Dying Fall

geographical location.’
    ‘Can you find out who owns the phone?’
    ‘We can force mobile phone providers to give us that information under the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act. Of course, that only works if they’ve got a contract. If this person’s got any sense they’ll be using pay-as-you-go.’
    Ruth sincerely hopes that the texter doesn’t have any sense. ‘They must be close,’ she says. ‘That bit about turning out the light … I’d … I’d just turned out Kate’s light.’
    ‘I’ll get Sandy to send some boys round,’ says Nelson, trying to sound reassuring though his brows are lowered ominously.
    He gets out his own phone and makes a brief call. Ruth hears the words ‘trace … uniforms … protection’. She turns to Cathbad and tries to smile.
    ‘Welcome back.’
    ‘What’s going on?’
    ‘I’ve been getting these texts …’ She explains about the mystery texts. In the background, Nelson is grinding his teeth.
    ‘You mean you’ve been getting these calls for weeks and you didn’t say anything?’
    ‘I thought they were just trying to scare me.’
    ‘Well, they should have scared you. Someone was threatening you, for Christ’s sake. What about Katie? Didn’t you consider her safety?’
    ‘Of course I did!’ Ruth flares up. ‘I’m with her all the time, unlike you. She’s my first priority. My
only
priority.’
    Nelson spreads out his hands in a gesture of surrender. ‘OK, OK. Sandy’s sending a couple of uniforms round to check up on things. In the meantime, let’s all calm down a bit. Have a cup of tea.’
    Ruth glares at him but she makes the tea. She resents Nelson jackbooting around but she has to admit that she feels safer when he’s in the house. The furniture seems to have retreated to its usual places and even the rain has stopped. An uneasy calm descends as they sit in the chintzy little sitting room drinking tea while Ruth tellsthe whole story of the switched bones, Clayton’s nervousness and the texter who didn’t want her to come to Pendle in the first place.
    ‘There’s a lot of funny business going on at that university,’ says Nelson. ‘Sandy and I went to see Clayton Henry today. He told us there’s this group on campus, a sort of secret society called the White Hand. Apparently they’ve got a fixation with King Arthur.’
    Cathbad makes a sound and Nelson turns on him
    ‘Do you know them?’ asks Nelson, half-joking.
    ‘Not this group in particular,’ says Cathbad, looking slightly discomforted. ‘But there are some druids, Neopagans they call themselves, who have these extremist views. They adore King Arthur. They worship the Norse Gods. But it’s more than that. They believe that the Norse people, the white Aryan people, are superior.’
    ‘They’re racists then,’ says Nelson.
    ‘Yes, they’re racists,’ says Cathbad impatiently. ‘But it’s more complicated than that. They’ve mixed it all up, the pagan stuff, the Norse stuff, and they’ve made it a really potent brew. Anyone who disagrees with them is cursed. There’s a lot of secrecy, a lot of fear.’
    ‘Are you involved with them?’ asks Nelson.
    ‘No,’ says Cathbad, ‘but I know of them. Anyone on the druid circuit …’ (Ruth sees Nelson stifle a smile.) ‘Anyone on the druid circuit knows them. They don’t like me because I’m Irish, I’m a Celt. Besides I have friends of every colour. I’m very involved with the Indigenous Australian people, for example. It’s the spirit thatmatters with me, not the colour of someone’s skin.’
    ‘All very noble,’ says Nelson, ‘but you know more than you’re letting on.’
    Cathbad sighs. ‘Pendragon … since he’s been up north, they’ve been in touch.’
    ‘What do you mean “in touch”?’
    ‘There’s a Neo-pagan group at Pendle. I expect it’s these White Hand people. I think Pendragon was mixed up with them a bit at first. He’s no racist but he loves the Norse stuff. Also …’ He looks at Ruth. ‘He’s mad about King Arthur. Well, you can tell that by the name he’s taken.’
    ‘Uther Pendragon,’ says Ruth.
    ‘Who’s he when he’s at home?’ says Nelson.
    ‘Some sources think he was King Arthur’s father,’ says Ruth, who has been reading up on this. ‘Uther was a fifth-century warlord. He’s meant to have defeated Hengest, the Saxon leader, to become King of Britain. They were all fighting at that time, Picts, Celts and Saxons.’
    ‘Pendragon used to live in