Lucifer's Abbey Read online

  LUCIFER'S ABBEY

  By Michael James Smith

  Copyright

  The right of Michael James Smith to be identified as the author of this work is asserted in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright Designs and Patents Act 1988.

  All the characters in this book are fictitious, and any resemblance to actual persons living or dead, is purely coincidental.

  All photographs of Torre Abbey by kind permission of Torre Abbey Historic House.

  Use of the name of Kents Cavern, Torquay by kind permission of Mr Nick Powe and Kents Cavern.

  Dedications

  In loving memory of my Mother Ina Thompson / Fudge who was a single parent to eight very grateful, lucky children.

  With love to my elder sister, Ann and the short walk from Courtenay Street, Newton Abbot to the Newton Abbot Library where she first enabled me to encounter the world of books. An old promise finally made good Ann!

  For my younger sisters Elizabeth, Valerie and Lynne who have been all that sisters should be and much, much more.

  For my elder brother Peter who has his own stories to tell and with respect for my Brothers Terrence and Paul in loving memory.

  For my step father Patrick, who took on board eight children, a remarkable thing to do!

  For ‘Big’ Pete Winstone and Rick Northcott who became brothers and for Enid who will always be my sister.

  For my Niece Sarah who steadfastly put right my many grammatical errors. Thank you Sam! You did the hard work!

  For all the children of Ellacombe Green / Ellacombe School 1953 – 1959. For my fellow pupils at Westhill Secondary School 1959 -1963, and Mr G.W. Stiles our wonderful Headmaster.

  For Derek and Faith Milton and sixty years of golden friendship.

  For everyone who loves Torre Abbey and Torbay. The most beautiful Bay in the world. If you have not visited the Abbey since its restoration I urge you go, it's well worth the effort!

  Acknowledgements

  My thanks are due to the staff of Torquay Library who were unfailingly helpful, supportive and wonderfully well informed. I made sure to mention the Library within the story.

  I would like to thank Mr Alan Davies, Sue Cheriton, and the staff at Torbay Council and Torre Abbey for their support, encouragement and help and in particular to thank Jane Palmer, Museum Support for Torre Abbey for her kind efforts and advice on my behalf.

  I would like to thank Mr Nick Powe for his kind permission to use the famous name of Kents Cavern in my story.

  I acknowledge with gratitude the advice, assistance and support of Tracey and Ian Yeo with the photography for both the e-book and printed publication. Their enthusiasm and talent has made a world of difference. Their cover picture is a masterpiece. They have many fine pictures of Torre Abbey which can be viewed at their website. Traceyyeodevonphotography.com

  Preface

  I have chosen to write a story about my scenically beautiful seaside home town of Torquay and some places of which my love and fascination was born within the nearby Dartmoor National Park during my teens, the setting of one my favourite childhood books, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s, Hounds of The Baskervilles. It was here in the quiet of Dartmoor that my fellow Torquinian Dame Agatha Christie completed her first novel.

  I have set one of my themes upon the Moor at Belever, my own favourite Moorland beauty spot, it calls me back like a candle in a window on a dark and stormy night. (Hounds at my heels!).

  In deference to other parties interests I have made the following slight alterations.

  I have altered the name of Ilsham Oratory to Ilsham Chapel to protect the excellent reputation of Studley Knowle School in the grounds of which the Oratory stands. So very few local people seem to be aware of its existence despite it having been there for eight hundred years!

  Torre Abbey has been my inspiration throughout the writing period. I have a long history of visiting the beautiful gardens there, sixty years of daydreaming and I know of nowhere in Torbay that is able to match its ambient tranquillity.

  Today Torre Abbey is a newly, brilliantly restored building with many interactive learning displays and some remarkable art works all beautifully restored. It is a wonderful place to explore eight hundred years of England’s history.

  The story below was born one fine summer afternoon in 2013 within the ruins of the cloisters there – what stories the stones could tell if only they were able!

  Table of Contents

  Chapter / Page

  Page 1. Title Page

  Page 2. Copyright

  Page 3. Dedications

  Page 4. Acknowledgements

  Page 6. Preface

  Page 7. Table of Contents

  Page 9. The siege of Jerusalem

  Page 24. Taken

  Page 43. A Cold Blooded Christmas

  Page 61. Missing Persons Europe

  Page 86. Confined

  Page 110. The Devil And All His Works

  Page 119. Murder At Moretonhamstead

  Page 142. A Blizzard At Bovey Tracey

  Page 161. The Ghosts Of Torre Abbey

  Page171. Dining With Lucifer’s Envoy

  Page 202. The Satanic Mansion of Wellswood

  Page 221. The Sacrifice Of Cherie Leclerc

  Page 242. Harold’s Revenge

  Page 247. The Kents Cavern Mysteries

  Page 258. The Power Of Buckfast Abbey

  Page 280. Harold’s Bane

  Page 288. The Horror of Ilsham Chapel

  Page 307. Torre Abbey

  33

  CHAPTER ONE

  The Siege of Jerusalem

  September 1187

  Saladin's army has been camped facing the Tower of David and the Damascus Gate his archers continually pelting the ramparts. Siege engines have rolled against the walls but for six days they have been repelled each time by the small garrison of Crusaders that is all that now remains for the defence of Holy Jerusalem.

  Most of them are not really knights at all but a collection of stewards and apprentices that Balian has induced to take the Knight's Oath in defence of the Holy City.

  The Crusaders have suffered little by way of casualties in comparison to Saladin's heavy losses and a new strategy is called for. Renowned for his ability as a soldier and with a recent history of many victories against the cities surrounding Jerusalem, Saladin instructs that his army be moved on to the Mount of Olives where there is no gate from which the Crusaders can sally forth and cause him yet more losses.

  Once again the City is bombarded by catapults, mangonels and petraries, Greek fire and crossbows help to fill the air with deadly missiles. The siege towers roll forwards again and again and under their brief cover before they can be repulsed, men creep forth to lay mines against the City walls.

  On September 29th, the mines finally cause a breach in the walls. Immediately it is stoutly defended by the tiny garrison of Crusader Knights and the small nucleus of their infantry that remain alive - producing a bloody stalemate.

  The City is overflowing with twenty thousand refugees from the fall of other cities and towns surrounding the besieged Holy Mount. The population is starving and unrest and civil disorder are rife.

  The situation is not helped by the mix of religions that are now surrounded by Saladin's Muslim army. Even the Christians themselves are from many branches of that faith. Some can expect to be better off if the City falls to Saladin having had their freedoms curtailed by the Latin rule of the Crusaders. Christian cannot trust Christian.

  On Mount Calvary women plunge the heads of their children into bowls of freezing water before cutting all their hair off and cry out to God to save the city. The Clergy march in a bare footed procession around the inner walls. Later it would be written that the
stench of adultery, of disgusting extravagance and of sin against nature caused God to turn his face away.

  The City lies under the command of Balian of Ibelin and Heraclius of Jerusalem who have organised the stout defence until their men are too tired to battle against the unstoppable flood of Saladin’s army.

  The Crusader Knights are reduced to so small a number their only option is to sally forth to meet with Saladin and plea for the lives of the City’s population.

  Of more concern than the lives of the population or their own lives, Balian and Heraclius are aware that the Crusaders own most revered artefacts are hidden beneath the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. Long years of searching and research having finally uncovered them, resulting in the formation of the Knights Templar and the Hospitallers orders sworn to the protection of the most sacred Holy treasures on Earth.

  In a small heavily guarded room of what will later become the Al Aqsa Mosque, a candelabra glows with the light of thirteen candles. Around it are seated Balian and Heraclius at either end of a large imported oak table. Between them sit, on the left three Knights and upon the right three Monks.

  “Our task is to safeguard those things which belong to God himself until God himself sees fit to reclaim them.” The soft voice belongs to Peter the Hermit, a hooded Monk seated on Balian's right hand. He is a small man of slight stature and the oldest person in the room by far. No one knows how old he is.

  He has been in the Holy Land far longer than any other person in the room and it is he that has successfully unravelled the cryptic labyrinth of clues that have led to the finding of God's artefacts. He is not interrupted as he continues to speak.

  “The danger to those things that we must now guard does not come from Saladin or his generals. Saladin himself is an educated man and would not seek to destroy the Holy relics of another religion. He is also aware that The Ark of The Covenant has changed hands many times in battle and always it has caused such terrible woes to fall upon those that stole it that is has been returned. He is too wise to take it to himself. However that does not mean that he would allow it to leave the Holy City.”

  He looked along the table towards Heraclius, this bearded, giant of a man whose skills had denied Saladin's finest fighting men their entry through the breach in the City's walls.

  “Despite your valour the Holy City will fall under Saladin's hand and he will allow the Eastern Orthodox clergy to take control of The Church of The Holy Sepulchre. This has already as you know, been agreed between them and Saladin. It is in this agreement that the danger to the Grail and the Ark and those things that it contains lies. Long ago the clergy of the Eastern Orthodox Church was infiltrated by the forces of darkness.”

  For a moment he paused and drank water from a goblet. “The guard upon the treasures that we now possess has been two fold Balian. You are only within a few days come to Jerusalem and the battle that commenced immediately upon your arrival has prevented this meeting from taking place until now. The rest of us here gathered believe it is time for you to know why so few have struggled so hard to prevent the fall of Jerusalem.”

  “I am aware of the dangers of which you will now speak, Peter.” Balian spoke for the first time since entering the room. He was a tall lithe man and sat upright despite his obvious tiredness. He looked across at Peter the Hermit with respect. “Far away a place is under construction that many believe may be the answer to at least a part of the problem you are to address. I am not come to Jerusalem to save the City I am here upon the orders of King Henry to remove from danger that which the Powers of Darkness covet most in the entire world.”

  Peter bowed his head slightly in Balian's direction. “You are here because I sent for you! The place of which you speak is being constructed at my personal request King Henry does these things in response to a mission that I sent to him. Many men died to deliver my knowledge to Henry the second.”

  The room was quiet whilst Peter drank again. “One there is, who has attained great power as an Adept of the dark forces. He has seen many incarnations in the long history of the world. Every time he returns to the physical plane he becomes stronger. He too, is here in the City. Although they are unaware of it he has long had control of the Eastern Orthodox Church here in Jerusalem.

  Even now he will be trying with those powers to eavesdrop upon this meeting. This is the battle of which you are unaware Balian It’s an astral battle between Light and Darkness that has been fought since first Lucifer was cast down. The battle between this Adept and my own Order but the latest in many such conflicts. Long and dark are the years of that strife. Beyond the lifespan of most men” A racking cough prevented him from continuing.

  The silence was unbroken as they waited for him to proceed. “This place in which we sit although it is not a Christian place is nonetheless a place of God. This very room is as holy to those outside the City walls as the Church of the Holy Sepulchre is to us. We must trust in the sanctity of this place to safeguard our conversation and our intentions for once the things that we are responsible for leave this City any mention of them must be punished immediately by death.”

  He stopped and looked around the table. There was no dissension.

  “The conflict between the forces of Light and the forces of Darkness will not cease until God in his wisdom takes back those things that we revere or Lucifer himself is called across the great divide to take the living world as his own domain. In order to open the way from Hell to our earthly world the powers of Darkness need the Ark of the Covenant.”

  He drank again and his goblet was replenished by an elderly monk who sat to his right.

  “The plans we make must not be just for the short span of our own lifetimes for we are just a wave in the ocean of time. We must prepare for the time when the Dark forces next locate the Ark. That they will do so despite the best that we can do is certain. They will bend every power at their disposal to this end across centuries if that is what it takes and all the while their servant will be empowered by Lucifer himself to return again and again to the physical world, each time he does so his powers to find it will be the greater.”

  He looked at Balian. “King Henry has charged you to arrange transport for the Ark and I to a new place of hiding and with us will go one who has been prepared to return to the physical world to resist the power of Lucifer's disciple each time he becomes extant. The identity of that person I shall reveal to no one. In this manner I hope to keep the knowledge of the powers that will be entrusted to them a secret until long hence those powers are all that remain to keep the doors of Hell itself locked. To ensure that the secret of their purpose shall remain beyond the knowledge of Lucifer's disciple I have planned all this so that this person is unaware of the true reason for their mission. When it becomes necessary to act to safeguard the Ark of the Covenant the powers that they control will be revealed to themselves and to Lucifer's servant.”

  He coughed again. The speaking was visibly tiring him. “Before we leave this room we must make plans to confuse the enemy whose every eye will be watching for a sign of our purpose. The broader we can force his search to be the safer will become our burden. We must weave such a complex web that even the centuries cannot unravel it. ”

  He looked across the table to where the three Knights sat in silence listening.

  “Of your noble Orders only the three of you now remain in the Holy City. Those men whom Balian has recently promoted to become Knights from your stewards and their pupils to defend the City, lack the training and the skills to succeed in the missions that I shall now, with the leave of Heraclius and Balian, place upon you.”

  He looked to either end of the table and both men nodded their acquiescence.

  Peter the Hermit looked again at the Knight who was sat to the left of Balian opposite himself.

  “You Walter San Saviour will go to the South and pass through Bethlehem leaving a trail that can be followed. When you leave Bethlehem you will make your way to Mount Hebron and spend many days seeking
out the caves that dot that hillside in abundance. I was a Hermit there, I chose that lonely place in order to be alone with my thoughts. Visit as many of the hermits that remain there as you can. Tell tales of the great treasure you have hidden on their mountain. You must conspire to confuse the search that will surely follow your every footstep until either you pay with your life for the task you perform or at least three months have passed. Once that time has elapsed you may make whatever plans you are able to return to Europe and your family. In this task you cannot afford to fail. Walter San Saviour, do we have your oath to undertake this mission in the name of God?”

  Walter San Saviour looked at Balian who nodded for him to proceed. “I will do as I am commanded, Peter. I will take your oath and an oath to my Templar brothers to undertake this duty and if death be my reward then I shall die with my heart pure in the service of God.”

  It was Heraclius who now spoke to Walter San Saviour from the other end of the table.