Part 10 (1/2)

She stopped, tilted her head at him

'Do you have any friends here?' he asked 'Any contacts? Money? No? Face it, Nicole You need ot this far without you'

'I'm sure you have But that was then, and now you're here And actually you do need my help, and despite the fact that you're a volatile lunatic with an equally volatile mother, it's still on offer'

Nicole stared at hier He could tell that his words had caused her to pause, even if they had outraged her Charles opened histold hih, that he had pushed his luck and his arguo

He sensed that the three of theht, Nicole'

Charles turned He had not been expecting support from her mother

'We don't have any choice,' Alice said 'Let this go Take a breath I don't like the situation any ive one error of judgement after what he's done Let hiet us home For the moment we have to accept that he is our best hope'

Nicole's shoulders slumped She dropped the books down on the counter, took up the string and began to secure therined, she ed herher lip, she picked up the books and strode out of the rooaze upon hieerous Don't think I' your everyto you?' Charles asked

Ensconced in the Rabbit roole and Child public house, he traced a bead of foaue, Patrick Beckett

'Charles, I'y was a tall man, with quick birdlike mannerisms and teeth too enormous for his mouth He leaned forwards on his stool and snapped out a hand to retrieve his ale, slurping down a ht would coht you careatly, my friend I must have risen up the ranks of academia to deserve such an accolade I'd better drink this quickly before you change yourthe beer Do you think this ht be the first time you've dipped into your wallet this year?'

'Don't be daft, Patrick' Feeling foolish in spite of hilanced out of their wood-panelled hideaway by the fireplace before adding, 'eletek I've been looking for a reference everywhere, but I'lad you've seen the light, that's all I'll say You'll learn just asits myths as its history'

'I don't follow you'

'It's not a historian you need, Charles, it's a folklorist' Triuht'

'I was under the i'

'Of course And to understand any language fully, one has to understand the society in which that language developed What better way to do that than by fa oneself with its folklore? Now I'll ad the old tales thanstuff Much better than any of the guff produced this side of the twentieth century' He held up a quick hand 'Ah, aha, I forget our surroundings, of course That was crass of eneral sentiment' He rapped on the table with his knuckles, for no reason that Charles could fathom Beckett was full of these odd little quirks, tics and contradictions It

'So what can you tell me about eletek?'

'Probably very little' Beckett raised a finger in caution, taking a break to sip fro that, more than most, I'm sure On the other hand, who knohat I knohether what I know is even true? When I say true, of course, I mean correct, or at least what Iinto difficulties'

'In that case,' Charles said, 'putting aside the potential inaccuracies of what you've heard for a hten me hat you have heard before they call last orders?'

Beckett clapped twice, delighted 'Beautifully phrased Of course I will I'd have to go back and check ht off the top of my head I can't remember if it's from the German Marchen, the Slavic folktales, or somewhere else entirely It doesn't matter, I suppose In fact, I think there may be tales about them in a number of different sources, which is entirely normal They're not always referred to that way either In fact, eletek or to be arian phrase'

'They?'

'A people Hosszu eletek translates fro-lived' He paused again, clicked his fingers 'I'm not entirely sure if it's a direct translation, anyway It could be a slight corruption'

'OK, let's not dwell on the etyht' Beckett drained his beer 'Is it your round again?'

Shaking his head, Charles picked up his wallet A few minutes later, settled with fresh pints of ale, he waited for Beckett to resu about it while you've been at the bar I told you I knewback now I must have come across them several times over the years, and clearly fro, the brain Anyway, the Long Life part is only half the story The real end is the fact that the hosszu eletek could change their shape'

'Shape-shi+fting?'

'It's a coy, isn't it? Sometimes punitive, sometimes defensive Often predatory You even have yourJekyll and Hyde, as an example'

'And the eletek?'

'Well that's where the stories diverge Many of them talk about hosszu eletek just as ould talk about a different society or culture You wouldn't classify the French as essentially evil or predatory, would you? Or all the japanese as crooked? The eletek are sie Rare, but present all the saely invisible, known only to the nobility in whichever country they reside Many of theevity and disguise would give one a certain advantage in political circles, after all' Beckett laughed 'Well, any sort of circles, let's face it'

'But not all the folklore agrees on that point'

'No And that's where it gets interesting There does seem to be a clear split You'd obviously expect a few renditions of a tale like this to have achildren to keep them in line, for instance And there are plenty of those as well But what I re is the fact that those stories come much later In fact, you can't find o back more than a couple of hundred years or so It's as if soainst the eletek'

'You speak of them as if they exist'

'No, I speak of them as if society believed them to exist And there's lots of evidence for that When you piece the folklore together, throw in a few assuination, a tale ees of a race that lived in secret in Eastern Europe until about five hundred years ago It's not surprising that the shape-shi+fting aspect of their nature comes to the fore Think about the context In the ninth century you have arpad the Magyar leader, with his Covenant of Blood, taking and unifying the whole of the Carpathian Basin, of which Hungary was a part His descendants rule quite happily well, perhaps happily is not the right word at all, but let's not allow it to delay us until the thirteenth century, and thenbang!' Beckett thu beer 'Disaster! The Mongols invade Millions slaughtered Wos Massacre after ols raid and raid They burn, plunder, rape It's not difficult to understand how adevelops in that environ'

'Exactly And that is perhaps the birth right there of the eletek Their root, as it were And if it's a defenceof, then you'd expect them to be secretive Who knows? Maybe after the threat of the Mongols had dwindled by the end of the century, the eletek were able to step forwards And live quite happily side by side until, for whatever reason, they were driven underground again, or interest in the ers on the table, evidently pleased with his oratory He sipped his beer

'It's an interesting tale'

The acadeely 'You know, Charles, I have to say I've enjoyed this conversation ioratedI feel I ought to ask you'

'Go on'

Beckett's expression beca 'Would you be at all interested,' he asked, 'in joining our battle re-enactment society?'

Nicole and Alice stayed with hier than he had expected to arrange their passage back across the Channel His boat-owner friend had agreed to the crossing readily enough, but the avoidance of French Custo with several cherished bottles of Chateau Latour

But even with that complication resolved, Charles ader he spent in Nicole's company, the more he realised it was not just curiosity that led to his procrastination but an obvious attraction They had argued less as the days passed although on a few occasions their differences of opinion had forced Alice to intervene and separate thehed Nicole asked to listen to a tape of his radio documentary, and then mocked him ruthlessly while she listened He saw a different side to her during those evenings When her defences were down, they bantered affectionately He was often left feeling intoxicated froht before the toe and accompany him to a French restaurant in the heart of Oxford Who fro him in a particular restaurant in a particular city on a particular evening were rehted hi one He watched her across the table, trying to ht, auburn locks falling over her shoulders Su of freckles

Nicole glanced up at hiain'

'Which look?'

'I don't know That look I never knohat you're thinking when I see it'