held out her arms in mock worship. “The Black Stone of Scaderstone.”
I took a sharp breath. I guess I hadn’t seen it before because of the grass on the bank. But now that I stood over it, it was so obvious, so imposing—I was amazed that I could’ve missed it. It didn’t seem like the sort of thing you could hide.
The stone lay flat on the top of the bank, embedded into the ground. And it was perfect. It was an oblong about two metres long and one metre wide, and every edge was straight and true. And there was something special about its size and shape. It wasn’t that it was pleasing to look at—if anything, it was quite ugly—but it was somehow…satisfying. It’s so precise , I thought, so carefully made . How long had it been there? It seemed incredibly old, but there were no chips or cracks. Its surface was smooth, its edges sharp. And through its thin covering of dust and grime you could see the stone really was pure black.
“Well?” she said. “What do you think?”
I’d almost forgotten she was there. I looked at her dumbly for a second. “Wow,” I breathed. “What the hell is that doing there?”
She laughed and said, “Ooh, you have a way with words.”
“No, I’m serious,” I said. “It must’ve taken ages to carve that. All that effort—why leave it up here—on a ledge where no one can see it?”
She gave me a look. “Maybe it was meant to be kept hidden—kept secret.”
“But why? Why make it in the first place?”
She raised a dark eyebrow. “Typical boy,” she said. “Who said it was man-made?”
“Huh,” I said. I didn’t like the way she’d said boy . Typical girl, I felt like saying, always making everything into a fairy story. But I hadn’t climbed all that way to have an argument with her. I hadn’t even found out her name yet. So I took a breath and tried to smile. “Well, for one thing,” I said, “there’s no way it could be natural—it’s just too perfect. And for another thing, it looks like a –”
“But it isn’t,” she said.
I tried to keep the irritation out of my voice. “Isn’t what?” I said.
“I know what you were going to say,” she said. “Everyone thinks that at first.”
“Go on then—surprise me.”
“It isn’t a gravestone.” She smiled at the look on my face. She was right of course. That was exactly what I’d thought. The last time I’d seen slabs of stone lying on the ground like that, had been in a graveyard, covering the dead. I shuddered.
“What makes you so sure?” I said.
“Because it’s not just lying on the top,” she said. “It goes all the way down through here.” She swept her hand across the side of the grassy bank, which was at least half a metre high, maybe a little more.
“How do you know that?”
“Probes,” she said. “They pushed them in from the top, all down the sides. And then they did a load sideways through the soil here. Nothing under there but solid rock. They were going to try the magnetometer as well, but it kept going wrong.”
“They?” I said. “Who are they ?”
“Erm, the prof and the rest of the team. Me and the other volunteers—my so-called friends—we took notes, filled in the record sheets.”
Questions. My head was filled with a dizzying, incomprehensible rush of questions. There was so much going on here that I just didn’t know about, so much that didn’t seem to fit. I shook my head. I had to take a step back, push the questions to one side. I needed to get a few things straightened out.
“Look,” I
Similar Books
