The Deadly Game(24)

‘Right,’ said Jake, and he pushed a stout twig into the centre of the spot where Woody had been sniffing so energetically. ‘Let’s start digging.’

‘One at a time,’ advised Robert, ‘or we could end up getting in each other’s way.’

‘OK,’ said Jake, ‘I’ll start.’

He pushed the spade’s blade into the soft earth with a mounting feeling of excitement. A book! They were going to find a book! Then a niggle of doubt crept in. Maybe Woody had just found a bone. One thing was for sure, they’d soon find out.

Keep your fingers crossed for us, Lauren, he prayed silently, and turned out the first spadeful of soil.

‘Stop that!’

It was a man’s voice, commanding and angry.

They turned, and saw a tall man approaching, dressed neatly in a tweed jacket and trousers, and carrying a small briefcase.

He reached them, glared at Jake and demanded, ‘What do you think you’re doing?’

‘Digging,’ said Jake.

The man shook his head.

‘I’m afraid you can’t do that.’

‘And who are you?’ demanded Jake.

‘Eric Weems, clerk to the parish council.’

‘We’ve got permission from the landowner,’ said Jake. He turned to Robert, who produced the letter of consent he’d got from the farmer and handed it to the man. Weems scanned it, and then handed it back.

‘This letter is from the tenant farmer,’ he said. ‘This land is owned by a corporation.’

‘The farmer said he’d contacted them, and they’d said it was all right,’ said Robert.

Weems shook his head.

‘He may have told you that, but verbal understandings are not lawful,’ he told them. ‘You need written authorisation from the corporation to dig on their land. And even then, digging is only permitted in the field area where it is already cultivated for agricultural use.’ He gestured to the strip of grass and foliage where they were standing. ‘The borders around these fields are protected by environmental and ancient monument legislation.’

‘Which means . . . what?’ asked Michelle.

‘You will need permissions from the Heritage Commission, and the Ancient Sites Executive before you can do any digging in this section of ground. As well as from the local councils, parish and district. And to get those permissions, will require a full judicial review.’

So he’s a Watcher, thought Jake. And a good one, too. No need for protests or barricades, just bring in the bureaucratic jungle of legislation.

Jake saw that Michelle was about to bluster at the man, and he stepped in swiftly, giving Weems an apologetic smile.

‘Our apologies,’ he said. ‘We weren’t aware. We thought the letter we’d been given was authority enough.’

Weems shook his head.

‘It isn’t,’ he said firmly.

‘No, we see that now,’ said Jake, still keeping a genial friendly expression in his face. ‘No problem, we’ll leave . . .’

Michelle turned to Jake, angry.

‘Leave!’ she echoed.

‘We don’t have an alternative.’ Jake shrugged apologetically. ‘This gentleman has pointed out to us that we can’t dig here until we have the necessary authorisations, so that’s what we’ll do.’ He smiled again at Weems. ‘We’re obviously disappointed, but we do understand. Do you have a card or something, so we can get in touch with you when we’re ready to make the applications to dig?’

Weems seemed slightly taken aback at Jake’s compliant attitude, but he recovered. He took a small card from his wallet and handed it to Jake. On it were his name and phone numbers.

‘There,’ he said. Then his manner softened slightly. ‘Thank you for being cooperative in this matter,’ he said. ‘It can be very difficult with so many people searching for things connected with King Arthur. Unfortunately, on previous occasions, I’ve encountered a more hostile attitude. Sometimes it’s even led to my having to call in the police if people have got particularly difficult.’

I bet you have, thought Jake.

‘That’s no problem, Mr Weems,’ he said. ‘We understand.’ He turned to the others. ‘Right, I suggest we head back to the abbey and see what else they might have about Arthur and the Grail.’

With that, Jake set off towards the gate in the fence. The others hesitated, then hurried after him. Michelle caught up with him first.

‘You’re not just letting him kick us off the site as easily as that!’ she demanded, furious.

‘Of course not,’ Jake whispered back. ‘But the last thing we need is a major row. One thing we now know for sure, him turning up like that means we were in the right place. We’ll simply come back later, this evening.’