Episode 7: For the Stone, Chapter 6

The boat ride had been uneventful. Picking the lock on the boathouse door had been so easy Flynn hadn't even had time to finish his comment about the usefulness of thieves. He was still smarting about that a bit. He took it out on the soil instead. They had brought two shovels and a pick, just in case they met a rock. Jenkins was leaning on the pick. Flynn was absolutely certain if there was rock needing broken up, Jenkins would be there, right on cue, to hand that pick to him.

"Her eyes are like the sea," Ezekiel was saying, his constant wittering fading in and out of Flynn's interest. "And her hair! It shines like spun gold in the sunlight. It falls down her back like water. It's softer than silk. Her smile lights up the darkest corners and her laugh is like music from heaven."

"Please stop!" Jenkins groaned from his chosen place by the wall.

"I think it might help if we concentrated on the digging, Ezekiel," said Flynn, stretching his patience a little bit further. "The sooner we find this stone, the sooner you can tell us all about her."

"Or you could just, you know," Jenkins shrugged, "wait until we're home and I can escape?"

"But she's so perfect, Jenkins," the thief turned, dropping his shovel entirely now. "She's beautiful, she's funny, she's kind, she knows every single episode of Doctor Who. All thirty four series!"

"Ezekiel," sighed Flynn, patience beginning to reach its limit. "Dig!"

The thief picked up his shovel and began again, falling into time with the Senior Librarian and managing to not mention Seonaidh for all of ten seconds. "She knows all these really cool old stories..."

"Saints preserve us!" Jenkins groaned.

Any further expostulations or complaints were interrupted by a dull thunk. Flynn froze. "I think we've got something! Jenkins, help me pry it out!"

XXXX

"You spent hours exploring this old ruin and you never noticed the earthworks on the way in?" Baird asked, gaping at the roofless rooms of Bothwell Castle.

"Hey, it's more complex than you might think!" Stone protested. "She's a beauty, this place. Its a real shame she's as run down as she is."

"Plus we may have got a little distracted at times," admitted Cassandra.

"May?" Eve eyed them suspiciously. "Please tell me you two don't have some weird bucket list of make-out spots."

"Of course not," Stone shook his head, waving away the question.

"That would be very, very unprofessional," Cassandra added, in a very, very serious tone.

"I don't want to know," Eve decided, holding up her hands in surrender. "Just let's go dig this thing up and get out of here."

The door from the castle courtyard to the earthworks beyond the walls was locked, but didn't prove too much of a problem. While Stone had been learning how to fight properly from Baird, Cassandra had been learning a few other skills from Ezekiel, although the thief still maintained using synaesthesia to help pick a lock was cheating. The trio trooped out into the outer part of the castle grounds. Beyond the shelter of the walls, a cold wind had picked up and they wrapped their jackets closer around them. The stars were out and the clear sky promised a cold night to come. Stone handed one of the two shovels he'd been carrying to Baird.

"You two found it, I'm just here on protection detail," she said, raising an eyebrow at him, but taking the shovel anyway.

"We'll take turns," suggested Cassandra, taking the shovel from Eve and starting to dig down by the well's label.

"You heard the woman," smirked Eve, ushering Stone over to join his girlfriend. "Get digging."

An hour or so later, and the hole was widening. Eve was taking her turn with the shovel and Cassandra was lying flat out on her stomach on the cold grass, on top of the jackets that Eve and Stone had removed. She had her chin propped up on her hands and was watching the diggers intently. Well, one of them anyway. Stone's shovel clattered against something metallic and Eve swapped hers for her flashlight. Below them, the light reflected off a line of silver in a dull, matte grey surface.

"Lead," murmured Stone. "Readily available at the time. Bends easily. Doesn't corrode. Perfect for encasing a precious relic in if you're planning on burying it underground."

"Cassandra, get over here and help us get this thing out of here," Baird called. There was no reply. She looked round. The redhead had her eyes fixed on her boyfriend and a dreamy smile plastered across her face. Eve shone the flashlight directly at her. She blinked and raised a hand to block the light. "Hey! Quit daydreaming, Red, and get over here!"

XXXX

Flynn, Jenkins and Ezekiel crowded round the hole by the castle wall. The item they were looking at was oblong, encased in lead and rock solid. They studied it in silence for several seconds. Jenkins was the first to come out with the obligatory "That's odd".

"What size is the stone again?" Jones enquired.

"Large enough to sit on, small enough to be carried around as a portable altar," replied Jenkins without hesitation.

"Well, it's definitely large enough to sit on," began Jones.

"But this is not the stone we were looking for," finished Flynn.

"Nevertheless, it is the one we'll take," said a voice behind them.

XXXX

Using one shovel as a lever, and inserting the other after it as a brace and a fulcrum, Stone, Cassandra and Baird had managed to get the rectangular, lead-covered block on its side. Between them, Stone and Eve heaved the ancient parcel up onto the grass. They turned to Cassandra.

Cassandra wasn't there.

Stone was on his feet in an instant, calling her name. Eve joined him, but took more time to survey her surrounding first.

"Stone, freeze!" Baird shouted. "Step back slowly. And again. One more. Now put your flashlight on and look down."

Stone switched on the torch on his phone and aimed it where he had been standing. Two shining black eyes looked back at him. The snake rose up and flattened out its hood. A long, forked tongue flickered out.

"Cassie!" Stone's voice took on a new edge of urgency. "Talk to me, darlin'!"

"Don't worry, Mr Stone," breathed a voice as soft as velvet. "Miss Cillian is merely unconscious. My little pet hasn't hurt anyone. Yet."

"What do you want?" Baird asked, knowing full well what the answer would be. She edged one hand towards her gun, the other to her phone.

"I wouldn't, Colonel Baird," said the voice. Eve froze and two pairs of arms grabbed her and held her still while another pair removed the two items she had reached for. The voice was closer when it spoke next, and somewhere behind her. "That's better. I would hate to have had to shoot you." The voice paused. "What am I saying: I would love to shoot you, Colonel. It would save so much trouble. What I would hate to have to do, really, is explain to my boss why and how you were shot. Especially when they particularly want to attend your wedding.

XXXX

Flynn, Jones, and Jenkins turned to see a tall, greying man, with a group of three of the most menacing ex-convicts lined up behind him. The three men moved at the nod from their boss. They were barely two paces from the trio when an invisible force lifted them off their feet and slammed them into a wall.

XXXX

Something in the voice was familiar, Eve thought. Beside her she heard a fist connect with Stone's gut, the air being expelled rapidly from his lungs. She tried to move and strong hands grabbed her, pinning her arms to her side.

"Enough of that, Colonel," said the voice. "I believe my pet has enough venom for both of you, all three of you in fact. Make this more difficult that it has to be and I'll let it loose on you all."

A breath of air brushed past Eve and she heard heavy, organic objects collide.

"Stone, grab the rock!" Baird ordered. "I'll get Cassandra. Get back to the door. Quick!"

Stone swung his torch around in a hunt for the redhead's recumbent body. He didn't find it. A voice behind him breathed in his ear, "I'm fine. Let's go before he wakes up!"

They grabbed the lead-covered rock and ran. When they reached the safety of the Library, they skidded to a halt, unhooked the doors and turned to the female Librarian.

"What did you do?" Baird asked, without ceremony.

Cassandra shrugged, avoiding Jacob's eyes. "I just used the same idea as the flying units to knock them over instead.

"Flying units?" Jacob asked, watching her in awe.

"Long story," she shrugged. "Let's just get this stone unwrapped just now and I'll tell you all about it later. One of us should call the others."

"Just tried," said Baird. "No reply, but their connection could be as patchy as yours was.

XXXX

In the ruins of Threave Castle, bad guys were also flying in various directions. Amidst the fray, Jenkins, Flynn and Ezekiel were also standing, open-mouthed and unharmed, gawking at the chaos around them. Eventually, when all lay still and silent, Jenkins breathed out slowly and then in.

"You could have told us you were coming," he sighed. "We would have waited on you. I would have waited on you"

"As I waited on you, Galeas," said a soft female lilt. "We must return. The Castle needs us."

"Flora..." Jenkins began.

"Don't," said the old woman quickly. Take the stone and your friends back to the Library and examine your find there."

A door appeared two thirds of the way across the empty base of the castle. Jenkins nodded towards it. "The old door out of the kitchens," he explained to a goggle-eyed Flynn and Ezekiel. One man alternated between staring at Jenkins and the door. The other was staring at the space where a handsome young woman, with golden hair and green eyes had just disappeared.

XXXX

The back door flashed into life and admitted the three men and their find. They were surprised to see the other team also in the office, also looking harried, and also surrounding a rectangular cuboid encased in lead. They placed theirs on the floor at the other end of the desk.

"That looks like the right size for the Stone," said Flynn.

"We were just about to open it," Eve told him. "Care to watch?"

"We have our own metallic wrapping paper to deal with," smiled Flynn. "Last one done buys breakfast?"

"Deal!" Eve laughed, and she, Stone and Cassandra fell on the package with glee.

At the other end of the desk, Jenkins and Flynn did the same. Ezekiel stood alone, staring off into space. Eventually, they looked up. Jenkins called "Done!" and they stood back.

"Well, we've definitely got the Stone of Destiny," replied Stone with a weary grin. "What have you got?"

"Looks like some kind of ancient headstone," mused Flynn. "It's written in Futhark."

"Let me see," Stone walked over and looked down at the runic inscription on the oblong stone. He read aloud as he translated. "It says 'The Serpent Stirs'."

"Considering the night we've had so far," groaned Baird, "that can't be good!"