Dealing With Tomorrow Part One

A Story of Mystery For The Season In Twelve Parts.

It was a year to the day that on a bleak morning of the 1^st November 1970 a young fisherman by the name of Archie had risen at 4 am with an onslaught of torrential rain that bounced off his old shed roof, drumming on tin dustbin lids, making such a racket he couldn't sleep.

Smooth moss covered walls of cottages too old to remember their age, left cracks where the flow of water left its marks. A stream channeling down along gutters rattled into drains, a cacophony of sound that would surely have woken the dead at such an early hour. Archie happily got dressed and made his way down the narrow stairs to his kitchen, it was a two up, two down cottage with an outside toilet which suited him fine, even if it did mean having to go outside to take a leak in this weather.

Yawning he stared out his kitchen window. His shoulder length fine dark hair was always covered by a woolly black hat leaving a bear patch on top where hair was thinning. He poured water into the kettle ready for a brew, scratching the bold patch of skin. Rain beat against the pane leaving droplets hanging in the darkness. There was nothing for it but to get on and not think too much about the weather.

Whistling a tune he took the bacon out of the fridge laying it out onto a plate and took the frying pan from the cupboard. Archie loved the smell of bacon frying in butter, it was his favorite breakfast. With the pan on, the bacon was soon sizzling away and ready to place in a sandwich. With his tea made, he took his mug and plate to his small kitchen table and began his hearty breakfast thinking about how much he would catch that day, normally the rain would entice the fish so conditions were perfect.

Archie lived alone he liked it that way, it wasn't that he couldn't get a girl if he wanted one, just that fishing was his life and it was all he could think about, girls just didn't enter into his thoughts. As he sat alone deep in contemplation, he realized It would be at least another three hours till daylight, but none of this deterred Archie.

Finishing his breakfast, he put on his waterproofs that hung by the kitchen door, along with his boots. Picking up the large torch and his gear he opened the backdoor and walked out into the darkness becoming soaked before he'd even reached the front of the cottage.

Normally he'd go straight to the harbor where his boat was moored, but because it was so early and the weather was bad, he decided to go down to the cove first to see what had been washed up onto the beach.

The steep footpath down to the cove was treacherously slippery, even for Archie with his big heavy boots, mud had congealed with fallen dead Autumn leaves leaving a squelchy mess that would deter most, but not Archie.

Reaching the beach, it was as he expected in these conditions, there was an accumulation of driftwood and dead creatures washed up from the seabed. He knew there would be a feast for the seabirds when daylight finally came and hopefully there would be a fine catch for him too. Selling his catch to the fishmongers was what he lived for, it was his livelihood and he would spend his hard earned cash at the local ale house where all the community hung out.

Archie shone his torch around the beach, when something unusual caught the corner of his eye. Aiming the torchlight in the direction of sight, rain leaving droplets to trickle down his face, Archie thought he saw some kind of animal stretched out by the rock face. He moved in closer to get a better look, with further inspection he got a shock noticing it was a human figure draped over a large rock, his arms dangling down in midair.

Shouting out for 'Help!' Though not really knowing why, cause he knew there wasn't anyone around, Archie lifted the head only to get an even bigger upset at the revelation it was the Reverent Thomas their local vicar, his hair and face were the color of snow, with claw marks down both sides of his cheeks. Archie noticed that the Reverend's black robes had been shredded. For a moment the young fisherman couldn't move. He just stood in shock, trembling with fear at who or what might have done this.

To be continued...