Hell And High Water

by Angela Blythe

  Without warning, Jim jumped forward and attacked the River Spirit with his tomahawk. At the same time, in a two-handed attack, he bought the windlass down on what would be the River Spirits rib area, if he had them.

  Jim had put a lot of force in the axe but quickly had to pull one hand back, before he chopped his other hand off. There was hardly any resistance to his blows. This River Spirit was no spirit, but Jim could see it was the texture of set jelly.

  It quivered again. They did not know whether this was due to pain, or if it was going to cry out again. Jim and Julia could hear it breathing again, like they had done on the boat. The chitter-chattering of shivering teeth.

  ’Come on, it’s easy,’ he said.

  ‘Arrgghhh,’ Julia yelled as she set on it with both knives. She needed to get out her anger. This River Spirit had tormented her. Tried to lure her out, to kill her and had even tried to attack her in her own home, driving them both out. It wasn’t going to do it to them again.

  Alan ran to help. He had asked the group many times about what they had used during the previous campaigns and had decided on a spear. It was a homespun job, cobbled together from bits out of his garage. It was easy to jab the spear into this large wobbling smelly blancmange. He had forgotten about his spear when they were under attack from the beautiful women and had left it lying on the grass. Alan pushed his spear in and out trying not to go all the way through what the River Spirit was made of and hit Jim the other side. It seemed to be taking everything that they could give it

  Wee Renee decided now was the time to try out the mixture in her backpack. Inside her tomes, there were a few ideas. She had combined these with the words of the song. In her book, it had said that this would dramatically dry out any creature of water. It had been easy to make up. She had bought the Lilies from the Florist in Friarmere and the Ivy was from the back of her house. She had dried both of these in her oven gently; ground it up, finally mixing it with equal parts of the other ingredients. Wee Renee thought it was easier to refer to it as SILS, the first letter of each component. She had read that once combined it had magical properties.

  ’Watch out you lot. You don’t want this in your eyes,’ Wee Renee said.

  She threw a handful up the front of the River Spirit mid-cry. Its cries changed mid-scream. They were considerably pained. Wee Renee threw another portion of her SILS concoction. As the dry mixture touched it this time, it immediately fell silent. It began to transform. The whole mass of it just got lower, but broader. The smell got worse.

  Wee Renee threw another handful on top just for good measure. Jim, Julia and Alan backed away so that the River Spirit would not melt on their shoes but continued to strike it repeatedly.

  Father Philip and Ivy parked up near the Bandroom, in an empty space. Now they could see how wet and mossy Moorston had become. The lamp post closest to them was rusty brown instead of silver and the moss growing up it had become so long that it looked like it had green hairs. Ivy walked closer to check it out. The ‘hairs’ moved lazily in the fog. She had never seen moss like that before. Water dripped off the lamppost, but there was no rain. The whole Village seemed deserted, but very dangerous.

  Ivy saw one of the villagers who was standing by the tree and decided to go and ask them if they knew where the Wedding Party was.

  She walked closer, expecting her footsteps to make the person turn to look at her but they continued to look towards the river. Ivy got very close, she walked to the other side of them and still they did not look at her. She stood in front of them waving her arms and they looked straight through her to the river. It was at this point she realised that she and Father Philip weren’t out of trouble. The possessed people were here too.

  Father Philip walked over to Ivy, and without a word, she pointed at the Villager then looked back at him.

  ’She’s looking towards the river. She’s one of them. Let’s go and see what’s there,’ Ivy said.

  Father Philip took a deep breath. The fog was thick, and they didn’t know what they would find on the other side of the grass. He reckoned what was there wasn’t going to be fun.

  All the bones were loaded into bags and placed in the back of Gary’s Land Rover.

  ’If it’s not started yet, I’d like to bury him immediately and get it out of the way,’ Graham said.

  ’There was no sign when we left. I’m sure we’ve got lots of time,’ Tony assured him.

  Tony was wrong, as wrong as Neville Chamberlain was when he announced, ‘Peace for our Time’ just before Hitler invaded Poland.

  Martyn was dead, the sacrifice had been made and Mother was coming.

  38 Billy Goats Gruff

  Bob and Adam’s job would be to get rid of the spawn. This aberration had robbed them of their friends and made School an unsafe and unpleasant place to be. The two boys were determined to take out their revenge on it. Their Mother said she would work with them too. Sally and Kathy had hairspray cans with candle lighters, the lady’s weapon of choice.

  Bob and Adam had plant sprays full of petrol. On a mission, they stomped their way towards the river, and it wasn’t long before they started to find the odd cluster.

  Sue told Bob to spray the first lump. It was well risen out of the water. So that the petrol would not be washed off the top, he sprayed it several times. It ran into the tiny cracks between the eggs. Sue ignited her lighter and sprayed the fire on to the top of the petrol-soaked mass. There was an almighty sound of popping like bubble wrap as the thin membranes of the eggs ruptured and the milky contents spilt out, fried in its own juices.

  Sally and Kathy were working just ahead with Adam and with good effect. The two groups swept down the length of the river. A cluster busting tag team.

  The Fellus had taken his eye off the ball. The eye with the squid in it. Controlling the others, watching for danger, cars and the sheer drop of the road, took all of his concentration. They were quite literally mindless zombies. If he didn’t move them out of the way, they would be knocked over. This was how he missed the tethering of some of his army in Moorston.

  The incident that alerted him was Ivy trying to attract the attention of a Villager. He halted the Friarmere contingent and looked through the eyes of the Moorston troops. Each set of eyes related skirmishes and danger back to him. Before the Mother could do anything with them, The Fellus began to move his army forward.

  There were very few of the current monsters that were local to Moorston. Some of them had been drawn hundreds of miles, but not this one. The Grindylow only resides in Lancashire and Yorkshire. A local monster, born and bred.

  Small, horned and green he waited in the riverside bushes, half of him still submerged in the water, the other half clinging to the branches. He was waiting for the right moment to strike. He knew his limitations; he would not be going for the very tall. In fact, he preferred children.

  When he saw Bob and Adam coming close, he knew that this was his chance. Sue was still firing up the last pile of spawn and was a bit behind. The two boys were soaking the fresh lumps liberally with petrol. Sally and Kathy had finished the last one and had moved further on along the riverbank to locate the next batch.

  The Grindylow could see who was to the left and the right. He set his sights on the merry duo who were currently alone. He decided he was taking one of these as they got close. The Grindylow got lucky, as one was within arm’s reach. He grabbed Adam’s ankle. Adam looked to see what had caught him and was horrified to see a dirty green midget with a devil-like face and writhing worms for hair stuck to his leg. Although short, the Grindylow was immensely strong and his grip would not ever be released.

  He smiled a pleasurable smile at Adam who shrieked. The other youngling came running to his aid. Now that he had caught this one, his friend would get close. He would catch him too.

  Bob sprayed petrol into the face of The Grindylow, but this did nothing. His Swiss Army knife was in his pocket. He got it out quickly, struggling to pull out the various parts, flipping
back two from the holder.

  Adam was clinging onto the bush with both hands. He held on with all the strength he had. If he relaxed his grip for one second, The Grindylow would have him in the water. Sue was far away from the two boys, still firing up the last cluster. Making sure that all the eggs were burst.

  ‘Help!’ Bob shouted, still fiddling with his camping knife. He had only managed to get out the corkscrew and a mini magnifying glass.

  Bob’s cry was heard, and Liz, Andy and Danny were coming to help. Andy had a meat cleaver and Danny had a spear. Liz also had hairspray and firelighter, but she had a kitchen knife in the pocket of her Princess Leia costume too.

  Danny’s spear went straight into the evil eye of the creature. Green jelly slithered out, also covering the tip of the spear. This gave the Grindylow an added spurt of adrenaline as he pulled away from Danny’s spear. He had managed to pull Adam off some of the branches, which were now broken twigs in Adams' hands. The boy was now half in the water.

  Blinded in one eye, the Grindylow knew he had been beaten this time. With his other eye, he could see that it was him against five others. His grip, even by his behest could not be released. Three of them were not small ones. One was very large. This one jumped in the river.

  Danny at 6 feet 6 inches, towered over The Grindylow. He began to yank it towards the bank. Once he was close enough, Andy began to chop away at the beast’s arms. The pain was too much for the water monster and he forfeited his meal. To the Grindylow’s surprise, he found he could loosen his grip if his arms were no longer attached to his body. Adam was free, with two halves of Grindylow arms, dangling lifelessly from his ankles.

  ‘Kebab it,’ Andy said to Liz and she nodded in reply.

  ‘Move away Danny,’ Liz said.

  Danny leaned backwards but still held it at arm’s length. Liz sprayed The Grindylow with the flaming hairspray. Danny held it by something so it could not get away. He looked to see what it was. A blackened forked tail was in his hands. Danny wasn’t sure if this was a devil, but it had horns and a pointed chin. He knew a demonic entity when he saw it.

  Sue rushed up the second that she saw the fight, but the Grindylow was no more. It had all only lasted a couple of minutes.

  Sue and Bob helped Adam onto the bank. He had very sore ankles. It was apparent that The Grindylow had some kind of poison on his skin. It had gone right through Adams jeans and socks. Danny’s hands were red and burning too. Liz and Andy helped him get out of the river.

  Lee had asked two particular people for their help. Two people that he had seen in battle before and was very impressed with. One was Nigel, who was very handy with his large kebab knife. He was a big man and was skilled at killing monsters.

  The second warrior on Lee’s list was a pensioner. That was Our Doris. Not even 5 feet tall, dressed tonight in her Marilyn Monroe dress and cowboy boots, she was always accurate and fearless. The ornamental sword that she had used off her wall during the worst times had made her a new woman. Although heavy and large, she could use this with great effect.

  Lee had his own nightmares to put to bed. These were of the creature that was under the bridge in Moorston. He knew he could not deal with it himself. Lee also, having witnessed it, did not want to put the lesser fighters in danger. He explained this to them on their walk to the bridge.

  ‘So, what are we actually dealing with, love?’ Our Doris asked.

  ’I don’t know specifically,’ Lee replied, ‘because it was dark, the water was choppy, and I only saw its head. It had these big flat eyes, with no eyelids. It was staring at me, horrible it was. It was black and scaly. Oh, and it was big.’

  ’Are you saying it was a fish or a human?’ Nigel asked.

  ’I got the impression of some shoulders and arms, believe it or not. But there was nothing that in any way that was human about it. Have you seen the old film, The Creature of the Black Lagoon?’ Lee asked. They both had.

  ’Good because it’s like that, only worse. That’s the closest I can describe it, to give you the idea,’ Lee explained.

  ‘Unusual,’ Our Doris remarked.

  They walked along quietly. Every so often hearing the odd moments of battle along the river through the fog.

  ’It’s like going on Safari isn’t it?’ Our Doris commented. Nigel laughed, but Lee didn’t. Our Doris started to smell something foul.

  ’Something is kicking up a right stink,’ Our Doris said.

  They walked past the site of the battle with the River Spirit, which was now a gloopy blackness on the grass. All of them put their hands over their noses.

  ’That would knock a fly off a bucket of shit,’ Nigel said.

  ‘Too right. Where is this bridge, Lee?’ Our Doris asked.

  ’A bit further on,’ Lee said.

  Tony, Gary and Graham arrived in the centre of the Village. Gary’s car parking space had been taken up by a vehicle, which he knew was Father Phillip’s. No one was at the Bandroom. The three men could guess where everyone was.

  They didn’t know about the Moorston villagers who were under the influence of the squid. They strode across the grass in the fog, hearing a lot of muted noise coming from the river. Some of it sounded human, some of it didn’t. Most of it they could not tell.

  Two people stepped from behind a tree, grabbing hold of Graham, who immediately yelled. Gary and Tony joined him immediately, taking his other arm.

  ‘What the hell do you think you are doing?’ Gary asked them. The people did not answer him. Gary saw the blank expressions on their faces and realised that this might be why Father Philip was over here too.

  The two people were teenagers. Gary gave one a right punch and Tony knocked the other on the head. Both fell onto the ground unconscious. The three men walked off before anyone else came, pulling Graham with them.

  ‘You stay with us. You’ve already had your adventure tonight,’ Gary said.

  When the three men got closer to the river, they came across the group that consisted of Maurice, Carl and Beryl. It was perfect timing as a group of Kelpies had crept out of the river and had grabbed Beryl and Maurice. By the time the men got there, it was at a critical stage. Beryl and Maurice had been dragged into the river. The Kelpies were trying to pull them under. Carl was trying as hard as he could to hack away at them, but there were two separate parties. Apart from that, the Kelpies were trying to catch hold of him too.

  Carl would have to concentrate on one or the other, but with a glance of relief, he saw help arrive. Tony had his gun but felt that this might be ineffective with the Kelpies, as he didn’t know if their brain was in the same place as everyone else’s, plus he had limited ammunition. The new additions waded in to help. Behind the Kelpies that were already visible holding their friends, they saw others rising out of the water.

  Pat and Jackie joined them in the water. Pat started smacking them up the head with her hammer, which took them down after a couple of blows and made a massive dent in the ones that had Beryl.

  Carl felt that this was getting more under control. He let go of Beryl and tried to concentrate on Maurice, who was sliding in the muddy riverbed. Carl grabbed hold him and started to drag him out of the river.

  The Kelpies underestimated the group from Friarmere. They weren’t going to give up without a fight. Tony had a large knife and immediately slit a Kelpie’s throat. The Kelpie fell down on his face in the mud, drifting back slowly down into the river.

  Jackie had seen a weapon in a horror film, which was a piece of wire with a weight on one end. You threw it at your victim, and it wound around their necks quickly. When it was in position you pulled it together, like a cheese wire. Jackie had decided that this was the one for her.

  It proved very effective on the Kelpies as their skin was soft. It was not killing them as she could not manage to get the weighted end to wind around the neck. Perhaps she should have practised more. Still effective at injury, it was glancing past them and slicing everything it touched.

  Pa
t also had a fireside poker out of the Companion Set that she had taken from Joe’s Hardware Shop and had never told him about. She threw this to Graham, who had got straight out of the Land Rover with his bag of bones and did not have a weapon. He looked like he probably needed to defend himself, as a Kelpie was eyeing him up, but also, he needed to get in on the fight, as he was just standing there wondering what to do.

  The bodies were mounting up between Carl, Gary, Tony, Pat and now Graham.

  As she was now free, Beryl was fighting too. The struggle to save herself had left her momentarily weak, so she never managed to actually kill one. Carl was determined not to let Maurice go, who was struggling to get away from the Kelpies, but Carl had got right next to him and had him around the waist.

  The party in the river and the growing party on the riverbank did not know how many Kelpies were underneath the water. Some of the smaller members of the group knew that if they entered the water, they would be pulled in.