Chapter 16
The hollow man
Percival tutted loudly as his raincoat caught on a vine of thorns. He pulled and tugged but the barbs refused to let go. He grabbed the snagged-hem with both hands and heaved with all his might. The cloth held fast for a second or two, before it sundered with an almighty ripping sound. Unprepared and unbalanced, Percival toppled backwards into the undergrowth.
Above the canopy, the sky blazed with spiced colours as the sun began to sink. He had been out all day, searching for the missing girl. His head was sore, the pain brought about as people called out her name over and over.
“Oops a daisy,” Martha laughed. She towered over Percival, her large belly casting a shadow. Martha smiled and offered him a hand up.
“No thank you,” Percival snapped, swatting her hand out of the way. “I don't need your help,” he derided.
“I think you may be right there, Percy,” she commented. “You need professional help.”
Percival sneered, he was not comfortable being teased. He was not comfortable in this forest and he was most certainly not going to waste another minute looking for this stupid girl. For all he knew she had most likely run away from these people for a better life.
“That's it!” he shouted. “Mavis, come along. We are going home, right now.”
“But, dear,” Mavis countered. Her cheeks flushed an embarrassed-shade of pink. “We haven’t found Harmony yet. She’s is still missing.”
“As sad as that is,” he retorted, haughtily. “We will not find her in the dark. We have wasted enough of our holiday already, and I refuse to stay in the company of this repugnant-woman a moment longer. I’m going home!” he finished with a stamp of his foot.
“You've got a nerve calling me rude!” Martha bellowed. “You’re just some pathetic, little man. You’re nothing but a dark name in your family tree.”
“That's enough, Martha,” Sergeant Cooper cut in.
“Yes, Martha, that’s enough. You know nothing about my family. You ignorant, country-bumpkin!”
“And we've all heard enough from you, Mr Montague,” the Sergeant scolded. “Now, Mr Montague is right about one thing. It’s going to get dark soon. Seeing as you both need to calm down why don't you go and get some torches,” he suggested to Martha and Percival. “Maybe you can find a way to stop arguing and gain a littler perspective. Need I remind you, that Harmony is about to spend her third night alone in a dark forest.”
Percival was just about to tell the Sergeant exactly what he thought of the plan, when Mavis coughed and shook her head. He decided to just accept the policeman's order rather than argue further. He would go, but he wasn't promising to come back. Martha did not look happy either. She held a whispered conversation with the officer.
“Well? Are you coming or not?” Percival sneered, his hand firmly lodged in his pockets.
“Oh! Pipe down, you old fart,” Martha countered.
Each as sulky as the other, they walked away in the direction of Kilt’s Cove Cottage.
The Darkfern Lexicon Book 2 - Sanctorium Page 17