Father Philip heard the howl. Once it began, the primordial whooping scream went on for five minutes. Father Philip was on his way to visit some of the children and ask how they had felt about the classes. He knew that this was a bogus reason to call. This was all he thought about now, night and day. Father Philip wondered how they acted without their companions and in the family atmosphere.
He had decided to call on a couple of families unannounced and see if the children acted the same. Father Philip knew which ones to call on. Their parents were heavily involved with the Church, so wouldn’t be shocked at the idea of him just springing a visit upon them. They might even enjoy it!
As he walked past the Park, he heard the howling. Thinking that someone could be in danger, he carefully made his way towards the river. He knew the howling was unnatural. Whatever was doing that wasn’t the thing he was going to try and save. He just hoped that there were none of his parishioners near there and he would be cautious himself.
As long as he knew no one was in danger, he would report back to his friends that he had seen something near the river.
As it was, he didn’t have to get close and put himself in danger. He saw a monster writhing and rising above the water. The sound was coming from their mouth, he imagined, vibrating up to the rings of their enormous body. Is this what Wee Renee was on about?
He knew Wednesdays were one of Bands rehearsal nights. They would be up there now. If he didn’t tell them, they wouldn’t know. Father Philip decided he would report this tonight, especially as they were now all working together to combat the forces of evil in Friarmere. Perhaps this was even the producer of the spawn!
Walking back out of the Park, he heard the howling stop. He hoped it had gone away for good.
The first house he wanted to visit was in Court Street, just two minutes away. After he had been there, he would be visiting Springmeadow. In between, he would check back to see if the howling dragon had gone.
Ivy silently watched it coil and uncoil. She should be thinking that it was quite marvellous, but she knew even as a Police Officer, that they were way out of their depth. She was glad that there were people like Wee Renee in this Village, who knew the ways to deal with creatures like this. As much as Ivy believed in the law, it did not account for these primordial beasts.
Once the monster had stopped and seemingly disappeared, she quickly made her way to the canal boat to check that Julia was safe.
Julia had been totally unaware of the Howling Tannin until it had started making the noise. It was some way away from where she was moored, but the sound still got as far as the little narrowboat. She did not go out but looked through all the windows. Julia could tell that it was not that close and hoped that it wouldn’t get closer.
Then it stopped. A couple of minutes later there was a knock on the narrowboat door, and Ivy was there. Julia unlocked the door to find Ivy’s ashen face standing in the darkness.
’Did you hear that?’ Julia asked.
’I heard it and saw it,’ Ivy said, dismally.
’Come in quick,’ Julia said. She locked the doors after Ivy had entered and gestured for the Police Officer to sit down.
’I’ll put the kettle on,’ Julia said. Ivy said nothing in reply. She was breathing lightly and looking at her hands as they twisted a tissue. Julia made a strong cup of tea and without asking, put two teaspoons of sugar in it for the shock. Julia put the drink in front of Ivy, before taking a seat herself.
’What did you see?’ Julia asked.
Ivy took the cup in both hands. She took a good drink of it. Julia was pleased to see she visibly relaxed. Her shoulders inched downwards, and she took a deep breath.
’I don’t even know what I saw any more,’ Ivy said. ‘It wasn’t anything that Martyn has said is at large in Friarmere. It was like a huge sea serpent. It was curling right up out of the water, but I didn’t see its head. That’s as best I can describe it.’ She took another sip of her tea.
’Was it giant eel, perhaps?’ Julia asked.
’Oh no,’ Ivy said. ‘It didn’t have the same texture as an eel. I don’t even know what it actually was. It seemed kind of rough, and of course, there was that noise. When have you seen any eels that big in the river as well, Julia? It must have been twice the length of this boat, maybe a foot or more thick. It rose right up out of the water. So strong. The noise … it was just so terrible. If something like that wrapped around you like a boa constrictor, that would be the end of you.’
’You know, I understand that we are here to discover what’s going on and to fight these things for the sake of other people. I get that. But Ivy, it’s way too dangerous and there’s too many of them. Are we going to find more like that? Huge howling serpents? What if there’s fifty of them on the way? It’s a tall order for the most enthusiastic of the local slayers,’ Julia asked.
’You need an army,’ Ivy said.
’I haven’t told anyone else, but to be quite frank I don’t even want to be on the water anymore. From now on, I’m not keeping it a secret,’ Julia said.
‘I’d feel the same,’ Ivy agreed wholeheartedly, taking another drink of her sweetened tea.
‘Who knows how far this monster infestation has spread? Ivy, I’m picking the best time to say it to him. I’m going to tell Jim that I want us to sell the boat, get off the water and buy a property on land,’ Julia said.
’You’d only be a little bit safer, from what I’ve heard’ Ivy said. ‘That’s if you stayed around here. In this Triangle.’
The first house that Father Philip went to immediately rang alarm bells. The mother of the child Pam, let him in. Once in the living room, he discovered that Joe, the youngest who was in his Sunday School, Chris his older brother and their father Steven, were sitting in silence looking towards him from the sofa.
’Evening,’ Father Philip said. ‘I just thought I’d call to see how Joe liked the Confirmation classes yesterday. You need not have switched the TV off on my account.’
’We weren’t watching the TV,’ Stephen said. Pam went and sat down with her family. Collectively their heads turned away from him, staring straight ahead.
Pam and Steven did not ask him to sit down or offer him a drink, which was very unusual. Father Philip had been to Pamela and Stephen’s house many times. Each time he had been treated the same, apart from this. He waited to see if they would speak to him. Father Philip waited so long, that it became awkward. Were they waiting for him? Had he offended them, and he was just jumping to conclusions? From behind the sofa, he decided that he had to start speaking, to either test the water, or investigate further.
’Joe, how did you like it?’ Father Philip asked.
Joe seemed to jump out of his trance and answered Father Philip.
‘It was fine,’ Joe said in a monotone voice. His head turned back, continuing to stare forward. Father Philip waited another minute behind the sofa looking at the four of them. Pam turned towards him
‘Why don’t you lie down upstairs Father Philip?’ Pam said. This wasn’t normal for her to ask that, but Pam said it quite casually.
’No thank you, Pamela. I have two more stops to make at least … and people are expecting me. Just as long as you’re well,’ Father Philip said.
Before any of them could get up and force him to lie down, he promptly made his way to the door, let himself out and shut it as fast as possible. He hoped that the house in Springmeadow Lane wasn’t as weird as this. As it was, he was so shocked that he forgot to check to see if the howling had stopped in the Park.
When he got up to the house in Springmeadow Lane, the door was wide open. He tentatively tiptoed to the doorway and shouted through the door.
‘Hello!’ Father Philip shouted.
’Come in!’ A voice shouted. This was getting too dangerous. He walked up the front steps, looking behind him around the front garden, to see if anyone was there.
Father Philip stepped in, checking behind the door. There was no one coming down
the stairs. To the right of him, the door was open, he could see the back of the armchair.
When he walked into the living room, the family were seated just as the others had been in Court Street. They did not look at him but knew that he was there.
‘Hello Father Philip,’ Carol the mother of the house said, without turning towards him.
’Your front door was wide open,’ Father Philip informed them.
’Yes, we knew you were coming,’ Carol said. ‘To see if Olivia enjoyed the Confirmation lessons, wasn’t it?’
Father Philip was shocked. He was reminded about what Wee Renee had said yesterday. That if one of the squids saw you doing something, they would alert the others. He wanted to not give himself away so acted as normally as he could.
’Yes, did you enjoy them, Olivia?’ he asked. Olivia came out of the trance, turning to Father Philip.
‘It was fine,’ Olivia said. Exactly the same as Joe had said. That was confirmation enough for Father Philip. He didn’t have to visit any others. Not only were the younger children under the influence of the squid, so were the older siblings and their parents. He needed to contact Wee Renee straight away and he knew where she was.
‘Righty-o Olivia. I’m glad you enjoyed it,’ Father Philip said quickly. He shut the living room door and ran out of the house. Father Philip looked left and right all the way up to The Grange. That was somewhere he never thought he would be happy to return to.
In Moorston, Jason, the Village disc jockey, was on his way to the Pub. He was meeting Miles in there, finalising the playlist for the disco at their Wedding this Saturday. What Miles didn’t know was that this was a surprise stag do. Jason had a Nuns outfit, a pair of handcuffs and a bottle of tequila with him.
There were lots of plans for what they were going to do with Miles, and as it was a Wednesday evening, he should have fully recovered for his Wedding on Saturday.
After walking over the bridge, his mind full of plans, he made his way down the side of the riverbank. He was whistling, which may have alerted his approach more than he would have liked.
He heard rustling in the bushes - big bushes, before him. As he got closer, the rustling continued. The whole bush seemed to be vibrating. Was something snagged in there, by its fur or its collar?
At first, he thought it was a wild animal or cat until he heard the rustling again. It wasn’t the bush itself that was making the noise. The branches and leaves were moving, but the sound inside there was louder. It wasn’t a bush sound either. It was a sound he had never heard in Moorston since he had lived there, which was all of his 51 years. It sounded like … shells.
25 Epidemic
Alan had tried once again to have a regular Band rehearsal. Parking his car on the drive of the Grange, he had an inkling that it wasn’t going to happen, but he still needed to have a crack at it. He was being paid for it after all. After fifteen minutes he realised he had been wasting his time again and that he and Ann should have stayed in with the dog.
’Shall we all go home?’ Alan offered.
’To be quite frank, I am worried about Julia on the canal, even though Ivy is with her,’ Jim said.
’I would be, after that seeing that monstrosity we pulled out of the water,’ Ernie said.
‘Vicious bastard,’ Rick commented.
’Yes, how is Darren,’ Terry asked.
’Very sore, missing three fingers and feeling foolish for being tricked into a false sense of security,’ Rick said.
‘Yes, she made a mug out of him,’ Pat said.
‘And a meal,’ Andy said. Pat laughed loudly at Andy’s quip.
‘Sorry everyone. You know what I’m like,’ Pat apologised. The Band pretended she hadn’t done it and carried on.
’Aye, this is what I’ve told you about those lot. Don’t trust them,’ Wee Renee said. ‘What made him put himself in that situation, Rick?’
’He said he felt that the Sea Witch was just like a big dolphin that we hadn’t ever seen before, and that no one was feeding her. Darren said that even in prison, people get food. It’s not like him to trust anything, and the one time he did, he got two fingers and a thumb bitten off. He won’t open up again,’ Rick said, shaking his head.
’Oh, now we’ve stopped playing, I can show you hatchlings from the spawn,’ Wee Renee said.
’You’ve brought them here?’ Tony asked.
’How else would I show you?’ Wee Renee asked.
‘Don’t worry, they’re quite safe and in a sealed container,’ she reassured them. Inside her string bag, wrapped in a carrier bag, was the jar containing the mini squids. Wee Renee blinked at them a few times, to make sure that they were alive, then passed them to Alan at the front. He held them up for everyone to see.
‘They’re nice and plump, aren’t they?’ Wee Renee asked, smiling.
‘They are like a grey marrowfat pea, with roots,’ Alan commented, who was closest to the mini squids.
’And you say this has some kind of connection to all the others, a hive mind?’ Carl asked.
‘And it’s talking to kids, controlling them?’ Gary asked.
’Most definitely, on both counts. Me and Father Philip witnessed it,’ Wee Renee said.
‘And now … it’s seen all of us lot. Oh goody,’ Terry said sarcastically. No one answered him, but he was right. Perhaps it shouldn’t have been allowed to see everyone else.
There was a sudden banging on the front door and Sue entered a few seconds later accompanied by a desperate Father Philip.
’Talk of the devil,’ Pat said under her breath. Andy sniggered next to her.
‘Good one Pat,’ he whispered.
Father Philip was flustered and out of breath from his traumatic evening and walk up the bank to The Grange.
’So sorry to bother you all, but it is vital. Wee Renee, can I have a word in private please?’ Father Philip said, his eyes darting nervously around the room. He was anxious to tell her as quickly as he could.
‘If it’s about what we saw was going on last night, you can spit it out here in confidence Father. There are no secrets between us,’ Wee Renee said. She glanced towards Alan, who lifted up the jar containing Wee Renee’s hatched squids.
’Yes, it’s about that, but it’s a lot worse than we think,’ Father Philip said, his eyes on the jar.
In Melden, Our Doris had asked her sister Jennifer, and Jennifer’s daughter Beverly over for their opinion on her fancy-dress outfit for the weekend. They thought they would just be admiring it on a coat hanger, but Our Doris had gone all out and had dressed up in her outfit, to give them the full effect. She had combed her bouffant blonde hair in a different style, had false black eyelashes on, and red lipstick. It was the white dress that gave it away, which she had accessorised with little silver high heels.
Jennifer and Beverly’s mouths dropped open when they saw her.
‘I could do with my own fan really, to blow up my skirt. Do you think people will realise who I am, or should I wear a sign around my neck?’ Our Doris asked them, as she stood proudly, hands on hips.
Jennifer thought that Our Doris had an unwise amount of cleavage showing for a lady of her age, but she applauded her for giving it all that she had.
’You make a stunning Marilyn Monroe, Our Doris. You will look brilliant on Saturday,’ Jennifer said.
’Thanks. Brenda’s going as a Land Girl. What’s the point of that? Boring,’ Our Doris said, regarding their other sister.
‘I think Brenda and Freddie are going as a pair, that’s why,’ Jennifer commented.
‘Oh. What are you going as? Anything glamorous?’ Our Doris asked excitedly.
‘Velma from Scooby-doo, so not really. I have been combing the shops for orange clothes for the last few weeks and I’m going to wear a wig,’ Jennifer said.
‘Eh, what a clever idea. Are you going as Daphne, Beverly?’ Our Doris asked.
’No, Auntie Doris, I’m going as Ginger Spice,’ Beverly informed her.
’Little Union Jack dress?’ Our Doris asked.
’Yes,’ Beverly said.
’I wish I’d have thought of that,’ Our Doris said.
Jennifer was glad that she hadn’t. Marilyn Monroe was enough for anyone. There was way too much of Our Doris on show as it was.
’I’ve got some red glittery platform shoes as well. It’s one of the few occasions we can let our hair down and I don’t have to fight anything,’ Beverly said with a smile.
’About that,’ Our Doris said. ‘I’ll just get changed out of this and I’ll open a bottle of wine. There are a few things I need to tell you about the river.’
Hell And High Water Page 16
