They made their way through the hills and up to the abbey. Darkness had long since fallen, but the bright light of the moon illuminated their path, and Graeme’s lantern helped when trees shrouded the silver moonbeams. Soon they found themselves hiding against the gate that protected the outer property of the abbey. A large lock secured the gate in place.
“I hadn’t anticipated this being locked,” Vanessa said.
Graeme said nothing. Instead, he reached into Vanessa’s bag and retrieved her tools. He carefully selected a flat metal instrument and started to work on the lock.
“Where did you get these tools?” he whispered.
“They were my father’s,” she said.
“He was a scientist as well?” he asked as he maneuvered the instrument up to the bolt.
“He was,” she said.
“Rather progressive for him to leave his tools to a daughter,” Graeme noted.
“Oh, no. He never would have left these to me. In fact, he’d be quite furious to know that I have them. I stole them from his belongings before my mother shipped his clothing to a charity.”
Graeme looked up to eye his wife, and just as he did, the lock shifted and the gate swung open. He tried to quickly gauge her expression, but could read nothing in her glance.
“Shall we?” She pushed past him and entered the yard leading to the abbey.
They approached the building and headed directly to the side door that she and Esme had previously agreed on.
“Vanessa, I’m here,” Esme whispered.
Vanessa grabbed Graeme’s hand and pulled him to the door. As they stepped inside, Vanessa came face-to-face with Fielding. His droll expression took her in and then moved to Graeme.
“Did you know about this?” Graeme asked him.
Fielding shook his head. “No, but I’m not surprised. My lovely wife would not be herself if she wasn’t trying to get into trouble somewhere.”
“Don’t be such a bore. They needed our help,” Esme said.
It was late enough that Randolph and the servants should be sleeping, but if they came across anyone, Graeme and Vanessa could convince them that they too had decided to stay the night. Not too difficult to believe, since several servants had seen them there as dinner guests only hours before.
“This way,” Vanessa said. She quietly led the way through the first floor to the dining room where she’d seen the tapestry. “There it is,” she whispered.
The four of them walked over to the huge tapestry hanging along the stone wall directly above a sideboard. The tapestry, like most from its time period, depicted everyday life: an homage to the family’s estate and life. Women kneaded bread, men hunted, other men fought battles, and the castle loomed over all in the background.
“What are we looking for?” Esme asked.
“That.” Vanessa pointed to the image in the right corner.
A knight carried a stone. “It looks like every description or illustration I’ve ever come across for the Stone of Destiny,” Graeme said. In the second image, the knight was hiding the stone somewhere in the abbey. A partially constructed abbey, as if the tapestry hinted that the stone was literally part of the abbey itself.
“Looks as if the stone is built into the abbey,” Fielding said, verbalizing Graeme’s very thought.
“But that can’t be,” Graeme said.
“And why not?” Vanessa asked.
“This place was nearly destroyed, and then Randolph reconstructed it.” Graeme ran his hand along the threads. “If the stone had been here all along, it could have been destroyed or moved elsewhere.” Graeme was silent a moment before adding, “unless there is a part of this building that Randolph left untouched.”
“If the Stone of Destiny was added during construction, I suspect we’ll find it on one of the exterior walls.”
“Everything on the floors above has been reconstructed,” Esme said. When her husband eyed her suspiciously, she shrugged. “Mr. Randolph gave me an extensive tour while you were in the village asking questions.”
“Any part of the tour include an original part of the abbey?” Graeme asked.