Читать книгу The Raven’s Knot - Robin Jarvis - Страница 10

Ever since her outburst in the Chamber of Nirinel, Miss Veronica had been sullen and silent. Now, sitting in a worn leather armchair, with her cane resting upon her lap, she stared vacantly at the small square window, watching the rain streak down the diamond latticed panes.

Over her white powdered face the faint drizzling shadows fell, but whether she was aware of the soft, rippling light or was lost in a corner of her jumbled mind it was impossible to determine.

A plate of her favourite delicacy, jam and pancakes, lay untouched upon the table at her side and this fact alone worried her sister.

Miss Celandine Webster had tried everything she could think of to coax and cajole Miss Veronica out of her tedious sulk, but the wizened woman in the armchair was oblivious to all her urging.

‘You’re no fun today, Veronica,’ whined Celandine. ‘It’s not fair – it isn’t!’

‘Let her be, Celandine,’ a curt, impatient voice interrupted. ‘If Veronica wishes to be childish do not spoil it for her.’

Miss Celandine turned her nut-brown face to the fireplace where Miss Ursula, resplendent in a black beaded evening gown, stood cold and detached.

‘But it isn’t like her, Ursula!’ she protested. ‘Veronica never mopes, not ever’

‘Then she’s obviously making up for lost time,’ came the cold reply. ‘Leave her alone.’

The Websters’ quarters were a poky little apartment situated at the top of The Wyrd Museum. Cluttered with bric-a-brac collected over the endless years, it was almost a monument to the building’s history.

Images of the place in various stages of its enduring existence covered the shabby wallpaper; from a small stone shrine to a twelfth century manor house. A later watercolour showed the building to be a graceful Queen Anne residence surrounded by well-tended gardens. But the final portrait of the ever expanding abode of the three Fates was a faded, sepia photograph of the stark and severe looking Well Lane Workhouse and this grim print brought the record to a bleak and melancholy close.

Unaffected by the tense, oppressive atmosphere, Edie Dorkins paid little attention to the Websters’ squabbles. She was too busy examining the dust-covered ornaments and fingering the collection of delicate, antique fans to care what the others were doing. For her the place was a treasury of enchantment. She felt so blissfully at ease and welcome that sometimes the rapturous sense of belonging swelled so greatly inside her that she wanted to run outside and hug every corner of the ugly building.

Lifting her gaze to the mantelpiece, Edie looked only briefly at the oval Victorian painting of the three sisters, before staring with fascination at the vases which stood upon either side. Never had she seen anything like the peacock feathers which those vessels contained and she quickly pulled a chair over to the fireplace to scramble up and snatch a handful.

‘Lor’!’ she exclaimed, shaking off the dust and holding the plumes up to the dim light. ‘They’re lovely. Can I keep ’em?’

‘They are yours already, Edith, dear,’ Miss Ursula replied. ‘Everything here is yours, you know that.’

Edie chuckled and gloated over the shimmering blues and greens, like a miser with his gold.

‘I never seen a bird with fevvers like this,’ she muttered. ‘Much nicer’n that big black ’un last night.’

Miss Ursula smiled indulgently. ‘I really must get that fool of a caretaker to board up the broken windows,’ she said. ‘I cannot have the museum overrun with pigeons.’

‘Weren’t no pigeon!’ Edie cried. ‘Were the biggest crow I ever saw. Bold he were too, chased me clean through the rooms downstairs and tried to bite he did.’

Hoisting the hem of her skirt, she pulled and twisted her hole-riddled stockings to show the others the raven’s clawmarks.

‘Make a real good scab that will,’ she grinned. ‘I was gonna get me own back but the mean old bird took off before I could catch him.’

Miss Ursula’s long face had become stern and her elegant eyebrows twitched with irritation.

‘A large crow,’ she repeated in a wavering voice. ‘Are you certain you are not mistaken, Edith?’

The girl fished in the pocket of her coat, pulled out the talon that the creature had left behind and flourished it proudly.

‘There!’ she declared. ‘That don’t come from no mangy pigeon – see!’

Miss Ursula stepped forward, the taffeta of her dress rustling like dry grass as she moved, and took the severed claw between her fingers.

‘No...’ she whispered uneasily.

Gingerly holding the raven’s claw as if it were the deadly sting of some venomous insect, Miss Ursula’s expression changed from disbelief to horror and dismay.

In silence, Miss Celandine padded up beside her and she too appeared frightened as she sucked the air through her prominent teeth and bit her bottom lip.

Edie glanced from one to the other, their unspoken fear alarming her.

‘Did I do wrong?’ she asked. ‘You won’t send me back will you? I doesn’t want to go back to then – even with its pretty bombs. I don’t know what the bird was.’

For a whole minute no one answered her, Miss Ursula’s face had grown even more pale than usual and Miss Celandine seemed to be on the verge of panic. Then a sorrowful, whimpering voice said, ‘I know.’

Edie and the others turned sharply. There, still seated in the armchair but now with her head turned to face them, Miss Veronica was peering at the thing in her sister’s hand and a thoughtful scowl creased her powdered face.

‘A raven!’ she announced, her vermilion circled mouth widening into a jubilant smile. ‘The talon belongs to a raven.’

Closing her eyes, she struggled to remember more, but the pathways of her muddled mind were too tangled and meandering, and she tapped her walking cane with impatience.

Her sisters regarded her cautiously.

‘Veronica!’ Miss Celandine trilled, dashing over to the armchair. ‘Do have a pancake, or would you like me to read you a story?’

Miss Veronica ignored her. ‘But weren’t there two of them?’ she muttered under her breath, trying to wade through the neglected memories. ‘I’m sure there were.’

Still clutching the claw in her hand, Miss Ursula glared at Edie. ‘Have you told me the truth, child?’ she demanded fretfully. ‘Did you really see this creature in the museum last night?’

The girl backed away. Miss Ursula was usually so composed and controlled, to see her afraid was startling and distressing.

‘Answer me, Edith!’ the woman snapped, seizing her by the arm.

Edie nodded resolutely and Miss Ursula drew a horrified breath.

‘Then I can only hope you are mistaken,’ she hissed. ‘It is too soon... too soon. Nothing is prepared, we are not ready! Can the hour I have long dreaded be here already? Have I been caught out at the last?’

Casting a final, fearful glance at the confused figure in the armchair, the eldest of the Websters whirled about and hurried quickly from the room.

Miss Celandine scowled at Edie. ‘You mustn’t upset us so,’ she chided. ‘Fancy mentioning the ravens, and in front of Veronica too. See how agitated you’ve made her. Veronica, speak to me, Veronica.’

Edie wanted to run after Miss Ursula, but even as she hastened to the entrance her quick, capricious mind had already decided against it.

If she was caught spying there was no telling what might happen. Of the three Webster sisters, Miss Ursula was the most formidable and Edie knew she had to be wary in her presence. The other two seemed much easier to handle – perhaps she could learn what she needed from them.

Sitting beside the armchair, the girl looked at Miss Celandine’s ripe wrinkly, walnut-like features framed by her straw coloured plaits, and Miss Veronica’s haggard, overly made-up face.

‘Why is Ursula so scared?’ she asked.

Neither of the Websters replied. Miss Veronica seemed to have drifted off into her own world again and Miss Celandine was nibbling her lip as if wondering what to do.

‘There’s some things even you can’t be told,’ Miss Celandine eventually blurted. ‘I thought you were here to look after us but that hasn’t happened at all – quite the opposite. It is, it is! Well, I shan’t say anything to you unless Ursula tells me to – and Veronica won’t either.’

But her words did not deter Edie. Apparently unconcerned, she lifted the plate of pancakes and sniffed them experimentally.

‘Put them down!’ Miss Celandine squealed. ‘They’re not yours, they’re not, they’re not!’

Impudently Edie arched her eyebrows and proceeded to stuff two of the pancakes into her mouth, much to Miss Celandine’s outrage.

‘Wicked!’ she clucked, beating her fists upon her knees. ‘You stop that! At once, at once – ooh, you naughty child. You are, you are!’

Edie ignored her and looked instead at Veronica who was also staring at her in shocked disbelief as yet another pancake disappeared inside the young girl’s mouth.

Suddenly the woman in the armchair could bear it no longer. Yowling like a singed cat, she grabbed the plate from Edie and rammed its scrumptious jam-daubed dainties into her own crabbed lips.

Several minutes passed as Miss Veronica chewed and devoured her most favourite food. Then when the last morsel was swallowed, she frowned at Edie and poked her with a bony finger.

‘There were two ravens,’ she said, her eyes glazing over as she struggled to recall the fleeting memories. ‘Two of them, and they belonged to someone... someone very special. What were their names? Why don’t I know? I’m sure it’s important.’

Leaning back in the chair, the elderly woman sighed heavily and shook her head.

‘You are shameless,’ Miss Celandine berated Edie. ‘Poor Veronica mustn’t remember, you mustn’t make her.’

The girl eyed her mutinously. Perhaps if she asked about something else she could catch her off guard. ‘Tell me what happened to the land of Askar,’ she piped up unexpectedly.

At the mention of that name Miss Celandine brightened, but she glanced suspiciously at the doorway in case Miss Ursula was lurking there. ‘Come,’ she whispered, ‘over here – we’ll sit by the fireplace.’

Together they rose, and Miss Celandine settled herself in one of the chairs by the hearth and raked a poker through the cold, dead ashes as if stoking a heap of flaming cinders.

Edie waited until she had finished before she said, ‘Ursula started tellin’ me yesterday about the ice giants. Did they build the bridge and kill the World Tree?’

Miss Celandine brushed the ash and coal dust from her fingers and gazed mournfully at the charred, scattered cinders.

‘Oh, yes,’ she murmured. ‘The chasm that separated the green lands from the icy wastes was spanned. Oh, but it was so heavenly in those days. Askar was at its most beautiful and Yggdrasill at the height of its power and majesty. It really was glorious – oh, it was, it was.

‘Everyone looked so handsome and attractive then, the gentlemen were tall and dashing. Oh what dances we had, what a delicious time.’

Miss Celandine’s voice trailed off as she slipped into a delightful reverie and Edie had to nudge her to continue.

‘What about the giants?’ she urged.

Miss Celandine’s goofy grin disappeared. ‘I don’t want to talk about them,’ she snapped. ‘Mayn’t I only remember the nice bits?’

‘No.’

‘You’re as beastly as Ursula,’ the elderly woman bleated. ‘Very well.

‘When those terrible ice lords first stepped upon the shores of the fertile lands, they saw in the distance the wondrous light of the World Tree and knew in their black hearts that they could never hope to attack it. Spanning the chasm had weakened them dreadfully. So, at the edge of the green realm they quarrelled about what to do, until their leader – the tallest and proudest of them, who wore a crown of icicles upon his big head, was so disgusted at their cowardice that he stormed off on his own.

‘Over the pretty hillsides he rampaged, drawing ever closer to the emerald shadows of Yggdrasill and when at last he reached the lowest and most outlying of boughs, he leapt up and swung his great axe.’

Miss Celandine drew her breath and covered her mouth as she let the tragedy of those words imprint themselves upon the intrigued child.

‘Hacked it clear through that monster did!’ she uttered sadly. ‘The world shuddered, as did we all, and after that the sun never seemed to shine quite as brightly again. A horrendous shiver travelled through the great ash, from its topmost leaves to the bottommost root and suddenly we were all afraid.’

‘Is that when the tree died?’ Edie asked breathlessly.

Miss Celandine ran her fingers through the stained and ragged lace that fringed her velvet gown before answering. ‘No,’ she said simply. ‘Only the bough was hewn, the ogre could do no more damage, for the massive branch toppled right down on top of him and broke his frozen head to bits. Served him right it did, but that was no comfort to us. The World Tree was injured and we did not know how to heal it.

‘Oh, the poor thing. Three days it took for the people of the city to ride about the trunk to where the sap seeped from that hideous gash. I couldn’t look, it was Ursula and our mother who went with a company of guards. Veronica was away at the time, but she returned as soon as she could. She was often away in those days, exploring the outlying regions, blessing the wild forests and standing upon distant hills. I wanted to go with her sometimes but she always said no. Sometimes she could be so mean and tiresome, I do hope she isn’t lapsing back into old habits.’

‘Then how did Yggdrasill die?’ Edie pressed, before the elderly woman had a chance to be distracted.

‘It was the others!’ she cried, astonished at the girl’s ignorance. ‘I thought everyone knew that! It was the other giants. They saw what happened to their leader and knew that weapons more cunning than axes would have to be used to be rid of it. They drew silly, weak people and unwary creatures into their service until eventually they discovered the whereabouts of two of the World Tree’s roots.

‘Oh, it was terrible, into them they fed the bitterest poisons, fouling the waters of the wells and springs which nourished them with their dirt and filthy charms. How we cried when a second shudder quaked the earth and Yggdrasill sickened. We thought that the end had come, but a ray of hope still glimmered, for no one – not even the enemy’s watchful spies, knew where the third and final root could be found and so the tree survived.’

Resting her chin in her hands, Edie closed her eyes and recalled the impressive sight of the withered Nirinel in the subterranean chamber far below the museum.

‘But they did in the end,’ she muttered glumly.

Miss Celandine stroked her head. ‘Don’t be silly,’ she said. ‘The end hasn’t happened yet, at least I don’t think it has. Ursula would have told me, I’m certain. The ice lords haven’t returned have they? The sun still shines doesn’t it?’

Turning to the window, she stared at the dismal day outside and sharply drew her breath. ‘Has the last day closed? Are they stirring in the frozen wastes? We must get Ursula. The darkness is coming – the cold and dark are here!’

‘No, Celandine,’ Edie assured her. ‘It’s only raining. Tell me what happened next, after the two roots were poisoned.’

The elderly woman squinted once more at the window and shifted in the chair.

‘Great expanses of the World Tree started to rot,’ she murmured sadly. ‘In those decaying wounds, all the sicknesses and plagues were spawned. There was no death in Askar in the early days, but soon the bleak northern winds began to carry disease and the spores of pestilence. Many fell ill and perished, and so the glory of Askar began to dwindle and wane.’

‘That’s sad,’ Edie mumbled as Miss Celandine sniffled into the lace of her collar.

‘It was, and is,’ the old woman agreed, blowing her nose upon the sleeve of her dress.

‘But the Frost Giants were not wholly successful,’ she added. ‘They had not killed Yggdrasill completely, for the third root was still sustaining it and whilst they continued to hunt and search for its whereabouts, something wonderful happened.’

Running her fingers over the child’s pixie-hood, she beamed to herself and tilted her head to one side.

‘When the first bough was hacked from the ash,’ she said, ‘no one knew what to do with it. Obviously we couldn’t just leave it there for the ogres to make their nasty weapons out of. The wood was that of the World Tree and no one could imagine what powers it might possess. Then our mother had a vision in which she saw what had to be done.’

‘Did the people of Askar listen to her?’ Edie asked doubtfully.

Miss Celandine stared at the child in surprise. ‘Of course they did!’ she declared. ‘She was their Queen! Hasn’t Ursula told you?’

Edie grinned and gazed at the old woman as if viewing her for the first time. ‘Then you’re a princess!’ she laughed.

‘I was,’ Miss Celandine answered mournfully, ‘a long, long time ago when my name was different. I don’t know what I am now. I forget so much of the in-between years, after the great early days. Sometimes I wonder how we came here and all I want to do is get away from Ursula and go dancing down through the galleries. Veronica feels the same, but her legs are bad. If it weren’t for her pancakes I don’t know how she’d...’

‘Celandine!’ Edie said firmly, assuming a tone not unlike that of Miss Ursula at her most severe. ‘What did they do with the fallen branch? What did the vision tell your mother to make out of it?’

‘Why the loom of course!’ the elderly woman grandly declared. ‘The loom of destiny, where we weaved the fortunes of mankind and the webs of doom. Veronica would measure the threads, I would spin them and Ursula would cut them. That’s what we did for many, many years – ordering the affairs of everyone and everything – the whole world was caught in our tapestry, no one escaped us. No one at all, even we were trapped.’

Thrilled to the marrow, Edie marvelled at Miss Celandine’s words and her skin prickled with excitement. ‘Doooom,’ she echoed. ‘Loooom of Doooom.’

‘Of course,’ Miss Celandine added, ‘at first nobody dared to string it and so the very first day it was completed, the loom was left in the courtyard until the night came.’

‘What happened then?’

Miss Celandine turned and pointed to a small painting half hidden in the shadow of a bookshelf.

Edie peered at it. Within the dusty frame there was a woodland scene enshrouded by dense curling mist and, from the swirling vapours, reared the dim outlines of four great stags.

‘At the dead of night,’ Miss Celandine said, ‘Ursula looked out of her window and saw those milk white creatures come boldly into the court and carry the loom away upon their silver antlers. Of course, she raised the alarm at once, but it was as if they had vanished, no one could find any trace of them.’

‘But you did, didn’t you?’

Miss Celandine however was growing restive and she looked across the room to Miss Veronica who was peeping over the back of the armchair with a curious, intense look graven upon her face.

‘I won’t say any more!’ Miss Celandine announced, putting one of her plaits into her mouth and chewing it stubbornly. ‘I’ve said too, too much!’

‘Please!’ Edie cried. ‘What happened next?’

Miss Celandine clenched her teeth and refused to utter another word, then she folded her arms upon her chest and dug her heels into the frayed carpet.

‘It was Ursula’s fault,’ Miss Veronica’s voice piped up. ‘It was she who walked under the leaves, she who learned too much, more than was good for her – or any of us.’

Miss Celandine spat the hair from her mouth and tutted disagreeably. ‘Veronica, stop it! Oh, Edith, you are a wicked child – look you’ve made our sister go and remember. It’s better if she doesn’t, Ursula always say so. How could you be so hateful?’

But Edie wasn’t listening to her any longer. Drawing near to the armchair, she brought her face close to the heavily painted eyes which peered over the back and smiled persuasively.

‘It was years later,’ Miss Veronica continued, ‘on a night of calm. Ursula was roaming under that part of the tree which was still untouched by poison when, in the rustling of the leaves, she heard a whispering voice.’

‘Stop her someone!’ Miss Celandine squeaked, hopping from her place by the hearth and clapping her hands over her ears. ‘I had nothing to do with it, I swear. I didn’t make her remember, I didn’t, I didn’t. It was that disobedient girl. Why, I wasn’t even here – I was downstairs. I’m not here now – I’m down there, that’s what. I’ll tell her that too if she asks.’

Miss Veronica watched her spring about the cramped room, and gazed dumbly at the folds of faded velvet which thrashed madly about her sister’s wizened form, making a sound like great flapping wings. With a start, the old woman gripped her walking cane.

‘The ravens!’ she cried abruptly. ‘Thought – Thought and Memory! That’s what they were called!’

Miss Celandine stumbled to a standstill and shuddered, before letting out a shrill squeal as she pointed at Edie in fear.

‘You’ve done it now!’ she scolded. ‘Oh, you’ve done it now!’