‘I can smell snow coming.’
‘That can be good and bad, for us,’ commented Pat, ‘We can only do our best in these conditions, whatever our best is.’ Within fifteen minutes it was truly dark and they felt vulnerable on the street. From where they were, The Grange was still high enough to be seen above them, and so was Christine's house. Their eyes were trained on The Grange above them as they walked bravely upwards towards it.
Lights started to appear in The Grange windows, and then there were some definite figures moving around inside. Christine's house was still dark and looked unoccupied, but within a few seconds, they could see she had flung the door open, the shadow of her large figure looking out into the night. They all stopped walking and waited to see what was going to happen next.
‘Hide,’ said Gary quickly.
They ran down the drive of the next house that they could see. It looked dark and deserted, or maybe there was another one of those things lying in there. Looking left and right, up to the windows, in the bushes, the group ran around to the back of the house and into the garden. It was a patio luckily, no problems with soggy grass, but of course it was still deep with snow.
‘Get that big tarp out of your bag, Tony, quick,' Gary said in a frantic whisper. They pulled their sledges into the centre, gathering around the edge, forming a circle. Wee Renee, gestured with her hand to signal them all to kneel down. Tony quickly opened up the tarpaulin, and pulled it over the group. All anyone could see from the outside was a big pile of garden furniture, protected for the winter. They were absolutely silent.
‘I can see onto the road though this eyelet hole, I will tell you when it is clear. Don’t speak until I do,’ Tony whispered. For at least ten to fifteen minutes they heard absolutely nothing. It seemed a lot longer, but Wee Renee kept checking her watch and showing the others. It was getting quite warm under the tarpaulin, with their hot breath. They had also been walking off and on, for a few hours and were generally quite warm which, considering they were kneeling in a couple of feet of freezing snow, they were immensely pleased about.
The friends were about fifty feet from the street and Tony was a little worried that he would not hear them pass. He could only see this side of the road. If they walked on the other pavement, he wouldn’t see them. What if they came out when they either hadn't got there, or be waiting ages and lose time? He was starting to panic. He felt like he had been here all night. Just as he was about to try and go and look up and down the street, he heard the voice of Michael Thompson.
‘Most of you need to stay with us, tonight, you know where we are going. The Master does not care if a few of you need to get some energy on the way. I have noticed some of you have already had to peel off and get some light refreshments. I understand,' he laughed, ‘Don't worry we aren't going to do anything for a couple of hours, so you can catch up with us,’ he shouted. ‘Plenty of time to let them stew in their own juice.’
Tony thought that it sounded like Norman wasn't there. So where was he?
Tony had to wait another five minutes for all their voices to pass, then another two for good measure.
‘Wait here,' he whispered. He got out of the tarpaulin, still keeping low, and walked down the drive against the wall of the house. Gary looked around the corner. He looked left, he looked right. He could not see anybody from this position. It certainly looked like they had passed. Creeping a little further down the drive, being very careful he looked up towards The Grange. The lights were still on however, he could see no one coming down the road. He thought that they should make a run for it now. Hastily travelling to the back garden again he whispered.
‘Right everyone, lets try and get a bit further along. They have gone.' Standing up and stretching, they threw off their disguise. Four people helped to quickly fold up the tarpaulin and stuff it back into Tony's bag. It all took two minutes.
Very warily, they dragged the sledges back down the drive, Tony checking before them. Gary went out onto the road looked up and down it, left to right and front to back. He beckoned with his hand saying it is all clear in a loud whisper. Taking their positions again, they started off back up the hill. This mass exodus of the vampires seemed to have decided their route for them. None of them felt like tackling wild dogs or wolves tonight.
After only about three minutes walking, they were passing a house that belonged to Mary, an old lady that was a very big fan of Friarmere Band. The light was on and they could see inside her living room. It looked inviting and cosy. Mary was just about to shut her curtains. She was smiling and they could see she was talking to someone else in the room that they could not see.
‘Let's get Mary. She can go on another sledge,' said Sue quietly, ‘We can’t leave her.’ Sue turned to go down her path. Wee Renee grabbed her arm fiercely and pulled her back behind the hedge. She put her finger over her lips and pointed to the window.
Mary’s hands were on either curtain to pull them, still talking. Behind her off the sofa rose, Ernie and Lynn Cooper. As she drew her curtains, they were both only one step behind her. The curtains shut. Something pressed both curtains flat in the middle, onto the windows, there was pressure, then the curtain popped out of its curtain rings in two places. Wee Renee turned Sue towards her, her hands on either arm.
‘No, don't think about it. It is too late to meddle there. I know this sounds selfish, but that is what you have got to do now. Think of your own family.’ The Coopers were too busy attacking Mary to see the eleven people walking past her front window, and up the hill.
They had to walk for over an hour before they got to the top. Every minute seemed like an eternity and they thought at any time that they were going to be discovered.
Maurice had fought all of his compulsions not to go to the Civic Hall the previous night. He had wanted to be with the band and even wanted to fight on their side. The reality was that, in the presence of the other vampires and in the company of The Master, he would have had no choice but to fight against his friends and this was the last thing he wanted to do. He still had not killed and would continue to resist with all his might.
He knew his friends were in the gravest trouble. The night-time was here now and he wondered how many of his friends were left, being especially worried about his best friend Freddie. He opened his front door to look into the night and was astounded to see Diane walking down his road quite happily in an evening dress and bare feet through the snow. She came to a gradual stop at his garden gate. They observed each other for a long time, trying to read each other.
‘That is a nice dress Di,' he said, just to break the tension.
‘Yes, I got it from The Grange.’
‘Oh. You aren't resisting any more then.’
‘No, I didn't think I'd bother. Come and join us Maurice. Its going to be very lonely without all of them. Freddie and everyone. So you might as well stop fighting and be with people of your own kind.’
‘No, Di,’ he said sadly, shaking his head, ‘I just can't,’
‘That's a pity,' she replied flatly, dragging her finger across the snow on the wall between Maurice’s and the next doors gate. She smiled, then covered the three steps to Maurice's next door neighbour's gate and started to walk up his path.
‘What are you doing there?’
‘Feeding on lovely, young, healthy flesh. Sounds good doesn't it? You don't even have far to go. I will start it off, help you out, like you helped me.’
He stared angrily at her.
‘Come on Maurice,' she hissed angrily.
‘No Diane, and please don't do that to my neighbour,' he said under his breath, not wanting his neighbour or anyone else normal in the street to hear.
‘If it isn’t him, it will be someone else. Maybe a child. They are so sweet and tasty, Maurice.' Maurice looked down at the snow for a moment in silence. She had put that thought in his mind and by heck it was tempting. He wished she hadn’t said that, as he knew that they would be delicious to him. Diane thought he was going to change his mind after t
hinking about it. He couldn’t let himself do it. But also felt impotent about tackling the larger group of vampires. Maurice looked at her and blinked slowly. He couldn’t do anything about what she, The Master or any other vampire wanted to do. Maurice shut the door went and sat in his armchair, turned the television up and put his hands over his ears.
Just about the same time as Diane was having her evening meal, the gang finally reached the top of the lane and turned right, off the main road, to go across the top of the Pennines towards Lazy Farm and over into Yorkshire.
‘We’re well and truly in the Triangle now. Keep your eyes peeled.’ Wee Renee said.
It had just started to snow and they were so thankful for the coverage it would give them. As Liz was facing backwards on the sledge, she was looking behind them down the lane at the junction between this and the road that led back down into Friarmere. Christine’s house faced her, the other side of the junction, and The Grange further on.
They were about fifty feet from the junction, when all of a sudden the snow subsided as a snow cloud passed, and moonlight illuminated the lane. At the bottom, a man came out of the trees and started to wave at them. Liz screamed and they all turned around to see what was wrong. Their eyes followed her pointing finger and saw the man for themselves. It was Mark from their band who used to be a milkman a few days ago, now he was something else altogether. He waved at them and put his hands either side of his mouth to form a kind of megaphone.
‘Cheerio!’ he shouted and put his finger to his lips. He disappeared again.
‘What was the meaning of that!’ asked Freddie.
‘He has seen us. Now the head vampire will know where we are. It isn’t safe here. I want to go home, Andy.’ Liz was panicking. Sue grabbed hold of Bob, feeling she had led him into terrible danger.
‘Wait. Did anyone see him last night?’ Wee Renee inquired.
‘No, he definitely wasn’t there. And if he knew we were here, why didn’t he jump us? Why is he on his own, and not with the group?’ asked Gary.
‘He was doing a shush, with his finger on his lips... Do you know, I think he is on our side. Or has a soft spot for us at least,’ Wee Renee said hopefully.
‘Well, we will carry on. Time will tell whether he was a friend or foe. But I am inclined to agree with you, Wee Renee.'
‘We can’t do much else, now we are this far, can we? We’re stuffed.’ Pat grunted. Another cloud darkened the skies above them and the snow began to fall again.
When they got to the entrance to Lazy Farm where, just a couple of weeks ago, Michael Thompson had stood waiting for Stephen, they looked to the opposite side of the road from the farm. Where the public footpath, coming up from the village and through Lazy Farm, carried on.
‘Up there,’ said Bob. The group turned and began to file up the footpath. Gary went at the front. Liz got off her sledge, which now was quite light, just containing bedding and food. She pulled it behind her. The snow was not compacted at all, just like icing sugar, so Gary kicked it either way, although not long after this his legs were killing him. The footpath was only about four feet wide, so with the drifts of the snow from both walls, making a curve downwards, there was only room for them to walk single file. It was as quiet as the grave here and the trees were getting closer over the top of the path.
As they moved further up the path, the trees were getting thicker and soon they found themselves in a small wood. Soon the dark leafless trees met completely above them, which meant that there was less snow underneath, but also no starlight and moon to guide them. They carried on a little bit further, getting worried that soon they wouldn't be able to pull the sledges at all. Most of the snow here had just blown in and drifted, not fallen. Just as the covering had reduced so much that it was down to a only an inch in thickness, Bob pointed at the wall, a little further on.
‘It’s there!’ he exclaimed. There was some white paint on the wall and indeed the dry stone walling had been removed a little, so you could step over into the moors on the left.
The trees were certainly very thick here, with a nearly complete roof above them of branches. There was patchy snow coverage, so they picked up the sledges and climbed over. Bob went ahead of them to show the way. Sue got worried when he got out of sight, then she heard him speak.
‘Not far ahead, now. Come on everyone.’ The rest of the group followed the path, his voice was very close. He waited until everyone was assembled. ‘This is it. What do you think?’
Himself, Adam and a few of his friends had made this find. It had been here for many years with groups of kids discovering it every so often and thinking that they were the first.
‘Welcome to my den.’ It was completely snowless and covered with trees at the top in a canopy. It probably measured about twenty feet in a rough diameter and had a few stones, pebbles and grit on the floor, that kids had put there to make it less muddy over the years. It was sheltered, dry and much warmer, with only one way in or out.
‘Wow!’ beamed Gary, 'I used to come here and I had forgotten about it. I’ve probably not thought of this place for forty years,' he laughed, ‘I remember bringing some of these rocks up. It’s is a brilliant place, Bob!’
It had a strange feeling of home and safety about it. They just knew that everything would be fine here for the night. The first items to unpack were the tarpaulins, the hooks, the nails and the two washing lines. Tony, Gary and Danny lashed these quite high up to the corner trees and hung the tarpaulins over the ropes, so that they were sheltered once more. It had fashioned a kind of flat tent. They got a few tent pegs and fastened it down at the corners and another couple of areas. In other places the tent just flopped over. Bob found a few loose stones and anchored these down a bit. There was now one main entrance. With the trees behind them being so thick, there were only a few inches between them, they felt that only this entrance needed to be guarded.
Everything was dragged under the tarpaulin. The eleven of them got in and settled down inside. Bob had bought a wind up camping light. It was quite lovely in there. They got out their sandwiches and food. The only thing they would have loved was a hot drink, but the mood was light and hopeful. This is where they would stay until it got light. Hopefully out of the way and undiscovered. Gary peeked out, and could see near the path, a slight parting of the tree canopy, the odd feathery flake managed to flutter down. It was still snowing. Gary smiled, and hoped it would continue.
At about nine o’clock, The Master and the others gathered around the band room for the attack. The lights were off, which didn’t mean anything as they could be hiding in the dark trying to trick them, but he could not smell anyone in there. He lifted his nose in the air, opened his mouth and stuck out his tongue slightly, his children doing the same. They were taking his lead, trying to learn from their master.
‘What is this?’ The Master turned full on towards Michael. His tone of voice and face was angry. ‘You told me that they said they were coming back here.’
‘That is what they told me. I am sorry Master. I can't help it if they are a bunch of liars.’
The Master stormed angrily over to the band room, out of their hiding place and sniffed the door and steps.
‘They have not been here all day! Are you trying to double-cross me? Allowing them to escape!’
‘No of course not, Master. They are somewhere, sneaking around in this village, hiding. I wouldn't be surprised if they are in the pub. Wherever they are, they are together, I know it.’
The vampires gazed at each other for explanation. This wasn’t in their plans. All their excitement and the anticipation of lots of lovely food drained away from them. Their disappointment was obvious. The Master, still furious, but trying to keep a lid on it, regarded Michael, for a while. He was turned to one side of Michael, so he could only see one narrowed eye looking at him. Michael was breathing very fast, hoping that The Master would realise it wasn’t his fault.
‘We will check the pub,' The Master said, and instantly se
t off. He walked very quickly, with almost no effort. The other vampires easily kept up with him. This seemed to be their standard speed of walking. Michael however struggled to keep up. He would have to jog to keep up. However, in this snow, jogging was impossible. He kept falling and slipping and he was moving further and further away from the group.
‘Stephen!’ he shouted, ‘Tell him, I’ll be there as fast as I can.’ Stephen heard him and grabbed his shoulder, pulling him along. Michael's feet made the odd connection with the ground but it really was Stephen pulling him to his destination. It really pinched on his shoulder as his jacket was twisted on his armpit, where Stephen had grabbed him, but he didn’t complain.
The horde made their way to the pub. This gang totaled about fifty vampires. Because of their numbers and the fact that their Master was with them, they were not afraid of anyone and openly walked through the streets like an army. Who would stop them? The police? No, they were with them. A gang of musical vigilantes? Perhaps they would try. They were vastly outnumbered now. What could they do?
From a distance, The Master could see that the lights were off in the pub. The doors were locked and he could smell there had been no real fires in their chimney, for several hours. The Master did not feel hopeful but stuck out his tongue again, to sense what was there. ‘There is no one in this building!’ he seethed. Then he screamed loudly into the night and it was terrible.
‘Find them!’ he roared.
Luckily Michael was at the back of the group, with his head down. He was now in danger.
30 - Moors
It had been a calm and comfortable night for most of them. Whoever was on watch had Tony’s gun, but it being so quiet, they only had to listen for the slightest twig to break to be alerted to danger. During Gary’s watch, a long way away, he thought he heard a howl. Telling himself that it was probably the wind, when he didn’t hear another one. He calmed back down. Then he heard another. And another. Within two minutes, there were constant howls.
Sticky Valves: Book 1 of the Saddleworth Vampire Series Page 26