Winter Falls

by Eddie Skelson

  ‘Microsoft comes on with the news.’ Joe repeated. He shook his head and smiled a little. He smiled at the absurdity and the sadness of it.

  ‘I need to use that computer.’ He said. ‘Right now.’

  ‘But Joe I need to tell you...’ Joe cut her off.

  ‘You’ve told me enough for now.’ Joe walked back to the pew and began to pack the flask and lamp. ‘What we need to do now is get to that computer.’ He fastened the straps, loosening them so that they would fit over his shoulders. ‘Melanie, do you get the weather reports...on your Microsoft?’

  ‘Yes.’ She replied. ‘I don’t think it’s very good though, they are usually wrong about the weather here.’

  ‘Right Ok, but what did they forecast about the storm for tonight, tomorrow?’ Joe asked.

  ‘Oh. It’s bad.’ She said

  Joe sighed. ‘I suppose that should come as no surprise.’ He looked toward the hanging door, solidly fixed into the snow, the storm roared outside slowly adding to the drift building up against it.

  ‘How long do we have?’ He asked.

  ‘They will finish around five.’ Melanie said. ‘We have a few hours. How will the computer get us out, do you think it can?’

  Joe thought she looked doubtful, with the lamp off there was only the harsh light of the torch and it painted both of them with the same ghostly aspect.

  ‘It will help us. I can get word out to friends, to the police maybe.’ Joe realised that he had shortened her name. It was something he only did with close friends, people he knew well. His mother had always frowned upon nicknames. He had always been Joseph to mum and dad, although when mum wasn’t around his dad would occasionally call him ‘Joey.’

  Mum had been gone for eight years now, taken by bowel cancer. His dad had been stalwart, stronger than Joe could have ever imagined. He had told Joe that what was happening was a horror and that Joe could be scared, because he was scared too. He explained to Joe that all horrors ended and that when Mum passed the horror would be gone for her, so it should be gone for them. ‘Remember how brave your mum was son.’ He had said. Joe wanted to be brave too, as brave as his mum and dad had been.

  He took Melanie by the arm and with the torch lighting the way guided her out of the church and back into the storm.

  Chapter Ten

  Billy Duggan watched as the couple exited the ruins of the church. Following them had been easy although they had taken a circuitous route, avoiding houses that might be occupied by those who would not be at worship this evening. This was clearly the girl’s involvement.

  The hardest part had been waiting for them to reappear. He had taken refuge by sitting inside a partially collapsed sepulchre that faced the side door of the church. Ideally he would have liked to have gotten close enough to hear what she had told him. He knew that she was up to something with the outsider, the government man Joe Clarke. The storm had prevented this though, even if he had stood right next to the broken door the howl of the wind would have covered any sound they made. So he had sat and waited.

  As they left the church he stayed low until the bobbing of the torch was all that could be seen and emerged from his hideout. Once again they cut through the town, with purpose in their direction, which Billy knew was due to the girl guiding the way. They were not going in the direction of the hotel, or Joe’s car. Billy believed he knew where they were headed.

  Peake hadn’t been happy when he had returned with news of a government man asking about the town in Roscregan. His beady eyes had turned to coal and he had flitted off to Macgregor as fast as his legs could carry him. He always sought out the big man when there was likely to be trouble from the outside. Contacting them about it was a last resort.

  And he had to hand it to the old bastard, he had a plan all ready to go. He had foreseen this kind of thing happening and done something about it. He had just not done enough. It took two days for Peake to prepare the records that he had neglected to ready the first time around. Billy had seen him in the surgery scribbling away, name after name, copying from the parish records.

  Now there was a problem of course. The government man was still here, still snooping around the town and perhaps fucking the Doctors daughter? Billy couldn’t be sure but there was something going on between them that was obvious. He had a gut feeling that she had dropped her knickers for him. She had never done that for Billy, no one was allowed to fuck the girls anyway. It was a trip to the Falls for anyone stupid enough to pull that stunt. There were other pleasures than fucking though and Melanie knew how to work it to her advantage.

  Billy bought her stuff in from the other side. Usually books, sometimes sweets and fresh food like bread and vegetables. Now and then she wanted batteries, he wasn’t sure why she would want batteries but he didn’t really care. She sucked his cock if he got her the right stuff and Billy liked that a lot.

  It was more satisfying than the paralysed sex he got from the girls he snatched off the streets in the cities, gutting those girls was a better climax than coming on them. Of course if Peake found out about his little deal with Melanie he was done for. He would have Macgregor twist his head off and then the big bastard would probably fuck his neck. He would enjoy it too, the mountainous prick had a thing for the young boys they found and he especially liked to put his cock in ‘special openings’ that he made. Billy had no doubts that murdering him would give Macgregor a great deal of pleasure.

  Billy didn’t care for Macgregor anyway. They would always go their separate ways for a while when they visited the cities for offerings, then meet up later to hunt. Sometimes Macgregor would have some young thing in a bag, which he would amuse himself with as Billy drove them home.

  While he had no time for Macgregor’s kind of antics with boys the thought of what the girls in the back must have going through their minds, as they watched him cut and fuck the little lads, got him very hard. Occasionally they would return with one less girl because he had gotten so turned on he had to ‘use one of them up.’ Macgregor kept his silence and a happy accord was reached between them.

  Perhaps it was because daddy was the big noise in the town that Melanie had the confidence to cajole Billy, she was a determined one alright. They had each other in a vice, neither could break the confidence as they would both suffer. The government man though, he was a different matter. If she wanted out of the town, which Billy had long suspected, then she might just fuck him to achieve her goal.

  He saw the flashlight disappear around a corner on the street ahead. He knew where they were going now, only one place of interest lay on that street. Melanie was going home. Billy picked up his pace and closed in. If she was taking him to the Doctors house she had almost certainly broken the Oath, she was fair game and Billy could take it to Peake. Without daddy to protect her and the Oath broken Billy could fuck her till his cock bled. Then he could take her to the Falls and open her up like a can of peas.

  The Doctors house was a grand Victorian pile that stood in its own grounds. A few other homes flanked it but none had the same presence. Its magnificence lay only in its size and architecture however, it still wore the same makeup of decay and abandon as every other building in the town. The wall that marked its perimeter was an erratic pile of rubble, much like that of the church. Under the snow lawns were tangled knots of weeds and brambles. The brambles were everywhere in Winter Falls in some places thorny canes sprawled across the pavements and into the road.

  Billy arrived on the street in time to see Joe and Melanie enter the house, disappearing quickly inside. He leapt over the snow covered rubble and hastened towards the building. The lights had been left on downstairs so he couldn’t tell which room the pair had gone to. He skirted the property, boosted a little higher by the steep snow which enabled him to peer into the windows on the ground floor.

  Every room had its curtains drawn, another tradition of Winter Falls homes, but he looked for shadows that might move in the faint light cast through them. He made his way around and stopped
when he came to the back. Above the kitchen, on the first floor, a light came on.

  Billy cursed and looked around for a ladder or some other method of getting to the upper floors. He could see nothing but also reasoned that he wouldn’t be able to hear anything over the sound of the storm. He would have to get in. He made his way back to the front door and carefully tried the handle. Melanie had locked it. Billy couldn’t fault her caution, ‘always on her toes’ he thought.

  He wasn’t going to risk disturbing the worship. This was something that everyone in the town understood, you never, ever interrupted the worship. Macgregor would be attending tonight as well, there were offerings and his presence was required to keep them in good order.

  He was on his own for this. Billy had no doubt that he could handle Clarke. He was a city boy, a weak little child that would cry for his mother when he got to have a go at him. Clarke didn’t know real pain or fear yet, but he had taken and delivered it in bucket loads. He fancied showing the Government man what pain really was.

  Billy knelt and withdrew a long thin knife from his boot. The lock on the door could easily be jimmied but it would also break it. Billy figured that it was a small price for the Doctor to pay to catch the Government man before he did something that could hurt them.

  He inserted the blade into the keyhole and angled it carefully before applying pressure. There was a satisfying ‘chink’ as the as lock broke. Billy tried the handle again and eased his shoulder against the door, which slowly opened.

  Upon entering the house Joe was immediately struck by the paintings that lined the long, wide foyer. Each framed a stern looking individual, most of them had sat for the portraiture although a couple were pictured standing against a wild and natural backdrop. The seated gentlemen all held a Bible in their right hand. The paintings set in the countryside featured both hunting dogs and horses.

  ‘Who are these guys?’ Joe asked as Melanie walked ahead of him

  ‘I don’t know.’ She said. ‘They’ve been here since before Oath I think.’ She stopped sharply but Joe picked up on it.

  ‘The Oath?’ He caught up to stand by her. ‘What the fuck is the Oath?’

  ‘I’ll explain it all later, you wanted the computer right?’ She said impatiently. Joe studied her for a moment. He had started to grow wary of Melanie. They had made love not more than two hours ago. He had wanted her so much then, he still did, but something was gnawing at him, warning him of a danger that he hadn’t considered, something that he couldn’t see coming.

  ‘Yeah, the computer where is it.’ He said.

  ‘First floor, towards the back of the house. I’ll need to get the key.’ She led him to the bottom of the stairs. ‘Wait here and I’ll fetch it.’ Joe nodded and Melanie disappeared into the house. While she was gone he examined the rest of the foyer. On a plinth, topped by a flat square of marble was a telephone, an old thing like he had seen in black and white movies. He quickly moved to it and lifted the receiver.

  There was no dial tone. He turned the dial, 9...9...9 but nothing happened. He had been under no illusion that it would be that easy. Melanie returned as he was dropping the receiver back onto its cradle.

  ‘There’s not a working phone in the whole town.’ She said.

  ‘I thought that might be the case.’ He saw that in her hand she gripped a key, holding it between her thumb and forefinger. ‘Is that it?’ he asked.

  ‘Yeah.’ She said.

  Joe took it. It was unremarkable, just a standard Yale key. He had half expected an ancient wrought iron thing. ‘Ok, let’s go.’

  Melanie pressed a switch to her side and a light at the top of the stairs came on. She climbed the stairs and Joe followed. At the top she led him down the corridor, which had four rooms leading off from it. At the end, facing them was a plain looking door.

  Melanie inserted the key and turned it. There was an audible click. She pushed down the handle and the door swung open to a dark room. On entering she flicked a light switch immediately to the right of the door. An un-shaded bulb revealed the room.

  Joe thought it small, even for a Victorian servant to sleep in and guessed it was probably a converted linen closet or something similar. There was a single chair and a table which had a bulky PC tower underneath it and on top of it a monitor, an old CRT.

  Joe squeezed past Melanie and took a look at the tower.

  ‘How does he get access to the internet?’ He asked.

  ‘What do you mean?’ Melanie asked.

  ‘When you turn on the PC and you press the big blue E does the browser load up immediately with the latest news?’

  Melanie stared at him with a blankly.

  ‘The Microsoft, does the Microsoft come on. Is it up to date news?’ Joe asked slowly.

  Recognition crossed Melanie’s face. ‘Yes, well it comes up with the news but sometimes it’s not...fresh, you know, it’s a day or two old.’

  Joe took out the torch and got on his knees to get a good look at the back of the tower which was in shadow. There were no cables leading to a router or modem line. He spied a small plastic adapter protruding from one of the USB ports. He quickly accounted for the mouse and keyboard which left the adapter as the only possible connection device.

  If there was no router then Doctor Peake’s connection was mobile and if it was mobile then it had to have a method of connecting.

  ‘Does your dad have a mobile phone?’ He asked Melanie from the floor.

  ‘Yes he does. It will be in his room. He doesn’t take it to worship.’ Melanie replied.

  Joe stood. ‘And can he make calls on it, you know, use it normally here and around the town?’ Joe asked.

  Melanie nodded. ‘He calls Billy and Macgregor when they are on the outside, he’s always shouting at them because they spend too long away.’

  Joe rummaged inside his pocket and pulled out his phone. No signal.

  ‘Fucking Vodafone.’ He cursed, convinced now that the lack of signal was not some technological conspiracy dreamed up by pagan zealots. ‘I’ll bet Virgin has five bars from Roscregan to the fucking moon.’

  ‘I’m sorry Joe I don’t understand.’ Melanie said nervously. ‘Is there a problem with the computer?’

  ‘No, it doesn’t matter now. I just need your dad’s phone and I can sort this mess out with one call and an email.’ He put the phone back into his pocket. ‘Which is your dad’s room?’

  Melanie moved into the corridor and pointed, ‘The second door.’

  Joe walked quickly to the room and as he did so slid the call lock off his phone. If Peake’s phone had a signal then he should be able to make an emergency call from his own. If his phone wouldn’t play ball then he would use the Doctors. All the angles were covered.

  He tried the handle and the door opened without force. He fumbled on the wall to the left for a light switch which he pressed when his fingers found it.

  Peake’s room was huge. A large king size bed commanded the far side of the room and all around it was what could only Joe could only think of as an Aladdin’s Cave of works of art, paintings, furniture and draped over plain wooden boxes were finely illustrated cloths.

  Closer inspection of the surfaces of cupboards that stood against the other walls revealed small piles of gold coins, gems and jewellery. He forgot about his phone for a moment.

  As Joe moved in to the room he saw various weapons, a rapier with precious gems set into the pommel, a dagger with what he thought might be an ivory handle, these and others were cast around the room without rhyme or reason.

  ‘Jesus Christ.’ Joe said in wonder. ‘It’s like Pirates of the Caribbean.’ He stepped further into the room, treading on more coins and gems. The reason he had come here came back to him. ‘Where does he keep his phone?’ He said to Melanie who stood in the doorway.

  ‘By the bed on the right, there’s a shell’ she said.

  Joe stepped over valuable detritus to reach the top of the bed. There inside a large clam shell, which whilst tarnished
was clearly gilded with gold, lay a mobile phone. It looked new and therefore totally out of place, a Samsung, a Smartphone. Peake was clearly using it to connect to the internet.

  Gingerly he picked it up. If it was powered up, if there was no lock in place, he could call the police and this nightmare would be over. He experienced a small sense of joy as he thought that he could bring the cops down on this place with Peake’s own phone.

  He pressed the small button on top of the screen and a colourful array of buttons flashed into being on the touch screen. At the top right of the screen a tiny transmitter icon sat next to five bars three of which were fully illuminated.

  ‘Oh thank God.’ He said and turned to Melanie.

  The dark figure of Billy Duggan stood behind her. His hand, clutching a thin but vicious looking knife was resting against her chest, the blade’s edge pointed up, lying against her throat.

  ‘Hello Joey.’ He said.

  Chapter Eleven

  Kevin turned the business card over in his fingers. The chances of the lad not wearing the coat were extremely slim, there was no way he wouldn’t have discovered the pistol. He was convinced that just moving the coat from the front of the car to the back would have alerted Joe to the weight in the pockets.

  But the lad hadn’t called. He hadn’t called to shout at him for putting a loaded gun, covertly in his possession, nor had he called to thank him.

  Dynamic Systems, flashed in red text, appeared as the card turned, it was then replaced by the blue scribble that was Joe’s mobile number as it turned over again. He had called the number from his landline of course, a few times now but he had been transferred straight to an answer service. He dropped the card to the table and took a look at his watch. It was 1pm. The bar was empty but for Tim Buttress who had fallen asleep at a table next to the fire.

  Kevin picked up the card again. The name on the front, just under the bold company name was of Michael Stone CEO, there were three methods of contacting Michael, an office number, a mobile number and an email address. Joe had explained that as a junior in the firm he didn’t get his own card just yet. Kevin stood and walked over to the bar. He pulled the phone out from under the counter and dialled Michael’s mobile number.