[US + UK] Deep beneath the earth of a North Cumbrian wood lies the germinating mass of a fungus-like organism. How long it has occupied the fibrous soil of that place is uncertain, but Dr Jim Alburton estimates it is close to ten million years. Then again, this is not his sphere of expertise. He would normally consult Jane Milner, the county’s only resident fungus expert. But Jane is dead, along with her partner — victim of a rare, acute brain disease.
