Ghost Bell

by Mark Wright

  “Can we go now?” said Paul in a whiny voice. “I was wrong, there’s nobody here.”

  Tamsin began to turn. “Yeah, OK. Reckon – ” she stopped suddenly. “Paul, where are you?”

  “I’m here.” Paul’s voice seemed to echo out of nowhere.

  “Stop mucking about,” demanded Chase, looking around.

  “I’m not! I’m right in front of you!”

  The girls could hear Paul’s voice loud and clear, but he was nowhere to be seen. Chase ran to the top of the steps and looked down. Still no Paul.

  “Paul!” Tamsin was panicking now. “I’m warning you!”

  “Tam!” Paul sounded scared. “It’s getting dark. You’re starting to fade away.”

  “If you’re messing with us…” Chase said warningly.

  “I’m not, I – ”

  Paul’s echoing voice stopped suddenly, leaving Tamsin and Chase in dead silence. Tamsin shivered, her breath fogging in front of her.

  “It’s getting colder,” said Chase, drawing her arms around herself.

  The silence was shattered by a ringing bell, a deafening, clanging exploding all around them. Over and over the bell rang, again and again. Tamsin shouted over to Chase, but she could barely hear her own words over the din. Chase sank to her knees, clamping her hands over her ears.

  “Paul!” Tamsin screamed, a fist of fear wrapping around her heart. Another sound joined the ringing bell, one that made her blood run cold.

  Laughing.

  A laugh as cold as the air in the tower, evil and harsh.

  Tamsin was dizzy. She felt hands grabbing her, pushing her towards the steps. Before she knew it, Chase had shoved her out of the tower room and together they stumbled down the stairs!

  “Paul’s in there!” she screamed over the noise.

  “We’ll come back for him. Go!” They had reached the bottom of the steps and, with a shove from Chase, Tamsin found herself catapulted out through the door. She landed painfully on the grass outside, Chase right behind her.

  They lay in the blissful silence, breathing heavily for a few seconds. Tamsin sat bolt upright.

  “Paul!” she cried, then started as a silhouetted figure looked down on them, the sun shining in a halo behind.

  “I think you two have some explaining to do,” said Mr Brandy.

  CHAPTER 5

  Mr Brandy had listened to their story with a stony face as he strode ahead of Chase and Tamsin across the village green. Tamsin gabbled about her brother and the ringing bell – but there wasn’t a bell, so how could it ring? Chase glancing back worriedly at the tower as they walked.

  Mr Brandy didn’t seem surprised by any of this. He walked, hands thrust deep into his pockets, face set in worry and determination.

  “We have to find Paul!” pleaded Tamsin.

  Mr Brandy paused in the doorway of his bookshop and placed a reassuring hand on Tamsin’s shoulder. “We will. I promise.”

  With that, he entered the shop, Tamsin and Chase following.

  “What are we going to do?” asked Chase. “Phone the police?”

  “I have to tell my parents,” said Tamsin.

  Mr Brandy made straight for his desk and computer. “Nothing of the sort,” he said briskly. “They’d only get in the way of things.”

  Tamsin and Chase watched in confusion. With a grim smile, the bookseller pressed a key on the keyboard. They both jumped. With a hiss of air and a hum, a section of wall slid aside, the shelves of books disappearing. Mr Brandy barely paused for them to take this in and stepped through the gap.

  Tamsin nervously stepped after him, closely followed by her friend.

  Beyond lay a room that was a stark contrast to the bright, airy bookshop. The chamber was illuminated by candles that hissed and sputtered in holders bolted to the dark, stone walls. Wooden bookcases heaved under the weight of ancient-looking books, and shelves were packed with odd bottles, weird gadgets and other gubbins.

  Mr Brandy had removed his tweed jacket and rolled his sleeves up. He was stuffing bits and pieces from a cluttered oak desk into a scuffed leather satchel. He looked at the two friends and smiled. Was he… embarrassed?

  “Ah, yes,” he stammered. “I imagine you’d like an explanation.”

  Chase stepped forwards, saving him the bother, “Erm, Mr B, is it possible that you aren’t just a friendly, neighbourhood, geeky bookseller, but some kind of demon-slash-ghost-slash-witch-hunter?”

  “It seems you have me banged to rights.” Mr Brandy sank down in the creaky but comfortable-looking chair at his desk. “I am a Guardian,” he said, trying to explain. “A member of a secret society that, well, guards against supernatural attacks on this plane of existence.” He paused for a second. “Sorry, that must sound ridiculous.”

  “Nah,” said Tamsin helpfully. “We get it. Not as daft as some of the stuff we read in books.”

  “There are,” continued Mr Brandy, “weak points between the dimensions. A collision of ectoplasmic energy created by magical incidents – as happened in Dewbank with Aldetha and the Witchfinder General. The story has been made more colourful over the years, but there has been a Guardian in Dewbank, watching over the bell tower, for centuries. Waiting.”

  “Paul’s in danger, isn’t he?” asked Chase.

  “Yes, I’m afraid so. The gap between this world and the spirit world has weakened again.”

  “And my brother’s fallen through the gap?” said Tamsin.

  “That’s about the face of it,” agreed Mr Brandy. “We must retrieve him before… well, before something uses him as a means of coming through to this world.”

  He rose and retrieved an item from a nearby shelf. He turned and saw the worried looks on Tamsin and Chase’s faces. “Don’t worry,” he smiled weakly, “we will get him back.”

  *

  It was dark.

  Paul didn’t know how long he’d been there, sitting cross-legged in total darkness. One second he was talking to Tamsin and Chase, the next the bell tower had faded away to nothing, replaced by inky blackness and fear. There had been the deafening ringing of a bell, then nothing.

  Total, dead silence.

  He sensed something in the darkness. Behind him? No, in front. Or had he imagined it? A breath being taken?

  “Who’s there?” he said, his voice sounding small and terrified – which he was.

  There it was again, like a sigh of wind.

  Then somebody laughed. Harsh and mocking.

  Something brushed his shoulder, freezing him with terror. Long, bony fingers, icy cold, gripping tight. Then the smell of decay caused Paul to gag and cough.

  “There, there,” hissed a voice in his ear. “There, there, dear boy. Soon you’ll be mine…”

  Paul screamed, but no sound came out of his mouth.

  CHAPTER 6

  The door of the bell tower creaked open. Tamsin, Chase and Mr Brandy stood in a line before it. Tamsin half expected Paul to come running out as if nothing had happened, demanding ice cream.

  But he didn’t.

  Tamsin promised herself that, when this was over, Paul could have as much ice cream as he wanted.

  “This is going to be dangerous,” said Mr Brandy, peering into the rectangle of black. “I can’t stress enough how dangerous, but I cannot do this alone. When we enter, keep close behind me and do exactly as I say. Do you understand?”

  Tamsin swallowed nervously and nodded. So did Chase.

  Mr Brandy nodded. “Good. Time to get this over with.” Without hesitating, the Guardian strode forwards into the tower, Tamsin and Chase right behind him.

  “Wish I’d brought a jumper,” said Chase, shivering in the cold of the entrance hallway.

  “I doubt that would help,” said Mr Brandy, running his hand over the stone wall. He held it up glittering with frost. Tamsin noticed the whole room was covered in a frosting of ice.

  “I’m guessing that isn’t good?” she asked.

  “Things are further on than I’d thought,�
� said Mr Brandy. “We must hurry.”

  Together they moved to the steps, Mr Brandy placing his foot on the first one. Laughter echoed around them.

  “Turn back, Guardian,” hissed a voice as cold as the air in the room, causing Tamsin to step back. “The boy is mine.”

  “I can’t allow that to happen,” said Mr Brandy. He seemed to have grown a foot taller, no longer the geeky bookseller. “Return him to us, and no harm shall come to you.”

  The cruel laugh clutched at Tamsin’s heart. “I see,” the voice hissed, “that you have brought me two more mortals. Their lifeforce will make the passage between worlds so… delicious.”

  “Give my brother back!” shouted Tamsin, causing Mr Brandy to glare warningly at her.

  “So much spirit,” cackled the voice. “I shall enjoy devouring you.”

  “Oh, whatever,” shouted Chase. “Just give him back!”

  “You know what we want,” said Mr Brandy. “We will not leave empty handed, spirit!”

  “You have been warned, Guardian. Leave now, while you are still able.” With a final, hissing laugh the spirit was silent.

  “The spirit isn’t strong enough yet,” said Mr Brandy. “Time might still be on our side…”

  “What are we waiting for then?” said Chase, barging past Tamsin and Mr Brandy and running up the stairs.

  “Chase, no!” warned Mr Brandy.

  Tamsin moved after Chase. An icy blast of air forced her back, making it difficult to move. She saw Chase’s panicked look as the blast caught her, then from nowhere an explosion of darkness seemed to surround her.

  The air filled with shrieking black shapes, like rags whipping through the air. “Crows!” she heard Mr Brandy shout over the shrieking.

  Everywhere Tamsin looked were sharp talons, manically flapping wings and wildly pecking beaks. The air was choked with the creatures, their shiny, black eyes glinting. “Chase!” Tamsin had lost sight of her friend in the storm of attacking birds.

  Dimly, she was aware of Mr Brandy batting one of the frenzied crows away, sending it spinning against the wall with a squawk. He delved into his leather satchel, pulling out a device. It was made of twisted copper pieces, joined together around a glowing gemstone in the centre. He lifted it above his head, the stone beginning to glow. With a shriek, one of the crows dived straight for him, knocking the device from his hand.

  The apparatus fell to the ground with a clang, coming to rest at Tamsin’s feet. Mr Brandy was forced back against the ice-covered wall, blood pouring from a gash on his hand. “Tamsin,” he gasped, “pick it up, use it!”

  “Alright!” she called, retrieving the device. It felt strange in her hands, a tingle of energy passing through her arm from the metal device. Somehow, she knew what she must do.

  Crying out defiantly in the storm of birds, she lifted the device above her head. The gem at its heart began to glow, the twisted strips of copper turning with a whir of gears. The gem glowed brighter and brighter, shining into the darkest corners of the room. The crows shrieked all around her, distressed at the blinding light that now blasted from the gemstone.

  “That’s it!” shouted Mr Brandy. “You’re doing it!”

  Tamsin watched through wide eyes as the crows began to thrash and buck in the air, some smashing into the wall with shrieks of terror. A low hum joined the light, growing in intensity, the whole device shaking with energy as she held it with both hands. When it seemed the light couldn’t get any brighter or the hum any louder, Tamsin found herself in a bubble of silence, then:

  WHOOSH!

  The crows vanished in a squawk of anger, leaving the room completely silent. Chase had fallen onto the steps, arms over her head in a protective cocoon. She unfolded them and looked up, her face pale. “What happened?”

  “No idea,” replied Tamsin, looking in wonder – and a little fear – at the now silent device. Mr Brandy gently took it from her hands, which she realised were shaking.

  “The spirit is attacking us, throwing every defence it has at us while it grows stronger.” He replaced the gadget in his satchel. “This is able to absorb and repel ectoplasmic energy used to give the birds physical form.”

  “How?” asked Tamsin.

  “Erm…” Mr Brandy opened his mouth to answer, then stopped. “Do you know, I have absolutely no idea.” He grinned sheepishly, his expression changing to one of deadly seriousness as a scream from above pierced the sudden silence. It was Paul.

  “Tamsin!”

  Tamsin rushed forwards, taking the stone steps two at a time. Mr Brandy and Chase were right behind her.

  “Hold on! We’re coming!”

  CHAPTER 7

  Adrenalin pumping through her, Tamsin powered up the steps, her feet scraping and slipping on the sheen of ice covering them. The higher she went, the colder it got, her breath frosting in a white cloud.

  Behind, Mr Brandy and Chase scrambled after her. She had to protect her little brother!

  Seconds later she emerged into the bell tower itself. Ice covered the walls and floor, despite the sunlight pouring in through the narrow windows. But the room was empty.

  “Paul!” she screamed as Mr Brandy and Chase joined her. They looked frantically around the chamber. “He isn’t here, he isn’t here!”

  “He is,” said Mr Brandy, urgently, “we just can’t see him!”

  A dull clang spread through the tower, like a bell in reverse. “What,” asked Chase, “is that?”

  “The Ghost Bell chimes, Guardian!” rasped the evil voice of the spirit.

  Chase ran to one of the windows as the sunlight was snuffed out. Outside, Dewbank village was plunged into darkness. She couldn’t even see the duckpond. “The sun has gone!” she said, fear widening her eyes as she looked back at Tamsin and Mr Brandy.

  “Soon, all you will know is darkness.” That voice again, hissing all around them, joined by the dull boom of the Ghost Bell.

  “Second chime,” said Mr Brandy, opening his bag. “When the Ghost Bell chimes thirteen, it’s all over.”

  Tamsin didn’t dare ask what that meant.

  “Help me!” screamed a terrified voice.

  The bell chimed a third time.

  “Paul! Where are you?” shouted Tamsin.

  “I’m here!” he replied.

  “That’s four,” said Chase, looking up to where the bell should have been swinging from the wooden beam. “If you’re going to do something, Mr B…”

  “Yes, thank you, Chase,” grumbled Mr Brandy, delving into his bag. “I am trying!”

  “Try harder!”

  “Look!” Tamsin pointed to the wall. The silhouette of a boy sitting cross-legged on the floor formed on the wall opposite them. She’d recognise that wildly sticking up hair anywhere. “It’s Paul!”

  “The child is payment,” hissed the spirit. “Payment for my passage between the worlds!”

  The bell chimed its fifth.

  Behind the ghostly image of Paul appeared another shadow. A tall, thin figure of a woman, bony arms stretched out menacingly at either side of Paul.

  “The gap is weakening,” said Mr Brandy with sudden urgency. “Catch!” He threw a book to Chase and she caught it. “Page 42!” Tamsin quickly opened the book. “You too, Chase!” A similar book was thrown to Chase.

  “The Ghost Bell chimes on!” hissed the spirit at another booming clang. “Your world will be my world!”

  “Please,” sobbed Paul at the seventh chime.

  “Tamsin. Chase. Start reading!”

  Mr Brandy stepped forwards, the twisty-turny metal device held out before him. “I will banish you, spirit!” he shouted defiantly.

  “Fira, Heo-Fan Crin-nine,” Tamsin began reading from the top of the page. The words were meaningless to her, but their effect was instant. She could feel the room get warmer, and the spirit hissed in anger. The bell tolled once again. That made eight.

  “Your time is ending, Guardian!” rasped the spirit. “Your kind grow weak!”

 
; “While there is breath in my body!” Mr Brandy almost screamed, raising the device, which shone with blinding light.

  “Noooooo!” screamed the spirit on another – the ninth – clang of the Ghost Bell. “The child will be mine!”

  “Afande Eced-ecedas Haela!” read Tamsin and Chase together, their words mixing in and echoing back and forth around the tower. Somewhere beyond the tower, a boom of rolling thunder sounded.

  With a shriek, a cloud of black crows exploded outwards, surrounding Mr Brandy. He cried out, but kept hold of the device as the birds wheeled and flapped around him. “Keep going!” he shouted.

  On the tenth chime of the bell, Tamsin saw Paul’s shadow on the wall solidify. She could see his face! He looked terrified, but when he saw his sister his eyes widened with joy.

  “Tam, I can see you!”

  “Tamsin, the gap is at its weakest,” shouted Mr Brandy. “It’s now or never!”

  As Chase carried on reading, the light from Mr Brandy’s device illuminating every corner of the room, Tamsin stepped forwards as wind whipped up from nowhere, trying to force her back. As the bell chimed again, she inched forwards, pushing against the icy gale.

  “He is mine!” screamed the spirit.

  “Wanna bet!” shouted Tamsin, reaching out a hand towards Paul’s outstretched hand. “Take it!” she urged her brother. As the bell chimed for the twelfth time, Tamsin and Paul’s fingers met and locked together.

  “You’ve got him,” said Chase.

  “Now!” shouted Mr Brandy, and Tamsin pulled with all her strength, yanking back and heaving her brother’s body forwards, hauling him back into the world of the living.

  “Yes!” cried Chase triumphantly.

  Tamsin’s grin of joy changed to a scream of horror as a disembodied, bony arm lashed forwards out of the air. Thin, talon-like fingers closed around her neck as it grabbed her, trying to choke the breath from her.

  “One more chime,” hissed the spirit, cackling as the clawed hand squeezed tighter around Tamsin’s neck. Mr Brandy, Chase and Paul seemed rooted to the spot, unable to help, frozen in a split-second of time.