Free Ancient Echoes by Robert Holdstock Page B

wall, half-way down the slope to the winding brook below.
    ‘I’ve lived there for more than a year. There’s a deep crevice, runs a hundred yards into the hill, quite dry. I’ve had some dreams there, some wonderful dreams.’ He laughed. ‘I’m a sort of bear, Jack. I hibernated over the winter to make sure I was in the right place.’
    ‘The right place?’
    Garth stood, stretched, then picked up the rope and his pack.
    ‘It’s been a long hunt, but I’m at the end of the trail, now. I’m sure of it. And it’s partly thanks to you. When I found Glanum, I found my quarry. But it
was
a long search …’ he added, almost sighing. He stooped quickly and tugged up a small tuft of grass, rubbing the moist earth and roots between his fingers as he again stared down at the boy. ‘I’m going home, Jack. Or I’ll die in the attempt. That’s why I asked you to come with me.’ He put the crushed grass to his nose, closed his eyes as he inhaled briefly, then let it fall.
    ‘But don’t be concerned,’ he added. ‘You’re in no danger yourself. I promise you that.’
    ‘Up on Muldon Moor, you said that I
was
in trouble.’
    ‘In trouble, yes. But not in danger. If I die, you’ll remember what you’ve seen. If I don’t, I’ll be keeping an eye on you. You’ll always have a friend in me, Jack. Over the years I’ve made that promise many times, and always kept it. Now let’s walk. I’m getting hungry and I can smell that game pie …’
    The game pie?
    ‘That’s
my
lunch,’ Jack murmured as he followed the man down the hill.
    ‘All supplies to be shared,’ Garth said with a quick, amused glance back.
    She was crouching, watching him, the green patterns on her face writhing like living creatures. Her dark eyes were wide, her expression one of curiosity; and behind her, the man in the cloak of scalps and feathers stood impatiently, his attention on the world around them, his energy concentrated on survival. ‘We have to
go …’
    ‘We’re so close …’
    She reached towards him, her fingers brushing his cheek. The earth was shaking; Greyface hunched up slightly, alarmed by what was happening; rocks shuddered and shifted, trees shook, leaves shedding, boughs cracking, the ground itself seemed about to open …
    Jack opened his eyes. Clouds scudded above him, and the tremor in the earth passed away. It was warm, with a light breeze, and he was stretched out on the ground, still sleepy. The shadow of a man passed over him and he sat up, to see Garth pacing restlessly about the hilltop, staring into the distance.
    ‘I fell asleep.’
    The man seemed impatient, silencing him with a gesture, a hiss. ‘It’s close, now. If I say get the hell away, you do just that. Do you understand? You just run. Get out of the hill.’
    ‘I saw Greenface. She said she was close …’
    For a second Garth stared at him, face in shadow, body dark against the bright sky. ‘I expect she is. Was the man with her?’
    ‘Yes.’
    ‘Threatening?’
    ‘Worried.’
    The hillside seemed to vibrate. Jack stood up and looked around. They were facing the deep valley. Cloud shadow ran across it. The wind gusted.
    ‘What’s happening?’
    ‘It’s nosing for me. See those trees?’
    Jack looked towards the copse, two hundred yards away. Garth said, ‘You go there, you stay there, among the trees; you simply wait; you hang on, you don’t move. You certainly don’t try to stop me.’ And then he cried out, startling Jack. ‘
Look there
!’
    ‘What? What is it?’
    Long coat flapping, Garth had started to run along the hill. He was pointing into the distance. ‘There! There it is!’
    Something was moving through the valley. Not cloud shadow, Jack realized, but the land itself, folding, furling, a ripple in the green earth, like wind on water, a pattern, turning to flow towards them.
    ‘Bring the ropes!’
    Jack dragged the heavy coils with their metal hooks and flung them at Garth’s feet. The man stood silently, letting