Unless this was the only house on Sandy Island. Brett grimaced. It wasn’t impossible, he thought. Queen Bebo could be a millionaire hermit living in her own fantasy world. A movement caught his eye and for a moment he was sure he saw the shadow of a man run across the lawn. Maybe it’s the robot’s girlfriend, Dink, he thought, though the figure had seemed too tall.
“I’m so tired,” Cassie said flopping down on the bed. Her eyes lit up mischievously, “Jade, you won’t go wriggling around with your boyfriend tonight, will you?”
“Answer the question now!” Robbie bawled at Jade and they all laughed.
“I could do with a shower,” Brett said.
“There’s no en-suite, do you seriously want to go mooching round this place at night?” Cassie looked nervous.
“We have to know where the loo is, Cas,” Jade said reasonably.
“Why don’t we all go?” Robbie suggested. “Safety in numbers and all that.”
They straggled out of the bedroom and headed onto the wide landing.
All the lights went out.
Chapter 12
He could creep and he could glide but Gary Wurner preferred to walk. He wanted to make the most of these few precious hours, the hours he was robbed of before being condemned forever in Hell. The sweet smell of the wet leaves on the trees pleased him, made him feel nostalgic. He may not have always been the best or kindest man but there had been times when he’d enjoyed the simple things in life. A walk in the park, the first time he’d had fumbled sex aged fourteen, a juicy hamburger. All the things denied to him now.
So he chose to walk on his own two legs as he would have done when he was alive. It made a nice change from lurking around the underworld keeping out of the way of the bad Demons. That’s what people didn’t know about, Gary reflected. In Hell there was a hierarchy; the most evil Demons resided at the top, the poor suckers like him who’d been tipped into Hell were forced to live in the shadows and the rat like insignificant creatures, the mass murderers, arsonists and rapists were down in the gutter.
They weren’t so bad; he’d even made friends with a few of them, though they tended to spend most of their time scurrying around in the sewers. It was the big bad ones he was most afraid of; they took their orders directly from Satan and he was the biggest most evil dude of all. You wouldn’t want to meet him in a dark passageway. Gary shuddered.
He breathed deeply and from his mind he created a long sword. He swung it in the air in front of him and decided it was too cumbersome. In an instance he’d changed it to a six inch sharp bladed knife. Better. He hoped he was doing the right thing. A part of him wanted to return to the Princess May, carry on with his business and hope the four young people didn’t decide to come back to the ship, but he couldn’t take that risk. Disposing of them on the Island seemed like the best option.
There was still plenty of time to put his plan of action into place, he wasn’t worried. Like all the passengers on board the Princess May, Gary had heard the rumours about Sandy Island, how it appeared and disappeared at will. In 1951 stories aboard cruise ships were rife with whispered gossip about passengers being hauled overboard and gobbled up by monsters from the invisible Island. He’d laughed at their stupidity, that they could believe something so obviously made up, a story passed down to give the holiday makers a thrill.
Now he knew better.
And the joke was there were thousands of Islands that shimmered into reality for a few seconds before vanishing. Sandy Island was unusual because it often stayed in the same place for weeks. It was the only one inhabited, Gary suspected, and the people who lived there had some sort of control over it.
Maybe it was the Challis of Truth that allowed them to live there, he didn’t know, but he suspected the myth that was created around it was based on some sort of valid foundation. It was definitely a place he wanted to visit, even if he was on a murderous mission there was no reason he couldn’t enjoy the adventure.
He could see quite clearly the footprints of the two couples on the path he was following. Occasionally they’d veer off to the side. Maybe, he thought, they were stopping to have sex, wasn’t that what all young people did? When he’d been alive it was all he’d ever thought about, that and drugs.
He was relieved that the day was growing duller; the bright light of the sun had begun to disturb him, make his eyes ache. Now he could see more clearly as everything around him dimmed into gloom. He wondered where the group had got to. Though this was his first time on the Island he felt sure footed as he followed the path. He’d find them, he was sure.
Exactly how he was going to kill them hadn’t been worked out yet, but he’d know when the time came. The important thing was making sure they didn’t return to the ship and spoil his plan. He knew he’d made the right decision, he couldn’t let them get in his way, he’d waited too long to exact his revenge.
Now he was here trekking along the narrow path and he laughed to himself. There were no leafy green trees in Hell, just gnarled centuries old trunks blackened and twisted with age, and the birds that perched on their thick boughs were misshapen creatures often with two heads and always with dirty colourless grey plumage.
Gary swung the knife in front of him unafraid of the creatures he could hear snuffling all around him. The night held no fear for him, he welcomed it. But losing time frightened him. He couldn’t waste the precious little of it he had left, a mere two hundred minutes, it didn’t sound much and he quickened his footsteps; he needed to get to his prey, dispose of them so he could return to the ship.
Knowing he would never be granted a second chance, Gary felt his breath whooshing out and realised he was starting to panic. What if he got lost and couldn’t find his way back to the ship? He hurried along and then stopped abruptly, a slow smile curving his lips when he saw the house in front of him. He sniffed the air and thought he could smell them; picking up the lingering stale odour of long eaten fried chicken wings, coated with beetle juice that the greedy one, Robbie had been so quick to gobble up.
He’d enjoyed tampering with the food. Sprinkling powdered magic mushrooms over the potatoes, crushing live wasps and maggots into the skin of the fried chicken to make it nice and crispy.
He had no sympathy; it was still better food than he had in Hell.
There was a light on in the front bedroom and as he ran lightly across the long front garden he thought he saw a face peering out. He hoped so, he wanted to be seen. They’d never guess it was him, why should they? Gary Wurner, the ghost waiter from the ship? They thought they were clever escaping off the Princess May onto the Island but Gary knew they’d only been allowed to embark on the sandy shore because someone wanted them there for their own reasons. Sandy Island didn’t give up its secrets easily. It was possible that the four young people were being held prisoners, maybe awaiting a death sentence, their punishment for trespassing. He grinned, his expression savage, his eyes glittering; if that was the case then his mission was complete, he could return to the ship and carry out his eviction of the passengers and crew to his satisfaction.
At the far side of the building he noticed a small open window, enough for his thin body to slide through. Of course he could slip through the walls but what was the fun in that?
He hoped the young man called Robbie was hungry again.
I’m coming Sir, he thought, It’s time for me to show you what’s on the menu for you tonight.
“Oh shit!” Cassie screamed into the hallway. “I don’t like this. Did anyone think to bring a torch?”
“Is there a problem?” An automated voice crawled out from somewhere in the darkness.
“It’s that bloody robot,” Brett hissed.
“We need you to put the lights back on,” Jade said in a firm voice.
“I cannot do that, and neither can you. You must accompany me in the dark. Queen Bebo requests your presence in the dining room. Follow me.”
“We can’t see you, you tin pot piece of....”
“Wa
it,” Cassie interrupted him, “There’s a tiny red light ahead of us it must be coming off the robot.”
Holding onto each other they stumbled after the red light. It disappeared and Brett stopped. “We must be at the top of the stairs, be careful,” he said.
Bunched together they began their slow descent down the stairs. The red light was at the bottom as if it was waiting for them.
“Okay,” said Brett, “we’re in the hallway, where do we go next?”
The lights came on in a blaze of white. Toffin was standing at the entrance to an open doorway, he seemed to be grinning. “This way,” he ordered.
“Thank you, Toffin,” Robbie said.
“May I request that you do not use that familiar term with me, Sir? My name is Wilson.”
“Apologies, Wilson.” And up yours, thought Robbie.
Inside the room Queen Bebo sat at the head of a long table, every inch of it covered in large white platters of food. Another little person stood next to her chair. This one was wearing a short orange skirt, her thin shapeless legs planted apart, and over a heavily knitted grey jumper she wore a black apron. Her stubby little hands were fluttering at her side.
“That will be all for now Dink,” Queen Bebo squinted at the pint sized figure. “And wipe that smirk off your face or I’ll alter it, put your nose on your backside.” She watched the small figure run out of the room and sighed. “You just can’t get the staff these days,” she grumbled. “Well, don’t just stand there, sit down and eat!”
As they sat down at the table Queen Bebo began force feeding herself, her hands flying up and down to her mouth, one chew and swallow in a rhythmic way as if she was keeping to a beat.
The ten foot table was groaning under the weight of cucumber sandwiches. Nothing else, not even something to drink, just plate after china plate of cucumber sandwiches cut into triangles and piled high. Some of the bread was white, but most of it was dark fudge brown.
Jade nibbled at the edge of the bread. She was hungry but this wasn’t appetising at all. The bread was dry, there was no butter, just cucumber, sliced thickly still with its skin on, laden in between the slices.
Robbie felt disgruntled. In a posh house like this he would have expected better. The big fat Queen was travelling down the plates as if her life depended on it, at the rate she was going she’d consume the whole lot in the next ten minutes. Her mouth was full and bulging and her eyes kept darting from one plate to the next. It was all a bit weird. He almost wished he was still back on the ship; at least the food had been delicious. He chomped down miserably on his triangle sandwich.
Brett ate steadily. When they left tomorrow morning he didn’t know where their next meal would come from so it made sense to fill up now. Whatever was going on with the strange robotic creatures that looked more than half human wasn’t really any of his business. Maybe Queen Bebo kept them for company, though where she’d got them from was a mystery. She certainly didn’t look capable of making them herself. He frowned suddenly. They’d been led to believe the figures were robots, but what if it was a lie and they were some sort of aliens? In a way it made more sense.
Maybe there were more of them on the Island; the thought sent a chill through him.
Squeezing the dry bread to try and soften it, Cassie was finding it difficult to take her eyes off the fat Queen. She wasn’t surprised to see that she was sweating, her huge arms, pumping up and down like pistons, had a gleam of perspiration covering them. Obviously she didn’t go in much for small talk, it would have been difficult with her mouth constantly full but she wasn’t even looking at them, just concentrating on wolfing down the sandwiches.
Cassie glanced at Brett. He looked serious, unhappy which wasn’t surprising. His well ordered life had taken a battering; she guessed his emotions were all over the place. His blonde hair looked greasy, flopping over his forehead and he looked tired. She wished they could be alone tonight, find comfort in each other but it seemed they were sharing the bedroom with Robbie and Jade.
“Very nice,” Brett said, sitting back in his chair.
“You can’t have finished yet!” Queen Bebo spluttered out a spray of white and green bits that dropped onto the plate in front of her. She picked them up carefully and pushed them back into her mouth. “I will not abide people who waste food,” she almost choked as she gurgled the words out with her mouth full. And then surprisingly she forced back her chair and stood up, her whole body wobbling. “I need to brush my teeth before I start on the pudding,” she informed them pointing at the rest of the plates of sandwiches. Swaying from side to side she swept past them and almost tottered out of the door.
Brett scraped his chair back. “I think we should leave now.” He said. “This might be our best chance.”
Jade glanced outside the window seeing only the dullness of the evening. “And go where, Brett? It’s seven o’clock already and I don’t fancy dossing down in the woods or on the beach, do you?”
“There might be other houses on the Island.”
“How do we find them? And they might be worse than this. Queeny might be odd but I don’t think she intends to do us any harm.” She paused. “Anyway, I think she’s hoping we might find the Challis of Truth so she can get her fat hands on it.”
He shook his head, “I don’t know, Jade, this place just feels wrong, it sets my teeth on edge. I think I’d rather be anywhere but here. How do we know who else lives in this house? We could be murdered in our beds tonight.”
“We could be tomorrows roast dinner,” supplied Robbie helpfully.
“Unlikely, I think our Queen is a vegetarian.” Cassie giggled suddenly. “We’ll prop something up against the door so no one can get in. I’m tired, let’s just leave early in the morning.”
“Listen,” Brett persisted, “I don’t think those two little people are robots, I think they’re aliens and that stupid woman is using them to wait on her.”
“Wow,” Robbie’s eyes widened. “I never thought I’d hear you come out with something like that, Brett. You’ll be telling us next the earth is flat.”
“Not funny. I still think we should take our chances outside.”
Robbie stretched his arms up and yawned. “I need sleep,” he muttered. “I’m still feeling a bit queasy. And before you ask, I’ve only eaten two sandwiches, they’re vile.”
Brett frowned. “She won’t be very happy with us if we don’t eat some more of her wretched sandwiches,” he said reluctantly. “She may be odd but I think in her mind she’s doing us a favour.”
Jade grinned suddenly. “I’ve got an idea,” she said. She stood up and began emptying all the sandwiches off the plates onto the tablecloth, leaving just one plate full. She folded it up and said, “Cassie, open the window quick.”
Cassie pushed open the window and Jade dumped the tablecloth full of cucumber sandwiches outside. She closed the window and they sat down just as Queen Bebo wobbled back into the room. She’d brushed her hair and was wearing a coronet that sparkled with diamonds.
“Lovely, I’m full up now.” Jade said.
“Me too,” Cassie giggled and hiccupped.
The Queen’s eyes raced over the length of the table alighting on the solitary plate of sandwiches. Her lower lip began to tremble. “Is that all you’ve saved me?” She asked; her voice tremulous.
“It was so good we just had to eat the lot,” Robbie sounded cheerful but there was a sickness around his eyes that Jade didn’t like. He looked like he was about to puke up.
“I think we should go to bed,” Jade said, adding politely, “Thank you for your hospitality; we’ll be gone early in the morning.”
Queen Bebo was still staring at the solitary plate in dismay. She waved her huge arm as if she couldn’t bear to look at them, dismissing them without a glance.
Fortunately all the lights were still on and they made their way back to the bedroom.
Gary was staring through the window into the dining room. He watched the four young people leave
and his hand rested on a large folded piece of cloth. Opening it he frowned at the piles of sandwiches inside. When he’d been a waiter on the Princess May, the Chef, Mr Cumberland, would sometimes take the leftovers and throw them overboard for the birds and fish to consume, rather than waste the food. Was that what the strange huge woman alone in the dining room had done? Somehow he doubted it, she didn’t look the sort who would throw food away. Some people were human dustbins and she was one of them.
Instinctively Gary knew that this house didn’t really exist. Sandy Island had no human inhabitants of that he was sure. He could smell human life forms and there were none here other than the two couples from the Princess May. He wasn’t able to detect alien life forms, that required powers he didn’t possess but he suspected there might be some on this Island including this beast of a woman. She obviously considered herself to be important, she was wearing a coronet that looked ridiculous perched on her head and Gary wondered why he felt afraid of her. He was already dead, what could she do to him that was worse than that?
That was the trouble with big women they made him feel inadequate. He liked his women thin and waif like, the less flesh on them the better. He giggled suddenly. There were plenty of fleshless women down in the depths of Hell, in fact most of them were just rattling bones, not much of a turn on even for him. Still, this giant of a woman looked like she could do serious damage to his manhood; he would have to be careful not to bump into her. He decided to teach her a lesson for being fat and ugly and making him feel less of a man.
He made the plate of sandwiches she was tucking into suddenly shoot across the table right to the other end. He laughed to himself. She looked shocked, her podgy hands already halfway to her mouth, flopping there in disbelief. She lumbered to her feet and walked the length of the table to retrieve the plate and just as she reached out to it he sent if flying right back to the other end of the table. Again she followed its progress but Gary was getting bored. He sent the plate flying across the table, turned it at the last moment and watched with satisfaction as it smashed itself against the brick fireplace.
Ark Of Hope: Beyond The Dark Horizon Page 15
