by Quig Shelby
Joost was sitting in the study as Miriam examined his eye.
‘It’s too late dear,’ said Dela, gloating over the scene.
Abel was holding one of his books on voodoo, frantically flicking through the pages.
‘There’s not enough time for that Abel,’ said Miriam firmly, then suddenly everyone was staring at Joost.
‘What is it? What’s the matter?’ he asked, seeing the look of dread on everyone’s face.
No one could answer him, and Joost ran to the mirror. There was a blue worm growing out of his eye, but then it split in half, and then again. Tentacles were heading for his nose, and into his mouth. Miriam knew he had less than a minute to live.
‘Sit down,’ she screamed.
She tore the silk pendant, the one that said Victoria Falls, from the wall, and wrapped it around her hand. She grabbed the neck of the hydra, and pulled. But it fought its way back to Joost.
‘Hold him down,’ she said to Abel.
With Abel grabbing Joost from behind, and Miriam pushing her knee into the chair, she pulled with all her might on the wriggling nematode, before ending up on her backside. On the floor next to her was one eye, and a pool of blue oil.
‘Joost are you alright?’ asked Miriam, but it was pointless; he’d passed out.
‘Oh my,’ said Bheki.
‘Dear Lord,’ said Abel.
And they all began to pray.
Miriam put the eye on Abel’s desk, and called Plackcedes to come and scrub the mysterious blue ointment off the carpet. Abel and Bheki dragged Joost to the bedroom; Bheki was left to undress him, reminded of what she had seen in Joost in the first place. But she knew she’d always be second best.
Plackcedes put down her mobile phone, and went to the study to clean up. With Joost tucked up in bed Miriam irrigated the wound, and applied a new dressing. In a previous life she’d been a nurse, and he was in good hands.
Abel was back in his study, when he called Miriam and Bheki.
‘Has anyone moved the eye?’ he asked.
They both shook their heads.
‘Strange,’ said Abel.
The window was shut, so that pesky cat hadn’t run away with it.
‘Where’s Plackcedes?’ asked Miriam.
Mai entered the room.
‘Plackcedes has just left in a hurry,’ she said ‘she left you this note.’
Miriam unfolded the piece of paper.
‘I quit,’ it read.
She passed it to Abel.
‘Quite curious. But whatever does she want with the eye?’ he asked.
No one mentioned it, but everyone suspected Dela’s hand somewhere in the brew.
‘Felix answer that,’ said Dela to the knock at the door.
He jumped up like the puppet he had become. The cage around his loins was a big motivator.
‘Hello Placky. Do you have it?’ asked Dela.
‘Yes,’ answered Plackcedes.
‘Excellent, well come and put your feet up, we have a lot to discuss.’
Deal examined the eye, and placed it inside a small gold pot on her altar.
‘Plackcedes my darling, perhaps you could even join us’ said Dela.
Plackcedes beamed.
‘I brought this as well,’ she said almost as an afterthought, and handed Dela a well-thumbed calf skin address book.
‘You’ve proven more than you’re worth Plackcedes, and thanks to a rather unfortunate incident on Bonfire’s night I do have a position to fill,’ said Dela.
‘You can stay here for a while, and don’t worry about him,’ she said pointing disparagingly at Felix ‘I keep him all locked up, and out of trouble,’ and she held aloft the key that always dangled so enticingly in front of her bosom.
‘He’s quite useless, but if his urges get the better of him, and he becomes a pest then just swat him with this Placky,’ and Dela held up the leather paddle she delighted in keeping at arm’s length.
They both laughed as Felix stared forlornly at the floor; Plackcedes hitched up her tatty grey stockings. She could sleep with Dela for the moment, with Felix on the floor at the foot of their bed; who knows he might come in use.
Dela liked Plackcedes, she could be obedient or stern, depending on the setting, and for an old timer she had a kinky grin that was quite bewitching. One of her middle teeth was missing, and probably knocked out by an over arduous lover.
Later that night in her temple, Dela put on the crocodile mask with trepidation. Joost’s eye had been dried and coated, and was resting in its new socket; looking out from the forehead of the mask, in the third resting place.
Perhaps you’re not as useless after all she thought, acknowledging Felix’s albeit misplaced comment. She could see into the other realm for the first time. Quickly she learned how to track the Spirits, and was rapturous, but one puzzle remained; how could she bring them back to life?
Chapter Forty One
Joost was eating ravenously, and wearing an eye patch. He could have passed for a pirate, except this wasn’t fancy dress; there was too much pain. He checked the last packet of John’s heroin in his pocket. If Miriam’s painkillers didn’t do a better job, he might be using it anytime soon.
‘Have you seen my address book Miriam?’ Abel shouted into the kitchen.
‘No, check the lounge,’ she answered, as she helped Mai wash and dry the dishes.
Lucy didn’t really need to hear it, although she was glad of further confirmation.
‘How much is true I don’t know,’ said Charles referring to Joost’s proclamation on Dilwood, and his benevolent intervention.
But ever since the packet had arrived Lucy was having flashbacks, and in them Dilwood’s face was a clear as the light from a car headlight.
‘What does he hope to gain from telling us?’ asked Lucy.
‘Payback maybe,’ mused Charles.
And maybe the chance of driving a wedge between them they thought, although they were all up to their necks in blood.
‘Are you ready Lucy?’ asked Charles.
‘As I’ll ever be,’ and she pushed her hands down on the kitchen table, lifting herself up out of the wheelchair.
James and Christine should have been here, but she knew where her mother was, with Vankoni, and James was having another midlife crisis.
Lucy walked to the window, and looked outside. Charles watched the clock; five, ten, fifteen minutes, and her legs still refused to buckle. He hooked his arm underneath hers.
‘Shall we?’ he asked, and they walked out of the vicarage to take in the crisp fresh air of Bishopsfield.
As they wrapped themselves around one another, and underneath the deep blankets at Abel’s house, Joost thought he had won Bheki back. The softness of her caress, and the tenderness in her voice, felt like he had captured her heart. But Bheki had already written a goodbye letter, ready to leave on her pillow in the morning; she needed more. As the wind rocked the window frame they were both unaware of the approaching danger.
Abel slept lightly, as usual, and alone; Miriam and Mai were at church tonight. Bheki was supposed to have joined them, but wanted one last night with Joost. She’d surprised him, and he just had time to put the last of his heroin into his striped linen pyjama pocket. For one morning at least, Bheki would find something completely different nudging into her night dress.
A cat, the striped visitor, he recognised the cacophony, was stranded outside. Abel went downstairs, passing Mai’s room, to let him in.
Not even the words ‘thank you’ had time to sink in as Abel slumped to the floor. Din withdrew the knife and smiled; after checking the pastor’s vacant pulse.
They crept up the stairs slowly, and exactly to the room where Plackcedes had told them they would be sleeping.
Chloroform was much more sanitised than a blow to the head, and the results were conclusive, without risking death. The sleeping beauties were taken to the car in their night wear.
For Joost it was déjà vu, but he was shocked and crestfallen to see Bheki by his side, for he knew what lay in store for her. They were each tied to a chair.
The Christmas candles on the altar had been lit early, and Charles had provided a couple of lanterns to illuminate proceedings further.
‘Well Joost van Houten, I actually have to thank you for so much; the crocodile mask, and your eye for beauty, but this is where it ends. For you I shall make it as quick, and as painless, as I can. Unfortunately I cannot make the same promise for Bheki,’ said Dela.
There was a thunder clap outside, and Charles nearly ducked underneath a pew. The rain continued to lash against the roof, and the gargoyle that guarded the religious bastion.
Vankoni looked at Joost and vice versa. Joost was going to have a quick death, for what it was worth; unfortunately Vankoni was to have the pleasure, and he brandished a pistol.
Joost looked at Dilwood, then Charles, and finally Lucy, but she couldn’t help; she’d only just found her legs.
Pandy watched James, trying to understand what Susie saw him in. Plackcedes was the newcomer, and stood between Gasper on one side and the rather jealous Bill and Barbara on the other.
His hands were strapped by his sides, but Joost’s fingers stretched into his pyjama pocket. When a small packet hit the floor there was curiosity but not alarm, and when Joost overturned his chair there was consternation but not panic.
When Din and Vankoni roughly brought him upright the packet, or rather the contents, were gone. Joost spat out the plastic, and hoped John could hear him, but then what good was a little crocodile, even if the mask was here?
The lightening rod hit the weathervane, illuminating the stone sarcophagus that was the gargoyle underneath. His claws seemed to stretch, and there was more tension in his carved muscles. His heavy eyelids finally creaked open, and the frown that pointed inwards slowly unfolded, unfurling like a banner, and proclaiming his return. The crocodile mask might be with Dela, but John Lacey was very much with Joost.
‘What the hell was that?’ asked James, turning to Charles.
Even the usually impassive Dilwood was taken aback by the crashing footsteps coming down the tower. Everyone looked in the same direction open mouthed, and then Joost smiled. But he knew he had a very short time to get free; this wasn’t a laconic inhaled haze, and John’s help would be swift.
The gargoyle opened his wings, and flew towards Dela. Din stepped in the way, and was immediately thrown to the ground. The draft knocked the candles flying onto the altar cloth.
John’s talons sliced through Joost’s and Bheki’s ropes, cutting them free. Vankoni fired a shot, but it just ricocheted off the gargoyle’s granite mantle
‘Remember our promise,’ John said to Joost.
Joost grabbed Bheki’s hand, and they ran to the door whilst John kept the others pinned back. It was freezing outside, but they were too scared to care.
‘Which way?’ asked Bheki in the pouring rain.
‘Over there,’ said Joost, and they ran into the night.
The stones dug into Joost’s feet, but Bheki hadn’t seen a shoe until she was ten; she was made of sterner stuff.
The flames had taken hold, with the gargoyle now flickering on and off like a faulty mechanical toy. The pews were alight, and everyone instantly knew how poor Gladys must have felt.
A burning rafter fell and hit Bill on the back of the head. Barbara, who ran to his aide, was also consumed by the flames as her clothes caught light. Dilwood was only concerned for one person, and desperately looked for an exit.
‘This way,’ said Lucy, and she led him to the bell chamber through the smoke.
‘Where do we go next?’ asked Dilwood, but she’d already swung the door shut and locked it. She threw away the key with a smile.
First the smoke, and then the flames, took Dilwood Benson, and this was no accident; the bells had tolled. His last thought was of Mai, and how she’d escaped his grasp.
With one final roar the gargoyle’s life was extinguished; the others ran outside as fast as they could. In the confusion and melee, James led all but one survivor back to the vicarage.
Christine searched frantically amongst the faces, first for Lucy and then Koni; at least her daughter was there.
Joost shoulder charged the door to The Crossed Heart; it flew open. The pain would have been too much to take, but the heroin was starting to kick in.
‘Let’s find some clothes,’ he said, and they rushed upstairs.
The trousers were too short for Joost, and a floral dress wasn’t Bheki’s style, but beggars couldn’t be choosers. They slipped on some Wellington boots and coats downstairs, and headed for the kitchen; Joost had a promise to keep.
They both looked at the freezer. On top was Themba’s Bible, his watch, and Eudy’s ear-rings.
‘No,’ screamed Bheki.
‘I wouldn’t worry too much about them,’ said Vankoni from behind them, holding a pistol menacingly.
Joost could see his reflection in the large stainless steel pan that hung from the ceiling; the one Barbara used for peeling potatoes. Grabbing Themba’s Bible he swung around, and chopped Vankoni in the throat. He hit the deck like a sack of spuds, and clutched his neck choking. Bheki grabbed the gun off the floor. Five minutes later Vankoni was dead from a collapsed trachea, and asphyxiation. In the end it wasn’t a gargantuan battle but it was justice, and all thanks to the Good Book.
They heard banging from the pantry. Bheki unlocked the door, whilst Joost took aim. But they were relieved as much as the hostages to see Themba and Eudy tied up.
‘Is the baby alright?’ asked a worried Bheki as they untied their ropes.
‘He’s fine,’ replied Eudy smiling.
‘A boy,’ said Bheki with delight.
Priorities first, and Joost needed a swig of brandy from behind the bar. He also loaded as many bottles of spirits as he could into an old crate. There were even two dusty bottles of champagne. But where had Bill put the car keys? Eventually they were found on a hook in the kitchen; hanging from a plaque that read ‘I’m the boss when she lets me.’
Leaving everything upturned, they drove away from the pub. Every time Joost saw a blue flashing light ahead, through the myriad of country hedges, he turned off in the opposite direction. It was a maze, but eventually they were on an A road to London.
In the boot next to Joost’s liquor, and a spade, were defrosting piles of meat wrapped in the finest linen Bheki could find. They were entombed in a long steel locker that Bill had carried on his worldly travels. Joost decided to stop in Steeple’s End, at the cemetery.
In a little corner of the graveyard Joost patted down the earth as Themba said a prayer.
‘Good bye old friend,’ said Joost, ‘and Lance,’ as an afterthought.
They walked back in the rain to the car; they all knew how close they’d come to ending up like John and Lance.
Chapter Forty Two
Miriam was in pieces, wailing as the police took the body away; she hadn’t prophesied this. She was too distraught to be questioned, and later she’d wonder what role Plackcedes had played?
They could see a body being carried out of the house as they approached, but this time their prayers weren’t answered. They left Bheki with the inconsolable Miriam. Joost dropped off the others, then felt the gun in his breast pocket for assurance.
Miriam looked like a ghost, and couldn’t believe Abel would no longer be by her side. In fact she half expected him to walk through the door at any moment, with that broad grin on his face.
Bheki sneaked up to their room, passing Mai on the stairs. She pull
ed the drawer open in the bedside dresser, and removed the goodbye letter, tearing it to pieces like confetti. Maybe she’d give Joost a little more time; after all he’d just saved her life, and Eudy’s. And who knows with Vankoni dead he just might let go of the past.
Din and Christine were both disconsolate for their lost friend. His last port of call had been The Crossed Heart, and there he lay on the kitchen floor before them, lifeless.
‘Leave him Christine,’ said Din, and she finally put down Koni’s hand.
‘He’s with the Spirits now,’ he sighed.
‘Shouldn’t we give him a proper burial?’ asked Christine.
At least she still had James, who was being more loving, now his cheap slut had left town.
‘The police will see to that,’ said Din.
But the words resonated in his head; St Agnes burnt to the ground with three bodies inside, and a murder in the pub. It would bring too much heat on the village, and someone might crack.
‘You’re right Christine. How careless of me, he deserves a send-off fitting for a warrior,’ said Din.
Vankoni was loaded into the back of Charles’ jeep, with the sleet bouncing off. Dela would perform the funeral tonight, in the woods; it as going to rain on a bonfire after all.
‘Well, whoever it was, they’ve done an excellent job,’ said the nurse in A and E.
‘The scar tissue’s healing nicely, and no sign of any infection,’ she said.
‘Wait here whilst I get you a proper eye patch, and not this costume one,’ and she left Joost alone to look in the mirror.
Some may have found it a little grotesque. Bheki being Bheki found it a turn on, and I guess for that, amongst other things, he had to be grateful.
‘He’s got no ID, and says it was an accident. I think we should call the police,’ said the nurse.
‘I quite agree,’ said the doctor.
‘Here you are try this on,’ said the nurse sliding back the curtain.
This was the deluxe model; a firmly padded black eye patch, with nice bold contours, and a thick strong elastic band around his head that secured it nicely in place. Although Joost could sense something was amiss, and the nurse kept checking her watch. It was time for an exit.