CHAPTER 15
When James got in, Derek was there in the sitting room with Anita. When James looked in, Derek smiled and said "Hello," but James decided to ignore him. "Where's Mandy?" he asked his mother.
"Gone out tonight with her friend," she told him. "She got her homework done early."
"I'm going upstairs to do mine," James announced, and left them to each other. Once upstairs, he thought hard. It was strange, he had expected to be taken to task by Derek for walking out, but the man had said nothing. Yet, when the ghost had been talked about, or night-time investigations, he had been very angry. Really suspicious! He managed to get his mind on to his homework, and when this was done, he turned back to Abbot William.
The ghost in the field. Yes, an interesting situation. "The Fields of the Wood," the window said. Woodside Field. Must be. But whereabouts in Woodside Field?
He got out the Ordnance Survey map, but could find nothing special shown in the field, any more than they had before. He looked at the wood drawn in beside it. That "Mon". Perhaps there was something there after all. But "Coldharbour Castle" meant nothing. And there were no fields in the wood.
He put the map aside, and picked up the other book that the Vicar had lent them, which he had brought home with him from Rodney's. Neither of them had really looked seriously at that before. Now was the time. He thumbed through it until he came to the chapter on "Ravenshurst Abbey at the time of William of Wolde". Yes, here it was. The translation of Abbot William's own words - or some of them.
"Much has been shown to me. I am not worthy, but the wealth of this house of Ravenshurst is increased much because of me. In my gratitude I builded a chapel in the Church of St Nicholas atte Ravenshurst, wherein I hid the secret of life and light eternal, for I see danger coming, and would not that all that I have gained be lost. May he who is worthy find it."
James agreed wholeheartedly with the last statement! "I hope I'm worthy!" he said to himself. "I know some who aren't."
The idea flashed through his mind (probably brought on by M R James) that if one who wasn't worthy found it, Abbot William might have something to say about the matter. He shook himself and told himself that this was nonsense.
"Well," he thought. "At least I have a few ideas to ask the Cathedral Librarian. "For instance, I think I shall try to find out more about that Mon. Yes, and look at the Abbot's own book if I can." Later he heard Derek leave, so it was safe to go down. He found his mother in the sitting room, and went in to say goodnight to her. As he crossed the room, he noticed a book on the coffee table.
"What's this?"
"Oh, it's Derek's. He must have forgotten it."
James picked it up. It was a library book. The title was "Ravenshurst Abbey - a History." He gasped. It was the book which was 'out' of the local library. Amazing. Derek had it all along! His pulses raced. At last he was getting concrete proof of Derek's interest in the Abbey. He never knew how he managed it, but he kept his self-control and kissed his mother goodnight, saying nothing more about the book or Derek.
Rodney was most interested when he told him the next morning. "So maybe you are right," he said. "Perhaps Jane will come up with something today, and we will get somewhere with her poor uncle, too."
Jane did come up with something. She spoke to them at lunchtime, when James and Rodney had met up with Mandy in a far corner of the playground. "Uncle Bill will see you tonight, after school," she said. "He's bored with not seeing anyone much all day and will welcome a visit from you to cheer him up."
"He won't mind talking about his nasty experience?" queried Mandy anxiously.
"No, I think he rather enjoys being famous!"
"Someone will have to tell our Mums where we are if we go straight from school," said Rodney thoughtfully. "We don't want any trouble, do we?"
"You can do that, Mandy," announced James. "I'm sure you can get up a good story to tell Mum. We don't want her to tell Derek what we're doing, do we?"
"Spoilsport!" growled Mandy. "Why should I be the one to miss out?"
"Because we're the detectives, and we thought of it anyway!" announced James firmly.
Mandy could see his point of view and reluctantly agreed to her role.
So that evening James and Rodney joined Jane on the bus heading for the other side of Ravenshurst. It was only a 10 or 15 minute journey, and they got off in an estate of mock-Tudor houses, which had a few street lights, unlike their own lane.
Jane led the way to a largish house half-way down the estate road, and they followed her up to an oak front door. Jane rang the bell, and a slim middle-aged woman in an apron opened the door. She smiled when she saw Jane.
"Hello, Auntie May," said Jane. "Here are my friends from school to see Uncle Bill."
The woman looked pleased. "Do come in," she said. "Bill's been looking forward to meeting you. He's rather bored at home, but they won't let him back to work yet. Go in the back room and join him by the fire. I'll get you a cup of tea, or whatever you want."
"Lemonade, please," said Rodney.
"In you go, then," and she ushered them down the hall and into a room at the back of the house.
There was a coal-effect fire burning in the brick fireplace, making the room look cosy. In an armchair by the fire sat a balding man, his slippered feet up on a stool, reading a newspaper.
"Uncle Bill!" called Jane.
He looked up, and the boys could see that he had the remains of a very splendid black eye, and a plaster on the top of his head.
He smiled somewhat crookedly at them all. Jane introduced James and Rodney and soon they were talking as if they had known "Uncle Bill" for years. Auntie May brought in the lemonade, and soon the subject turned to his unpleasant encounter on the Abbey Industrial Estate.
"So you're playing detective, Jane tells me?" Bill said. "I hope you aren't taking too many risks!"
"No we're not," replied James quickly. "But we've seen someone suspicious round that sort of area, and wondered if our stories match."
"Have you told the police?"
"Oh, yes, we did."
"That's all right then. Well, what d'you want to know?"
"Everything that happened, please!"
"Yes, and what you saw," added Rodney.
"Well," said Bill. "That's not much really. It was late and very dark. Even though the estate is well-lit at night, the TC (that's a transformer chamber) where I had to go was in a dark corner. It's at the side nearest the woody bit at the edge of the field."
"I know," nodded Rodney. "It's always been there."
"Since the estate was built," nodded Bill. "Well, I got to the door when - well, I dunno really, but I felt watched, if you know what I mean. Maybe I heard a noise, maybe I didn't, but I was sure that I wasn't alone. And I knew it wasn't my colleague who was coming to join me, because it felt - malevolent, if you like."
"Did you see anything?" asked James breathlessly.
"I called out, and I shone my light around, but there was no-one I could see. Then as I turned back to the door, I shone my torch down on the ground and there in the light were a man's feet and the hem of a long coat or something. Afterwards I thought it might be a monk's robe."
"Was it a monk's feet?" asked Rodney. "You know what I mean, sandals or something like that?"
"Bit cold for November, wouldn't it be? Nasty bit of frostbite, he'd get. No, no, nothing like that. Definitely not ghostly feet, if that's what you're thinking. Oh no. Bit scuffed, but a nice pair of patent leather shoes. Definitely 20th century, they were!"
"Rather odd with a monk's robe," remarked James. "Why did you think it was a monk's robe? Are you sure the man wasn't wearing an anorak or a hooded coat."
"Oh, but I didn't see higher than his waist before he biffed me. No, it was a sort of dingy grey and had a cord round the waist. Definitely not an anorak. Whoever it was, he was playing spooks, all right. I s'pose he didn't think anyone would look at his shoes - but then again, sandals in November! Wow!"
"Do you remember anything else at all?" asked James hopefully.
"Only lights-out! A sort of internal firework display, if you like, and then a very sore head. Sorry. I told the police the same, in case you're wondering. Sorry, but there it is." He suddenly looked at them shrewdly. "You've got someone in mind for this, haven't you?"
Before anyone could answer this, the doorbell rang. Auntie May went to answer it. When she came back in, she said,
"Someone else to see you, Bill," she said. "This time it's Detective Constable Wilkins. Are you up to seeing him as well?"
"Why not? I can't tell him any more, anyway."
Auntie May left the room and returned with the same young detective that James and Rodney had seen at the Police Station. The detective recognised them at once. "Ah, so you're here, are you?" he said. "Still on the trail of your Mr Rogers?"
"We were swapping ghost stories," said James.
"I'll bet you were! I'll tell you one thing, Mr Rogers is not your man, and not only that, it's not for you to try to find out who is. That's our job!"
He went on to ask Uncle Bill some more questions, but Bill was unable to add anything - as he told him.
"You're sure there was only one man?" asked the constable.
"I only saw one, and not much of him," said Bill. "Sorry, but as I told these boys just now, it was lights-out! Have you any clues at all? Why do you ask if there were two?"
"No reason, sir." Constable Wilkins then asked James and Rodney if they had anything to add to their story. They shook their heads.
"No," they both said. Well, they hadn't seen anything else. It was Mandy who had, at the well, and she wasn't with them, was she?
"The detective definitely doesn't think it's Derek, does he?" said Rodney as they rattled home on the bus.
"No, more's the pity. Can't think why. But he obviously thinks there are two. Derek's got an accomplice, that's how he could watch us at the well and be out with Mum at the same time."
"So you're Mum's not in it."
"I suppose I never really thought she was. She's just doting on the wrong person, that's all."
"I wish we could have told the cop about the well and all that," said Rodney slowly. "Somehow, I feel sort of alone in all this, don't you?"
"No. Why should I? Don't forget I haven't got a Dad, so I have to be a big man now!"
"Oh," said Rodney. He hoped that James alone would be enough in a crisis.
"All we need is to be one jump ahead of Derek, that's all," said James confidently.
"Right on," said Rodney. So that was how it was going to be. James's shock at his mother's engagement had made him into Action Man! Oh well, let him take the lead, and see what happens.
