Do Fish Wear Pyjamas?

by Mario Corrigan

  The sorceress he presumed was Brigid, protector of her church, not just in her lifetime but for all time. The proof was in the vision of the Saint he had seen beneath the earth.

  Again a violent outburst that seemed to match the violence of the storm — “GIVE ME MY REVENGE — GIVE ME BACK MY ARMY AND I WILL RAZE THIS TEMPLE TO THE GROUND AND CAST THE ASHES SKYWARD SO YOU CAN TASTE MY VICTORY.”

  The storm seemed to double in intensity if that was at all possible, for nothing like this had ever been encountered in the town of Kildare, indeed in Ireland through all its history. Sinister black clouds appeared, to the little group of adventurers huddled in the doorway, to be gathering round the giant as he pleaded with the gods of his forefathers. They seemed to toss and turn, violently, whisked by the elements into dark fearful shapes, scary monstrous figures that once were men but had come from some evil place where men were lost and demons reigned. Legions of warrior ghosts gathered round their Lord once more, born from chaos, to satisfy his lust for revenge on this holy place.

  Gooey pushed the others into action — literally. They scrambled from the doorway along the wall of the church and away from the evil army forming in front of them. There was no room to go the other way so they were forced to head around the Cathedral and into the storm to the south, on the Firecastle Lane side. The Cathedral was surrounded by a graveyard and the gravestones could offer cover if necessary.

  As they rounded the corner into the extremes of the weather Bridin paused a moment and when Gooey looked back she seemed to have caught her arm in the wall, quite literally in the very fabric of the church. The plucky little girl from The Land of Goo went back to help her friend but stopped short as she noticed Bridin was down on one knee, her arm not caught but positioned through a hole in one of the corner stones, her fingers touching her heart. Bridin’s eyes were tightly closed and her lips shivered as she mumbled something to herself. Suddenly she flashed them open and jumped back up roughly catching Gooey by the arm.

  “Come on, what are you waiting for,” she asked, dragging her, moving fast to catch the boys. As they ran past the huge Medlicott tomb they could hear drums and horns, swords on shields and the roar of an army more terrible than could be imagined. Above it all they heard the terrifying howl of the Viking Lord.

  “THE RING — THEY HAVE THE RING — IT IS THE KEY TO DESTROYING THE BOOK! FIND THEM OR SPEND ETERNITY IN THE PLACE FROM WHERE YOU COME.”

  The frightened girls could hear the dead warriors move as one, responding to their Lord’s commands, as they stepped forward on the gravel path. They were on the move, but more correctly – they were coming for them!

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  SANCTUARY

  As Gooey and Bridin were trying to figure out why the Viking Lord and his army needed to destroy a Book, they realised that it had to be the same Book that they were looking for on their quest – The Great Book of Kildare. Of course it was little comfort to think they had the key to finding the Book right there in their possession when a horde of dead Vikings, or Viking ghosts, or whatever they were, also wanted that key and were intent on getting it.

  The storm was worsening all the time and they barely noticed Bebob and Gonzo to their left as they were about to round the westerly corner of the Cathedral. The boys were out in the middle of the graveyard, being beaten by the weather, but they seemed to be laughing and congratulating themselves — as if there could be any reason to feel good about their situation. The girls ran towards them and saw that they were at the base of the old Celtic Cross with the bit at the top missing — an old Christian cross that had stood on that site probably before the Cathedral was built by the Normans.

  The symbols of the underground room had made a great impression on Gonzo — the cross and flame. Here was the ancient cross, and on the far side of the Cathedral stood the site of the fire-house where Brigid and her followers had kept their sacred flame. A flame which could not be put out — the inextinguishable flame, in memory of which a monument had been erected on the Market Square.

  It was these symbols that made him drag a bewildered Bebob to the cross, for he felt sure it too was important. While Bridin and Gooey were coming up behind, Bebob had morphed into the stone and replaced the original top of the cross which had been missing for centuries — he had simply copied the dimensions of the piece below.

  Gonzo had once again brought out the dagger, the other cross-like symbol (which he had taken back from Bridin — well, after all, he had found it), and he placed it against the shaft of the ancient stone cross. There was no secret keyhole, no recess, but it seemed to vibrate with energy and glow dully in the darkness. He pulled out the lightstone, that Bebob had given to him before his transformation, and held it up towards the familiar roundness of the head of the Celtic Cross. The light shone through and around the cross but there was nothing obvious to be seen. He tapped the stone shaft of the cross gently and called on his friend to resume his normal shape, which he did in an instant, a feat that made Gonzo smile once more. He had never expected to see such a thing when he got out of bed that morning. The thought made him giggle and he clapped Bebob of the back, and they were both giggling then, just as the girls came to join them. Gooey and Bridin told them that the Vikings were advancing, in pursuit of the ring and, that they also were in search of The Great Book of Kildare, but that they were determined to destroy it.

  “The ring,” Gonzo said aloud almost unexpectedly. “I wonder … Cross and Flame, Flame and Cross. Give it to me quick – the ring, the ring, give it here.”

  Bridin handed him the signet ring with the flame symbol, though she felt a funny sort of attachment to it and rather uneasy about giving it up.

  Gonzo looked again at the cross and walked around the base.

  “Lift me up, Bebob,” he gently commanded, and in an instant he was on his friend’s shoulders, hanging from the bottom arch of the cross.

  He caught hold and pulled himself to the top — the local tradition was that the original curved top had been broken and lost but that the remainder had been put back together a hundred or so years ago when they had restored the Cathedral. It did look like that from the ground but now that he was up here Gonzo knew it wasn’t so. It wasn’t actually in separate pieces, it wasn’t fragile or broken – it was as it was meant to be. He brushed away the moss and dirt and right there, in the middle of the top section (which was supposedly broken), was another flame symbol like that carved in the table in the chamber at the end of the tunnel. The cross was not broken, it was not unfinished, but precisely as intended. He placed the ring — the key-ring — into the recess, flame to flame, and a small brilliant beam of light shone through from the arm of the cross, north-westwards towards the old Tower which was by now perfectly hidden in darkness, except for flashes of lightning. It shone, not straight out, which would have missed the Tower, but at the perfect angle to illuminate the single southern window below the larger windows on the last floor beneath the top. Another clue to follow, maybe their last — maybe the secret hiding place for the Book. But it was time to move, the Vikings were by now at the Medlicott tomb, advancing slowly in fierce formation, chanting some sort of long forgotten battle cry, reduced to an eerie murmur by the storm, searching carefully for their prey, the ring, and an end to all things.

  Gonzo grabbed the ring and slid down the cross until his toes found Bebob’s shoulders. Then down again ‘till they both stood on the base. Moving quickly now, they were on the ground and all four dashed across to the Cathedral, for the graveyard around the cross was full of obstacles in the darkness. They were soaked to the skin and frozen to the bone but were glad to be moving again.

  From the safety of the Cathedral walls, they broke into the open and ran straight down the path to the ancient Round Tower, past Paddy the porter’s locked metal hut. Reaching the Tower ladder, they grabbed each rail on either side and scooted up the metal steps to the doorway. Unfortunately they could not withdraw the steps as in days of old. The modern steps were
firmly fixed in place and all four friends wondered just how strong the door was and how much protection it would give them. Bebob wasn’t sure that it was a good idea to go in to this thing, it was a sort of a one-way trip, but he understood that it was now, not just a matter of finding the Book, but of saving the Book also. They need not have worried – the door of the Tower was indeed solid and strong – but it was also locked tight and they were not going anywhere!

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  A SAD PARTING

  “I think its time someone went for help.”

  It was Bridin who spoke and though she was trying hard to be very brave you could tell from the quiver in her voice that she was frightened. Actually she was scared out of her wits. They all were.

  Gooey and Bebob were against it.

  “We should not divide ourselves, its too dangerous,” Gooey said worriedly. But Bridin wasn’t having any of it.

  “Look,” she pleaded, “I know the layout of the graveyard and I can make it to the fire-house and then, from there across in the dark to where the outer wall surrounding the graveyard has fallen away. If I climb down I can slip through the railings into the playground and get help. You keep the ring — that’s what they’re after, they won’t bother with me. I’ll hold onto the dagger for protection.”

  “It’s too dangerous …,” it was Bebob this time, but Gonzo stopped him short.

  “She’s right, we have to try it,” he said though really he didn’t like the idea at all. He had grown very fond of Bridin, from the moment he had met her.

  “I don’t like it,” he continued, “but we have no time, and we need to distract the demons or whatever they are and figure a way inside while she has a chance to get away. Go!”

  They all stood there for a second, quiet and sad, four unlikely friends with unnatural demands now made upon them, but it was as if they had known each other forever. There was nowhere they would rather have been or anybody else they would rather be with. But there was no choice.

  Bebob had pocketed the dagger at the base of the old cross and he now held it out to Bridin. She took it, turned on her heels and was down the steps to the ground in a flash. She crawled in the dark to the graves just opposite, and through them to the next row, slipped down a little to the left and through some more gravestones until a small clearing opened in front of her. Reaching out to her right she felt the cold comforting touch of the low wall which marked the remains of the fire-house. She quickly found the entrance and dropped down inside, the gravel crunching underfoot, clinging to the walls in the darkest corner in the rain as the storm raged overhead.

  The stories had always said that only women could enter the house; that only they would be safe and so it was, at least for the moment, that, Bridin felt safer behind its walls.

  The rain poured down but she stared at the sky and the storm that raged above. She could see demons or faces of demons in the dark clouds, as if the very Gods of the Viking Lord were trying to come through from another dimension.

  Bridin forced herself to lower her gaze and concentrate on the Viking dead as they moved through the graveyard towards the Tower. The main force was approaching from the south-side but there were groups of them all around her now.

  She thought not of herself but of her friends and as she prepared to move she took one last peek at the Tower — they were completely surrounded, with their backs pressed up against the outside of the door. She thought she saw Gooey step forward a little as if to shield the others,

  ‘God she is beautiful,’ thought Bridin as the little girl-alien seemed to shine in the dark.

  Some of the dark forms were at the foot of the Tower steps but Bridin had to duck back down as more of them approached her hiding place.

  She felt terribly alone and had so wanted to remain with her friends but they were now depending on her and she had to try and escape this place and get help. So she made herself as small as she could in the darkest corner of the fire-house and silently repeated the words she had used near the Cathedral door — when she had placed her arm through the wishing stone, touched her heart and prayed for Brigid to help her.

  Once again her wish was not for herself, this time it was for her friends and for the task before them. ‘Help them and help them save the Book.’

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  BY ALL THAT IS GOOD AND TRUE!

  As the army approached the three friends prayed silently that Bridin had made her escape. Gonzo suggested that Gooey would use her wings and fly to the top of the Tower to safety — even though there was a cage on top and the storm was still raging she could have clung to it until the danger had passed. But Gooey was not about to desert her friends and as the first of the dark forms touched the steps, she stepped forward to protect the boys. The foulest stench filled the air and the murmuring of the dead army of Vikings was clearer now – not that you could understand any of it, it was just clear that they were murmuring, as if they were chanting some horrible rhyme.

  Removing her coat and beret, Gooey stepped forward and her wings unfurled. She glowed – oh how beautifully she glowed, even in the storm and the rain and the dark, but of course, especially in the dark. Bebob stepped forward to his best friend’s side and brought up the light-stone and held it aloft and as they prepared for the dark army to ascend the steps they held each others hands and took one last look at each other, and smiled. Now too the light-stone glowed and the friends stood fast in front of Gonzo, protecting their newest best friend.

  As they faced their attackers they began a sort of rhyme of their own,

  “By all that is good and true –

  By all that is good and true –

  By all that is good and true…..”

  Each line became louder, no, stronger, than the last and they were enveloped in pure bright white light.

  “By all that is good and true –

  By all that is good and true –

  By all that is good and true…..”

  They were almost shouting at this stage and they began to descend the steps, one at a time to meet the dark army. Their foes had stopped in their tracks, as if frozen by the light coming from above. Then the first of them, those on the bottom steps, seemed to crumble, no to dissolve back into the foul air from which they came. The two alien friends continued down the steps and more and more of the dark forms dissolved. The murmuring became agitated, a sign that many of the army of Viking Dead were panicking at this onslaught.

  “By all that is good and true –

  by all that is good and true –

  by all that is good and true…..”

  They were almost at the foot of the metal steps by now and indeed a circular clearing had opened in front of them as their foes disappeared. Gonzo’s heart seemed to skip a beat — there was hope — they were winning — weren’t they?

  It was then that the Viking Lord appeared though the ranks of his ghostly followers.

  “THE RING — FORWARD — THEY HAVE THE RING — IT IS THE KEY TO DESTROYING THE BOOK! DESTROY THEM SO YOU MIGHT LIVE AGAIN — FORWARD — DESTROY THEM AND RAZE THIS TOWER TO THE GROUND.”

  His voice thundered above the storm and hundreds more took the place of those that had fallen.

  The Viking Lord raised his battle-axe high above his evil head, vertically, his hands in the centre on top of the blades, and brought it crashing down, driving it, pointedend first, into the ground. The whole universe seemed to shake and cry out all at once. Gooey and Bebob slipped on the steps and barely had time to reach out and grab the rails to hold on. The light faded — the link was broken and, before they had time to reconnect, the dark army surged forward. Quickly the two friends retreated up the steps to the door. But where was Gonzo? He had disappeared! They turned again to face their enemy, to see if Gonzo had been captured.

  Next they felt two sets of hands on their shoulders and all they could manage was a surprised scream.

  “WHAAAAAAAAAAAYYYY,” the two best friends screamed, as they were dragged into the d
oor!

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  OLD HABITS

  Gonzo stared from the top of the steps, as his two friends battled the dark army. He felt utterly useless, safe and proud and scared and terrified, all at the same time. It surprised him, just how much he really loved these guys. As soon as the thought came, he felt two hands on his shoulders and he was whisked through the door.

  “Wow,” was all he could manage.

  “Wow,” he said again without thinking, finding himself in darkness on the other side of the door of the Round Tower and quite unsure if this was a good position to be in.

  His friends were on the outside of the door and he was alone in the dark. Even if there were no dead Viking warriors, he was not happy about being alone. Oh yeah and wait a minute, there was the little matter of how exactly, he came through the door? Somebody chuckled and the hair stood up on Gonzo’s neck.

  “Whuh … huh … hoo … Whooo’s there?” asked Gonzo fearfully, now wishing he had the whole dark army in front of him, with his friends by his side, anything but the blackness before him.

  “Whhoo’s there?” He demanded again.

  “Why we are of course. Brother Anslem and Brother Quinn. And you are Gonzo. Your friend Bridin asked for help and we’re here. Good to meet you.” said a figure from the darkness.

  “Here to help, help her here,” a different voice, but still, like the other, friendly.

  “Yes, yes yes, Bridin said help and help here we are.”

  “We are the keepers of the Tower, abbots of Brigid and our master Conleth,” said the first voice, whom Gonzo presumed was Anslem.

  “Yes, Yes, Needs to see you, Yes he does,” said the second, whom he presumed was Quinn.

  “But wait, a moment, a moment you must wait” and the abbot brushed him aside, gently, behind him to the back wall of the Tower.