The Bwy Hir Complete Trilogy (20 page)

The
vicar went to his study and turned the desk lamp on. He looked at the telephone briefly, wondering whether he should call Mr Morgan and tell him where his daughter was, but instead he retrieved his battered leather bible and opened it to the Old Testament.

He returned to the kitchen flicking the translucent pages over and over un
til he came to the passage he was looking for. ‘Here it is,’ he said, pointing to the opened page and he began to read out loud, ‘Genesis chapter six: and it came to pass, when men began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born unto them that the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they
were
fair.’ He looked up momentarily to ensure that Anwen was paying attention but all he found was an empty chair. Anwen Morgan was gone, taking her belongings and the church collection money he’d left on the table.

CHAPTER TWENTY NINE

Mab shook Awel awake. Awel’s eyes flew open to meet Mab’s worried stare. It was still dark outside and Awel could barely make out Mab’s form in the dimness.

‘What is it?’ blurted Awel, now fully awake.

‘They have found Dafydd Morgan, alive but unconscious,’ Mab began.

‘That is well and good
,’ Awel replied, leaning back into her pillow.

‘There is more
– our guardian and Anwen of Ty Mawr are missing.’

Awel sat bolt upright
. ‘What? You are sure?’

‘Yes
.’ Mab’s voice was stony. ‘Word has just reached me. They have vanished into thin air.’

‘Are they with Taliesin?’ Awel whispered, confused and bewildered.

‘I hope not. The implications …’

‘What has happened?’

‘That is not yet known. The Druids claim they know nothing.’

‘Do you believe them?’

‘I don’t know.’

‘And the boy? The new initiate?’

‘He is well.’

‘He is unharmed?’

‘Yes, he has been chosen as a donor for Aeron, no-one would dare touch him without his authority.’

‘Does Taliesin know?’ Awel’s worried frown matched that of the
Queen’s.

‘I don’t know. I need you to find out.’ Mab squeezed Awel’s arm.

‘Does Anwen wear the bracelet? Have you located her?’

‘You are the better scryer, will you do it?’

‘Then let us be about it. I would like to be able to take Taliesin some good news, if I can.’

Awel swung her legs off the cot and onto the floor. Throwing a cloak around her shoulders she hurriedly followed Mab to her pavilion.

Scrying was one of Awel’s many talents and if Anwen was wearing the bracelet then she would be easily located by Awel but hidden from the black scryers among the Druids, even the Helgi would be hard pressed to find her as long as she was wearing the bracelet. Without it not only would Anwen be lost to the Pride but would be easily found by the Druids. As far as Awel knew there were none among the Host with the ability or interest in scrying and she hoped, for Anwen’s sake that that was still the case.

Leaning over the huge copper scrying bowl already set in position in Mab’s pavilion
, Awel poured water into its bottom and waited for it to settle before beginning the incantation. The waters slowly began to rotate as if being stirred. The water began to turn milky and Awel looked down at the scene unfolding before her eyes: Anwen was running through dark fields, her hair being dragged and clawed by the wind that thrashed at her mercilessly. She looked scared, tired and Awel’s heart went out to her.

Awel had not put eyes on Anwen before this moment, not since her birth and she had wondered at what she might look like. To Awel, Anwen looked almost feral. The moonlight only gave her a hint of what Anwen truly looked like, but for the brief moment she spied her Awel could not see what had attracted Taliesin to the little
Human waif.

‘She flees through the fields,’ Awel said to Mab, ‘but she seems unharmed. Our guardian is not with her
… do you want me to fetch the girl?’

‘No.’ Mab touched at her own throat, insecure and concerned
. ‘Let us not meddle further, not until we understand what is happening.’

Awel leaned back from the bowl and the waters cleared, ‘What is happening?’ Awel wondered.

CHAPTER THIRTY

‘The ambulance is here, Gwyn.’ Dai ushered the two paramedics inside the house. There was a flurry of activity, a stretcher, head brace and oxygen was brought in and then, once they were satisfied, they carried Dafydd’s blanketed body from his home, into the ambulance and away to Bangor Hospital. Gwyn had desperately wanted to go with his father, but Dai told him he must wait for Anwen and Nerys to return, so Bryn-Wisgi went in his stead.

The lights dimmed in the neat empty house and
Dai once again got to his feet. On his return he took a seat on the now vacant sofa and sighed.

‘What is it now?’ Gwyn asked numbly.

‘The Druids are waiting for the ambulance to leave the area and then the Seekers and Helgi will join with the search.’

‘Still no sign of Anwen or Nerys?’

‘No sign. Do you have any idea where they might go?’

Gwyn opened his mouth but shut it again.

‘If you know where they’ve gone, you need to tell us. Is there something you should be telling me, Gwyn?’ Dai leaned forward in his seat.

‘
Who is “us”?’ Gwyn studied Dai before continuing. ‘Anyway, I don’t know.’

Dai
leaned back and placed his hands on his lap. ‘I am not your enemy, Gwyn, and neither are the Druids.’

‘No?’ Gwyn’s voice was laced with sarcasm
. ‘All I know is that since they turned up everything has turned to shit.’

Dai
had no reply. Everything had been fine at Ty Mawr until the barn fire. Something was amiss, but Dai couldn’t put his finger on it. They sat in silence, each enveloped in their own deliberations.

The sky had turned from deep blue to light grey by the time the search party called it a night.
Dai had remained with Gwyn in the living room; a solid rock in the eye of the storm. ‘No sign of them,’ Trevor said, as he strolled into the house to give another update. ‘The vicar’s not seen them either, no-one from the village, it’s like they’ve just disappeared.’

‘Okay, enough,’
Dai rubbed his face. ‘We all need some rest.’

‘Do we call the police?’ Gwyn asked.

‘No we bloody don’t,’ Dai snapped. ‘We keep it amongst ourselves – this is Chosen business.’

‘But they’ve been missing all night!’ Gwyn raised his voice.

‘And if anybody can find them, the Seekers will!’ Dai raised his voice and Trevor shuffled his feet uncomfortably. ‘Gwyn,’ Dai continued in a calmer tone, ‘is there something you’re not telling me, because from where I’m sitting something doesn’t feel right. I can’t help you if there’s something you’re not telling me.’

‘I told you already!’ Gwyn threw up his hands
. ‘How many times, Dai? When I went to search for my father the girls were here, in the house. When I got back, they were gone – you were here for god’s sake!’

‘It’s alright, Gwyn.’ Trevor spoke softly, ‘We’re just trying to help, that’s all.’

Gwyn heaved a deep sigh. ‘I need to go to my father, I can’t wait here for the girls to return.’

‘Okay.’
Dai was back to his normal, sturdy self. ‘I’ll stay here with Bara, you go off to the hospital. Trev, can you go and tell my wife where I am. I’ll be home as soon as I can, tell her to get the boys to do the milking this morning, if they haven’t already made a start.’

Trevor nodded once and left the house without a word. Gwyn and
Dai stared at each other until Dai tipped his head towards the door. ‘Go on then, and give my regards to Dafydd.’ Gwyn gave a half smile, ruffled Bara’s head and left.

Dai
waited for the engine of Gwyn’s car to recede before slipping back into the front room: he had a report to make.

CHAPTER THIRTY ONE

Dai
Jones stood in the huge, cavernous chamber flanked by two Druids. He had been ordered to step through the mirror to report to the Elder Druids in person; a rare occurrence, but then, these were rare circumstances.

D
ai’s legs were trembling, he was tired, hungry and in desperate need of a pee, but he kept his head bowed and stood completely still, waiting obediently to be summoned.

A shuffle of feet drew D
ai’s attention and he lifted his head. Two Druids walked into the chamber, their brows drawn down in concern. ‘I am Elder Tomas and this is Elder Morcan.’ Dai bobbed his head and swallowed.

‘What a sorry state of events,’ sighed Elder Morcan, ‘what can you tell us?’

‘Gwyn Morgan, the new initiate?’ Dai began, but Elder Tomas waved his hand, they already knew who Gwyn Morgan was. ‘Well, Gwyn has just gone off to visit his father, Dafydd, he’s in hospital. The two women are still missing.’ Dai swallowed again.

‘Is the boy accused? Is he responsible for these events?’ Elder Tomas asked.

‘No, No!’ Dai shook his head. ‘Gwyn isn’t a bad boy. The family is close. There is no way he would have done anything to harm his family. We found him cradling his father, I’d seen Nerys and Anwen with Gwyn earlier in the evening and nothing was amiss. Only when we brought Dafydd back, with the help of two of your Druids, the two women were missing. One is the daughter, the other a blood aunt … none of it makes sense.’

‘Is there a
Chosen feud we are not aware of? Their barn was torched, was it not?’ Elder Tomas fixed Dai with a penetrative stare.

‘No, again, no. The Morgans are well liked, everything was going well. They are a good family. No enemies, no nastiness. Good people. Good friends.’
Dai shrugged his shoulders and suddenly felt the weight of the evening’s events pressing down on him. He wiped a tear from his eye and sighed a heavy, worn out sigh before dropping his head.

Elder
s Tomas and Morcan glanced at each other. These were troubling times indeed and the Brotherhood must be protected. ‘Is the boy being guarded?’

‘I have been with him all night, Bryn-Wisgi is still at the hospital, he will watch the boy.’
Dai looked up, his face was ashen and careworn.

‘Good.’ Elder Tomas instructed, ‘I do not want a new initiate saying something he shouldn’t. I would hate for him to require silencing.’ His voice was light and offhand.

Dai ground his teeth. Gwyn
was
a good boy. Something was amiss, but he knew whatever was going on, the blame did not lie with Gwyn, and Dai did not want the boy used as a scapegoat, the lad had suffered enough.

Elder
s Tomas and Morcan waited for Dai to bow before they turned and left him without a backward glance. Dai was shepherded to the mirror twinned with Ty Mawr’s. Dai lifted his amulet from his shirt and pressed it onto the glass. The mirror’s surface fogged and small wisps of mist stretched vaporous fingers across Dai’s hand, spiralling around his arm. Only when Dai felt the familiar release of pressure on the amulet did he return it to his shirt and walk into the mist, reappearing instantly in Ty Mawr’s front room. Once he was through, the mirror solidified leaving a cold film of condensation along its frame. Dai shivered. A
Dderwydd Ddrych –
A Druid Mirror – was an unnatural thing, a creation of magic, a corruption of the natural order, a gift and a curse, as well as an unbreakable doorway for the Druids to stretch their control into the homes of the Chosen. Dai shivered as he returned to Bara. He wandered into the kitchen and set about making some tea, only he couldn’t find the teapot.

CHAPTER THIRTY TWO

Anwen had been walking for what seemed like hours. She had cut across field after field, snagging her clothes on barbed wire and she scaled fence after fence, getting as far away from the village as she could. She wasn’t exactly sure where she was, but she was pretty sure she was heading towards the coast and that would eventually lead her to transport out of Wales.

She had watched as the sky became lighter, the birds in the hedgerow had begun to sing and her surroundings were becoming less frightening, less foreboding. Her new worry was that the night no longer concealed her and if she wasn’t careful, she would be easily spotted in her hideous pink attire.

Her arms were heavy from carrying her bundle of wet clothes, but she hadn’t wanted to leave them behind in the vicarage. At first she had felt guilty about stealing the collection money, but had convinced herself that the money was being used for exactly what it was supposed to be used for: someone in need.

Her only other possessions were a small compact mirror and a gold bracelet, neither of which she wanted to lose. She kept checking their presence, feeling the shape of the mirror in her pocket, the smooth chain around her wrist. Again and again her hand would stray to them, giving her comfort, making her feel part of her past.

‘
Run Anwen!
’ Nerys’ voice was back in her head, but Anwen couldn’t run, she was exhausted and all she could manage now was a steady plod, one foot in front of the other, left, right, left, right …

As Anwen crested the brow of a hill, she gave herself the luxury of a temporary stop. In the distance she could see the sea, a huge expanse of blue merging with the skyline. Swinging her head left and right she gathered her bearings. The coast was still
far away but she reckoned by late evening she would reach the coastal town of Abergele and from there, could jump on a train, find somewhere safe and then make contact with home.

Until then she needed two things: food and water. They would not present a problem. The hedgerows were thick with blackberries and there would be a number of streams between her current location and the coast. She would not exactly feast, but she wouldn’t go hungry either.

She hoisted her wet bundle higher onto her shoulder, rechecked her mirror and bracelet and began her hike to the coast. Left, right, left, right …