Adam And Eve (Part 1 of 2)

Adam and Eve

Part 2 of  2

 

I cannot say exactly what brought me back to this little town, nor can I say 'why now'. Thirty years had elapsed since that event took place; thirty years of carrying a memory which would not leave me. Perhaps I always knew that one day I would have to confront my demons, and that day had arrived. I had lived with this all these years, and though I had often pondered its questions, I was never really sure if I wanted to know the answers. But I also knew that there was only one way to find out and that I must return to the old rectory. My mind made up I made an early start to that little town on the Solway coast on the day before Halloween 2013. My task was a simple one; to return free of this burden, or not to return at all. Modern roads and modern cars had shortened the journey time considerably and it was just a little after One O'clock when I arrived at my destination.

            I had not booked in advance and on a whim, or more likely being guided by some other force, my first call was the old pub where the man with the wink had set in motion that chain of events. On that occasion it was a dark stormy night, and I remembered the difficulty of finding a room. Was it just an impulse that saw me return  to that back street pub I had visited thirty years before?. Looking back I wonder, but now I saw what I had not seen then. It's name; The Adam And Eve.

I laughed. It was a quiet laugh though had there been anyone standing near to me they would have heard. After a while I ventured inside half expecting to be met by the man with the wink. Inside it was much as I remembered; a traditional pub. Comfortable, not too posh and with a welcoming fire in the hearth. It was quiet; no music and also, apart from myself, no customers. I leaned on the bar  and waited. I could hear some voices, a man and a woman for sure but at that moment there was no one behind the bar. 

Shortly a young man appeared, and that was the next shock. "Morning sir," he greeted me, "sorry to keep you waiting. What can I get you?"

It was Adam!

He waited patiently until I found my voice. "Pint of bitter please." I said falteringly, "and a sandwich if you can please."

"Will you take a seat and I'll send my sister out. She'll find something for you,"

I knew before she arrived just what she would look like, just as I had recognised her brother.

"Well now," she asked, "it's a sandwich you're wanting." as she handed me a list. My selection made she disappeared, only to reappear five minutes later, tray in hand on carrying my crusty bread with cheese and pickle. I had heard no names but I knew who they were, just as I also knew that I was at a critical point in my journey. A journey I had to finish, come what may. A little while later she came to collect the plate,

"Excuse me," I asked.

"Yes sir, how can I help.?"

I took the opportunity to take a good at the young lady, so much so that I could see her becoming uneasy. "Please forgive me." I stumbled a little. "Your face is so familiar, I was trying to remember where we might have met,"

            "Yes sir. A lot of people say that."

            Now it was my turn to feel uncomfortable and I laughed again, at myself really. "That must have sounded like a corny pick up line, I'm sorry."

            "I've never been out of this town, so if you have not been here before we can't have met."

            She seemed matter of fact as if to say that was the end of the matter. "I have been here before, about thirty years ago, to the Warlock and Witches festival." I told her, "In fact I was expecting to see something of it this visit, but it doesn't seem to be happening now."

            "No it doesn't happen any more. I've heard about it but it was a long time ago." She paused for a moment as if considering. “Thirty years you say; it would be about the time of your last visit when it finished; something happened and it come to an end."

“Very curious; what happened, do you know.”

“Oh, I think some of the pranks went too far. Some people became very frightened.”

            It was very perplexing. I had not heard her name mentioned by any of the few others who had entered the pub, but still I knew. "And your brother, is he also a stay at home."

            "Oh Adam! Yes, he's the same. Just like me he's very content with his life here."

            "You look alike."

            "Yes, we're twins."

            "Oh, so I expect you are Eve then."

            Now it was her turn to laugh. "I'm afraid so. My parents...'" there was a distinct pause, "were not very imaginative."

            "And the pub; same name?" I questioned, ignoring Eve's slight fumble.

            "Oh that's just a coincidence. As far as I know It's been the same since it was built some time in the eighteenth century."

            At this point Adam, who had returned to the bar unnoticed, intervened. "Ever since they built the 'new' Refectory. You must have forgotten Eve, about Seventeen Sixty I think."

            "No Adam, I hadn't forgotten, just didn't want to bore this gentleman with lots of details." 

            "On the contrary," I volunteered, "I'm very interested."

            "Well before they built the new place out of town, this building was the rectory, and when they left it became a pub. As far as we know it was the ‘Adam and Eve’ right from the beginning.

 

oOo

 

Unlike on my previous visit there was a room to spare so I booked in for the night. Conversly unlike my previous visit, my hosts were charming, helpful and friendly. It turned out to be a quiet day with only an occasional customer, and I talked to the twins on and off for the rest of the afternoon. I had hoped to learn something about them and their lives, but nothing emerged to suggest that they were anything other than what they appeared to be. It was a puzzle that someone so young could be running a pub, but any questions that seemed to delve too deeply into their past  were  skillfully deflected. Perhaps I was being paranoid!

After a surprisingly good meal followed by two or three whiskys it was time to retire, to consider the day, and then to settle down for the night.

         I slept soundly at first; it had after all been a long day. But in the early hours I was wakened by something. Not a noise but a sensation, an awareness that something was going to happen. As my eyes got used to the dark I could see that I was in a cell. It was small and oppressive, with just two small bunks and no furniture, its high window letting in faint moonlight, enough for me to see the 'extent’ of my prison. Its plain stone walls and heavy wooden door left no room for doubt that I was being held captive.

         In only a few moments I had taken stock of my situation but the most astonishing thing was that standing at the foot of my bed, dressed in the same transparent attire I remembered from the last time I had seen this apparition were Adam and Eve. They stood motionless looking at me in the most intense way. And yet I did not feel threatened. Moreover I got the feeling that they were trying to tell me something? There was not a sound in the cell and despite the ‘presence’ of the twins I could not help the feeling that I was not there. It was like an out of body sensation and I was looking in, observing, waiting.

         I did not have to wait long for suddenly the door was thrown open and in burst half a dozen people, and through the open door I could see many more. Silently shouting and gesticulating as in a old silent film they grabbed the young twins and dragged them out of the cell and into the street. I found myself among these people but in a way that is hard to describe, for though I was there I was not a part of the crowd. Noisily, yet without a sound they dragged the helpless couple up the main street and out of the town until they came to the crossroads. It was a windy squally night and as the clouds moved quickly across the sky the light from the moon was enough to see clearly where they were heading. There at the crossroads stood the gibbet, where those who had sinned against society - and many who had not - met there end. But this was not the carrying out of societies judicial punishment, this was a lynch mob. I watched, unable to intervene, as ropes were thrown over the arm of the gibbet and then tied roughly around the necks of their helpless victims. No attempt was made to render them unconscious to ease their ordeal, they were simply hauled into the air by many hands pulling on the ropes until the two young people were six feet from the ground kicking and swinging, their hands clawing at the ropes around their necks in a futile attempt to end there strangulation. But there was to be no relief for the helpless pare and soon they stopped struggling, soon there was no movement, and soon they were dead.

         In all this time, despite the violent gestures and the obvious anger of the mob, I heard not a sound. Not even the sound of the door slamming shut after I had mysteriously returned to my cell where I immediately fell asleep.

         I awoke in the small but comfortable bedroom of the pub to which I had retired, the memory of the night's activity fresh in my mind. Drawing the curtains I looked up the street where the angry crowd had dragged the young victims to their deaths. It was still early but some people were going about their business, traffic made its way up and down the high street, and in the gentle breeze and the increasing brightness of the sky there was the promise of a decent day.

         Something caught my eye; it was the slight sway of the pub sign which  depicted in traditional style two unclothed people with the apple and the snake strategically placed. The popular image of Adam and Eve.

         My journey home was uneventful, save a detour to find the Old Rectory. That old building I discovered was long gone, while in its place stood the modern and luxurious ‘nineteenth hole’ of an exclusive golf and country club.

         But it gave me time to take stock. There were still, and would always be, unanswered questions. Not least why was I chosen via this journal to expose the plight, the savage treatment, and the miscarriage of justice for those two young people so many years before. I doubt that I will ever know. But despite my 'vision' of the angry crowd taking the law into their own hands, almost certainly engineered  by the church, to cover up the misdoings of one of its number, I am certain that the real victims of those events were Adam and Eve. Whatever the truth of that is I do not expect to see them again, and for the first time in years I feel at peace.  Perhaps they too are at peace for now they know that someone else knows their story, and when the old rectory was pulled down did they simply move back to their old home. Oh, and that reminds me. Exhaustive checks have failed to find any reference to a pub of that name in that town.

            So perhaps there is one more question. Are they still there?  Now that my journey is done could it be that theirs is too.