In the Mercedes
It is not far from Alton to Amesbury as the crow flies, but the roads are not direct. As before, Henry Latrom sits in the front of the Mercedes, Greaves drives, and Will and Lizzie are in the back. Also Kirjava, unknown to all but Will.
They reach Amesbury at five o'clock. It is getting dark.
In The Grove
Mary to Elaine, in her room: 'Don't worry. I'm sure they'll be back soon.'
'Oh yes. Will's got his homework to do. He's a good boy, but he must do his homework. Are we going to watch Neighbours? I like that. And Home And Away. They have such nice people in them.'
'Yes, of course.' Mary looks away to hide the fear she is feeling inside herself and is sure is showing in her face. She cannot help but think that Will is going into a place where he will have to face great dangers, both physical and moral. If she were still a member of the Roman Catholic Church, she would pray for him.
In the Mercedes
Stonehenge stands a mile or so to the west of the village of Amesbury, at the junction of the A344 and A303 main roads. In recent years it has been taken over by an organisation called English Heritage, which has been given the dual objectives of preserving the Stones, and making them profitable. To that end it has put up a fence around the perimeter of the site and forbidden access to it, even to the pagan worshippers whose temple it is. For the benefit of the visiting public, they have built a car park and a visitor centre, with turnstiles and a shop selling guidebooks and souvenirs.
Access to the Stones is normally barred to the general public when the visitor centre is closed, but Henry Latrom has connections and these rules do not apply to him. Greaves parks the Mercedes near to the perimeter and stops the engine. Henry turns round to speak to Will. He is looking pale, and he is coughing – a rasping cough deep in his throat.
'Here we are, then. This is the place where the Knife will be made anew.' He breaks off, purple-faced. Lizzie offers him two of his tablets. He swallows them, and then asks her for two more.
'Uncle Henry, no! The doctor said…'
'Damn the doctor! Give me the pills!' Lizzie knows that, if they return to their own world in time, her uncle will not be needing the pills any more. And if they do not, then it will hardly matter; so she gives him the tablets. Henry sits back and waits for the powerful drugs to take effect.
'We are here, William,' he says when he is feeling better, 'because this is one of the places where the forces of Earth and Sky converge. There are others – Machu Picchu, Avebury, Tunguska, Glastonbury Tor, Uffington. Stonehenge happens to be the most convenient for us and also, the weather conditions are, I think, favourable.'
'What have I got to do?'
'Take the Knife-shards and place them in the centre of the stone circle. Put them as close to each other as you can. Then return to the car.'
'Which way should the Knife point?'
'It doesn't matter. Just make sure that all the pieces are in the correct positions and right up next to each other.'
Greaves hands Will the pieces of the Knife, wrapped in a cloth. 'Good luck,' says Lizzie and kisses him on the cheek.
Will gets out of the car and, ducking under the wire barrier, approaches the stone circle. The sky above him is now almost completely dark, with only a glimmer of light to the west to show where the sun has been. He finds the centre of the circle with some difficulty, but positions the pieces of the Knife as best he can. The wind is getting up and, above him, storm clouds are gathering.
One of the ley-lines which mark the path of the Earth-Current passes directly under Stonehenge, approaching the surface of the earth at that point. Coincidentally, the matrix of ethereal vortices which feed the fires of heaven is particularly well interconnected over Salisbury Plain, which is noted for its thunderstorms. Where the sky and earth nodes meet, and when there is a sufficient difference in potential, then the conditions exist for a considerable current flow between them.
All it takes is a point of focus…
Will struggles back to the Mercedes, as the wind howls stronger and louder about him. It catches the door of the car as he opens it and both he and Lizzie have to fight to shut it behind him as he scrambles back in.
'We must all stay in the car and keep calm,' says Henry. 'Great forces are about to be deployed around us, but the car will act as a cage of safety so long as we keep all the doors and windows fast closed.'
'Like a Faraday Cage?' asks Will, remembering his GCSE physics.
'Very like.' And Henry is about to say more, when the sky is split by an eye-searing flash, followed two seconds later by a stunning crack of thunder.
Five seconds to a mile – that must be nearly overhead! There is another flash directly above them, and another deafening crash. Above the Stones, and the Mercedes, whose solid German engineering now seems terribly fragile, a whirlpool of light is forming, made up of flickers of actinic blue which run up and down the fringes of the clouds which are now circling immediately overhead. There is another mighty roar from above and fingers of violet brilliance leap across the gap in the clouds.
Around the Stones, a blue-green glow is building and sparks are beginning to jump from the top of the pillars of rock to the ground. Mirroring the vortex of light in the sky, wavering lines of plasma spring from the earth and swirl around the bases of the Stones. There are now two currents of energy spinning one directly above the other. Between them lies the Subtle Knife.
The twin spirals of light spin faster and faster, the Earth-Current rotating widdershins, the Sky-Fire counter-widdershins. A humming sound builds, initially inaudible but rising inexorably in volume and pitch until it threatens to drown out the banshee wail of the wind.
The humans in the car cower in its seats as it shakes violently from side to side. This is far beyond anything in any of their experiences – even Will's, and he has seen war in heaven. He holds Lizzie close, covering her eyes and taking occasional glances at the inferno outside. Only occasionally, for the two spinning discs of light are now so dazzling that they outshine the noontide sun.
There is a pause – they are in the eye of the cosmic hurricane. Then a bolt of fire leaps from the earth to the firmament, fanning out in great spokes of dazzling brilliance across the wide sky to the far horizon. Like lightning – except that this strike does not stop. It goes on for ever and ever. Such a column of fire led the lost tribes of Moses through the desert, turned Lot's wife to a pillar of salt and made shadows of the people of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
It goes on for ever and ever. And then, shockingly, it stops, and the skies above and the earth below are dark and cold. Will and Lizzie lift their eyes from the seat cushions where they have hidden them to save their sight. Henry Latrom and Greaves remove their hands from their faces. They sit battered and stunned for several minutes.
Will does not need to be told what to do. He opens the door of the car, and steps out into the calm cold darkness. Stumbling over the uneven ground, still half-blinded, he fumbles his way to the centre of the stone circle. There he finds the Knife, with tendrils of blue fire still running up and down its handle.
It is new-made, pristine. The blade, flawless, with the ineffable beauty which he first saw on the summit of the Torre Degli Angeli in the haunted city of Cittagazze. All the ugliness which resulted from Iorek Byrnison's improvised smith-work is gone; it is slender and keen, shining silver-grey, emblazoned with the images of angels.
Will Parry lifts the Knife high above his head so that the humans in the Mercedes may see it gleam with its own internal radiance. Then, with a cry of triumph – at last! – he reaches forward to cut a window to the world where dwells his love. He probes with its infinitely sharp point for the opening between Lyra's world and his own.
And nothing happens.