The Drustone

Chapter Fifteen. A Riddle

Chapter Fifteen 

A Riddle 

Henry couldn't sleep, his mind in ferment, as he waited for Uncle Steve to return from his meeting with Judd. Henry frequently slept over at his grandmother's and usually shared a bedroom with his Uncle. Alone together, Uncle Steve would regale him with wartime stories and teach him ribald army songs, repetition of which gave Henry a special status with his friends. Tonight was not a night for rude ditties. Uncle Steve barely had time to remove his jacket before the interrogation began.  

"I was right, Uncle Steve. I was right wasn't I? Judd's a Druid." 

"I wouldn't say that exactly, but there does seem to be a connection. He was quite intrigued when I told him that he had a picture of a Drustone on his business card." 

"Why was that?" 

"He copied the picture on his business card from the Le Fleming's coat of arms, thinking it would make the card look classy. He had no idea it was a Drustone, although he had heard the word. Judd's family left England in the early eighteenth century to escape religious persecution and took many old family documents with them. In studying these documents, Judd found references to Drustones. Apparently they were used in ancient days to test whether a person was a true Druid." 

"What do you mean, a true Druid?" 

"Well you couldn't simply train to be a Druid. You had to have a special talent. You had to be able to make the Drustone move by thought alone." 

"Really?" 

"The would-be novice Druid..." 

"What's a novice?"  

"A Druid in training. He would link hands with known Druids in a ring around the Drustone. All would concentrate their thoughts on the stone and attempt to make it move. If the stone didn't move the novitiate failed the test." 

"Could we take the test, Uncle Steve? Please it would be so much fun. Please...?" 

"I don't think there's much point, Henry. I took Judd and some of his friends over to Urswick tonight and showed them the stone. They were quite disappointed to find that it had been vandalised, the egg part toppled over, parts of it chipped, and it was covered with moss. We tried to replace it but it was impossible to move." 

"What about the one on Chapel Island?" 

"Do you want to cross the sands again?" 

"Maybe not." 

"I think you'd be wasting your time anyway. I don't think those monuments can be real Drustones. The Druids may have been special, but I really can't believe they could lift rocks of that size by thought alone." 

"So what is a real Drustone?" 

"Judd had an idea on that. When they emigrated, the family took their jewels with them. Amongst them was a green egg-shaped crystal. It had no holes in it, or any clips to attach it anywhere. Judd hadn't a clue about what it might be, but now thinks that it might actually be part of a Drustone, with the base missing." 

"That sounds like the one Rev saw." 

"Rev?" 

"Don't you remember? He told us about seeing what he thought was a model of a Drustone in Barrow museum. Maybe that's a real Drustone. Do you think we could borrow it?" 

"I doubt it. I doubt it very much."  

Henry couldn't hide his disappointment. 

"Don't get so down, Henry. Judd wanted to know if you and your pals could do him a favour." 

"What's the favour?" 

"He needs help to find a long lost family heirloom. He believes that an old manuscript he inherited contains a clue to its whereabouts. The clue, which was written in something like Shakespearean English, made no sense to him. I translated it the best I could, and wrote it down for you. There's mention of a barrow and he remembered..." 

"Can I look at it?" 

Inside the oak on the missing barrow 

Find the key to your tomorrow 

The lock it turns is hard to find 

But friends unknown will lift the blind. 

"Would you be interested?" 

"Of course. The heirloom might be a Drustone."

Rev and P.C. would have to be consulted. It was too late now. First thing tomorrow would have to do. Where to begin?