Dealing With Tomorrow Part Six

Part Six of Twelve in the Season's Mystery.

 

Warning! There is what might appear to be a slight bit of horror at the end of this story.  Do not read if offended.

 

 

 

 

 

Bridgette had found the trip down to the harbor shops an unpleasant experience, nobody seemed that interested in getting to know her, though she'd smiled at the locals and said hello. Her son Danny normally got peoples attention, but round here they all just seemed to stand around chatting and staring at her.

 

Rachel and Catherine hadn't wanted to come and sulked a lot saying they wanted to go back to their old house and hated it at the Manor. Although Bridgette was inclined to agree feeling the uneasiness too, she was also of the same mind as her husband that they hadn't really given it a chance.

 

Now standing in the grounds of the Manor once again Bridgette organized the sisters in to collecting wood for a bonfire which finally had the girls running off excited. She watched as they hesitated staring back as if waiting for her to tell them to be careful, but Bridgette felt they were safe enough here in their own huge playground.

 

Wandering through the trees, Rachel discovered a hideout which she thought would make a brilliant den and had a feeling Danny would love it too. It had a concrete foundation that Rachel assumed had once been a building of some sort, with weathered stone, broken down walls around the base. It was concealed by ivy and weeds which grew around the stone floor and over the top. Rachel thought it wouldn't take long to clear and Catherine and Danny could have great fun. She called out to Catherine who came running.

 

“Quick! Come and have a look at what I've found.” Rachel's excited voice had Catherine clambering through the muddy jungle of weeds.

 

“Yuk!” Cried Catherine, "this is a dirty old hole, why did you ask me to scramble through all this mud just to show me this?” She pointed at all the weeds and ivy that clung to the decaying wall.

 

“Because sister – it'll make a brilliant den once we've cleared it out.”

 

Catherine wasn't so sure she wanted to build a den and wished she could go visit her friend near their old home, so they could practice some dance steps. “Don't want to build a den. Anyway Mum said we've got to collect wood.” She turned and scrambled her way back onto the path feeling sick of the smell of rotting leaves.

 

Rachel was left on her own not so enthusiastic anymore, she'd thought Catherine would jump at the chance of a bit adventure. The sky was clear at the moment, but she knew the weather could change quickly, so decided to leave the hideaway and join her sister.

 

Bridgette was in the kitchen pealing some potatoes while Danny sat at the table coloring in a picture he'd drawn of his new home. The phone rang, she had a feeling it would be Kenneth changing plans, it was always the same with him, nothing ever went to plan when you were married to a vicar. When she picked up the receiver it was her husband ringing to let her know he had a lot on and would be late. That was okay with Bridgette she had more than enough to do. Placing the receiver back Bridgette returned to pealing potatoes.

 

Suddenly without warning and out of the blue she heard the whimpering sound again, even Danny heard it this time and looked up from what he was doing. “What's that noise Mama?” He said with mouth open as if he were about to catch something in it. With his head held back, he glanced up at the ceiling as if the sound had come from there. Danny wriggled on his seat waiting for the source of the noise to come again.

 

“I don't know Danny – perhaps it's the heating.” She tried to reassure him.

 

“No Mama! Sounds like baby crying.” Danny started to get down off his seat and began walking out into the hallway. Bridgette followed him quickly, afraid he might do something stupid.

 

“Mama – it's behind that door!” Danny pointed at the door with the DANGER! Sign on.

 

Bridgette picked her son up and cuddled him afraid, when suddenly out of the blue there were four pounding knocks on the front door. BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! A rapping sound like she'd never heard before, it was so hard the door shook, it made them both jump.

 

Bridgette's heart began to beat loudly, her stomach turned at what might be on the other side.

 

“Mama scared – Danny scared.” Her son said putting his face in her shoulder as if whatever was out there would disappear.

 

Walking slowly over to the door, she hesitated, wishing there were a window so she could see who was on the other side. Bridgette took a deep breath placing her hand on the handle of the door, she paused, then flicked the handle down, quickly the door opened.

 

She was filled with horror to find nobody there. Stepping out she turned to her left then her right, but couldn't see a soul around. Bridgette didn't think it would be the girls, they wouldn't play those kind of tricks and run off. Perhaps! She thought it was village kids mucking about, but then it worried her that her girls were somewhere out in the woods.

 

As she went back in shivering with fear, a breeze suddenly brushed passed her from nowhere. Bridgette shut the door quickly as It began to get cold. Danny was now fixated on the door that said DANGER!. “Mama! Want to go in there.”

 

“Why would you want to go through that door honey? It's not safe.”

Bridgette was now fed up with all the strange sounds and felt that whatever was concealed behind that door was to do with what was going on, she wanted to deal with it before Kenneth came home and put all their minds at rest.

 

Taking her son with her, Bridgette plucked up courage and went back into the kitchen. Opening one of the drawers to a standing dresser, Inside was a hammer which she took out and quickly went back out into the hallway, then she placed Danny down telling him to stand well back. It didn't take long before the padlock broke, it landed on the floor in front of her with a clunk. Bridgette had no intention of spending another sleepless night locked in a house with noises she couldn't understand.

 

Now not only were there whimpering sounds, but growling as well. Bridgette felt more confident because it was daylight and the girls were out of the way, she knew she could never have done this at night.

 

The door slid open as it glided and creaked on its hinges. There was nothing but darkness and a putrid odor, Bridgette couldn't put her finger on what the smell was, but she knew something was decaying and it wasn't mushrooms.

 

Picking Danny up, Bridgette walked back into the kitchen and found a torch on the worktop they'd kept for emergencies. Danny didn't seem afraid but was eager to go into the darkness which Bridgette found most mysteries, he was certainly braver than her.

 

Once back at the door, she searched for a light switch but couldn't find one. Turning on the torch and shining it around, there were many cobwebs which Bridgette had expected seeing as the Manor was so old. Stepping inside still holding Danny she noticed a pile of large boulders up against the far wall, so decided to take a closer look. Danny seemed fascinated by the old webs that hung down, though he wasn't so keen on coming face to face with any spiders and neither was Bridgette.

 

“Mama! Why so many cobwebs?” Danny caught some and rubbed them in his hands.

 

“Because Honey – the place hasn't been entered for probably a very long time. We must be very careful.” Just at that moment the door to the room slammed shut behind them. Bridgette quickly turned back rushing towards the door and tried to open it, but the door was jammed. She tugged and tugged, but it wouldn't budge. Danny began to cry with fear.

 

Poor Bridgette didn't have a clue why the door would have shut on its own, but tried to keep calm for her son's sake. “It's okay Danny!” She whispered. “Daddy will be home soon and the girls will be in for their lunch.”

 

Bridgette listened for any sound of movement as they coward in the dark shadows with only the torch for light. Then! Bridgette heard movement from behind and quickly flashed the torch around, she froze as coming towards them was a dark shadow that seemed to grow in size. Bridgette passed out on the ground, fear struck her as she dropped to the floor next to her son.

 

To be continued...