The Ghosts of Sleath [antikvár]

1T..here was a stillness about the meadows.,'Insects stole nectar from flowers in the hedgerows, but < | * their drone was subdued, their movement lazy. Cows grouped together in shady places although the morning sun X ' was not yet full-blown; they chewed early-moming grass ^ while their tails listlessly flicked at horseflies. Yellow and black caterpillars plagued the ragwort and here and there the cinnabar moth sleepily stretched its wings of cerise and black. Honeysuckle sprayed from wooded areas into the sunlight, its roots back among the trees where the soil was dark and moist, and the muted song of the warbler came from the deeper shadows inside the woods.The sky, an intense blue, seemed to hang low over the distant Chiltern Hills.Spiders weaved webs among the hedges of a lane and a carrion crow skimmed low along its dusty length. The bird abmptly soared above the treetops, then swooped down again to perch on a tilted gravestone in the cemetery beyond. It cocked its head to one side as if curious about the gathering of people there, their garb as black as its own.An ancient church, its stonework scarred and worn by centuries of inclement weather but brightened this day by unhindered sunlight, rose high over the proceedings; uneven buttresses strengthened the square tower, and dark lancet windows within the tower's walls seemed to watch the j ;, assembly with the crow.' 'I.1