Becky crouched next to me. ‘That looks like a rune,’ she whispered. She pointed. ‘See?’ I followed her finger and squinted. She was right, it did look like a rune.
Ms Smiggleswith was in the middle of a long explanation about Roman roads. As soon as she paused for breath, I jumped in. ‘This rune on the side of the chest. Do you know what it means?’
‘Oh, yes.’ She nodded enthusiastically. ‘We had it translated by a local sorcerer. It’s a plea for forgiveness.’
We were all interested now and turned to her eagerly. Slim started bouncing up and down on his toes. If the museum director was taken aback by our sudden attentiveness, she didn’t show it.
Agatha Smiggleswith struck me as someone who took life and its foibles in her stride. She hadn’t commented on the brownies, which was unusual given their rarity, and despite her exuberant welcome she didn’t appear overawed by Hugo. Her interest in him seemed to be purely because of her desire to publicise the museum. I liked a person who had priorities that couldn’t be swayed; it made them easier to understand – and easier to deal with.
Hugo looked puzzled. ‘Romans didn’t use sorcerers,’ he said. ‘There’s no evidence that they ever made use of runes.’
Smiggleswith was already nodding. ‘For a long time it was believed that they eschewed magic in all its forms but we’ve discovered that’s not true. Although the Roman authorities tried to forbid magical practices, there were witches in abundance. Roman witches weren’t like the ones we are used to today, but many of their practices were similar. Their use of herbs was more limited so instead they bound spells into gemstones, creating amulets for protection and tablets for curses. Most magical Roman artefacts that we find nowadays are of precious metals and stones.’
She gestured at the necklace I was wearing, a Christmas gift from my parents – myrealparents, the ones who had adopted me and put in the hard graft to bring me up. ‘Rather like that pendant you’re wearing.’
My curiosity increased, even though my necklace was modern and possessed no magical properties. Perhaps the little golden skull we were searching for was Roman in origin? Not for the first time, I wondered what on earth it could do and why Gordon Mackenzie thought it would be so useful.
Smiggleswith continued. ‘Both the wooden chest and the rune are more modern than the coins. They date from the sixteenth century.’
‘Very modern, then,’ Hester muttered.
The museum director smiled. ‘There are many interpretations of the word “history”. Yesterday is history, two thousand years ago is history. It’s all relative.’
Before we got involved in a lengthy philosophical discussion, Miriam brought the conversation back to what we needed. ‘So the chest was created at a later date to hold the coins?’
‘Yes. It’s an interesting story. The coins were discovered near Caistor, about forty miles from here, which has strongRoman connections. We don’t know who buried them originally, but they were found on a small hill in the seventeenth century by the farmer who owned the land. He dug them up from beneath a large rock known as the Fonaby Sack Stone.
‘Legend has it that the stone was once a sack of corn that was transformed in the seventh century by a missionary who asked a local farmer to spare some grain. When the farmer refused, the missionary took umbrage and turned the sack into rock.’
She beamed beatifically. ‘Of course, we don’t know if the story is true – and we certainly no longer possess the sort of alchemical magic that can transform materials in that way.’
Slim was still examining the coins. ‘A Roman buried them two thousand years ago, and fourteen hundred years ago a stone appeared in the same spot? Then four hundred years ago, somebody dug the coins up. Where does the forgiveness rune come in?’
‘The missionary didn’t only turn the sack of corn into stone.’ Smiggleswith lowered her voice dramatically. ‘He cursed it as well.’ Her bright smile was totally at odds with her story. ‘Or so the legend goes. When the seventeenth-century farmer dug up the coins, the curse attached itself to him. Eventually he was so beset by misfortune that he placed the coins in the chest, added the rune and re-buried them, together with some other items that had been dug up at the time.’
I did my best to keep my expression bland. One of those ‘other items’ could have been our little golden skull, but it would be wise not to let Agatha Smiggleswith know what we were searching for. We didn’t want any interference – or competition.
‘We don’t know whether his actions rid the farmer of the curse or not, but there are other instances of it affecting local folk. A local mason hammered a chunk off the stone, intendingto turn it into a gift for his fiancée, then died violently soon afterwards. Another farmer in the late nineteenth century moved the stone to plough the land underneath it. In the process, he discovered the chest and the coins and promptly sold them to the highest bidder. The money didn’t do him much good – his horses all died, his crops failed and his eldest son was taken ill.’
Hester gasped loudly.
‘That farmer couldn’t retrieve the coins from the buyer, but he did return the stone to its original position – and then his son miraculously recovered.’
Hugo was already nodding. ‘The curse is on the stone, not on the coins.’
Smiggleswith looked at him approvingly. ‘Which is why the coins are here rather than buried beneath the stone. They were donated to the museum many decades ago because the family who owned them were wary of any misfortune they might bring.’ Her cheery expression didn’t alter. ‘I can assure you that we’ve never endured any hardship because of their presence.’
Slim scratched his chin. ‘And the Fonaby Sack Stone?’ he asked.
‘Is on the same land and in the same place. It has been many years since anyone has dared to disturb it.’ She arched her eyebrows. ‘If you’re planning to do so, Lord Pemberville, I’d be very wary of the consequences. Such things are best left alone.’
We exchanged glances. Otis shivered, and so did I. For once my reaction had nothing to do with spider’s silk.
‘Thank you for the warning,’ Hugo said. ‘And for your time. You’ve been very helpful.’
Smiggleswith inclined her head then raised a hand. A young man bearing a camera appeared from behind a pillar. ‘You’re very welcome. Shall we take a few photos to mark the moment?’The rest of us dutifully stepped aside to allow her to pose with Hugo.
I looked again at the thirteen old coins, protected by the glass display case.
