Speaking Stones

“Hi, I’m back!”

Cat gave the usual greeting as she walked through the front door. A saucepan symphony from the kitchen indicated dinner was almost ready. She patted the shaggy head of Kelly Dog, the only greeter in the hall, and, leaving shoes and coat, climbed the stairs to her room. There she threw herself and her bag onto the bed. What a weird happening. Had she drifted off in front of the computer or had all that stuff really happened? It was then she remembered the ring and amber. She tipped her bag out on the bed. Books, pencil case, lunch box and papers cascaded down. Cat shook the bag and peered inside. Nothing. Each book was flipped through. Nothing. The pencil case was tipped out, shavings floating over the duvet, but no ring or amber. That was it then, just her imagination.

“Dinner’s ready!”

Cat rose and plodded downstairs. Ben, her elder brother and Dad were already sitting down, Kelly Dog between them, eyes glued to the table surface and tongue dripping with anticipation. Cat sat down and looked at the meal in front of her. Stew!! While they ate, the kind of day they’d all had was discussed.

“Catriona, you feeling alright?”

“Sorry Mum, what?”

“You haven’t eaten much of your dinner. Are you feeling OK?”

“Yes, but I’m not that hungry.”

“You’ve been raiding that tuck shop again, haven’t you. I’ve told you about that before... ”

Cat tuned out. Give it a few minutes and Mum would finish her sermon.

“Well, if you don’t want anymore, you’d better go and do your homework.”

Cat rose jostling with her brother as they both made their way out of the room.

“Ben, you come back here,” warned Cat’s mum. “It’s your turn to wipe up, your sister did it yesterday.”

Cat headed towards her room, the sounds of moans and protests getting fainter as doors closed behind her complaining brother. She smiled. Ben was always complaining. Life, according to him, wasn’t fair. Cat got away with murder, according to him, and why did he have to help wipe up if none of his friends did?

With her bedroom door closed things became more peaceful. Cat collected the mess from her bed and piled it all on the table. She put the spotlight on and, unable to put off the moment any longer, picked up her maths homework book. She turned to the front first and gazed at the examples done in class. Jumbled numbers stared insolently back at her. Steeling herself, she concentrated hard. Fifteen minutes of low mutterings later, Cat turned to the back of the book in order to make a reluctant start on the homework questions... and there, as though glued to the page lay the ring and her piece of amber. She picked the ring up from the paper. It felt warm to the touch – nothing like the coldness of normal jewellery. Slowly she turned the ring round. Somehow it looked smaller than before; in fact it now looked as though it would fit her finger. She studied her hands and then pushed the ring slowly onto the third finger of her right hand. She held the hand up into the spotlight, gazing at the ring from all angles. It felt very comfortable there. Of course it couldn’t remain on her finger, school rules were strict about such things and she didn’t want to get cross-examined by her family, especially Dad; but for the moment...

She turned her attention back to her homework. Why, those maths problems were easy; the method of working the examples came to her in a flash and in great excitement Cat completed the lot in double quick time. She shut her book with a satisfying bang, realizing at the same time that she had a big grin on her face. Cool – she wasn’t that dumb at maths after all! Her eyes travelled once again to her right hand. The spotlight was doing its job of highlighting the carved lines, making them stand proud of the ring’s surface. Something made Cat feel these lines were important and that she had to find out what they meant.

“Dad?” Cat headed towards her father’s office. He called it that; really it was a very small single bedroom with a computer, table, swivel chair and walls lined with books.

“Dad.”

“What now?”

Her father’s tone indicated he wasn’t happy with the interruption. Cat looked at the screen – boring spreadsheets.

“Dad, have we got any books on Viking runes?”

A jerk of the head indicated the area to search. Cat began pulling appropriate looking books from the shelves. This was one good thing about having teachers for parents, they were good for resources.

Back in her room she began her search and settled down with a pen and paper by her side. She read the explanation of the Viking letters, it sounding quite similar to the explanation she’d had from Kiert. The thought of Kiert covered her skin in goosebumps. With the discovery of the ring all the rest was true; she must do some more research because he needed her help.

“The basic alphabet has sixteen runes,” she read. “Most inscriptions for everyday messages were on wood or bone, some on stone told deeds of heroic victories.” So runes on a ring must be really special, thought Cat. She took the ring off and, holding it under the spotlight, copied the lines onto paper. She then returned to her books seeking out and illustrating as many lines as she could.

“Have you finished your homework?” Mum’s head appeared around the door.

“I’ve done tonight’s. I’m working on next week’s. Is it OK if Sharon and Amanda come round tomorrow – we’re researching together?”

“Of course. Text them and say they can come for dinner. Not too long now.”

The head never attached itself to its body but disappeared back around the door. Cat checked her watch; she’d been working over an hour. The runes mesmerized her and she worked nonstop until her page was covered in symbols. Now she took each symbol on the ring and began to search for its likeness on the page. Another hour went by. Finally she had completed the saying:

C A T S K A R D

T R E A S U R E

S K A R D

F O R E V E R

A knock came at the door.

“Come on, it’s late and you’ve got school tomorrow. Lights out!”

“OK!”

In truth, Cat was glad to give it a rest. Her eyes were stinging; vision blurry and she had a headache. Quickly she undressed, put on her ’jamas and ran to the bathroom. Luckily she’d timed it right, she’d made it before Ben who stayed in the bathroom for hours. Back in her room she sent a text her friends, then put out the light and jumped into bed pulling the duvet up to her ears. She lay snuggled feeling the warmth envelope her. She touched the ring briefly then fell deeply asleep.