Without hesitation, I leapt back; my hand went to the throat of the figure. With one foot quickly kicking the ankles aside, I felled him effortlessly in a second. My hand remained around the throat as I stared down at my opponent.

And I stared into the face of the most beautiful boy I had ever seen.

It wasn't the blonde short hair that tapered across his forehead into his eyes, and it wasn't his suntanned clear and immaculate skin which emphasised his cheekbones and jaw. Or even his full red lips that puckered and grimaced slightly under my unforgiving grasp. In fact it wasn't any of those things, but it was all of those things. He was just dazzlingly beautiful.

His blue eyes edged with dark brown lashes glistened as they stared at me in amazement and wonder. My heart plunged deep into my stomach, and I felt dimly light-headed, my hands were a little shaky too but I held on.

"Hi Rose," he croaked, his strong muscular throat twitched under my grip.

"Huh?"

To my horror, he wasn't the only one creeping around; Daisy had witnessed the whole thing. She leaned out from an upstairs window with an amused grin. I had been concentrating so hard on my attack that I had forgotten to check on her whereabouts again.

"Ah, I see you two have met!" She was dressed to go out, a wax jacket slung over one arm while the other held the side swing window handle.

"Who is he, Daisy, and why was he creeping up on me?" I said abhorrently without taking my eyes off the target.

"Morgan meet Rose, Rose meet Morgan. You can let him go now, Rose," she ordered.

In disgust I released him with a slight shove, and sat on the grass while Morgan massaged his throat and neck, brushing away soil crumbs in the process.

"I wasn't creeping," he answered with a glare.

My breath caught for a moment as I glared back, unable to let go of his thrilling expressive eyes.

"Well, I'll leave you two to get to know each other," Daisy laughed again. "And Rose, clear up that mess you've made, I'll be back by eleven o'clock to meet your policeman."

Looking up at her I saw her discerning expression as she eyed the hole. So much for being secretive, they had both caught me in the act.

"Okay, sorry Daisy," I muttered, and then shouted "Oh, remember the paramedic too!"

"Her too. I'll see you both later, please try to get along," she answered. The window closed as she disappeared out of sight.

Neither Morgan nor I acknowledged her leaving as we continued to glare at each other.

"You were creeping!" I yelled "Hey, I saw you sneaking out of my house! I wanted to see what you were burying."

"Next time, mind your own business," I retorted.

"So, what were you doing?"

"Nothing!"

He stood, offering me a hand. I ignored it and got up.

"Were you burying something or digging it up?" he said casually as he peered down into the opening.

"I said, mind your own business," I huffed. "You were supposed to be back ages ago."

That seemed to rattle him. "Oh, so I should apologise for not conforming to your plans? Did I disrupt your stay with my absence?" he yelled.

"Why are you being so annoying?"

"I don't know. It might be something to do with you attacking me."

"You're lucky I didn't just punch you in the solar plexus." I said gritting my teeth. "Then you'd really be sorry."

He grinned and rubbed the back of his neck. "Maybe. So, you're not going to tell me what you were doing in my house or what you've been doing here."

"Correct. It's none of-"

"-None of my business. Yes, you've said that already."

He smiled again and for the first time I looked at him closely. His blue sweater was pulled tightly over his muscular frame emphasizing his strong stomach and agile thick arms. His shoulders were relaxed now, pushing his strong chest towards me. His jeans showed off his narrow waist and long solid legs. His gorgeous blonde hair glistened with sunbeams. I was mesmerised.

There was no doubt that he was stronger than me but I had floored him so easily.

"You'll have to show me how you did that, by the way," he grinned. "That was impressive!"

I laughed out loud, suddenly ashamed of my actions. I nervously pulled a finger through my pony tail hair and tugged at imaginary knots.

"It was just basic self defence."

"Sure, it was. I could have taken you if you hadn't caught me off guard. I thought you'd just stand up and say Hi, not grab my throat."

His tone was teasing but enthralling also, and I smiled as I relaxed.

"I have to clear this up," I motioned to the hole in the garden bed. I waited for him to leave but he stayed put. "You can go now."

"No. I want to know," his persistently stubborn chin stuck out as he folded his arms across his chest.

"Fine," I growled. "But don't get in my way."

I knelt again and continued digging with my fingers.

"Do you want a shovel," Morgan said sarcastically.

I groaned. "No, just shut up."

A few more centimetres down my nails scratched the surface of something hard. My fingertips tingled more as I scraped the dirt and soil away and cleared the edge around the box. I pushed further down each side to feel its depth wedging my fingers under the bottom. Carefully I pulled it out and laid it on the grass.

Morgan knelt down to scrutinize the dark wooden casing. "How did you know it was down there?"

I gave him a glare.

"Right, none of my business. Here, let me take it to the cottage and clean it up. It looks like it's been down there for a while." He lifted the box as if it weighed no more than a feather and walked to the cottage door.

I turned back and felt again into the hole in case I'd left anything but it was clear and normal again. I quickly pushed the soil back down until the soil surface was almost level, except for a small divot that I couldn't fill. I stood and brushed my hands over the garden removing the majority of the dirt.

Inside the cottage Morgan had wiped the box clean with a wet towel and placed it on the small table in front of the sofa. He was eyeing it over as I walked in.

"So, what do you think? Roman? Viking? Pagan? Or something else?" he said.

"I think something else."

"Yeah, me too. These markings are unusual, foreign. The question is, was it Daisy that buried it in the garden? If it was, why there? There are a hundred places she could have stashed it in the house."

"I have no idea. About any of it," I sat next to him and we both continued to marvel at the box. It was dark wood but highly polished with markings engraved around the edges of every side. The top of the lid remained plain, clean of engravings or etchings.

"So, are you going to open it?"

I thought for a second. "No."

"No? You find this stunningly beautiful box and you're not even going to see what's inside?" he raised one eyebrow in surprise.

"No."

"Why not?"

"Because it's none of your business. I don't even know you, so stop questioning me," I retorted with impatience.

"You won't open the box because you don't know me? Or is it that you're scared of what's inside?"

"I'm not ready for whatever's inside."

"It could be just old jewellery or a pen and ink set. It could even be King Alfred's missing treasure."

"What missing treasure?" My history was good but I had no idea what he meant.

"Alfred had a big battle nearby. Rumour has it that on the day before he fought, he buried or hid his most beloved items secretly to prevent the risk of pillaging should he lose."

"That's not what's in there."

He stood and leaned over the box at me. "How will you know if you don't open it?"

I paused, remembering Daisy's words on our first night out.

"Daisy said I could trust you."

"Yes, you can," he said with a smirk.

"With my life?"

He nodded. "Yes."

"So, if I show you something, do you promise to keep it a secret even from Daisy?"

He looked thoughtful for a moment. "Okay."

I breathed out with full lungs and stood in front of the box. I took one more look at Morgan; his attention was fixed on me.

With my right hand I wiped it slowly over the lid barely touching it. As soon as my hand met the centre point a silvery light flashed brightly into the room for a second before dying out, leaving a silver mark, like a symbol, in core centre of the box.

"Whoa," Morgan staggered back a few feet, before gasping quickly.

"That's why I don't want to open it," and I gazed at him hoping he would understand my meaning. "I don't know what's inside but it could be something I don't want to see."

"You mean like Pandora. Once you open it, it'll change everything."

"Exactly."

We were quiet again for a few moments, and our thoughts were only disturbed when his phone rang. He answered it quickly.

"Yes, who is it? Hannah! How are you?" Silence. "Yes, she's here with me!"

He handed me the phone and I was so relieved to hear Hannah's voice.

"Hey you!"

"Hey you!" I replied trying to gather some composure.

"What you up to today? Anything?"

Morgan was looking at me oddly. "Not much, why?"

"A friend of ours needs some help with something, I wondered if you and Morgan could come over?"

"Um, I can, I don't know what he's doing. Let me ask him."

I put the phone to my chest to blank out any noise, and kept my voice to a whisper.

"Firstly, can you hide this box here?" He acknowledged with a nod. "Secondly, Hannah wants us to help a friend out. Are you free today?"

"Let me speak to her," he said and motioned for the phone. "Hannah, what's happened?" Silence. "Oh my god, tell him we'll be there as soon as we can. Yes, we'll meet at his house. Bye."

Something awful had transpired and Morgan was suddenly agitated in his movements. Having placed the box in a small store cupboard under some old blankets, he started pacing around the small floor space.

"What is it? What's happened?"

He stopped suddenly.

"You've heard about the disappearances? Henry Cole, Percy Dunbar, Charlotte Mandel and Regina Stoy."

"I know something of the first two. I haven't heard of the others."

"Well, add our friend Jez's dad to it."

"Jez?"