Petrify

by Beth Chambers

  Petrify

  Beth Chambers

  For my mother, Gaynor, and

  my mother-in-law, Christine.

  Thank you.

  Contents

  1 Ma Jessop’s Woods

  2 A Warning

  3 Keep Out

  4 Inviting Trouble

  5 Midnight Visit

  6 Sharp Fingernails

  7 Cursed

  8 Stolen Gifts

  9 Taken

  10 Footprints

  11 A Promise

  12 As Good as Dead

  1

  Ma Jessop’s Woods

  No one goes into the woods. No one talks about why. It’s just a matter of fact. Keep out of Ma Jessop’s woods.

  Of course, that isn’t the proper name of the woods. The proper name has faded over the years.

  From the time of the first disappearance.

  I have tried to make Josh understand that the woods are off limits. But he just doesn’t seem to get it.

  “Ooh, trees are real scary,” he mocks.

  I know what he’s doing. Trying to wind me up so I tell him the whole story.

  Well, I’m not going to fall for his trick. I look at my watch. “Teen Edge youth club opens in ten minutes,” I tell him. “Do you want to hang out there for a while?”

  We head along the streets to the youth club.

  I push open the faded red door and Josh scoots over to the pool table.

  Carrie and Helena ask me to join them.

  “Who’s the newbie?” Helena demands.

  “Josh? He moved in next door on Tuesday.”

  “Cute,” Carrie whistles.

  Josh picks up a pool cue. He is playing against Karl, who’s in my year in school.

  “Nice,” Karl admires as Josh pots the black.

  Josh flashes Karl a grin. “Cheers mate.” He gives him a high five.

  “So,” asks Josh, staring at me, “do you guys want to meet up tomorrow?”

  “Sure.” Carrie sounds keen. She so has a crush on Josh. “Where should we meet?”

  “The woods,” Josh says.

  Karl scowls at me. “Ella should have told you. The woods are off limits.”

  “What are you afraid of? Killer rabbits?” Josh raises his eyebrows.

  Helena steps in. “I don’t mind going. It’s not like anything is going to go wrong if we’re all together.”

  I wait for the others to disagree but it doesn’t happen. Carrie can’t see beyond her crush on Josh and Karl doesn’t want to look a coward.

  “We’ll be okay as long as we don’t go too far in,” says Helena. “My brother sometimes hangs out there with his mates.”

  “He does?” I’m surprised. It’s the first I’ve heard of it.

  “They’ve made a den on the edge of the woods,” she tells me.

  As they make plans to meet up in the morning Josh gives me a smug look.

  I shake my head.

  I have such a bad feeling about this.

  2

  A Warning

  I decide to walk home alone.

  I don’t even reach the end of the street when I hear the sound of footsteps running along the pavement.

  “Why didn’t you wait for me?” asks Josh.

  I shrug. I’m still mad at him. We walk along in silence.

  “Okay, I get it. You’re not talking to me,” Josh grumbles as we turn into our street. “You haven’t said a word in the last hour.”

  “You want a word? How about loser?” I say.

  Josh’s eyebrows shoot up and disappear behind his messy copper fringe.

  “That’s a bit harsh,” he mutters.

  “Okay, you want to know why we never go into the woods?”

  As much as I don’t like him right now he deserves to be warned.

  Josh’s eyes light up.

  “I want to know why you never go,” he corrects me. “Helena said her brother and his mates hang out there all the time.”

  Honestly! He is so annoying.

  I can’t be bothered to point out that Helena’s brother stays on the edge of the woods. Instead I take a deep breath.

  “A couple of hundred years ago an old woman was thrown out of her village because people thought she was a witch. In the middle of the woods is an old quarry. The woman moved into the caves and tunnels of the quarry. She slept through the day and roamed the woods at night. People said she cursed anyone who came near the quarry.”

  Illustration 1: An haggard, witch-like old woman, peering out of a dark cave/quarry in a densely wooded area. Clothes should be very old-fashioned and tatty (circa 1800).

  I stop, unable to say the next part of the tale.

  And then came the disappearances.

  I press my lips together. I’ve said enough.

  “And then what?” Josh leans forward.

  My nan comes into the room carrying a teacup. Silently she rinses it at the sink. As she dries the cup she suddenly says, “It’s bad luck to talk about Ma Jessop.”

  “Why?” mutters Josh. “She’s long dead.”

  Nan raises her eyebrows. “They say the wickedness inside her was so strong that it stopped her growing, so she stayed the size of a child. Evil like that doesn’t die easily.”

  “Well, it’s not going to stop us going to the woods tomorrow, is it?” Josh challenges me.

  I shake my head in disbelief.

  “You’ll bring bad luck down on you,” warns Nan, giving me a worried look before leaving the room.

  I almost jump out of my seat as the back door slams shut. A pane of glass breaks and shatters on the floor.

  “See,” I say to Josh, my voice shaking. “That’s a warning.”

  3

  Keep Out

  Once Josh has gone Nan calls me into her room. I sit on her daybed and she turns down the TV.

  “There’s a box under my bed,” she tells me. “Get it out.”

  I find the small wooden box and look inside. It’s full of old letters.

  “Look for a necklace,” Nan says.

  Hidden under the letters I find a necklace made of rough wooden beads.

  “I want you to have it,” Nan says. “It will keep you safe when you go into the woods.”

  I shake my head. “I’m not going.”

  She leans forward and grips my hands. “You must go.”

  I don’t understand. Only five minutes ago she was telling me not to go. Why has she suddenly changed her mind?

  Nan takes the necklace and places it over my head.

  “You must go,” she says again. “Keep them all safe.”

  * * *

  The next day we walk down the lane that leads to the woods. Josh is smug. He thinks I have given in. But he’s wrong. I still plan to talk the others out of going.

  They’re all waiting. I look at Carrie’s heels and short skirt. She looks like she’s ready to go out to a party, not for a walk in the woods.

  “Guys,” I say, “I have such a bad feeling about this. How about we take the bus into town instead? We could go and see a film?”

  Karl shrugs. “I’m broke.”

  “Me too,” Helena agrees.

  Before I can suggest anything else, Josh snatches Carrie’s bag. He races along the path that leads into the woods. Carrie chases after him as fast as her heels will allow.

  The others look nervous but they follow Josh anyway. I hesitate. I don’t want to go into the woods. But I hear Nan’s words in my mind. Keep them safe.

  I take a deep breath and hurry along the path.

  I can’t see the others but I can hear them laughing. I follow the sound but they are always just out of sight.

  Finally I see a glimpse of Carrie’s red t-shirt. Leaving the path I scramble over rotting leaves. The sun is almost totally blotted ou
t by the trees. My heart is thumping.

  We have to get out of here.

  I call out their names but there’s no reply.

  A flock of birds fly into the sky as I stumble into a clearing. My mouth turns dry as I realise where I am.

  It’s the one place I had been determined to avoid.

  I’m at the entrance to the quarry.

  4

  Inviting Trouble

  There is something strange about the trees around the edge of the quarry. Then I get it. They all seem dead. Their branches are bare and their trunks twist away, as if they are trying to escape.

  My friends are standing around the entrance to the quarry. They’re looking at Josh edging into the cave.

  “He’s crazy!” Helena gasps as Josh disappears.

  My heart starts to thump. I yell after him not to be stupid but there’s no reply.

  Minutes pass. I know I should go after him but my legs refuse to move.

  “Josh!” Karl calls into the black opening. “Don’t be an idiot. Come back.”

  A moment later there’s a rattle of small stones and Josh appears. He grins. “Did you lot think old Ma Jessop had got me?” He waggles his fingers at me like he’s casting a spell.

  Illustration 2: Josh coming out of the cave, laughing, Ella, Karl, Carrie and Helen all crowded round, Ella looking worried.

  “You’re so not funny,” I say as Carrie squeals and throws her arms around him.

  “I don’t know why we were all so scared!” Helena says, moving away from the cave.

  The others are quick to follow. I scowl at Josh but he whispers to me, “I’ve got something to show you. Come over to my house later.”

  * * *

  It takes until three o’clock before I give in and decide to find out what Josh is talking about. I march around and bang on Josh’s door.

  “What did you think you were doing?” I snap as soon as he opens it.

  “You know we shouldn’t have gone anywhere near the quarry.” My voice rises to a shout I’m so mad.

  Josh grins, then he pulls out a crumpled hanky and puts it in my hands. I’m surprised by how heavy and how cold it feels. Then I realise that it’s made of stone.

  “Where did you get this from?” I hiss.

  “Where do you think?” Josh takes the stone hanky back from me.

  I should have guessed. He’s taken it from Ma Jessop’s caves. “You idiot!” I shout. “What have you done?”

  “Get a grip, Ella!” Josh grins. “When are you going to accept there’s no such thing as witches?”

  I step back from him. “You’re wrong Josh. This is dangerous.”

  “I’d like to see her come and get it,” he laughs.

  I shake my head. I have a feeling his words may come back to haunt him.

  * * *

  The next morning I’m woken up by a banging on the door.

  “Do you know how early it is?” I demand, as I stare at Josh.

  He ignores the question. “Take it.” He pushes the stone hanky at me.

  Illustration 3: On Ella’s doorstep. Terrified and tired Josh handing Ella a stone hankerchief, Ella looking at Josh, shocked and angry.

  I stare down at the reddish brown stone. “I don’t want it,” I say.

  Josh’s voice shakes. “I couldn’t sleep last night. I kept hearing noises. Freaky sounds! As if someone was trying to get in through my window…”

  “Oh yeah?” I guess Josh is setting me up so he can laugh about me with the others. I bet the hanky didn’t even come from Ma Jessop’s cave at all.

  “Take it,” Josh begs. “I don’t want it.”

  I shrug, deciding to play it cool. Even if the hanky did come from the cave it’s not as if anything will happen to me.

  I’m not the one that stole it.

  5

  Midnight Visit

  I put the stone hanky on the windowsill in my bedroom, then forget all about it as my mum takes me and Nan out for the day.

  We get back late and Nan makes an excuse to get me on her own.

  The moment the door shuts she asks, “Well, what happened?”

  I don’t tell her we went to Ma Jessop’s cave. And there’s no way I’m going to tell her about the hanky. Besides, the more I think about it the more I’m sure Josh is winding me up. I mean, what would Ma Jessop have wanted with a stone hanky?

  “Nothing happened,” I lie. “We just hung around for a while.” I feel bad for not telling her the truth but I’d have felt worse if I’d made her worry.

  I watch a bit of TV then I head up to bed, switch off the light and slowly drift into sleep.

  I’m not sure what wakes me.

  I lie in the dark, my eyes wide open, my heart thumping. The bedside clock tells me it’s five past midnight. I strain my ears, but can’t hear a thing. But just as my breathing slows down there’s a noise directly above my bed on the roof. My mind races as I try to work out what could be making it. A branch, I tell myself, it’s just a branch. The scrabbling moves in the direction of the window. Perhaps it’s a bird, I think, starting to panic now. Or maybe some kind of rat or mouse?

  My fingers tighten on my duvet as a horrible thought occurs to me.

  The window is open.

  I lie still, unable to make myself move.

  Get up! Shut the window! a voice shouts in my head. The noise on the roof stops for a moment. It’s long enough for me to sit up and push off my duvet. I race across the room and bang the window shut. My fingers tremble as I turn the key in the window lock.

  It’s pitch black outside. I can’t see anything, but then, I don’t want to. I turn and run back to bed.

  As I pull the duvet up over my head, I hear the worst noise yet.

  A screeching sound fills my room.

  There’s no mistaking what it is.

  It’s the sound of fingernails scraping against glass.

  Illustration 4: Ella in pyjamas attempting to lock the window, stone hanky visible as she pulls back curtain. Also if possible, on the opposite side of the window to where Ella is looking at the lock, a shadowy hand with long, twisted fingernails pressed against the glass

  6

  Sharp Fingernails

  I don’t know when I fall asleep but I’m woken by birdsong. Sunlight streams through the gap in my curtains. I hurry over to the window.

  It’s still shut and locked and the stone hanky is exactly where I left it the day before. Taking a deep breath I unlock my window and push it open. I lean out and stare down at the garden.

  At first everything seems the same. My bike is still propped up against the fence. I can see the washing on the line. Then I stare directly below. My eyes widen as I see footprints in the soft grass. They’re small, almost like a child’s.

  In a rush, Nan’s words come back to me.

  The wickedness inside her was so powerful it stopped her growing…

  I shake my head. It’s impossible. Sure, I believe that curses could exist, but there’s no way I believe Ma Jessop’s still alive.

  My gaze moves to the stone hanky. I think back to the sound of fingernails scraping against glass.

  It doesn’t matter if I believe Ma Jessop is alive or not. I’m not risking another night like that. The stone hanky’s going back.

  Today.

  I’m planning to go round to see Josh but he beats me to it. I open the door to find him standing there, his finger about to press the bell.

  “How did you sleep?” he asks. “I had a much better night.”

  “That’s because you sent all the trouble around to me,” I snap.

  I march up the side path and show him the footprints on the grass.

  Josh hardly glances at them. Instead he stares at the fence.

  “Look.” He points at five scratch marks in the wooden fence. They look as if they’ve been made by something sharp.

  “Fingernails?” I shudder.

  Josh’s eyebrows jerk up.

  “We have to take the hanky back,” I say,
even though I am terrified. “Maybe then we’ll be left alone?”

  Before Josh can reply, the kitchen door opens and my mum calls out to us, “Come here! There’s some bad news.”

  “Carrie and Helena went to a party last night and were in an accident on their way home,” Mum tells us. “A tree fell on the roof of the car they were in.”

  “Oh no!” My stomach twists. “Are they going to be alright?”

  Mum nods. “They’re in hospital. They’re going to be okay but it will be a while before they’re able to come home again.”

  Josh and I look at each other.

  “Are you thinking what I’m thinking?” he asks.

  I press my lips together, feeling sick. Poor Carrie and Helena. Was this because of our visit to Ma Jessop’s cave?

  Illustration 5: Illustration of a car crushed by a tree or large branch, ambulance in background.

  I can’t help worrying that things are only going to get worse.

  * * *

  Josh and I make our way through the woods without talking. When we reach the quarry Josh places the hanky at the cave’s entrance.

  “Aren’t you going to go in?” I hiss. “So you can leave it where you found it?”

  Josh’s face is pale. He shakes his head.

  “Do you hear that?” I grip Josh’s arm. From the depths of the cave a strange sound echoes.

  “Something’s in there!” Josh panics.

  We don’t run. There’s no way either of us is going to turn our back on the quarry. Instead we put one foot behind the other, walking backwards as fast as possible. Only when the quarry disappears from sight do we turn and race along the woodland trail.

  “Let’s hope that’s worked,” I gasp. “I just want life to get back to normal.”

  7

  Cursed

  That night I sleep with my light on but all is quiet. Getting dressed the next morning I decide that taking the hanky back has worked.

  Maybe now Josh will finally accept why we never go into the woods.