The Memory of Snow (16 page)

‘Who is this?’ she sobbed, looking around her wildly. More
laughter. Then she heard Ryan groan and roll over onto his side. ‘Ryan! Are you
all right?’

 Ryan curled his body into the foetal position and began
murmuring something incomprehensible. Liv dropped down to the ground and bent
over him, straining to hear what he was saying.

‘Stay away from me,’ he mumbled. ‘Stay away from me. Witch.
Enchantrix. Charmer.’

Ryan ! No! What are you saying...?’ began Liv. Then Ryan
uncoiled like a spring. He thrust his hand out and grabbed Liv, winding his
fingers through the dark hair and pulling her roughly down towards him. She
screamed and tried to yank herself free, but he had her trapped. His fingers
brushed her cheek and she shuddered; they felt clammy and damp against her
skin, her hair felt as if it was being torn out at the roots.

The awful laughter bubbled up again around her, and she
realised it was coming from Ryan. He was strong. He held her fast so she was
trapped there on her knees. His breath rasped against her neck and she began to
panic. This wasn’t Ryan. He would never do anything like this to her. The
answer came to her in a flash, just like the images Meggie had shown her.

‘Hay!’ she choked out. ‘Leave me alone!’ She twisted her head
around painfully, and she caught sight of Ryan through the tangle of her hair.
His eyes were pure black; there was no definition between the pupil and the
iris and Liv knew that it wasn’t Ryan who was staring back at her.

Ryan laughed again, shaking his head.

‘Why would I leave you alone?’ he hissed. ‘I never left any
of them, even when they begged me to stop. You’re mine now.’

‘Ryan! No! You don’t know what you’re doing...’ Liv felt her
hair pull as Ryan balled his hand, grasping it into a fist. Then he shoved her
over onto the grass. Liv fell awkwardly and cried out in pain. ‘Please, no!’
She sobbed. I’m not who you think I am,’ she tried desperately. Ryan laughed
again, a harsh, grating sound.

‘I know exactly who you are,’ he sneered. ‘You’re one of
them.’

Liv felt a cold, sharp point at her throat and gasped. She
didn’t need to see it, to know it was the bone-handled knife.

‘Ryan – no!’ she cried.

2010

Liv felt the sharp point of the knife press into her throat.
It wasn’t a big knife, but it could easily puncture an artery. She was lying on
her back and Ryan had his knee across her chest. He pressed down on her arm
with his other hand, holding her with inhuman strength. Ryan raised the knife
in the air, and Liv knew he was going to bring it down and pierce her skin.

It never ends, she thought, the evil never ends…

Ryan roared and Liv cried out, squeezing her eyes shut and
waiting for the inevitable. Then suddenly she felt the pressure lift off her
chest and Ryan was flung off her, rolling into a heap on the side of the boggy
ground by the Well. There was a tiny clatter as the knife rolled out of his
hand and bounced off a rock.

Through her closed eyelids, Liv saw a shimmering rainbow of
light and felt cool hands touching her hair.

‘She’s all right,’ said a voice. ‘He hasn’t harmed her.’ The
soft Northumbrian burr was unmistakeable.

‘Meggie..’ whispered Liv. ‘Meggie?’

‘Sssh, yes, Olivia. It’s me,’ replied Meggie. ‘We have to be
quick – he’s going to get up in a minute. Aemelia can’t hold him back for
long.’

Liv scrambled to her feet and found she was looking into
Meggie’s clear grey eyes again.

 ‘He’s getting stronger,’ said Meggie.  ‘He’s using
the boy’s body and mind. It’s not your friend who is lying there.’

‘But if that’s Hay, where’s Ryan?’ cried Liv. She saw the boy
rolling on the ground in agony and shouting out. He looked as if he was trying
to fight whatever was in him. Aemelia was standing over him, an invisible
shield holding him in place by the Well. ‘Why did Hay come back?’ asked Liv.
She ran forward towards Ryan and Aemelia.

‘Stay away, Olivia!’ commanded Aemelia. She turned her face
to Liv, her dark eyes frightened. ‘He is getting stronger.’  Ryan rolled
onto his front and arched his back. He glared up at Liv. She could see his face
changing and distorting, as if Ryan was trying to come back and batter Hay into
the boggy ground. Ryan  - or Hay - shouted out a stream of obscenities and
began to crawl across the grass towards Liv. Liv backed away, and Meggie
slipped herself in between the two teenagers. She watched Ryan like a lioness
ready to pounce. He bounced off the invisible shield and tumbled over onto his
side again. He raked around on the ground, looking for the knife. Unable to
find it, he was up on his feet, punching at the shield, trying to break out of
it. Ripples of light rolled out, away from his fist as he pounded against the
energy.

‘We didn’t make the circle properly,’ Meggie said. ‘Hay broke
it before it had a chance to connect our energies. We have to try again. It’s
the only way we can stop his evil from infecting this place.’

‘But I cannot leave Hay to join you!’ cried Aemelia. ‘If I
move from here, he will attack Olivia.’ Liv could see the energy around Aemelia
breaking up; splinters of light like shooting stars were falling to the ground
and sputtering on the grass.

‘We have to do it,’ said Liv, staring at Ryan. ‘We have to
take the chance. If we move quickly…’

‘Hay can move more quickly,’ countered Aemelia. ‘Trust me.
Meggie...?’ Her voice tailed off.

‘Olivia is right. We have to try,’ said Meggie. Her voice was
tight. She moved silently to Aemelia and took her hand. Meggie glanced around
them. Her eyes fixed on a group of tall, green plants. Tiny, white, fluffy
flowers like daisies burst out from the top of each stem. ‘Yarrow,’ she
murmured. ‘The devil’s nettle – bloodwort. It will give us courage and boost our
powers. It will help drive Hay’s spirit out of the boy. The soldiers of
Carrawburgh would have used it to staunch the bleeding. And Solomon’s Seal.’
She spotted a plant with arching stems and white, bell-like flowers drooping
from it. Meggie smiled. ‘That will also help the rid the boy of the spirit. It
will bind our scared oath; the temple itself might have been consecrated with
it. Yarrow and Solomon’s Seal are all we have to help us. They will have to do.
Sweet Olivia,’ she said, turning to face Liv and holding her other hand out.
‘You have to be brave. Can you do it?’

Liv nodded, and moved towards the Guardians of the Well. She
was scared; so scared. A sob caught in her throat. Ryan snarled at her from his
invisible prison and threw himself against it again.

‘Oh Ryan,’ Liv whispered. ‘I’m sorry. I’m so sorry I made you
come here.’

‘We have to join hands,’ said Meggie. ‘Are you ready, my
angels? We must do it…now!’

Aemelia took a last, frantic look at Ryan and turned her back
on him, quickly grabbing Liv’s hand. There was a whooshing sound and Ryan burst
out of his makeshift gaol. He hurled himself towards the girls shouting and Liv
began to scream.

2010

Liv saw Ryan hurtling towards her and tried to pull away from
the group of three.

‘Quickly!’ shouted Meggie. ‘We can do it…’

‘Hold our hands, Olivia!’ called Aemelia. ‘Concentrate.’

Liv instinctively ducked as Ryan came flying at her and her
hand slipped away from Meggie’s. Aemelia and Meggie began shouting instructions
at her, but their words were lost as a wild wind gusted up around them.

Then down from the fort, a rolling ball of light plunged
towards them. It moved fast – faster even than the black ball of fury that was
Hay masquerading as Ryan. It smashed into Ryan and enveloped him in a golden light.
Liv saw Ryan’s eyes open wide then he slumped inside the ball, which carried
him back to the Well and hovered a few centimetres above the ground. The black
and gold colours swirled around each other, sometimes the gold enveloping the
black; sometimes the black seeping into the gold.

‘He has come to help us,’ whispered Aemelia. She sounded
surprised. Then she turned to Meggie and Liv and raised her hands. Her voice
powerful and strong again. ‘Come. Olivia, take my hand. Let us complete the
circle. He will hold him back. He is better than Hay.’ There was a note of
pride in her words as she looked fleetingly at the ball of black and gold
light.

Liv wanted to ask who exactly was there, but instead she
nodded and grabbed hold of Aemelia’s hand. She clutched at Meggie’s,
interlocking her fingers tightly. Liv closed her eyes and took a deep breath.
Aemelia began to speak.

‘To the spirits and deities of this sacred place, I offer the
water of protection from the blessed Well of Coventina and its Guardians. Stop
the flow of negative energy from the ground below us, the air above us and the
flames deep inside the earth. Send the negativity back to its source. Let it
harm nothing and nobody on its course, and bind it within your power for all
eternity. Let it never cause pain again.’

 Liv felt the fizzing begin in her fingertips. The
energy began slowly, encircling the group with streaks of silver. There was
that humming in Liv’s ears and a sound like men chanting. Then there were
screams and images flashing into her mind again, whizzing back through the
centuries like someone had pressed the rewind button. Liv opened her eyes and
stared around her, her heart beating quickly. She felt one of the spirits
squeeze her hand gently.

‘It will soon be over. We are here with you.’ The words
filled her thoughts, damming the tide of panic that was welling up inside her.
The landscape was changing and altering before her eyes, like a speeded up
film. The layers of time were peeling back and she was a witness to everything
that had gone before her.

There were the modern day tourists, the walkers and
backpackers. There were the council men, building the modern road on top of the
ruins of the wall. She saw the fields dry and yellow in a blistering hot
summer; the tops of the altars in the temple poking out of the ground. Now, the
landscape was green; the temple disappearing beneath the meadow flowers.
Animals grazed peacefully, unaware of the grass growing up over the temple
walls and burying it. Now groups of people in Victorian dress crowded around
the Well; one policeman directing them away from the stone walls which
surrounded it; an elderly man held court, passing trinkets around the
spectators. The temple was hidden now beneath the moorland; nobody knew it was
there any more. The scene darkened; groups of lead miners swarmed over the
land, ransacking trays left behind overnight. Further back again, and a young
girl fell to her knees before a Witchfinder; a hazy figure walked towards her
through the middle of the derelict temple. Liv gasped, recognising it.

‘It’s all right, it’s all right,’ whispered a voice. ‘We have
to see this.’

‘No! No, I don’t want to see you get hurt!’ cried Liv.

But then it was gone. Further back, and shadows of men played
out the destruction of the temple and the Well. Then it was back to when the
vicus was bustling with activity, with people milling around the market,
throwing coins into the Well and laughing.

Liv saw men building the fort and the temple and the Well,
working in all weathers to construct them. And then it was silent. The
landscape was bleak and empty, but for a light snow fall which covered
everything in white and a sky which glowed pink and orange.

The images faded and Liv wobbled. Her head was pounding and
tears were pouring down her face.

‘So much history,’ she said, her voice catching. ‘So much...’

‘It’s our history,’ said Meggie. ‘And we have been charged
with protecting it.’ She smiled at Liv and reached out to brush her fingers
over the girl’s wet cheeks. ‘You’re part of it, Olivia. You can feel that,
can’t you?’

Liv nodded.

‘I wish I could have changed things,’ she said. ‘For you.’

‘These things have to happen. I see that now,’ smiled Meggie.
‘It’s beyond our power to change any of it. And I’m at peace. Really I am. I
have found my place and I embrace it.’

‘But what about Aemelia? What was her story?’ asked Liv.

‘Aemelia was like me. She was a means to an end. She had no
control over it, and neither did Marcus.’ Meggie laid her hand on Liv’s
shoulder. ‘I’m pleased you were spared that vision. She worked hard to keep it
from you. Believe me; it was worse than mine.’ Liv opened her mouth but shut it
quickly. The questions were bubbling up inside her, but mad as it sounded, she
trusted Meggie. She knew that whatever had happened to Aemelia, it was too
painful for her to share. All she knew was that it had something to do with
Marcus. And whatever it was, it had tormented him for centuries. She looked
around to speak to the dark eyed girl to reassure her that her secret was safe.

Aemelia was walking slowly towards the Well. A column of
light was hovering around the marshland. Aemelia stopped in front of the column
and it wavered, then glowed brighter. Liv blinked as it sparkled like a string
of diamonds.

‘Corpse candles,’ breathed Liv, remembering something Ryan
had told her years ago, one Halloween. ‘It’s like a corpse candle. Ryan said it
was marsh gases – but that’s not marsh gas is it?’ Meggie shook her head.

‘No. It’s not,’ she said quietly.

‘What is it? And where’s Ryan? Where’s he gone?’

‘Ryan is safe. Look- can you see him behind the light?’ Ryan
was sitting down, his head on his knees, his arms wrapped around them. Liv
could see he was trembling, even from this distance. She wanted to run over to
him, but she hesitated. She didn’t know what the light was.  What if it
was Hay again?

‘Don’t worry; it can’t harm us,’ smiled Meggie, reading her.
‘You’ve seen what these will o’ the wisps really are now, Olivia. Some people
think they are an omen of death. This one,’ she nodded at it, ‘is a spirit that
has found peace. Can you feel it?’ Liv stood very still and concentrated. She
felt a sort of solace washing over her, and opened her eyes wide as she made
out a figure within the column. The column and the figure merged into one and the
man who appeared walked over to Aemelia. Hesitantly, he offered her his hand.
Aemelia paused for a second, then took it. They drew closer to one another,
silhouetted against the landscape, as the man bent down and took her face in
his hands.

‘It’s Marcus,’ she whispered. ‘That’s him, isn’t it? He’s
made peace with himself.’

‘And he’s made peace with Aemelia,’ said Meggie, following
Liv’s gaze. ‘He’s proved himself to her at last. He’s free to move on now.’

‘But he’s not going to, is he?’ asked Liv. ‘He’s part of this
as much as you are. If Aemelia has to stay here, he’ll want to be with her.
She’s a Guardian.’

‘Yes, but she can choose as well. She can move freely now.
She’s not trapped here either. It was her anger and disbelief that held her
back. But I know Aemelia. She’ll want to return. And she can. But she doesn’t
have to stay here. Not anymore.’

‘But you will. You’ll have to stay, won’t you?’ said Liv,
wrapping her arms around herself. ‘And you’ll have nobody if Aemelia goes with
Marcus...’ she felt the tears well up again, imagining Meggie wandering around
these wild lands all alone. Meggie turned to Liv, and again there was that
cool, ethereal touch on her hair as Meggie comforted her.

‘But I was always free to go, Olivia,’ she said. ‘I chose to
stay here.’

‘But..?’ asked Liv, staring at her. ‘I thought...’

 Meggie smiled.

‘I made my peace long ago. I accepted what had happened. I
knew it was my fault that Alice had died. I was always drawn to this place.’
She looked around her, squinting slightly into the distance at something Liv
couldn’t see. ‘I’m happy. My other life was lonely and harsh and I can’t even
begin to describe it. I had nobody. When Alice went...’ Meggie shrugged. ‘I
didn’t want to be there anymore. She was the only one who understood. I was too
different from the rest of them. But they didn’t care; it was only when they
wanted me for something that they’d come and find me. And then, it was all so
secretive. I only wanted to help people. You believe me, don’t you?’

Liv nodded.

‘So all this time, you could have been somewhere else.
Like...like Heaven or something?’ she asked. Meggie laughed.

‘Yes. Like Heaven or something. I can still go there, don’t
worry. And I can be with Alice there. But this place. This place is my true
Heaven. I’m part of it. And so are you now. Oh look,’ she indicated Ryan. The
two figures had faded away, leaving Ryan alone.  ‘I think you need to
check your friend. He needs you. See him?’

‘Ryan!’ shouted Liv. She dashed off towards him, squelching
her way through the boggy ground.