Read Online A Witch Alone (The Winter Witch Trilogy #3) by Ruth Warburton - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: Ruth Warburton
Ads: Link
Dad and back again. ‘Sorry, do you … ?’
‘Anna’s – her mum was called Isla,’ Dad managed at last. He reached for his glass and his hand shook. ‘Funny coincidence, that’s all.’
I picked up my fork again and put the potato to my lips, chewing mechanically. But it was suddenly impossible to swallow.
CHAPTER FIVE
A s soon as we got back from the pub I disappeared upstairs, muttering excuses about revision. As I peeled off my walking socks I mentally promised myself that I would actually do some revision, so it wasn’t completely a lie. Only – after some extracurricular research.
But two hours later the internet had thrown up nothing. There were lots of hits for Codex Angelis but nothing that looked remotely right and ‘The Riddle of the Epiphany’ didn’t return a single hit.
Next I checked the Winter library catalogue and then, when that turned up nothing, the British Library online catalogue. Nothing.
At last I clicked on my email browser and started a new email.
Dear Caradoc,
I hope you’re well and Jonathan too. It would be lovely to come up to London to see you some time.
But I’m afraid I’m emailing to ask a favour; I’m trying to trace a text called ‘The Riddle of the Epiphany’, from a book called the Codex Angelis. The book is in the Ealdwitan library – but their copy was defaced and the page with the riddle in was torn out.
Do you know anything about the book? Might there be another copy in existence? I can’t find any record of it, but I wondered if you might have other avenues.
Any suggestions would be very welcome.
Much love,
Anna
Then I closed down the email and opened up my neglected file of revision notes. Today, according to the timetable above my desk, I was supposed to be doing Maths practice papers.
The first one said fifty-five minutes and I set my alarm clock and got down to it. But I’d barely got halfway through the first problem when my email pinged. The harder I tried to ignore it, the more it niggled at the edge of my consciousness, stopping me from concentrating. At last I gave in – it’d be better just to check the sender and then, when it turned out to be something boring, I could go back to the exam paper.
But it wasn’t boring. It was from Caradoc.
I clicked it open, ignoring the ticking clock. Had he found something so soon?
Dear Anna,
How delightful to hear from you – and with such an intriguing question too.
I know of course the volume to which you refer. The Codex Angelis, named for the illuminated angel on page two, is a tenth-century collection of Anglo-Saxon riddles, prophecies and poetry. Much of the mundane content is similar to that in Codex Exoniensis and the Vercelli Book , but it is a shadow volume – that is to say, unknown to the outwith world, hence your difficulty with the British Library – and the prophesies are, as far as I am aware, totally unique. I know of only one copy in existence: that which resides in the Ealdwitan library.
Your quest to find the text of this missing riddle will not be simple. My cursory researches have turned up a mention of a translation dating around 1570, but the reference is to a copy in the library of Peter the Great, the Tsar of Russia, and I can find no mention of the work since that date.
However, I will make enquiries and will be in touch as soon as I have any news to convey.
Your most affectionate friend,
Caradoc Truelove
Somehow it didn’t sound too positive and I typed a quick thank you then turned back to my Maths with a sigh.
The alarm pinged for the final time to say that my time was up again and I set the last practice paper on the floor and stretched my tired back, before turning off the timer. It was nearly quarter to ten. No wonder I was knackered. I could hear faint film music filtering up the stairs and I guessed that Dad was probably snoring on the sofa. He always flaked out if he drank at lunchtime.
Maybe it was doing the practice papers
‘Anna’s – her mum was called Isla,’ Dad managed at last. He reached for his glass and his hand shook. ‘Funny coincidence, that’s all.’
I picked up my fork again and put the potato to my lips, chewing mechanically. But it was suddenly impossible to swallow.
CHAPTER FIVE
A s soon as we got back from the pub I disappeared upstairs, muttering excuses about revision. As I peeled off my walking socks I mentally promised myself that I would actually do some revision, so it wasn’t completely a lie. Only – after some extracurricular research.
But two hours later the internet had thrown up nothing. There were lots of hits for Codex Angelis but nothing that looked remotely right and ‘The Riddle of the Epiphany’ didn’t return a single hit.
Next I checked the Winter library catalogue and then, when that turned up nothing, the British Library online catalogue. Nothing.
At last I clicked on my email browser and started a new email.
Dear Caradoc,
I hope you’re well and Jonathan too. It would be lovely to come up to London to see you some time.
But I’m afraid I’m emailing to ask a favour; I’m trying to trace a text called ‘The Riddle of the Epiphany’, from a book called the Codex Angelis. The book is in the Ealdwitan library – but their copy was defaced and the page with the riddle in was torn out.
Do you know anything about the book? Might there be another copy in existence? I can’t find any record of it, but I wondered if you might have other avenues.
Any suggestions would be very welcome.
Much love,
Anna
Then I closed down the email and opened up my neglected file of revision notes. Today, according to the timetable above my desk, I was supposed to be doing Maths practice papers.
The first one said fifty-five minutes and I set my alarm clock and got down to it. But I’d barely got halfway through the first problem when my email pinged. The harder I tried to ignore it, the more it niggled at the edge of my consciousness, stopping me from concentrating. At last I gave in – it’d be better just to check the sender and then, when it turned out to be something boring, I could go back to the exam paper.
But it wasn’t boring. It was from Caradoc.
I clicked it open, ignoring the ticking clock. Had he found something so soon?
Dear Anna,
How delightful to hear from you – and with such an intriguing question too.
I know of course the volume to which you refer. The Codex Angelis, named for the illuminated angel on page two, is a tenth-century collection of Anglo-Saxon riddles, prophecies and poetry. Much of the mundane content is similar to that in Codex Exoniensis and the Vercelli Book , but it is a shadow volume – that is to say, unknown to the outwith world, hence your difficulty with the British Library – and the prophesies are, as far as I am aware, totally unique. I know of only one copy in existence: that which resides in the Ealdwitan library.
Your quest to find the text of this missing riddle will not be simple. My cursory researches have turned up a mention of a translation dating around 1570, but the reference is to a copy in the library of Peter the Great, the Tsar of Russia, and I can find no mention of the work since that date.
However, I will make enquiries and will be in touch as soon as I have any news to convey.
Your most affectionate friend,
Caradoc Truelove
Somehow it didn’t sound too positive and I typed a quick thank you then turned back to my Maths with a sigh.
The alarm pinged for the final time to say that my time was up again and I set the last practice paper on the floor and stretched my tired back, before turning off the timer. It was nearly quarter to ten. No wonder I was knackered. I could hear faint film music filtering up the stairs and I guessed that Dad was probably snoring on the sofa. He always flaked out if he drank at lunchtime.
Maybe it was doing the practice papers
Similar Books
