# In the Service of Mystery (Pt. 7)

Author: CofEFur
Tags: Canine, Clean, Lynx, Mystery, Plot Development, guinea pig

#7 of In the Service of Mystery

Father Francis and Reverend Cormack discover the ruins of the Abbey ...and something more sinister.

'Yeah,' I laughed, 'Look it's my day off today and you're supposed to be having a break from parish life, I thought we could go to look at the ruins of an old Abbey that is not too far away.'

'Okay,' Replied Harry, 'What's got you interested in archaeology all of a sudden?'

&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; I explained to Harry the gist of Anna's story.

'... So, I thought it would be interesting to check it out.'&nbsp; I finished.

'That sounds good.'&nbsp; Said Harry, 'with my parish work, I don't think I've done any walking for&nbsp;pleasure in an age.'

&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Half an hour and one phone call to Charlie Hopes to drop some clothes over the Harry later we set out.&nbsp; I'd thrown together some lunch to eat on the go and stuffed our picnic into an old rucksack of mine.&nbsp; By now it was mid-morning and the day was warming up.&nbsp; We walked down the strangely quiet road and passed the church.&nbsp; We cut off the road opposite the village school and headed towards the Amble along a footpath which wound its way across the water meadow.&nbsp; So far the summer had been hot and dry and the river was merely a trickle in the centre of its muddy bed.&nbsp; We stood on the footbridge and watched as a large electric blue dragonfly droned lazily across the surface of the water.

&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; We clattered across the footbridge.&nbsp; The bridge had been built many centuries before to allow the old road to continue along the valley to Newton.&nbsp; Now I wondered if the redoubtable Abbot Henry Leonis had had a hand in its construction.&nbsp; Once we reached the eastern bank we were enveloped in the green coolness of the woods.&nbsp; The woods were, as far as I knew, the last remnant of an ancient forest - now all but rooted up by farming and development.&nbsp; But, here at least, the old wild country still had some power.

&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; We walked for about another mile until we came to a small clearing.&nbsp; In the centre of the clearing was a stone circle.&nbsp; There were a few stone circles left in the area; I remember going to a lecture at the Amblehead Civic Centre that had said that the Amble Valley was once an important cultic centre in the Stone Age.&nbsp; I decided that now would be a good time for lunch and picked out a handy fallen tree trunk to use of the bench.&nbsp; As I busied myself with getting our lunch out of my bag, Harry started to mooch around the circle.

'I wonder when the stones were last visited.'&nbsp; I said.

'Animals must come past it all the time.' said Harry.

'No,' I replied, 'The last time they were visited for their intended purpose.'

&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Harry shrugged and continued to walk around the circle.&nbsp; Then, his ears flattened against his head and his tail began to swish from side-to-side.&nbsp; He prodded at something on the ground with one of his foot paws.

'The stones have been used quite recently, I think.'&nbsp; He said quietly.

I stood up and padded across the clearing to Harry.&nbsp; My ears started to flatten themselves against my head as well, as Harry became increasingly nervous.&nbsp; This did not feel right, I had always felt able to rely on Harry's cool and his calmness.&nbsp; I tried to convince myself that this was still just Harry reacting to his recently reopened mental wounds from his time in the army, but this felt different.&nbsp; As I reached him, I saw what he had been prodding at.&nbsp; There was a part burnt stub of a candle and a piece of metal.&nbsp; I hunkered down and picked up the candle stub. &nbsp;I sniffed at it tentatively: there was a lingering aroma like damp leaf mould.&nbsp; I rolled it over in my paw and noticed that the black colour of the candle rubbed off to reveal simple beeswax underneath.

&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; I passed the candle stub to Harry, who put it on top of the nearest stone.&nbsp; I wiped my paws on the grass before picking up the piece of metal.&nbsp; It appeared to be a fragment of a blade, the sharp edge glinted dully in the sunlight.&nbsp; It reflected my face in a reddish light, turning the white on my muzzle a deep crimson.&nbsp; I could just make out words etched into the surface.

'There's something written on this.'&nbsp; I said.

I straightened up to show the fragment to Harry:

Afon o Aberth

We both read the words, they were in a language that seemed both strange and yet familiar to me.&nbsp; I turned the fragment of metal over and over in my paws I looked at Harry, and said:

'This doesn't feel right.&nbsp; Let's get on to the Abbey.'

He nodded and I stuck the piece of metal into my pocket.&nbsp; A few minutes further down the path the ruins of the monastery came into view.

&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; The Abbey had been reclaimed by the forest, the stubby remains of towers and walls were covered in ivy and undergrowth.&nbsp; Here and there flourishing trees grew through what would have been windows or rooves.&nbsp; It took some effort, but I was beginning to build a picture of the place as it had been.&nbsp; Here was once the monks' dormitory, and here their calefactory, their socialising space.&nbsp; Here they once ate in silence; and here could have been the scriptorium.

&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Ahead of us lay the Abbey Church, the low remains of the walls peeking out of the bushes.&nbsp; The church must have been twice the length of the parish church in the village. &nbsp;I found my mind's eye filled with figures in black habits walking slowly towards the church.&nbsp; At their head was a lion, this must have been Abbot Henry.&nbsp; I thought that I heard the faint tolling of a bell I glanced at Harry and he said to me:

'Did you just hear that?'

&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; I nodded, my tail swishing nervously. &nbsp;I watched Harry move slowly towards the ruin of the church.&nbsp; As I followed cautiously after him I noticed that, here and there, there were patches of blackened and scorched earth and stone; and a lingering odour of burning.&nbsp; Within the lines of the ancient walls the smell of burning was much stronger; and there was another scent in the air.&nbsp; I sniffed and then retched, it was a foul rotting stench.&nbsp; Ahead of me Harry had pressed a paw to his nose.&nbsp; I walked over to Harry and put my paw on his shoulder.&nbsp; He spun round, his eyes wide.&nbsp; I motioned for him to come back the way we came.&nbsp; He nodded briefly, then leant down and picked something up from the ground.&nbsp; We both hurried away from the ruins.

&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Once we had regained the apparent safety of the footpath we stopped and gulped down lung falls of blessedly untainted air.&nbsp; I sat down at the side of the path and began to pick little seeds and various bits of vegetation out of the fur on my tail.&nbsp; Harry sat down next to me.

'What was that?'&nbsp; He asked.

'Not the foggiest.'&nbsp; I replied, 'I know one thing: I never want to experience it again.'

'You know what it reminded me of?'

I shook my head.

'Rotting bodies.'&nbsp; Said Harry was no emotion in his voice.&nbsp; 'I smelt it first in the army.&nbsp; When I was a peacekeeper we found a mass grave.&nbsp; We had to guard it from the locals while the forensic archaeologists did their work.&nbsp; The smell lingered in my fur days afterwards.&nbsp; I thought I was going to smell of death forever.'

&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; I shivered.&nbsp; Normally as a priest the bodies I saw were either embalmed and at funerals or of someone who had died during the Last Rites - the recently deceased tend not to smell.&nbsp; I stared up at the sky for a moment, and then said:

'What did you pick up back there, Harry?'

'Another bit of metal.'&nbsp; Harry replied, 'I thought it looked similar to yours.&nbsp; Come on, Nerd, let's see if they do match.'

&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Harry fished in his pocket and drew out a piece of metal that was indeed very similar to the fragment we had found earlier.&nbsp; Both pieces had the same reddish hue, the same dull sheen.&nbsp; Awkwardly I retrieved my fragment from my pocket.&nbsp; On closer examination the piece of that Harry had found was somewhat larger than mine.&nbsp; Where my piece fitted comfortably in my paw, Harry's was at least twice the length.

'Do you think they could be from the same thing?'&nbsp; I asked.

'Couldn't say,' Replied Harry, 'I'd say they are made from the same metal, though.'

'Hmm...' I rolled both pieces around in my paws until the inevitable happened.&nbsp; 'Ow!'&nbsp; I cried, I turned my paw over.&nbsp; 'That's gone really deep.'

&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; I held my paw up while Harry rooted through the rucksack.&nbsp;&nbsp;After a moment, he pulled out what appeared to be my favourite scruffy T-shirt and wrapped it tightly around the cut.&nbsp; I looked at Harry aghast.&nbsp; Before I could say anything, Harry said:

'We need to get home - that cut needs to be cleaned properly.&nbsp; Why don't you have a first-aid kit in here?'

My mouth dropped open.

'But, that was my favourite Fratello Metal shirt.'&nbsp; I said.

'You're bleeding, and you don't have a first-aid kit.&nbsp; So, stop acting like a spoiled puppy.'&nbsp; Said Harry, 'As far as I care that shirt was long overdue going in the bin when we were at seminary.&nbsp; I don't know why you've still got it.'

&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; I stuck my tongue out at Harry, but I could see his point.&nbsp; We set off back the way we came.&nbsp; After our experience at the ruins, the woods did not seem as welcoming as before.&nbsp; Harry set a blistering pace and soon we were crossing back over the Amble and into the village.&nbsp; As we reached the road, I caught sight of Laura.&nbsp; I waved my un-bandaged paw and she waved back.&nbsp; We crossed the road to meet her.

'Harry, I'd like you to meet Laura Cavia.'&nbsp; I said, 'No, that's wrong - Laura Buck.&nbsp; We were good friends at Anskar's.&nbsp; Laura, this is Reverend Harry Cormack; we trained together and he'll be staying with me for a while.'

'Hi!'&nbsp; She said to Harry, then she saw my other paw.&nbsp; 'What in goodness' name have you done to yourself?'

&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; This was said in what I can only describe as a teacher's voice: it brought memories of getting into trouble at school flooding back.&nbsp; Needless to say I reverted to type:

'Cut my paw.'&nbsp; I muttered.&nbsp; 'And Harry ruined my favourite T-shirt.'

'Come on, Francis, grow up.&nbsp; We've got a first-aid kit in the staffroom.&nbsp; Sorry, Reverend Cormack, you don't mind coming in for a moment, do you?'

'No, of course not.'&nbsp; Replied Harry, 'Anyway: I want to see how far he'll revert to primary school puppy!'

&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Laura laughed and led us into the school.&nbsp; The school was housed in a rambling Victorian building.&nbsp; It seemed to me to be the epitome of an old country primary school: the loose parquet flooring that clicked and squeaked under our paws; the walls lined with fuzzy green noticeboards covered in pupils' work; the high ceilings; and the lingering smell of school dinners.

Source: https://sofurry.com/s/pnGPMRK1
Part of the series In the Service of Mystery
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