Ghosts of Perigord

by Marc Lindsay

  ‘And once you’ve solved this mystery, what then?’ Jason asked.

  ‘Then, I have the satisfaction of being right,’ Mr Apollon said with an assured smile.

  ‘That’s pretty lame,’ Jason said and all three of them burst out laughing.

  ‘The really unusual thing about the case is the pattern of the murders,’ Mr Apollon said.

  ‘What’s unusual about it?’ Selene asked. Without responding Mr Apollon again dug into his bag, this time he removed a rolled up piece of aged yellow parchment. He carefully opened it up and laid it onto the park bench. Before Jason and Selene was an early map of Perigord, well over a hundred years old.

  ‘As you can see this map is a lot different to our current surroundings. Now if you watch closely,’ Mr Apollon said letting the sentence hang open, he removed another item from his bag. A sheet of clear plastic with black pen inscriptions adorned all over it. It wasn’t until he laid it atop the old map did it make sense.

  The inscriptions on the sheet were actually the plans to the current town, from the centre to the outlying homes. It wasn’t till you saw the two maps together that you realised how much Perigord had actually changed over the century. On the plastic there was also small red X marks, eight in total.

  ‘What are the red marks?’ Jason asked.

  ‘Are they the sites of the murders?’ Selene asked.

  ‘Very good Selene, that’s exactly what they are,’ Mr Apollon replied. ‘And if you were to draw a line intersecting them all you’d find a…’

  ‘Triangle,’ Jason interrupted.

  ‘Or the tip of an arrow pointing in a certain direction,’ Mr Apollon added cryptically.

  ‘Where do you think it points?’ Selene asked.

  ‘I don’t know. If that’s what it is,’ Mr Apollon said.

  ‘Was there anything else unusual about the case?’ Jason asked.

  ‘A lot really,’ Mr Apollon said.

  ‘Anything outside the case then?’ Jason prompted.

  ‘Let me see,’ Mr Apollon said as he sifted through his paperwork, eventually finding what he was looking for. ‘Here we go. It was actually a big year for the town. Dion Sucell had started making his cider. It was the coldest recorded winter in the town’s history. There was the introduction of blasting used in the mining process. And it was noted that there was a reduction of predators seen in and around the township.’

  This last piece of information made Selene and Jason take notice.

  ‘Um, would it be possible for me to take a picture of your map?’ Jason asked awkwardly.

  ‘Of course. Although I can’t imagine why you’d want to have a copy?’ Mr Apollon said appearing puzzled.

  ‘My Mum finds this stuff interesting,’ Jason lied. Again Mr Apollon nodded as Jason took a series of photos on his phone’s camera.

  ‘Thanks Mr Apollon,’ Jason said, giving Selene a look that said, we’d better get going. Selene didn’t need the prompting having picked up the faint urgency in Jason’s voice.

  ‘Thanks for your time,’ Selene said as they left Mr Apollon to continue on with his painting.

  Chapter 17

  They sat in the late Plato Wyngard’s study, Jason going through some papers of his mothers. Selene sat opposite him impatiently waiting for whatever revelation he was about to impart upon her. The entire walk back to Jason’s house from the park, Jason had refused to comment on whatever idea had been hatched in his brain during their talk with Mr Apollon. Sometimes when Jason had a particular thought process he could be absolutely secretive about it that it nearly drove Selene up the wall, like now.

  After a few minutes of searching Jason found what he was looking for.

  ‘I’m sorry to keep you in the dark, but I wanted to be sure of something before I opened my mouth, you know the old saying, better to be thought a fool than open my mouth and prove it,’ Jason said sheepishly.

  ‘I take it this is important?’ Selene asked. Jason nodded.

  ‘You and I both know that we have seen that creature at the fountain before?’ Jason asked.

  ‘Of course. The brewery,’ Selene said. ‘Only this one is smaller than the statue there.’

  ‘That’s right. But I’m also sure that it was the thing I was chasing the other night,’ Jason said.

  ‘Are you sure?’ Selene said seriously.

  ‘Not a hundred percent no. But the blurred image I saw that night kinda comes close to the statue in the park. I never even thought about the one at the brewery till I saw that one today,’ Jason said.

  ‘The fact that the statue of that creature by the fountain is only new means something, but for the life of me I don’t know why?’ Selene said frustrated. Jason nodded his agreement.

  ‘I know, I’m sure we’re close to some kind of understanding, but what I have no idea,’ Jason said.

  ‘There was something else he said that got you thinking, would you like to share?’ Selene asked. The look on Jason’s face indicated just that.

  ‘When Mr Apollon mentioned that stuff about predator numbers being down, that and the map got me thinking,’ Jason said.

  ‘About what?’ Selene said.

  ‘It got me thinking about something mum has been working on herself,’ Jason said.

  ‘And that is?’

  ‘Do you remember that woman looking for her dog?’ Jason asked. Selene nodded.

  ‘Of course. Little Mojo,’ Selene answered.

  ‘That’s right. Mojo. Well mum’s been telling me about other pets that have gone missing in the area and with the help of a ranger friend of hers, she has a map of her own that shows the locations of where these pets have gone missing…’

  ‘And you think there might be similarities between this and the murders a hundred years ago,’ Selene interrupted. Jason nodded.

  ‘Take a look,’ Jason said. He plugged his phone into the laptop computer sitting on the coffee table to his front and uploaded the information he required. Jason then opened the image of the map that he had taken from Mr Apollon’s possession so Selene could see too. Then like a magician revealing his trick he placed a sheet of paper from Helen’s folder down next to the computer. It was a black and white map of Perigord, showing red dots pinpointing the missing pets. Selene eyes went from one map to the next, then back and forth, her eyes getting bigger by the second.

  ‘Holy crap, the areas of the murders and the missing pets is almost identical,’ Selene said in amazement. ‘How did you know?’

  ‘I didn’t, but too many things were coincidental,’ Jason said.

  ‘Such as,’

  ‘Well, I know it’s a stretch but think about it. The story about the stone goblins cider. Mr Apollon said that the murders happened around the same time. Low numbers of predators might just be missing animals…’

  ‘Like missing pets,’ Selene finished.

  ‘Exactly. Also two other occurrences are the same now as when they occurred back then and they were the cold weather we’ve been having and the blasting in the mines,’ Jason said.

  ‘Why do you think those two things are important?’ Selene asked.

  ‘The cold weather I’m not too sure about. But the blasting in the mines…’ Jason’s voice trailed off.

  ‘Jason. Tell me.’

  ‘When Mr Apollon said that the area of the murdered babies looked like an arrow pointing somewhere. Where exactly does it point to?’ Jason asked. Selene looked at both maps carefully before answering.

  ‘The mines,’ Selene said comprehension dawning on her face. ‘Do you think the explosions at the mines disturbed those creatures?’ Selene asked.

  ‘I think they did.’

  ‘And those murders and the missing pets and wild animals might have been caused by the stone goblins?’ Selene said in awe.

  ‘I do,’ Jason said with a grin.

  ‘Whoa, that’s pretty heavy,’ She said. ‘I just thought of something else. What if the name stone goblin isn’t just a name, what if for some reason they are stone, or th
ey can turn to stone when they want?’ Jason thought on this.

  ‘I suppose that’s possible. If that’s the case it means that little bugger won’t remain there for long,’ Jason said.

  ‘What do we do then?’ Selene asked.

  ‘I think this calls for a stakeout,’ Jason said.

  Chapter 18

  After ensuring they had plenty of provisions they departed for the central park. They were relieved to find the statue of the creature still by the fountain and equally relieved by the absence of Mr Apollon as well. Being careful not to be seen they engaged their alien clothing to provide them with sufficient camouflage as they took refuge in a nearby oak tree, its large branches providing them with an easy platform from which they could observe the fountain and also remain out of sight from any passer-by who happened to be walking within the vicinity. Once they had established their placement they proceeded with lunch. Despite the seriousness of their mission, they were both enjoying their current local and the necessity behind it. Sitting in the crook of a branch they ate sandwiches contentedly.

  ‘So, you seemed happy with Kava’s explanation earlier,’ Selene said through a mouthful of bread.

  ‘You’re right,’ Jason replied. And Selene appeared surprised by this. ‘I did seem to be happy.’

  ‘You don’t buy it then?’

  ‘It sounded plausible, but there’s something just not kosher with that guy. And while I’m stuck up here with you…’

  ‘Oh, you’re stuck up here with me are you,’ Selene pretended to be hurt by his statement.

  ‘You know what I mean,’ Jason said rolling his eyes. Then without waiting for a reply he produced two books from his backpack showing Selene their covers.

  ‘Persian mythology. How exciting,’ Selene said with mock enthusiasm.

  ‘I just thought with time up our sleeve we could study up, I mean it couldn’t hurt, or do you have something better to do?’ Jason asked.

  ‘Well I was thinking about something else entirely,’ Selene said naughtily. Jason comprehended immediately and blushed uncomfortably, thinking about the other night when he had quite literally burst into flames thinking of her in an impurely way. Selene noticed his change.

  ‘Is everything ok? I was only joking you know,’ Selene said, equal measures of concern and rejection etched on her face and tinged in her voice.

  ‘I’m sorry, you caught me off guard, and all I could think about was that despite our camouflage this is still a public place and…’

  ‘Relax, I get it,’ Selene said as she took one of the books from him and started to flip through its pages. Jason felt guilty by his actions and that Selene had taken some offence to his response. He was a little embarrassed by the whole mess and wished there was a way to explain it better without sounding like a horny asshole. Jason decided he would have to deal with his problem later.

  Over the next couple of hours, they thumbed through the books passing back information with one another they thought interesting or relevant.

  ‘Hey listen to this,’ Selene said. ‘There’s a passage here about that sorcerer Zahhak.’

  ‘What does it say?’ Jason asked sitting up on his branch.

  ‘It details his battle with a hero named Fereydun who defeated Zahhak and imprisoned him in a cave under a mountain,’ Selene said.

  ‘How did he defeat him?’ Jason asked.

  ‘With the mace made by Kava,’ Selene said. This pricked Jason’s interest even more.

  ‘What else does it say about Kava?’ Jason asked.

  ‘It says that Kava led a rebellion against the sorcerer after he killed nearly all of his sons,’ Selene said.

  ‘Whoa, that’s harsh,’ Jason said.

  ‘Harsh doesn’t even begin to describe it. The sorcerer had two snakes growing out of his shoulders and he fed them human brains, Kava apparently lost seventeen sons to Zahhak,’ Selene said.

  ‘That’s brutal,’ Jason whispered. ‘Does it say much else?’

  ‘No, after the rebellion it talks about this other guy Fereydun and how he imprisoned Zahhak but nothing else about Kava,’ Selene said. ‘I’m beginning to see why this mace is so important to him.’ Jason reluctantly nodded his head in agreement. They fell silent as they let the information sink in.

  It was at this moment that they realised the day was nearly over, the sun was slowly setting in the distance and it was beginning to get dark under the canopy of the large tree. The park was deathly quiet with the chilly evening air having chased the last seen patron well over an hour ago. Jason cast another glance at the stone goblin statue just to ensure that it hadn’t disappeared on them. No he thought, the ugly little bugger was still there. They decided to wait a little while longer and it wasn’t for another hour that they were finally rewarded for their patience. Initially there was a slight humming sound that they weren’t even sure they were hearing, this was then followed by what Selene thought sounded like the cracking of an egg. Jason heard this too, they watched in eager anticipation as the cracking sound grew stronger, its origin definitely coming from the statue.

  After five long and tense minutes the cracking eventually stopped, they waited with baited breath for whatever was going to happen next. The statue shattered, but instead of collapsing in on itself it was just an outer shell that crumbled and fell to the ground, for underneath it stood a real life, flesh and blood stone goblin, its skin still the same colour as the stone itself but now it exuded a lively sheen to it. The goblin stood up from its crouched position and dusted the gravel from its frame. The goblin looked around its surroundings seemingly oblivious to the fact that two human adolescents were watching on in amazement as at the metamorphosis they had just witnessed.

  After viewing its surroundings, the creature let out a small hiss then slowly it made its way out of the park, with Selene and Jason tailing close behind. It was difficult to follow unnoticed especially once they were in the residential areas but somehow they coped. They followed on foot, Jason taking the form of a wolf and attempting to sniff out its scent. They now entered the outlining forest, delving deeper and deeper and much to Jason’s astonishment they were heading towards the old mines. During their chase Selene suspected that the goblin had been picking up its pace as it neared its destination. Jason was the first to arrive in the mining area however he had lost sight of the beast and his other senses were unable to find anything either.

  Selene wasn’t far behind and as she approached Jason she gave him a now what look, then seeing his disappointed gaze back understood immediately what had happened, Jason changed back to human.

  ‘I was right behind him and then he was gone,’ Jason complained.

  ‘You can’t sense him at all?’ Selene asked. Jason shook his head.

  ‘Nothing,’ he said bitterly. ‘But if I were a betting man I would say the beast has disappeared down one of the mine shafts.’

  ‘I agree, it seems to be the most logical choice,’ she said. ‘What do you want to do now?’

  ‘I want to go down and find out if we’re right, but not tonight. After all, if that is where it’s come from, time’s on our side, we’ll find it sooner or later, c’mon let’s go home,’ Jason said.

  Chapter 19

  Jason arrived home to find his mother in an extraordinarily good mood. He knew this by the fact that she was folding laundry and singing along to the radio while she was doing it. The former, while not that unusual, was something she detested and the latter was a practice she almost never did, the only exception was maybe Christmas day or really good news or a successful date. Jason’s eyes narrowed at this thought, entering the room. Helen’s eyes went wide in surprise.

  ‘Whoa, you scared me, I didn’t hear you come in,’ she said with a smile.

  ‘I’m surprised you could hear anything over the sound of the radio,’ Jason said.

  ‘Oops,’ Helen said as she crossed the room and turned the volume down. ‘I didn’t even realise I had the music up that loud.’ She continued with a wid
e beaming smile.

  ‘You seem in an especially buoyant mood,’ Jason said neutrally.

  ‘Am I, I hadn’t noticed,’ Helen said with a chuckle.

  ‘Is there something you’d like to tell me,’ Jason said getting all serious. Helen bit her lip and placed down the shirt she’d been folding.

  ‘I was going to tell you tomorrow but I guess I don’t have a very good poker face,’ Helen said. Jason tried to keep his face calm but he had a bad feeling about what she was about to tell him next. ‘I was sitting having dinner. Oh by the way yours is in the fridge. Where was I?’

  ‘You were having dinner,’ Jason said.

  ‘That’s right. I was having dinner when the phone rang and you’ll never guess who it was to ask me out on a date,’ Helen said her enthusiasm barely contained. Jason remained silent knowing the question to be rhetoric but also having a strong suspicion to the identity to the caller. ‘No, no, no’ Jason’s mind screamed. ‘It was your good looking friend from the library. Kava.’

  ‘I kind of pictured him as a bit of a womaniser but he came across a little awkward and shy over the phone. I thought it was sweet,’ Helen continued.

  ‘He’s such a faker and a liar. Not to mention he’s completely crossed the line’ Jason thought, trying to maintain a smile and grinding his teeth in the process.

  ‘I’m happy for you mum,’ Jason interrupted, before she could go into further detail of their conversation, he then noticed her smile falter. ‘Could we continue this discussion in the morning, I’m a little tired and I have a math test in the morning,’ Jason lied.

  ‘Oh, you poor thing,’ Helen said brushing the hair from his forehead. ‘You feel a little warm as well, I hope you’re not coming down with something.’

  ‘I’m fine, nothing a goodnight sleep won’t cure,’ Jason said.

  ‘That’s a good idea. Make sure you have something to eat before you turn in.’

  ‘I will. Good night mum,’ Jason said.

  ‘Good night sweetheart,’ Helen replied, the smile returning to her face.

  As he lay in bed Jason thought about Kava and what he was going to say to the conniving two faced asshole.