The Moon Stealers and the Quest for the Silver Bough (Book 1)

26. The Silver Bough

Once again Edgar and the children walked down the Royal Mile past the shops to the Queens Gallery and the entrance to Holyroodhouse Palace. Edgar had picked up some sandwiches as it was already late afternoon by the time they arrived. They quickly joined onto the last toured admission to the Palace and walked out into a large square courtyard together with the rest of the tour group. The guide began his well used speech about the history of the palace as well as providing some amusing facts, but neither Edgar nor the children were listening.

‘The bard’s sweet song turns water to stone,’ Edgar repeated under his breath.

‘What exactly is a bard anyway?’, asked Joe.

‘They were people who sang songs of Knights' courage and adventures,’ whispered Scarlet.

‘Maybe there’s a statue of a bard inside the Palace.’

‘I remember when we went on holiday to the Peak District….’ Max began before being interrupted.

‘What’s that got to do with the Silver Bough?’, asked Joe as the tour group moved across the courtyard towards the entrance to the Palace, above which the royal coat of arms was carved into the stone.

‘Well, I was thinking about the stalactites and stalagmites that grew inside the caves. They had been formed by water which turned into stone.’

‘So you think we’re looking for a cave beneath the Palace?’

‘Possibly, but I was thinking more about that fountain over there,’ replied Max pointing his finger in the direction of a tall algae covered statue that stood in the centre of the courtyard. ‘This map says it’s a Victorian fountain, although there doesn’t look like there’s any water coming out of it. But, if it’s so old, it may not be working anymore, so you could say that the water has turned it to stone.’

‘It’s worth taking a look,’ said Edgar as he started striding towards the large ornate fountain in the centre of the courtyard. ‘We’ll catch up with you in a minute,’ he shouted to the tour guide as the group continued towards the Palace entrance. Edgar and the children now stood on the edge of a well groomed circle of grass looking up at the fountain.

Lion heads protruded from around the stone base whilst above it many different characters supported animals making up the arms of the crown shaped fountain at the top where statues of guards stood proudly holding their weapons. They all walked around the grass looking at the fountain from different angles for clues that might fit Hadwyn’s riddle.

‘Didn’t you say that the Silver Bough was a simple pipe?’, Joe asked Edgar.

‘Yes. But it’s not likely to appear in its silver form.’

‘Well, there’s a piper over here,’ said Joe from one side of the fountain. They all crowded round to where Joe was standing and looked up at the figure he was pointing to. On one of the ornate supports that went up from the base, they looked at a stained green man with a round hat and a flowing cape who was frozen in time, blowing into a pipe.

‘Does that look like the Silver Bough?’, asked Joe.

‘I can’t remember in detail; it’s so long since I saw Arthur presenting it to Hadwyn. It was a simple object with no jewels or gems, just a simple shaped flute with a series of finger holes.’

They all continued to look up at the statue and wondered if this really could be the Silver Bough that was in the hands of the stone piper. The back of the group of tourists had now gone through the main building doorway without them and apart from some tourists taking photographs of the Palace, no one seemed to be paying the four of them and the fountain any attention.