“I may know what you mean,” I said and was preparing to explain when I realised they’d already gone. I had to resist the urge to call Roy back; at the very least it would irritate him, and I wasn’t even sure he would answer. No doubt they would take a sample from Darkmarsh and had collected one from Halfway Halt. Could their souvenir do any harm? I might have been more qualified to judge if I’d taken one myself, but I was considerably less than eager to go back.

Perhaps I had a source of insight in my hand. I told the phone to search for Magister Stellarum. I thought it might inform me that it didn’t understand, a response that always sounded like a polite rebuke, but a link to a site appeared within seconds – the Sorcerous Atlas of Britain. The link brought up an outline map swarming with tags. One tag was enlarged, and its pointer rested somewhere in the middle of the country, uncomfortably close to my location. The tag said Magister Stellarum.

When I touched it, the tag expanded. Victorian occultist, it added. Real name Harold Lambkin. I tried to find this laughable if not pathetic, but was troubled by the last phrase on the marker: His domain. I used a thumb and forefinger to zoom in on the map, and a border swelled up like a stain around the pointer. As the circle spread from Halfway Halt it appeared to be creeping to catch up with me. I didn’t need to see how close it might come, and I dropped the phone on the seat beside me before starting the car. I’d already seen more places I recognised by name on the map, and one I knew very well indeed.

Chapter Fifteen

Chapter Fifteen

Burials

“You never met them, Bell.”

“I don’t believe I ever said I had.”

“No, I mean you should have.”

Bella glanced at me, presumably to ascertain how Roy’s comments were affecting me. “Why do you say that?”

“I expect you’d have liked them and they’d have liked you.”

“Then I’m sorry. I am anyway, Patrick. What do you think I’d have liked?”

“I used to like how they never tried to be like me.”

“Who do you know that does?” When he shook his head as if to dislodge a quick grimace Bella said “Unless you mean Patrick.”

Julia offered this a laugh that sounded tentative or just polite. “Don’t take this the wrong way, Patrick, but I wouldn’t exactly call you trendy. What are you thinking of, Bella?”

“Roy knows.” Since his face betrayed no knowledge Bella said “Following our search.”

“I’m afraid you’ve left me behind,” Julia said.