5.17: The spiders' camp is empty

After breakfast, Masongill and pTravis tell Alcock rather a confused story about summoning the Order of the Sponge and being mysteriously swept up in a tempestuous chase of some sort. Alcock looks concerned but he does not actually tell them off for enacting the ritual. 

Later, as they walk away, they will summarise their experience of the interview by simultaneously and spontaneously saying to each other: “You let me down, you let the Potting Shed community down, and you let yourselves down.” That is very much how it feels.

But back to the present, looking at pTravis, Alcock says: “You go and see how Moffat is. You should be ashamed of how you treated him, at least. Masongill, come with me and we will see what I can see, and you can sense, at the spiders’ camp.”

Fifteen minutes later they survey where the spiders had been and had diverted the stream onto its original course, from one hundred years, ago towards the Potting Shed and its allotments. 

There is no sign of any spiders. Everything looks very still, calm and neat. To Alcock’s eye it almost looks too neat. As though there had been great disruption or violence and, afterwards, all traces had been skilfully and painstakingly removed. He remarks on this to Masongill, who replies:

“I agree. It somehow feels as though the earth itself has suffered some terrible shock or witnessed great violence and is still recoiling from it. But there is really no evidence of that. They must be very good at what they do.”