by Aine Dyer
He had failed in his quest to save Scrooge and he was back sitting in front of the jury and the man on the podium.
“Jacob Marley you have failed! And you gave away your crystal! There is no hope for you now!” He turned and looked at the raging fire. "He's all yours!"
Before Marley could react, the fire's flame flew into the air, turned, and landed directly on top of him pushing him down through layers of earth until he stopped and toppled onto a cinder floor. He could still see parts of himself smoldering and he felt red hot irons pushing against him melting his decaying flesh. It hurt in some strange way. There was no time, however, to consider himself, because as soon as he realized where he was, he heard the breath of something heavy next to him. The breathing quickly turned into growling making Marley move back because he could tell it was something big and awful and it was slithering in his direction.
And then a gush of fire lit up the cavern where he had landed and he saw where he was. He sat on orange steaming earth in a cavern staring eyes wide at a large red fire snake that had stopped before grabbing him. The fire went out and he was left in darkness with the snake’s breath close to his face.
He flinched backwards trying to escape from the snake only to find that both of his legs were burned causing him to have trouble standing. He sat cowering in the darkness for a few moments until a loud thick voice startled him and he hid his face as he tried not to listen.
“Jacob Marley, you have been condemned to the afterlife here with me.” The voice was so deep it shook the ground beneath him and Marley felt that it actually could have been the earth’s molten core speaking. “For the rest of your time here you will be hunted by my pets. You thought roaming was bad? You better get up, Mr. Marley, and run."
Loud cold laughter filled the cavern as Marley scrambled to get up. But the metal from his cash-boxes held him down and he could hear the slithering beast coming towards him fast.
He was screaming when he got on his hands and knees crawling slowly to nowhere.
And then he heard his brother's voice. Although far away, he knew he heard it and his mind grasped at it, hoping to be pulled somewhere else than where he was.
He woke up crawling and scratching at the gray ground.
"Jacob, all you alright?" Robert said looking at him in horror.
"Robert," Marley said as soon as he could speak, “We have to get to Scrooge now."
Marley shook his arm trying to extinguish a leftover tiny fire on his jacket and closed his eyes in dread. He felt Robert touch him and when he opened his eyes he was again in front of his former home. It took him a few minutes to gather himself before he could open his eyes and he stood, relieved to be somewhere more familiar to him.
When he looked closer he saw a house that had never grown up and was now pinched in between its older, larger sisters and brothers poking out and looking rather confused. Marley had been proud of his tiny chambers, but now seeing how dark and dreary it was, he felt sad for the small dwelling and felt even worse for his friend who had to live there.
He paused as he entered the dark, insipid yard. The sparse areas of grass had been overgrown and not tended exposing a matted disheveled way about the whole place. A large metal knocker on the front door was in the shape of an angry lion forcing any possible visitors to stay far away. Marley looked at the knocker intently. This would be a good place for him to begin his haunting. He turned, and backed in through the door stopping just as his body was on the other side and then tried to mold his head to the knocker replacing the lion with his face.
But it didn’t work. The lion’s head was big, but wasn’t big enough to fit his head. And then he couldn’t make his body fit through the door the right way. He tried again and just filled the door with his whole spectral body.
“Robert, what do you think?” Marley asked.
“You’re just standing in the door,” Robert said disappointed. “It’s not really scary, especially for the first meeting.”
“Let’s just go inside,” Marley said deflated.
He backed all the way through the door. In the darkness of his former residence, Marley looked up the large winding staircase that led to the bedrooms and knew that practicing there would be the best idea so up he went.
“I still can’t believe you lived in such a dreary place, Jacob,” Robert said sitting on the bed.
“I’m surprised by it myself. Scrooge’s lack of light is very sad as well,” Marley said.
“I’m shocked this place isn’t already haunted,” Robert said.
Marley looked at the fireplace with its tiny half burned log. He tilted his head and studied it and decided that it would be the perfect place for his face to appear if he could do it.
“Scrooge sits in this spot every night staring towards the fire. I will have my face fill the tiles one by one so that he can see me.”
“If you couldn’t do the knocker…well? I don’t mean to point out the obvious.” Robert uttered.
The fireplace was an old one, built by some Dutch merchant long ago, and paved all round with quaint Dutch tiles, designed to illustrate the Scriptures. There were Cains and Abels, Pharaoh’s daughters; Queens of Sheba, Angelic messengers descending through the air on clouds like feather-beds, Abrahams, Belshazzars, Apostles putting off to sea in butter-boats, hundreds of figures to attract his thoughts; and yet that face of Marley, seven years dead, would come like the ancient Prophet’s rod, and swallow up the whole. There were twenty-six tiles that needed his head to fill them and it was going to be a challenge.
He stood near the fireplace and concentrated because he knew that splitting himself twenty six ways would not be easy if he could even do it at all. He had to make himself explode into smaller pieces and he closed his eyes and pushed out until he literally felt himself coming apart. And then it happened: his spectral body separated itself into twenty six heads and he filled each tile for only a second until the push from the outside forces reassembled him. He had to hope that Scrooge would be staring in the direction of the fireplace when he did it because he could only keep that going for a few seconds.
“That’s impressive, Jacob. But you don’t want to scare him to Death, as that would defeat the purpose,” Robert said.
“I can’t talk or think when I do that. And no, I definitely don’t want to scare him to Death,” Marley said.
“Do you think this is enough?” Robert asked.
“No. I will have to speak with him and I’m going to need something especially terrifying for Ebenezer,” Marley said.
“Can you make a limb fall off or something?” Robert asked.
“No, but sometimes when I scream I can stretch my face all the way down to my chest,” Marley said.
“Let me see,” Robert said.
Marley opened his mouth like he was about to scream and his jaw dropped down so much that he thought he might not be able to get it back up to close it.
“Here wrap this around your chin and when you scream see if you can take it off and have your chin droop.” Robert tied a bandage from Marley’s chin to the top of his head. “Now try a wail.”
Marley raised frightful cry shaking his chain was such a dismal and appalling noise that the entire building shook like it was in the middle of a small earthquake. He took off his bandage around his head letting his lower jaw drop suddenly to his chest.
“Oh, that’s horrific,” Robert said turning to hide his face. “If I was a human I’m not sure what I’d do if I saw that.”
Just then, a thunderous BOOM echoed from the downstairs as a door had been shut with anger.
“Hide!” came a desperate whisper from Robert as he quickly swirled out of the room.
“Hide?” fired back Marley, “I’m not supposed to hide, remember, I’m a ghost!”
Marley heard Ebenezer’s stone footsteps coming up the grand stairway and he lingered just long enough to see the door click open. He looked up and remembered the unused servant’s bell above him and right before he vanishe
d, he flicked the bell with his finger leaving the tiniest echo of ringing for Scrooge to hear.
Chapter 15
Faith
December 24th, 1843
Marley leaned against his stone and traced the faded Psalm scripture that described his fate. O’Come All Ye Faithful travelled on the wind as he wondered how different his journey would change if he succeeded. But since he had given away the crystal, the only thing that could get him redemption, he wasn’t sure anything was going to change. And, if he did succeed, he would never see his friend again and that saddened him just a little more than expected as Scrooge was his only link to the living world.
During his roaming he considered what the jury would say when he stood in front of them trying to explain why he had given away his crystal. Was the crystal even his to give? The remnant of his dream clouded his thinking as a vision of flames rising and the jury convicting him for being a horrible human being and even a worse gray one played in his mind over and over.
“Jacob,” Robert said, his wispy voice had a sympathetic twinge to it. “You must meet the three Spirits at the light.”
Marley’s spectral body felt heavy from the metal. “Yes, Robert, I’m coming.”
He gave a long look to where he had been the last seven years since his death and then turned to roam towards the horizon. “You’ve done your best, Jacob. Most men wouldn’t even do this for someone in life,” Robert said.
“I have appreciated your help, Robert. The Lord knows I don’t deserve it,” Marley said.
“We have helped each other, Jacob. What a wonderful journey it’s been! Things that I would’ve never done without you,” Robert said touching his brother’s arm.
Marley smiled unexpectedly. “Yes, quite the journey, Robert. What a glorious Christmas it will be if we succeed!”
The light erupted covering the entire sky with its glory.
“Look! It’s here early!” Marley and Robert raced towards the light and found themselves in line behind all the other gray ones.
“The Christmas Spirit is surely taking its time this year, isn’t it?” Marley said.
The gray one next to him overheard and spoke loudly at him. “The Christmas Present has already been here. You’ve missed him.”
“Why, I couldn’t have. He’s waiting for us,” Marley said trying see over the heads of the crowd in front of him.
“Waiting for you? Why what makes you so special? As if a gray one like you would be that important,” he said floating away laughing.
He felt Robert touch his arm. “Your faith is being tested, brother. Christmas Present is waiting for you to have it. I can feel it,” Robert said.
Marley‘s face tightened. Faith. That had been something that only money had provided for him. Faith was something you felt not something you saw and Marley, in all his logic, was having trouble feeling it. He stayed silent for a long time trying to find some faith in himself, in the Spirits, in God. What if they didn’t come? Then he would have to save his friend himself which he wasn’t completely sure he could do.
“I will have faith brother. I will wait with faith right here,” Marley said trying to picture something called faith standing next to him.
And so they stood for what felt to Marley like a long time, while the other gray ones departed. And finally, when it was only them, Marley felt some relief when he saw a tiny light in the sky, far away, glide towards them.
A golden carriage pulled by large white reindeer appeared from the light with the three Spirits resting in the back and a spectral driver with a tall hat pulled the animals to a stop. In the back of the carriage sat the three Spirits and Marley saw that Christmas Present looked to be about middle age.
“Master Jacob and Master Robert! So good to see you here!” yelled Christmas Present.
“Hello,” Marley said. “So good to see you here, finally.” He just could’t help himself.
“Did you not think us to come?” asked Christmas Past.
“No… I…,” Marley quivered. “Faith is a strange thing.”
“It is,” said Christmas Present. “And at least you are starting to feel a little taste of it. We are all a work in progress, Mr. Marley!” The Spirit laughed hard and winked at him. “I got special permission to be here to night but we must hurry! Now climb aboard and tell us of your plan, gentlemen!" Marley felt himself being pulled up into the carriage, which had grown in size before he sat down. Christmas Present bellowed to the driver, “On to the Scrooge home, kind sir!” Marley looked over the side of the carriage and saw that the white reindeer‘s feet didn’t touch the ground but yet, they moved upwards quickly. “Like the carriage? I got it for Christmas.” Christmas Present laughed with a great smile. “Now what is your plan, Jacob Marley?” A plan was the one thing that Marley had not thought of, interestingly enough. This was his plan, the one that was happening now.
“Oh…I…,” he stumbled.
“You’ll visit Ebenezer Scrooge first. Correct Jacob?” replied Robert to the group but keeping his eyes on Marley.
“Yes,” Marley said relieved for Robert’s quick answer. “There should be a logical progression of Spirits for Ebenezer. I will go first and explain what will happen to him. If it comes from me - an old friend - he may listen. And then you, kind Spirit of Christmas Past, if you could take Scrooge back to his days at school when Fan first came to take him home, then a time when he had his Christmas party with old Fezziwig, and when the woman he loved rebuked him because of his new love of money and anything else you might think is important. Mr. Fezziwig has agreed to help in any way he can as I’m sure you already know.” The Ghost of Christmas Past nodded its strange head in Marley’s direction. “Then Christmas Present to show him Mr. Cratchit and his family. Please show him Mr. Cratchit and make sure he knows about Tiny Tim! And then his nephew and then anything else that you know will move Scrooge’s heart.” Christmas Present smiled at Marley making him feel like his plan could actually work.
“And then,” Marley interrupted himself and looked at Death. “Err…Death.”
Death stared straight ahead as if he wasn’t even listening.
“You can’t call him Death. That would make Mr. Scrooge a little nervous,” Robert whispered.
“No, we can’t call you Death,” Christmas Present said to the Spirit seated next to him. “What exactly, Jacob, do you want Death to show Mr. Scrooge?”
“What’s going to happen to him if he doesn’t change,” Marley said. “And that’s death.”
“We’ll call him the Ghost of Christmas Future.” Upon hearing this Death straightened himself up. “He likes being part of a group,” Christmas Present whispered leaning in close to Robert and Marley. “Although I’m sure Mr. Scrooge will make his own determination.”
“But you,” Marley stopped and addressed Christmas Present instead of Death itself, “He has to look scarier than this.”
You see, Death had fixed himself up and now looked like quite businesslike in his suit and tie as one would normally do when attending an important meeting.
“The cloak,” Christmas Present said. And just then Death frowned with a heavy growl, lifted his hand, snapped his fingers and was instantly transformed into a reaper. Marley looked at his hand and shuttered when he saw skeletal fingers underneath his sleeve.
The wagon broke through the veil over the top Scrooge’s house and the driver settled it down in the tall, disheveled grass in front Scrooge’s house.
“Marley brothers, this is where I leave you and wish you good because it will be more than one soul we save this night.”
“Thank you Spirits for your help,” Marley said “Without you, I would be in the fire, I’m sure of it.”
“Without you, Mr. Jacob Marley, none of this could have happened,” Christmas Present said beaming with a smile.
The glowing carriage lifted away is if it was made of a feather in the wind and in a moment there was nothing there except remnants of light from the lanterns that lined the street. Th
ey walked though to the human side of the veil.
The sound of footsteps echoed around the corner and the look on Robert’s face was one of anxiety.
“Here he comes!” Robert whispered excitedly.
Marley jumped and floated towards the door, backed himself up and faded into the frame. He calmly stayed just outside of Scrooge’s sight until he came closer and then the lion disappeared as though Marley’s face was a permanent part of the door casting his sullen face in a dismal light. He stared motionless at the man he had come to rescue that night. Scrooge looked directly at him. Now to Scrooge, it is a fact, that there was nothing at all particular about the lion head knocker on the door, except that it was very large. It is also a fact, that Scrooge had seen it, night and morning, during his last seven year of residence in that place; also that Scrooge had as little of what is called fancy about him as any man in the city of London, even including—which is a bold word—the corporation, aldermen, and livery. Let us also remember that Scrooge had not given one thought to Marley, since his last mention of his seven years’ dead partner that afternoon. And then let any man explain to me, if he can, how it happened that Scrooge, having his key in the lock of the door, saw in the knocker, without its undergoing any intermediate process of change—not a knocker, but Marley’s face.
Marley’s face. It was not in impenetrable shadow as the other objects in the yard were, but had a dismal light about it, like a bad lobster in a dark cellar. It was not angry or ferocious, but looked at Scrooge as Marley used to look: with ghostly spectacles turned up on its ghostly forehead. The hair was curiously stirred, as if by breath or hot air; and, though the eyes were wide open, they were perfectly motionless and black. That, and its livid color, made it horrible; but its horror seemed to be in spite of the face and beyond its control, rather than a part of Marley’s own expression.
Then as quickly as it came with Scrooge studying the face, Marley’s face disappeared and it was a knocker again.
To say that he was not alarmed, or that his blood was not conscious of a terrible sensation to which it had been a stranger from infancy, would be untrue. But he put his hand upon the key, turned it with declaration, walked in, and lighted his candle.