The sergeant nodded and sighed; "Bloody
students. Why couldn't they have gone missing on the Moors, then it wouldn't
really concern us; bloody selfish gits."
Inspector Parish walked back to his two
colleagues and shook his head; "Sod all sergeant. But it does look
like they just abandoned the place. There are dinner plates with sausages and
beans still on them. Their coats and other clothes are still around." He
held up a wallet; "One of them even left his wallet and watch in the
bloody tent."
"So they buggered off in a hurry then
Sir." The constable muttered. The Inspector walked back to the big police
car and slipped into the front passenger seat and picked up the radio handset.
"I'm going to call it in. We are going to need more manpower and someone
who actually knows these bloody woods." The sergeant just nodded. Three
bloody young students from York University had now been missing for five days.
Worried parents and friends had been calling the police station about them for
the last two days. Especially the concerned mother of Miss Iris Weeks - the
only female of the three - she had arranged with her daughter; that she would
call her mother every couple of days. Her mum had even given her a big bag of
pennies for the phones.
The constable walked from the small clearing
and stared into the dark woods. "They wouldn't be the first bloody people
to vanish in this place. People have been going missing in here for years -
probably centuries - and now these three have simply disappeared." He
spoke softly to himself and then looked down at the small slope that ran down
to a gravel path. There were dark twigs and small branches everywhere. He
rubbed his chin and pushed up his cap. He looked about and shouted to the
sergeant, who wandered over, throwing down his cigarette.
"Sarge, how come there's a trail of twigs here. There's no sodding tree's in this
clearing."
The sergeant looked down at the trail of twigs
and small branches; the young constable was right; there were no trees or even
bushes to drop them; never mind that they seemed to form a zig zag line into
the woods. "Now that's bloody strange." He said and gestured for the
constable to follow him. They walked next to the trail of wood splinters and
stopped at the small stream. The tree's on the opposite bank looked dark and
forbidding despite the day being sunny and clear. The sergeant wiped his face and neck; "That's bloody
queer; it seems to stop at the edge of the woods." They could hear
the Inspector shouting for them and they walked back to the police car.
"The bloody Superintendent is on his
way back to the station. The name in that wallet is important; the bloody son
of an MP. Now the shit has really hit the fan." The Inspector sighed and
stared up at the sky. "I've told old Ames [the Station Sergeant] to ensure
there's a couple of lads sent up here to preserve the scene. They can use my
car tonight. I think the weather is about to break and we could have
rain." The sergeant and Constable both looked up at the wonderful blue sky
and sighed together.
Inspector John Parish was a keen fisherman and
knew about the weather. If he forecast rain; then it would probably piss down.
Good bloody luck to the poor bastards who pulled this baby sitting job tonight.
The three sat in the car and waited for the
relief officers to turn up. The sergeant had to chuckle; the incoming night sky
looked full of rain. The sergeant sat in the driver’s seat and fiddled with the
radio set. He picked up 'BBC light' and they listened to some music. The
Inspector sat scribbling in his notebook. The first drops of rain splashed upon
the windscreen and were quickly followed by more. The young constable chuckled;
Jesus, Parish was like a bloody bloodhound when it came to the weather.
The darkness fell slowly and the sergeant
switched on the engine and turned on the sidelights. At least old Robbie [the
night shift van driver] would be able to see the big black car in the gathering
darkness.
"We'll do a swap; the car can stay and
Robbie can run us back to the nick in the van. It's Saturday night and the
van will be needed. Inspector Kelly is covering our district tonight; he has a
car and driver already." Inspector Parish told the sergeant who just
nodded and lit another cigarette. The young constable stared out the rear
windscreen and found he actually shivered; no one in their right mind would be
in the forest at night. He settled back in his seat and watched the rain
tumbling down the rear screen.
He actually jumped when the police radio burst
into life; the station was calling the Inspector. The sergeant quickly turned
off the music and Inspector Parish answered the call. Everyone smiled when dispatch told them; the van
was on its way.
They didn't smile at the rest of the message;
apparently the Chief Constable had been contacted by the Home Secretary himself
and the police had - gracefully - accepted assistance from an outside agency. A
team of private investigators had been hired by the MP and it had been agreed,
to give these 'experts' in tracing missing person’s full police co-operation
and assistance.
The Inspector hung the radio handset back on
its clip with some restrained force. "I don't bloody believe it! Private
Investigators; since when did the police hand over their responsibilities to a
bunch of bloody amateur detectives?" He sounded annoyed, amazed and
surprised - because he was - and slumped back in his seat. "What fucking
next? Call in the locals with bloodhounds?" He muttered.
The sergeant sat up and pointed to the dirt road
that leads into the clearing. "Sir, there's a van coming up the lane and I
don't think it’s ours. It's bloody white with a big black fella driving
it!" Everyone leaned forward as the van pulled up some yards from them and
the driver flashed his lights in a sort of 'Hello'.
The Inspector grunted; "Stay put. Let them
bastards get wet." His two colleagues chuckled at that. The sergeant
flashed the headlights of the police car and sat back. "I bet their all
wearing old raincoats, smell of booze and were kicked out of various police
forces before they even finished their probation." The sergeant predicted
with a chuckle.
The light came on in the van opposite as the
doors were opened. "Fuck me, that's some piece of bloody skirt!" The
sergeant exclaimed, they could see the young man and woman clearly as they jumped from the van. "What the fuck
have got a tart with them for?" He added; actually a little amazed.
Sheltering under a big black umbrella, the couple approached the front
passenger side. "What a fucking pair of tits and legs!" Was all the
young constable said and leaned forward to get a better view.
Parish rolled the window down half way and nodded
at the face that appeared under the umbrella. "Inspector Parish Sir?"
The young man asked and Parish just nodded. Jericho pulled an envelope from the
pocket of his smart three piece suit - under his very expensive black raincoat
- and handed it to Parish. "Jericho Tibbs Sir; from the Company of Thyme,
Tibbs & Travel; Private Investigations. That is from your Chief
Constable Sir." He smiled and Parish didn't. He tore open the envelope
and read the letter; he sighed and nodded. "It appears that the Chief
Constable has authorised these people to assist us with finding the three
missing students." He pushed the letter into his tunic pocket and stared
at the woman; she was a bloody stunner. Dressed like she was about to attend a
Buckingham Palace garden party. She probably couldn't investigate a hole in her
bloody stockings! But he kept those thoughts to himself. He told 'Tibbs' that
two uniform officers would be here to relieve him and would they kindly
keep away from the tents; until scene of crimes officers had attended in the
morning.
Mr. Tibbs nodded and asked if they [the
policemen] knew of any good B & B's around the place. The young constable
said quietly; "Yeah, try York City." His colleagues couldn't
restrain their laughter with that quip.
Jericho and Alex slipped back into the van and
Wilson just smiled; "I bet they were as helpful as giving a glass of water
to a drowning man."
Jericho nodded and turned to Owen; "Who
are the missing souls?" Owen stared at his mirror and said quietly;
"The oldest student is twenty year old John Hammond; likes to hike and
fish, studying Political History. The second male is Caleb Mortimer
Harding; nineteen years old and studying Modern History. He's father is
the MP. Finally we have Miss Iris Weeks - aged nineteen - and studying
Medicine; wants’ to be a doctor apparently. All three souls vanished two
days ago from the current time line."
"Looks like their relief has
arrived." Alex said and leaned forward, adding; "I wonder if they'll
be a bit friendlier?" Jericho smiled; "They may be if you wander
across and ask if they want coffee and fish and chips from that chippie we
passed in the village." Alex just sighed. The team watched the changeover
and the police van pulled away, disappearing down the lane.
Owen looked about and rubbed his chin;
"This place is steeped in strange stories and legends. There was a very
evil witch’s coven here in the 1700's. Old 'Doc' Underhill and his team
cleaned that one up. A real nasty bunch into human sacrifice; it's had a couple
visits from demons over the years; James and Arthur [Knights of God] cleaned
them up. Then, there's the strange legend of the 'HARBINGER'."
Wilson chuckled; "Bloody HARBINGER? What
the hell is that?" Owen shrugged his shoulders; "No one really knows,
but it's always sighted when strange things happen around here. I think it
could be one of those old 'Tree Spirits' that the BOSSES [Owen is talking about
GOD] father created, after all, he knocked up the bloody dinosaurs, so
anything is possible!" Everyone laughed at that. "Give it
another hour and we'll make contact with our new police friends." Jericho
said and settled back in his seat, watching the rain falling.
2. THE BIRD
WATCHERS HUT.
Owen leaned forward and stared out the
windscreen and grumbled about when they would be going for fish and chips; he
was going to indulge in a battered sausage as well. Then he went silent for a
few seconds; "Am I seeing things or is that a light showing the woods; its
faint but its there." Now everyone quickly strained forward and all could
see the faint light flickering deep in the wood. Jericho sat up straight and
nodded; "It’s a light alright. It’s not moving." Alex tapped his
shoulder; "The two coppers can see it, but they have just turned back to
their papers."
Jericho pushed open the door and grabbed his
umbrella; "Come on Alexandra; let’s find out if they know what causes
it." He stood in the rain - umbrella up - and gestured for her to follow.
Wilson and Owen watched them talking to the
officer through the driver’s side window and then jump into the rear seats,
Wilson grunted; "That's more like it. Amazing
what a decent pair of legs and the offer of hot coffee and fish and chips can
do!" Owen smiled - still staring at the light - which remained steady.
"I think it could be a house or something. It’s not car lights; it’s too
dim. I didn't know anyone lived in the forest." He consulted his mirror;
"Yes, I was right. There's no permanent human habitation for
miles."
Jericho and Alex re-joined them, smiling.
Jericho eased in and gestured for Wilson to start the van; "It appears
that a certain Lionel Tanner has a small hut deep in the woods and the local council allows him because he's a known Ornithologist and teaches kids about the bloody birds that infest the
place. The two coppers say that he must be after night feeders like Owls and
that. Even the bloody copper was one of his students apparently and sates the
old man knows every foot of these bloody woods. So Mr. Tanner is definitely
worth a visit."
Alex just sighed; "The cheeky buggers
wanted my bleeding phone number." Wilson pulled the van away, chuckling.
"Don't tell me your surprised by that?" And drove down the gravel lane
towards the main road. "They call them 'twitchers'; people who watch
birds. They are also called 'Birders'. What the difference is I haven't a
clue." Owen said, but no one really listened.
They returned some forty minutes later and
dropped the goodies to the very appreciative policemen. Alex
politely declined their offer to join them in the police car and have her
supper with the pair of horny and very keen young men. Owen was overjoyed and
scoffed his down quickly; cleaning up anyone else's left over’s. Wilson just
sighed; "Where the hell does he put it all? He eats like a pig and stays
skinny as a rake."
Jericho was reading his mirror - in between
mouthfuls of chips - and wiped his hands on some paper serviettes.
"Let's go people; the hut is some six miles down that gravel path. The van
should make it; School buses do." Wilson drove off, following the road
carefully into the dark forest.
They had to leave the van - next to a Morris
Minor car - some two hundred yards from the hut which was quite large with two
big windows. The doorway was lit by two powerful lamps. Jericho knocked and
heard a deep voice shout 'Enter; its unlocked!' They wandered in and found a
big man standing by a small wooden table; stuffing binoculars, torches and a camera's
into a canvas sack. He introduced himself: Lionel Tanner.
Retired history teacher and President of the local
Ornithologist Society. He easily matched Wilson in size with a nasty pink scar running
down his left cheek. When he saw they were looking at it: he gestured to it and
smiled; "Bloody war; caught one at 'Juno' beach. [Part of the D-Day
landings in 1944] Could have been worse; the bloke next to me had his head
blown right off. Right in the middle of mowing about his ‘old woman’ and
bleeding yank!" He smiled and pointed to the steaming kettle on the small
paraffin stove. "Anyone fancy a cuppa?"
They sat on old wooden chairs, sipping hot
sweet tea and Jericho - after introducing everyone - asked about the missing
students.
Lionel shook his head; "Sadly, they’re not
the first to disappear in these woods without a trace. Back in '22 [1922] two
young hikers went missing; nothing was ever found. My
grandfather told me a story that back in the 1890’s a family on a picnic
disappeared up by 'Angel Ridge'. Shame really, I had only seen the kids arrive a few days ago. I don't know
how that rusty old heap of a car made it down Hobbs Lane." [The gravel
road that runs into the forest from the tarmac roadway.]
Jericho tapped his chin; "They had a
car?" Lionel nodded and offered digestive biscuits all round; Owen took a
handful and drew a disapproving look from Wilson; who just sighed. Tanner
continued; "Yeah, some right old banger. Bloody pre-war I think; haven't
seen a motor like that since I was a teenager." He lifted the huge teapot
and poured himself another cup, offering refills to everyone. "The driver
was a skinny kid; didn't actually look old enough to drive. But he made
it."
Wilson sipped his tea; "Which one of the
three missing students was driving Lionel?" The big man shook his head;
"None of them. The skinny kid didn't apparently stay. The car had gone
when I came up the following morning with a small group of Boy Scouts; they’re
studying for their tracking badges, all good lads and I noticed he had
obviously gone too. Funny I didn’t actually see the other three either: maybe
they went back with him?"
"Did you actually see them around the
woods Lionel?" Jericho asked and Lionel sat back and ran a couple of
fingers through his neat grey beard. "Come to think of it; no. I never did
see them around the woods. But old Gabby - the woodsman - told Marge in the
village post office, that he saw them heading towards 'Angel Ridge'. He knew it
was them because of the girls flaming red hair. She’s a very pretty little
thing apparently." He sipped his tea, cradling the cup with both
hands. "Now here's the odd bit. Marge - the local Post Mistress - told
Gabby that the skinny kid with the car, brought postcards and sweets in
her shop. Lots of them; said they were for his friends. He also bought several
cans of beans and soup. Oh, and a fresh loaf of bread. The Post office doubles
as a local shop."
"Sounds like he was staying." Alex
said very quietly and turned to Jericho, whispering; "You don't think we
have four missing people but only three missing souls?" Jericho placed his
cup down; "If there is a fourth missing student; then where the hell is
he?" Jericho sat thinking while Lionel explained to Owen about the
difference between 'twitcher's' and 'Birders'. Owen asked him which he
was. Lionel grinned; "Bloody both I think. Just love birds." He
shrugged his shoulders. But Jericho interrupted the pair; "Lionel,
can you take us to Angel Ridge'" He nodded but pointed out that they
weren't really dressed or equipped to walk in the woods at night. Jericho just smiled
and said quietly; "Please give us fifteen minutes and we will be."
The little group assembled, and Lionel was
thoroughly impressed. They had walking sticks, back packs and rain proof
clothing, including stout hiking boots. Alex had swapped to a pair of hiking trousers
and looked the part. He chuckled – frankly a little bleeding amazed actually -
"Do you people always carrying such equipment on your
investigations?" Jericho nodded; "Especially when big bloody forests
are concerned!" With Lionel in front, torches swinging and chatting
quiietly, the group set off for Angel Ridge.
Wilson asked Lionel what the police had said about
the students when they interviewed him. Lionel shrugged his shoulders and wiped
rain from his thick spectacles. "Don't know my friend. They haven't spoken
to me or even old Gabby." Now that did surprise the detectives.
"Incompetent and bloody rude."
Owen muttered to Alex, who had to agree. Lionel was also impressed by the
group’s stamina; considering they had scoffed down fish and chips, with loads
of coffee and tea. He shouldn't have said that; Alex had to find a bush;
quickly. They stood around waiting and then heard Alex yelp.
"What's up Alexandra?"
Jericho shouted; quite unconcerned. Alex emerged from the big bush and
ruefully grinned; "I think, I just peed on a poor bloody badger!" Now
that did make everyone laugh, especially when Wilson dourly commented that some
men would actually pay her for that! But it resulted in him explaining what he
meant to young Owen; who just didn’t believe that people would do such things!
Even old Lionel laughed at that.
They made Angel Ridge after a couple of hours
of gentle walking. Lionel filled the time pointing out the various night birds
who were active, especially a couple of Owls. It was quite clear that the big man knew these woods like his own
garden. He sadly admitted that Rose - his late wife - had introduced him
to bird watching before the war. He clearly missed her and that made Alex a
little sad. But they reached Angel Ridge just before
midnight and stooped at the foot of the gentle slope and passed a hip flask
around. Lionel was impressed by the quality of the brandy. Suitably reinforced
by the drink, they tackled the slope and made the top.
They couldn't see much; it was night after all.
But something caught Owens’s sharp eyes and he pointed down
to a thick clump of ancient trees. "There's something odd about them. Look
at the base: it's seems to be shaped like..." He
wiped rain from his face and finished; "Looks like the shape of a
car!"
3. THE STRANGE SECRETS
OF ANGEL RIDGE.
They struggled a bit to reach the small group
of very old trees. They stood around shining their torches into the thick, dark
undergrowth and everyone agreed; it was shaped like an old car. They managed to
push closer and now could see the remains of a car, mingled in with the big
trees and bushes. One very old tree had grown through the boot. Lionel shone
his torch about and muttered to himself, finally turning to the others - he
looked totally puzzled - and said quietly; "This is bloody
impossible! These trees are hundreds of years old. But they have apparently
grown through the car, which means the damn car had to be here before the bloody tree grew! That's
impossible!" Owen was peering in, what would have been the front passenger
side and shouted for the others; they gathered around and stared where his
torch was pointing; on the passenger side floor were several rusted tin cans.
He held one up and shone his torch close to it; "I can just make out the
name - Heinz Baked beans - and there are several cans here." He said and
dropped the tin back down.
Lionel was standing staring at the wreckage
entangled in the trees and bushes. He spoke quietly - the amazement and
bewilderment obvious - "If I really had to make the call; I would have to
say that this rusted piece of junk was the car that bloody skinny student was
driving." He ran a hand over his face; "But that's bloody impossible.
These trees are hundreds of years old and I only saw the car a few days ago;
working."
The team exchanged glances and said
nothing. Owen and Alex moved to the other side of the trees and Owen
operated his mirror discretely. "Body search?"
Alex asked in a whisper. He nodded and wiped his face; "There's a set of
human remains in there somewhere." He looked up at her and said quietly;
"They belong to a certain John Hammond – his one of our missing
students - and he must have died hundreds of years ago; that's how old these
trees are and he must have been here before them. No soul was bleeding collected;
obviously."
Alex nodded; "One down, maybe three to go
I think." They re-joined the others and said nothing, but Owen nodded to
Jericho, who clearly understand what he was saying, without him saying anything.
He walked away and operated his mirror. "I think we should make camp in
the shelter of the ridge. Are you staying Lionel?" Jericho informed the
team - and Lionel of course - and pulled off his backpack. Lionel actually
stared at it. It seemed to have grown since leaving his cozy little hut. He
watched the others pulling off theirs and would have sworn on Rose's grave that
they were bigger than when they set out, which was impossible of course! But
then was he really looking at a car overgrown by trees hundreds of years old! He
nodded and looked back at the clump of old trees. He had walked this forest
since he was boy with his grandfather and couldn't remember this strange little
group of trees. The three tents were quickly erected, and everyone settled in.
Wilson and Jericho shared, whilst Lionel bunked in with Owen; Alex had her
own small tent and looked quite happy in it.
Lionel had - obviously - missed
Jericho stopping time and old Joe from Supplies arriving with the new
backpacks. He smiled at the still Lionel and said to Owen; "He looks like
he knows what he's doing in a forest." Owen just smiled. Alex asked him if
there was any way to date trees accurately, short of cutting them down and
counting the bloody rings!
Joe nodded and pulled his mirror out;
"Trees are living things with a life cycle and with a little adjustment
you can..." He stopped talking and tapped at his mirror. Then smiled;
"The tree through the boot is 213 years old. This being 1959 means that it
started to grow in 1746." He grinned and said his goodbyes and
disappeared. Chuckling to himself; Jericho had restarted time.
Owen shared his hip flask with Lionel and they
sat chatting; he asked him about the legend of the HARBINGER and Lionel
smiled; "Goes right back in time. Our ancestors worshipped nature then,
especially trees, mountains and rivers. The sun and Moon of course. It’s
said that all this forest - it was much bigger then - was his realm. He
was apparently a 'tree spirit' and a force for good in the woods. He was said
to have helped the early humans survive around here. But all that changed when the
new Christianity appeared; he was forgotten, and he really didn't like that.
So, over the centuries, he changed from a benevolent entity into an evil creature of legend. The witches
around here used to call upon him. But I think he always preferred
to be helpful to humans. I don’t think he deserves being called ‘evil’; I think
the stories have that wrong." Lionel handed back the hip flask and stared
up at the stars; the rain had stopped.
"That's some story Lionel. Do you tell the
kids that one, when you take them to chase birds around here?" Owen said,
making himself comfortable. Lionel chuckled; turning over to catch some sleep.
"It’s not a story lad. I've seen him a couple of times myself over the
years and he never did me or the missus any harm."
Owen just stared at the big man; "You've
actually seen him?" He asked incredulously. Lionel nodded and yawned.
"Sure have. You can't really miss him." He drifted off to sleep and
Owen quietly slipped from the tent and Joined Alex, Jericho and Wilson who had
gathered in Jericho's big tent. He told them what Lionel had said. Wilson
just grunted; "Yeah, Goldilocks and three big grizzly bears live two miles
down the road. The bloody porridge is really good I understand."
Jericho smiled; "Well, it looks like a
rogue time portal operates around here. That may explain all the
disappearances over the years. We need to find and close it. So, I think a
little trip back to 1746 may be in order. We're going to need to rescue those
bloody students before they all end up like Hammond."
Owen and Alex returned to their tents and
everyone was soon asleep. It was Alex screaming that woke everyone up and made
them jump from their tents. They found her running back, struggling to pull up
her knickers and tight trousers: she ran straight into Wilson's arms.
"What the hell..." He said, but Alex
was actually shaking and pointed back to the dark trees of the woodland.
Finally, she calmed down and sipped Owens’s hipflask. "What the hell
happened Alex?" He asked.
"I needed to pee and so I took my torch
and found a big tree, I just squatted down and..." He gulped down some
more brandy. "I was careful. I didn't want to pee on any more small
animals. Then the bloody tree walked away!" Everyone just stared at each
other. Lionel just patted her shoulder; "Don't worry. It was only
HARBINGER taking a look at us." He walked back to his tent; like they had
just received a call from the bloody postman!
Alex shouted after him; "Bloody HARBINGER!
Is that it? A bloody tree just walked away!" Owen shoved the hipflask back
under her nose. "Come on. I'll explain about the walking tree, and you'll
see sense." He took her back to her tent.
Jericho and Wilson stared into the forest and exchanged an amused
look.
"The BOSSES granddad did have a bloody
good imagination and did create some strange bloody things." Jericho said
quietly as he and Wilson settled back in their tent. Wilson nodded; "Well,
anyone who created the bloody Duckbilled platypus must have a warped sense of
humour." They both chuckled at that and settled back down. Owens’s head
appeared in the tent flap and he held up his mirror; "Check the date on
our mirrors. It’s Sunday, 15th June 1567." He whispered and didn't smile.
Wilson confirmed the date; they had been thrown
back 392 years in an instant. They quietly walked past the sleeping Lionel and
shone their torches at the strange clump of trees; it had gone.
Jericho rubbed his chin; "Now that's quite a bit of a co-incidence. HARBINGER turns up and we're thrown back in
time 392 years."
Alex joined them and shook her head;
"Never mind the disappearing bloody trees, what going on over there?"
She pointed to the forest edge, some miles away. It was large bonfire, and they
could make out several dark figures around it.
Owen checked his mirror; "Several humans -
nine to be exact - five men and three women and a child." He really
grimaced; "I think they're witches and the child must be a...."He
hesitated and wiped his face; "A child sacrifice."
Alex prodded Jericho's shoulder and said
quietly; "What are we going to do about that?" She folded her arms
and stared at him. Jericho shrugged his shoulders and sighed; "Your bloody
love of living humans, is going to get us in some real shit; sooner or later." She almost smiled; "Well
let’s make it sooner than latter for the sake of that child."
4. A CHILD OF THE MOON.
They crept through the undergrowth and stared
at the scene - illuminated by the bonfire - and Owen did chuckle a little.
"All stark naked and dancing; bloody mad bastards."
Alex pointed to a tree stump; the little girl
sat clutching a stick doll. Her head covered with a wreath of flowers. The
child had a strange look on her face. "I bet they fucking drugged
her." Alex whispered angrily. Owen nodded; “The bastards do that to get
co-operation, probably told her it would keep the cold night out at the bonfire
party; she would trust adults at that age.”
Jericho lay quietly in the grass, and then
suddenly reached into his jacket pocket. He pulled his orb out and everyone
could see the red streaks forming around its circumference. "A bloody
demon." He said and watched the streaks swirling about the orb. Wilson
pulled out his mirror. "A Guardian?" He asked softly and Jericho
nodded; "It's a Tier Three. A Guardian will do nicely."
They watched - a little horrified - as a big
man walked up to the child and easily picked her up. He held her aloft and the
others started to chant. He walked back to the bonfire and shouted - in old
English - that the child was a gift to the goddess of the Moon. The flames
would consume her, and the rising smoke would send her up to the
Goddess.
The coven started to dance again, chanting and
singing. Jericho almost jumped when Oscar [a Guardian of God] tapped his
shoulder; "Well, the gangs all here now." The little man said with a
broad smile. He looked across at the witches and grunted; "Another bloody
sacrifice to the moon: mad bastards."
Owen nodded; "I said that too." They
watched as the flames of the bonfire seemed to part and a dark figure emerged.
Oscar sighed; "Bloody Taliss, He's a right twat. I've kicked his arse a
couple of times. Really does like child sacrifices. The dirty piece of shit
likes to fuck them first." Alex patted his shoulder; "Go get the
fucker big man." She whispered.
Jericho rose from the ground and stopped time;
his mirror would have no effect on the demon of course. Oscar leapt from the
bushes; his Staff of Moses gripped in both hands. "Arse kicking time you
mother fucker! Yippee Ki Yay!" He yelled and set about the surprised
looking demon. Wilson just sighed; "Bruce bloody Willis has a lot to
answer for."
The demon was no match for an enraged Oscar,
who beat the shit out of him and the demon fled screaming back into the bonfire. Owen handed Oscar his hipflask and
patted his shoulder; "Nice job big man." The dwarf smiled and took a
sip. "I do enjoy my work sometimes." Alex gave him a well-earned
kiss which made him grin quite shyly. Wilson gently pulled the child from the
arms of the big witch and Alex wrapped her in her coat. "She can't be more
than ten." She muttered with great sadness.
Owen coughed; "According to Human Records,
young Kathleen - her father is a farmer here - died this very day. No soul collected.
That fucking demon would have stolen it. That's changed now." Jericho
smiled at that; "Well that gets us off the hook. We bloody recovered a
lost soul. Angel Margret won't be able to moan at us; well not too much."
Owen ran his mirror over some of the naked
witches and groaned; "For fuck sake" The big man is her father and
that skinny woman with the filthy hair and pock marks; is her bloody mother!
Now what do we do with her?" He gestured to the still child in Alex arms.
Jericho sighed and rubbed his chin; "Well, we can't leave her with those
devil worshipping murdering bastards."
Everyone just looked at each other; thinking.
Then Owen smiled; "According to my mirror; there's a convent
some seventy miles away. In these times, it may as well be, in a different
country. We could drop her off there. They have a good reputation for looking
after orphans properly: kind women by all accounts."
Jericho nodded; "That's the best chance
she'll have in these times and circumstances. You and Alex get going."
Owen and Alex operated their mirrors and were gone.
Jericho looked at the naked witches and smiled.
He stared at the bonfire - frozen in time - and gestured to it. "Shall we
move these bastards a little nearer? I'm sure they feel cold." Wilson and
Oscar chuckled at that with Oscar muttering; "Angel Margret won't be happy
about this. But then she's not happy about a lot of things you get up to
Jericho! Everyone would love to know how you get away with so much." He
gleefully helped move the witches a little closer to the fire, muttering;
"You can have a little taste of what that poor bloody kid would have
endured; you mad bastards."
They made their way back to the encampment and
Jericho restarted time; they all laughed at the distant screaming. Oscar said
his farewells and Jericho returned everyone - including the sleeping Lionel - back to 1959. Alex and Owen
returned just before sunrise. Alex really did smile; "The nuns were lovely
and didn't hesitate to take in little orphan Kate.
But they thought we were an odd pair." She chuckled and pointed to Lionel;
who was sitting up in the tent; stretching. "What do we do with the twitcher?" Jericho rubbed his chin;
"Take him back to his hut I suppose." Owen pointed to the strange
clump of trees; "He knows something is not right here. He's bound
to tell people about this. That could be a real problem; evidence of time
travel and all that."
"We'll deal with that later."
Muttered Jericho and they started to fold up their tents. Lionel admitted that
was the best sleep he had enjoyed in some time. "I must camp out in the
woods more often. HARBINGER won't mind the company." Everyone just stared
at him then they headed back to the hut.
Owen insisted they visit the village and find a
café; he was starving. The van pulled up outside 'Maggie's Dinner' and the team
piled in. The smell of bacon, sausages, black pudding and other breakfast
delights filled the place. Owen actually rubbed his hands together and they sat at the table
by the window. The middle-aged waitress appeared and took their orders; she
peered over the top of her large, black NHS glasses and asked Owen to confirm
what he just ordered. Owen smiled; "Two fried eggs, two sausages, two
bacon, mushrooms, beans, black pudding, fried slice and grilled tomatoes. That's
it I think." He grinned and she just sighed; "Hungry little soul
ain't he." She dourly muttered and wandered off. Wilson just shook his
head; "I'd swear the sodding beggar must have hollow
legs."
Jericho called the briefing to order and spoke
quietly; "We know that John Hammond must have travelled back to 1746 or sometime before that and been killed or died.
No soul obviously, so where is the other two souls? We know that the skinny
kid, who was driving, must still be around here. No soul collection and no soul
missing from the timeline like the other three. So where the hell is he?"
Wilson grunted; "Then we have the problem
of the HARBINGER. Does he possess some sort of time portal? It can't be a
bloody co -incidence that he appeared, and we get thrown back three hundred and
ninety two years?" The discussions were suspended by the waitress bringing
the food. She slapped the large plate of breakfast down in front of Owen and
almost smiled; "I can ask the chef to shoot a horse if you need a
snack." She grunted and walked off. Owen just sighed and set about his
breakfast with some relish.
Wilson rubbed his chin, placing down his fork;
"We could jump back to 1746 and conduct a body search, but if
negative, we would have to jump back each year until we achieved a result. We
could end up in the Stone age." Alex was enjoying scrambled eggs on toast,
but she suddenly stopped; "A creature like the HARBINGER wouldn't
have a bloody time portal; he's basically a bloody tree that can think and walk.
What if HARBINGER IS the time portal? That would make sense with people
disappearing whenever he is seen." She sprinkled some salt and squeezed a
little ketchup on her eggs.
Owen paused his relentless scoffing to agree
with her - he chuckled between mouthfuls - "Why not just ask the strange
old bugger where he sent them?" Everyone stared at him and he lowered his
knife and fork; "Now what have I said?" He asked softly. But Jericho
did smile; "I think our human dustbin has a very good suggestion there. If anyone would know;
the HARBINGER would." Alex groaned; "That means spending another
bloody night in the forest. There's no proper loo's." She muttered and
sipped her coffee. It was agreed that was the plan of action; but first they
had to return to the student’s campsite and check it over. They finished their
breakfasts and the waitress stood speechless, as Owen ordered two bacon rolls
to go!
They climbed in the van and set out for the
woods. They drove past the Parish Church of St. John and Jericho shouted
'STOP!' to Wilson, who pulled up by the crumbling brick wall of the church’s graveyard. They all jumped from the van and
walked back to the churches driveway. Everyone stared at the old car parked on
the gravel. Owen checked his mirror; "It's a pre second world war car. A
Morris Cowley made in 1932. Now there can't be many of them in this small
village."
Jericho walked up and peered in the windows; he
gestured for everyone to join him. He pointed to the front passenger foot well. There were several tins of Heinz soups and
baked beans on the floor with a newspaper. The date on the paper
was the day the students disappeared.
Wilson folded his arms; "How can this car
be buried under those ancient trees and still be sitting here? That doesn't
make sense."
Jericho looked up and smiled; "Just
admiring your wonderful old car Reverend: a 1932 Morris Cowley unless I'm
mistaken." The old man stood in the doorway of the small Parochial House
and finally smiled; "Yes, it is young man. You know your pre-war cars. I
bought it new back then - in 1932 - and now my grandson Chester drives it. He
loves the old girl; calls her Molly."
"Grandson?" Whispered Wilson, adding;
"How would he know the students from York University?" Jericho walked
up and shook the reverends hand and introduced himself and his team from;
'Thyme, Tibbs & Travell' - private Investigators - The reverend just
nodded; "I had heard that some amateur detectives had been hired by
Caleb's father to help find the missing youngsters."
Jericho smiled; "Is your grandson in sir?"
The old reverend nodded. "Can we speak to him?" Jericho asked.
It was clear the old reverend wasn't firing on all his cylinders! The reverend
sighed and shouted into the house; "Chester! There are some amateur police
people here!" He gave the team a little backward wave and disappeared inside, leaving the door
open. Everyone had noticed that the old man was wearing different shoes, Alex
sighed; "I would say early signs of dementia." Owen shook his head;
"Sorry to disagree Doctor Kildare, but isn't dementia a modern disease?
Only came about in the early 21st century." Alex shook her head; "In
these times it would be called senility, you twerp and don't tell me how to be
a doctor." But there was no real censure in her voice. Owen just smiled;
that dopey smile that annoyed Wilson so many times.
A scruffy, skinny young man appeared wearing a
baggy jumper and dirty trousers. He was eating a sandwich; "Who wants
me?" He asked and lowered his sandwich, smiling at Alex. Jericho -
again - introduced himself and the team. Chester grunted; "Not this
crap again. Like I told the coppers last night, when they stopped me in the old
car; I dropped off some stuff to John and his friends and didn't stay." He
shrugged his shoulders and turned to walk away, stopping; "Don't
bloody annoy me again with this crap." He threw the remains of the
sandwich at Jericho's feet and slammed the door
shut. "Rude, obnoxious, lying little shit." Was all Owen said: no
one disagreed with him.
5. CAMPISTE CLUES.
They sat in the van and Owen ate his bacon
rolls; cold. Alex leaned back in her seat; "He's lying because the bloody
cans are still in the front passenger foot well. He
never dropped them off to John Hammond, so what else is he lying about or what
is he hiding?" She asked and had to grimace at Owen, eating stone cold
bacon rolls. Jericho nodded and told Wilson to head to the students campsite.
"Something is not right here? Lionel believes that Chester dropped off the
students and left. The woman in the shop sold Chester canned food, which he
said was for his friends, but never delivered them apparently. The only person
to see the students here was the character called 'Gabby' the woodsman."
Jericho recounted and stared out the windows. They made their way back to the
little campsite. It was swarming with police and scenes of crime personnel.
Inspector Parish actually groaned at seeing the
van pull up. But the old sergeant tapped his arm; "They did look after our
lads last night and they did keep away from the tents; like you told them."
Parish shrugged his shoulders; "Always the voice of reason
sergeant." Jericho and the team waited by the van until called over by the Inspector. The team bid the
two policemen a cheery good morning and only the sergeant replied. "And a
good morning to you. Sleep well in the woods with mad old Lionel?" He
chuckled.
Jericho smiled; "So you've spoken to
Lionel then?" he asked. The sergeant laughed; "Yeah. We heard
the tale of Chester Freeman's car - now a wreck and hundreds of years old - the
HARBINGER jumping out on your girl taking a pee. Oh, we heard the whole
fantastic story. You can see why people call him mad Lionel.”
The Inspector - smiling now - gestured to the
campsite and said, "Help yourself; let me know if our sloppy professionals
missed anything." He walked off – laughing - and the sergeant followed.
It appears the police operation at the camp
site was over. The sergeant turned; "We have a team turning up to remove
all this.
The Council insists it’s cleaned up." He
nodded and jumped into the big black police car and drove the
Inspector away.
Owen sighed; "It appears that old Lionel
has no real credibility around here. That makes our job easier; doesn't
it?" Jericho didn't answer but walked over to the tents. "Come
on people, let’s have a look - a good look - and use your
mirrors." He shouted and knelt down by one tent. There were
footprints everywhere, the rain last night had turned the
previously hard ground a little soft. That's when he
noticed the little ruts in the grass. Owen peered over his shoulder;
"Looks like pram wheels." Jericho nodded and rubbed his chin.
"Or a wheelbarrow or something similar."
Wilson shouted to them; he had walked
down the small slope that ran down to a gravel path. They joined him and
stared at the trail of wood splinters and small branches. "Lovely zig zag
pattern and there's no trees to drop them here." He gestured for them
to follow, and they did, stopping at the small stream. The tress opposite
seemed to move despite there being no wind. "I think the HARBINGER was
here." Wilson said softly.
Owen walked the stream's edge for a few yards
and stopped. He waved everyone over and they gathered around him. It was a
lipstick that looked new. Alex turned it open and smiled; "Cherry
red." She said and closed it, adding; “I would only use that colour if I
was pretending to be a bit slutty.” Wilson muttered softly, “Pretending?” and
received a ‘death stare’ from Alex which made Owen chuckle and slap Wilson’s
back; “Nice one big man.”
Jericho surprised them by splashing through
the shallow stream and stopped amongst some rocks that protruded from the
water. He reached down and pulled a woman's powder compact up. "Check the
other bank thoroughly." He said and the team - reluctantly - joined him in
the stream. They crossed to the other side and looked about. Owen shouted;
"By the tree line; there's a pair of eyebrow clippers!" He held them
up and stared into the dark trees, adding; "There's a small path in
here." Shaking their wet shoes, they pushed into the trees and Jericho
immediately noticed the little wheel ruts. They were spaced and regularly intermittent but could be followed.
They had gone some yards when Wilson found a woman's face powder brush. Alex
held it and said softly; "Do you think someone is leaving us a trail to
follow?"
Jericho nodded; "Miss Iris Weeks, I
strongly suspect." They followed the little path for about an hour until
it ended where a rough dirt road began. Owen found a rough
wooden sign with metal letters [well rusted] forming; "Copes Farm'. They walked
up the road and found the ruins of the old farm building and large yard. The
house had little roof left and no glass in any of the remaining windows. The
front door was hanging half open and Owen shouted; in the driveway to the yard,
he had found a silver cigarette lighter - he held it up - "It’s engraved
with the name 'Iris'." He said simply.
Wilson already had his mirror out, but Jericho
pointed out the little wheel ruts in the gravel. "Our bloody mysterious
pram or wheelbarrow pusher was here." Alex stared at the old house;
"Yeah, but what did they have in the bloody wheelbarrow?"
Wilson wiped his face; "There's no humans
in the house or human bodies present." He lowered his mirror and looked
about. "This place hasn't been occupied for years. I didn't think anyone
lived in the forest." Jericho was walking the yard; "Maybe not these
days, but someone lived here years ago. Owen, check the house's history."
Owen stood operating his mirror and sighed; "No one has lived here since
1916. The Cope family owned the place since 1856, but the last member of the
family was killed in 1915 at the Battle of Loos. No one has lived here since
then. According to Human Records, the local Council now owns it."
"Well, we know that Iris Weeks has been
here and possibly someone else; the wheelbarrow pusher." Jericho
muttered.
Alex was kneeling by the rusted metal gates of
the driveway. She looked up; "There's tyre tracks here. Someone has
brought a car up here." Jericho looked around and then suddenly cursed
loudly. Everyone turned to him; "I know it’s like slamming the stable door
after the horse has bolted, but I think we should have bleeding checked
Chester's car for a time portal!"
Wilson groaned; "I follow your
thinking Jericho; the trail ends here with no bodies, nothing. The last place
the students were alive in the current timeline is here. Well,
Iris Weeks was here, possibly with someone else. There are no time portals in
the house or grounds. I would throw my hat in the ring and say they were
transported from here in that bloody car to some other time."
Jericho - now quite grim - pulled out his
mirror; "Back to the van - the quick way - and let’s check obnoxious
Chester's bloody car." They vanished and the house returned to its lonely
derelict quietness. The HARBINGER moved slowly from the
tree line, shuffling towards the dark interior of the forest that it loved so
dearly. If it had a face; then it would be a smiling one.
6. THE OLD SPIRIT.
The Parochial House was in darkness and
Wilson parked opposite. The team was disappointed; the car was gone. Jericho
asked Owen to check the house; he did so thoroughly. He sat working his mirror
for some minutes. "Parts of it were built in the 1700's, but most of it is
middle Victorian; early 1860's. The Church grounds it sits in go way back to
Anglo-Saxon times. There was church here first in 953AD." He chuckled;
"It [the church] sits right on top of an early pagan temple, that's hundreds of years older. But there are no time portals present. But
there is something that may interest us; really interest us." He lowered
his mirror and smiled broadly. Alex sighed; "What will bloody really
interest us?"
Owen gestured to the old house; "It's
haunted. There's an earth-bound spirit in there. From way back, possibly well
before even Christianity came on the scene." They all stared at the house.
"Do we know who it is?" Jericho asked. Owen shook his head;
"Human Records have nothing on the spirit. Which is quite odd?"
Jericho jerked open the van door; "Well,
let’s have a little chat with it. Shall we?" They all jumped from
the van and headed up the driveway. Jericho banged loudly on the door and
received no answer. "There's no one in. Well, no one still
alive!" Owen muttered, pushing his mirror back in his pocket. Jericho held
up his orb; it was clear. "No bloody demon then." He said and nodded
to Wilson.
Wilson had the door open in seconds and smiled
with satisfaction. Owen grunted; "Are you sure you were in the bloody
NYPD?"
Wilson just grinned and gestured into the
house; “After you baby brother.” They pushed into the dark house and gathered
in the messy front room. It was covered with dirty plates, cups, beer tins and
bottles. There were clothes thrown about the place and the sofa was threadbare.
Alex with some caution, stepped over a pile of old newspapers, magazines and
porn books, shaking her head; "Chester - the little shit - is not looking
after his dear old grandfather very well."
Jericho shouted a couple of times for the
spirit to show itself. They watched in silence as a little white mist began to
form in the fireplace and slowly grow into a human shape. The young man
was dressed in a simple white robe with a hood; he had a gold rope about his
waist and bare feet. He was a very handsome young man, well built with stunning
blue eyes. Jericho bowed a little; "We are sorry to disturb you sir, but I
think you know who we are and who we work for." The spirit nodded and smiled
a little. "I know who you are Jericho. I have been expecting you or a
colleague to finally arrive." His voice was deep - almost hypnotic - he
could make a fortune doing movie voice over’s!
Jericho nodded; "You have been expecting
us sir?" He asked quietly. The spirit nodded again. "The theft of the
young people’s souls would bring you on scene. You are clearly well suited to
the tasks assigned to you; otherwise, you wouldn't be standing before me.
Living humans now only exist in the illusionary world created for them. They
have little understanding of their true reality." He clasped his big hands
in front of him. "What do you seek Jericho?"
Jericho said simply; "To return the stolen
souls to their allocated time sir." The spirit smiled. "Surely a
worthy cause Jericho; the HARBINGER has already informed me of your most
excellent endeavours in that respect. He particularly likes your young woman.
She was most generous and watered him, which he greatly appreciated." Alex went a little
red at that revelation. The spirit raised his arms; "Let us travel
together. Time is just another illusion of the human mind; it only exists where
living humans dwell. They are freed when their bodies fall away. The flesh
always fails; the spirit never does. Come with me now." The dingy room was
empty. The reverend's old cat crept out from under the sofa and pissed in the fireplace.
Then settled back down on the sofa; she had seen the spirit many time over the
years; but the humans in the house never had.
They walked through the woods; the weather was
glorious with blue sky and warm sunshine. They followed the spirit in silence. Owen tapped Jericho on the sleeve and pointed
to his mirror; it was offline. The spirit tuned and smiled; "You have no
need of anything whilst with me." He gestured down
to the Manor House: its numerous chimneys were smoking.
There was a strange burning smell in the air. "Someone's having a bloody bar-be-que." muttered Wilson.
The Spirit didn't smile; "The humans you
seek are trapped in the cellars of this house. They are awaiting the same fate
that befell the others. Their captors are destroying the evidence of their inhumanity and will take great joy in more
savage, earthly pleasure and death. They are full of
darkness."
"What human year is this sir?"
Jericho asked, staring at the house and wondering what the hell was going on in
there. The spirit smiled; "There are many ways to date human progress. But
for your connivance it is the year 1715." He gestured to the side of the
house, adding: "That is somewhat out of place." Everyone could see
the old Morris Cowley car standing near the stable block. The spirit did not
smile; "I would have suggested you call a Knight; maybe one of the best.
James, Arthur or Lucinda. But whilst I'm here, you have no need of them. The
dark demon Kiri has taken up residence and his minions are devoted to him. I will
cast him back to his foolish young master."
Owen sighed with relief; his mirror was back
online. The spirit gestured to the house; "Go now my friends and fulfil
your task." They could hear screaming and chaotic noise from the old
house. The spirit did smile; "Kiri is back with his master. Act now
Jericho." The team headed quickly for the house and saw young Chester
running towards the car, followed by a tall thin man wearing an ill-fitting
three-piece suit. He was gripping an axe in one hand. Jericho stopped time and the two
running figures froze in time. "Let’s find them!" Jericho shouted and
the team ran into the house. At the foot of the stairs was a middle-aged woman
in a black robe; the hood pulled back; her still face frozen in a shout.
Wilson stopped and stared at the woman;
"Isn't that the bloody waitress from the café?" He shouted and they
located the hatch to the cellars with their mirrors. Jericho checked his orb;
it was clear. Wilson and Owen heaved it up and they shone their mirrors down.
It was not a pleasant sight. The two young students were chained against a wall
- quite naked - and had bruises and whip marks upon their legs and backs. Alex shone her
mirror on Iris and cursed with some anger. The girl’s thighs were bloody and
she had probably been raped more than once. Wilson pulled out his lock picking kit and
soon had the chains and collars off. The two students sobbed and the girl
gripped Alex tightly and simply wouldn’t let go.
Jericho ran a hand over his face; "Alex
and Owen, take them back to the day they arrived in the clearing. That way,
they wouldn't have suffered these horrors. Wilson and I will deal with the bastards above." Alex nodded and she
and Owen disappeared with the two battered and abused students. Wilson
and Jericho searched the house and found human remains - partially burnt - in
the big fireplace of the main reception room. There was a pentagon painted on
the floor, in human blood apparently. Wilson checked the remains in the
fireplace and cursed loudly, lowering his mirror; "It's the poor fucking
old reverend. Now why did the bastards kill the poor old senile bugger? His
soul is lost to the darkness now."
Jericho shook his head; he didn't know. The
spirit stood in the doorway and smiled a little; "I will call his soul back
from the darkness and you obtain the assistance of a Collector Jericho."
The old reverend appeared by the fireplace in a state of utter confusion.
Herbie the Collector also appeared; checking his soul ledger - he smiled at
Jericho and Wilson - and muttered; "That's bloody odd. I have no scheduled
collection for this time and place. Then suddenly I get this one!"
Jericho just jerked a thumb at the spirit and
Herbie grinned. "Oh. Now I understand." He bowed a little at the
spirit. "As you order sir." He said quietly and guided the reverend
towards the light. They were gone. "What about John Hammond's
soul?" Wilson asked; the young man was missing from the cellar. Jericho
stared at his mirror; "Why the hell was he in the car? Why did we find the
damn thing hundreds of years before it was even built? They are pretty
interesting questions."
The spirit chuckled; "The soul known as
John Hammond has escaped your clutches and even now is frantically operating
the time portal contained in the car. Sadly he was part of the devil
worshipping sect here and in the future. He and the soul known as Chester Freeman arranged for the other two
students to be brought here. But - unfortunately for the evil
young man – he failed to operate the time portal properly. He
had appeared in 1563, in front of some very unpleasant witches
and they used him and the strange vehicle, as the ultimate sacrifice to their
master. They burnt him alive. I do love the beautiful irony of that." The
spirit smiled and simply disappeared. Wilson finally had to ask; "Who or
what the hell was he?" Jericho checked his mirror and wiped his face;
"The BOSSES granddad created humanity and also assigned some of his
earlier creations to watch over the fledgling humans. But humans being humans;
they soon went their own way, came up with their own religions and Gods. I
strongly suspect that creatures like the Spirit and HARBINGER are all that's
left of those early babysitters."
Wilson nodded and smiled; "What do we do
with these bastards?" Now Jericho really did smile. "Well, they do
love devil worship; shouldn't they want to join their friend John? I mean, what
if they were stupid enough to appear in the middle of a witch trial in the
1400's? I think they would love that." He said quietly and Wilson
just had to grin. They stood outside and saw the car had gone. John Hammond had
fled the scene; leaving his two fellow devil worshippers running towards him
and simply abandoned them to their fate. He certainly regretted that now; he
didn't quite understand how the time portal worked and paid for that ignorance
with his life and soul.
7. RETURN TO THE WOODS.
They sat in the van and waited; the two
students from York University never arrived to set up camp. Chester Freeman and
his old car also didn't put in an appearance. Owen sat reading his mirror and
chuckled; "The timeline has changed a little; but Angel Margret has
apparently authorised the changes. The old reverend and his evil grandson have disappeared
from this time and place. They never existed here. There's a young married
vicar in the Parochial House with his wife and three kids. The grease shop: 'Maggie's
Dinner' is now a bloody kebab shop - can we stop there later? - [Jericho just
nodded] and she has been removed from the human timeline. Gabrielle – AKA Gabby
- Houseman; the woodsman never existed here and now. Whilst John Hammond, who
died in 1563, never existed here and so; the two young students never met him
or came on this trip."
"Looks like old mad Lionel will have his
hands full." Alex chuckled as a small school bus passed the team's van,
heading up the dirt road to Lionel's cabin. "Of course, old Lionel would
have never met us; we only met because of the students and that has now
changed." Wilson grunted and watched the bus full of happy young children
pass. He grinned and waved at them; he received loads of waving back from the clearly excited
youngsters. "Must be a lot more fun than sitting in a stuffy classroom on
a day like this." He added and sat back in the driver’s seat, smiling.
The team would wait in the little clearing
until old Joe from Supplies arrived to collect the van and equipment. Then they
would jump to the lighthouse for a well-earned dinner and some brandies.
Jericho already knew that they had another mission waiting; a trip back to
England in 1977 and a dead woman bricked up in bloody Canterbury Cathedral! [See
episode: ‘The corpse chronicler of Canterbury Cathedral.’]
Jericho pulled out his mirror which was
buzzing; "Bloody Temporal Operations Control, what do they want?" He answered
and relaxed back in his seat; then sat up suddenly. He lowered his mirror and
really looked grim. "What is it?" Wilson asked. Jericho shook his
head in disbelief; "We've been given another assignment here, at this time
and place, they passed it to us because it happened right now." Alex
leaned forward; "What has happened?"
Jericho stared down the dirt road and sighed;
"Two young girls have just vanished from the timeline. Their teacher is
presently at a phone box down that very road, reporting them missing from the
school group; right now, to the local police." He ran a hand across his
face and sighed loudly adding; "A time controller flagged the
disappearance and the Senior Duty Controller - Janet - knew we were already on
scene here; waiting for Supplies to recover the damn van. She passed the call
straight to us. A Susan Morris and Clare Roberts; both aged nine have simply
vanished from this time and place." Jericho said and gestured for Wilson to start the van; "Let’s go
people." He added and checked his mirror for updates.
"What the fuck! We've closed the bloody
time portals. How is this possible?" Wilson said and started the van.
Jericho sighed; "Maybe they got too close to the bloody
HARBINGER and were thrown back in time. Whatever happened; we have
to find them."
Wilson turned the van around and headed down
the road. He had to pull over; a police car passed them at speed, its shrill
bell sounding and the headlamps flashing. They followed and found the scene
outside Lionel's hut utterly chaotic.
They young teacher - between sobs - was giving
a description of the missing girls to the police driver. He wrote everything
down and shouted to his colleague to call the
station for more men and inform Inspector Parish. The young constable had his
hands full; throwing four mischievous boys from the police car. One had already
sounded the bells and shouted into the radio handset!
Jericho quickly walked over to him and asked if
they could be of assistance. The harassed young copper nodded, giving one boy a
gentle slap across the head. The boy was writing with a crayon in the police
car's logbook. "Sodding teachers really earn their bloody money; don't
they?" He said - quite ruefully - to Jericho, who just smiled.
Lionel sat on the steps of his hut talking
softly with two girls. He looked up at Wilson and Alex; "According to
Margaret and Lilly, the two missing girls went around the back of the hut:
giggling together over something. They never came back." He stared
at Alex; "Don't I know you Miss? Are you an actress off the TV or
something?" Alex shook her head; "No, I'm a doctor actually."
That admission caught the police drivers attention and he called Alex over;
"Can you look after Miss Grimes please Doc? I think she's in shock."
Alex nodded and put her arms around the young woman and walked her to the van.
They sat in the back, with the doors open, quietly chatting.
Owen and Lionel gathered the children together
and was now explaining about what the police would be doing and why. The Police
driver pushed up his cap and smiled; "Thank fuck for that!
Police driver pushed up his cap and smiled;
"Thank fuck for that! I'd sooner handle a couple of armed blaggers."
[That’s armed robbers in police slang!] he admitted to Jericho. His young
colleague informed him that Inspector Parish was on his way with more men and to get a search party together.
"We'll stay and help of course." Jericho told the driver, who nodded
then asked who the hell were they!
Jericho thoughtfully kept to the old cover
story about being private investigators, except he changed the crucial part of
the story, to the team chasing after a persistent debtor, who owed their client
thousands of pounds and had absconded. The copper just smiled and muttered;
"Inspector Parish will really welcome your help." Jericho could hear
the sarcasm in his voice. The driver joined his colleague by the car and Owen
tapped Jericho on the shoulder and gestured for him to follow.
Wilson joined them and they followed the zig
zag pattern of small twigs and pieces of wood away from the back of the hut.
They stood before the dark forbidding tree's at the
edge of the vast woodland. "Well, the bloody HARBINGER was definitely
here. I wonder if those two kids got too close to him and zap, they were
gone." Owen checked in mirror again and grunted with real satisfaction;
"The Time Controller has finally traced the breech in the timeline."
He looked up and ran a hand across his face; "There was a breach of the
time line here at this time and place: two souls were transported to
698AD."
Jericho nodded and said quietly; "Owen, go
get Alex. We're going to defy temporal protocols and jump as we are. There is
no time to mess about with Supplies, costumes or such stuff. Those two children
could be in real danger in this forest in the 7th Century. So we're going right
now; as we are." Owen wandered back to the van and spoke with Alex whilst
Wilson stared at the forest and grunted; "I agree with your call Jericho,
but Angel Margret may not." But he did smile.
The team climbed into the back of the van and
Jericho operated his mirror and the van was empty. They stood in the slight
drizzle and shouted for young Susan and Clare. There was no answer. Jericho
wiped rain from his face and told his team to split into two. He and Owen would
search in the one direction and Wilson, with Alex would search in the opposite.
Owen sighed; "Jericho, nothing is showing on my mirror when I do a body
search: that’s really odd. The girl’s human form should be
picked up; but nothing is showing." Alex lowered her mirror and
agreed with Owen. "That's not right. We should be picking up their bodies.
They can't have gone far; we were too quick on scene and they should be
here."
Jericho didn't smile as he gestured very slowly
to the forest edge; "Maybe they can help." He said quietly and the
team all turned as one and saw the group of men standing together between the dark trees. They were all carrying
spears and axes. They really didn't look very hospitable.
Jericho held up one hand and shouted - in old English - that they had come to
find two young girls; missing from their village. The men spoke amongst themselves
and the team couldn't hear what was said.
I hope their friendly fuckers." Muttered
Wilson and the team soon found that they weren't. The group of men charged
waving their spears and axes. Jericho cursed loudly
and operated his emergency travel app and the strangers were gone,
to the utter astonishment of the angry men. The team assembled outside the
lighthouse and Jericho ran a hand over his face; now what the hell should they
do?
8. THE TOWER OUT OF
TIME.
The team moved through the woods quietly with
Jericho constantly checking his mirror. They were now appropriately dressed for
the period; Supplies had come up trumps - yet again - and they were back in
698AD in Anglo-Saxon England. Alex was moaning - as usual - about her bloody
dress; she had pulled the damn thing up to her knees, so that she walked better
and with more freedom. Owen chuckled; "That's not how proper ladies
behaved, showing an ankle was considered shocking, never mind your bloody
knees."
Alex just grunted and the team moved
on. Jericho suddenly stopped, hand in air and gestured forwards;
"There's a bloody stone tower ahead. It wasn't here in the time we just
left." They crept forward and could see the old stone tower in a
small clearing. It looked ancient with just slits for windows. A thin grey wisp
of smoke arose from the top.
Owen tapped Jericho's shoulder and pointed to
the grass around the towers base; it was dead and brown. He pointed to two rabbits lying dead by the edge of the brown
grass. "I don't like the look of that." He said quietly and pulled
out his mirror. He nodded; "The soil is poisoned with a pretty nasty
chemical. Some sort of defence system." Wilson leaned on
the big battle axe he carried and rubbed his chin; "Someone could be in;
there's smoke rising from the roof, and I can definitely smell something
cooking."
An arrow thudded into a tree next him and the
team fell back, hiding behind some large trees. "Not a
friendly time, is it?" He said and Jericho lowered his mirror; "One
human inside with several small animals; cats I think." Owen nodded and
rubbed his chin; "Human records report that the soul inside is a William
Gates and his from 2108, A bloody unfriendly time traveller."
Jericho sighed; "Let’s try and make
contact." He shouted out in modern English; including the man's name and
where he came from. There was no reply and Jericho shouted again. Alex dropped
her dress and pointed to the roof. There was a hunched figure now kneeling
behind the stone balustrade. It was holding a bow and arrow and Jericho
repeated his words and waved a grubby white hankie. The figure stood and threw
back the hood on his dark cloak. "Who the fuck are you and from what time?"
The young man shouted down to the detectives.
Jericho shouted back; "We're temporal
detectives. We work for God. We're looking for two young girls; missing in the
woods. They're from 1959 and we need to find them urgently. We think The
HARBINGER accidently cast them back here."
The young man lowered his bow and shouted down;
"Wait there, don't come near the tower. The bloody grass will kill you in
just a few minutes. I'll lower the drawbridge." He turned and was gone.
Owen looked at the tower - quite puzzled - and muttered to Alex; "What
bloody drawbridge? There's not even a door." Wilson pointed to the grass
and said loudly - with amazement in his voice - "The bloody grass is
lifting!" And it was, a metal plank slowly emerged from the dead grass,
and they all watched as several of the 'ancient' stones also opened. It was a
small discrete doorway and the young man stood and gestured to them.
"Don't fall off the bloody plank or you'll be back with God in a very
short space of time."
In single file, the team crossed the deadly
clearing and entered the stone tower. They stood inside and noticed
that the place was completely empty, apart from a wooden staircase up to the
roof and a small fire basket which was alight and smoking. The young man stood - arms folded - and watched as the
stone 'door' closed behind the team. He gestured to the floor, and everyone
noticed the slab. He pulled a small remote control from his pocket and pressed
a button. The slab rose, revealing a staircase. The metal rails were long lights
and he headed down; telling everyone to follow him. Quite impressed they did: down
the small, well illuminated staircase and found there was a
large room with several doors. It was furnished like a 20th Century front room.
It contained a big sofa, fireplace, chairs and a huge TV screen with various
black boxes and cables scattered about.
"No TV signals obviously, but the TV is
connected to my Quantum computer which has thousands of TV shows and films.
Everything is powered by a single power cell; from 2099. It lasts
forever." He told them and tossed his cloak onto the big table, followed
by his bow and arrows, he walked to an ornate cabinet and pulled the doors
open. Now that did make the team smile; it was well stocked with alcohol from
top to bottom shelf. He pulled a bottle of whisky down and said quietly;
"Anyone fancy a drink?" Silly question!
Everyone sat around and William Gates poured
out generous measures; especially for himself. He slumped on a big chair by the
fireplace and almost smiled. "Now, how did old HARBINGER toss the two kids
back to here?" Alex sipped her excellent whisky and said quietly; "We
think that it was done accidently, but the children are around here someplace
and we need to find and return them. If they die outside their ordained time,
their souls will be lost to the darkness of real death."
William nodded; "A risk all time travellers
take. Even Temporal detectives I think." He raised the glass and smiled at
Alex. "Here's to a real woman. There weren't many of them, where I'm
from." Alex raised her glass to return the compliment. "How did you
end up here, in this time and place?" Owen asked outright - as usual - and
William chuckled; "Good or bad fortune, take your pick. One minute I was a
scientist working for the bastards who ran the shitty world and next; I'm sent
here with a small team to set up this place. I think the bastards were trying
to bail out the mess they made of the world. They never did make it here."
Jericho rubbed his chin; “What happened to the
others, of your team I mean?" William sighed; "The other three didn't
last long. They had no idea about these times, within a year I was all that was left. The bastards never did recall us and
we were stuck here. But - thankfully - we had finished setting up the tower."
Wilson grunted and finished his delightful
whisky; "So they abandoned you?" He asked. William shook his head;
"I think they had no choice in the matter. The stupid sheep were revolting
everywhere; they had suffered enough and turned on the evil, totally controlling, murdering bastards. It was
really bad when we [his team] left. Our little institution was already under
siege by crazed mobs. I guess they finally got past the killer drones and put
an end to the bastards."
"So, the ruling elite [at the time]
thought they could hide back in time; clever really." Owen muttered and
also finished his drink. William smiled; "If your two kids are still
alive, then the only place they would be is at Michaels. The
villagers are not friendly. they kill all strangers on sight, even pretty women
and young children. I sometimes suspect they may be ancestors of the elite bastards."
He chuckled at that.
Jericho placed his glass down and asked;
"Who is Michael?" William smiled; "A crazy, lovely old man
without whom I would certainly be dead now. He has a place some miles from
here. He is also in regular contact with your HARBINGER. He's what - in the late
20th century - would be called a bit of a hippy."
William leaned forward and didn't smile:
"Michael told me about you people. That you protect the so called human timeline
and who you work for. Well Mister temporal detective; the next time you see
God, you tell him to get off his omnipresence arse and help fucking humans out.
Oh, and tell him William says hello." He bent down and ran his fingers
through the fur of the big black cat that had emerged from under his chair.
Owen had to chuckle; two more cats also crept
from under the chair. They sat staring at the visitors. "You like cats
then?" Alex said, quite bemused as two smaller cats stuck their heads out
from under the big sofa. William smiled; "Their better company than most
bloody humans, Michael has more than me. I got these from him as kittens. Most
people who visit him come away with a kitten in their pockets." He
laughed and slumped back in his chair. "Can you take us to him
William?" Jericho asked outright and William nodded, finishing his whisky.
"I can. But the deal is this; I help you and you forget about me. No
tricks or sending me back to 2108 or anything like that and I want your word on
that mister temporal detective. Man to man."
Jericho nodded and said quietly; "You have
my word on that William." The young man leapt from the
chair and grinned; "Well, let’s get going. I hope you like cats."
9. DRAGON'S, CASTLES,
KITTENS & LOST CHILDREN.
Night was just an hour away as the little group
passed through the woods. It was clear that William knew his way around the
forest; He stopped suddenly and examined the soft ground. "A group of
humans have passed this way, perhaps a couple of hours ago. They appear to be dragging a litter
with some weight on it, probably villagers out hunting." He hesitated and
didn't smile adding; "But they normally carry their kills over their
shoulders on a pole. I wonder what was on the litter?" he stared about and
walked on. Owen, just behind, asked him how long he had survived here. William
chuckled; "In human years, I suppose I've seen sixty winters here, so
about sixty years I suppose."
Owen nodded, humans out of their own time aged
very slowly. William was still a young man and would remain so for centuries of
human time. Darkness was creeping around them when William stopped the little
party beside a large oak tree with an enormous girth. He patted the tree;
"This is Modor. She's the oldest tree in the forest." He eased
himself down and pulled his cloak around his body; "She'll let Michael
know we're here." He said and fumbled in his pocket, producing a small pie
- pork - and ate slowly.
Wilson shrugged his shoulders and stared up at
the magnificent tree; "I wonder how old the tree is?" He muttered and
Owen tapped his mirror; "According to my mirror, she's over two thousand
years old. Cut down in Late Medieval times to build fucking warships for Henry
the Eighth. Bastards." Alex touched the tree - sadly - and whispered;
"She's beautiful. How the fuck could they do that?"
William chuckled; "Because stupid sheep
brained people let the bastards run the world. That's how." He said, the
anger in his voice really apparent. He rose slowly and
smiled; "He's seen us and there's our ride." Everyone turned to the
large clearing beyond the trees. To say they [the team] were shocked, amazed
and impressed - all at the same time - would be a real bloody understatement.
There was silence for a full minute until Owen - as usual - stated the bloody obvious;
"It's a fucking dragon! A real, living breathing fucking dragon!"
Wilson slapped his shoulder; "No shit
Sherlock." He said quietly. He had never seen anything so fierce or so
beautiful. It’s body shimmered in the moonlight, flicking the tail, lifting and lowering its multicoloured wings.
Its huge head, with rolling red and silver eyes, lifted high. William lifted a
hand in welcome; "She's called Eve. Come on, there's room in her basket
for all of us."
Jericho rubbed his chin and spoke quietly;
"I think I know who 'old Michael' really is. Come on." The team
approached 'Eve' slowly and realized that the claw beneath her 'starboard' wing
was holding a large wicker basket - similar to what the first big air balloons
carried - and Eve watched closely as the group climbed in. Alex pulled up her
awkward skirts and dropped in. William did smile at that; "Bloody
beautiful. Best thing I've seen in years." and chuckled to himself.
Alex brushed down her skirts and sat on the
floor; knees pulled up. "Hang on everyone; she's off!" William
grabbed a rope hanging from the wicker wall and the others all did the same.
Eve took off and soared into the night sky. Wilson wasn't really too impressed
by the ride, but Owen loved it. Alex kept her eyes closed and gripped her piece
of rope tightly. Jericho held on with one hand and peered through the gapes in
the weave of the basket. He was further impressed, when he saw their destination,
a small island on a large lake with a dark castle at its centre. "Now
that's beautiful." He muttered to himself and gripped the rope as Eve
descended. She landed gently on one of the turrets and slowly lowered the
basket into the circular courtyard. The group decamped slowly and Owen was
ecstatic and wanted to go again! But Eve folded her wings about her huge body
and flicked her tail. She closed her eyes and rested. Light appeared, shining
through a large ornate doorway and everyone saw the old man standing there. He
held up a hand; "Welcome my friends to Castle Asgard, my very humble home.
Come, come and enjoy my hospitality. I hope you like cats." He grinned,
his deep blue eyes sparking with happiness at having human visitors.
Jericho actually bowed; "Thank you sir, I
believe you know why we must disturb you?" The old man chuckled and
gestured for them to enter. "Always the bloody diplomat Inspector Tibbs.
Come on. Warm your arses and sip some brandy." They followed him in and
Owen whispered to Alex; "Who the hell is old Michael?" Alex ruefully
smiled; "The BOSSES [God] grandfather.
The one you admire so much for creating the
bloody dinosaurs." Owen gulped and pulled off his rough woolen hat.
"Oh fucking shit!" Was all he said. The great feasting hall was
silent and empty, apart from loads of cats; they were everywhere.
Alex's sharp eyes caught the big cat, sitting
by the roaring fireplace that was the size of a small dog and
she smiled; "Now that could be Mr. Parker's dad." She whispered to
Owen, who nodded. The cat was huge, totally black and sitting next to the big
chair that was close to the grate. Michael dropped in the chair and smiled at
everyone, who stood around him. There were no other chairs. The old man clapped
his hands and a figure from a dark shadow emerged into the room. He was
about nine feet tall and dressed immaculately in an evening suit, complete with
a dark bow tie. He appeared to be human, but obviously wasn't. His face
resembled that of a very handsome ape. "This is Adam. He's my PA here.
He'll get you drinks. Anything you want." The team ordered the same thing;
brandy; big ones. That's when they heard the giggling and laughter. Alex really
did smile as Susan and Clare rushed into the room, both clutching fat little
kittens. They stopped and smiled at everyone. Susan held up her kitten;
"I've called him Sooty because he's so black." She grinned from ear
to ear with happiness. Clare held her kitten up and stroked its ears;
"Mine's called Marmaduke fluff button because he's...well, he's...he's
mine!" and cuddled the mewing kitten.
Alex and Owen accepted brandies from Adam
and then played with the girls and their kittens. Michael sat on his chair and
smiled at Jericho and Wilson. "How's my grandson doing?" He asked
simply and smiled broadly. Jericho cleared his throat; "He's fine sir.
Doing well." The old man chuckled; "Never ask a bloody diplomat a
straight question."
Wilson had finished his brandy and watched with
amazed eyes, as the glass refilled itself. He liked this
place, he really did. William sat at the old man's feet and sipped his brandy;
"Alright to stay over Michael? I could do with some company, and I'll let
you beat me at chess a couple of times." Michael nodded; "You’re always welcome young William." He turned
back to Jericho and ran a hand across his face. "HARBINGER told me that he
had accidently thrown the children back here, so I quickly gathered them up. The villagers in that particular place
are not very welcoming. I could do something about them, but
human freewill must always take precedence. You of all humans, do understand that."
Jericho nodded. The old man leaned back in the
big chair and smiled; "Tell my grandson, that one day, he will have to
shift his omnipresence arse [he grinned at William] and actually do something. Humans are abusing the privilege of
freewill for power and greed. It will end badly. My Great grandson tried to
help and was isolated from the family. But he does like visiting his old great
grandfather." He leaned forward in his chair and gestured at Owen who
nervously smiled, “I see you are caught between two worlds. Once you’ve
decided, speak with angel Margret – or any angel – and they’ll sort it out.”
Owen just stared at the floor and Alex tapped
his hand with some affection and a big smile. She whispered, “I think we both
know what he means.” Owen didn’t reply, but managed another smile.
Michael sighed and rose from the chair.
"Back to their families, I think." He smiled at the giggling little girls
and everyone was gone.
Alex and Owen held the girls hands as they walked
through the tree's towards Lionel's hut. Alex smiled at the girls; "Go on,
back to your friends. You shouldn't have wandered off like that. You could have
got lost in the woods. Now, off you go." The girls grinned and nodded;
running back to their friends and very relieved teacher.
Owen watched the school children filing into
Lionel's hut and the police officers jumping back into their car. "He must
have wiped their minds. They think they’re only being gone a few minutes."
Alex sighed; "He certainly looked after what he created - when he could -
you have to admire him for that." She suddenly yelped; something was
moving in her coat pocket. She carefully extracted a big black kitten from it
and held it gently with both hands. She grinned; "I think I'll call her
Isis." She whispered and stroked the kitten. Owen just sighed; "Do
you think Mr. Parker will like a little female company?" Alex grinned;
"Oh yes, I really think he will." They were joined by Wilson
and Jericho and the team headed back to the van. Jericho stared at the little
kitten and just smiled.
THE END
EPILOGUE:
"An unusual mission
for Jericho and the team, but it was deemed a great success; they had closed a
dangerous time portal, broke up an evil group of Devil worshippers and returned
two souls back to the human time line. They had met old 'Michael' - the BOSSES grandfather - and taken a flight with a real
dragon. They had not really met the HARBINGER but, of course, Alexandra
received a real cute present; Isis the kitten. It turned out that Mr. Parker
actually received a nice present too...."
SJW.
CHARACTERS:
Inspector James Parish finished his career and retired in 1968, He retired to
Scarborough and with his wife and daughter; ran a modest B&B. He died in
1978 and his soul was collected and processed.
John Hammond had
been a member of the local Witches Coven since childhood: his mother and aunt were
also members and John had been groomed to take over as ‘Warlock’ of the
group. He had already been involved in
one ritual killing and his soul was becoming darker on a daily basis. He had
decided to lay down his challenge to the old Warlock by providing his two
‘friends’ as sacrifice to the master. Luckily, Jericho and team thwarted that
and John fled the scene ending up making an appearance in the middle of the
witch’s ceremonies in 1567. They thought it was a sign from the ‘Dark Prince’ and set fire to the car
with him inside, frantically trying to operate the time portal! He died outside
his ordained time period and so, his soul was never collected and remains
missing to this day.
Caleb Mortimer Harding followed his father into politics but wasn't very
successful; he lost three local elections – very badly it should be noted - and
was deselected by his local party, so he turned his hand to farming. Caleb had
never married and he died in 1986 and his soul was collected and processed.
Miss Iris Weeks
completed her studies and graduated as a doctor. She worked practices in York
and Manchester for some years. Finally, after retiring, she worked in Africa
for various medical charities. She was tragically killed on a Kenyan dirt road
when her jeep overturned. She had never married nor had children. Her soul was
collected and processed.
Margaret Caulder
[Maggie the waitress] was a member of the local Witches Coven all her life:
both her mother and maternal grandmother had been members and she had already
introduced her two daughters to the Coven. She suffered the same fate as her
evil companions: her soul was lost to the darkness of real death and remains
missing to this day.
Lionel Tanner
continued his 'hobby' - some would say, his obsession - and enjoyed showing
youngsters the pleasure of the woodlands. He died in 1972 from a stroke. His
soul was collected and processed. There is now a little brick-built hut on the
site of his old wooden one; called the 'Lionel Tanner Memorial Hut'. He had no
idea how many lives he had touched with his love of birds and the forest. The
public subscription for the new hut was heavily oversubscribed and several
hundred people turned up for his funeral: many of them had been children who he
had shown the wonders of the forest and its inhabitants. Lionel is still
remembered with love and affection to this day.
Taliss [the demon]
defeated by the Guardian Oscar was to make more appearances in the human timeline.
But this nasty little demon has disappeared from the scene and Demon Ingress
has received no reports about him for some time.
Kathleen Coldstone - who would have been the child sacrifice - lived her life in
the Convent as a nun. She was very kind and caring woman and died in 1603. Her soul was
collected and processed. She now works as a Collector and is
very popular.
Chesterfield ‘Chester’ Freeman had been – off and on - a childhood friend of John Hammond,
but never actually joined the Coven. He was a ‘rogue’ time-traveller thanks to
his grandfather’s old car that contained a portal which he had discovered by
accident when installing one of the new car-radio’s! His grandfather had never
known of its existence. He and Hammond
really thought by using the car’s time travel ability, they could commit the
perfect murders and increase John’s standing in the Coven. They had of course,
no idea about Temporal Detectives! Chester agreed to help John because of the
sexual activities he enjoyed with the females of the group. But he died outside
his ordained time period and so his soul was lost. It remains missing to this
day.
Reverend Joseph Chesterfield Albert Freeman had spent most of his adulthood serving the
Church of England and was a well liked and respected priest. He had been
married and had three children, ending up with his grandson Chester supposedly
looking after him in his dotage for accommodation and a small allowance. But
Chester had ignored the old man’s needs – as Alex pointed out! – And the left
the poor confused old gent to his fate, finally deciding to end his burden by
having the old man killed by Coven members. The Reverend had died outside his
ordained time period, but his soul was recalled from the darkness of real
death, by 'THE SPIRIT'. It was
collected and re-joined the human life cycle. Currently, she lives, as a mother
of five in a small Mexican town.
Gabrielle Houseman [Gabby the Woodsman] had been participating and assisting
the local Coven since he was a boy: his mother had been a member. He could never bring himself to join fully but
did – upon occasion – enjoy sexual favours from the group for tasks he
completed for them. He was married with four children and his family knew
nothing of his activities. Gabby died
outside his ordained time period and so his soul was lost to the darkness of
real death. It remains missing to this day.
Susan Morris had
no idea of the adventure she was involved in and when she became a woman,
worked in the local Tesco’s and married a bus driver. They had two children and
Susan died in 2001. Her soul was collected and processed.
Clare Roberts also
had no idea about her trip to another time. She did well at school and attended
a local college. She became a teacher in 1971. But her career was brief: she
was killed in a swimming accident in the Cumbrian lakes in 1973. She left a
husband and young son. Her soul was collected and processed.
William Gates
continued to live in the forests of Anglo-Saxon England. He has not aged much, being out of his
own ordained time period. It is rumoured that he should have died in hunting
accident in 1104AD. But it appears that his friend 'Michael' recalled his soul and William re-joined the
human life cycle. He is currently living in Hongkong as a local Taxi driver and
is married with three children. He has - of course - no recollection of his
adventures in the woods of old England or his dreadful life in 2108. After
William had moved on; Michael erased
the Tower from human history.
Pamela Grimes [the
schoolteacher] only taught class for a couple of years. She married the young
constable who had attended the missing girls report [yes, Susan
and Clare were bridesmaids!] and then left the profession. She had four
children and died in 2019. Her soul was collected and processed.
HARBINGER remains
somewhere in the forests and woodlands that he loves. Just how ancient he is,
is really not known but he apparently existed long before the first humans ever
walked the earth. The actual purpose of his creation is also unknown; but then Michael created the bloody dinosaurs
and no-one knows what their actual use was! He tries to keep away from living
humans now; he doesn't want any more accidents!
Like HARBINGER,
the SPIRIT remains watching over
humanity and tries to help whenever possible, but [to him] humans appear to be
growing darker with each new generation. The influence of the ‘The Dark Prince’ is slowly overpowering
the followers of the ‘Light’ and the future of humanity does indeed hang in the
balance. Worse still, is that the
majority of humans have no idea about the dark changes they are experiencing.
It really doesn’t look good for them.
Special appearance by MICHAEL [the retired GOD II] who is the current BOSSES
grandfather and should you wonder; the current GOD IV is called GEORGE……...
Copyright © 2011-2025 Stephen Williams. No reproduction of any part without permission.
