by Dani Hoots
As for the rest of us, we were still reeling from the shock. Even Jonathan, who saw death more than the rest of us through all the autopsies he had performed, barely ate anything, and simply sat there and smoked on his pipe. I tried to think of something to say to get the men’s morale up, but even I couldn’t think of anything. No matter what I would say, it would just bring more sadness.
Night came, but none of us felt like sleeping. We didn’t want the same misfortune to reoccur, once again. For all we knew, there could be a killer out there. The wind howled like a wild animal, as if the wind was alive. I had never heard anything so vile in all my life. If I weren’t a sane man, I would think this place was haunted with ghosts and demons, especially after seeing the woman, her dress as white as a ghost. At this moment, I promised myself I would never come back to this dreaded place, for as long as I lived.
Letting my mind drift away, I thought of Alice. What I wouldn’t give to see her at that moment, to be able to wrap my arms around her and give her the kiss that awaited her when I returned. I pondered on the thought of whether or not she would let me take her to bed again as she did before I left. I had promised to marry her, so it seemed it was not either wrong or indecent. Did a promise of marriage not mean the same thing as being married? It was a promise between two souls and God, it shouldn’t matter if a priest declared it or not. It only mattered what was in the heart, and that, for us, was love.
After dinner, I opened a bottle of scotch that I had found in the storage area, sharing a bit with each of the men as they gathered near the warm fire as the chill of the Highlands never ceased. It did not taste very good, seeing as how the inn’s selection of alcohol was fairly limited. Nonetheless, it was still something alcoholic that we could drink to help forget all that had happened in the past few weeks. For that, I was thankful.
Sipping on the inn’s signature scotch I found that it had to have been a rather young bottle. It was potent, leaving a burning sensation in my mouth and throat. All I could taste was the alcohol in it, since it didn’t seem to have much flavor. I coughed as I sat the glass down, giving myself time before taking another sip. At least it would help me forget my troubles, and eventually get me to go to sleep. Maybe thinking of wedding my dear Alice and starting our future pub, somewhere far from this drab inn would help as well.
“Captain, are we leaving this godforsaken place tomorrow?” Michael questioned. He was a tall man with brown hair and one of the skinniest men I knew. His ability to remain thin throughout this entire war campaign never ceased to perplex both me and the other men. He rather looked like a hay-man sometimes, but I never said that to him. He was a nice man, religious enough and always kind to his comrades. My men all murmured in agreement, wanting to know when they could finally make it back home soon, before they were the shadowy murderer’s next victim of choice.
I nodded as I took another sip of the scotch. “Yes, I plan to head out in the morning. Although none of us feel like sleeping, we probably should rest up for the journey ahead of us.”
“What about Ralph?” Kenneth questioned. The rest of them looked at me, as if they all had been wondering the same thing. They should have known we were going to take his body back with us, but I presume they were wondering how.
“Luckily, the McGregorys have a large wooden box we can place him in until we find him a better coffin,” I sighed. I promised myself that we hopefully wouldn’t have any need of bringing back any bodies, yet here I was, doing just that. “We will have to unload some supplies, but it shouldn’t be an issue. We will be home in no time.”
“If we leave tomorrow, why we then won’t ever solve the mystery behind who killed Ralph?” George asked as he munched on another scone. I thought we had completely ran out of them by now.
“His body will be examined more thoroughly once we reach London. There, they might be able to figure out the cause of death. As for now, we have no idea what could have happened. For all we know, it could have been an accident and we don’t want to waste any more days here, figuring out one way or the other,” I explained. I knew George was thinking about the strange goat tracks we had found, but it still wasn’t enough evidence to narrow down who or what may have killed Ralph. It was probably just pure coincidence.
I got up from the wooden chair and stood next to the fire, watching the flames dance around. “I do want us to partner up tonight for sleeping arrangements, just to be safe. I already had beds moved around in order to do so, so everyone pick a partner.”
Everyone partnered up, no one seemed to have a problem finding a partner, and we determined who would stay where. The men stumbled around, having drunk more than their body weight’s worth of alcohol for most of the day, but it was all organized in the end. I rolled my eyes as Kenneth fell to the ground. He really needed to learn how to hold his liquor, but he was still young. He shouldn’t have to be drinking his sorrows away like this. He wasn’t the only one, though, for both Michael and Jonathan also almost fell as they went down the hall to move towards their rooms to gather their things, and move into their newly assigned room. I wondered if this was what a foretaste of how things would be every night when owning a pub, men stumbling around and having great difficult with finding their way back to their rooms. Recalling most of the pubs I had been to, it was going to be very similar to the environment of this inn, maybe with just a little more activity.
After everything was situated, everyone came back to finish up their drinks, which they really didn’t need. We were all quiet as we stared at the fire’s burning embers in the main room of the inn. Each of us had lost a great friend in a very tragic, unforeseen event, and no one wanted to talk about it aloud, adding to the heavy burden of our shared sorrow. We thought we had suffered enough and that it would be free sailing back home.
My eyelids began to feel heavy, causing my blinks to become longer and more frequent. I stood up and drank the last of my scotch. There was a special place in hell for people who didn’t finish their scotch, and I wasn’t going to join them. I set the glass down. “Well boys, it seems I have reached my limit. I bid you all a good night.”
I motioned George to join me, who seemed tired as well, and a few other men retired to their assigned rooms as well. They were wobbling still, after all the alcohol they consumed, as they groped their way in the dark hallways towards their rooms. I was surprised none of them fell all the way down.
As I laid down in my bed, I could still hear a few murmurs in the common room as others decided it was late enough. George was out the moment his head hit his pillow, snoring louder than the wind howling outside. I had definitely picked the wrong sleeping buddy, and I should have remembered back a few weeks ago when we shared a tent that he was a snorer. I hit him with my pillow to stop and he rolled over, causing the noise not to be so loud.
Going back to my bed, I stared up at the ceiling. This time tomorrow, we would be on our way home. We would be out of these Highlands, meaning, we wouldn’t have to face whatever was out there any longer. No more strange creatures, no more strange women outside in the storms. We would be safe and I would be with my Alice. My dear Alice.
I let my eyes close and my mind drift into the dream world.
But I swore I heard someone calling my name as I dozed off.
I woke up to shouts coming from down the hall. Quickly, George and I got up and hurried out of the door to find the bodies of Percy and Kenneth being pulled out through the doorway, leading out into the cold, nightmarish world of the Highlands. A menacing, cool breeze whipped through from the open-door, bringing shivers down my spine. Both of the men’s corpses looked the same as Ralph’s own corpse when we discovered him; they were both pale white with a cut through their throat.
Not only did I note the same appearance as Ralph, I also noted that each of them had their pistols strapped to their sides. They were clearly armed, yet whatever had murdered them had given them no time to even honorably defend themselves or have some kind of heroic fight to the death. Th
ey were soldiers, after all, they knew how to fight.
I just couldn’t believe it. Two more men lost to whatever it was. I couldn’t believe it, more death even after everything we had been through. All I wanted was to go home, to get away from this mess, but it didn’t seem that good fortune was in store for me.
“Did anyone see anything?” I demanded as I looked back and forth at my men, who all looked scared out-of-their-wits. Everyone shook their heads in an uncertain manner.
“They were the last ones up,” Andrew explained. “Thomas and I retired around two.”
“Where did you find them?” I asked, not believing this could happen again, even with both of them.
“The same place as you found Ralph,” Andrew said. “Except this time, we also found evidence of a fire having been burnt out there. Some charred wood pieces in the dirt.”
I raised an eyebrow. “A fire?”
“Like a camp fire, yes.”
That was impossible, unless the men themselves had made it. Even then, the wind was so strong last night that there was no way a fire could even be started outdoors, not to mention the dampness of everything out there. For the last few nights, it had been raining off and on, which was typical weather for Scotland. What would have possessed them to do such a thing? Especially, when there was a fire inside the inn where it was warm and not dark.
I grabbed my coat and pulled on my shoes. “Show me.”
Yes, this was the remnants of a fire.
I bent down and took a closer look at the charcoal. I touched it, the black staining my fingers a bit. It was still warm, even though sprinkles of rain had been pouring down on it. What could all this mean? I wiped the black charcoal dust off on my pants.
“Everyone else was accounted for?” I asked as I stood back up. I wasn’t getting much from the fire pit. In fact, it was confusing me even more.
Jonathan nodded. “Yes. I’m thinking we should still head out of the highlands today Captain. I don’t think we should risk another night here, even if we want to solve this mystery before us. It may be completely out of our hands.”
As much as it hurt to leave whatever had been killing my men out in these parts, I knew he was right. There was no way I would risk staying another night out her, especially with the added risk that more men would be killed. It was suicide. I felt as if we were betraying the three that died though, not getting revenge on whatever had killed them. But when we had no idea what exactly was causing all these problems, it was a little hard to exact revenge on the murderers of three of my own fellow soldiers.
Even though some of us didn’t get along with Percy, being part of a unit was like being family. I cared about these men and something was taking their lives. Poor Kenneth and Ralph, they were both so young. They didn’t deserve to die like this, not after having fought in such a battle. What monster could have done such a thing?
I rubbed my scruff on my chin, knowing we had only one choice and that was to leave this place. “I agree. Tell the men to ready their things. We leave before noon. I will speak to the McGregorys about our plans.”
“Yes sir.”
“We are again sorry to hear about your men. Do you have any idea what would possess them to leave the inn at such a dreadful hour?” Duncan asked. I had found him in the inn, preparing for the day, and told him about what had happened.
“That, I do not know. Whatever it was, it had to have been the same reason Ralph went out there as well. Unfortunately we may never know the cause of it. My men and I have decided to take our leave this day. We don’t need anyone else dying from mysterious circumstances,” I explained.
Duncan nodded. “I understand, but do note that a storm is making its way through the Highlands late today. You must leave before it arrives, or I fear you won’t make it to the other end of the Highlands tonight.”
I looked out at the clouds that were beginning to darken. “We are well aware of this storm. We plan to...”
“Just let me know if you need any other assistance. Me and my workers are at your disposal.”
“Thank you, we may need help getting the horses ready, if that is alright with you.”
“It is no problem, I will send out a couple of people at once.”
My men prepared the horses with help of Duncan’s men, we were soon on our way down the Highlands in no time. We had to place Kenneth, Ralph, and Percy’s bodies all on one of the carts and leave some of the stuff that was on there behind. Michael and Jonathan volunteered to leave a lot of their things behind, along with smaller items that we didn’t need. Everyone was silent as we placed the bodies on the cart and covered them up with some old blankets that Duncan gave us. Once everything else was safely packed and tucked away, we started down towards the bottom of the hills, and we would finally be out of the hardest part of the journey.
The wind had begun to pick up and a shrill howl echoed through the hills, sounding like the banshee I swore I heard on the first day of traveling through the area. The more time I spent here, the more I understood the reason Scottish people normally had a great, superstitious fear that supernatural creatures were thought to dwell in these parts. I was surprised that Duncan hadn’t said something about supernatural beings in these parts, not that I would have believed him. Even with the foreboding feeling that the place gives off, I don’t think I could come to terms with actually believing in such things. I understood how the legends came to be, yes, but truly believing in them was something I didn’t think I could do. Although, whether or not they were real didn’t really matter, given the strange state that all three men were found. As long as they were real in the mind, they could do the same amount of damage to one’s soul.
The sound of a storm strengthening, made the horses restless, who seemed apprehensive about heading forward. It took all my strength and will to get my horse to not panic and run off. I had to keep petting her, reassuring her that everything would be alright with me guiding her through the gloomy, open area of the Highlands. Glancing back, I discovered that all my men look panicked as we kept moving forward.
“It’s alright, men! It is just the wind!” I yelled back, even though I doubted they could hear me. By glancing George and Michael’s tense faces, I didn’t think they did. They look afraid, and Michael wasn’t one who got afraid often.
Even I somehow didn’t believe what I had said. There was something haunting about these Highlands, and I wanted to get out of here as soon as we could. So, I kept pushing us forward without any slowing of our pace.
It wasn’t long before the storm grew even more colossal, giant clashes of thunder began deafening our eardrums with streaks of lightning blinding our eyes. I could barely breathe, once raindrops began to falling from the darkened skies. I choked on some water as I opened my mouth for air. The rain fell harder now, and we could barely see in front of us. We weren’t lost, at least not yet anyway, but if this low visibility kept up, it was a good possibility we could be stranded somewhere, at least until the storm stopped. And who knew when it would come to a halt?
We kept pushing through the chilly weather, but our earnest efforts of making it out of the highlands seemed to be in vain. The wind kept throwing us back and the road itself began to wash away. We were wet and miserable and the horses were suffering through the mud. This was almost worse than a war, being trapped between this hellish terrain and the ideal safety of our homes back in England. It played at my mind, making me want to just give up. But I couldn’t, I had to be strong for not only my men, but Alice as well. I couldn’t let her marry a weakling. I couldn’t let her down.
I had to make a decision. I either had to keep my men’s morale up, so they would keep pushing through this storm, or I had to turn them around and guide them miserably back to the inn. If we moved forward, we risked getting lost and dying in this storm. If we turned back, I risked losing some more of my men to whatever was haunting this place. In some ways, a part of me had the vaguest desire, though, to seek out the evil that killed three of my
men, including Ralph, and take revenge on it. Whatever it was had killed the two youngest men in my group and I would never forgive them for that.
After much debate, I decided we should turn back. It was a choice between the least of two evils.
Even though the place had to have been haunted by some demonic spirit, I knew it was the safest thing to do. There was nowhere we could go in this storm other than back towards that inn. My men knew that, so we turned the horses back and started for the inn.
That’s when I saw her again, on one of the hills. It was just for an instant, her white dress bright when the lightning flashed. Her white eyes stared at me as she seemed to be calling me back into the middle of the Highlands. To her home.
I took a deep breath and told myself it was just an illusion.
The McGregorys had been expecting us back when they saw the storm come in and worsen with time. They had a fire ready in the common room to dry our clothes, just as they did the first night. I asked for Duncan to bring out mattresses for all of us to stay together in the common area. He didn’t question it and did as I had asked. I had my men put away their things, but explained that we would all be bunking together that night. They all agreed to it, not wanting to be alone for the night, not after what had happened the past two nights.
Duncan brought out a bottle of scotch, on the house, and my men and I finished it quickly. We didn’t want to be back in this godforsaken place, not when we feared what could be coming for any of us. I bought another bottle of scotch and poured all the contents of it out into my glass. Based on the eagerness of the men to share in the alcoholic bounty with no restrictions, none of us seemed to want to be sober for the night that was to come. It also helped us to feel warm, something that was hard to do in such a retched place.
