The Children of Black Annis by Amy Cross

Author:Amy Cross [Cross, Amy]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2018-06-15T05:00:00+00:00

Jess

"Are you sure you don't want to go for a swim?" Duncan asks, looking across at me as we sit in a seafront cafe. "That's what people do at the beach, isn't it? They go swimming. I've read about it. That's what beaches are for."

"Not when it's raining," I say, looking out at the gray scene of the Sussex coastline. Rain has been pouring down for hours, and the sun has remained firmly hidden behind dark clouds since we arrived.

"Oh," Duncan says. There's a pause as he drinks some tea. "I suppose that makes sense," he says finally, having apparently thought about it for a while. "I wondered why we were the only ones here today."

As rain continues to pour down against the window, I watch the choppy, light brown waves out at sea. Even if the sun was shining, I'd be hesitant about going into that water: not only does it look cold, but there's a sewage outlet warning beacon nearby, which means the sewerage from the local town is being dumped straight into the sea. Add that to the fact that the beach is full of pebbles instead of sand, and the fact that there are broken bottles scattered about the place, and this must by far the most depressing beach view I've ever seen.

The town's not much better. Herne seems to be a dead spot, full of those little shops that sell stuff you don't want at absurdly high prices. No wonder I've never heard of the place: there's nothing to recommend Herne, not even any decent bars. There's no-one about, and the whole town seems to be completely dead. I guess everyone's hiding away in their houses, hoping that this mini-storm will blow over soon. Even then, the only thing to do in this place seems to be to go shopping at the local supermarket. I can't imagine living in a place like this.

"What's wrong?" Duncan asks, his voice full of cheer. "You're being a very glum plum today."

"What do you think's wrong?" I ask, nodding towards the window. "It's hard to be cheery when it's pissing it down." As I say those words, an empty shopping car trundles past the cafe, blown along by the wind. Reaching the beach, the shopping cart tips over and lands on the pebbles.

Duncan frowns. "Right," he says after a while.

"Okay," I say, deciding enough's enough. "I was delaying asking this, because I feel like everywhere we go, I ask the same question. But I have to spit it out." I take a deep breath. "What are we doing here, Duncan?"

He smiles. "I was wondering when you'd ask. We're waiting for a friend of mine," he says. "Brian Martin, he's a local writer. Knows everything about this neck of the woods." He leans closer. "If there are any clues about Excalibur around here, he'll know about it."

"And he's meeting us here?" I ask.

"I imagine so," Duncan replies. "I've known Brian for a long time, and he always comes to this cafe for a cup of tea in the morning.

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