Hell And High Water

by Angela Blythe

  Martyn thought that there could be a person elsewhere, struggling and he was here doing nothing. The added problem was that it was so foggy, he couldn’t see or now hear them.

  He would have to get up very close to see if a victim was lying on the riverbank. Martyn listened, waiting to hear cries of some sort, coming from either the left or the right. His eyes scanned as far as they could. Black Island was still deserted.

  Very faint through the fog, he did see someone now. What were they doing? Washing dirty clothes in the river. He had never seen anyone doing that and could imagine that they would smell of fish afterwards. There was no fuss about the woman. No disturbance. It couldn’t be anything to do with her. He might go over and ask if she had heard or seen anything. There was nothing else to go on.

  Martyn walked a few steps towards her. Either the fog had got thicker, so now he couldn’t find her, or she had gone. Now, what could he do? He didn’t have to wait long before he found out.

  The first sounds he heard weren’t cries but footsteps. That first one quietly, trying to keep their secret as they got closer. Then he heard many footsteps as they came closer. Even on the soft, wet grass, they could be heard.

  Martyn saw them stand, rise, pop up at the front of him, from behind trees – everywhere. He turned to escape, but behind him more followed. Martyn thought that there were about fifty members of the public surrounding him.

  All had blank expressions, faces like masks. They marched forward, as if on command. Martyn now realised it was a trap, and it had worked.

  There was nowhere to go and no place to hide. He was outnumbered. He had no weapons, no backup and was standing there in a stupid fancy dress outfit. They moved forward relentless, the slow walk of a zombie. Not stopping or thinking. They were going to get him very soon. Ten paces away … eight … five, he felt their fingertips on his white jacket. What was going to happen now?

  ‘Get back!’ Martyn shouted. ‘I am a Police Officer even though I am not in uniform. Get away and go back to your homes, immediately!’

  When Martyn was entirely surrounded and secured, they began to bring him closer to the water. His first thought was that they would deliberately infect him with a mini squid.

  If only that were the plan.

  When the group got to the water’s edge, they carried on going until they were submerged up to their shoulders. The villagers waited for the marvellous birth to happen, he still struggled fiercely.

  Martyn managed to get one arm free and punched a man in the eye. For that, he got three punches back, seemingly to calm him down.

  He could not remove himself. The whole group of villagers, all fifty and more had waded into the water to be part of the ritual.

  Through his feet on the riverbed, Martyn began to feel a vibration, a deep rumbling. Like the earth’s crust was about to vomit. Water began bubbling up about ten feet away from where he was being held. The water domed higher, a mixture of water and tiny air bubbles. There was a collective noise of ‘Ah’ from the villagers.

  Martyn felt something wrap around one leg and then the other. It began to show itself through the champagne water bubbles. Huge, prehistoric and terrifying, it smelled like crab. A strong thick muscular arm wormed itself around his waist. The villagers began to move away from him towards the bank. He saw one snake-like head emerge from the river, then another and another, even more, came to see the surface for the first time. No, some of the tentacles don’t have feet as Jim had mentioned, Martyn thought, but they have heads. It was his last thought above water.

  He was dragged further into the river, his feet trying hard to get an anchor in the silt. Now he was under, pulled weightless, into the deepest parts of the river, through the crack, at an angle downwards.

  35 Taste

  Ivy was beginning to become concerned about Martyn who was always prompt and courteous. She had never known him to be a minute late. If there was a problem delaying him, he would have called.

  Here she was, waiting in a bustier and the black lace mask, which was described on the packet as a ‘Diamond ‘Lil’ costume – Wild West Bar Owner. She had suspenders on and a garter. The dress was split up to her thigh on one side.

  The only thing that she could think was that there was either a problem at the Police Station or a problem with the change over to the Special Constables. It was still unusual for Martyn not to call or text.

  Ivy called the Police Station. There was no reply. She called Martyn’s mobile, there was no reply again. There was only one thing for it, she took off her high heels, put them in a bag and put on her trainers. As quickly as she could, she made her way to Friarmere Police Station.

  When Graham, Tony and Gary set off in the Land Rover, all of them somehow knew that the Gamekeeper was going to be where they thought. The fog was worse and far thicker as they rose out of the valley, towards the old dark house that looked over Moorston.

  ’This fog needs a good wind to blow it somewhere else. I’m sick of it,’ Graham said.

  ‘It’s not good for our business,’ Tony said.

  ‘And what’s that exactly?’ Gary asked, laughing.

  ‘Monster termination and disposal,’ Tony said officially.

  Gary drew up outside the house, pulling in off the road as much as he could. In this fog, even with his lights on, he would be virtually invisible to any vehicles coming over the hills. There was no pavement on this country road.

  The three men all sat there in silence for a short while. They were here but didn’t know how to start.

  ’Come on, let’s get it over with,’ Tony eventually said.

  Graham got out, taking a good look up and down at the house. He thought about the hundreds of times he had gone past it and never thought about it. He was looking forward to doing this now.

  The three men stood, silhouetted against the house, by Gary’s headlights. The fog pressed down on them. The strangeness of the situation pressed down on them too. But it had to be done and quickly so they could get back to help the others, if the worst should happen.

  When Ivy reached the Police Station, the Special Constables were outside. They could not get in, as only Ivy and Martyn had keys to the main doors and Martyn had not transferred his over to them.

  She opened up. The lights were on inside. Martyn wasn’t there. Ivy walked around to his desk. There was his mobile, with her missed calls on it. She could see his uniform hanging up. By the phone, there was a pad. On it were two words. River. Attack.

  ‘Where are they going?’ Jim had asked Wee Renee when he saw Gary driving off in the Land Rover. ‘Gary’s supposed to be giving us a lift back. I hope he hasn’t forgotten about us and left us here for the night. Taxis won’t want to come out in this!’

  ’No love, he’ll be back. They’ve just got a mission to go on, that’s all,’ Wee Renee smiled at Jim. ‘Are you enjoying yourself?’

  ’Oh yes it’s a lovely group, isn’t it? Even the dead ones,’ Jim replied in a loud voice. ‘You know what I thought too - what a lovely relaxed, open and honest Wedding it was. They make a good couple, Tammy and Miles do,’ Jim said, plunging his hands into his pockets. Before Wee Renee could speak, Jim continued.

  ‘It’s been a great night, even if the worst happens. And thank God we aren’t going back to the boat tonight in this. Thanks, Wee Renee for putting us up,’ Jim said.

  ’It’s no problem at all,’ Wee Renee said. Jim felt in his pocket. There was something heavy in there and he pulled it out to look at it. Jim hadn’t thought about it for days. It was the pebble that he had found at the side of the river.

  ‘Ooh, I forgot to show you this, Wee Renee,’ he said. ‘We found it at the river.’ Wee Renee looked at the flat black pebble. It was quite large, nearly as big as her palm, with a strange picture scratched into it. The image was creamy, white against the ebony stone. She turned it the other way, squinted and realised what she was seeing.

  ‘Do you see what it is from this angle?’ She asked him.

 
Jim took it in his hands again. It was foggy, it was dark, and there was only the briefest of disco lights coming down from the Bandroom window. Jim carefully examined the artefact.

  ’No, I don’t see anything that I recognise. Wait a minute I’ve got it. Is it a crude drawing of an engine?’ Jim asked.

  ’No. An engine? No Jim. Look there is the body of it and there curving around are the tentacles,’ she pointed out. ‘What do you think it shows now?’ Wee Renee asked. It was one of those times that once you saw what it was, you could never see it any other way.

  ’It’s one of those mini-squids, but massive,’ Jim said shocked.

  ’The mother,’ Wee Renee said.

  The villagers of Friarmere had done their work. Controlled by another, and now having sacrificed a man to their maker, they moved back to the edges of the Park to wait for instructions. The Fellus had been operating them from the person who was easier to control than the others. The one who had held the parasite the longest, Bob’s friend Callum. The Fellus was used to manoeuvring them now, the test had proved highly successful, he could move groups or individuals. This was a neat trick.

  The Fellus was trying to discover what was going on in Moorston. The visibility over there was far worse than here. Was that by accident or design? From what he could see through the eyes of the villagers, he could see things were hotting up. Perhaps he should call off the resources here, as Moorston looked like it could be a lot more fun tonight. More eyes over there meant better vision.

  While he would be keeping away from all the chaos, there was no harm in watching. The Fellus felt like he was there. He could feel everything, see everything and was in control of it all. Aware that he had given his word to Michael, he had one last bit of work in Friarmere. Michael required a sacrifice to his lady and The Fellus would arrange for this to happen.

  When Ivy got close to the Park, knowing that Martyn had not returned from there, she decided to watch from afar before approaching. There seemed to be a lot of people milling around. They looked stony-faced and weren’t speaking. Every single face was turned towards the Park.

  She had a feeling that there had been a serious incident. Why were they still waiting around? Just rubbernecking? Ivy wasn’t in the correct dress to lend any gravitas, but she was still a Police Officer and she would have to find Martyn.

  She walked over to the first lady, who stood outside the Bank and looked towards the river. Her eyes were blank. It was like the lights were on, but no one was at home. She seemed to be awaiting instructions or in some sort of trance. Ivy looked at all the others. They were in a similar state to this lady. A load of human TVs on standby, not showing Newsnight, but ready to switch on at any time on full volume. Something was incredibly wrong here.

  ’Excuse me, have you seen a Police Officer here?’ Ivy asked her. ‘Actually, on second thoughts, he won’t be dressed as a Police Officer, he might be dressed like the man from Gone With the Wind. Now I sound as stupid as I look. Down to basics, have you seen someone in a white jacket?’

  ’Oh, he’s gone,’ she replied dreamily.

  ’Gone? Gone where? Gone back to the Police Station?’ Ivy asked frustrated.

  ’Gone under the water. He is with her forever. I wish I were with her,’ the woman said. She turned to face away from Ivy, to look towards the river again.

  The Fellus had seen the woman address someone, who was asking questions. This might prove dangerous. He decided that this was another candidate for a dunking. The Fellus began to instruct some of the people to grab her. Had he known that this was going to happen, he could have done something about it earlier, as Michael was on his way down there.

  Ivy saw at least twenty heads turn towards her. They began walking their bodies over to her, mechanically. The woman instantly grabbed for Ivy, but she wasn’t wearing very much on her top half, so she pulled away easily from the woman’s grasp, which was on the upper skin of her arm.

  She stepped back; the others were moving purposely towards her. There was only one way to back up and that was into the middle of the road. Ivy could hear a car was on its way. The car’s driver saw what was going on and screeched to a halt.

  ‘Hello,’ a voice shouted. ‘Get in quick!’

  Ivy jumped in and the car sped away as the disappointed villagers watched it go. The Fellus had lost her. Ivy looked across to the driver. It was Father Philip.

  He turned right and drove all the way up to Sue’s house and then back down again. They had lost them. Father Philip drove through the backstreets and then pulled back into Court Street, which had a view down to the Park entrance.

  ’I think Martyn’s in there,’ Ivy said. ‘He should have called for me, to go over to the Wedding in Moorston but he never arrived. It seems that he had a message to go to the river. There was a couple of words written down on his pad at the station.’

  Father Philip took all her words in, but didn’t speak, he craned his neck to see as much as he could in the Park, considering the distance and the fog. There was just enough illumination from the streetlights for him to see as far as the Park gates.

  ‘I could see a lot more bodies walking in the Park when I drove past to get you. If they did the same to you as they did to him, he’s probably gone, Ivy,’ Father Philip said.

  ‘I don’t want to believe that Father,’ Ivy said. She looked down at the villagers. They stood motionless in stasis. Then she took a look down at herself. She had never been more embarrassed in her life. Of all the people to pick her up when she looked like this. Oh, the shame.

  ‘Listen Father about my outfit. I know it’s very revealing, but it’s fancy dress,’ Ivy apologised.

  ‘I hadn’t noticed,’ Father Philip said. He looked over at her finally. His eyes widened a little before he stopped them.

  ‘Generally, I’m in uniform or jeans. I don’t wear this to relax you know. I’m a bit embarrassed. In fact, I’m very embarrassed. After all, I didn’t know I would have to spend a lot of time in a car with a Priest. I thought I would be dancing the night away, instead of hiding out from some … I don’t know … cult. I’m sorry. Am I waffling Father?’ Ivy asked.

  ‘A bit yes, but don’t worry about your bustier and suspenders. I have lived you know,’ Father Philip assured her.

  Quietly they sat for a few minutes. The people stood like statues. Rigid and silent. Quite shockingly, as they were concentrating on the scene a hundred feet away, someone walked past the car window towards the gathering.

  They couldn’t see much of what was going on after that and they certainly couldn’t hear anything, but it seemed like this man walked to the bottom of the road until he got to the High Street. He waited on this side of the road, opposite the Park. One boy walked over to him.

  With that, he walked back up towards the car. The boy marched behind him like he was in a trance. When he was just in front of the car, his face under the streetlight, Father Philip saw who the man was. He did not speak to Ivy until the man had well and truly left. They heard a car start in the distance and drive off behind them.

  ‘Ivy, I need to tell Wee Renee about that,’ Father Phillip said. ‘That person should not be here. He should be miles away, and I’ve never trusted him. Before, … you know when I mean … he was in with the bad lot. He assured us that he had changed - it doesn’t look like it, does it?’

  A sudden movement distracted them. There was a shift in the middle of Friarmere. Collectively all villagers came out of the Park and began to walk away from it. Once they got past the corner of the road by the corner shop, Ivy turned to Father Philip.

  ’I’m going to check out the Park, Father if you need to go and tell Wee Renee about that man, you go tell her what’s happened. I’ll be fine on my own,’ Ivy said.

  ’I’m not going to let you go on your own, Ivy. There are probably dozens of monsters down there, waiting to eat you up. Like a Kelpie, or one of those other weird creatures that I’ve heard about down by the river. You aren’t exactly dressed for combat, ar
e you?’ Father Philip asked. The two of them got out of the car and walked down to the bottom of the road. They peeked around the corner

  They could see that the group of villagers were walking en masse along the High Street. Not one of them was looking backwards. They were just a uniform procession of robots.

  By the time Father Philip and Ivy entered the Park, it seemed deserted. Luckily Father Philip has remembered to bring his torch out of the car, as it was extremely dark in that area. They had left The streetlights long behind them.

  There were lots of footprints near the river. The soil was sodden and some of them quite clearly trailed back out of the Park again. They could not see if any of these were Martyn’s or not. He wouldn’t even be wearing Police issue boots tonight.

  Ivy listened, she could hear no rustling shells, no wet swimming, no cries - nothing out of the ordinary in fact. It seemed quite odd, as recently, there had been new threats every day. She looked at the water, it was inky black and still. It didn’t even look like it was flowing. The only thing remarkable was that there were still clusters of spawn, quietly sitting there, minding their own business.