’Thank you. I will leave you in peace, friend,’ the Gamekeeper said. And disappeared. Graham’s head rotated slowly towards Tony and Gary. He couldn’t find the words to explain it.
He didn’t have to. They looked back with the same expression. They had also witnessed Graham’s vision. Half as visible and twice as quiet, but they had experienced it too.
At the same time that the Gamekeeper’s spirit was being released from the Moors, Father Philip and Ivy passed the front of the big house above Moorston. Father Phillip’s sharp eyes were trained on the road. Ivy couldn’t wait to get to the others to tell them what had happened, and to warn them about what was on the way.
The Wedding guests came out one by one. Quietly they exited, knowing that humans were close to them and could prove dangerous. They went to their cars and their handbags, inside their backpacks to retrieve their weapons.
Wee Renee was very much concerned. She didn’t expect that humans would get involved in all this. They were acting under instruction. Wee Renee didn’t know whether their normal brains were somehow functioning behind the blank stare and could not escape its clutches. If they fought back, how could she kill them, if it came down to that – and not feel like a murderer?
Pat saw the look on Wee Renee’s face. She could tell that her friend was worried. Pat thought that Wee Renee’s face always looked extremely small when she was concerned. It reminded Pat of how old and vulnerable she was.
’What’s the matter, Rene?’ Pat asked.
’The people Pat. It’s not their fault that they have a squid in their ears,’ Wee Renee said.
‘What are they doing, lurking like that? What are they about to do? It looks like they are up to some mischief. What are we supposed to do if they start, Rene?’ Pat asked.
‘If we fight back, and it gets out of hand, that could make us murderers. If we could remove the squid out of their ears one by one, then they’ll revert back to us and be perfectly all right. I hope that’s true anyway,’ Wee Renee said.
’Okay. I see your point. What we need is a way to trap or secure them,’ Pat said.
’What’s wrong?’ Joe asked.
’We need a way to secure the people, away from the river. I don’t know if they are going to tackle us or just sacrifice themselves like lemmings,’ Wee Renee said.
’I’ve got a load of duct tape in my van. Several rolls, I think,’ Joe said. ‘If we could get them one by one and tape their hands and feet, they could do no harm to themselves or us.’
’That’s a brilliant idea,’ Wee Renee said. ‘Could you go and get it?’
Pat told Jackie and Agnes about the problem with the villagers and what the plan was. They weren’t to fight them if they attacked. They were to save them from themselves. Pat told them to tell everyone else.
The Wedding Party were all now outside, still in their fancy-dress costumes. Pat had her club hammer, Wee Renee the machete. Our Doris had her sword there, still glinting grey in the subdued light.
There were plenty of carving knives being wielded. Because it has been so effective before, a few of the ladies had hairspray cans with candle lighters.
They hoped that anything wet would not like to be burnt.
‘Oh, I forgot to tell you all – I remembered the wee ditty I was telling you about,’ Wee Renee said.
‘What ditty?’ Our Doris asked.
‘It’s about Black Island. I’ve thought about it for days, and I finally have it!’ Wee Renee exclaimed.
‘Go on then,’ Pat said.
Putting her heels together neatly and standing straight, Wee Renee began singing a strange song to the tune of Oranges and Lemons.
Ne’er must ye tarry on the shores of Black Island,
Talons like bodkins, harder than diamond,
Hearken through Sea Smoke for the sound of a Rover,
Journeying forth with a hot Salamander,
Sod becomes quaggy,
When the shells rustle loathly,
Bitten on ye scrag,
By the ugly Sea Hag,
Lest ye be a Mooncalf,
Your crumpet bitten in half,
River babes lament,
Pulled at your raiment,
Death awaits ye on Black Island,
If ye not yield recipe wizened,
Take a scantling of Ivy, Salt, Sawdust and Lily,
Grind to a powder to make them scream shrilly.
‘Well done, that’s it alright,’ Ernie said.
‘I did well, didn’t I? You know I only heard it a couple of times in my twenties, not being locally born,’ she said. Wee Renee looked very pleased with herself.
‘I’m none the wiser after that nonsense,’ Pat said.
‘What’s a Rover and a Salamander?’ Lauren asked.
‘A pirate and a red-hot poker,’ Wee Renee said.
‘River babes lament – is that the River Spirit?’ Julia asked.
‘Yes. In that song I think it mentions Kelpies, the Shellycoat, Pirates, the Sea Witch and the River Spirit,’ Wee Renee advised them.
‘What’s a mooncalf and why is your crumpet in half?’ Sue asked.
‘A mooncalf is a fool, your crumpet is your head,’ Wee Renee said.
‘Oh,’ Sue replied.
‘It’s a series of warnings, isn’t it? But at least it gives us a helping hand at the end. I checked up on it too. It was in my book. The recipe I mean. And that is what I have in my backpack – a whole lot of it, not just a scantling,’ Wee Renee said proudly.
‘Aw, and it was a lovely little nursery rhyme before that,’ Sally commented.
‘Do you know all the words?’ Maurice asked.
‘No – only the first bit,’ Sally admitted.
‘The last part is about beheading,’ Maurice said.
‘Charming!’ Kathy said.
After Wee Renee’s ditty, there was a static stillness, an ear-splitting quiet lay over the Village. All that could be heard was the hum of the streetlights.
The humans with their parasites had not moved forward. They acted like they had not heard or seen the Wedding Party come out of the Bandroom. Whether they actually had, no one could tell.
The Fellus was concentrating on moving the other villagers from Friarmere over to join their comrades before the attack. They were now at the top of the hill and would soon make their descent into Moorston. He was not looking so much at what was already there. This was a mistake on The Fellus’s part.
The river stretched throughout the length of Moorston, and the heroes felt like they had to split up to see where the trouble would begin. They roughly divided into about ten groups. Each taking their watch on an equal length of the river.
The first incident was very surprising. Three naked ladies walked out of the river. Their long hair was silky, the colour of the moon. They were beautiful and extremely sexual. This was in an area that had quite several Friarmere Band members, waiting for the kick-off. It was the fourth section from the east.
’Do you see that, Alan?’ Jim asked. ‘That is so typical that we didn’t have them over in Friarmere.’
’Too right, Jim,’ Alan said. ‘We would have been down there every bloody night, wouldn’t we?’
’No, you wouldn’t Alan,’ Ann said crossly.
’I knew there would be Naiads. I just knew it,’ Wee Renee said. ‘Didn’t I say that to you, Agnes?’
Wee Renee got no reply and looked around to see that Agnes wasn’t with them. She looked down the river to see that Agnes was in the next group of people, not far away. The Naiads continued to walk towards the gang of heroes.
’Agnes!’ Wee Renee shouted. ‘Come here.’
Agnes heard her and immediately began to walk briskly over to the other group. After a few paces, she saw the naked women walking towards them. Agnes thought they looked confident and bold in their approach.
‘Naiads – didn’t I tell you,’ Wee Renee said, almost sounding pleased with herself.
Behind Agnes, the Moorston vampir
es who she was with, saw the Naiads too, as they had moved further away from the riverbank.
It was at the back of Wee Renee’s mind that Naiads were supposed to give the river luck and maybe they shouldn’t kill them. The ladies seemed to be striding so purposely and angrily towards them that it didn’t look like they had just luck on their minds. Nevertheless, she still thought she should wait until they struck. There might be a chance that they wanted to communicate.
The first few villagers were easy to capture. They were on standby, waiting near the river for their next command. The Fellus wasn’t giving any and neither was their Mother. The first few were secured without them even realising it.
Andy, Liz, Jason, Sue, Adam and Bob, were going around in pairs. One would grab the arms and pull them around to their back, the other would put a big strip of tape around their hands quickly. Then they would force them downwards and tape up their legs. Before going straight onto the next.
They each managed to get three before the Fellus even realised what was going on. The Mother was currently uninterested about what was going on. She was setting the stage for her appearance.
As far as Angela was concerned, the Naiads were on her territory. They weren’t in the water and she could get them. In Moorston, she was Queen not them. Unless they pledged themselves to her, they were going to die.
They were never going to do that, and they also weren’t coming in peace. As they got closer to the Friarmere gang, the first one held out her arms to grab Julia. She was fast and powerful for a naked wet woman. Her eyes flashed at her victim. Julia felt strong wet hands around her throat. The Naiad was driven by the forces of evil that swam in the river through Moorston.
With a yell, Jim tried to pull the Naiad’s arms from around his wife’s throat. He was surprised to find her so immensely strong. Jim decided to concentrate on putting all his efforts on one arm. Even though Jim was a foot taller than her, he could not budge her hand.
Agnes tried next and tried to pull off the other arm. She slashed at it with her cutthroat razor, close to where the hand was on Julia’s throat, but still, the Naiad did not shift.
The other two Naiads spied their chance to grab their victims. One of them grabbed Hazel and one went for Ann. Alan had an unconscious reflex of kicking her between the legs, which he acted on. He didn’t care what was going to happen, that murderous naturist wasn’t going to kill his wife. This action by Alan made the Naiad even angrier.
Angela went to deal with her. Penelope took the one who had Julia. Coming from the back, Penelope dug her nails into the Naiad’s cheeks. Penelope rotated her hands and pulled upwards. The pressure was released on Julia’s throat as her assailant was beheaded. The Naiad dropped to the floor, nearly pulling Julia along with her. Julia was gasping and stepping back away from the body. The blood, a vibrant yellow colour was squirting all over her. Jim pulled her out of the way and put his arms around Julia, checking her neck.
Angela took the one that had attacked Ann, jumping on her back. This Naiad was a formidable opponent. The leader. Angela tried to twist her head, putting her head down close to the victim’s neck. This Naiad felt the movement and pulled her head down into shoulders, hunching them right up. Angela was trying to rip her throat out but couldn’t if she was protecting her neck. Angela pushed her onto the floor. The Naiad bared her teeth, letting go of Ann with just one hand and grabbing hold of Angela’s Thatcher suit, pulling both females down with her.
Alan continued to kick her where it hurt. Angela pressed the Naiads head into the grass and turned it to one side. At last her throat was exposed and she spent no time biting it out
Angela spat out the yellow fleshy lump. It shot ten feet away. The pressure released slowly, as the Naiads life force drained out onto the grass.
‘This is not a nice taste for a vampire,’ Angela said, screwing her face up as if she was sucking a lemon. Ann had the idea that it didn’t look nice for anyone to taste, but she wasn’t about to bring this up. Angela looked like she was the kind of person that you kept on the right side of.
Alan helped Ann away from the battle scene. They moved back to a safe distance with Jim and Julia. Jim looked into the fog. Wondering where their next attack would come from.
Hazel had no husband trying to save her, but she was lucky, she had two vampires helping her out. Marcel and Jackie each took one of the Naiad’s arms until it was free from Hazel’s throat, which literally gave her a bit of breathing room.
Once it was free Jackie, took her Naiad arm, twisting it back until it was completely separate from the Naiads body. This she flung gaily over her head. It was refreshing to know that their arms were formed just like humans. She took over from Marcel and began the same process on the other arm.
The vampires weren’t finished even with two arms gone. Jackie and Marcel took one leg in each arm and ran apart splitting her upwards into two.
Angela and her gang moved back to their patch, which was on the right. There seemed to be a great deal of activity in the water there. In the centre of the river, it bubbled and boiled but nothing was visible yet.
The small group from Friarmere Band checked over Ann, Julia and Hazel. They were all fine now, just a few scratches on their necks. Although terrified, they had even more resolution than ever to get rid of what was plaguing the Melden Triangle
There was a small cry in the distance. The first time no one heard it. The second time, still no one heard it. They would do, as it was edging closer.
Julia heard the cry the third time. The babies cry. It was in Moorston. The River Spirit had come to cause mayhem over here too. She’d been scared enough by this. Julia, he had left her home because of it. The fourth and fifth time everyone heard it - she told them what it was.
’That’s the bastard that has cost us our home. It’s been stalking us for days on the boat. Can we take it on, all of us?’ Julia asked.
’Of course,’ Wee Renee said behind them, she had been taping up villagers single-handedly.
Jim, Julia, Alan, Ann, Wee Renee, Hazel, and now Ernie, Freddie and Brenda walked towards the riverbank. Hazel looked down at the next party, they were still not too far away. They were waiting to see if more Naiads came out of the water. She hoped that if this spirit grabbed one of them, it wasn’t her again. A Naiad was enough for one night! She let everyone move forward and took her position at the back, rubbing her neck.
Every couple of steps the gang heard more cries. Wee Renee had never heard it before, but it did sound like a baby crying if you only heard it once. When you heard it over and over again, you realised that it was something unnatural.
Julia thought that the spirit saw them, before they saw it, as the sound initially came from near the water. Instead of the cry being a random passing event, it seemed to get louder and closer all the time as the River Spirit made its way towards them. It had Jim and Julia’s scent.
’Surely it doesn’t think it can take all of us?’ Ann asked. ‘It must hear us and know there are a few of us.’
’Obviously, it doesn’t care. It thinks it can take us all,’ Ernie said. ‘It’s going to have a rude awakening.’
There was a thickness in the fog at first, and quite clearly the crying came from it. The smell was strong; they could detect it from where they were.
It seemed to have an aspect of evil about the smell as if once the scent was up your nose, it got into your system and then the evil was inside you. It could work on you, do you harm with its stink, before it even got to touch you.
It was a black shrouded figure. A shapeless lump. When Wee Renee had said it was a River Spirit, this isn’t how Jim and Julia had imagined it. The thing seemed to quiver and pulse, and then the cry would emit from it. The release of the sound then triggered one-step forward, a massive step. It actually didn’t seem to step, it couldn’t, as it didn’t have legs. Instead, it appeared to float. After the movement, the body would vibrate and shake, and the noise would come again.
’What in God’s
name is that?’ Alan asked.
’Of all things holy,’ Ann said.
Jim walked before them all. He had bought his windlass, which felt very comfortable in his hand and he had also purchased a small axe, which he had nicknamed his tomahawk. Julia joined Jim, a large kitchen knife in each hand.
Wee Renee had read that they were solid, and she did not doubt that. She could not see through the River Spirit, so it was not a ghost, but it also seemed to move much like one, to glide somehow. Perhaps it was the movement that that given name to it.
Hell And High Water Page 26