"Through Generations Past"

Mary scowled as she stared out into the never-ending landscape of grass, cows and trees. Sick with dismay, she sank back into her seat and retreated to the solace of her Gameboy.

The bumpy, dusty road had almost destroyed the old Toyota. Packed full with Mary's many suitcases, Mary had barely enough room to sit. Her Dad was driving, one of his old Dire Straits tapes thumping away in the stereo. What did he need to drive for, anyway? The road was straight, endlessly branching out in front of them.

Aside from feeling carsick, Mary was also furious. She was furious with her Mum, for dying and leaving her and Dad all alone. She was furious at her Dad, for being unemployed and poor. Furious that they were leaving her house, her friends, her school and all of London behind her, travelling out to some old house in the country. Furious they had to share this house with some extremely distant relatives, some guy called Benjamin and his son.

Mary had just turned thirteen. She looked nothing like her Dad and everything like her Mum, who'd always laughed when people commented on this. She said it was traditional for 'Moon Merryweather' girls to have long red hair, freckles, pale skin and blue-grey eyes. This description fitted Mary and her Mum perfectly.

Until she died.

The landscape flickered past and the droning humming of the engine and the rhythmical beating from the stereo made Mary's eyelids droop.

The next thing she knew her Dad was vigorously shaking her awake. "Get up, get up! We're here. God, you're a lucky girl, Mary!"

The first thing Mary noticed was how dark it was. "Gosh, how long have I been asleep?" she gasped. Then she remembered the full details of where she was and grimaced. She wrenched open the door and climbed out into the bitter night air, feeling the cold creep through her jeans and T-shirt. Shivering and with a scowl on her face, she looked up at the old, ugly farmhouse she had been expecting to see.

Only it wasn't.

"Oh my god!" she breathed.

Towering above her was a castle. Vast stonewalls crawling with ivy, speckled large windows with an old battered roof. A large tower rose above the house overlooking the whole estate.

Mary, agog turned around to her Dad, but caught a glimpse of the garden and had to stop and stare at it. She could tell it had once been a fine garden, lined with trees and bushes, but the weeds had caught up with it. It was all brightly illuminated by a large full moon that bathed the garden in its milky glow.

Mary thought she saw out on a hill in the distance, a bright white horse rearing up in the shadows, it's mane and tail flowing and rippling.

"Ah, Mary! You've arrived!" A hearty voice erupted from behind her. Mary wrenched her eyes from the horse and turned around to face an extremely fat man atop the stairs, that lead to the front doors, he was wearing an embroidered frilly suit that seemed centuries old.

"I hope you fancy this place because you shall inherit it one day, just as every other Moon Princess has done before you! I'm Benjamin, named after the great Sir Benjamin of the time of the Black Men but please, call me Uncle Benjy!"

'Um, what the hell?' Mary was thinking, as the Man rushed down and took her arm. He led her up the steps, while Mary was frantically wondering if this place was so great after all. This guy was nutty...mental...insane!

The next thing she knew he had shooed her up some stairs into a bedroom with a very small door but everything was so dark, she could only make out a large four-poster bed. "Thank god. I hope today was a dream." she murmured and still fully dressed she fell fast asleep as soon as her head touched the pillow.

The next day arrived like a slap in the face. There was a knock on the door, a beefy hand pulling her down some stairs, a seatbelt clicking and the roar of an engine. Mary was too tired even to wonder what was going on. When she opened her eyes, she could see a boy sitting next to her, examining her with a beautiful brown-eyed stare. Uncle Benjy was driving and humming a tuneless melody.

"Where are we going?" Mary whispered.

"Silverydew village," said the boy. "Your Dad's already left. I'm Rowan."

Grinning, he pushed some brown curls from his face.

"You look familiar," muttered Mary vaguely.

"You two are both ancestors of the honourable Robin and Maria. My goodness, the likeness worries me," boomed Uncle Benjy, "And we're here!"

She felt like she'd been tipped out of the car. It was a misty morning, the dew on the grass had soaked through Mary's sneakers before she'd even taken a step. An old-fashioned street lay ahead with the ruins of a large building in the distance.

"Those ruins," said Uncle Benjy pointing, "are what remains of the old Cathedral. And that," he pointed at a hill, "is Paradise hill. You can explore, anytime you like. I'll show you the stables when we get back home."

A while later, Mary and Rowan were picking their way over the ruins of the Cathedral when Mary spotted a yard of eerie looking stones.

"It's a graveyard!" she gasped.

They fought their way over the rubble towards it. Early morning fog swirled around them as they walked down the grassy aisles separating the large tombstones. Mary stared at the engraved names.

"Sir Benjamin!" she pointed out. "And, Loveday, Heliotrope and Wrolf...I'm sure I've never heard these names before but they seem so familiar to me..."

She grasped Rowan's hand as they reached the two largest gravestones.

"It's us!"

They gazed at the crumbling statues of a man and woman who were smiling peacefully, hand in hand, overlooking their graves.

'R.I.P, Maria and Robin Merryweather'

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