Poppy Darke

by Colin Wraight

  “Not an actual mouse you idiot!” Agyness snapped irritably.

  Jesse couldn’t hear what they were whispering to one another but he felt quite safe in the knowledge that he had gone undetected so far. Besides, even if they did see him he could disappear into a wall cavity or make a mad dash for the tunnel.

  Was that...? It couldn’t be? Could it..? Jesse knew that voice only too well.

  “Mum...!” He half spluttered and half whispered. “Mum..?”

  The voice sang with such beautiful and soothing words, words which called to him and words he just couldn’t ignore.

  “Get out of there Mum! She’s a Witch.” Jesse screeched as he sprinted into the room. The Witch may have got him but he would not allow anyone to kill his mum. Skidding to a halt he almost tumbled over. “Mum... Is... Is that you?” He asked.

  Somewhere in his ghostly heart Jesse already knew the answer to his question. This woman looked and sounded like his mum but the eyes were wrong, they lacked any sign of love or kindness, they were hard and cold... They were not his mums.

  The woman smiled gently and continued to sing a lullaby to the baby in her arms. The beautiful, soothing words which came out of her mouth hid their true meaning behind a veil of familiarity. A gibberish curse swam straight into Jesse’s soul, they wrapped his spirit in an ancient magic and bound his essence tight. Only now with the ghost imprisoned did Agyness reveal her true self.

  “Thought you were clever..? Didn’t you..?” She shrieked triumphantly and placed little Nathaniel back in his box. “Well I’ve got you now! And it’s back to the cauldron for you my boy!”

  Jesse struggled and strained against the ties that bound but it was no use, there was no escape now.

  CHAPTER 29

  Huddling together for warmth in the tunnel entrance had seemed like a good idea at the time, but Poppy had never noticed before how utterly disgusting Goyles stank. The vile odor was a cross between damp earth and rotten fish. And to make matters worse than they already were her teeth and knees chattered uncontrollably and she had lost all feeling in both of her feet. Even through Midnights shared body heat the freezing cold tore like a knife through butter.

  “He’s been gone ages..!” Poppy said into the darkness. “If we stay here any longer we’ll freeze to death!”

  Slurpe agreed (although technically speaking Goyles are cold blooded and therefore can’t freeze of course). Midnight gave a little grunt, but he was simply bored of waiting and just wanted to go and bite chunks out of some one.

  “Midnight...!” Poppy ordered. “You stay outside and don’t let her leave with the baby!”

  This time the huge dog growled in disagreement, afterall, it was his job to look after Poppy and to his canine reckoning wherever she goes there’s more than likely to be a good fight.

  “Just do as you told!” Poppy snapped angrily. “Slurpe, my torch batteries have run out so you will have to lead me through this tunnel!”

  Just as Midnight leapt out into the snow, Poppy stroked his flank and called him a ‘good boy’. Then she turned to where she thought Slurpe was and said. “You can see in the dark? Can’t you?”

  Suddenly Slurpe’s entire head lit up like a very ugly and orange warning beacon. “I can do better than see in the dark!” He cried and chuckled to himself. “Where do you think Humans got the idea for Halloween lanterns from?”

  “You Goyles are so weird; so..! So weird..! Why on earth would you need a glowing head?”

  Slurpe flashed his headlight on and off several times. “Demons!” He cried suddenly and pulled one of his ugly faces that always made Poppy laugh so much.

  Poppy jumped and looked around in fear. “Where?” She cried.

  “No..! No..! A demon is scared of the lights and that’s why we are called ‘Boneshiners’!”

  Poppy accepted the rather confusing explanation for fear he may want to give her a much longer one. “Oh I see now... Of course, it’s obvious really! Isn’t it?”

  Slurpe nodded in agreement, turned and began trudging down the tunnel. “Come on them..!” He said in a matter of fact kind of way. “Let’s go and rescue your brother!”

  Slurpe cleared the route of rats by a most effective method, he simply by ate them. Poppy was disgusted and it showed on her face for every time he crunched down on one with his powerful jaws, she winced and almost vomited.

  “Can you stop eating those poor rats?” She snapped irritably. “It’s disgusting..!”

  “Yes you’re right..! They need ketchup!” He burped and tossed what was left of one rat on the ground. “...Watch your footing here!”

  Poppy climbed down some rocky steps and then noticed that the underground path seemed to be heading back up to the surface. She was also beginning to worry about Jesse, surely he should have returned by now.

  “Here!” Slurpe cried. “I can see a door!”

  The sensation was imperceptible and almost went unnoticed; the feeling of being stared at pricked at Poppy and made the hairs on the back of her neck stand on end. She stopped dead in her tracks and slowly turned her head.

  Slurpe was busy trying to figure out the opening mechanism on the secret door when he too realised they were not alone.

  Poppy screamed as the huge feline leapt at her, but three arrows fired in quick succession dropped the creature on to the rocky floor. The cat was bloody and dazed, but wasn’t finished yet and immediately got back to his feet.

  “Poppy!” Slurpe shouted. “Get behind me.”

  Since their last bone crunching encounter the young Goyle had come of age and was now a Boneshiner warrior, built for battle and eager to wage war. Sword in hand he adopted a low fighting stance behind his wings and edged forward.

  “You go and find your brother!” He said. “I’ll deal with this pussy...”

  Poppy kept her back against the rocky walls and edged tentatively toward the opening. “Will you be alright?” She asked.

  “I’m a Goyle... This is what we do! Now get out of here!” He growled.

  Poppy slipped through the door and found herself on a candle lit staircase, no sooner had she done so than all hell broke loose behind her. The battle inside the tunnel sounded like thunder and made the whole house shake.

  As the sound of mortal combat drew closer Poppy couldn’t help but nervously step backwards, it sounded like Slurpe was losing, and losing badly.

  Bodies entwined in a deathly struggle, both cat and Goyle smashed through the secret door in a cloud of flying debris and dust. Poppy just managed to dive out of their way as they tumbled down the stairs and crashed into a wall.

  Drenched in mostly Goyle blood, exhausted and hurt Slurpe climbed unsteadily to his feet and seeing that the cat was about to pounce unfurled his wings and leapt high into the air. Twiddles, a supernatural predator timed his jump to perfection and they met in a flurry of blurring sword strikes and slashing claws. Crashing through the window they landed in a tangled heap, buried in a snow drift.

  Slurpe crawled out of the white powder first and tried to stand, but grimacing in pain he realised to his horror that his leg was broken. Escape of any kind would be impossible now, one wing hung broken and limp and the other had been slashed and torn by the cats’ sharp claws.

  With his sword lost in the drift he couldn’t even die the heroic warrior’s death he had always dreamed of.

  “I am sorry Poppy... I have failed you..!” He cried.

  The pain in his leg became unbearable and he let out a cry of pain as he slumped to one knee on a bed of crimson snow, all he could hope for now was a quick and painless end.

  The cat was already on his feet and slowly circling the hapless Goyle.

  “I hope you choke on me..! I hope I make you sick and give you the runs... You flea bitten old Moggy.”

  “You’re more likely to give him food poisoning!” Shouted a familiar voice from the sky and with one flap of his wings Dogbreath Skuttlebucket swooped down, fired several arrows at the cat and then lifted Slurpe up in
to the air. “Hold on Slurpe.” He cried. “This elevator is going all the way up.”

  Twiddles leapt with all his might and sailed high into the air, but the other Goyle was far too fast and he missed.

  “Give me your sword.” Slurpe demanded. “I failed to kill this creature once before... I would rather die than fail again.”

  “Don’t be stupid... Let me take you back and they’ll patch you up.” Dogbreath knew his words had fallen on deaf ears and any arguments were futile so he glided back around and lined himself up for a precision bombing run, only this time he wouldn’t be dropping bombs. “I will tell your father of your bravery, of the glory... Die well warrior... Now take my sword.”

  Slurpe had no sooner taken hold of the hilt when he found himself freefalling through thin air. Now this was fun, this was what being a Boneshiner was all about. The ground came up at a dizzying speed and thankfully he had to do little to line himself up with the target, Dogbreath was an expert bomber and there would be no missing.

  It happened so quickly, one minute he was dropping like a stone out of the sky and the next he was waking up with a bad back and a splitting headache.

  “You did it Slurpe.” Said Dogbreath who was already kneeling beside him. “You slew the beast....”

  Slurpe shook his head to clear the double vision. “Help me to sit up I want to see.”

  The cat was some way off, but from the blood trails both Goyles could see that he had tried to crawl away with the sword embedded firmly between his shoulder blades.

  “He isn’t dead..! It isn’t dead I can hear his heart beating and it is getting stronger.” Slurpe gasped through the agony of his many injuries. “Go, retrieve your sword... Remove the head of the beast before it awake......”

  The words trailed off as Twiddles suddenly twisted his head around and pulled the bloody sword out of his back. A second later he was on his feet and staring at the two Goyles. Dogbreath reacted instantly and fired off what remained of his arrows, but the cat never flinched, infact he didn’t even blink.

  “Better stop that!” Slurpe said. “You’re just making him angry!”

  “It’s only a cat.... We can defeat a stupid cat.”

  “I fear this beast is born of a terrible magic.” Slurpe pulled out an old Swiss army pen knife he’d found in the graveyard one night many years before. “Get out of here; I’ll distract him for as long as I can.”

  “What? With that toy?” Dogbreath sniffed.

  “If you stay with me, we both die!”

  You Rottenoffles are brave but I’m a Skuttlebucket and we don’t run from anything!” Dogbreath growled menacingly. “Think I’d give you all the glory? Do you?”

  “What’s up with him anyway?” Slurpe asked. “What’s he waiting for?”

  “A saucer of milk perhaps...?”

  The huge, mutant cat suddenly seemed unsure, almost nervous. He’d creep forward a few yards and then withdraw, stop and sniff the night breeze. He now seemed more interested in the near tree line than the Goyles. For the first time the cat had fear in his eyes, death approached, and Twiddles could smell it.

  “He’s scared of us.” Dogbreath shouted. “Let’s get him.”

  Slurpe grabbed the tunic of his friend and pulled him back. “No wait! Use your nose... The cavalry is here.”

  Fear surged through the feline’s body, quickly turning to rage and then erupting from his mouth in the form of a terrifying roar which made snow tumble from the roof and the tallest of trees. Fangs bared and dripping magic filled saliva; the huge cat launched himself at the hated Goyles.

  Eyes glowing redder than the fires of hell, body sleek and muscular Midnight stalked his prey, hidden by the shadows and protected by the night. He ghosted through the darkness in silence and with ease, his senses tuned to kill and a body ready for war. Approaching from downwind the tame hell hound judged his run to perfection. Breaking cover he tore up the ground as he rushed his quarry, leaping at the huge cat he wrapped his jaws around its neck, sinking his teeth deep into the flesh and shook his head so violently that every bone in Twiddles body snapped and shattered into a thousand pieces. Then in a surge of adrenaline he slammed the corpse against the stone wall, where it crumpled to the blood soaked ground.

  The magic coursing through the cat’s lifeless body no longer had the strength to make much needed repairs and so evaporated back into the ether. All that remained of the monster was the body of a tiny little tabby cat called Twiddles who once like to eat Herrings, drink milk and play with balls of wool. R.I.P Twiddles.

  Chapter 30

  Tossed aside like a ragdoll during the fight, Poppy now found herself half covered in debris at the foot of the staircase. She dared to open her eyes just as the deadly struggle crashed through the window in a blur of mayhem and carnage. The last she saw of Slurpe, he was stabbing and slashing away with his sword and pounding on the cat with his tongue at the same time.

  Then everything went very quiet and all of a sudden Poppy began to feel afraid. Climbing to her feet she dusted herself down and tried to gather her bearings.

  With all the dust in the air she could just about see the layout on the ground floor and got the distinct impression that the house was infact derelict. Everything was tatty, torn or broken and the house stank of cats, there was also a musty damp smell that seemed to stay in the nose. All the surfaces were covered in cobwebs and a grimy, sticky substance that Poppy didn’t recognise.

  As the cloud of dust began to settle Poppy noticed a dull light coming from the landing at the top of the stairs. It was hard to tell but she was certain someone was standing up there and watching her. She couldn’t take her eyes off the shadowy figure and as the dust finally settled on the ground their eyes met in a mutual glare of pure unabated hatred.

  “You’re too late Poppy Darke... I’ve won!” Agyness screeched and then Produced baby Nathaniel from under her cloak.

  Poppy gasped and shouted. “No... Don’t hurt him!”

  Those words of despair chased Agyness as she swept out of sight, laughing with joy at her victory. “You’re too late!” She teased back over her shoulder. “He’s mine now!”

  Poppy was already half way up the staircase and sprinting for all she was worth. “Don’t you hurt him?” She cried furiously. “Give him back to me!”

  The Witch’s cackling laughter guided Poppy along the landing and through a doorway where she skidded to a halt. There, right in front of her stood the old woman, but it wasn’t that which took her gaze.

  The cauldron was vast, far bigger than she had ever dared imagine. The base was actually situated on the ground in the room below, the floor of this upper bedroom had been hacked away to reveal the simmering contents of the cauldron. Even then the neck of the vessel stood well above waist height.

  “Where is my brother?” Poppy spluttered. “What have you done to him?”

  “My! My! Aren’t we the brave one?” Agyness laughed and then feigned a look of sorrow. “I’m sorry little girl! But I’m such a clumsy oaf I think... I think I may have dropped the poor little thing in my pot! Was that wrong of me?”

  “No!” Poppy screeched. “Get him out.... Get him out!”

  Blind panic took hold of Poppy, triggering something hidden deep within, and by the time Agyness had realised what was about to happen, the little girl had fired a ball of energy, catapulting Agyness off of her feet and slamming her against the far wall.

  The Witch slid down the old wood paneling and crumpled to the ground in a heap of gasping pain. Agyness had not seen magic like this before, it was all powerful and she hadn’t seen the girl mutter any spells to produce it. Her Ladyship wanted this magic for herself and the only way was to lure Poppy Darke into the cauldron. With the wind knocked out of her she used the last of her magic reserves to raise herself up and levitate just below the ceiling.

  “No more!” She gasped painfully. “No more, I cannot fight you... If you want your brother you must get him out of my cauldron as quickly as you c
an child...! Just don’t hurt me again!”

  Poppy needed no more telling and dived head first into the vat.

  Agyness burst out laughing and clapped with joy at how easily Poppy had been defeated. “Cauldron... We are saved!” She cackled and then added sarcastically. “Stupid... Stupid little girl!”

  Then she began to recite Gibberish out loud, the same nonsensical, unpronounceable verse over and over again. As she did so, the contents of the cauldron began to churn and bubble eventually causing the cauldron itself to glow an eerie green hew.

  Agyness danced a jig and giggled with excitement as she took hold of a golden ladle which hung on a nail behind the door, and then she slowly dipped it into the elixir.

  The drop was impossibly long and Poppy screamed with pain before she hit the bottom of the cauldron. But she needn’t have bothered as the landing was surprisingly soft, bouncy even.

  Visibility was good under a luminous green sky, but that was in most part to the red, blue and yellow lights everywhere.

  “Eh..!” Poppy spluttered after realising with some shock that she had infact landed on a stripy yellow and white bouncy castle. Her eyes widened in total disbelief at a roller coaster as it whizzed by high above on its rails, trailing whoops of joy and excited laughter.

  “What the...?”

  More children rode dodgems under a canopy and in the distance a Ferris wheel turned lazily in the sky. The tempting waft of burgers and hotdogs hung heavily on the air, which also carried the scent of candy floss and ice cream. Music played loudly and so did the children, Poppy guessed there must have been hundreds of them. Many were on the fairground rides while others huddled around in gangs, chatting and filling their faces with sweets and fizzy pop.

  As Poppy rushed around looking for her brother, she noticed that most of the rides were out of service. The giant spinning octopus had a sign on up saying ‘closed for repairs’, as did the house of mirrors and the waltzer. Some rides didn’t even have a sign up; they just looked disheveled and unused.