Bryn Celli Ddu – Interior
***
Deep in the belly of the earth, somewhere in Wales… Bark Jaw-Dark was under attack…
First she was a speck, black against the sky, then she was an arrow balancing the breeze, finally, after measuring the hole in the wall of his tomb with her wing-span, she became an awesome, majestic weight, sprung upon his wrist.
“I know why the Devil is called a light-bearer, and why he’s said to inhabit infernal regions.”
Her bright eyes connected with his as she stared.
“Hell on earth is really only a house hewn from stone, a hill-top mansion with an open roof-top, out onto the stars.
“Below ground in the mound of the hill are three expansive cellars, each of which is a winter month…”
Jaw-Dark’s soul was back, her claws silently scratching his skin as she shifted her weight from one leg to the other, preening…
***
“What’s that?” said PC 963 Kraas.
“Well, that depends…” said Bark Jaw-Dark.
“That depends upon what?”
“Upon your perspective.”
“Nothing is ever straight forward with you is it?”
“The Irish name for this and other similar landscape features is Poll na Seantuinne.”
“Which means?”
“Hole of the Old Wave.”
Just then the sea crashed beneath the promontory and the foaming waves, in the mouth of the sea cavern, a hundred feet below could be clearly seen through the ‘chasm-hole’.
“Seems an apt description,” said Kraas, “if a tad unnerving.” Her gaze followed the slow drag of the tide and then lifted to the sky where wisps of grey cloud scudded on the wind. “In the beginning,” she said, “everything was chasm and chaos.”
“There is though, another interpretation.”
“Which is?”
“Poll na Sean Tiene means ‘Hole of the Old Fire’.”
“Okay, I can see where that might fit in with some of their concerns. Especially with all this baleful eye stuff.”
“Personally, though I prefer the third alternative…”
“Ever the story-teller,” smiled Kraas. “Well, I’m waiting!”
“Poll na Seantuine, is the ‘Hole of the Old Woman’.”
Kraas’ smile turned to a grimace. “Well, I wouldn’t go shouting that particular preference from the cliff tops if I were you.” she said and then added more seriously. “So, which one is it?”
“Unfortunately for us, and also quite possibly for them too, it is more than likely that it is all three of them.”
***
Sue Vincent's Daily Echo 