The Chalice

Hot sweat, cold sweat, menopause, hag.

St John's church tower was watching them from above, unfeeling behind its lagging of rain and night.

Juanita pulled car keys from her shoulder bag, gripped them until the jagged edges bit into her palm.

'Listen. OK. Just listen.' Facing Diane over the bonnet of the Volvo. 'We go directly to Jim's. We don't stop for anybody. Is that understood?'

Diane nodded; Juanita didn't trust her. She pulled the old Afghan coat out of the boot, dragged it on. The rain was relentless as they drove into Chilkwell Street – a few cars parked, a little light traffic. Small town, rainy night.

Halfway up Wellhouse Lane, they came to the first vehicle. The old Post Office van. 'You agreed,' Juanita snapped. 'You agreed we don't stop. I don't care who you recognise, we keep going.'

Then the hearse.

'Mort,' Diane breathed.

'Shut up.'

Dim lamplight in some of the buses and vans. A few people plodded from one to another. Metallic music rattled the Volvo's windows.

'It's them, it's Mort's hearse.'

'I don't care if it's Storming Norman's bloody tank, we're not stopping.'

'I don't think I want to anymore.' Diane actually seemed a little scared.

'Good.' Juanita trod on the gas, eased forward past the hearse. And then collapsed on the brake…

'What the hell?'

… as a grey cliff-face arose in their path.

The motor coach was in the middle of the road. Not moving. No lights. The Volvo stalled. Juanita wound down the window in rage, and screamed at anybody, 'What do you think this is, the municipal dump?'

Laughter came like breaking glass.

'Stay!' Juanita hissed at Diane. 'Just don't move an inch.'

She slammed out into the road. There was a group of people, or it might have been people and bushes; it didn't move.

What if he's here? With his sickle. Gwyn ap Nudd. In his animal mask. Juanita tasted oil and wanted to run away, but she made herself speak to them.

'Excuse me. We need to get past.'

'Can't be done, lady.' A calm voice, unhurried. 'You're gonna have to turn back.'

All she could see was a tall grey figure and a cigarette end too small to fizz in the rain. Did whoever it was recognise her from the other night? Did they all recognise her?

'Mel's bus broke down, OK? We can't fix it tonight. You gotta go back. There's another way. Wherever you're headed, there's, like, always another way, lady.'

'Not to where we're going. I don't get this. What are you guys doing back here?'

'Lady, we are the army for Avalon. Public meeting, yeah? About the road? We're the public.'

'Can't you just reverse it down the hill?'

'It's fuckin' clapped. Don't you listen? We'll get it seen to when the morning comes.'

'I do like your coat.' A cruel, female cackle. 'My granny had one like that.'

Juanita was preparing an acid reply when she saw that Diane was at her side.

'Mort? Are you there?'

'For Christ's sake, what did we agree, Diane? The road's blocked, anyway. One of their buses broke down.'

'Mort!' Diane cried out shrilly. 'Where's Mort?'

'Shiiiit,' one of the female travellers drawled from the darkness. 'We got bleedin' Fergie?'

'Rozzie? Is that you? It's me. Di… Molly. It's Molly F-f-Fortune.'

'She on about?'

'Interbreeding, it is,' the man said. 'Been poking their cousins for centuries. All got brains the size of fuckin' walnuts.'

The mild rain between them was as dense and muffling as a velvet curtain. Diane shouted, 'Mort, we have to talk. I know you're there, I've seen the hearse.'

'It's my hearse, darlin'. Paul Pendragon at your service. There's nobody called Mort. And, listen, you shouldn't be here hassling us, you should be down at that meeting. Got to stop this fuckin' road, ladies. You come down with us, we'll look after you.'

'Diane, come on.'

'She yours, lady?'

'Diane, will you…?'

'Why did you leave?' Diane screamed. 'Why didn't you take poor Headlice to hospital? Why did you let him die? Why'd you leave him?'

Silence. Juanita had a horrible sense of deja vu. She tensed, snatched at Diane's arm.

Somebody laughed and held up a hurricane lamp that passed from face to face, and there were beards and plaits and dreadlocks and face-paint, and Juanita didn't recognise, thank God, anyone.

'Sweetheart,' Paul Pendragon said, 'we took every case of headlice to hospital the Health Service'd grind to a bleeding standstill.'

Diane was all fuzzy and bewildered.

'They aren't the same. They're different.'

Well, they had to be. No way the last lot would return after the death, the possible murder, of one of their tribe.

Juanita was entirely relieved, if you wanted the truth. They got back into the car and she reversed about twenty yards, pulled into the side of the lane, half in the bushes, switched off the engine and the lights.

'I think what we do is we walk from here. But we let them go past first.'

Juanita leaned across Diane, pulled a torch from the glove compartment as a bunch of them came down the hill with the hurricane lamp. The army for Avalon marching to something mournful played on a tin whistle. She opened the driver's door and stood in the bushes until all she could hear was faint music and the echo of laughter.

She and Diane moved past the vehicles. Six, Juanita counted, including the bus blocking the road.

It was still raining, but they were less than half a mile from Jim's. A stupid exercise, really.

When, after nearly ten minutes' walking, a light appeared ahead of them and there was the sound of solid footsteps, Juanita was convinced it was Jim himself and started thinking of an excuse. It would have to be the Headlice issue: they wanted Jim's opinion before going to the cops. Tried to ring…

The footsteps stopped immediately in front of them, like a soldier coming to attention, and he turned the beam of his lamp on himself, lighting up a Barbour so old and worn it could have been Mr Barbour's prototype, and a face like a round of rough Cheddar.

'Is it the fire of hell, Mrs Carey? Or is it the wrath of God? Cursed, it is, this place. The devil in a black buzz and now the fire of hell.'

'Don.' Juanita wondered if she'd ever squeezed more disappointment into one syllable. 'I think we can do without the evangelism tonight.'

'She thought you were Jim Battle,' Diane said.

'Oh.' Don Moulder let his lamp arm fall to his side, the beam trailing in the road. 'Mr Battle. Aye, When I heard your voices, I did hope as he were comin' up with you. I called 'em already, look. Soon's I seen it, went back up the house, called 999. Told 'em to get their fingers out.'

Juanita felt herself go limp.

'Now don't you start worryin' nor nothin'. He couldn't be in there, no way, my love. When I seen it, I thought it were them hippies an' their paraffin again. I mighter smelt it and went down there earlier, look, but for this rain, and… and things.'

'Oh God,' Juanita howled. She pushed past Don and tore blindly down the little lane which led to Jim's track.

She could smell it herself now, sour and acrid.

'I wouldn't go there,' Don Moulder shouted out, corning after her. 'Mrs Carey, you wait for me.'

She ran down through the trees. Her skirt snagged on some brambles and she ripped it free, feeling the material tearing under the Afghan coat.

Don Moulder stumbling behind. 'You won't get no nearer than I could, Mrs Carey.'

The air grew bright around her, rosy as dawn, but no dawn ever smelt like this.

'You wait for the fire brigade. They d'have machines as'll get down that track, no trouble. You'll get trapped down there, look.'

Juanita found the track at last, ran across the turning area where she'd parked the other night. On to a grassy hump, stumbling over a root and sinking to her knees.

'…'s far enough, I tell you! Don't be s' damn stupid, woman!'