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Chapter 5
March arrived with a blast of rain and hail that hammered against the windows of the cottage like gunfire. I tried to ignore it as I shoved clothes into a small backpack, along with my toiletries bag and a decent pair of boots. Something told me I wasn’t going to be wearing anything more glamorous while we were in Normandy. I would have preferred St Tropez or the Cote D’Azur, but Gran insisted that the stone was in the north. I sighed and glanced over at the lonely pair of heels I’d brought over from England. They’d been gathering dust since I’d got here.
Gran was waiting for me in the car, and raring to go. The sun hadn’t emerged from beneath the horizon yet, and I groaned to myself as the cold air hit me in the face. I’d just put on my seatbelt and leaned forward to turn the key in the ignition when I remembered something.
“Wait here for a second, Gran.”
She stared at me as I jumped out of the car again and ran back into the house. I could see her shaking her head furiously as I came out again holding the cage with the crow in it.
“Non, Jéhenne, I forbid it, that thing is not coming with us!”
“It’ll die if we leave it here, Gran.”
“Good riddance.”
Then she caught the look on my face and sighed. “Jéhenne, chérie, there is just something about that bird that I don’t like or trust.”
“Well, trust me instead.”
I stared back defiantly. I could be just as stubborn as her.
“D’accord,” she said with a huff. “But don’t expect me to let it live if it starts squawking in the back seat.”
I beamed at her. “Thanks, Gran.”
She sniffed as I put the cage carefully in the back seat and arranged a couple of old blankets around it so it wouldn’t move around when the car got started.
The old Renault made its usual clattering noise as we got going. I silently prayed that we’d get to Normandy in one piece. Gran said it would take about eight hours, oh joy. The car trundled down the winding lanes and small streets that led out on to the main road, and then the motorway. The monotony of the endless Auto Route combined with the musty warmth of the interior was very dull and didn’t help me to concentrate on the road at all. Gran snoring in the seat next to me didn’t help much either.
About six hours of tedium later Gran woke up and chatted to me as we got off the main roads and into a more rural area.
We drove for another half hour or so and ended up down a small, quiet road next to which a tall, dark shape loomed out of the rapidly thickening fog. Gran told me to pull over just as I realised I was staring at a house.
I had barely opened the door before she had practically jumped out of the car, as though we’d only driven two minutes down the road. I on the other hand seemed to have swapped bodies with her and was having a hard time just pulling myself out of the driver’s seat. Having finally managed to extricate myself, I stiffly followed her into the house and out of the cold, damp fog.
Gran had asked the owner to light a fire in the house before we got there so at least the main room was lovely and warm, and bathed in an orange glow from the dying flames.
I swore under my breath and jerked out of the way as a large spider suddenly scuttled out from underneath a dusty sofa and made its way determinedly towards the door.
Gran turned to me. “Well don’t just stand there, fetch the bags.”
Muttering to myself, I hobbled back to the car and hauled in the bags, then went back for the crow. It squawked and shook up his white feathers so they stood out in a shaggy ruff around his neck and then sank his head into them, huddling in the middle of his cage to try and stay warm. I carried him inside to find Gran had built the fire up and it was now roaring, the fresh logs crackling and spitting at us. I sighed in relief, feeling a wave of heat wash over me, and set the crow and his cage down on a small table in the centre of the room.
Gran was moving busily around, unpacking supplies.
“What do you want me to do, Gran?” I asked her, trying to be helpful.
She nodded up the set of stairs in the kitchen.
“There’s a bedroom up there, go and make up a bed for yourself. And that damned bird can stay up there with you. I don’t want it in the living room all night.”
I climbed the stairs into a small bedroom, found the sheets and made the bed. I chucked a couple of extra blankets over the duvet for good measure, suspecting that the nights would be bloody freezing. Returning downstairs I was greeted with a delicious smell wafting from the table.
By the time I’d finished eating I felt warm and contented, but I was beginning to drift off in front of the fire, as the flames flickered hypnotically. Gran flapped her hands at me.
“Go up to bed, chérie, you need to rest for tomorrow. It’s going to be a long day.”
I smiled wearily and stretched, getting slowly to my feet. The crow yammered in alarm, probably thinking I was leaving him with Gran.
“Don’t worry, you’re coming upstairs with me.”
I got in my pyjamas, tugging an extra jumper over the top to stay warm and sat cross-legged on the bed, looking over at the crow.
“I guess I should give you a name.”
I wondered what was appropriate for an albino crow. I stared at him for a while. I wanted him to have something special because he was so different, but I couldn’t think of anything.
“Nerva.”
Where on earth had that come from? The name just appeared in my head. He seemed to like it as he dipped up and down and cawed loudly.
“Is that what you want to be called? Nerva?” It didn’t even sound like a name. He cawed again. “Fine, you can be Nerva. Weirdo.” I muttered.
I climbed into bed, my head hit the pillow and I slept.
What felt like minutes later Gran was yelling for me to get up. I clambered reluctantly out of bed feeling irritable. The journey the day before was not something I was looking forward to repeating, but the less time spent stomping around in strange woodland, miles from anywhere and looking for something I had no idea how to find, the better.
Gran had dowsed for the stone to try and narrow it down a little more. This seemed to involve holding a crystal on a chain over a map of the local area and letting it swing in a circular motion until a spot was located. The crystal then swung towards the spot as if it was magnetised. This still only narrowed it down to about twenty five acres, or in my view, a sodding big haystack.
We bought some croissants from a boulangerie on the way and I sat in the car eating and dropping crumbs over everything, while Gran walked backwards and forwards muttering under her breath.
I wondered if she was actually casting a spell but couldn’t summon the energy to go and ask, so I just sat and felt sorry for myself a bit longer. Eventually Gran came back to the car.
“This is definitely the right place.”
She looked far too cheerful for my liking.
“Whoopee,” I grumbled. I was still shattered from the drive and it was Sunday, when most reasonable people got a lie in.
“Jéhenne!” she scolded. “We are here to do a very important job. A keeper was murdered by someone who wanted the stone and that murderer will still be looking for it. We have to find it first.”
“Yes of course, I’m sorry.”
I felt guilty for sulking now. I guessed losing a Sunday morning wasn’t such a big deal when you have lots of them ahead of you.
“Isn’t it dangerous here then, if the murderer’s still around?” Fear suddenly slid down my back in any icy wave as I realised what we might be facing.
Gran shook her head and patted my hand to reassure me. “They do not have my connection to the stone. It will be much harder for them to find even the right area let alone the stone itself.”
“Then why don’t they just follow us?” I looked around, wondering if we could have been followed without us knowing, but now last night’s fog had cleared I could see for miles around. The place was deserted.
I watched as she frowned, considering the idea. “There are few people who know of our family’s connection to the ring - but you're right, we need to be cautious. We’d better stay reasonably close to each other.”
“How can I help you find it though?” I asked, wondering what on earth she expected me to do.
She gave me a smile that seemed rather wistful, as though she was saddened by my lack of knowledge. “The ring was made by a Dame Blanche,” she said and shook her head as I was clearly none the wiser. “One of our ancestors, Jéhenne,” she clarified with a hint of impatience. “Its power will always call to a Corbeaux. It's simply a matter of listening.”
Well that sounded simple enough I guessed.
“But you said it was a stone not a ring?”
“The power is within the stone, a very rare moonstone, it was made into a ring so it was easy to wear. The power of the moonstone will do different things for different people, but the basic idea is that it protects and strengthens the wearer’s power.” She paused. “It’s rumoured that for a vampire it would mean the ability to move around in daylight.”
I felt as though I’d been doused with a bucket of cold water.
“Then you think it really was Corvus?” I said, as the cold feeling down my spine intensified.
I remembered Reina accusing the vampires at the meeting and wondered why I felt so unhappy that he would do such a thing. He looked more than capable. Gran just shrugged. I was beginning not to like that gesture. Every shrug of her shoulders made me think she was hiding something.
“Whoever it is that wants the stone, we need to find it first.” That appeared to be her last word on the subject and she walked briskly into the woods. “Let’s go.”
I locked up the car and headed after her. It was a bright, sunny day which was a bonus after all the rain and fog we’d had last night. There was barely a wisp of cloud in the pale blue sky. It was also bloody freezing. Patches of snow still glimmered in the shadows and a wicked, icy wind cut through me, despite the six layers of clothing I had piled on this morning.
I’d only been walking for a few minutes when I got my foot caught in a bramble and fell over. The soft, fleshy part of my hand landed squarely on a massive thorn and I cursed violently as I watched a little drop of blood well up on the surface of the skin.
“Bloody hell, sodding, bastard thing!” I swore while stomping the branch into the dirt. Of course, it didn’t damage the bramble but it did make me feel better.
I watched the floor very carefully after that. Ivy, brambles and wild honeysuckle criss-crossed the surface of the woods, like tripwires waiting for the unwary.
I looked over at Gran and saw that she had stopped and closed her eyes, listening intently. I stopped and did the same thing, straining my ears, though I had no clue what I was listening for. All I could hear was the wind rattling the branches and birds calling from the trees.
We spent the rest of the day tramping up and down the woods. We tried to be methodical about it to make sure that no area got missed but I thought it seemed a hopeless task and privately began to wonder if Gran really knew what she was doing.
At dusk we simply couldn’t see anymore and headed back to the Gîte feeling deflated.
“Gran, are you absolutely sure you’ve got the right place?” It must have been the hundredth time that day I’d asked but I couldn’t help but feel we were wasting our time. Gran glared at me and didn’t answer.
“Fine.”
Frankly I was having serious doubts. All I wanted now was my bed. The house was freezing when we got back, the fire having long since gone out. I went to my room and turned the little electric heater on full blast. A dusty burnt smell immediately filled the small space, but at least it was warm.
“Hi, Nerva, how are you doing?” Nerva regarded me silently, head on one side. “You want to get out of the cage?” He jumped across to the other perch and cawed loudly.”OK OK, keep your feathers on.”
I opened the little door for him and he jumped to the opening, taking a look around the room and then flying up to perch on the curtain rail.
“Alright, you can stay out as long as you don’t poop over everything alright?”
I was definitely beginning to doubt my sanity as I felt sure he’d understood.
When I got back to the kitchen, Gran had warmed some soup and I ate mine greedily, burning the roof of my mouth as usual. As soon as I could I took myself off to bed, thinking gloomily that I had to do it all again tomorrow.
The next morning I put some corn out for Nerva and left his door open. It seemed he had listened to me last night, as there was no sign of any mess in my room. Gran and I set off again for the woods.
This it seemed was to be the pattern we followed for the next six days. By Friday afternoon even Gran was beginning to despair.
There wasn’t that huge an area left to cover but it would still have taken us a couple of days.
“Look, Gran, perhaps we should spread out more, it’s obvious no one knows we’re here. If we get done tonight we can go home tomorrow.”
Gran had sat down on a fallen log to rest and she looked up at me, a resigned expression on her face.
“Oui, Jéhenne, I won’t deny I will be glad to go home.” She looked exhausted, I helped her to her feet and we set off in opposite directions.
By dusk I was seriously fed up and cold. My legs hurt from tramping up and down and my hands and ankles had been scratched to pieces by brambles. The woods always began to feel more threatening at this time of night too and knowing Gran wasn't nearby was making my imagination run riot.
I had decided enough was enough and was about to head back to the car when I felt a tremor on the air and my skin prickled all over. I couldn't dismiss it this time. I wasn't imagining it. I froze, barely daring to breath. My heart was in my throat and I couldn’t swallow. There was something behind me. I knew it as surely as I knew that Gran was too far away to help me. I forced myself to move and turned slowly around to face whatever was there and saw nothing but trees. I knew though. I knew something was there. Waiting. The light was fading fast and I was terrified. I could feel fear against my skin like a touch, icy cold and damp, making me shiver..
“Come out!”
I yelled, balling my hands into fists. I didn't want to see what was there but at least if I knew where it was I could try and run. I looked around wildly for something that could be used as a weapon, but the only branches on the floor were rotten and spongy. “I know you’re there,” I shouted, nearly hysterical and praying by some miracle that Gran could hear me.
“So it seems,” answered a steely voice to my right. I screamed and backed off as fast as I could, searching through the gloom for the owner of the voice, though I already knew who it was. Corvus appeared from out of the darkening woodland, regarding me steadily.
“You’ve failed then.” He smiled with satisfaction, his blue eyes cold and hard. ”I knew you would. The ring would never call to you. Inés perhaps, but not you.”
“Why are you here then, if you’re so sure?” My voice was shaking but I was determined not to let him see how terrified I was.
“I wanted to see for myself, so I would be in no doubt.”
He took a step towards me and I leapt back, only to find myself flat against a massive old oak tree.
“No doubt of what?” I demanded, deciding that I had to keep him talking, maybe Gran would get worried and come looking before he could kill me. I was in no doubt that this was what he was intending.
“That you are a result of Inés meddling in dark magic,” he said in disgust. “I know how much she wants to put an end to me, but I never imagined that even she would take such a step.”
The power around him had become a physical force and I was finding it hard to breath. I reached behind me, to steady myself against the tree.
He looked at me, those blue eyes intense and I tore my gaze away. I didn’t know much about vampires but instinct told me looking into his eyes was a
really bad idea.
“I don’t know why you hate me so much,” I gasped, wondering if that was what he felt when I remembered the night in the caves. “I don't know you. I’ve n--never hurt you,” I said, my voice faltering, barely more than a whisper. “I don’t see how I could.”
Corvus laughed, it was a bitter sound full of anger and hurt. ”Then she hasn’t even told you why you were created.”
“I wasn’t created!” I screamed, as fear overwhelmed me. “I have a mother and father, I grew up in England. That’s why you’ve never seen me before. I’ve done nothing to you.” My knees gave way and I crumpled to the floor, sobbing wretchedly.”If you’re going to kill me why don’t you just do it?” I shouted.
I didn’t want to die, but I knew I had no chance of outrunning this creature and I was damned if I was going to let him play with me like some big cat with a mouse. I had no defence against him but I wouldn't run. I was seized suddenly by a terrible anger at the injustice of it - that I would die out here in the middle of nowhere, in the cold and dark.
“Well … if you’re in such a hurry to die.”
Cold eyes watched me curiously and he took a step forward. I wasn’t sure what exactly I did in that moment, but a rage swept through me with a force I’d never felt before, and with the rage came fire. A great wall of flame leapt up around me, encircling both myself and the great oak tree.
Corvus swore and jumped back away from the flames, the astonishment on his face mirroring my own. Before I had time to wonder what had happened I realised I could hear something. Not a voice exactly, but a sound that tugged at me, at my soul. I looked at Corvus through the fire that continued to blaze around me. He was watching me intensely and I wasn't at all sure if he was furious or relieved. Either way it seemed that he couldn't cross the flames. I held out my hand towards the fire but felt no heat. I moved closer passing my hand through them and gasped. The flames did nothing more than tickle my fingers.
The sound calling to me became more intense, and satisfied that I was safe, for the moment at least, I turned towards the tree. The sound was coming from inside. At one time it must have been damaged, perhaps struck by lightning and the vast trunk had been split. I climbed up on to the roots and manoeuvred myself so I could reach up into the opening.
I wriggled my hand into a small hole and forced it along until I reached something that felt like damp cloth. In normal circumstances I’d have been worried about being bitten by a squirrel nesting in there but at the moment it seemed like the least of my problems. I pushed my hand deeper in until I could get a hold of whatever it was. As soon as I had a good grip I yanked it hard and withdrew my hand, grazing my knuckles on the way out.
I glanced at Corvus again on the other side of the fiery wall, he was pacing angrily up and down trying to see what I was doing through the flames. In my hands I clutched a small black bag. There was something heavy inside. I tore at the little rope that tied it shut, struggling, as my hands were shaking and numb with cold. When it was finally undone I reached in and took out a ring.
It was silver, but in the centre was the most beautiful stone I’d ever seen, as blue as the vampire's eyes that glared at me still, but with a rainbows glittering inside and touches of white, like clouds in a summer sky. I was overwhelmed with the desire to put it on, so I slid it carefully on to my finger.
I was instantly cocooned in a feeling of absolute calm. My heart rate slowed and I breathed in deeply, closing my eyes. When I finally opened them I felt wonderful, strangely centred and confident. I revelled in this new feeling of peace and light … and power.
I looked at the fire surrounding me, feeling uncharacteristically sure of myself. I concentrated my mind on the flames. In an instant they surged towards the sky, catching the ends of the oak branches and sending sparks billowing up into the night sky. I laughed delightedly and this time calmed them so that they were no more than a few centimetres high, dancing obediently at my toes.
I held up my hand so that Corvus could see the ring and smiled at him in triumph. He looked back at me in utter confusion, shaking his head. To my astonishment he looked shaken, and more than a little afraid.
“Who are you?” he demanded, but his voice was unsteady, a febrile light glimmering in his eyes.
“I am Jéhenne Corbeaux,” I replied, holding his gaze.
“Jéhenne?” He repeated my name, his voice barely more than a whisper. “When were you born?”
I was perplexed by the question but answered him. “The thirteenth of August, nineteen ninety-one.”
“I don’t understand.” He murmured and I wasn't sure if he was talking to me at all. He kept shaking his head, looking like he was overwrought, like he was far beyond understanding what I was telling him..
“I just came back to spend time with my Gran.” I said, keeping my voice calm, hoping it would reassure him. Though why I was explaining myself to this creature who’d been ready to rip my throat out moments ago, I couldn’t fathom. He just looked so lost. “I’m not here to cause you pain, how could I?” I asked.
He laughed then, but there was no joy in it. It was an incredulous sound as though my presence could never do anything but bring him pain.
“I don’t understand!” It was a shout this time, a plea. His voice echoed through the trees and into the darkness - and then he was gone.
The peaceful calm feeling ebbed slowly away to be replaced by a bone-deep fatigue. I leaned against the tree and closed my eyes for a moment.
“Jéhenne! Jéhenne!”
I could hear Gran frantically calling me through the darkness.
“Over here, Gran, I’m fine.”
Though in truth I was anything but. A flash-light appeared, searching back and forth, and I stepped towards it calling her again.
“I’m here.”
“Jéhenne, mon Dieu, what happened? I saw flames, I felt the power of your magic.”
She stumbled over the uneven ground and I caught her hands as we collapsed together on the cold floor. I burst into tears at her concern and she hugged me for a moment.
“Tell me, child, what happened?”
I wiped my eyes and tried to explain.
“Corvus, - he was here. I think he was going to kill me, but then the fire came. I think… I think I called it.”
“Oui, Jéhenne, it was you, you did it.” She grasped my arms and beamed at me proudly. “He didn’t hurt you?”
“No. He couldn’t cross the flames.”
“Ha!” Gran shouted. “I knew you could do it. You will be the best of us all, Jéhenne.” She stroked my hair fondly.
“Gran … I--I found it.”
Her eyebrows flew up. “What?”
“I found the ring.”
She stared at me intently.
“Show me.”
I raised my hand to the torchlight to show her the glimmering dark surface of the moonstone. I heard her catch her breath.
“Pourquoi?” Her face was ashen. “I can’t believe it, I was so certain that it would call to me. Why you? You're so young, you’re not ready for this.”
“Well, you take it then, Gran.”
I realised that I really didn’t want to give it to her, but I wasn’t going to argue about it.
“Non, Jéhenne. The ring has chosen you. I will not go against its decision.”
Her voice was hard and I nodded unhappily. I didn’t know why but Gran was obviously angry. I hoped it wasn’t at me, after all it wasn’t my fault.
We made our way silently back to the car and then drove the entire way back to the house still without a word. I kept thinking she would ask me about Corvus and what had happened in the woods, but she didn’t say anything at all.
By the time we got to the house, I was miserable with cold and shock. Gran asked me if I wanted something to eat, but she was obviously unhappy with me and I couldn’t stand the thought of eating in silence, so I shook my head and said goodnight. Wearily I climbed the stairs to the bedroom.
As I walked in the door there was a flurry of feathers and a loud squawk and Nerva settled himself on my shoulder and rubbed his head on my cheek.
“Hi, Nerva.”
I ruffled the little feathers on his head. “At least you’re glad to see me.”
I sat on the bed and wondered what I could have done to upset Gran. After all it wasn’t my fault the stupid stone chose me. I had tried to give it to her.
I rubbed my finger backwards and forwards over the smooth surface looking into the depths of the stone in confusion. I wished the bloody thing could give me some answers. Why had it chosen me for heaven’s sake? Gran was not only hundreds of years older and wiser, but everyone knew she was a great witch. I obviously had some ability, but I couldn’t help thinking that I’d just been really lucky and that if I’d backed into another tree things might have been very different. I wondered briefly what Corvus would have done to me if I hadn’t found it, and I shuddered with fear. I could only hope I never saw him again, in case I had the chance to find out.