Monday, 10 February 2014
Thursday, 9 January 2014
Chapters 18 and 19 of Phantom of the Hastings Caves
Chapter 18 The prowler in the shadows
As Joy put her Yale key in the top
lock in her front door, Dave’s mum opened the door.
“Hi, Molly,” Joy said. “Thank you so
much for what you’ve done tonight.”
“It was no problem,” said Molly. “I
wasn’t in bed when you phoned from Brighton. I came straight round. Steve and
Madeleine are asleep.”
“Great. They’d have been fine on
their own, but as they’re fostered I have to take extra care of them.”
“I know,” said Molly. “And there
were the burglaries.”
“Yes. But the thief won’t come back.
There’s nothing left to steal. Oh, hello you two.”
She bent down to stroke Steve’s two
scruffy Jack Russells, who had suddenly run down the stairs.
When Joy stood up, Molly said, “Joy,
I’m worried about Dave.”
“Why?”
“Well, Trevor phoned me and told me
Dave had gone to Jack’s house as Trevor was going up to bed. I rang Dave’s
mobile just now to see if he was still there, and there was no signal.”
“Maybe he’s gone home and switched
his phone off and gone to sleep.”
“No, he hasn’t. Trevor texted me and
said Dave’s not home yet. Oh, Joy, I know we worry too much. Dave doesn’t want
us to wrap him up in cotton wool just because he can’t see.”
“I know.”
“And there’s another thing, Joy. I
was looking out for you just now, through the window, and there was a man in
the street. He was walking up and down, looking up at the houses. And then when
your taxi stopped, he moved into the shadows, away from the lamplight.”
“Let’s take the dogs for a
late-night walk. We can see if the man’s still there. And then we’ll go to your
house and see if Dave’s back.”
“OK. I don’t
want to go to Jack’s house and wake his dad up. He needs his sleep. He’s
working too much and he’s looked awful recently.”
“Yes, I know,” said Joy as she put
the dogs’ leads on. “Right, let’s see if the prowler is still wandering around
out there.”
Chapter 19 A silken touch
“Do you
think he’s gone?” Dave asked Jack.
“Yes, I
think so,” said Jack, glancing at the entrance door to the caves. “He hasn’t
shouted for a while.”
“I
recognized his voice,” said Dave. “It was the man who came and talked to me at
the hospital when Joy was having her head checked after the burglary. He said
his name was Enver.”
“Enver?”
There was
a gasp and a rustle of silk from behind the ticket desk.
Jack
leaned over and shone his torch down behind the desk. He saw the ghostly girl
crouching on the floor.
“Did you
hear that? It’s the girl,” said Dave.
“Yes,
she’s here, Dave. Behind the ticket desk.”
Dave moved
closer to the desk and said, “Hi. Don’t be scared. My name’s Dave. I’m with my
friend, Jack.”
“She’s
trembling all over, Dave,” said Jack. “And her skin is all clammy and wet.”
He was
interrupted by something crashing against the door.
“Liridona!”
Enver’s voice shouted. “Liridona!”
“Jack, go
to the office and phone the police from the landline,” said Dave. “Tell them
there’s someone breaking into the Smugglers Adventure.”
As Jack
walked over to the office, something crashed against the door again.
Suddenly,
Dave felt a silken touch against his hand and a light breeze on his face as the
girl ran past him in the direction of the Monks’ Walk. He set off after her. He
felt sure that he could catch her up. The lack of light in the caves at night
was no problem for him, but the girl would have to move slowly in the darkness.
He walked quickly and silently down the Monks’ Walk.
Copyright © 2013 Fiona Cullen
All rights reserved.
ISBN-13: 978-1492203292
Tuesday, 31 December 2013
Chapters 16 and 17: Phantom of the Hastings Caves
Chapter 16 His fingers touched the cold hand
Dave’s dad was just about to go upstairs to bed when Dave
came down into the hall holding his folded white stick.
“Dave? Are you off out?” his dad
asked.
“Yes, I’m just going to Jack’s
house.”
“Is Jack all right?”
“Yes.”
“It’s the first anniversary of
Jack’s mum’s death soon, isn’t it?”
“Yes.”
“It can’t be easy for him,” said Dave’s
dad. “Have you got your key to get back in, Dave?”
“Yes. ’Night, Dad.”
Dave tapped his stick against the
garden walls as he made his way down the road to Jack’s house.
Jack was waiting outside the front
door.
“We’ll go round the side of the
house,” he said. “I don’t want to disturb Dad.”
Dave followed Jack round the side of
the house, down the steps to the back garden and into the cellar. Jack unlocked
the cellar door.
“Bend your head, Dave,” said Jack.
“The ceiling’s low.”
They bent their heads and went in.
Jack switched his torch on.
“Put your hands on my shoulders if
you want, Dave,” Jack said.
Dave folded up his stick and put it
in his jacket pocket. He felt for Jack’s shoulders and put his hands on them.
Jack led him through the narrow central aisle of the cellar to the back wall.
“Right, here’s the hole in the
wall,” said Jack. “You go first.”
Jack guided Dave to a wooden box
under the hole in the back wall of the cellar. Dave got onto the box and felt
for the hole. He squeezed through it. He landed on the floor of the hidden
passageway that led to the caves.
Jack followed him.
They stood up and brushed the sand
from the wall off their clothes and hair.
They walked along the passageway
until they reached the steps that led down to the caves.
“You do know this is mad, don’t
you?” Jack said as they went down the steps and through the hole in the
sandstone wall into the Midnight Landing area of the Smugglers Adventure. Jack
flicked a switch in the wall and the Midnight Landing area was bathed in dim
light.
“OK, it’s a bit mad,” said Dave as
they crawled out from behind the boat and straightened up. “But she could die
in here all alone.”
“Ghosts don’t ... sorry, she could,
yes ... hey, Dave, the waxworks look a bit creepy at night,” said Jack.
“Have you put the lights on?”
“Yes. But they’re only dim. There’s
a blue light around the boat and an orange light around the waxwork holding the
lantern.”
“Oh, right.” Dave felt along the
boat in the display. His fingers touched the cold hand of the waxwork smuggler
sitting in the boat.
“Jack?” he said.
Jack didn’t answer.
“Jack. Are you still here?”
“Yes, sorry. When I saw you touch
that waxwork’s hand, I remembered last year.
Dad and I went to see Mum’s body in her coffin the day before her
funeral. I touched her hands. They didn’t feel like they’d felt when she was
alive. I told Steve about it and then he told me about how his parents left him
locked in the flat for three days when they went out and took a lot of drugs.
... Dave? What’s wrong?”
Dave had grabbed Jack’s arm and put
a finger to his lips.
“Did you hear her?” he whispered.
“She just swished past.”
“I didn’t hear anything.”
“Look around. She swished past us.
She must be wearing the dress. Maybe she’s washed the trousers and top in the
sink in the staffroom. … Can you see anything?”
“Nothing,” said Jack. “Do you want
to look around?”
“Yeah, follow me.”
Jack yawned and followed Dave
through the caves and up the Monks’ Walk.
“Do you think she came this way?”
Jack whispered when Dave stopped at the ticket desk.
“Possibly,” whispered Dave.
“Dave, listen to me. We don’t know
whether she’s a ghost or not. But we know that she doesn’t want to be found,”
whispered Jack.
“Switch off your torch,” said Dave .
“It might frighten her. Let’s stay still and quiet for a while ... ”
“OK,” said Jack. “But five minutes,
that’s all. Then we’re going home.”
He switched off the torch and they
stood near the entrance door in the darkness.
Then Jack heard a man’s voice coming
from the other side of the door.
“Liridona... Liridona...”
Chapter 17 He drew a finger across his throat
Joy got off
the train from Brighton at 12.50am. She walked sleepily towards the gates at
Hastings Station. She was surprised to find the ticket man still on duty.
“Hello, how
are you?” he said.
He recognized
Joy because she travelled quite regularly on the Brighton to Hastings trains.
“I’m a bit
tired,” said Joy. She fumbled for her ticket. When she found it at the bottom
of her pocket, it was too crumpled to go in the machine. She handed it to the man.
“You don’t
usually work this late,” she said.
“I do now.
There have been too many fare dodgers recently. When they try to get through
without paying, I do this.” He drew a finger across his throat.
“Oh, are you
from Albania?”
“Yes. How
did you know?”
“A taxi
driver from Albania did the same thing. When we were talking about thieves, he
drew his finger across his throat.”
“Are you
getting a taxi home now?”
“Yes, I will
if there is one.”
The man
smiled. “Your friend the Albanian taxi driver is outside,” he said. “He’s a
friend of mine, too. He just dropped someone off here.”
“Thanks,”
said Joy. She went out to the taxi rank.
The Albanian
taxi driver was about to drive off when he saw her coming towards his taxi. He
opened his window.
“Collier
Road?” he asked.
“Yes,
please,” she said.
When Joy was
settled in the seat beside him, the taxi driver said, “You’re out late.”
“Yes, I had
some work to do in Brighton.”
“That’s a
long way to go to work at night.”
“Yes, but I
had to,” said Joy. “How are you, anyway?”
“I’m OK. I
miss my country, but I’m OK.”
Joy was glad
he hadn’t asked what kind of work she had been doing. Comforting traumatized
children for Social Services was confidential work.
“But you’ve
got Albanian friends here,” she said. “The ticket man...”
“Yes, he’s
my friend. He’s a good man. People from my country are the same as people
everywhere. Good and bad ... but he is good. I have some good friends from my
country here.”
They drove
in silence. Joy was too sleepy to talk much.
Then the
driver said, “Here we are. Number 27.”
“You
remembered,” said Joy. She looked at the meter and handed him a five-pound note.
“Of course I
remembered. How is your head now?”
“Fine,
thanks. But I wish they would catch the burglar. The woman who pushed me over.”
“If you see
her any time, call my taxi firm and ask for Fred. My real name is Ferdinand,
but everyone calls me Fred. I will help you chase her.”
He handed
her a company card as she got out of the taxi.
“Thank you,”
she said.
“My
pleasure. Goodnight.”
“Goodnight,”
she said as he closed the car door and drove off.
She stood
under the light of the lamppost for a moment while she fumbled in her pocket
for her door keys.
She didn’t
see Enver watching her from the shadows.
Saturday, 21 December 2013
Wednesday, 4 December 2013
Phantom of the Hastings Caves: chapters 14 and 15
Chapter 14 The keycutter on the hill
“They’ve
taken everything, Jack,” Jack’s dad said as he washed the dishes after their
evening meal.
“No, they
haven’t, Dad. They didn’t take Mum’s jewellery or our photos.”
“That’s true.
Yes, that’s something to be thankful for. It’s a pity about the laptop, though.
They took Joy’s as well. And her TV.”
“I know.
... Dad, I suppose they wouldn’t want cheap jewellery, would they?”
“Probably
not. They’d go for the expensive stuff. Anyway, as Mum’s jewellery is under
your pillow, they wouldn’t have found it.”
“How did
you know it was under my pillow?”
“Because I
change your bed every week. I’ve been doing it since Mum died.”
“Oh, yes.
I forgot that.”
“Right,
let’s go and put a bolt on Joy’s door. I bought an extra one when I was buying
ours.”
“OK, let’s
go there now.”
They went
next door and rang the bell.
Madeleine
answered the door to them.
She looked
at the bolt in Jack’s dad’s hand and the toolbag Jack was holding.
“That’s a
good idea,” she said. “But it won’t stop the thieves coming back when we’re not
in.”
“No, but
at least they won’t be able to use their keys when you are in,” said Jack’s
dad. “Joy could have been seriously injured.”
“I know.
But how did they get copies of your keys and ours?”
“That’s
what the police were asking. Jack reckons it was the keycutter on the hill. She
took our phone numbers, remember. She said it was so she could phone us when
the keys were ready.”
“Yes, that
was weird. I suppose there’s a way of getting people’s addresses if you have
their name and phone number.”
“Yes,
that’s what some of the takeaway restaurants do when you ask them to deliver
your meal,” said Steve, who had come into the hall behind Madeleine. “They just
type your name and the number you’re calling from into their computer, and then
your address comes up. That’s how they know you’re not a hoax caller.”
“OK, let’s
get this bolt fixed,” said Jack’s dad. “And then as soon as Joy’s got some
spare money, it would be a good idea to get the locks changed.”
“I’m going
to the hill to see if I can find out more about that keycutter,” said Steve.
“I’ll go
with you,” said Madeleine. “We could go and see Dave in the caves as well. He’s
been behaving really weirdly the last few days. I’m a bit worried about him.”
Chapter 15 I can’t get that girl
out of my mind
Dave’s
bedroom was warm and cosy. Dave could hear the music his dad was listening to
downstairs. It was the Eagles singing Hotel California. It was one of his dad’s
old favourites.
The song
faded out. There was silence for a while. Then Dave heard another of his dad’s
favourites starting up: Brown Sugar. His dad had been a Rolling Stones fan when
he was young. He still played his vinyl records on his old record player.
Dave
thought about the girl in the caves. She would be alone and lonely, deep down
in a cavern, looking for something or someone or maybe hiding from
something or someone.
Dave’s dad
was still listening to Brown Sugar. If Molly had been at home, she would have
danced around the kitchen to it. But she was at Joy’s house.
Dave’s dad
had been really excited a few months before when the local newspaper had
reported that the Rolling Stones had played in the caves in 1963. Dave supposed
the gig would have taken place in the chapel or maybe the ballroom where the
souvenir shop was now.
He
wondered if the girl was wandering around the chapel now. She was probably
still shivering. Maybe she was wearing his jumper.
Her voice
haunted him. He walked up and down his warm bedroom. In his mind, he could hear
her reciting the Smuggler’s Song in her gentle accent. He wished she could be
in a warm room.
He’d felt
annoyed when she had pretended she wasn’t there. She couldn’t have done that to
a sighted person. But now all he could think of was that she was cold and
frightened and alone.
He knew he
wouldn’t sleep that night. He would lie awake, thinking of her trembling,
cowering somewhere in the caves.
He decided
he had to go and find her. He could make her some tea in the staffroom. And he
could show her where the fan heater was.
But he
knew his dad wouldn’t give him the keys to the caves at night.
Dave took
his mobile out of his pocket and phoned Jack.
“Dave!”
said Jack. “Are you all right?”
“Yes. I’m
OK.”
“Do you
know what time it is? I was asleep.”
Dave felt
his watch.
“11.15,”
he said. “Sorry. I didn’t realize it was that late.”
“Aren’t
you tired, mate?”
“No. I
haven’t taken my tablet.”
“What
tablet?”
“Oh, it’s
a tablet they often give blind people. It helps our brains to know it’s night
time. When you haven’t got eyes, it can be hard for your brain to accept that
it’s night time, and that messes up your sleep. But now they’re saying maybe we
shouldn’t take them. They say they’re addictive.”
Jack sat
up in bed and yawned.
“Jack? Are
you still there?”
“Yes, I’m
here. I’m just waking up from a nice, cosy sleep. OK, why haven’t you taken
your tablet?”
“Because
I’m worried about that girl.”
“What
girl?”
“You know,
the one who grabbed my arm and went with me to the caves.”
“Oh, the
ghost.”
“She’s not
a ghost. Ghosts don’t change their clothes.”
“How do
you know ghosts don’t change their clothes?”
“OK, well,
maybe they do, I mean, if you believe in ghosts. But she’s a real girl.”
“Dave ...
she was almost see-through. Transparent.”
“Was she?
You mean that day on the hill?”
“Yes, she
was weird. And people don’t dress like that. She was wearing a pair of strange
white trousers and a kind of folksy old top. They were the kind of clothes a
farm worker would have worn hundreds of years ago.”
“Come on,
Jack, you don’t believe in ghosts, do you?”
“I haven’t
thought about it much. Dave, take your tablet. Get a good night’s sleep.”
“No, I
can’t get into a warm bed and know that she’s there in the caves all cold and
hungry.”
“Hungry?”
“Well, she
must be hungry.”
“Ghosts don’t
get hungry. Sorry, OK, what do you want, Dave?”
“I want to
go down the passageway from your cellar and get into the caves. I want to make
her a hot drink.”
“You mean
now? Right now?”
“Yes. If
you lend me the key to your cellar, I’ll go through your passageway to the
caves.”
“Do you
want me to go with you?”
“Oh, that
would be cool. These things are always easier with a sighted person.”
“What
things? Ghost hunting?”
“You know.
… Finding a person.”
“Finding a
person who doesn’t want to be found.”
“Jack, please...”
“OK. Come
to my front door. Don’t ring the bell. Dad’s asleep. And he’s got a long day
ahead of him at work tomorrow.”
Copyright text © 2013 Fiona
Cullen
All rights reserved.
ISBN-13: 9781492309604
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