Martyn and Ivy were on duty. Martyn didn’t know that Jim and Julia were staying at Wee Renee’s tonight, so he and Ivy were on their way down to check to see that they were safe.
It was a beautiful evening and when Martyn turned the corner, he saw that there was no light on at Jim and Julia’s narrowboat. That was unusual. Both of them, or at least one of them was always in. He hoped nothing more had gone on. This was precisely what their visits were supposed to avoid.
’Let’s check the boat, Ivy,’ Martyn said.
They switched on their torches as there was no light on the canal path. It was still quite bright, with a thin cloud, so that the stars were covered.
’Let’s approach this silently. We don’t want to alert anything of our presence,’ Martyn said. They walked slowly down the canal path, rolling their feet to make as little noise as possible.
They listened out for shells, or water plopping, dripping - any noises that would warn them that a watery predator was nearby. When they got to the boat, Ivy stepped on board. She knocked on the door and whispered, Jim, Julia?
Even her whispers seemed to find the emptiness on the boat and travel further than she wanted them to up the canal. Ivy was sure that it was empty. Martyn shone his torch over towards Black Island, but it looked quiet and peaceful tonight. Perhaps the Kelpies had seen their torchlight.
‘Let’s go and have a look over there Ivy,’ Martyn said.
They walked to the other side of the canal. The two Police Officers moved stealthily across the grass, which was now sodden with water. Every sense was alert for any sign. Martyn was annoyed at the sounds of traffic going past which could mask the approach of something wet and deadly.
Black island was still quiet. Ivy pointed her torch up the river towards the hills. That all seemed to look quite normal. The only blight on the river were the lumps of spawn still visible and growing.
Martyn pointed his torch down the river. If he hadn’t done that, he would never have seen them. His first thought was that it was a kind of fog. Some sort of a river mist, drifting up from the lowlands. As he kept his torch on the mist, he saw the forms, visible now to even the least gifted medium. The pirates were here.
Bloated, water filled, maggoty entrails were dragging in the water. Eerily their bodies drifted several feet above it. Ivy sensed that something was wrong as the atmosphere around Martyn changed. She shone her torch in the same direction as his and saw what he could see. She clutched the arm of his coat and pulled him backwards. This wasn’t something they were equipped to deal with.
‘Let’s go. Now!’ Ivy said.
Ivy’s words startled Martyn out of his trance. They slid on the wet grass in their haste to get away from the riverbank and onto the path. They were going back to the Police Station and making some phone calls.
Father Philip was on his way to visit a sick parishioner. He wondered what was going on with the river and the Park, but his main priority was the mini-squids and the inhabitants of Friarmere. He decided not to put himself in any danger and go into the Park but just check that everything was normal. Father Philip could get the general idea of the river and the canal from nearly the Park gates.
He was prepared to stop anyone gathering spawn if he found them, but other than that, he was just going to pop his head in and then carry on with his other duties.
A quick glance into the Park proved that tonight was not a quiet night on the water. A fog, which was drifting above the river with a group of grey luminescent figures inside. Father Philip in astonishment and horror, walked forward a few steps to make sure he was actually seeing what was there. There were angry dead men dressed in tattered clothes. Parts of them had chains and various bits dangling. Luckily for him, the large group seemed fixed on their destination but even from here he could feel the stench of evil.
He walked back the few steps until he was out of the Park gates. Once he was the other side, he leant against the wall to catch his breath. This was something he could deal with. Ghosts and spirits were his domain. They couldn’t be battled by weapons or arrested by the Police.
Dealing with the spirits of the dead was probably in his job description somewhere and could be easier than dealing with the squids but it still filled him with fear. He would make a quick visit to his intended destination. Then he needed to get back to his books and see what was in the Exorcism chapter. As a plan B he would look for his copy of ‘The Fog’ and this time, try to ignore the bit about Jamie Lee Curtis going with the man who was old enough to be her father.
Wee Renee, Jim and Julia were playing Scrabble in Wee Renee’s house. It was nearly time for bed, Jim and Julia were getting very tired and Wee Renee wanted to get to bed early because she had planned a hair session in the morning. Her alarm was already set for 6am.
Wee Renee hoped she could sleep. She had a lot on her mind tonight – more than usual. She wouldn’t be at her best or be able to help everyone if she was tired.
When the phone rang, it was almost a depressing sound. Jim and Julia knew that it meant trouble... Who would ring at 10 o’clock at night, unless it was vital? Wee Renee picked up the phone. Martyn was on the other end
‘Hello?’ she said.
‘Hello Wee Renee, it’s Martyn. Firstly, do you have any idea where Jim and Julia are, I’m so worried about them?’ Martyn asked.
’They are sitting here with me, love. There was an occurrence last night on the boat, so they felt safer here,’ Wee Renee told him.
’I am pleased about that,’ Martyn said. ‘Me and Ivy just went to check on them and could see that they weren’t there.’
‘That’s nice to think of them, but they’re quite safe,’ Wee Renee said. Jim and Julia realised people were looking out for them and that’s what the call must be. They still didn’t know who was on the end of the line.
‘Now I’ve got to tell you something terrible,’ Martyn said. ‘After a check on the boat, we checked the river and shone our torches down its length. You will never guess what was there.’
‘What?’ Wee Renee asked. She was all ears.
‘There were loads of ghosts. I’ve never met any real pirates, but it looked like that’s what they were. Ghost pirates drifting above the river. As if we haven’t got enough to worry about with the spawn, the Kelpie’s and the Sea Witch, now we’ve got watery ghosts to contend with!’ Martyn said with a sigh.
‘They might not be a bad thing. Some ghosts are good. I’ve met a couple of good ones,’ Wee Renee said. Hearing the word ghosts pushed Julia and Jim into a further decline.
’These weren’t,’ Martyn said. ‘They seemed tortured … on a mission, I don’t know. An invasion. The group were quite a way away and we could feel the evil, kind of coming off them. My knees went like jelly, Wee Renee. They were coming from the East of the river and seemed to be travelling. Where do you think they might be going?’ Martyn asked. Wee Renee drummed her fingers on the chair arm.
’At a guess, I’d say Moorston,’ Wee Renee said.
’Moorston? We’ll all be there tomorrow at the Wedding,’ Martyn said.
’Aye isn’t that just a coincidence,’ Wee Renee said. ‘Thank you for telling me, Martyn.’ When she turned around to her to friends, she looked downbeat and sad.
’What did he say?’ Jim asked.
’I’ll tell you over a drink. Who fancies pobs, in a beef tea? It’s what I usually have. It will fortify you for the all the news. But the good news is that you aren’t sleeping on that boat tonight,’ Wee Renee informed them.
32 Clever
In the night, the Melden Triangle was far from tranquil. The Fellus visited Michael to pick up his consignment. Michael knew he was coming but not quite as late as he did, Michael wanted to go to sleep. His eyelids were drooping, but before shutting them, saw The Fellus’s glow on its way towards him. The Fellus automatically went to the greenhouse and Michael joined him.
’I thought you were coming just after dark?’ Michael asked.
’I have
many businesses to attend to,’ The Fellus said.
’I bet you do,’ Michael said.
’Did you gather the beasts for me?’ The Fellus asked.
’I did yes, but I want my wish first. I want my woman and then you can have your little parasites. A fair swap,’ Michael said.
’That is not unreasonable, you have done enough for me. You have been a good servant, Michael,’ The Fellus said, condescendingly.
‘Partner,’ Michael corrected him.
‘Quite and I did promise you two wishes. I will grant the first one tonight. I need something of the lady in question to help me in my spell,’ The Fellus said.
‘I thought you might,’ Michael said, dropping a bulldog clip into The Fellus’s hand.
‘I hope that will bring her back. She was wearing it when she got snuffed out,’ Michael said.
’Always the unconventional one, aren’t you Michael?’ The Fellus said, laughing. ‘Do I have to grant this wish before I take my goods?’
‘No, I trust you, I think. We are both gentlemen. Besides that, you want me to do something else tomorrow night, don’t you?’ Michael asked.
‘Yes, that’s right. If I can get the beasts to work. If I can’t, I may require some more. I think I know what I am doing so we will say tomorrow night. And when you do it, once I grant your wish tonight, you won’t be alone,’ The Fellus said.
Michael pointed to the white bucket, outside the door of the greenhouse, with a rock on top of it.
’There they are,’ Michael said.
The Fellus picked up the bucket and began to pull off the lid.
‘Hey, not while you’re here, please. That’s why I’ve taped it up. They are slippery little suckers. They’ll escape if you do that. Only open it when you are ready to use one, that’s a tip for you,’ Michael said. ‘Look at them there.’ Michael pointed to the greenhouse.
Visible through the glass there was a wet mass of slippery squid-like creatures in a pile in the corner, trying to get to their siblings.
‘They knew that those were in the bucket and yet they have no eyes.’ Michael raised his eyebrows at The Fellus. He couldn’t warn him any more than he had. If he fell foul to them now, that was his fault.
Graham slept deeply, flat on his back in his little house in Moorston. He had made sure he was very comfortable, before getting in. Graham also hadn’t eaten or drunk anything that could trigger a nightmare. It was all futile however, as tonight he was destined to see it all – he did not have a choice about that.
Underneath his eyelids, Graham’s eyes flicked from left to right. He was there again, on the Moors, chasing a poacher.
Graham was once again the Gamekeeper. He wondered what the poacher had got in his hands. Whatever it was, it was off the land he was employed to protect. He couldn’t make out what the man was dragging behind him. It was no deer or wild boar.
’Stop!’ Graham shouted. The man did not stop, of course.
Graham pointed his gun into the air, it sparked to life, the shot deliberately fired above the man’s head. The gunfire echoed through the night. The man started to run faster. As he chased the man, Graham loaded his gun again, gunpowder and shot.
He was fit, he knew that. Graham enjoyed the way this body moved. In the real world, he was in his 70s but here he felt like he was in his late 30s. Agile, muscular and lean. Clearly used to walking the Moors.
The man he was after was also lean and he was dragging an awful weight behind him. Graham looked at his gun, which he somehow knew was called a blunderbuss. He had gained on him and was right behind the man.
‘Stop, I will fire at you this time,’ Graham said.
The man stopped and turned towards him. Graham saw his poacher’s face grinning wildly as the man raised his own ornate pistol and fired at point-blank range. As Graham fell to the floor, he saw that the man was just dragging a sack of rocks. What did he need those for? Graham thought.
The viewpoint of the dream changed, and Graham now seemed to be watching from above as the poacher dragged his body. He had left the rocks when he had the body. Graham realised that it was a hoax. The sack of stones had been used to lure him far out onto the Moors to kill.
The man dragged him near to an old house that Graham felt he recognised but couldn’t quite place. Here, in the dream it was different than it was now. This house looked quite new.
The man knelt beside him, took out a knife and cut away his shirt and jacket. He sliced a deep X on Graham's chest, opened the skin, bashed his way around a bit and cut out his heart. Just like that.
‘No,’ Graham shouted from above, ‘don’t do that. I need that.’
There was no getting that back in. From where he was, he could see it glistening with his blood. He couldn’t imagine what the man was going to do with it. Graham didn’t have to wait long for the answer as the man began to eat it. Eating the warm heart, his heart. He carried on until he had eaten it all.
Graham had a big hole in his chest, and he was on the Moors. He wondered how this could get worse. What would happen to him? Who would find him? He wanted the dream to end now thank you, what else was he meant to see? Graham couldn’t help him. No one could. All the blood had run into the moors. The evidence of his murder gone.
What would happen to this man when they discovered he was the murderer? The man would be finished. Although, they might never find the missing part. Who would imagine that he had eaten it?
The man dragged Graham's corpse, closer to the house. Behind the house, which was built in a flat area cut from the hill, there was a raw wall of earth. A long hole had already been dug at the base of the cutting, like a low letterbox. The man shoved Graham’s body and his gun inside the hole. There was no coffin, no bag, nothing to protect him from the soil and the worms.
The man spent ten minutes covering him with the sandy, peaty soil. That was the only funeral the Gamekeeper had. After that, the poacher began to pile big rocks up against it.
Graham didn’t wake. The bad dream just faded away this time, and he slipped back into normal sleep. He would remember every detail when he awoke the following morning. The pain, the loss and the loneliness. Graham would especially remember those guns.
Wee Renee was only half asleep the whole night, so when the alarm went off at 6 o’clock, she got out of bed. She did the only thing she could think of doing. Wee Renee walked out into the back garden and called for Sid.
’Sid, my Wee Faerie are you there?’ Wee Renee asked. Immediately he was there, and she saw the blinking in front of her face.
‘Do you need me?’ Sid asked.
’It’s been getting worse and I don’t know what to do. I’m quite desperate now. I fear that there are ghosts in Friarmere. pirate ghosts. Not even local ones, Sid,’ Wee Renee told him.
‘Yes. That is true. It’s not a great problem. You know you have friends. Friends that can deal with spirits. With the spiritual world,’ Sid said.
’Do you mean … Father Philip?’ Wee Renee asked.
’Yes,’ Sid replied simply.
‘Right okay, I can work on that. The next question is, if so many things are coming because of this crack, how do I close it again?’ Wee Renee asked.
’Unless you had another Berberer or a wish, you can’t,’ Sid informed her. That wasn’t really the news she wanted to hear.
’I haven’t found any magic lamps with Genies in recently, so no, I don’t have either. It’s a good job you have told me this. If I got a wish sprung on me, I always thought I might ask for a Cuckoo Clock. I think fixing Friarmere trumps that,’ Wee Renee said. ‘Sid, are you aware of any active Wishing Wells?’ Sid didn’t answer so Wee Renee made a mental note to look into that.
‘Look Sid, what do I do about the crack? We can’t carry on like this. Do you know how many threats are gravitating towards this area now?’ Wee Renee queried.
’Yes, I do and there will be more for you to encounter. However, you have the means to deal with whatever comes your way. The worst of
them you will deal with today. Everything else that comes will have to be dealt with bit by bit. Get used to the fact that Friarmere will never be the same again. You’ll never have your old river back, Wee Renee. What you have in your favour is that you know the people to marshal the rivers. You must pool your resources after tonight, between the two Villages,’ Sid said.
’So, we will be victorious, at least partially?’ Wee Renee asked.
‘Only if you are clever. You have got to be clever about the water, do you understand? Or else what you have cannot be utilised,’ Sid informed her.
’What do you mean by that?’ Wee Renee asked, but Sid was gone. That was the way of him.
Hell And High Water Page 21