The Mammoth Book of Best New Horror 17

by Stephen Jones

  As Foster closed the door behind her, so Jamieson drew up a chair close to the bed, and said, “Now then, young man, try not to be alarmed. I’m here to see what the trouble is.” With which he began to turn back the blanket. A squat hand, short-fingered and thickly webbed, at once grasped the top edge of the blanket and held it fast. The old man saw blood under the sharp fingernails, the trembling of the unfortunate’s entire body under the blanket, and the terror in his huge, moist, oh-so-deep eyes.

  Foster immediately stepped forward. “Now, dun’t you take on so, lad,” he said. “This un’s a doctor, um be. A friend ter the lass and ’er Ma. If you let um, um’ll see ter your scratchin’.”

  The thing called Geoff (for close up he was scarcely human) opened his mouth and Jamieson saw his teeth, small but as sharp as needles. There was no threat in it, however – just a popping of those pouty lips, a soundless pleading almost – as the hand slowly relaxed its grip, allowing the old man to turn back the cover without further hindrance.

  Despite that Foster was hovering over the old man, watching him closely, he saw no evidence of shock at what was uncovered: that scaly body – which even five years ago a specialist in St Austell had called the worst case of ichthyosis he’d ever seen, now twice as bad at least – that body under a heavily wattled neck and sloping but powerful shoulders, and the raw, red areas on the forearms and under the ribcage where the rough grey skin had been torn. And as the old man opened his bag and called for hot water and a clean towel, Foster nodded his satisfaction. He had done the right thing sure enough, and Jamieson was a doctor good and true who would care for a life even if it were such as this one under the blanket.

  But as Foster turned away to answer Jamieson’s request, the old man took his arm and said, “Tom, do you care for him?”

  “Eh?” Foster grunted. “Why, me and my old girl, we’ve cared fer um fer fifteen years! And in fifteen years you can get used ter things, even them things that never gets no better but only worse. And as fer folks – even poorly made ’uns such as the boy – why, in time you can even get fond of ’em, so you can!”

  Jamieson nodded and said, “Then look after him better.” And he let Foster go . . .

  Anne saw the wet, pink-splotched towels when Mrs Foster brought them out of Geoff’s room. And then Tom Foster allowed her in.

  The old man was putting his things back into his bag as she hurried to the bedside. There was a clean white sheet under the blanket now, and it was tucked up under Geoff’s blob of a chin. The youth’s neck was bandaged to hold a dressing under his left ear; his right arm lay on top of the blanket, the forearm bandaged where a red stain was evidence of some small seepage.

  “What was it?” Anne snatched a breath, touching her hand to her lips and staring at Jamieson wide-eyed, her face drawn and pale, even paler than usual. “Oh, what was it?”

  “A skin disorder,” he told her. “Something parasitic – like lice or scabies – but I think I got all of it. No need to worry about it, however. It must have been uncomfortable for him, but it certainly wasn’t deadly. Geoff will recover, I assure you.”

  And Tom Foster said, “Anythin’ I can do fer you, Mr Jamieson, sir, jus’ you ask. I dun’t forget um who’s done me or mine a favour – no, not never.”

  “Well, Tom,” Jamieson answered, “I might come to you for a nice piece of fish some time, and that would be payment enough for what little I’ve done here. Right now, though, we’ve other things to talk about.” He turned to the girl. “Anne, if you’ll wait in the car?”

  Anne had sat down in the chair by the bed. She was holding Geoff’s hand and they were looking at each other, and Jamieson couldn’t help noticing a striking similarity in the deep green colour of their eyes . . . but only in their colour. It was true that Anne’s eyes were slightly, almost unnoticeably protruberant, but as for the other’s . . .

  . . . In his current physical condition, and despite that his eyes were huge and bulging, even more so than was usual, still the old man had to grant them the dubious distinction of being Geoff’s most human feature!

  And now the youth had taken his hand from the girl’s, and his stubby fingers were moving rapidly, urgently, making signs which she appeared to understand and began answering in a like fashion. This “conversation” lasted only a moment or so longer, until Geoff turned his watery gaze on Jamieson and twisted his face into what had to be his version of a smile. At which Anne said:

  “He says I’m to thank you for him. So thank you.” Then she stood up and left the room and the house . . .

  Inside the front door, Jamieson spoke to Tom Foster in lowered tones. “Do you know what I dug out and scraped off him?”

  “How’d I know that?” the other protested. “You be the doctor.”

  “Oh?” said the old man. “And you be the fisherman, but you tell me you’ve never seen such as that before? Very well, then I’ll tell you: they were fish-lice, Tom. Copepods, small crustaceans that live on fish as parasites. Now then, Mr Fisherman – tell me you’ve never seen fish-lice before.”

  The other looked away, then slowly nodded. “I’ve seen ’em, sure enough. Usually on plaice or flounder, flatties or bottom-feeders. But on a man? In the flesh of a man?” And now he shook his head. “I jus’ din’t want ter believe it, that’s all.”

  “Well, now you can believe it,” said Jamieson. “And the only way he could have got them was by frequent periods of immersion in the sea. They got under his skin where it’s especially scaly and fed there like ticks on a dog. They were dug in quite deep, so I know he’s had them for a long time.”

  “Oh? And are you sayin’ I ain’t looked after um, then?” Tom was angry now. “Well, I’m tellin’ you as how I din’t see ’em on um afore! And anyways, you answer me this – if um’s had ’em so long, why’d they wait ter flare up now, eh?”

  The old man nodded. “Oh, I think I can tell you that, Tom. It’s because his skin was all dried out. And because they need it damp, they started digging in for the moisture in his blood. So all of a sudden the boy was itching and hurting. And when he scratched, the hurt only got worse. That’s what happened here. So now then, you can tell me something: when were you last out at sea, Tom? Not recently, I’ll wager!”

  “Ah-hah!” The other narrowed his eyes, thrust his chin out. “So then, Mr Jamieson. You’ve been alistenin’ ter rumours, eh? And what did them waggin’ village tongues tell you . . . that Tom Foster makes um’s poor dumb freak swim fer um? And that um gets um ter chase up the fish fer um? Hah!” He shook his head. “Well it ain’t so! That ’un swims ’cos um likes ter swim, and ’cos um wants ter swim – and in all weathers if I dun’t be watchin’ um! That’s all there be ter such tall stories. But if you be askin’ does um know where the best fish can be found? Then you’re damn right um do, and that’s why I gets the best catch – always! So then, what else can I tell you?”

  “Nothing, Tom,” said Jamieson. “But there is something you can do for that youth. If he wants to swim, let him – you don’t need to let the village see it. And if he gets . . . well, infested again, you saw me working and know what to do. But whatever you do, you mustn’t let him dry out like that again. No, for it seems to me his skin needs that salt water . . .”

  It had stopped hailing, and protected by the building Anne was waiting just outside the door. Since the door had been standing ajar, she must have heard the old man’s and Foster’s conversation. But she said nothing until they were in the car. Then:

  “He had fish-lice?” It wasn’t a shocked exclamation, just a simple enquiry.

  And starting up the car Jamieson answered, “Oh, people are prone to all kinds of strange infections and infestations. I’ve heard it said that AIDS – a disease caused by immune deficiency – came from monkeys; and there’s that terrible CJD that you can get from eating contaminated or incorrectly processed beef. And how about psittacosis? From parrots, of all things! As for that poor boy: well, what can I say? He likes to swim.”

&nb
sp; “It’s very strange,” she said, as Jamieson drove out of the village, “but my father . . . he didn’t like the sea. Not at all. He had those books about it – about the sea and other things – and yet was afraid of it. He used to say it lured him. They say he killed himself, suicide, and perhaps he did; but at least he did it his way. I remember he once said to me, ‘If a time comes when I must go, it won’t take me alive.’ Toward the end he used to say all sorts of things that didn’t make a lot of sense, but I think he was talking about the sea.”

  “And what makes you think that?” Jamieson asked her, glancing at her out of the corner of his eye, and aware that she was watching him, probably to gauge his reaction.

  “Well, because of the way he did it . . . jumped off the cliff at South Point, down onto the rocks. He washed up on the beach, all broken up.”

  “How awful!” The old man swung the car onto the lonely road to Jilly White’s house. “And yet you and your mother, you continue to live right here, almost on the beach itself.”

  “I think that’s because she needs to be sure about certain things,” the girl answered. “Needs to be sure of me, perhaps?”

  Jamieson saw Jilly standing on the doorstep and stopped the car outside the house. He would have liked to carry on talking, to have the girl clarify her last cryptic remark, or learn more about the books she’d mentioned – her father’s books, about the sea. But Jilly was already coming forward. And now Anne touched the old man’s arm and said, “It’s best she doesn’t know we were at the Fosters’. If she knew about Geoff’s fish-lice, it might only set her off again.”

  Then, lifting her voice a little as she got out of the car, she said, “Thank’s again for the ride.” And in a whisper added, “And for what you did for Geoff . . .”

  The winter dragged on. Jamieson spent some of the time driving, visiting the local towns, even going as far afield as Falmouth and Penzance. And to break the boredom a little, usually there would be a weekly “social evening” alternating between Jilly’s, the Tremains’, and Jamieson’s place. The old man even managed to inveigle Jilly into joining him and the Tremains in a visit to the dilapidated Sailor’s Rest one night.

  On that occasion Anne went with them. She was under age for drinking – even for being in the pub – but the proprietor knew her, of course, and served her orange juice; and in any case it wasn’t as if the place was about to be raided.

  Their table was close to a great open fireplace where logs popped and hissed, and the pub being mainly empty, the service couldn’t be faulted. In an atmosphere that was quietly mellow, the country food bought fresh from the village bakery was very good. Even Jilly appeared clear-headed and in good spirits for once, and as for the Tremains: putting their customary, frequently unwarranted snobbery aside, they were on their very best behaviour.

  That was the up-side, but the down-side was on its way. It came as the evening drew to a close in the forms of the fisherman Tom Foster, and that of his ward the shambling Geoff, when the pair came in from the cold and took gloomy corner seats at a small table. It was doubtful that they had noticed the party seated near the fire on the far side of the room, but Foster’s narrowed eyes had certainly scanned the bar area before he ushered his ward and companion to their more discreet seats.

  And as suddenly as that the evening turned sour. “Checking that his enemies aren’t in,” said Tremain under his breath. “I can understand that. He’s probably afraid they’ll report him.”

  “His enemies?” said Jamieson. “The other village fishermen, you mean? Report him for what?”

  “See for yourself,” said the other, indicating the barman, who was on his way to Foster’s corner with a tray. “A pint for Tom, and a half for that . . . for young Geoff. He lets that boy drink here – alcohol, mind – and him no older than Anne here. I mean, it’s one thing to have that . . . well, that poor unfortunate in the village, but quite another to deliberately addle what few brains he’s got with strong drink!”

  Anne, visibly stiffening in her chair, at once spoke up in the youth’s defence. “Geoff isn’t stupid,” she said. “He can’t speak very well, and he’s different, but he isn’t stupid.” And, staring pointedly at Tremain, “He isn’t ignorant, either.”

  The headmaster’s mouth fell open. “Well, I . . .!” But before he could say more:

  “John, you asked for that,” Doreen told him. “You’re aware that Anne is that youth’s friend. Why, she’s probably the only friend he’s got! You should mind what you say.”

  “But I . . .” Tremain began to protest, only to have Jamieson step in with:

  “Oh, come, come! Let’s not ruin the pleasant evening we’re having. Surely our opinions can differ without that we have to fight over them? If Tom Foster does wrong, then he does wrong. But I say let that youth have whatever pleasures he can find.”

  “And I agree,” said Doreen, glowering at her husband. “God only knows he’ll find few enough!”

  With which they fell silent, and that was that. Things had been said that couldn’t be retracted, and as for the evening’s cosy atmosphere and light-hearted conversation: suddenly everything had fallen flat. They tried to hang on to it but were too late. John Tremain took on a haughty, defensive attitude, while his wife turned cold and distant. Jilly retreated quietly into herself again, and young Anne’s presence continued to register only by virtue of her physically being there – but as for her thoughts, they could be anywhere . . .

  After that, such get-togethers were few and far between. Their friendship – the fact that the Tremains, Whites, and Jamieson stuck together at all – continued on a far less intimate level, surviving mainly out of necessity; being of the village’s self-appointed upper crust, they couldn’t bring themselves to mingle too freely with those on the lower rungs of the social ladder.

  The old man was the odd man out – or rather the pig in the middle; while he maintained contact with the Tremains, Jamieson never failed to assist Jilly and Anne White whenever the opportunity presented itself. Moreover, he visited the Sailor’s Rest from time to time, building at least tentative friendships with several of the normally taciturn locals. The Tremains reckoned him either a fool or a saint, while the Whites – both of them – saw him as a godsend.

  One evening in early March Jilly called the old man, ostensibly to tell him she was running low on medication, the pills which he’d prescribed and made up for her. But Jamieson sensed there was more than that to her call. The woman’s voice hinted of loneliness, and the old man’s intuition was that she wanted someone to talk to . . . or someone to talk to her.

  He at once drove to her house.

  Waiting for his knock, Jilly made him welcome with a glass of sherry. And after he had handed over a month’s supply of her pills, and she had offered him a chair, she said, “I feel such an idiot calling you so late when I’ve had all day to remember my medication was getting low. I hope you don’t mind?”

  “Not at all, my dear,” the old man answered. “If anything, I’m just a little concerned that you may be taking too many of those things. I mean, by my calculations you should still have a fortnight’s supply at least. Of course, I could be wrong. My memory’s not as keen as it used to be. But . . .?”

  Oh!” she said. And then, quickly recovering: “Ah! No – not at all – your memory’s fine. I’m the one at fault. For like a fool I . . . well, I spilled some pills the other day, and didn’t like to use them after they’d been on the floor.”

  “Very sensible, too!” he answered. “And anyway, I’ve let it go too long without asking you how you’ve been feeling. But you see, Jilly, I’m not getting any younger, and what used to be my bedside manner is all shot to pieces. I certainly wouldn’t like to think those pills of mine were doing you any harm.”

  “Doing me harm? On the contrary,” she replied. “I think I’m feeling better. I’m calmer – perhaps a little easier in my mind – but . . . Well, just a moment ago, James, you were complaining about your memory. Huh! I s
hould be so lucky! No, I don’t think it’s your pills – though it could be a side effect – but I do seem to stumble a lot. And I don’t just mean in my speech or my memory, but also physically. My balance is off, and I sometimes feel quite weak. You may have noticed?”

  “Side effects, yes.” He nodded. “You could be right. But in a remote place like this it’s easy to get all vague and forgetful. I mean, who do you talk to? You see me occasionally – and of course there’s Anne – but that’s about it.” He looked around the room, frowning. “Talking about Anne, where is she?”

  “Sleeping.” Jilly held a finger to her lips. “What with the weather improving and all, she’s been doing a lot of walking on the beach. Walking and reading, and so intelligent! Haven’t you ever wondered why she isn’t at school? They had nothing more to teach her, that’s why. She left school early, shortly after her father . . . after George . . . after he . . .” She paused, touched her hand to her brow, looked suddenly vague.

  “Yes, I understand,” said the old man, and waited.

  In another moment Jilly blinked; and shaking her head as if to clear it, she said, “I’m sorry, what were you saying?”

  “I was just wondering if there was anything else I could do for you,” Jamieson answered. “Apart from delivering your pills, that is. Did you want to talk, perhaps? For after all, we could all of us use a little company, some friendly conversation from time to time.”

  “Talk?” she said – and then the cloud lifted from her brow. “Ah, talk! Now I remember! It was something you were telling me one time, but we were somehow interrupted. I think it was Anne. Yes, she came on the scene just as you were going to talk about . . . about . . . wasn’t it that coastal town in America, the place that George came from, that you were telling me about?”