‘I’ll try,’ he said, eventually.
She sighed then put her cup down suddenly, glanced at her watch and waved at Hettie for the bill. ‘I really must dash,’ she said. ‘I promised not to dawdle. Mother will be having fits.’
Gloria was getting out her purse and Ralf could see his opportunity slipping away if he wasn’t careful. ‘I understand,’ he said. ‘I just wanted to ask you about your Spirit Guide. I was hoping you’d show me where you see him?’
‘I’ll introduce you if you like,’ she said. ‘I say, what a marvellous idea! D’you know Ralf, I never had you pegged as a true believer. You’re quite the changed man.’
‘Now?’
‘Afraid not. I wanted to get down there for a conflab with him today, but I don’t see that happening now. I’d have loved to, honestly but I’ve still got to pack before dinner,’ Gloria went on. ‘I’m heading off to London tomorrow. I’m going to really miss my little chats with him whilst I’m away.’
‘So he doesn’t travel with you?’
‘Gosh, no! Always appears in the same spot on the edge of the coppice by the lake.’ She looked at her watch again and then craned her long neck towards the kitchen. ‘Where is she? For goodness sake, Hettie, time’s ticking!’
‘Oh.’ Ralf felt quite crestfallen. The lake at King’s Manor was huge and the ‘coppice’, as Gloria called it, was more like another small wood. It would take days to search if Gloria didn’t point them in the right direction.
‘What are you up to in London?’ Ralf asked, trying to hide his disappointment.
Gloria glanced through the archway towards the Post Office then lowered her voice again. ‘I’m going to be doing some work for one of Daddy’s friends. It’s all terribly exciting and very hush-hush. Oh!’ she said suddenly. ‘I’m fairly sure that was supposed to be a secret. Don’t mention it to anyone, will you?’
Ralf grinned. It was impossible to be annoyed with her for long. ‘Of course not.’
Hettie popped the bill on the table, bobbed a curtsy and scurried back off to the kitchen.
Gloria gave his hand a squeeze and Ralf expected their little meeting to be over but she spent the next few minutes unashamedly pumping Ralf for information about his brother. This, then, had been her reason for wanting to talk to him, he reasoned. ‘You don’t mind me quizzing you about Niall do you?’ Gloria asked, as they were getting ready to leave the café. The sun was setting and the church clock chimed the quarter past the hour. ‘It’s just I saw him so briefly before he left,’ said Gloria wistfully.
Gloria paid and they set about wrapping themselves up again and left. Ralf smiled as he held open the door.
‘Your top secret romance?’
Gloria seemed to find the idea amusing. ‘We haven’t been fooling anybody have we?’
‘Hardly. Your whole face lights up when you talk about him,’ Ralf snorted.
‘We were meant for each other,’ she said simply. ‘There’s always been a connection between us. After all, I’ve known him forever – well, since we were children, anyway. Though it feels longer than that sometimes.’ She laughed and gave Ralf a farewell squeeze. ‘In another life, perhaps?’ her eyes far away. ‘Yes,’ she murmured, as if the idea pleased her. ‘Another life. He –’
But he never got to hear the end of her sentence because something huge thudded into him. He fell backwards, grazing his elbow and went sprawling onto the road flat on his back. His unexpected view of the dark sky was abruptly obscured by something dreadful – the unshaven, unwashed face of Urk Fitch.
‘Garn! Look out where you’re going, you girt log-head!’ Urk scrambled to pick up his parcels. ‘Is it you been gallivanting all o’er my fields at night?’ he asked as he thrust things back into a string bag.
‘No, Mr Fitch, really it isn’t!’ Ralf spluttered, getting to his feet. His brain was already getting to work on that piece of information. Who would want to go near Merle Farm, especially at night?
‘You stay away, you hear me?’ Urk growled. ‘Pass the word round the village an’ up at the school. Any kids on my land’ll get a beating they’ll remember for the rest of their lives, whether they be runagates or princes!’
Ralf had just registered that the threat was directed partly towards Gloria (Urk must think King might be involved) when he spotted a ball of paper on the pavement. Frowning, he bent to retrieve it.
‘Gi’ that here!’ Urk lunged for it. There was a ripping sound and a scrap of paper was left in Ralf’s hands. He stepped back stuttering apologies, though for what he wasn’t quite sure.
A bell tinkled behind them and a shaft of light fell across the path, making Urk scowl.
‘And you can git back inside an’ all, you snot-nosed looby!’ he bellowed. This last was directed at an anxious looking Hettie who had opened the café door a crack to find out what all the noise was about. Ralf wasn’t too sure what a ‘looby’ was but it must have been bad because Hettie burst into a fit of sobbing and slammed the door shut. Urk nodded in satisfaction at her reaction and spat pointedly into the road.
‘Come now, Mr Fitch,’ Gloria said sweetly, but Urk ignored her and glared down at Ralf, jabbing a dirt-stained finger and spitting through cracked, green teeth.
‘And steer clear of them woods an’ all!’ Their eyes met and then something very strange happened. Urk took a sharp intake of breath and stepped back as if seeing Ralf for the first time.
‘You!’ he breathed. Then everything seemed to happen in slow motion. A look of horror crossed the old man’s face and he stepped backwards, shaking his head in something close to panic.
‘I din’t know! How could I know? I bin waitin’ so long and you never came. Is it time? Is it come? Is the veil so thin?’
Ralf felt as if he’d been touched by a cold, dead hand. He shuddered.
Urk backed away faster now, then turned and shuffled off towards Wood Lane. He was muttering to himself as he stumbled over the cobbles, whining almost. ‘Time! Time!’
‘Heavens!’ exclaimed Gloria. ‘You’d have thought he’d never seen you before!’ Then she laughed. ‘Look at your face! You know better than to listen to him, Ralf. For goodness sake! He’s not right in the head!’
Ralf nodded but he was hardly listening. People did normally ignore Fitch. He was a kind of village joke. Something had happened just then, though. When the old man had looked into his eyes, Ralf’s neck had prickled and his hair had stood on end. It made him feel like he didn’t want to go near Urk Fitch ever again.
It wasn’t until the next morning that Ralf was able to get all the others together. Swathed in woollen layers to keep them from the biting wind, they huddled on the end of the quay looking at the boats tossing in the harbour.
Ralf watched the gulls circling high, the grey waves chop against each other and wondered if a storm was brewing. He told them all about the strange events at the Manor and broke the news of Gloria’s departure. Seth’s face fell.
‘Oh, that’s just great, that is!’ Valen groaned. ‘Now we have to wait for her ladyship to faff around in London for a week before we can get out of here!’
‘Maybe not, though,’ said Ralf. ‘There’s more.’ He pulled Urk’s scrap of paper from his pocket and held it up for them to see. It was creamy-white apart from a brownish smear, but it wasn’t the stain that unnerved him.
Seth frowned and examined the writing. ‘It’s part of a ‘Wanted’ notice. Listen:
‘…for the Arrest and Conviction of John “Swift Nick” Nevison, also known as William Nevison, for Highway Robbery…’
‘I don’t get it,’ said Alfie.
‘Look at the date,’ said Seth in awe. ‘16th June 1667!’
‘It’s not from a history book,’ said Ralf. ‘Feel the paper. They don’t make it like that anymore. I think this is the real thing. So –’
‘So Urk Fitch has been near a Time Fall! Poor bloke, it’s no wonder he’s a bit strange,’ said Valen.
‘A bit strange?’ spluttered Alfi
e. ‘The bloke’s as mad as a box of badgers!’
‘I think there must be a Fall near his house,’ said Ralf. ‘He was asking about people running over his fields at night. He thinks its kids.’
‘Not much use to us, though,’ said Seth matter of factly, ‘The Fall obviously opens into the seventeenth century.’
‘Yes,’ said Valen. ‘But you said where there’s one break in the dam there might be another!’
‘Innit, though,’ said Alfie. ‘You definitely said that.’
‘You said where there’s one Fall there might be others,’ said Leo. ‘Areas of weakness in the barrier between times! Falls heading all over the place!’
‘But – but, I’m guessing a lot of the time!’ Seth cried and Ralf saw the effort the admission cost him. ‘It could be nothing.’
‘We have to look!’ said Valen
‘Agreed’, said Leo. ‘Ralf and I can check it out after doing the lobster pots on Tuesday.’
‘Urk’s farm after dark on Hallowe’en!’ Alfie chuckled. ‘Rather you than me, bluds!’
‘I’d go with you but the Hatchers are being really weird at the moment,’ said Valen. She frowned, considering. ‘Maybe I could sneak out, though –’
‘No,’ said Ralf firmly. ‘It’s not worth the hassle. It’s probably just another dead end. Leo and I’ll go but your bedroom window is directly opposite the lane. We’ll signal with the torch when we come back. One flash for no luck. Three for a find.’
‘Just remember to turn the light off before you take the blacks down,’ said Leo. ‘You don’t want Gordon Kemp knocking on your door.’
Val pulled a face. ‘Yes, because having been born an hour ago on the back of a turnip truck, I’m really likely to do something that stupid!’
Leo sniggered. ‘All right. Keep your hair on!’
Now it was Val’s turn to laugh. ‘Keep your hair on!’ she giggled. ‘Good one, Leo. Remember it for when you get back to our time. That’ll really go down well with the crew in the ends!’
How Leo kept his temper with her, Ralf didn’t know. ‘Anyway, it will be good to be doing something,’ he said, trying to diffuse the situation. ‘I don’t feel like we’re getting anywhere.’
Seth looked surprised. ‘But we’ve found out loads! Now we know for sure that someone is playing all these vile tricks round King’s Hadow deliberately.’
‘Eh?’ said Alfie.
‘Seth’s right,’ said Valen. ‘Fish don’t swim into people’s libraries and dogs don’t lock themselves in cold buildings. That fox didn’t nail itself under the church floor, either. Put all that together with the silage in the Primary School and the broken gravestones –’
‘And that tomb opening up –’
‘Right. Someone’s doing it on purpose.’
‘But why?’
‘That’s the second interesting thing,’ said Seth with half a smile. ‘I’ve been thinking about what Kat said. This Black Door story. All the stuff about the monster. The people of King’s Hadow believe it. I bet Urk does.’
‘You think that’s who he was talking about with his ‘Is it come’?’
Seth nodded.
‘Okay, so all the villagers, including Urk, believe in the legend, so what?’ said Alfie.
‘So, is it possible that someone here could not only believe it but actually want it to happen?’ asked Seth.
‘I don’t get you,’ said Alfie
‘I do,’ said Val. ‘A time of War and a time of Fear,’ Kat said. Well, we’re in the middle of a war right now. Maybe someone’s trying to fulfil the other part of the prophesy?’
Leo frowned. ‘You think there’s a nutter wandering round King’s Hadow doing nasty things to animals and spooking out the villagers in order to create it?’
‘What?’ Alfie repeated.
Val and Seth spoke together: ‘The Fear.’
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Samhain Spooks
The Fear. Nos Darras. The Shadow King.
The words drummed in Ralf’s dreams and when he woke the next morning they pulsed in his head like an echo of his own heartbeat. He attacked his morning chores, opening up The Sara Luz’s throttle and energetically tossing pots overboard in an effort to banish them from his mind, but mist and the inky colour of the sea served only to accentuate his unease.
He was relieved to chug back into harbour and, cutting the engine, allowed The Sara Luz to glide into her mooring. As he tied up, there was a sudden spatter in the water and he peered into the depths to see what had caused it. The sea beneath his boat teemed with life. It boiled with eels, squid and the milky white eyes of species Ralf did not recognise. A fin slapped on the surface. Ralf leaned over the rail to watch the slate grey shadow of a ray ooze through the gloom towards the jetty. From his position over the water he saw the wooden supports beneath the pier and frowned. They looked misshapen somehow, more barnacled than he remembered, and he leaned further forward to see. A lump in the post moved. Ralf gasped, recoiled and his boots slid beneath him on the deck. He sat down hard.
‘A born sailor, you!’ It was Leo, laughing down at him from the gangway.
‘This jetty is encrusted with spider crabs!’ Ralf couldn’t help gasping.
Leo grinned. ‘Great,’ he said. ‘Hand us a bucket then.’
Ralf struggled to his feet and did just that. Of course Leo had the right attitude. There was nothing sinister about it. If anything it was good luck – an easy catch. But even as they plucked the scrambling long-legged creatures from the posts he couldn’t help wondering. Why were they clambering out of the water? And why were there so many of them?
‘We still on for tonight?’ Leo asked as, scrubbed and in uniform, they walked up to the station a short time later.
‘Yeah. I suppose,’ said Ralf, staring at the side gate leading to The Crown
‘Stop it, mate!’ Leo chuckled. ‘I can’t take it when you get so excited.’
‘Sorry. It’s just – just – did you see that fox?’
‘Fox?’
‘It trotted right past Frank Duke and into the beer garden. It acted like he wasn’t even there!’
Leo shrugged. ‘Probably attracted by the rats.’
‘Rats?’
‘Yeah, you know, little furry things with long tails? Frank’s got a real infestation. I heard him telling Old Bill about it last night.’
Ralf’s forehead crinkled in thought. ‘He’s never had a problem before.’
Leo shook his head at Ralf’s expression. ‘Don’t worry, mate. His cat thinks its Christmas. And anyway, they’re teeny. We had rats the size of poodles at the orphanage.’
Ralf shook himself. What was the matter with him, getting so uptight about crabs and vermin? They lived in a fishing village for goodness sake! He blinked back at Leo’s open face and made a conscious decision to act as cool, a promise that he kept for the whole of the school day.
In fact, Ralf was feeling pretty pleased with himself as he changed for their evening expedition and even managed a cheerful salute to the magpie perched on top of number four, Fox Earth Cottages as he left. Leo came out to join him a second later and they walked up the High Street to the fork that led to Merle Farm Lane. Leo whistled as they walked.
‘Good day?’ Ralf asked.
‘Rubbish, actually,’ said Leo. ‘Unrelieved boredom, broken only by some spiteful comments and a bit of spitting. You?’
Ralf winced. His day, he knew had been nowhere near as bad as Leo’s. ‘So, so. Look, Leo, is there anything I can do?’
‘Nope,’ Leo laughed. ‘Come on, get a Shift on! We’ve got Falls to find!’ Leo didn’t wait but blurred then disappeared. He reappeared several hundred yards down the lane, whooping.
Ralf grinned. There was no denying it. Leo didn’t get rattled easily. He was the perfect person to be with if you were going to be wandering round in the dark on Hallowe’en. Especially if your wander was around the farm of a hostile, cantankerous old nut like Urk Fitch, who was on the lookout fo
r intruders and ready to deliver a beating.
He Shifted to join his friend and was still enjoying the exhilaration of it when he spotted Kat Noakes walking towards them. Bounding ahead of her was a little white terrier, its patched ears flapping. The dog raced forward and threw himself at the boys yapping, tongue lolling from its mouth in excitement.
‘Get down, Chalky!’ Kat laughed as she drew level.
‘It’s fine,’ said Leo, scratching behind the dog’s ears. He grinned at Ralf. ‘This one’s more my size.’
‘What are you doing up here?’ Kat asked.
Leo’s eyes flicked to Ralf’s but he answered casually. ‘Nothing much. You?’
‘Just trying to exercise this terror,’ she smiled. ‘He was being really odd earlier but you two seem to have cheered him up!’
‘It’s good to see you,’ said Ralf. ‘I keep meaning to thank you for stepping in on the bridge that day,’ said Ralf. ‘But all that stuff about Nos Darras fazed me so much it went out of my mind.’
If she noticed that Ralf was talking strangely and rather differently from the way he used, she didn’t mention it. ‘Glad to do it, honestly.’
‘Seriously, it was brave of you and it wasn’t your battle.’
Kat grimaced. ‘I wasn’t much help, though.’
‘Why did you?’
‘Lots of reasons,’ she said. ‘Because you were outnumbered, but mainly because King’s too used to getting his own way and it was nice to see you finally standing up to him.’
She started to move past them ‘Well…anyway…’ Kat paused, looking at him searchingly. ‘There’s something else, isn’t there?’
Ralf didn’t quite know what to say to that. Kat didn’t miss much. He found himself thinking of her story once more, of the legend, of Urk Fitch and how he’d felt when he’d looked into the old man’s eyes. Whatever Seth thought about her and her stories Ralf wasn’t going to just dismiss them, or her, out of hand.
Ralf nodded. ‘You don’t happen to know anything about a ‘veil’ getting thin, do you?’ he asked. ‘I know it sounds crazy, but Urk Fitch scared the pants off me yesterday with a whole lot of warnings I didn’t understand and that was one of the things he said.’
The Turnarounders and the Arbuckle Rescue Page 21