The Bones Of Burriburn - Part 2

 

The Bones Of Burriburn - Part 2

 

Then he went to his room and opened up the anthology of poems and started to read through page after page . He felt a chill when he came to a page with a poem written by Brian Jones or as he was called Barney Jones . The poem was called

 

Basement Of Shame - By Brian Jones

.

Old men have visions ,

young men have dreams ,

ghosts within prisons

have echoing screams .

Locked up in a cell

no one ever hears ,

it’s a living hell

the horrors and fears

underneath the skin

are buried so deep .

No peace dwells for him .

He never gets sleep .

Its an awful place

where no one belongs .

There’s no saving grace  

For all of our wrongs .

Left to rot inside ,

and there’s no way out .

Some people have died

Let me tell you about ,

The men who can’t talk

About where they are

The men who can’t walk .

They’re not going far .

The men they can’t find

The men who can’t see

The end of the line ,

with prisoners like me .

The basement of shame

With walls ten miles thick

The blood from their veins

Has stained every brick .

There’s no peace of mind

Their sentence goes on

They’re  prisoners of time .

Long after I’m gone .

 

 

Ron could hear the water tap running in the bathroom and put the book down on the bedside table , He went to the sink and turned off the water . He looked at himself in the mirror and suddenly in the reflection he saw the twisted face of a man looking back at him , The water started to run again and the bathroom door closed , He had a cold feeling and the face in the mirror started to decay until there was just a skull looking back at him.  The lights in the bathroom turned off and Ron stood in the darkness . Ron began to pray

“Lord you are the light of the world and came to shatter the darkness , you are the truth that came to set the prisoners free, Lord forgive Barney Jones for he has suffered long enough and set him free .

 

That instant the lights came back on and the reflection in the mirror was gone.    

He took a deep breath and after a few moments he left the bathroom  and sat down on the bed .

 

He knew what had to be done . In order to put all those souls at rest he would have to go down into the basement at the prison and perform a rite of peaceful passage .

 

Ron decided in the morning he would pay a visit to the prison .Morning came and for the first time since his arrival he had an uninterrupted sleep .

The sun shone through the window and outside he saw a woman up early  walking with her dog on a lead ,

 

The though came to him and he started to talk aloud as if there was someone there well now Ron , you’re going to have to break into prison which is almost as hard as breaking out of prison . Now first we need to scale up those walls and a ladder is what we need .

 

Then he remembered the extendable ladder he saw at the motor mechanics workshop . He checked the time . It was still early . He quickly got dressed and went down to the van . He made his way  to the workshop and put the extension ladder into the back of his van unnoticed .The he drove back to the hotel and went for breakfast , After breakfast he packed a few tools into a bag and made his way to the prison . He drove around the back where he could not be seen and parked the van . He took out the ladder and placed it against the prison wall . He put the bag over his shoulder and climbed up the ladder , At top he remembered the vision he had and feared a pair of shackled hands grabbing him . He hesitated for a few moments until the fear left him . Then he slowly pulled up the ladder until he was able to place it on the top of the wall where he lowered it down on the other side of the wall where he climbed down into the perimeter of the prison .  With his previous knowledge working in the  prison system he knew that every prison was broke up into different sections ., There was always a central part within the perimeter fence just in case someone decides to tunnel out of their cell.  Then there would be a section for  low security prisoners, with a workshop and library. There would be a section to the east for  power and water distribution. The front section would be the reception and normally where new prisoners arrive .The basement would normally be underneath the kitchen which was a little risky because inmates sometimes would work there , however people who would work there would usually be low security and pose no risk to anyone .

Ron carried the ladder and walked across to the central section  ;

 

He used the ladder to climb over the wall of the perimeter into the exercise yard , He checked the compass in his pocket and found the east so from there he was close to the front of the prison , He found a door with H written on it . Ron was surprised to find the door was unlocked so he opened it up and walked inside . Once inside he walked down a corridor to a cross junction that went three ways , He checked his compass again and kept walking to the east and at last he found the front section and eventually he stood outside the kitchen , When he pushed open the door he heard a scream , It seemed to come from underneath . Ron had come too far now to go back so he began to look for a trapdoor to the basement , As he walked around he heard some noises and began to feel cold ,  He sensed an presence near and started to pray for everyone who had come through the doors of the prison . He prayed for forgiveness and healing for anyone who was abused of hurt . He prayed for any souls who were not at rest ,

Suddenly in the middle of the kitchen a trapdoor flung open . Ron took out four candles and placed each one to a compass point and instructed and lost soul to go to the light and find peace , Then he started chanting in an ancient tongue words that only the spirit form could understand  .

He heard a sound of chains and moaning rising up from the basement , Then a ghostly shape appeared  from the basement . It was the twisted face Ron had seen before in the bathroom mirror  ,

 

Ron spoke loudly and with authority .

“Are you Barney Jones ,“

 

The ghost screamed aloud .

 

Ron repeated the question ,

 

“Are you Barney Jones ?“

 

This time the ghost produced a key and screamed .

 

“Now you’re my prisoner . There is no escape for anyone who comes to this place for I am the keeper of Burriburn .“

 

“Forgive Barney Jones and you will be free . I know how they treated you
and how they framed you for a crime you never committed .”

 

The ghost screamed and wailed loudly .

 

“I have had my revenge ,“

 

Suddenly there were others who appeared now one by one they came out of the basement carrying their heads in their hands .

 

“Ron called the names of the warden and all the prison officers who were murdered and said .

 

“You must forgive and then you will be free .“

 

Then he started to chant again in an ancient tongue that only spirit forms would understand ,  The screaming began to go away and one by one the ghostly shapes were transformed into bones . The last one who remained was Barney Jones ..

 

“Forgive and be free Barney . May your soul at last find eternal rest “

 

The ghost screamed  

 

“At last . I am free .

 

With those words he went quiet and was transformed into bones .

From his bag Ron took some holy water and blessed all of the remains that lay on the floor . The he lit some incense and started to pray .

 

“God of heaven and earth forgive the sins of all those who lie here and welcome them into your kingdom . Angels of heaven welcome them and take them home .”

 

Suddenly all around the burning candles angels came , from every point of the compass , Each angle lifted the bones that lay on the floor and breathed upon them , A bright light appeared from the roof and the angels placed the bones of the dead into the light and they were transformed into angelic like creatures who were taken up into the sky , They were in turn followed by all of the other angels .

 

Ron started to talk to himself again .

Well that’s another job done . Now I better get back to my adventure holiday .

Onwards and upwards that what I say .

 

 

The End