by Lex Sinclair
‘Basically, to cut a long story short, they beat the wholly crap out of him.
Then when Dennis eventually grew tired of thrashing Nathan to a bloody pulp, he took the switchblade from Spike and stabbed repeatedly into Nathan’s exposed chest, sneering. Nathan let out a long gasp, as the blade burst his heart.
That gasp was the last breath Nathan ever took.’
Charles took another sip of his drink and then put it back down again. ‘Now, rumour has it that when they discovered the body, they found it hanging up in an old oak tree, sheathed in a nest of silvery, sinewy hair, on a thread, seemingly wrapped around the tallest tree branch. And when they cut the unearthly hair, Nathan’s corpse was frozen solid, like a block of ice... That’s why, thereafter, they called him, the Frozen Man!’
A long pause descended upon them.
‘My dad reckons there were many other reports before, during and after he heard the story I just told you, about other men and women, who had died - either by natural causes or foul play - sheathed in this rather peculiar, silvery, sinewy hair,’ Charles said, breaking the quiet.
No one spoke for a short while. They had all been mesmerised by this bizarre tale.
‘Do you believe that it’s true?’ Kate blurted.
Charles shrugged, indifferently. ‘I’ve asked myself that question ever since I was told the story. It’s not the type of tale most people want to here, really. I’m not sure if it’s precisely the accurate account. Although, I do believe there was a man called Nathan, who was a good man, a great man even, who was wrongfully and brutally murdered. But I’m not so sure about him or anyone being able to perform the miracles they talked about. I guess I’m one of those people who have to see something before I believe it. That’s where it crosses over to fantasy for me. I’m not a religious man, you see. And there are a lot of religious elements in that tale. But it sure as hell makes you wonder, though, doesn’t it?
Kate and everyone else nodded in unison.
‘My dad wasn’t prone to lie. He had no reason to. I just think, like a lot of stories, someone came along and added a bit, then someone else, then someone after that, before it reached my dad and he told me, just like the way I’m telling you.’
‘But what about all the other bodies they found wrapped up in the same hair?’ Carlton asked.
‘My guess is that, a lot of people liked the tale because it did give them hope,’ Charles said. ‘It may be true. It may not. There may have been others out there who could heal people. I’m not saying it isn’t true. All I’m saying is I don’t believe in all the details. But you all believe what you want to believe.
Anyway, it was just a tale to tell to pass the time. Don’t worry yourselves, for God’s sake.’
Charles could feel and see their eyes still on him. He felt as if he were trapped in a block of ice... like the Frozen Man....
3
Snowflakes continued to drift down from the murky sky. The wind had stopped Howling like a banshee and faded to a breeze. It was still below freezing temperatures outside, and the roads would be hidden under fresh, thick layers of heavy snow before sun-up.
Inside The Travellers, the crackling fire had, at long last, died to its last embers. Everyone was tucked up warm in their sleeping bags and sound asleep.
***
Everyone woke up about 8a.m. the next morning after a peaceful slumber, full of vigour. Derek was the first to awake, Charles the last, and when he did he looked as though he could do with another eight hours in bed. As part of his usual routine, Charles began the day with a cigarette and a shot of whiskey. He did himself no favours abusing his anatomy with excessive amounts of nicotine and alcohol, but he was at a stage in his life where he’d stopped caring about his health. He drank away the regret, and smoked because it placated his tattered nerves.
Kate and Tom remained in their sleeping bags where it was nice and warm.
They conversed quietly about how everything outside from their perspective was a white blanket. The snowfall had ceased. The radiant sun shone down in the clear blue sky. Yet the sun wasn’t strong enough to melt any of the dense snow its mere presence gave the snowbound group something to be cheerful about that morning.
***
Derek was a qualified ham radio operator. He was in his bedroom, upstairs, leaning forward on his comfy chair tinkering with the tuning dial. He paid close attention the radio station news update on his portable radio, as well. With a bit of luck they would mention what was going to be done to help them out of this predicament. He spoke into the microphone, doing his utmost to get into contact with someone who lived in the town vicinity, but at that time he got no reply. The receiver radio said the council were clearing sections of the road leading to and from the mountains. Then the authorities would get in touch with the residents living in these rural areas, and anyone else who had been caught on the road in the midst of the severe snowstorm.
Derek dearly hoped there wasn’t anyone stranded in their car in the middle of nowhere, frozen to death, much like the Nathan character Charles had spoken of in the story last night. He was well aware of how this part of the countryside looked exactly the same when you had no idea where you were headed. It happened before on a few occasions.
Derek had lived in the Travellers Pub for six years. He feared for his own safety when he was on the road home when the snow had started to fall a couple of times, and he knew the roads like the back of his hand. God help any unfortunate soul who didn’t make it to a safe haven, which is what almost happened to Tom and Kate last night. But the good news was there would be something being done about the access routes, and within the next few hours he should be getting contacted.
The sun shone brightly. It was an ideal opportunity for Derek to go out back, grab his shovel and make a start clearing some of the snow on the road outside.
He wouldn’t have much time as most people thought. In the midst of the mountains at this time of year, dusk would soon be upon them.
He ordered Rhian to stay in his bedroom in front of the ham radio in case anyone contacted them while he was outside. She protested at how he treated her unfairly, but only half-heartedly. Rhian knew he wouldn’t have asked her if it wasn’t important. She’d seen numerous power cuts since residing in the mountains, and was familiar with the normal procedure. Anyway, it wasn’t as bad as it sounded. All she had to do was sit tight and listen out for a voice breaking through the static, reaching out, and waiting for a response.
The barn was behind the pub, almost invisible in the snow-pile. Derek inserted the key into the padlock, unlocked it, and opened the door. Tom followed the landlord. He said that he would like to assist Derek to shovel some of the snow off the road, if there was an extra shovel lying around.
It was approaching half past nine when they began clearing the roads, working alongside one another. One minute past eleven o’clock Tom put the shovel down and stretched his aching back and arms out away from him. He and Derek had been shovelling hastily for more than an hour and a half, without a break.
The road directly in front of the pub was clear of all snow. The path leading to The Travellers was visible. Together they had shifted a lot of dense snow. They would never clear the entire road, but at least they had given themselves access to the vehicles sitting in the lay-by and to the pub. Exhausted, Tom and Derek carried their shovels inside the pub to join the others who were having a snack and drinking orange juice.
After he’d drained the last of his orange juice, Charles declared that he would very much like to show Tom, Kate and Carlton the log cabin half a mile down the road where campers from all over the country gathered, so he could show them the large map of the mountain. Derek wasn’t so sure it was such a good idea. Yet Charles knew the mountains better than what he did. Also, it was still light out. It wasn’t even noon yet.
Rhian had informed everyone
that no one had contacted her. However, the weather report on the receiver radio forecasted more freezing temperatures, but no snow. It was relatively good news. It meant the campers wouldn’t be stuck up in the mountains any longer than they had to.
Derek became rather anxious with Charles’s idea to go trudging through the snow to the log cabin with the others. But Charles insisted everything would be fine and he could do with the fresh air and exercise, which surprised Derek and his daughter, who knew Charles like a family member. Charles had never been one to exercise. His idea of exercise was drinking beer and watching the football on the TV.
Nevertheless, when the campers were ready to leave their sanctuary, they dutifully followed Charles in the direction of the log cabin. Derek and his daughter Rhian watched them leave. Then once they were gone, Derek returned to his shovelling. Rhian went and sat by the radio, listening to the perpetual static, hoping someone would contact them soon.
***
Tom and Kate walked behind Charles on the path through the forest. They could smell the sweet pine aroma all around them. Ever since hearing the tale the night before, Tom sensed that Kate was in a much better mood than she’d been yesterday when they’d made the long drive to the mountain. She held his hand, as they trailed Charles.
‘I love the smell of pine trees,’ she said. No one said anything, yet they all agreed with her remark.
‘Where’d you live, Charles?’ Tom asked.
‘On the other side of the mountain in a small cottage,’ he said. ‘I’ll show you where on the map.
‘How long have you lived there?’
‘Twenty years or so.’
A squirrel shot past them, stopped suddenly, regarded the group for a few moments and then scurried up a tree where they could no longer see it. The snow crunched underfoot. The air although chilly, was invigorating.
All of a sudden, Charles halted. He stood cataleptic, gazing up at one of the thousands of pines in the forest unable to move, his eyes huge. Kate was about to ask why he’d stopped, when she followed his gaze and screamed. Birds fled the treetops in fright from the woman’s high pitched screams. There, hanging from a towering branch high above in the forest sheathed in a nest of silvery, sinewy nest of hair, encased in a block of solid ice, was a frozen cadaver. Tom clapped a hand over his mouth to stifle his cries.
‘Jesus Christ!’ Carlton gasped.
Charles was still too stunned to respond in any way. He simply stood motionless, pale-faced, unable to say a word. What he saw was too surreal for him to absorb. He was frozen to the marrow in outright fear. There was a dead body hanging directly above them sheathed in the same nest of hair he described in his tale last night. His father’s tale was true - there was no denying that fact.
There was such a thing as the Frozen Man! They were staring at one.
***
Back at The Travellers, Rhian had just finished talking to a softly spoken gentleman on the ham radio. He informed her that the telephone lines had been blown down during the vicious snowstorm yesterday. He told her the power would be back on before dusk, and for her not to worry. They knew she and other rural residents were stranded, and as soon as they could they would clear the roads.
She hurried down the stairs to the outside where was Derek shifting more snow to give him the promising news. He was delighted. Then he thanked his daughter for staying by the radio for the best part of the day against her wishes.
One of Carlton’s friends’ aided Derek in shovelling snow off the road for another hour. Then the landlord declared he was too tired. If he carried on his back would be sore for the rest of the week, and he could do without that kind of pain on top of everything else right now. For all he knew it could snow again tonight, anyway.
***
The four of them stood, staring, aghast at the horrific sight before them. Charles turned away from the gruesome image and steadied himself against a trunk. He prudently chose to sit down in case he fell down.
‘What the hell are we gonna do?’ Carlton asked no one in particular.
‘We can’t just leave it up there,’ Kate said.
Tom hunkered down in front of Charles, who was clutching his chest. ‘Are you all right?’
Charles nodded. ‘Just the shock, I guess,’ he said.
The tour guide stuffed a hand into his pocket and fished out a pack of Pall Mall’s. He put a cigarette between his lips and removed a lighter. He couldn’t stop his hands from shaking uncontrollably and therefore was not able to light the cigarette.
Tom saw this and lit the cancer stick for him. ‘So much for the fresh air, huh?’
Charles didn’t answer. Instead he kept his head down low between his legs so that he didn’t have to look at the corpse overhead.
‘We have to cut him down,’ Kate said, loud enough so everyone could hear.
‘I’m not so sure that’s a good idea,’ Tom said, getting to his feet.
Carlton stood in the middle, quivering, shaking his head at the dead body, repulsed. ‘Jesus Christ! This so is so fuckin’ freaky. That’s the same way the old man described the death of that guy in the story his father told him about all those years ago... and now, here today, we stumble across a corpse in exactly the same pose. It’s almost like a precognition or some shit.’ Carlton wasn’t aware of it, but he said what was on everyone’s minds.
No one spoke for a short while. Charles, nervously smoked his cigarette, and tried to calm his frayed nerves to no avail. Tom stared at the ground impassively, contemplating on what would be the best plan of action to take.
His heart pumped hard, muscles growing heavy with adrenaline coursing through his veins. Carlton took a seat on a stump. Kate, unlike the others, continued to gawk at the cadaver in a trance-like state, which Charles had noticed and found unnerving.
‘You got any ideas, Charles?’ Carlton asked.
Charles glanced at the corpse. ‘I can’t believe I’m actually seeing this. You were right,’ he said, looking at Carlton. ‘This is how they discovered the dead body of the one they called the “Frozen Man”.’
‘Then this must be a Frozen Man; just like the guy you told us about last night,’ Kate said, not taking her eyes off the body. It seemed as if she were talking to the dead body, as opposed to Charles.
‘Yes, I guess it must be,’ Charles said. ‘I mean just look at it?’ He pointed to the lifeless, frozen corpse. ‘How could it have possibly frozen?’
‘Well, it is below freezing temperatures,’ Tom said.
‘Yeah, I understand that. But what you seem to be forgetting is that person had to have been killed first, before the storm for the murderer - or murderers - to cart it up here in the mountains. Not to mention you also need someone with incredible strength far greater than any human being, to haul the body all the way up to the treetops. Now, how do you explain that, ‘cause I can’t?’
‘Did your father ever tell you why Nathan froze?’ Kate asked.
Charles shook his head. ‘No. He didn’t know. That body up there is frozen inside a block of ice, shrouded in some bizarre stretchy hair way beyond my comprehension.’
‘So, what’re you saying?’ Tom said.
Charles met his gaze. ‘What I’m saying is that has to be the body of someone who had incredible powers, which no other human being could ever possess.
That is an actual Frozen Man up there.’
‘So what do we do? What’s the next logical step?’ Tom said.
‘Let’s just consider this before we do anything hasty,’ Charles said. ‘We know just by looking at this corpse that it is the shell of someone very unique and precious. If we leave it up there and wait for the police to arrive the vultures and crows may peck through the block of ice and devour him before anyone gets here. On the other hand if we cut him down and take very good care of it we may be rewar
ded by the higher powers in the foreseeable future, who knows.’
Tom frowned and shook his head emphatically. ‘I don’t think I like the sound of this.’
‘My father did mention something else that happened to Dennis and his friend Spike shortly after Nathan’s body was discovered, which I didn’t mention last night. You all looked pretty spooked already,’ Charles went on. ‘He said their untimely deaths like Nathan’s untimely death, was somewhat unbelievable. A complete mystery. It was only through extensive examining, and going through all possible scenarios did the coroner suggest how their deaths might have happened.
‘Apparently, Spike and Dennis had lumbered out of the pub at closing time on their way back home when thunder rumbled and two separate lighting bolts shot down, both striking Spike and Dennis, killing them instantly. When their bodies were discovered the following morning, they had been burned to charcoal.
‘At first the coroner assumed the men had been foolishly playing with fire, but that wasn’t the case. There weren’t any reported fires on the night of their deaths, large or small. They had been consequently struck down by an angry, powerful, angel-type fellow... like Nathan.
‘And as time passed some of the townsfolk came to believe in God, passionately. God had shown his vengeance. They believed that Spike and Dennis had been stuck down without mercy for murdering Nathan, whom had never harmed a soul.’
Tom rested his hands firmly on his slender hips and sighed explosively.
‘So you think our best bet is to cut whoever is in there down?’ Carlton said.
Charles contemplated the different possibilities for a few moments, then said, ‘Can you walk away from here, back to the pub and wait for the police to arrive so they can do their thing?’
‘I dunno what to do,’ Carlton said.
‘But is that what you suggest we do?’ Tom said.
‘I don’t fancy taking the chances of being struck down by a bolt of lightening, nor can you. Or maybe I’m wrong. But if it’s up to me, then I wanna cut him down.’