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Excerpts:
Disquieted Spirits
By Ellen Margret
From
Halloween Hell to Mediaeval Heaven
Chapter One
Joshua had never particularly liked ravens. He
disliked the look of the big, black birds, and their irritating, cawing
noise grated on his nerves. Normally, he enjoyed walking through the
park, but not today. Today he couldn’t even spot a sparrow when normally
they were numerous. Even when he walked down the long tree-lined avenue,
all he saw were ravens sitting up in the branches. No blackbirds, no
robins, no thrushes, no wagtails and no finches. It made him feel very
uneasy. When a cold gust of wind blew, he paused to turn up the collar
of his jacket. Glancing up, he counted seven ravens in one lime tree,
alone.
He shuddered and continued on, but his thoughts,
already gloomy when he awoke that morning, now grew darker. He began to
think about the films he had seen, where evil looking ravens pecked out
the eyes of executed men, hanging from gibbets. He thought of a western
film where dead bodies were eaten by vultures. Still, he didn’t think it
likely he would spot a vulture in an English park. It was peculiar
though, because there weren’t even any magpies around. All he could see
were dozens and dozens of ravens, and every one seemed to be staring at
him.
One rather large raven swooped down from a tree and
suddenly flew straight at him. Joshua had to duck in order to avoid a
collision. As the bird flew on past, he got a close view of its eyes.
Dark, shimmering eyes that, for a split second, bored into him. He had
the most overwhelming sense of foreboding and the fatigue, which he had
been experiencing for the past few weeks, grew even greater. It was an
effort to put one foot in front of the other and, for a man who until
recently had played squash for his county, it was incredibly
frustrating.
The weariness forced him to sit down on a bench,
when all he wanted to do was carry on to his destination and get the
results of the tests. He took a bottle of mineral water out of his
jacket pocket and drank some of the cool liquid. In the distance, he saw
a group of children in fancy costume. His eyesight, normally perfect,
had become very hazy of late. Still, he could just make out what they
children were dressed as. There were two witches, two ghosts, a devil
and some kind of demon. He was impressed. The costumes were very good.
The devil suddenly broke away and ran in his direction.
“Hello, Mister, we’re off to a party and tonight
we’re going round the streets.” He put his hand out. “Trick or treat?”
Then it struck him. He had totally forgotten it was
Halloween. Joshua gave the lad fifty pence. “Nice outfit. It certainly
scares me.”
“That’s the idea, Mister. Thanks for the money,”
the boy said, running off.
Joshua put the top back on the bottle and stared up
into the sky. The sky was like his thoughts, dark, gloomy, and
oppressive. Big black thunderclouds gathered over head, heralding the
storm that was about to break. Well, those trick or treaters were going
to get very wet tonight. He thought back to the Halloween parties that
he had attended over the years. One in particular stood out in his mind,
and that was the one his cousin, Tate, held at his house when they were
both sixteen. Tate didn’t fully understand the concept of trick or
treat. To Tate, it was trick and trick. No matter how much money or
sweets Tate received, he would take delight in throwing bad eggs at
peoples’ doors and in running a key down the sides of their cars. He let
tyres down too, just for the hell of it. If he had been with Tate then
he would have stopped him doing such awful things, but he only heard
about if afterwards from friends. Twenty people had been at that
Halloween party and they had split up into three groups. Joshua felt
disgusted and ashamed of his cousin and, after that, he had little to do
with him. When they did meet at a funeral seven years later, Tate
borrowed Joshua’s mobile. He never gave it back and, to Joshua’s mind,
that was stealing. When Tate was arrested just months later for theft
and arson, Joshua wasn’t really surprised. If ever there was a black
sheep in a family then Tate was it.
Joshua shivered. Looking down he saw that his bench
was surrounded by a circle of ravens and they all seemed to be staring
up at him. He didn’t like it. He almost felt cursed and so he got up and
continued walking down the path, but, glancing behind, he saw a line of
ravens following him. He quickened his pace but the effort left him
breathless and his ever present headache worsened. His appointment at
the doctor’s surgery was for three-thirty. He dragged himself on,
because he didn’t want to be late. He needed to know what was wrong with
him, and he wanted it put right.
****
Souls Interlocked
Chapter 1
Two-hundred-and-forty-one. Those were a lot of
people showing less than no respect, and that was just today’s count.
Today, there had been a christening and a wedding, not to mention the
usual dog walkers taking a stroll around the churchyard.
Quite simply, the grave had been dug in totally the
wrong place. The gravel path curved around it, from the churchyard gate
right up to the church door. So, those lazy people who couldn’t be
bothered to walk an extra ten feet, and stick to the path, now took a
short cut across the grave. The dogs did it too, and they often peed on
the grave, cocking their legs up against the granite headstone. Some
kids even vaulted over the headstone. He wished he could give every last
one of those disrespectful people a piece of his mind, and the ruddy
dogs too. Not that he disliked dogs, in fact, he loved them, but they
shouldn’t be permitted to pee on a grave.
He heard the gate open again and a woman walked
into the churchyard. Her shoulder length, brunette hair bounced about
her pretty face as she strode towards the grave, but then she halted,
put her fingers in her mouth and gave a piercing, impressive whistle.
’Ah, well, so she had a dog too, and it wasn’t on a lead. She had the
lead in her hand and it dangled down to her slim ankles. He rather liked
her ankles, and the rest of her legs. They were long and shapely and,
since she wore shorts, he could see rather a lot of them.
The dog bounded in. It was a golden retriever and
he rushed straight to the grave, sat right on it, and began to whine.
“Rufus, come on, boy. Why are you sitting there?”
the woman asked.
He knew the dog at once. So, good old, Rufus was
still alive and looking well. That was wonderful. He smiled at the dog
and Rufus began to wag his tail excitedly.
“The dog seems pleased to see you. Do you know him?
I’ve only had him a week. The poor thing had been in the dog rescue home
for months. When I saw him, I couldn’t resist those big brown eyes.”
She spoke to him! He straightened and gaped at the
woman in total astonishment.
“Goodness, you look as though you’ve seen a ghost.
Is something wrong?”
He shook his head in utter bewilderment.
She laughed. “I suppose this is the right place to
see a ghost. The thing is, though, I don’t believe in them.”
He stared into her eyes. They were big and brown,
like the dog’s eyes. He loved the dog, but he knew that if he were able,
he could love her a heck of a lot more.
“What’s wrong? You are looking at me very oddly.
Maybe it’s the heat. It has been a scorcher of a day.”
“Can you see me?” he asked.
“Of course I can, although why you’re wearing a
tuxedo, I can’t imagine. Are you on your way to some important do?”
He shook his head. “No, I’m just hanging around
here. My God, you can see me and hear me. This is fantastic.”
She took a dog biscuit from her pocket and gave it
to Rufus. “I have eyes and ears, and they work. I can see and hear you
plainly enough.” She held out her hand. “My name’s Morwenna, but I’m
mostly called Enna.”
He didn’t try to shake her hand. “Your eyes and
ears work better than most, Enna.”
She lowered her hand. “So, do I
get to know your name?”
“Nathaniel.”
“Let me guess, that gets
shortened to Nathan.”
“No, to Nate. That’s what my
friends used to call me, although I don’t have any now.”
“You have no friends?”
“No, none.”
“Everyone has friends. I’m sure
you do.”
“I don’t.”
“You seem very strange. Has
something happened to you?”
“Yes, I guess it has.” Rufus
suddenly commenced digging a hole in the grave. It made him furious.
“Stop it! I’m sick of dogs desecrating this grave. I’ll not even let my
own dog do it!”
She gasped. “Rufus is your
dog.”
“He was my dog. Sit Rufus, and
leave the bloody grave alone!” he snapped.
Rufus obeyed the order and hung
his head.
“Then how did he end up in a
dog’s home?”
“I don’t know. I wasn’t around
to find out.”
“Oh, my God, you abandoned him.
They told me at the home that he’d likely been fending for himself for
weeks, even months. He was starved and emaciated, and near to death. You
should be ashamed of yourself.”
“Lady, don’t judge me. The dog
ran off, and I was in no position to find him.”
“You mean you didn’t bother.
Someone has to judge you. You are despicable.”
He watched her take a step
towards him. It meant she stood on the grave. “Look, get off the bloody
grave, will you?”
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