The Passing Bell Tolls for Thee

25 Hydd's Bell

Late the next morning, April put her suitcase in the Mercedes. After lunch, she would drive to London to meet her family at Heathrow. She found Mrs. Bigwood and Ben in the kitchen.

"Hello, Ben," she said, not looking at him. "Mrs. Bigwood, I'm ready to leave for London right after lunch. I'll call you when I check into the hotel. For some airline reason, my family's flight arrives at 10 PM. We're staying in London for a few days and returning early on December 20. You'll be in charge. Your Yule meeting will be here, as Sir Drew always allowed it."

"Sit down, Mrs. Waverly, I'll get your lunch." She put a bowl of soup and a sandwich on the table."

April tried the soup. "Excellent, Mrs. Bigwood. Ben, you know where to reach me if you need me." She took a bit of sandwich.

Ben began eating.

Mrs. Bigwood said, "My son-in-law is coming day after tomorrow with two metal detectors." April looked at her curiously but said nothing.

"Good, great, we'll be able to cover a lot of ground with them." Ben hoped the detectors would find the bell.

"What are you looking for?" April asked. "Is something lost?"

Mrs. Bigwood looked at Ben, not wanting to tell April too much, and perhaps frighten her. "Our bell, Hydd's bell, was lost at Lughnasadh. Sir Drew had it with him, and we couldn't find it in the grove."

April's brow wrinkled. She'd forgotten to mention the bell she tripped over in the woods. She put her spoon down. "A bell. With a golden deer on it? With antlers? A stag, then."

Mrs. Bigwood nodded. Drew knew April had never seen the bell.

"Yes, that's the one," Mrs. Bigwood said.

"I tripped over it in the woods. Under a thorny bush." She remembered those thorns.

"What bush? Where?" Mrs. Bigwood asked.

"Between King's Oak and the turnoff to the bog. I brought the bell back and put it in the tack room. I meant to mention it, but forgot." She looked from Estelle to Ben and back. "Sorry, I'd never seen it before and thought it had been there for years.

"Where in the barn?" Ben asked. He wanted to punch her face in, choke her.

"On the tool cabinet in the tack room," she said before taking a bite of sandwich.

Ben ran out of the room, coatless.

She watched him through the windows as he ran to the barn. "He'll catch cold without a jacket." She looked at the housekeeper, who was gawking at Ben. "Sorry, again."

"You wouldn't have known. We don't talk much about ourselves, we druids." Estelle stirred the soup on the stove, searching carefully for words. "Tell me, did you ring the bell? Most people would." She waited for the answer.

April searched her memory. "Yes, it rang. I didn't ring it, you know, just moving it, it rang two or three times."

Mrs. Bigwood licked dry lips. "Do you remember which it was?" She turned to April. "Ringing the bell is critical to us. Not that you meant anything wrong, but we must take certain, steps, to reset the bell, if you did. It's, you might say, a part of our religion."

April was puzzled at Estelle's agitation. The bell was obviously important. "I'm sure it was three or four."

Estelle nodded. "Thank you. We'll take care of it at Yule." She smiled at April. Fortunately, the Mistress would be away for a few days, and safe. Safer. "I'll fill a thermos with tea for you."

"Can you pack a few sandwiches? I can eat in my hotel room."

As April left and got in the Mercedes, she saw Ben leave the barn carrying the bell. He held the bell carefully in one hand and with the other hand held the clapper. She thought, He doesn't want to ring the bell. She drove off, eager to see her family.

Ben carried Hydd's bell in the kitchen. "The muffle that keeps the clapper from striking is missing. She must have rung it."

"She told me she did," Estelle said. "We'll take care of it at Yule. Sir Drew must have told you about it." She studied him curiously, wondering how much he knew about King's Oak Druidism and Hydd. And the bell.

"He did. Thought I needed to know. There's a lot of legends about Hydd."

She nodded. She knew the old stories about Hydd and his lethal games. "I'll get something to wrap the clapper, so the bell doesn't ring."