Sophie reached across the seat and squeezed her brother’s hand. When he looked at her, this time she squeezed her lips tightly and shook her head, warning him not to say anything. She wanted time to explore the Witch’s memories and thoughts. There was something at the very edge of her consciousness, something dark and ugly, something to do with Gilgamesh and twins. She saw her brother nod, a tiny movement of his head, and then he looked back at the tramp. “So… you’re ten thousand years old?” he said carefully.

“Most people laugh when they say that,” Gilgamesh said. “But not you. Why is that?”

Josh grinned. “In the last couple of days, I’ve been Awakened by a buried legend, ridden on the back of a dragon and fought the Horned God. I’ve been to a Shadowrealm and seen a tree as big as the world. I’ve watched men change into wolves and dogs, seen a woman with the head of a cat… or maybe it was a cat with the body of a woman. So, to be honest, a ten-thousand-year-old man isn’t really that strange. And actually, you’re probably the most normal-looking of all the people we’ve met. No offense,” he added quickly.

“None taken.” Gilgamesh nodded. “I may be ten thousand and more years old.” Then his voice altered, suddenly sounding tired. “Or I may be just a confused old fool. Lots of people have called me that. Though they’re all dead.” He grinned, then twisted in the seat and tapped on the glass partition. “Where are we going, Pally?”

The Saracen Knight was a vague shape in the gloom. “Well, first we wanted to see you…”

Gilgamesh smiled happily.

“… and then I want to get these people off the island. I’m taking them to the Henge.”

“The Henge?” the tramp asked, frowning. “Do I know it?”

“Stonehenge,” Flamel said from the shadows. “You should; you helped build it.”

Gilgamesh’s bright blue eyes turned cloudy. He squinted toward the Alchemyst, peering into the gloom. “Did I? I don’t remember.”

“It was a long time ago,” Flamel murmured. “I think you started raising the stones more than four thousand years ago.”

“Oh no, it’s older,” Gilgamesh said suddenly, brightening. “I started working on that at least a thousand years earlier. And the site was ancient even then…” His voice trailed away and he looked at Sophie and then Josh. Then he turned back to Palamedes. “And why are we going there?”

“We’re going to try and activate one of the ancient ley lines and get these people out of the country.”

Gilgamesh nodded. “Ley lines. Yes, lots of ley lines in Salisbury. One of the reasons I raised the gates there. And why do we want to get them out of the country?”