Capter Two
Companions And Artefacts
Wind blew through the visor of Jim's helmet refreshing his face
and almost oblivious to his strange looking passenger. Dr Parks sat
perched happily on the pillion seat, his grey tweed suit flapping in
the wind. A helmet, which was probably used by a motorcycle
racer in the nineteen sixties adorned his white haired head, a smile
on his old weathered face.
Jim pulled the bike onto a slip road and headed east towards the
Coast, opening the throttle and easing the machine around the
twisty roads of east Yorkshire. Soon, the signpost for North
Yorkshire appeared and Jim headed towards Whitby.
Eight hours of riding a hard tail motorcycle was taking its toll on
both Jim and the Doctor and they were both glad to dismount from
the machine and take a stroll along the harbour wall to stretch their
legs. Jim lit up a cigarette and offered one to Dr Parks.
"No thank you" he replied taking in the fresh sea air and leaning
on the metal fence overlooking the harbour.
"So, where do we go from here?" continued Dr Parks.
" My uncles. He lives up near the Abbey. When my father died, all
his belongings were taken by Uncle Lex".
The steps to the Abbey seemed to go on forever, and once they
reached the church both Jim and the Doctor needed a rest so they
sat on a bench and took in the breathtaking view of Whitby and its
harbour.
"Tell me what you know of the fragment your father found"
gasped Dr Parks, catching his breath.
"Well, he showed it to me once. It had some strange writing on it
and was about three inches by four with jagged edges, as if it had
been broken off purposely"
Jim scratched his head trying to recall more.
"That’s about all I remember. It was years ago when he showed it
to me" he continued.
The door to Uncle Lex's house was like the entrance to some great
medieval hall. Big black iron studs adorned the white painted
wood, and a large lions head door knocker stood proudly in the
centre.
Jim lifted the iron knocker and let go. A large clang echoed
throughout the house and could be plainly heard by the two men.
Several moments passed and the door swung open, answered by a
Gent in his fifties, grey flashes in his otherwise dark hair. He
flashed a smile at his nephew.
" James! Hi! What are you doing here?" he asked, inviting Jim and
the Dr in.
"Hey Uncle Lex. Listen I need to ask you something important.
Do you remember the bit of stone tablet that dad found?"
Lex nodded "yes. Your dad used to go on about how significant it
was. Never could understand why though" shrugged Lex.
Dr Parks offered his hand to Lex and introduced himself.
" Would we be able to see the piece?" he asked urgently.
Lex rubbed his clean-shaven chin.
"Mm! that could be a little bit difficult. You see I
don't have it anymore. I recently took a load of your dads’ stuff to
the local charity shop. It was among everything that went"
The Doctor looked grim.
"Oh my! No! No! This cannot be," he muttered under his breath.
" I only took it in yesterday, they probably haven't
even unpacked everything yet. If you’re quick you could probably
catch them open" said Lex picking up his car keys.
"Come on I'll run you down".
A grey haired woman dressed in a pleated skirt and dark brown
overalls turned the key in the lock and turned around looking down
at her handbag as she placed the bunch of keys inside. She started
when she looked up to be faced by two men, one in a grey tweed
suit and the other in motorcycle leathers. She screamed and
dropped her handbag to the floor. Dr parks bent down and picked it
up, handing it back to her.
" I am so sorry madam. We never meant to startle you." he bowed
his head, politely.
"What do you want?" snapped the woman.
Dr Parks explained why they were there and the woman listened
intently. When Dr Parks had finished the woman scratched her
head in thought.
"Yes! I know the item your talking about. I sold it only an
hour before we closed. A nice young chap bought it, very well
dressed."
Jim stepped forward, the streetlights illuminating his face.
" Do you know where we can find him?" he asked softly.
The woman shook her head.
"I've not seen him before but young Janice said he worked at the
Observer newspaper. Maybe you could find him there."
The two men thanked her and apologised again for scaring her
before heading off towards the newspaper office.
The Whitby Observer offices were still busy when Jim and Dr
Parks arrived. They approached the pretty receptionist.
"Excuse me young lady could you help us?" enquired Dr Parks "
"Yes sir, what seems to be the problem?" she asked confidently,
her dark brown eyes sparkling as she smiled.
" We’re searching for a young man who works here. We don't
know what he looks like or his name. All we know is that he
bought a very important artefact earlier today from a charity shop"
Dr Parks stopped speaking realising how absurd it sounded.
The young receptionist held a slender finger to her lips.
"Mmm! let me see," she said thoughtfully " I do know that Mr
Berman is a collector of antiques. Maybe he knows something of
this artefact of yours."
She pressed a button on the desk.
"Excuse me Mr Berman but there are two gentlemen at the desk
enquiring after some artefact or something. I wondered if you
would have a word with them?"
There was silence for a moment then a muffled voice said,
" OK Sandra, send them in."
The receptionist stood to her full five foot four height and pointed
in the direction of a pair of doors.
" Please go right through, " she said smiling.
Jim gave her a wink as he walked past and she giggled shyly and
went bright red.
The doors swung wide as Jim and Dr parks approached them, a
slender man in his late thirties and very well dressed stood in the
doorway.
" Good evening. I'm Terence Berman. How may I be of
assistance to you?"
He offered his slim hand to the Dr and then to Jim.
" Hello! I am Dr Parks and this is Jim Stafford. We believe you
may have purchased an item of great importance to my research."
Terence sat back in his leather swivel chair and stroked his
designer stubble.
"And what artefact might this be?" he enquired.
The Doctor shuffled in his seat uneasy at sharing the secret of the
tablet with yet another stranger, but if he had the missing piece of
the puzzle he had no choice but to trust Terence.
" Some years ago I discovered an ancient medieval tablet. On this
tablet was written directions in ancient Celtic. I believe you have
the missing piece of the tablet".
Terence listened contently to the doctor and ran his fingers through
his slightly balding hair. He then sat upright suddenly.
" I did purchase a small fragment of stone tablet today. Paid very
little for it too. What significance is this tablet?"
The doctor looked at Jim uneasily and Jim nodded reassuringly.
" We, that is I, believe the tablet is a map to the island of Avalon
and the hiding place of the Holy Grail."
He lowered his eyes regretting immediately having told
Terence.
A buzzer sounded in the office and Terence picked up a telephone
Receiver.
"Thank you Sandra. Tell him I will be available shortly."
He replaced the receiver and turned back to Jim and Dr Parks.
"If I were to provide the missing piece I want full news coverage
and a substantial cut of whatever the grail, if found, makes at
auction."
He reached into a desk drawer and retrieved the small piece of
Stone, fiddling with it in his fingers.
" I agree to your terms of full news coverage but as for selling the
Grail, are you mad? This is a piece of world history. Its rightful
place is in a museum," spat Dr Parks standing up from his seat,
lines of anger furrowing his brow.
Terence ignored the outburst and turned to Jim.
"What do you get from this?" he asked.
Jim shrugged his shoulders before replying in a dulcet tone.
" I get piece of mind knowing that my father was right about the
door to Avalon."
Terence sat and pondered momentarily then stood up.
"Well gentlemen it seems that both your actions in this venture are
virtuous and so I change my terms to full news coverage and to
accompany you on wherever this journey may take you. The paper
will pay for any expenses."
Satisfied with this proposal Jim and the Doctor shook hands with
Terence and arranged to meet the next day.
Morning came and Jim phoned Dave to come and collect his bike
and hired a Vitara four by four vehicle. He then visited a hardware
store and purchased ropes, flashlights, and various camping
equipment. He didn't know what they would need so he took a list
from the Doctor and added a few of his own thoughts to it. Soon he,
the Doctor and Terence Berman were driving southward, back to
the Doctors’ house.
Smoke erupted through the barrier of trees surrounding Dr Parks
home. Dense and black it rose up, filling the sky with its pungent
blackness. Seeing the disturbance of fire engines rush past them
Jim put his foot down and raced toward the Doctors’ house.
Two large red fire engines stood parked in the driveway, long hose
pipes draped across the now drenched lawn and firemen clambered
in and out of the now smouldering building.
Dr Parks hobbled over to a fireman wearing a white helmet and
pulled at the tall thick set mans sleeve.
" Th-th-this is my house" he stammered trying to catch his breath.
" W-what happened? "
The fire chief looked down at Dr Parks.
" Looks like an electrical fault. I’m sorry sir, the place was gutted"
Dr Parks hung his head and sobbed quietly. His life's work all
gone. Thousands of historical and mythological artefacts dispersed
in the flames.
Jim walked up to Dr Parks and laid a hand on the old mans
Shoulder.
"Couldn’t they save anything? " he asked the fire chief who shook
his head and turned away to answer a call on his radio.
He turned back to Jim.
"It’s funny you should ask that sir, they've just retrieved a fire
proof safe, over there." he pointed to the side of the ruins.
Dr Parks and Jim hurried to the firemen who were hosing the safe
down.
"Careful sir, it may still be hot," warned one of them as Dr
Parks leant down to touch the box. Feeling that the box was cool
he quickly removed a bunch of keys from his pocket, glancing
momentarily at the door key to what was once his beloved home he
wiped a remaining tear from his wrinkled eye and placed a smaller
key into the hole on the front of the box.
With a click the door sprung open revealing the contents of the
safe. Dr Parks knelt down on the muddy grass and peered inside
cautiously.
"Ah! Yes! Yes!!" he exclaimed excitedly." I left the tablet in here.
Oh my! It’s perfectly fine."
He smiled. A look of peace on his old face.
Terence meanwhile had arrived at the safe and reaching his arm
down, passed the piece of tablet to the Doctor.
"I believe this is required"
Dr Parks took the piece of tablet from Terence and unwrapped his
own larger piece from its leather binding.
Slowly the Doctor placed the two pieces together and smiled to
Himself.
"At last I know where the secret entrance is."
Terence and Jim looked at each other and grinned.
" So! what are we waiting for? " asked Terence, "lets go".
The ancient floorboards creaked beneath Tiannas’ naked feet as
she busied about making a cup of tea on the old iron log stove, the
dream she’d had still vivid in her mind. She stopped and glanced
through the window. Looking into the dense forest she saw a
hooded figure, holding a staff, and watching the cottage.
Tianna struggled to hold the hot kettle and placed it back on the
Stove, turning quickly toward the window, staring closely with her
sharp eyes at the blackness within the trees, but the figure had
gone,
Had she imagined him? Most women would have been a little
insecure and frightened at the thought of being watched, but
Tianna dismissed it as her over active imagination.
Music blasted out of the Vitara's stereo system. 'Climbing up on
Salisbury Hill, I could see the city lights' the clear tones of Peter
Gabriel sang to the occupants.
"So! Where we headed Doc?" asked Jim tapping his fingers
against the driving wheel in time to the music.
The doctor sat riding shotgun, studying the now complete tablet
closely with a half charred magnifying glass.
"Well! According to the tablet it says,’ The entrance to the gates
of Avalon lie in the forest of the hooded man’ ".
Jim looked confused.
"What the hell does that mean?"
The doctor shrugged his shoulders.
"I-I don't know." He looked puzzled.
Terence leant forward.
"Tell me again what the tablet says?" he asked
The Doctor held the magnifying glass to the stone.
" The translation says that the doorway to the gates of Avalon lay
in the forest of the hooded man" he repeated.
Terence rubbed his slightly stubbled chin in thought.
" Perhaps it means Robin Hood?"
The doctors’ face lit up for a moment.
"No! No! The legends of Robin Hood only go back as far as the
10th century. The tablet pre-dates that legend."
He sat back in the leather seat and thought, muttering under his
breath to himself.
"But yes! Of course. My dear Mr Berman, you have hit the nail on
the head, so to speak ".
Terence looked bewildered.
" But you just said the tablet pre-dates that legend."
The doctor nodded his head.
"Yes! Yes! The legend of Robin Hood, but he was not the only
hooded man known to dwell in Sherwood forest." Dr Parks grinned
to himself .
"There is a legend of Merlin, Arthur's mage, retiring to a dark
forest in the middle of England, Sherwood Forest dates back to
Neolithic man."
He gave himself an imaginary pat on the back and sat back
Satisfied.
"So James, to Sherwood, and don't spare the horses" he chuckled,
as Jim took the next junction and headed towards Nottinghamshire.
Food was on the agenda and, seeing a sign for a truck café, Jim
pulled over into the lay-by at the side of the small caravan.
Inside the greasy Joe cafe an overly large man stood behind the
counter in a greasy T-shirt that was once white. He had a hand
towel draped over his shoulder and his hairless head shone red
with the heat from the frying grill.
"What can I get you?" he asked as Jim walked in.
" Three trucker specials to go? " asked Jim who was familiar with
the menus.
Several moments later the owner handed three brown paper parcels
and three paper cups of coffee to Jim.
" That will be four quid please mate? " he said.
Jim reached into his pocket and removing four, one pound coins,
handed these to the man and walked back to the vehicle.
"Here ya go boys, this will keep you going for a while, " he said
passing one of the parcels and a cup to the doctor and another to
Terence, the latter looking at the grease-laden packets in disgust.
Jim reached into his packet and pulled out a large sandwich.
Bacon, egg, sausage, mushrooms, beef burger and black pudding,
all between two slices of thick home baked bread and coated in
grease. He licked his lips and bit into the delicious tasting instant
heart attack, savouring the mixture of flavours before swallowing
each mouthful. Terence and the Doctor seeing how much Jim was
enjoying the meal followed suit and were both wolfing down the
sandwiches in a matter of minutes.
A blanket of velvet hung low throughout Sherwood Forest. The
thicket blanking the remnants of moon light only feet in front of
the mens’ eyes.
"Are you sure this is safe?" whispered Terence.
"Don’t be a pussy!" remarked Jim holding his flashlight at arms
length.
Dr Parks stopped suddenly holding his hand up to alert the others
behind him. Silence fell upon the woods. The only noise the
creaking of the ancient oaks whispering the history of the world to
one another with unheard melodies.
Dr Parks spun on his heels.
"According to the tablet, the entrance should be right here,"
He pointed at a pile of limestone boulders that had stood
unmoved for centuries.
Jim shone his mag-light at the pile of rocks,
"Wouldn’t this be easier if we came back when its light?" he
suggested with a hint of sarcasm.
The Dr muttered something under his breath about "No! No! In
light the passageway is not visible."
He shook his grey head.
"The tablet says ‘in dark the doorway is one in light it shall
appear gone’ "
Jim switched off his torch and let his eyes adjust to the surrounding
blackness. As all three men stared at the mound of boulders a
slight shimmering light appeared in the shape of a doorway.
Dr Parks turned to Jim.
"You know what to do?"
Jim nodded and smiled as he fingered the key in his pocket.
He leant over to the boulders, the light now illuminating an
obvious doorway. He scanned every inch for some kind of
keyhole, finally turning round with a bewildered look on his face.
"There’s nowhere to fit it!" he said, shrugging his shoulders.
The Doctor rubbed his chin in thought.
"Pass your flashlight to me please Jim" he asked.
Taking the torch he switched it on and shone it over the stone
Tablet. The doorway brightened to a white light, then blue and
slowly the boulders shifted with an eerie groan of something
ancient being awoken from a deep slumber, the noise
echoing throughout the forest.
Tianna sat bolt upright in bed and hurriedly put on her dressing
gown and slippers. She rushed to the small window to see what
the awful noise was that had woken her. Leaves fell softly to the
ground, brushing against the pane, and the wind blew softly
through the trees. There was no other sound and no movement
from what Tianna could make out in the darkness so, clambering
back into bed she snuggled down under her duvet and drifted off to
sleep, smiling softly to herself for being silly and worrying about
noises in her mind.
The three men stood at the entrance to a long slowly sloping shaft
lit by sconces at every ten yards or so. Dr Parks smiled at the
others and said. "After you Jim, " holding his palm outstretched
inviting Jim to enter the corridor.
Slowly Jim clambered through the doorway followed next by
Terence, then by the Doctor.
" OK! So I guess we follow this do we? " Asked Jim.
"I guess so, " replied the doctor.
He turned to glance outside before carrying on down the tunnel
and was greeted by a stone wall, the doorway having closed behind
them without a sound.
For several hundred metres the three men walked along the narrow
Passageway. It then opened up into a circular room in the centre of
which was a large circular stone table. Ancient encryptions were
carved into the sandstone and once again sconces lit the room. This
time held in the arms of eerie hooded stone statues, six in total,
Dr Parks studied the markings on the table, walking around and
around muttering to himself and scribbling on his little note pad
with a blunt pencil.
After several laps of the table the doctor eventually stopped and
smiled at Terence and Jim.
" Gentlemen!" he clapped his hands together." I do believe we
have just discovered the legendary round table, or one of them"
Jim looked confused.
"You said one of the round tables? You mean there was more than
one?"
The Doctor nodded. "Yes! Yes! It appears so. These markings," he
gestured to the etching, "are of ancient Celt origin. They speak of
sacred meeting places, the round tables. Traditionally each table is
built on pagan sacred ground" he continued.
Gently he brushed away at one marking in particular, a crude hunt
scene carved into the edge.
"It also appears that this was Arthur's seat at this particular table."
He said running his hand lovingly over the ancient stone.
Jim took out his mobile phone and took several photographs of the
table and the room. Suddenly he realised there was no exit barring
the way they had come and that was now blocked at the forest
entrance.
Bringing this to the attention of the others they all started
frantically searching for some secret doorway or lever. An hour
passed and still they found no exit from the room. Jim sat down in
the centre of the stone table cross legged and lit up a cigarette.
Coughing on the first few puffs, he took a deep pull on the
cigarette and let the smoke drift slowly out of his mouth and
upwards where he expected it to hover as the air was now
becoming thin.
The Doctor and Terence sat on the floor leant against one of the
Statues, sweat beads pouring down their faces, the low oxygen
levels not made any better by Jim smoking. But Jim’s philosophy
was that it looked like they were going to die anyway so he was
going to enjoy a final smoke. As he neared the end of the cigarette
he flicked the butt against one of the statues expecting it to bounce
off the hooded face.
Instead, smoke erupted from inside the statue escaping through the
hood. All three men found this strange and got up to investigate.
"Look at the tablet again Doc. Is there anything about statues?"
The doctor looked down at the tablet for several minutes scanning
the inscriptions.
"No! No! No! , Oh ,Wait , yes, here it is "
He ran his finger across the surface of the tablet. "To leave before
death arrives remove thy hood from thy face it hides".
He shrugged his shoulders " I don't have a clue what that means."
Both Jim and Terence looked at him blankly then looked at the
statues around the room, one still smouldering from the hood,
Terence walked around and checked all six statues, all solid
barring the one Jim had flicked his discarded cigarette at. Slowly
he pushed the hood upwards. Feeling it give slightly he smiled at
Jim and pushed harder. Slowly each statue in turn broke apart,
each half opening like a sarcophagus.
Inside each of the statues was an object wrapped in black velvet.
Jim walked to the statue opposite the spot Dr Parks had pointed out
as being King Arthur's seat at the round table. He reached inside
and removed the long black velvet casing from the statue. Turning
he placed it on the table and began to unravel the cloth surrounding
the object.
Shining Italian steel was revealed first then a golden hand guard
and shining black ivory handle, at the base of the handle was a
golden ball with a large blue stone embedded into the metal. Jim
looked at the Doctor.
" This isn't what i think it is? Is it? "
He held the long-sword aloft watching the slowly dying flame of
light reflecting on its surface.
"Excalibur!" he whispered to the weapon.
The Doctor took the sword from Jim and examined it closely with
his eye magnifying glass, as usual, muttering to himself and jotting
down in his note pad.
"No! It seems that this is the sword of Sir Lancelot."
He pointed to the blade.
"These markings here are those of a head Knight of the Order of
the Round Table." He ran his finger towards the tip.
"And here, look, in Roman. "
All three men looked at the inscription. It clearly read
"Lancelot’e".
Lost in the glory of the find the three men almost forgot that the air
was growing very thin until the Doctor urged them,
"Quickly, remove the other items from the statues." Each man
removed a black velvet package from each of the six statues
placing them on the table in the positions opposite the statue it had
been removed from.
The flames in the sconces flickered as though to disperse then
suddenly the room lit up as the flames danced high toward the roof
of the cavern. Behind Jim the statue he had removed Lancelot's
sword from, slowly sank into the ground with a slight groan,
revealing a passageway behind it. Fresh air rushed into the room
leaving its occupants mildly light headed.
Dr Parks slowly removed each object from its velvet casing
making sure that each stayed in its respective place. First the
Italian crafted sword, then a pair of Spanish silver gauntlets, and a
Jade handled dagger from the orient, an ivory shield from India,
a bone Breastplate from the Americas, and a Viking helm soon lay
on the stone table,
Terence ran his fingers over the dagger.
"Do you think if we take these with us anyone would mind?"
Dr Parks shrugged his shoulders.
" I doubt anyone even knows they are here. It’s our civic
duties to make sure the artefacts are taken to the correct
authorities".
Agreeing, each man picked up two of the objects and made their
way slowly down the new corridor.
Minutes turned to hours and the three companions found
themselves walking what seemed an endless, dimly lit and damp
smelling tunnel. The earth seemed to rise at a forty-five degree
angle and then rough steps emerged heading upwards to a dim
light.
