by Guy N Smith
The wildfowler was trembling. In his hand he carried his long-barrelled twelve bore. His hair was awry and there was no sign of his woollen hat. His breath came in great gulps and his eyes rolled.
Professor Lowson forced the door shut and fastened it 'Whatever's the matter with you man?'
Glover appeared to be incapable of coherent speech for the moment. He leaned his back against the concrete wall and closed his eyes.
'My God,' he breathed. 'Oh my God!'
They led him into the living quarters and seated him on an upturned crate. Gavin found the medicine chest and poured out a liberal shot of cognac.
'Drink this,' he snapped. 'And then perhaps you'll be able to tell us what this is all about.'
The fowler downed the amber liquid in one gulp. He spluttered and coughed, then after a time he made an effort to pull himself together. All three of them looked at him. They said nothing. He would speak when he was ready.
'Bloody awful!' He blanched as he recalled his memories of the past half-hour. 'Never belongs to this world. That's what killed Hayward. No doubt about it. The villagers were right after all. A demon does guard the treasure.'
He paused for breath. Gavin and Liz looked at each other. Professor Lowson smiled triumphantly.
'The bastard nearly got me. Guns are no good against it.'
'Tell us from the beginning.' Gavin attempted to calm him in an attempt to extract the true facts.
'All right.' Glover accepted the cigarette which was offered, lit it and inhaled deeply before replying. 'I went across to the edge of the River Welland. There are a few geese moving about under this full moon and tonight was just right. I'd been there about an hour. Didn't see or hear anything so thought I'd move on, further up. I heard something moving up a deep creek. Thought maybe it was a coypu. Then I saw it! I'll never forget that moment as long as I live. Thought it was a man at first, some other fowler dressed up in sweaters and waterproofs, then the moon shone on it Covered in scales like a bloody reptile, and the face—bloody hell! You should've seen its face! Straight out of hell. Then it saw me. We were twenty yards apart. I let both barrels go. Heavy goose-shot I was usin' too. Should've cut it in two. It never even noticed it had been shot at. Then it started after me. There's only one thing to be said in its favour—it can't move very fast. Just shambles, but it won't let up though. It doesn't have to go round the deep creeks, just goes through them, submerges itself and comes up the other side. At last I got away from it. It changed direction and headed back to the sea-wall. Going inland probably. Thought I'd best come here.'
They sat in silence for some time.
'Well,' Professor Lowson knocked his pipe out. 'We'd better get out there and try and locate it Follow it to its lair. You lead the way Glover. You know where you saw it last.'
Mallard Glover recoiled in horror.
'Not me mister,' he snarled, 'not for a thousand quid. Not for ten thousand. Nobody'd get me out there again tonight. If you want to try and find it go ahead. But I'm not coming with you. That's for definite!'
Gavin and Lowson looked at each other. Liz turned her head away.
'We can't force you,' Gavin replied calmly. 'Anyway we can't take Liz with us and I don't like the idea of leaving her here alone with that thing on the prowl. So the only logical answer is for the two of you to stop here while the two of us go.'
Glover sighed with relief. A gleam appeared in his eyes.
'OK, then I'll stay here.'
'One word of warning though,' Gavin's lips were tight and bloodless. 'If anything happens to Liz here, I'll hold you responsible and then it would have been better for you if the Slime Beast had caught up with you.'
As they made ready to set off, Liz pressed her face close to Gavin's chest.
'Do you have to go?' she pleaded, close to breaking down. 'Couldn't we just take the Land Rover into Sutton and telephone the police?'
He shook his head.
'Once again we've got no proof. Don't worry love. All we want to do is to follow it at a distance and find out where its lair is, and once we've established that fact I'm going to phone the police. No matter what your uncle says. With any luck we'll be away from the Wash for good by this time tomorrow.'
'I can't wait. I never want to see this place again as long as I live.'
Their lips met, and she closed her eyes. She could not bear to open them again. As though in a trance she listened to the footsteps of the two men receding across the salt-marshes. Then slowly the silence came surging softly back.
CHAPTER SIX
AFTER another tot of brandy, handed to him by Liz, Mallard Glover began to feel a whole lot better. He stopped trembling. After all he was capable of outrunning this hellish thing which the archaeologists referred to as the Slime Beast. So long as it didn't corner you, you were all right. He grinned to himself. Suppose it did manage to surprise the two men who had gone out to look for ft, disembowelled them as it had done to Manton Haywood.
He glanced at Liz. Hell! He wouldn't have stopped that mob from the village if it hadn't been for her. And she didn't even realise ... She was lying on top of the sleeping-bag eyes closed, asleep. There were a couple of buttons on her blouse undone. She wasn't even wearing a bra. He leaned forward in order to obtain a better view. Now he could see a nipple. His eyes travelled down her slender form. There was a patch of wet on the outside of her jeans between her thighs. His imagination began working. She'd been playing around with that fellow called Gavin. He'd shot on to her. It brought back memories. He'd never had a woman properly, only Violet, the village pro, and everybody had had Violet She'd been charging a quid since before the war. No fancy playing about for your money. Never even took her knickers off. That was why she always wore wide-legged ones.
He thought of Liz naked. He'd never even seen between a woman's legs properly. Something was pushing hard at his trousers. He couldn't remember the last time when it had reared up like that. He started undoing a few buttons, watching her all the tune. Her eyelids did not even flicker.
Perhaps he could just enjoy himself for a while and leave it at that. She'd be none the wiser when she woke up. Maybe another stain on her jeans if he wanted to be really daring. She'd never guess ...
Minutes later his desires were mounting rapidly. He checked himself. It was just a waste. Pure fantasy! What were young girls for anyway?
He rose to his feet, still holding himself, and tip-toed over to her. He stood looking down on her. She had moved in her troubled slumbers. Her legs were wider apart now. Gently he lowered himself down and knelt between them. He stretched out a hand. The third button on her blouse was almost undone anyway. All it needed was a gentle touch. The garment fell open and now he had an unrestricted view of the pure white flesh, rising and falling in time with her breathing. The pink nipples seemed to invite his mouth.
Liz's eyes flickered open the moment Mallard Glover's lips closed over her left breast. She was filled with amazement and disgust. Instinctively her right hand came across his weather-beaten face with a resounding slap.
'You filthy lecherous pig!' Her eyes were blazing. As he reared back she rolled beneath him and jumped to her feet. For the first time she noticed the lower half of his body. Fear stabbed at her heart. She almost retched. To think it had been so close!
'You foul demented snake!' she screeched, backing off and putting a packing-case between herself and Glover.
He grasped himself with both hands pointing the object of her disgust directly at her. He leered. Then his expression changed, almost pleading.
'I won't hurt you.' he avoided her gaze, 'just this once, please.'
'Don't you dare even touch me!' There was contempt in her voice.
He stood and watched her, only his hands moving. His lust was rising again. His features were contorted into a snarl. He was an animal—and he wanted a mate.
'So you're too good for me, eh?' he began to shout. 'You let that jumped-up kid do it didn't you? Maybe you let him do it regularly. Why not me then?'
/> She was frightened. If she didn't give him what he wanted, he would take it Any way he could. He was no better than the Slime Beast. Worse in fact. You knew where you stood with the mud monster.
He lunged forward. There was nowhere to dodge him in this cramped space. Her foot rested on the empty packing-case, and shot out in a sudden kick. The fowler staggered back as the wooden box crashed against his shins, and splinters embedded themselves in the flesh. He let out a shriek of pain.
Liz darted for the doorway. He grabbed at her and missed. She ran out into the corridor. Fortunately the door yielded as she pulled and then stuck. The gap was no more than a foot, but wide enough for her.
She felt his fingers closing on her blouse as she wriggled out into the night air. There was a tearing sound and then she was free. Naked to the waist, but free.
Glover had to waste valuable seconds forcing the door back enough to allow him to pass through, and Liz did not mean to squander that advantage. Leaping bounds took her on to the salt-marshes, the soft carpet beneath her squelching with each step.
The saltings were silvery beneath the full moon and she could see around her clearly. The sea-wall lay to her right. Beyond it stood their Land Rover. She started towards it then suddenly changed direction. Gavin had the keys to the vehicle for one thing. Another factor was that the big creek would be full as the tide was in by now.
She fought down her panic. Her best plan would be to keep parallel to the sea-wall, for way beyond the deserted lighthouse was a rickety old footbridge. She could cross there. After that Sutton would be her best bet. The nearest telephone box would soon settle Mallard Glover.
She glanced behind her quickly. The fowler was less than a hundred yards away, and he had one advantage over her. He knew every inch of these salt-marshes. But she had youth on her side. The contest could go either way.
Her heart pounded wildly. She prayed that she had the stamina to last out. If only the mud did not become any softer.
Liz could hear him now: closer. She followed the banks of the big creek. Fifteen feet of swirling muddy water lay to her right, dark and sinister. Yet she would plunge in and swim if she had to.
She dared not delay by looking back again. He was much closer now and the spike grass and tall reeds were impeding her progress. She could hear the breathing, laboured and rasping. How had he so suddenly gained on her?
She threw a quick glance over her shoulder. Merciful God! She screamed. Loud and clear. She fought to control her sanity. Compelled her aching muscles and bursting lungs to respond to an even greater effort.
It was not Mallard Glover who followed her.
It was the Slime Beast!
Subconsciously she could taste blood in her mouth. This sudden supreme effort was almost too much for her body. It cried out to her to surrender—to lie down and die.
Only her will-power drove her on. Yard after yard, slowing down all the time. The beast must catch her now!
She closed her eyes, waiting. She prayed again that it would be quick.
Then there was silence. She opened her eyes again. She was alone. The towering bullrushes around her could have concealed a thousand reptilian horrors such as the one which pursued her. Yet why should the beast resort to stealth when it had her at its mercy?
Now there were footsteps again. Rubber boots squelching in the mire. Glover! She must hide. It was too late for further flight now for he could be no more than thirty yards away.
There was a movement and a scream of sheer mortal terror. Then she saw Glover, staggering, yelling. His mind completely gone. On his heels was the Slime Beast! Two yards from him. A yard. The screaming died in a choking gurgle. She wanted to turn her head away but she could not. She was compelled to watch.
Scaly talons ripped through clothing and flesh simultaneously. Blood spouted. Greenish-grey scales became scarlet in a matter of seconds. Clawfuls of bloody entrails were crammed into cavernous jaws. The dripping slit-like mouth was incapable of taking it all, much of it running down on to the body and splashing in the mud.
The Slime Beast ripped at the original incision, widening the wound and enabling it to search inside for more. Methodical yet ravenous.
At last there was no more offal. Scraping claws yielded only bloody flesh. It grunted with rage. Suddenly it picked up the mangled human remains by the neck and held it up at arm's length. A clenched claw thudded down on to Glover's skull with the force of a steam-driven piston. Bone cracked, then split, and brains oozed out of the splinters.
The monster pulled its victim closer, into a horrific repulsive embrace. A long sliver of yellow tongue darted back and forth glinting in the moonlight, and within seconds there were no brains remaining in the pulped skull.
The corpse was cast aside; forgotten. The Slime Beast turned round and Liz pressed herself even closer to the ground. The thing's hunger was satisfied for the moment—or was it? Was it capable of remembering that it almost had two human beings within its grasp?
Liz vomited again. She hoped it could not hear her. She wondered if it had any powers of scent. Unconsciousness would have been merciful. She would have been unaware whether or not it discovered her. Yet the desire to faint had gone. Revolted as she was by the mutilation she had just witnessed she was thinking clearly, decisively.
Escape was uppermost in her mind. Yet she could not run again. Every muscle in her body refused to respond to the urge to flee. She would be incapable of outrunning the Slime Beast should it find her.
Her only hope lay in the fact that it might not detect her. Perhaps it would go away and then she could make her way back to the blockhouse. She felt no remorse over Mallard Glover's death. He had brought it upon himself. Had he not tried to rape her he would still be alive.
The Slime Beast remained stationary for some minutes, just standing there. Silent. Then it moved. Casually almost. A shuffling gait treading down the bullrushes before it Liz held her breath. It was coming directly towards her! She bit her bottom lip in order to prevent herself from screaming. She could not run. She closed her eyes. At least she would know nothing about it!
She felt the mud squelching over her. Something brushed against her head. That nauseating stench again. Burning into her nostrils and down into her lungs. She held her breath awaiting the crunch of the massive foot which would crush her head into the mud and into oblivion.
It never came. The Slime Beast advanced and passed on not even noticing her half-naked body in the rushes. A massive slimy footprint either side of her head was the only proof that it had passed by her at all. She had missed death by three inches!
A few minutes later she struggled to her feet. Every part of her body was trembling. She must head for the blockhouse, and find Gavin and her uncle. They might be back already. She must get help. Someone who would destroy this loathsome beast, and then she would be back in London.
These thoughts were uppermost in her mind as she set off back across the silvery marshes.
CHAPTER SEVEN
PROFESSOR LOWSON and Gavin Royle halted on the banks of the big creek. It had been their intention to cross it and gain access to the sea-wall a mile or so away, for from there they would have an elevated view of the saltings. Also there was the chance that if the Slime Beast did decide to visit Sutton village again it would have to pass this way.
Now their plans were thwarted. The tide had come in much quicker than they had expected probably because of the full moon. Eight feet of water swirled before them and it was rising every second.
Professor Lowson turned to his companion. 'We'll have to try that rickety old footbridge further up. I had a look at it yesterday. It should bear our weight all right provided we don't both cross together.'
The bridge had been constructed by fenmen before the war and now age was beginning to eat into its structure.
'I'll cross first' said the Professor, testing the rotting beams with his foot. They creaked ominously. He took another step. Two.
'Seems all right,' he commen
ted, 'I'll.. .'
Had Gavin been much shorter he would never have managed to reach Lowson in time. The main supporting beam parted from the planks above with a pistol-like crack. The bridge swayed, vibrated and then collapsed.
Gavin's strong fingers caught the Professor's outstretched arm and pulled, allowing his own body to fall backwards at the same time. Together they sprawled in the mud, Gavin supporting the other with one hand while grabbing at a tussock of grass with the other. The steep bank was slippery, yet somehow he managed to hold on.
Together they watched the debris being swirled round the bend out of sight
'That was close,' Lowson breathed, 'too close. Thanks!'
'We shan't make the sea-wall tonight,' Gavin panted as he edged them both back up on to the safety of the comparatively firm spartina grass. "Guess we'd best keep walking.'
It was then that they heard the scream. Just once. Then complete silence.
'It-came from over that way,' the Professor snapped. "Somewhere by the bend in the creek, about five hundred yards away. Come on!'
Take it steady,' Gavin restrained him. 'We don't want to run headlong into trouble. Let's follow this path quietly through these rushes, and keep your eyes peeled.'
The path was soft and marshy and they were forced to move slowly. Every so often they paused to listen. Everywhere was still and eerie, the moonlight casting weird shadows.
'What's that?' Gavin pulled up abruptly and the Professor cannoned into him. They listened.
A slurping sound came from not very far away, then silence again. Something cracked and crunched like pieces of thin wood being snapped. A movement. They heard heavy determined footsteps, slow and measured.
'Get down quick!' Gavin snapped. 'It's coming this way!'
They dived back into the reeds, just in time. Seconds later they saw the Slime Beast as it crossed the narrow marsh path less than ten yards away from them.
'Christ Almighty!' Gavin breathed. 'Just look at that! You can smell it too. And those scales—they're dripping with something else as well as slime: blood!'