Joe started to pull himself together. The shock was subsiding and his adrenalin had warmed him a little.
‘I don’t give a fuck why that is in there.’ He said. ‘I just want to leave this fucking town right now.’
‘You can’t leave Joe, not now, it’s too late.’ Melanie said without malice or threat.
‘Fuck the snow.’ Joe hissed. ‘The Nissan will piss it.’
‘It’s not the snow.’ Melanie pressed herself close to Joe. ‘The snow won’t keep you here, there is something else. It keeps me here too, I can’t leave either.’
‘What do you mean?’ Joe gripped Melanie’s shoulders, her face was so close now. She looked up at him and he could feel her breath, warm against his chilled skin. To his surprise she placed her hands on his cheeks which had the effect of setting his face on fire with a sensual heat, weirdly stoked by his fear.
‘Please come with me. You have to see the rest and I’ll tell you everything that I know.’ Joe could hear pleading in her voice, he had begun to think that Melanie was incapable of such a thing.
‘Ok.’ He said. ‘Ok, Ok,’ and moved his hands down her arms. Melanie released his face, but slowly as though it pained her to do so. Even in his state of mild panic Joe knew that there was something there, a heat stirred inside his stomach. It was a shit time to fall for someone. He should have had a dinner break and gone to see Mary Burgess. He should have asked her to dinner, spent the night in a bar with her and who knows, maybe he would have woken up at her place. Joe shook his head, now he was in love in crazy land.
Melanie took his hand and led him to the far side of the stream. The climb here was not as tough and Joe managed to ascend almost as quickly as she did. From the top of the rise they followed the base of the ridge for a short distance, perhaps a hundred yards, until a narrow pathway presented itself.
‘Convenient.’ Joe said, he felt that his resolve was returning.
‘It’s not natural.’ Melanie said. ‘It was cut into the ridge ages ago when there were pirates and smugglers. They used it to get to the shore from caves deep in the forest. The whole town was in on it apparently. This place has been bad for a long, long time.’ She began to walk up the path.
The path was steep and Joe was relieved that it wasn’t just him that slid on the snow. He was thankful when he reached the top having twice thought he was going to tumble back down. They walked back along the ridge to where the stream became the waterfall.
The view of the falls from here was not as spectacular as it was from its base. The stream, although it had frozen just as fast, didn’t have the same dynamic appeal. Not that Joe was in any kind of mood to appreciate the artistry of nature.
He had wanted to ask Melanie questions, a lot of questions, but had decided to wait and hear what she had to say, or see what other sight she might have to show him. He was also quieted by the fact that she now held his hand as they walked. It could have been for mutual support, in case one of them slipped and went to tumble over the edge. But it wasn’t, they both knew that it wasn’t, and for now this would have to do.
At the top of the falls Melanie guided Joe along the edge of the frozen stream and back into the forest. The trees grew thicker as they travelled and brambles and ferns also appeared to take up more space of the space between them. With snow on top of it all Joe thought that the whole forest was beginning to look like a vast white sea that threatened to pour in on them. Abruptly Melanie stopped.
Ahead Joe could make out a clearing, the early light of morning streamed down into it.
Melanie turned to him and took both his hands. ‘Joe I can’t even begin to tell you what you are going to see.’ She looked deep into his eyes as if searching for some indication of what his reaction might be.
‘This is one of the places where they worship.’ She said.
‘Who are they?’ Joe asked, allowing ‘worship’ to slide for the moment.
‘Most of them,’ Melanie said. ‘Most of the townsfolk. Not everyone comes from what I have been able to gather, certainly none of the girls, not yet anyway.’ Joe felt a shudder run through her. ‘They are here from about eleven until dawn. This is why we were safe to leave this morning, they are asleep, the ones that matter.’
‘Your father?’ Joe asked.
Melanie nodded. ‘Oh yes, he would be here.’ She looked disgusted.
‘So what is this?’ Joe asked. ‘Some kind of pagan church we are talking about, some kind of Wicker Man thing?’
Melanie looked at him blankly, ‘Wicker Man?
‘Doesn’t matter.’ Said Joe. He rephrased, ‘Is it a weird church thing?’
Melanie thought for a moment. ‘Sort of yes, I suppose, except that this is...’ she looked in thought again and then asked, ‘Do you believe in God?’
Joe shrugged a little, turning the ends of his mouth down. ‘No, I don’t think so. Religions not really my bag.’
‘No Gods at all?’ She said.
‘Well no, if I don’t believe in one I’m hardly likely to believe in any am I?’ He replied and wondered if he had made an error in being so flippant. Melanie could be a Born Again or Jovo or some other flavour of Christian.
If he had annoyed her it didn’t show, instead Melanie looked at him with what could only be considered sympathetic eyes.
‘Ok. Well, we will need to talk about that later.’ She said. ‘But for now I’ve got to ask you to promise not to make any loud noise, don’t shout or scream, please.’
Joe knew that ordinarily he would have laughed at such a request but he had to admit to himself that he had almost screamed at the bottom of the falls. The sheer look of dread that was etched into Melanie’s face, as she asked him essentially to ‘be a man,’ extinguished any sense of bravado he may have had.
‘Ok.’ He said. ‘I promise.’
Melanie turned from him and led him by the hand into the clearing. There wasn’t a single tree or clump of ground foliage in a rough circle of about twenty feet. The snow had been thoroughly trodden in two distinct lines leading up to what looked like a large stone table, a dark grey rectangular block. On top of the block sat two pottery bowls at either end of its length. Between these bowls were variously sized objects coated with snow and frost. Melanie let Joe’s hand slip from hers as he slowly approached the scene.
As he drew in nearer he could see that the area immediately surrounding the base of the block was stained with a dark substance. It coated the top and sides and was also mixed with the mud and snow at the bottom. He moved around to the side nearest bowl so that it no longer blocked his view.
Joe stood still, as though instantly frozen into place like the falls had been. His mind began to register what he saw piecemeal, to allow it all to be taken in without driving him into madness. The irregularly shaped pieces on the top of the block were a man, had been a man.
There was a torso, no arms or legs were attached. The head was near, but not connected to the neck. This had been obscured by the pottery bowl. The head looked down upon the rest of its body with empty sockets where there had once been eyes. The torso had been gutted, a gaping hole just below the breast bone cut down to the navel. It was now a gore lined cavity with a glaze of frost and ice.
Joe knew it had been a man because the genitals had been cut away as one and laid to the side of the chest. There were other objects too. One of which was a heart, raggedly cut at each artery. Next to this were two small rises of snow Joe suspected had eyes underneath.
He wanted to back away but found himself moving closer. There was no sign of the man’s legs or arms but each pottery bowl was full. Although snow had settled on them both Joe could make out frozen intestines that took up the bulk of one of them as a pale length of the organ hung over the lip and had stiffened against the side. He couldn’t be certain what was in the other but a torrent of options flooded his mind.
He was almost ready to look away, ready to dash from the scene and puke his guts up into the snow. Into fresh snow where no one had walked
but first he had to see the upper section of the man on the block. The heart had not been cut directly out of the chest. Joe assumed that it must have been severed and pulled out from the open stomach because the whole of the upper chest was intact except for a design that had been carved into the skin.
Satisfied that he had not been mistaken and that the design was what he had thought it was Joe turned away and walked towards the edge of the clearing, away from where Melanie stood. He dropped to his knees and began to retch.
He didn’t hear Melanie run over to him but was glad to feel her hands on his back. She pulled off his woollen hat and ran her fingers through his hair as his body lurched.
‘It’s Ok Joe.’ She said. ‘It’s Ok.’
When the last spasm had faded Joe spat bile, which had collected at the back of his throat, into the steaming mess he had deposited. He wiped his mouth one with one sleeve of his jacket and then wiped away his tears with the other.
Melanie didn’t take her hands off him as he stood. Instead she nestled herself under his arm and wrapped hers around his waist.
‘Fucking hell...oh fucking hell.’ Joe cried. Fresh, warm tears spilled down his cheeks. Melanie lifted his arm and pulled back the sleeve revealing his watch. She took a look at it and told Joe that they had to start moving back.
‘Fuck that!’ Joe snapped. ‘I’m fucking out of here.’ He started to move off away from the clearing but Melanie held onto his waist and pulled him back as best she could.
‘You can’t, you’ll get lost. You will never find your way out of the forest.’ She moved in front of him, almost sending both of them tumbling into the snow.
‘Listen to me.’ Her hands grasped his face and he looked down at her through red rimmed eyes that were still filmed with tears.
‘You need to know what is happening here, it’s the only way you will understand how to get away.’ She stood on her toes and at the same time pulled Joes face closer to hers. Once again her sweet breath intoxicated Joe and he allowed his mind to swim into it as though he were swimming for the safety of the shore.
‘We have to get back to the town, we need to get you to your room so that no one knows you have or I have been here.’
Joe’s head had begun to spin and Melanie sensed the loosening of his muscles just before he dropped to his knees. She knelt with him and maintained her embrace.
‘You have to keep yourself together. They are scared of you and they think you work for the government.’
Somewhere deep in his miasma of thoughts Joe knew that this was incorrect and shook his head to let Melanie know that she was wrong.
‘I know you don’t. I understand that, but they don’t and it’s why you’re still alive. You just have to convince them that you work for the government and that your job in Winter Falls is done. That everything is perfect and you see no reason to come back, ever.’ She pressed her cheek against his and wrapped her arms around his neck.
She whispered into his ear. ‘I need to get out too. I have to get out, but we are going to need each other to do it.’
Joe didn’t have the strength to argue or rationalise what was happening or what he was hearing. He nodded dumbly into Melanie’s shoulder. Melanie pulled her cheek away from his and kissed him gently on the lips. When she broke the contact Joe felt that he would cry again, his heart ached for her touch, but Melanie stood and coaxed him to his feet.
‘We need to get back before the town starts to wake.’ Joe nodded. ‘It will take less time to get back as we don’t need to go via the falls.’
Joe had no problem with that, he never wanted to see that waterfall again, not as long as he lived. Melanie took his hand and started off back towards the town at a brisk pace, pulling him along.
During the walk Joe began to regain his wits. He needed to start making sense of things. It was his nature to put pieces together, to read data and assemble it so that the big picture could be seen.
‘Do you know who it was on that table?’ He asked
‘I’m not completely sure.’ Melanie said ‘But there were two men in the town last week who I’ve never seen before. They looked like hikers or climbers of some sort. I don’t know how they got in but I’m fairly certain they didn’t get out.’ She squeezed Joe’s hand. ‘I didn’t get a chance to talk to them.’
‘If that’s one of them where’s the other?’
‘I don’t know.’ Melanie replied. ‘There are lots of places to hide people in the town Joe, if he’s alive anyway.’
‘Why did they kill him? Why did they kill him like that?’ Joe said it through clenched teeth.
‘It’s a ritual.’ She hitched her head backwards ‘The stone back there, it’s an altar, it’s where the people of Winter Falls offer sacrifices to their god.’
‘Fucking hell. It’s the bloody Wicker Man. I knew it. This place is full of psychopaths.’
‘Trust me it’s worse than that, much worse.’ Melanie said darkly. She pointed ahead. Joe could see that the tree-line near to the town was coming into view. ‘Ok listen we have to meet up later but I can’t get away until my dad goes to worship.’
‘Jesus, are they going to kill someone else, this other guy?’ Joe asked his eyes wide with fear.
‘No I don’t think so.’ Melanie said. ‘I’ve never known them to offer someone up again straight after...’ She stopped, as Joe looked as though he was on the verge of losing it again.
‘Joe!’ She snapped at him. It did the job and she could see that he was with her again.’
‘They will meet at the Order House tonight which is on the far side of the town, near to the harbour. I can get away from eleven. I’ll come to your room as soon as dad leaves the house.’
‘What about Kermit?’ Joe asked.
‘Who?’ Melanie asked, confused.
‘The frog man on reception.’ Joe said.
‘Oh Henry.’ Said Melanie. ‘He won’t be there. He will be at the Order house too.’
‘Right.’ Joe said.
‘He will bring your food up. Don’t eat it.’ Melanie advised.
‘Don’t you fucking worry, I won’t.’ Joe replied.
They reached the edge of the forest and scanned the town for signs of activity. It was quiet. The snow had begun to pick up pace and Joe thought that Winter Falls looked a little like a Dickensian snow globe from this vantage point, but this wasn’t a positive image. Something about Dickens’ stories had always scared him as a child, his London was dark and dangerous and full of people who were cruel to children.
He thought that the snow was there to mask the horror of the place, to veil its filth and vileness. A shit-hole town of murdering, religious nutbags that shunned the outside world and killed people who happened to wander in to it.
Melanie tugged at his hand. ‘Come on, let’s get going.’
Joe nodded and jogged along with her, helping them to quickly reach the rear of the hotel. Melanie pulled open the door and Joe stepped inside.
‘I’ll be here shortly after eleven.’ She said as Joe stood in the doorway. ‘Act normal, try to mention your government work and that you are happy with everything.’
‘Yeah, no problem.’ Joe said. He wanted to kiss her but wasn’t sure if he should try. He had been upset back at the falls and maybe she had just done what was needed to calm him down. He wondered if he should ask her if maybe she liked him a little but decided that it wasn’t really appropriate to try courting in the middle of Psychoville.
His thoughts were halted as Melanie reached a hand behind his neck and pulled him down to her mouth. She kissed him, deeply this time, he felt her tongue slip against his briefly and his balls stirred with an aching passion.
When he felt her grip loosen on his neck they pulled apart as one. Melanie beamed a smile at him. ‘I’ll see you later.’
‘See you.’ Joe said, dazed.
Melanie turned and vanished around the corner of the hotel. Joe stood in the doorway for a moment in case she suddenly reappeared. He hoped she
would.
When he was satisfied that she really was gone he closed the door and went up to his room. On arriving he unlocked the door carefully, subconsciously fearful that someone might be waiting inside for him. There was no one.
The room looked its usual drab self and nothing appeared to have been moved around, Joe wished that he had taken more time to position things, allowing him to know for sure anything had been interfered with. He locked the door behind him and sat on the bed.
Now that he was alone and in his room he felt relatively safe. He allowed his body to relax a little. The panic and fear that had wound up his thinking process so tightly now uncoiled and thoughts began to spread out across his mind. He lay back and closed his eyes as he tried to make sense of what he had seen and heard.
Most, if not all of the townsfolk, were involved in some form of pagan worship. They had murdered a man, most likely a traveller, some poor sod out walking the hills with his mate, as part of a ritual or offering. No, it must be more than one, other murders, because there was the skull embedded in the frozen waterfall.
Apparently he was safe if they thought he worked for the government, this is what Melanie had said. Joe decided they were probably worried about the heat that would come down if a government official suddenly disappeared. Not so easy to cover up a missing civil servant. Not like it would be to snatch and kill a prostitute or homeless person from the streets of Glasgow. Kevin had mentioned that. He wondered just how much the amiable barman really knew.
He found that lying stretched on the bed made him feel uneasy so he sat up and swung his legs over the side. Despite his tension easing he realized that he was still too tightly wound to totally relax. He untied his bootlaces and eased off the boots as his feet were beginning to throb from the heat. The bottoms of his jeans were soaked through. He took his trousers back out of the travel case and put them on. Checking the radiator he found that it was as cold, if not colder than it had been yesterday.
He returned to his thoughts of the situation. He was simplifying it all, leaving holes in his picture. He knew this. Some things were not answered by the crazy townsfolk or the ‘Wicker Man’ theory as he had now labelled it.
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