“Sorry, Mizz Nutter, but I need help and I need it now. I need to come in, so you’d better 'collect' me and do it quick. Is that clear enough?”
Alice didn't want to get involved.
“No, no. no. NO! You are not coming here. If you chose to do something off your own bat and it all went pear-shaped, then that's your problem. I don't want you drawing any attention to me, my associates or any of our plans....”
Dave didn't at all appreciate the reference to bats, given his recent experiences. He was just about to tell Alice this, when she suddenly realised just how he was relaying all of his information to her.
All at once Alice was wide awake. Any half-qualified, witch, wizard or warlock could tune into this crystal vibration frequency.
“Are you communicating to me through an open aura crystal device?!” she blurted out, “Hell's teeth! Anybody could be listening, you fool!” Then, more warily: “Who is this? I don't know you! Prank call! Prank call! I'm terminating this right now... ”
Dave was at the end of his tether and in no mood to be fobbed off and cast adrift to his own fate:
“What are you saying you stupid old hag?! Don’t you know who it is? It's me! Dave Hinchy! I was on an errand for Doctor H., as you well know! I need help, and I need it now. If you don't help me I will be FORCED to tell Hariman, you hear me? I'll be forced to tell Hariman... YOUR BOSS, my mentor, how and why I was caught, and why and how I had to spill the beans about his grandiose plans to that insufferable old busybody Ruby Derwencast and her hoard. Do you understand me?”
Alice sighed. “Very well.”
Dave felt a sharp 'zap', not unlike the jolt of an electrical shock. He heard a distant crack of thunder, saw a bright flash and a puff of blue smoke, and caught a slight whiff of sulphur and ozone, as the lane disappeared from sight and he materialised instantly in Alice's cottage. The only way in which he looked any the worse for wear was due to the fact that his hair had turned the same curious blue colour as the smoke.
Alice was not pleased to see him.
“I'm going back to bed; you can sleep on the couch... And never speak of this incident ever again. Goodnight.”
She closed the living room door and left Dave alone in the dark, with only a throbbing head, his still slightly smoking, singed blue hair and his own muddled thoughts for company. He sighed, shook his booming head and slumped down to try to get some semblance of peaceful sleep on the small, tatty couch. From his dark perch in the corner Brocken watched and quietly croaked a crow's chuckle to himself.
The rest of the night passed quietly... except, of course, for the echoing hoots of the two old owls living in the stunted oak tree nearby.
Chapter 13
Today.... We Shall Learn of Our Fête
Ruby was awoken by a sharp rapping and tapping noise coming from her window. Pearl had sent Magpie jack ahead of her to waken them all early, making sure that the preparations for the day would not be all at the last minute.
The phone rang while Ruby was making breakfast. It was the Reverend.
“Hello, Ruby? It’s Simon Phullaposi... You know how you asked me if there had ever been any reported ‘funny goings on’ reported in Widdowshins? Well... I’ve found something in the church records. About a hundred or so years ago we had a spate of reports about some alleged poltergeist activity. It’s all very sketchy and jumbled, I’m afraid, because this all occurred during the time the old church was being renovated. Well, rebuilt and replaced, really. The current church is on roughly the same foundations as the original, as you know; but not quite, and there's a suggestion in the records that when they moved it, something was disturbed as a result. Something... unholy. Anyway, the village experienced a run of ill luck, deaths, floods, misfortunes and the like. There were even reports of strange murders and ‘cover ups’. I‘m not sure whether this is of any relevance... but you did ask me to get back to you.”
Ruby assured him this information was most helpful. “Around a hundred years ago? Would that be about 120 years ago, Reverend?” she asked, suspiciously.
“Yes...I do believe it was. Anyway, I have to go now. So much to do in preparation for the fête, so little time. See you later! Bye!”
There was a click, and Ruby was listening to the dialling tone.
She slowly replaced the receiver. Things were starting to fall into place, and the place they were falling into did not look at all pleasant.
**********
Breakfast consisted of bin-lid-sized bacon barm-cakes and gallons of tea.
“A hearty breakfast, a re-cap of operations, a check of supplies, munitions and logistics and then it's off we jolly well go!” Ruby bellowed from the kitchen, as she placed another couple of thick rashers of bacon into the frying pan. The sizzling was appetizingly loud and the smell was driving Tobias to total distraction.
As they ate, Ruby set out the tasks for the individual members of her team. Pearl was to roam about the fair, on general reconnaissance, but should keep an especially sharp eye on Alice Nutter and Liz Devizes, and raise the alarm if anything untoward seemed to be brewing. Chen would accompany Ruby in her 'Gypsy Rose Lee, fortune teller to the stars' guise; his bowl would serve as Ruby's 'crystal ball', and his role was to keep scanning the astral plane for disturbances caused by malign activity. Magpie Jack was to keep an aerial watch on the goings on, paying particular attention to Hariman. Eddy was to stay here at the Operations Centre and make sure that there were no more unexpected visitors –
