The Last Mystery

Cliffwood, 1960

“I found it!” Ethel cried out triumphantly, rushing up to her cousin Elsie with the fossilised shark tooth in hand. “I found the treasure.”

“You did. Very good,” Elsie said, patting her eight-year-old cousin on the head.

“Is it from an actual sea monster?”

“Yes, one with really big teeth and a huge scaly tail.”

“It used to attack pirate ships for their treasure,” Jack added, making Ethel giggle even more.

Ethel’s eyes lit up.

“Speaking of pirates, they used to hide their treasure along the Cliffwood coastline.”

“Really?” Ethel asked, bouncing on her heels.

“They really did,” Elsie said with a look at Jack, to tell him that the story really was true, and not just another one of the stories they made up to entertain her young cousin.

“Can we go find them?” Ethel asked, her eyes widening.

“I don’t see why not,” Elsie said, sitting up and brushing the sand off her dress. “People have looked for the caves for a long time but they’ve never found them.”

“Why not?” Jack asked with genuine curiosity as they hiked up the beach.

“Nobody knows why. The caves might have been sealed up at some point. Or maybe the stories were only rumours in the first place.” She whispered the last part to Jack so Ethel couldn’t overhear. She was already excited at the prospect at finding real pirate treasure.

“So where would they be?” Jack asked outl oud.

“Probably on the east side of the island, since it’s the furthest from the mainland so they’d be less likely to be discovered.”

“And it’s safe from the sea monsters,” Ethel added.

“Yes, that too,” Elsie said, she and Jack giggling along with her.

They strolled along the beach in that direction, Ethel hurdling ahead to investigate any seashells or bits of seaweed she found, Elsie and Jack hand in hand. Both of them knew that they wouldn’t really recover any treasure. Even if it did exist, which it probably didn’t, the archaeologists would have turned it up long ago. But at least it would make Ethel happy for a few hours until she grew bored and wanted to play a different game.

Neither of them said it, but they both knew that they wouldn’t have much longer to play games like this. At the end of the summer, Elsie was going away to university. Jack had already begun his apprentiship at the horse stables, so they would be apart for several years at least. All the time they would have together would be summer breaks.

“It should be about here,” Elsie said, pointing at the cliffs to distract herself from her thoughts.

“Where’s the way in?” Ethel said, feeling along the chalk cliffs.

“We’ll have to look for it,” Elsie said, she and Jack doing the same thing, already knowing that they weren’t going to find anything except chalk and stone.

After much searching, the sun was starting to dip in the sky. “Oh well, no pirates around today. We’d best go home,” Elsie said.

“No, I want to find the pirates!” Ethel whined.

“We can look for them again tomorrow,” Elsie said, hoping her cousin would have grown bored and forgotten by then.

“No, I want to stay,” Ethel said, barrelling back to the cliff and inspecting it thoroughly. “Look, it’s here!” she said with elation, pointing at a piece of the cliff wall jutting out.

“That’s just a bit of old stone, Ethel. Come on, we’ve got to go. Your mum will be-”

She fell silent as she watched Ethel tug at the stone with all the strength her small body could manage. The wall came away with her. Before them was a pitch-black entrance, light hitting it for the first time in centuries.

“How did you know that was there?” Elsie asked her, she and Jack looking on with shared looks of bafflement.

“Because it’s shaped like a hook,” Ethel said, running her hand along it. “That’s how I knew the pirates left it here.”

“That’s amazing. We wouldn’t have thought of that,” Jack said.

“No, we wouldn’t,” Elsie said as they took their first tentative steps into the cave. The first people to do so in centuries.

Luckily, they had thought to bring torches with them. Elsie had only brought them in case they ended up staying out past sunset. They shone them at the stone walls, about as tall as a person and slightly wider. Elsie clung to Ethel’s hand, more to alleviate her own fears. Her cousin was bounding ahead, ecstatic at her first big find. Elsie thought she smelt rum and sea salt, but it was probably just her imagination. The air really smelled stale after being closed off for so many years.

The feeling of the stones underneath their feet changed. The light from their torches bounced off something. Even the air smelled different, as if a hint of soil was seeping in. Ethel squealed, rushing ahead before Elsie could stop her.

“Wow! Come take a look at this,” she said.

Elsie and Jack hurried after her before they stopped and could do nothing but gape around. The winding cave tunnel had turned to a labyrinth twisting around a pillar. On each wall were seashells – thousands of them. Perhaps millions. They were arranged in shapes along the walls. They must have been incritly placed at some point.

“What is this?” Ethel asked as she ran her hands along the shells.

“I don’t know,” Elsie said. She imagined that even the archaeologists would have a hard time figuring out what this was. “Ethel, don’t touch.”

Just as she said that, one of the shells came loose in Ethel’s hands. She looked guilty for a moment before she shoved it into her pocket. At least Elsie didn’t have to warn her again as she bounded ahead, taking in more of the labyrinth.

The further they went, the more they saw. The patterns went on and on, seeming to become larger and more intricate as they went. A miniscule opening let in a pinprick of late evening sunlight from the surface. This place had been right underneath Cliffwood’s feet for all these years and none of them had any idea.

“Who did make this?” Jack said at a whisper.

“I really have no idea,” Elsie replied just as quietly, as if the shells would be damaged if they spoke too loudly. They felt the same way as walking into a church, like this was something to be revered and raising your voice would be disrespectful.

“Was it the pirates?”

“I doubt they would have had the time,” Elsie said with a chuckle. “The real mystery is why somebody did this.”

“Just to create something?”

“Yes, I think so.”

“Elsie, Jack, come look!” Ethel called to them, more excited than ever.

They hurried after her, despite wanting to take in more of the intricate shell patterns. They found Ethel in a larger chamber with a groove in the opposite wall. Elsie wondered if this might have been some kind of alter for rituals or leaving offerings to the gods. Before she could investigate further, her eyes were drawn to Ethel and something else made her gape.

“I told you it was pirate treasure!” Ethel said as she inspected the piles of chests, barrels, and gold coins lining the chamber floor.

“You’re right,” Elsie said as they scrutinised it. “This really was a hiding place for smugglers.”

“Nobody would have found all of this down here,” Jack added.

“Nobody except for Ethel that is,” Elsie said, ruffling her cousin’s hair.

Ethel puffed her chest out. “Now we’re going to be rich!” she said, stuffing the coins into her pockets and gathering up more in her arms. “We can buy all the toys and sweets we want. And we can buy our own castle and stay up late every night.”

“No, Ethel, we can’t,” Elsie said, grabbing her arm to stop her. Not only because she felt that taking something from this chamber would be bad luck, like taking something from nature or the fae without their permission.

“Why not?” Ethel pouted, her face twisting up and turning red the way it did before she threw a noisy tantrum.

“These things might be old, but that doesn’t always mean they’re worth a lot of money. We have to take them to be studied first to see if they’re worth anything and how we can preserve them.”

“Then we can take the treasure home?”

“Yes,” Elsie said, even though she doubted it.

“Ok,” Ethel said, letting the coins fall from her arms.

Elsie couldn’t help but wonder if the smugglers who had left it there had this same conversation or fights amongst themselves. That might have been how this treasure had ended up abandoned and forgotten here for so many years. Her hunch about not taking it could have been right – she didn’t want herself and her cousin to fall out over treasure. She especially didn’t want to lose Jack over something like that, not that she would since neither of them were the type to obsess over money. It worried Elsie that Ethel already seemed so obsessed with it.

“Do you think they left behind their pirate ship too?” Ethel asked, the excitement back in her voice.

“I don’t think they could have hidden a whole pirate ship all the way down here,” Elsie chortled along with her. “There might be one or two shipwrecked along the coast, though.”

“Really?” Ethel asked, her eyes shining as brightly as the treasure.

“Yes, but you’ll have to dive all the way down to the bottom of the ocean to find them.”

“Maybe there are mermaids down there too,” Ethel said, skipping along the winding labyrinth. “That one looks like a mermaid’s tail,” she said, pointing to one of the shell decorations.

“You’re right,” Elsie said, shining her torch upon it. “Or maybe it’s a fish tail.”

“This one looks like a bushel of wheat,” Jack said, examining another. Of course he would see that, being from a family of farmers.

“Perhaps these were made for religious worship and these are images of gods. Maybe they’re fertility symbols. This one almost looks like a…” Elsie blushed and decided not to say anymore in front of Ethel.

“Trust you to notice these things,” Jack said, beaming at her. “Maybe you can do your university thesis on this place.”

“What’s a thesis?” Ethel asked.

“It’s something you write at university. Elsie will have to write one soon when she goes there.”

“Where?”

“To university.”

“Jack, don’t-” Elsie said.

“You’re going away?” Ethel said, turning abruptly to her older cousin.

Jack stared at her too, wide eyed as he realised the mistake he’d made. Elsie realised she probably should have told him that she hadn’t broken the news to Ethel yet, for this exact reason. She knew she wasn’t exactly going to take it well. She had been waiting for the right time to tell her, and six feet underground in a pagan smuggler’s den wasn’t the time or place.

“Yes,” she said, kneeling down to reach Ethel’s eye level. “At the end of the summer, I’m going to university. It’s like a big school.”

“But why?” Ethel said, tears brimming in her eyes.

“Because I want to be a professor – a teacher – and I can only do that by going to the university in Cardiff to learn how.”

“Why can’t you do that here? Why are you leaving me all alone?”

“Ethel, I’m not doing this to hurt you,” Elsie said, trying to reach forward and dry her tears, but Ethel flinched away. “This is something I have to do. And you won’t be alone. You’ll still have everybody else here.”

“But it won’t be the same without you. Who’s going to teach me about spells and talking to the moon?”

“I’ll still do all those things. I’ll be back during the holidays. And you can come and visit me, too. There’s a big castle in Cardiff, even bigger than the one in Cliffwood.”

“Don’t care. I want you here!” Ethel said, kicking the wall and loosening several shells before Elsie could stop her. She pushed past Jack and raced sobbing out of the chamber.

“I’m sorry,” Jack said, turning to face her. “I didn’t mean-”

“It’s fine. I knew she would act this way. We should probably leave her alone for a while to get used to the idea,” Elsie said. “What about you? Are you ok with this?”

“With what?”

“Me going away.”

“Of course. I always knew you were going to do this. And we can still send letters and talk on the telephone.”

“It won’t be the same as being in the same place,” Elsie said, stepping forward and taking his hand. “I understand if you’d rather be with somebody here.”

“None of the other girls are like you,” Jack said, taking a firm hold of her hand. “I’ll wait as long as it takes. Another fifty or sixty years if I have to.”

“I don’t think it will take that long,” Elsie said with a snicker before she sunk into his arms. “Even when I have my degree, I might not be able to move back to Cliffwood. Maybe not even back to Kent. I’ll probably have to find a job somewhere else in the country. Perhaps somewhere else in the world.”

“That’s fine. I’ll follow you wherever you go.”

“Are you sure?” Elsie asked, drawing away slightly to look him in the eyes. “Other places aren’t as accepting as Cliffwood.”

“I know,” Jack said with a sigh. “But you’re worth anything. I’ll marry you once you have your degree. I would marry you right here at this alter if we could.”

“Well, there’s another theory for this place,” Elsie said before they leant in to kiss.

“That will not be permitted,” a voice cut through the cave, making them draw apart. “You are aware, Elsie Sherwood, that members of the Circle of Wisdom are not permitted to marry those that the Circle have not deemed worthy.”

“Maurice Dee!” Elsie said as she took in the man; an imposing tall build with a smart suit, bowler hat, and an umbrella even though it wasn’t raining. She would recognise the leader of the Circle of Wisdom anywhere. She just didn’t know what he was doing there in the cave they had just discovered. More importantly, she didn’t know why he had Ethel bound underneath his arm. “Let her go!”

“You do not order me around, child,” Maurice said, twisting his hand to show he had a knife to Ethel’s throat.

Elsie and Jack both froze, afraid to move another step yet desperate to rush forward and save Ethel.

“Tell me how you found this place,” Maurice insisted.

“Ethel found it,” Elsie said. “It was an accident. We were just playing around.”

“A likely story.”

“I did find it!” Ethel said as she struggled in the man’s grip.

“Ethel, do as he says,” Elsie said calmly, even though her voice was shaking.

“This is a sacred place to the Circle of Wisdom. You are not permitted here, and you are certainly not permitted to inform archaeologists of its existence.”

“Alright, we’ll leave and we’ll never say anything about it ever again. Will we, Ethel?”

“No,” the young girl said, her voice brittle and strangled.

“I cannot take the risk. I know your family are troublemakers, Elsie. You are trying to marry this man when you know it will not be permitted,” Maurice said, staring daggers at Jack. “At least this way, I can deal with two problems at once.”

With a surprisingly swift movement, he shoved Ethel forward. She landed hard on the stone floor. Elsie and Jack hastened forward to her. Maurice was already backing away, pulling a large stone door which none of them had noticed before.

“If you wish to be a part of history, then you can join the ghosts in this place,” he said before he heaved the door closed.

“No!” Elsie cried out as she raced to the door, trying to pull it open. She heard a sound like a latch on the other side. Maurice must have had a key. They were locked in with no way out.

“We’re trapped down here!” Ethel wailed. “What are we going to do?”

“It’s alright, calm down,” Elsie said, walking to her side and taking hold of her shoulder. It didn’t calm her in the slightest. “We’ll think of something. We just need to put our minds together.”

Even as she said that, she couldn’t think of any solution. Her mind was in too much of a panic to even concentrate. From the look on his face, Jack couldn’t, either. Nobody else knew they were down there. Nobody else but Maurice even knew that this cavern existed. Their families would never even know what happened to them. Somehow, that thought terrified her more than anything else.

“Help! Help us!” Ethel started shouting, rising to her feet and calling to the ceiling. “We’re trapped down here. Help us!”

“I don’t think that’s going to work, Ethel,” Elsie said.

“Shout as much as you want. Nobody will ever hear you.”

All three of them turned at the sound of the voice. They saw nothing but shells in the darkness.

“Who’s there?”

Elsie saw the air shifting then a figure appearing before them, like a dream taking shape. That was the only way she could explain it. She had read legends and fairy tales since she was little. She used magic, but she knew that those stories weren’t true. A ghost couldn’t have just appeared before her.

Yet Ethel screamed and tried to scramble away until she remembered the entrance was blocked off. She cowered and shook next to the stone door, covering her eyes.

“It’s alright, Ethel. It can’t hurt you,” Elsie said.

“No, my pillaging days are long over,” the ghost said and let out a long, throaty chortle.

Elsie took him in, although it was hard to see him fully in the dim light. It was like he was there and not there all at once. He wore a black robe which engulfed his entire body. Underneath the hood they could see that he was bald and had a patch over one eye. His face was scarred, as if he’d been in many fights. At his belt was a sword.

“You’re the pirate who hid your treasure here,” Elsie deduced.

“He can’t be a pirate,” Ethel said, her voice still shaking as she risked a peek at the figure. “He doesn’t look like a pirate.”

“Not a golden age pirate, Ethel,” Elsie said, even though her cousin was too young to know what that was. “Pirates have been around for years. He must be from the medieval period. Almost 1,000 years ago.”

“Has it been that long?” the ghost said. “Down here, the days and months and years blend into each other.”

“Were you trapped down here like us?” Jack asked.

“Yes. The Circle of Wisdom trapped me down here, just like you. They didn’t like that I was using the magic of this place either.”

“So it is magic,” Jack said, gazing at the shells lining the walls.

“Hold on, the Circle of Wisdom was after you too?” Elsie said, taking the man in closer. His identity seemed much clearer now. “You’re Eustace the Monk!”

“Yes, I am,” the ghost said.

“He’s a monk? I thought he was a pirate?” Ethel said, seemingly over her earlier fear.

“I was both. Until my crew mutinied against me and sold me out to the Circle of Wisdom. I joined a monastery in my youth, but I left that life behind. I became a mercenary, but the Circle wasn’t happy with what I was doing. They lured me down here and locked me up, just as they did to you. I’ve forgotten the feeling of the breeze on my face or grass beneath my feet. I’d long to feel it once again.”

Elsie wasn’t sure whether or not she should feel pity for this man. He was in the same situation as them, but he had been a pirate. He had abandoned both the Church and the Circle.

But she realised it didn’t matter, because if they were in the same situation as him, it meant they would end up the same as him. They would die and become ghosts and be trapped down here for 1,000 years or more. She would have to act quickly to save them all. But her power wasn’t strong enough to do it alone. She would need help. She turned back to the monk ghost.

“If we free your soul from here, will you use your power to help us escape?” she asked him.

He raised an eyebrow. “Can you do that?”

“With your magic and the magic of this place, I think I can.”

He contemplated her for a moment before he said, “You play a hard game, giving me hope then tearing it away. But yes, I’ll help you.”

Jack took her arm and pulled her away. “Are you sure we can trust him?” he intoned. “He was a pirate. And I heard he studied black magic. That’s the real reason the Circle turned against him.”

“I know that, but we don’t have any other choice. Not unless we want to end up the same as him.”

Jack glanced from the ghost to Ethel before he sighed and said, “Fine. What do we have to do?”

“It will be difficult. I didn’t want Ethel to find out about magic. I only taught her magic tricks because I assumed she would grow up and assume they aren’t real.. But it looks like we have no other choice. She’s already found out that ghosts exist, so I suppose telling her that magic is real doesn’t matter anymore.”

“I could rearrange these shells into a sigil,” Jack said, already organising them.

“Yes, I can use some for the spell too. The magic in the alter room will enhance it. But I’ll need something else, too.”

“Use these,” the ghost said, casting a hand over a dust-covered pile in the corner.

Elsie had assumed it was just another stack of treasure or rocks forgotten by time. But inspecting them closer, she saw what they really were.

“Bones. Yours?”

“Yes. My magic is still within them. It should be strong enough.”

Elsie hesitated. Her mother and father had warned her that while bones were powerful magical tools, they were dangerous and volatile to use. Then again, they had the ghost’s permission, so she supposed it was fine. They were granting him his freedom, after all. It was worth that sacrifice.

She arranged the bones along with the shells, Jack arranging his sigils along the side. Eustace looked on. Ethel watched what they were doing with curiosity.

“What are you doing?” she asked.

“I’ll explain later,” Elsie said, arranging the last of the circle. She only hoped it would be enough. She was still young and hadn’t been practising much lately, as she’d been too busy studying to pass her exams. “Ethel, I need that shark tooth you found earlier.”

“No, it’s my treasure,” Ethel whined, holding it away from her.

“It’s important. We need something with a lot of power for this spell to work. And we can find you another fossil.”

Ethel pouted but reluctantly pulled the fossil out of her pocket and shoved it into Elsie’s hand before standing at the side to sulk.

Elsie sat in the middle of the circle, closing her eyes and concentrating, just as her parents had taught her. She focused on the elements around her; the earth surrounding the grotto, the essence of the ocean outside and still lingering in the shells, and the air outside which they sought to return to. She could just about hear Ethel continuously asking what she was doing and being shushed by Jack. When she knew she was ready, she spoke.

“Bring to us the sunlight, let it fill this space and return us to where we belong.”

She felt the power of the sun rushing towards her. She heard the earth shifting above her head. She felt the first few specks of dirt fall onto her face.

“Get back!” Jack called out, pulling Ethel away as the roof fell in, coating the ground in soil. “Elsie, where are you?”

“I’m here,” she answered, standing up slowly. She’d used a protection sigil to keep herself safe.

“Oh good, I was so worried for a moment,” Jack said, relief clouding his face.

He lifted Ethel up so she could scramble out of the hole, then gave Elsie a leg up so she could climb out. Finally, Elsie reached a hand down and pulled him out.

“It feels so good to be out in the open air again,” Jack said, taking in a deep lungful of the night air as if they had been the ones trapped underground for a thousand years.

“Can we go home now?” Ethel whined as she brushed the dirt from her dress. All of her excitement for exploring and adventures had been thoroughly worn out, at least for that day.

“Home. I don’t even know where that is anymore,” Eustance said, gazing at the moon for the first time in a thousand years.

“Well, now you get to find a new home for yourself,” Jack said.

“Yes,” Eustace said before fading away.

“What a cheek. He didn’t even give us a word of thanks.”

“Well, that’s pirates for you. I’m more worried about what we should do with this,” Elsie said, standing over the large hole they had created. “I know we should tell the museum about it, but I don’t want Maurice Dee making good on his threat against us.”

“But we can’t just leave this place alone and undiscovered. It’s such a waste.”

“I know, but maybe that’s for the best. It will be our secret, just the three of us. You mustn’t tell anybody, alright, Ethel?”

“Alright,” Ethel said, clearly glad to forget this whole adventure and go home.

Elsie had to admit to feeling the same way. What had started as a pleasant summer’s day had taken a nasty turn. She knew she wouldn’t forget this day for a long time, but not for a good reason. Glancing at Jack, she already knew it was about to become far worse.

“There’s one more thing we have to do,” she said, kneeling to the ground and touching the earth around the hole. “Return to the place you came from.”

The earth that had just fallen into the grotto returned to its place on the ground. In a few moments, the hole was sealed as if it had never been there. The grotto was hidden again, perhaps for another thousand years. Maybe by then, the Circle of Wisdom’s influence would have faded and nobody would be trapped down there. But that was a thin hope. The Circle’s power had been growing for over a thousand years, and it could grow for a thousand more.

“Alright, it’s time to go home. I except everybody will be quite cross with us for getting our clothes so dirty,” Elsie said with a chuckle, smiling despite the pain welling up inside her.

“I’d still like to get home for some biscuits and squash,” Jack said, taking her hand as they hiked back in the direction of Moonrise Manor.

Neither of them said anything as they gripped each other’s hands far tighter than usual. They laughed and joked the whole walk back, but their smiles never reached their eyes. Both of them knew it was their last chance, and neither of them wanted it to be over so soon.

Elsie was almost bitter when they reached her house. She had almost hoped that they would accidently stumble into the fae realm and get stuck there for the rest of their natural lives. It would be a better fate than the one which stood before them.

“Where have you three been off to all day?” Elsie’s mother asked as they straggled through the kitchen door. “And why are you all so filthy?” she added with a scowl.

“That was my fault. I thought it would be a good idea to hunt for rabbits,” Elsie lied. Ethel caught her gaze and made a zipping motion with her lips. Elsie nodded.

At least her mother seemed to believe the lie as she chastised them. Once they were satisfyingly fed and watered, it was fully dark. The creatures of the night were scurrying around unseen and the stars were all out and shining down on them.

Elsie walked Jack to the front gate, as she had hundreds of times before. But they both knew this time would be different. Neither of them wanted to go there, but they knew it was inevitable.

“That was quite an adventure today,” Jack said, a fake smile upon his face. “At least we have this secret just for us.”

“Yes, we’ll always have that,” Elsie said, dragging her feet on the ground and dirtying her shoes even more. She didn’t care. Her mother could tell her off as much as she wanted for it. It wouldn’t compare to what was about to happen. “Listen, I know what we said before about getting married when I have my degree, but… we can’t…”

“Can’t we?” Jack asked, tears already pricking in his eyes. She didn’t want to see him like this. She didn’t want this to be their last memory together. “I don’t care what Maurice Dee said. I want to take the risk. For you, it’s worth it,” he said, taking Elsie’s hands.

“But I can’t take the risk,” Elsie said, covering his hand with her own, tears falling freely upon them. “I can’t let them hurt you just for being with me. You need to find somebody else to love.”

“Nobody will compare with you.”

“They will. You just haven’t met enough people yet. I’m sure that someday you’ll meet somebody who will love you just as much and won’t put you in danger just to be with them.”

“And what about you?”

“I have my stories and my studies. That’s all I need.”

“Is it?”

“It will have to be,” she said, pulling him to her for a final embrace. She took him in for one final time; his warmth, his scent, his everything. “This won’t be goodbye forever. We can still see each other around the island.”

“But that’s all we’ll get to do.”

“I know. I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be. It’s not your fault,” Jack said, drawing back slightly to dry her tears. How was she going to live without him to dry her tears whenever she was hurting? How could she get by without him to laugh with when she was happy? She wished she could beg for him to stay. She wished they could just stay there, say ‘See you tomorrow’ and pretend that everything was normal. She wished that time could stop in that moment.

But she knew she had to step back and let him walk away, back to his own home and his own life. He couldn’t be a part of hers anymore, except maybe as casual acquaintances. Both of them knew that they would still have their memories of their time together, but they didn’t know if it would be enough. There was nothing else that Elsie could do but close the gate. When the next morning came, it would be nothing more than a buried memory.