The Drustone

Chapter Ten. Crossing the Sands. Part.I. The Kent Estuary

Chapter Ten 

Crossing the Sands. Part I. The Kent Estuary 

As the train screeched to a halt the boys ran along the outside of the train looking for an empty carriage. They were bubbling with anticipation, minds reeling with questions. Where were they going? Why did they need all this camping gear? Why had their parents been so reluctant to let them go? 

They chose a third class compartment, isolated from the rest of the train. It contained two dusty, red cushioned bench seats stretching across its entirety. A narrow gap, offering little space for the knees of regular passengers, lay between the seats, but for the boys it was more than adequate.  

Under Uncle Steve's watchful gaze the boys boarded the train, loaded their bulging haversacks in the overhead nets, and each claimed a window seat. With passengers all aboard, the guard blew his whistle, waved his green flag, and the steaming locomotive chugged away from the platform through the outskirts of the town towards the sea. 

"We can't be going far," said Rev, desperate to know their destination. 

"What makes you say that?" asked Uncle Steve. 

"There's no lav."  

Uncle Steve laughed. "You're right, we're not going far." 

"But where, Uncle Steve?" 

"Don't be impatient Henry. Let me ask you all something. Why do you think the Romans built that road you travelled on the other day?" 

Rev had been thinking about this, and was quick to suggest that it had been built to transport iron ore from the mines to the coast, where ships waited to take the precious cargo to Rome. 

"That seems to make sense but there's something very strange. The Romans definitely built the road, but didn't stay very long in this area." 

"How do you know that?" asked Rev. 

"No one has found any ruins of a Roman town, village, or fort. Just a few artifacts. It's as if they built the road and left, as if it wasn't worth the bother."  

"Or the Druids scared them off," suggested Henry. 

"You and your Druids, Henry" said Rev scornfully. "They weren't soldiers, and the Roman army was the most powerful in the world." 

"Maybe not," replied Henry. "But I bet the Druids were really mad when they saw what the miners were doing to the land and wanted to put a stop to it." 

"But what could they do?" asked P.C. 

"I don't think they had to do anything," interrupted Uncle Steve. "Apparently Nature came to their aid. According to local legend a major subsidence destroyed the Roman mining camp. You actually passed the supposed site of the disaster on the Roman road. Can you guess where?" 

"My money would be on that tarn, on the tops, where the road turned so much."  

"That's right, Rev. It's believed that a mining town was situated there, but it was swallowed up by the earth and flooded to a great depth over the ensuing years. People have tried to find out what lies at the bottom of the tarn, but without success." 

"Surely the Romans would want to find out what happened. Wouldn't they send soldiers or something?"  

"I'm sure they did, P.C., and ran in to all sorts of trouble. We're going to follow the probable route of the Roman army for the next couple of days."  

"Which way did they come, Mr.D?"  

"Let me show you on this map."  

Uncle Steve unrolled a small hand drawn map that showed the position of the Roman fort at Lancaster; the outline of the bay with its two main estuaries, and the road to the mine workings.