The Last Enemy(39)

They followed Dan to an area at one side of the derelict building.

‘This is the site of the old chapel,’ said Dan.

It was a small area, not much bigger than a large room in a house. All that was left were the flagstones of the floor and the remains of the stone walls. Ivy and weeds had grown up over and through all that was left of the walls. Rubble, broken stones and more weeds were spread across the floor.

‘Where do we start?’ asked Lauren.

‘We tap the floor,’ said Jake. ‘Listening for where it sounds hollow.’

Lauren looked doubtful.

‘Come on,’ encouraged Jake. ‘Let’s start by tapping all over, and see if there’s any difference in the sound.’

With that, Jake picked up a piece of broken rusted metal from the debris lying around, and began to knock it on the flagstones. Lauren copied him, but Jake stopped her.

‘I think we can only do this with one of us,’ he said. ‘It makes it hard to hear if we’re all knocking at the same time.’

‘OK,’ said Lauren. ‘We’ll do the listening while you tap.’

Jake resumed tapping the piece of metal against the flagstones, moving from one flagstone to another. Each time they heard the same dull solid thud.

‘The light’s going,’ said Dan. ‘We might have to come back tomorrow.’

‘Just a bit longer,’ urged Jake.

He banged the piece of metal down on the next flagstone. Once again, there was the same dull thud.

‘I don’t think we’re going to find it,’ said Lauren gloomily. ‘Jake, admit it, this was always going to be a bit of a crazy idea.’

Jake didn’t reply. He moved on to the next flagstone. Once more, there was that same dull solid sound. He moved on to the next and banged the metal bar again . . . and this time he stopped.

‘There!’ he said. ‘Did you hear that?’

‘What?’ asked Lauren.

‘It sounded different,’ said Jake. ‘Listen.’

And he banged the piece of metal on the flagstone again.

Dan frowned.

‘Actually, it did sound a bit different,’ he said.

Using the metal bar, Jake scraped away the dirt around the four edges of the flagstone, and he pushed it in, trying to get leverage. After a bit of pushing and manipulating, the end of the bar was in the crack. Jake pressed down on the end of the bar but the flagstone didn’t budge.

‘Let me help,’ said Dan.

Dan and Jake put all their strength into forcing the bar downwards and slowly that edge of the flagstone began to lift.

‘Right,’ said Jake. ‘See if you can lift it up while I hold the bar in place.’

Dan and Lauren joined Jake, putting their fingers under the edges of the flagstone, and hauling back. It began to lift . . . then Dan and Lauren slid it to one side. There was a hole in the ground beneath where the stone had been, and inside the hole was an object wrapped in oiled black leather.

With trembling fingers, Jake lifted the object out. It felt like a book. Was it The Index? There was only one way to find out. He began to untie the oiled twine that held the package together.

‘Do you think that’s a good idea?’ asked Lauren nervously. ‘Some of the books can be booby-trapped. Remember the toxic bacteria inside the first book that was found!’

‘If it was hidden here at the chapel, I don’t think it would be one of the Malichea science books,’ said Jake. ‘I’m pretty sure this is one of the books that the abbot gave to the de Courcey family, the Journal of the Order of Malichea or The Index.’

‘And if you’re wrong?’ asked Lauren.

Jake didn’t reply, but silently he hoped that he was right.

He undid the last piece of twine and peeled back the protective leather covering. Inside was a book, with the familiar symbol of the Order of Malichea inscribed on the cover. He opened it up and saw the ornate Latin writing on the first page, and then continuing on the other pages, each section in a different handwriting, and dated.

‘It’s the Journal,’ said Jake, and this excitement at having finally found it was mixed with bitter disappointment that it wasn’t the book he’d been hoping to find. ‘So where is The Index?’ he groaned.

‘My question exactly,’ said a voice behind them.





Chapter 20




They swung round, and were shocked to see Guy standing with two young teenage boys, one of whom they’d seen holding a gun on Guy in the car park at de Courcey Hall. Now, the gun was in Guy’s hand.

‘Don’t try anything, any of you,’ warned Guy. ‘This is a Hechler and Koch MP5K. Very powerful, and with a 30-round clip. Right now it’s on automatic, so it’ll cut you all in half before you’ve got within an inch of me.’ He smiled. ‘I know a lot about guns. They’re a sort of hobby of mine.’ His smile broadened. ‘Dan! Well, well! My old boyhood pal!’