“Were you shape-shifting?”
Sebastian smiled and said, “I am sorry, Tim. What you saw was what you did not want to see.”
“Like, what?” Tim exclaimed.
“To put it another way,” Sebastian added, “what you saw was what you were afraid to see. I regret that I may have influenced your imagination through the door.”
“You mean, hypnotized us?” Tim suggested. Sebastian answered, “In a manner of speaking,” and nodded in the direction of the window. “You too have espied the light, have you not?”
“Yes,” Tim replied.
Going to the other side of Pip’s bed, where she was still hunched up, her hands to her ears and her eyes screwed shut, Tim touched her on the shoulder. She jumped as if someone had just shocked her.
“It’s okay. It’s Sebastian.”
Pip got up, feeling a little sheepish.
“Be not ashamed,” Sebastian said. “Fear comes to us all and we each deal with it in our own way.” He parted the curtains and glanced out. “The light remains and I must go forth to discover its cause.”
“We’ll come too,” Pip announced, hoping to regain some of her self-esteem and vowing never again to hide in the face of whatever might come.
Five minutes later, the house alarm system deactivated, they crept out of the kitchen door and, heading across to the coach house, paused before setting off across the field.
“Stay close,” Sebastian ordered unnecessarily. “If we are as one, de Loudéac will think twice before acting upon us.”
As they stepped around the corner of the coach house, the wind struck them hard, momentarily stealing their breath away. The rain pelted their faces. Despite wearing fleeces with the necks buttoned tight, the rain seeped inside quickly, running down their backs and chilling them. The tossing grass thrashed their legs. In less than thirty meters, their jeans were soaked through, their feet sodden in their sneakers.
Halfway to the knoll, the field became waterlogged. Although the river had not burst its banks, the water table had risen, turning the field into a temporary grassy swamp. Their progress was heavy going; the only light they had to guide themselves by was that in the copse and the faint glow reflecting off the clouds from Brampton, a few miles away.
At the strand of barbed wire, Sebastian stopped and said, “Whatever you see, or hear, remember it is but an image in your head. No harm can befall you for you will be within the protection of the Garden of Eden.” With that, he held up the wire and stepped beneath it.
Pip followed, Tim taking up the rear. Very cautiously, they moved in single file through the trees. The wind blew hard in the boughs above them, tossing branches about and shedding small twigs that fell upon them as they advanced through the covert. Reaching the clearing, the pathways that Pip had cleared and trimmed stood out before them. In the very center, hanging from a Y-shaped staff stuck in the earth, was an ancient cast-iron lantern. The flame within it glowed a delicate green, flickering as the wind licked at the lamp’s chimney.
“Why it is green, not orange?” Pip whispered.
“De Loudéac has added powdered antimony to the oil,” Sebastian explained, keeping his voice low.
“What is antimony?” Tim asked softly.
“It is a metal, ruled by fire, which an alchemist called Basil Valentine discovered would act against men of holy inclination. Hence its name, for antimony derives from the Latin, meaning
against a monk
. Mixing it with the lamp oil makes for a devilish light.”
With that, Sebastian stepped into the clearing, raising his arms as a priest might before an altar.
“In nomine patris omnipotentis, domine sancta, eterne deus, tu fecisti coelum et terram,”
he intoned, walking towards the lamp,
“discedo, defluo, abeo...”
For a moment, nothing happened; then, from the far side of the clearing, there rose a black shadow darker than the night. It swept towards Sebastian, swirling above him like a
Sebastian smiled and said, “I am sorry, Tim. What you saw was what you did not want to see.”
“Like, what?” Tim exclaimed.
“To put it another way,” Sebastian added, “what you saw was what you were afraid to see. I regret that I may have influenced your imagination through the door.”
“You mean, hypnotized us?” Tim suggested. Sebastian answered, “In a manner of speaking,” and nodded in the direction of the window. “You too have espied the light, have you not?”
“Yes,” Tim replied.
Going to the other side of Pip’s bed, where she was still hunched up, her hands to her ears and her eyes screwed shut, Tim touched her on the shoulder. She jumped as if someone had just shocked her.
“It’s okay. It’s Sebastian.”
Pip got up, feeling a little sheepish.
“Be not ashamed,” Sebastian said. “Fear comes to us all and we each deal with it in our own way.” He parted the curtains and glanced out. “The light remains and I must go forth to discover its cause.”
“We’ll come too,” Pip announced, hoping to regain some of her self-esteem and vowing never again to hide in the face of whatever might come.
Five minutes later, the house alarm system deactivated, they crept out of the kitchen door and, heading across to the coach house, paused before setting off across the field.
“Stay close,” Sebastian ordered unnecessarily. “If we are as one, de Loudéac will think twice before acting upon us.”
As they stepped around the corner of the coach house, the wind struck them hard, momentarily stealing their breath away. The rain pelted their faces. Despite wearing fleeces with the necks buttoned tight, the rain seeped inside quickly, running down their backs and chilling them. The tossing grass thrashed their legs. In less than thirty meters, their jeans were soaked through, their feet sodden in their sneakers.
Halfway to the knoll, the field became waterlogged. Although the river had not burst its banks, the water table had risen, turning the field into a temporary grassy swamp. Their progress was heavy going; the only light they had to guide themselves by was that in the copse and the faint glow reflecting off the clouds from Brampton, a few miles away.
At the strand of barbed wire, Sebastian stopped and said, “Whatever you see, or hear, remember it is but an image in your head. No harm can befall you for you will be within the protection of the Garden of Eden.” With that, he held up the wire and stepped beneath it.
Pip followed, Tim taking up the rear. Very cautiously, they moved in single file through the trees. The wind blew hard in the boughs above them, tossing branches about and shedding small twigs that fell upon them as they advanced through the covert. Reaching the clearing, the pathways that Pip had cleared and trimmed stood out before them. In the very center, hanging from a Y-shaped staff stuck in the earth, was an ancient cast-iron lantern. The flame within it glowed a delicate green, flickering as the wind licked at the lamp’s chimney.
“Why it is green, not orange?” Pip whispered.
“De Loudéac has added powdered antimony to the oil,” Sebastian explained, keeping his voice low.
“What is antimony?” Tim asked softly.
“It is a metal, ruled by fire, which an alchemist called Basil Valentine discovered would act against men of holy inclination. Hence its name, for antimony derives from the Latin, meaning
against a monk
. Mixing it with the lamp oil makes for a devilish light.”
With that, Sebastian stepped into the clearing, raising his arms as a priest might before an altar.
“In nomine patris omnipotentis, domine sancta, eterne deus, tu fecisti coelum et terram,”
he intoned, walking towards the lamp,
“discedo, defluo, abeo...”
For a moment, nothing happened; then, from the far side of the clearing, there rose a black shadow darker than the night. It swept towards Sebastian, swirling above him like a
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