Lazar Read Online Free PDF

side.
    “They fit together to form a single ring.”
    “Oh yes, I see – the cross fits inside the circle. That’s
clever,” Jan enthused. “Ha! Mine looks really dull compared with yours. It must
have been in the ground for an awfully long time. When did you lose it?”
    “Ages ago.”
    “How long have you lived here?”
    “All my life.”
    “Then you must know the legends about old Wickwich?” Jan
asked rhetorically. Margaret did not answer, but began to twist the knot of
hair in an agitated fashion; winding and re-winding it tight around her fingers
and pulling it even further across her face. Jan felt awkward, but despite
herself persisted in her enquiry.
    “I was following the footpath, along the line of the old road
into the town, when I came across this ditch. Was it a moat or something?”
    Margaret turned and looked up and down the line of the ditch.
    “This is Pales Dyke. The city wall runs along the top,
there.” She pointed at the summit of the slope opposite the one Jan had
descended so precipitously. “And that’s Bridge Gate, just there.”
    Jan looked at the spot Margaret indicated – the gap
between the trees where the lane met the dyke.
    “That’s great. That’s exactly what we need to know. My cousin
Hal and I are recreating the old town…” She stopped. Margaret had turned back
and was looking straight at Jan, her single eye fixing her with an icy stare. Jan
tried to continue what she had been saying, but stumbled over her words.
    “You know … the legend … the city drowned beneath the sea. We’re
trying to recreate it … on Hal’s computer …”
    Margaret’s stare continued. She was still fiddling with her
hair, a habit which at first Jan had put down to shyness or insecurity, but
which was now beginning to really annoy her. She once again became aware of the
stilted nature of their conversation and tried to lighten the frigid
atmosphere.
    “I wonder if Wickwich was as wicked as the legend says,” she
smiled. The smile froze on her face. She had never seen so much sadness and
despair in a single eye before. She had obviously unintentionally upset her
newfound friend.
    “Sorry, I didn’t mean…” Jan started to explain. But it was
too late. Margaret turned and walked away, climbing the slope with the same
ease with which she had descended.

 

 
    “She was really weird,” said Jan.
    “So you keep saying.”
    There was just the slightest hint of irritation in Hal’s
voice. He wanted to get back to entering contours and coordinates on his
computer. He had been making good progress before Jan burst breathless into his
room and started telling him about her meeting with the strange girl.
    “But she was . She
was wearing exactly the same clothes as me.”
    “That is weird.”
    “No, I mean exactly the same. Really spooky.”
    “Perhaps she was a ghost.”
    “I didn’t think you believed in ghosts.”
    “ I don’t, but I
thought you did.”
    “No,” Jan gently shook the notion out of her head. “No, like
I said, she was wearing modern clothes, and she gave me that ring.”
    Hal handed Margaret’s gift back to his cousin and turned once
more to his computer screen.
    “It’s quite heavy, isn’t it?” he said as he moved and clicked
his mouse. “I wouldn’t be surprised if it was made of gold.”
    “Do you really think so?” Jan slipped the ring on her finger
and held out her hand. “No, gold wouldn’t tarnish like this has.”
    “What did she look like?”
    “Why?”
    “Oh, just wondered, that’s all.”
    “Well, I couldn’t see her face. She kept pulling her hair
across it, like this…” Jan demonstrated Margaret’s mannerism, but Hal was too
engrossed in his computer to turn round.
    “It’s a shame she ran away,” he said, as he briskly poked the
keyboard with his index fingers. “She might have been able to give us a few
more clues about old Wickwich.”
    “She did tell us about the dyke and the city walls.”
    “Yeah, but I’d