The Watcher on the Hill

The Watcher on the Hill

The miles raced by under the wheels of the train as he looked out of the window. Looking but not seeing. Rob’s mind was on so many other things past and present, and maybe still to come.

The last few weeks had been difficult and emotional following the death of his brother. They had known for some time that it was going to happen, but that didn’t make it any easier. The loss of his brother had been hard, but now Rob realised that it had given him leave to return to something that had occupied him daily for so many years. And now here he was, traveling back not just over distance. Traveling back in time, in the hope that a moment that had slipped through his fingers would still be waiting for him.

The memory of that moment was still fresh, even though it had been twenty years ago. It didn’t seem possible that so many years had passed, and yet he realised that he had been aware of every one of them. He had been seventeen years old at the time and had been ill with Glandular Fever. His recovery had been so slow that his parents had sent him to stay with his great aunt in Malvern. He smiled at the memory.

‘Malvern? Where’s that?’ he’d protested, though not with much energy.

’It’s a lovely place in Worcestershire,’ his mother had told him. ‘Your Aunt Elly moved there last year. Lovely countryside, nice fresh air, and some hills to explore when you feel a bit stronger.’

He’d felt too weak to protest much, but imagined some quaint little backwater specialising in boredom. Surprisingly, it turned out to be nicer than he’d expected. It was still somewhat quaint, but open and green, and lit up by a warm early spring. He hadn’t seen his great aunt for a couple of years, but he remembered her as a lively woman in her sixties who traveled a lot.

‘Don’t worry love,’ his great aunt had assured him, ‘you’ll soon be feeling a bit better. A few nice walks in the sun and some good food and you’ll get your strength back.’

She had been right too. It was not long before she was showing him some easy walks, and then some harder ones that took a bit longer. And all the time he could feel his strength building again until he decided that he wanted to tackle the hills. The history of the place had taken his interest. There was an old priory and some really old buildings with legends attached, but what had grabbed his interest the most was the hills. They were so ancient. And best of all, there was an Iron Age fortress still plain to see at the top of what had been one of the beacons on the old Welsh border. He couldn’t wait to climb up to it.

‘We’d better take it easy at first,’ Elly warned. ‘They’re not terribly high but you’d be surprised at how hard they can be in places. Let’s see how we go.’

There followed a tormenting time of tackling low slopes and partial climbs while Elly watched him carefully to make sure he was not getting over tired. Finally though, she judged him able to make the climb up the hill called British Camp. The thought of it excited him more than he was able to explain. It was as though it was something he had always wanted to do, even though he had not been aware of the place until he had come to the area. As a lovely morning dawned, he was ready to go, and Elly packed some food and drinks so that they could take their time.

The warm bright day had brought a lot of people out and the uphill climb was more of a stroll, something Rob felt grateful for after a while. Elly had been right about how deceptively easy the climbs looked. Some parts were a lot steeper than he had expected, and by the time they came to the first ditch he was feeling a bit drained. All the same, he could not wait to get to the top of the earthworks, and he paused only to drink some water before pushing onwards. And it was so worth it. Out on top of the hill at last he looked around at the wonderful view.

As he stood taking it all in he began to notice that a lot of the crowds had drifted away until very few people were sharing the open space. And that was when he noticed the man standing at the edge of the area. It was his odd clothing that attracted Rob’s attention at first, and he seemed to be leaning on a walking stick looking out over the view towards Herefordshire. As Rob watched though, it became clear that the stick was not a walking stick, and it was longer than it had first appeared. It was in fact a tall spear. Just as he was taking this in the man turned round and looked directly at him and Rob saw that he was wearing the garb of an Iron Age warrior. Was there some kind of re-enactment event going on? But even as the thought crossed his mind Rob saw the man raise his hand as though in greeting. At that instant it was as though a great pulse of energy passed between them, hitting Rob hard enough to knock the breath out of him. With his head spinning and his vision blurring, Rob felt his legs fold as he fell to the ground.

‘Rob. Rob, can you hear me?’

Wearily, Rob opened his eyes to see a young man with a concerned expression kneeling beside him. He had the uniform of a paramedic, and slowly Rob noticed his great aunt standing looking down at him too, and looking very worried along with some other people he didn’t know.

‘What happened?’ he asked weakly.

The paramedic smiled. ‘I was going to ask you that. Seems like you just passed out. Your aunt here says that you’ve been ill. You’ve probably over stretched yourself, but I think we’ll just get you checked over to be sure.’

Drifting in and out of what seemed like a dream, Rob could never remember how they got him off the hill and to the hospital. Then there seemed to be all sorts of tests and examinations until he was pronounced well and allowed to go back home with Elly.

‘I’ll never forgive myself,’ she fretted. ‘I shouldn’t have let you do so much so soon.’

‘I’m fine, Aunt Elly, honestly. Please stop worrying.’

‘You should have said if you were feeling wobbly and we would have taken it more slowly. We could always go back another day.’

‘But then I wouldn’t have seen the Iron Age warrior unless they’re doing it on other days.’

Elly frowned at him. ‘What Iron Age warrior? Doing what?’

‘That man on the hill dressed up in historic kit. He looked pretty good too. Is there some kind of re-enactment going on?’

‘Rob, I’m sure I don’t know what you mean. There was no-one on the hill in historic costume. There’s nothing going on here as far as I know. You must have dreamt it when you passed out.’

‘No Aunt Elly, I definitely saw him before I passed out. Perhaps you didn’t notice him because you were so busy with me.’

Elly looked at him strangely, shaking her head. ‘Darling, I can assure you there was no man like that on the hill. But anyway, don’t worry about that just now. You rest while I get us some food.’ She bustled out of the room, leaving him relaxing on the couch where she had insisted that he should stay.

Rob could not get the thought of that man out of his mind. If Elly had just dismissed it he might have forgotten about it, but because of their discussion just now he was more sure than ever of what he’d seen. And he was also sure that the fact the man had greeted him had been something to do with his collapse. The more he thought about it the more he became determined that he would return to that hill as soon as he got the chance. He had no idea what he expected to find, but he knew that he had to do it.

The chance came sooner than he had expected a few days later. Elly had some business to do in Worcester and would be gone most of the day.

‘I’ve left you some lunch in the ‘fridge and I should be back about four o’clock. You’ll be alright will you?’

‘I’ll be fine Aunt Elly,’ he said casually, willing her out the door.

‘Well just rest and I’ll see you later.’

Finally she was gone, and it wasn’t too long afterwards that he was gone too, on his way to British Camp, and hopefully a settlement to his mind.

The climb this time was noticeably easier and he reached the top with an unexplainable feeling of anticipation. There were fewer people about than the last time, and after a while he found himself alone. And that was when he saw the same man again as the last time, looking out over the countryside, leaning on his spear. Rob took a deep breath as the man turned round to look at him, this time with a smile on his face.

‘You have returned. I am pleased,’ he said. Rob realised that his language sounded something like Welsh, but that he could understand it.

‘Who are you?’ Rob asked, with a sudden shock at hearing the same language from his own mouth.

‘I am Commax of the Dobunni, your tribe. We have been waiting for you.’

‘My tribe? I don’t understand. The Dobunni haven’t been here for hundreds of years.’

Commax smiled. ‘We have reached across the years for you. You are one of our own.’

Rob shook his head slowly. ‘You mean... You mean you aren’t really here? Are you a ghost?’

Commax chuckled. ‘I am no spirit. I reach to your time from mine to bring you home. This is where you should be.’

This was all too strange. Rob was struggling to get to grips with it. ’When I saw you that other day... What happened.?’

‘I tried to reach out to you, but now I know that I cannot do that. I released a power that struck you. You must reach out to me and the power will bring you to my time. Will you come now?’

‘Come to you? You mean I can travel to your time?’

‘It is your time too. This is where you belong. Come back to us now.’

Rob tried to absorb this information. Was it real? It seemed like it, but surely it couldn’t be. Was he still unconscious and dreaming? Somehow he thought not. On some level he knew that what he was seeing and hearing was all true.

‘If I came to your time... What if I wanted to come back?’

Commax shook his head. ‘You cannot travel that way. There is only one way you can go. This is your time amongst your own people. Where you are is a mistake. Will you come now?’

Rob’s mind was buzzing. Part of his mind was urging him to say yes, but another part was struggling with the oddness of it all. And what would happen if he did go? What would happen to his family when he just disappeared? How could he do that to them for a peculiar whim? Commax was waiting patiently for his answer. Rob knew what it must be.

‘I can’t.., ’he began, surprised at the level of regret he was feeling. ‘I can’t...’

Commax nodded. ‘I understand,’ he said. ‘It is not your time yet. But it will come, and you will know when it is right. Your people will be waiting to welcome you home. Travel safely.’ And he was gone.

In the days and weeks that followed his mind was never still. If people thought he was behaving strangely they put it down to the illness and left him alone. He recovered and went home. The months turned into years. He went to university, took a position in his brother’s business and did all the things a successful young businessman would do. Oddly enough though, he could never seem to establish a permanent relationship even though he dated many women that would be considered desirable by most of the men he knew. And through it all he thought about the watcher on the hill every single day.

The diagnosis of his brother’s illness came as a terrible shock to everyone. Steven’s family were devastated, but Steven himself set out to make sure that everything would be left in good order so that life could go on for all of those around him. The news had somehow thrown a light on the constantly swirling patterns in Rob’s mind and formed them into a definite shape. He gently turned down Steven’s offer to leave part of the business to him, passing it on instead to Steven’s wife. Between them they found a manager who could be trusted to run things until Steven’s sons were old enough to take over. The moment it was settled, Rob felt that a physical weight had been lifted from his shoulders.

He came back to the present as he saw that the train was pulling in to Malvern station. He was traveling light and had booked into a small bed and breakfast for two nights. His plan did not involve staying long or needing much. He might be suffering from an over active imagination, or he might be completely off his head. He could not be sure, but he was about to find out. He settled in for the night with a plan in place for the next day.

It was still very early in the morning when he got to the top of British Camp. All was quiet. No-one was about yet and he could hear only the birds in the stillness of the surroundings. He wandered around the top of the earthworks, not quite knowing what he expected. And as the time went by, he became convinced that there actually wasn’t anything he could expect. He laughed inwardly at the fanciful ideas that had preoccupied him for the past years. And as he did so a voice interrupted that thought.

‘So you have returned.’

Rob turned to see Commax watching him. He was smiling as he leaned on his spear again.

‘Is it your time?’

Rob smiled back at him. ‘Yes it is. What must I do?’

Commax held out his hand. ‘You must reach out to me,’ he said.

Rob took a breath and stepped towards Commax, reaching out until he felt the firm grip of a strong hand.

‘Welcome home,’ he heard.

The top of the hill was still and quiet as Rob looked out over the distance towards Wales. All was safe and everything as it should be. He felt completely comfortable in his different clothes, quite content to lean on his spear and be a watcher on the hill for his own people.