ONE LAST HOUSE
Halloween morning:
‘Please don’t ask me again. You’re
the child, I’m the parent and that’s
that. What I say goes, there’s no
discussion. Now drop the subject or I won’t even allow you to go trick or
treating.’ Elaine’s mother, Glenda, emphasised her statement by tapping her
foot and shaking a finger at her daughter. Elaine’s face reddened and her eyes
began to glisten with the promise of tears. ‘And if you start crying again it
will only confirm that you are still
too young to understand and perhaps it would be best if I did keep you in tonight.’ With a superhuman effort the little girl
bit back on the sob that threatened to escape from her tight throat, nodded and
went up to her room.
‘Glenda, you can be
hard on times,’ Elaine’s father, Jim said looking up from his paper, his
breakfast finished.
‘Listen, she’s too
young. Once she’s of an age to understand the dangers out there then I’ll let
her do what she wants. It’s different from when I was a child. Things were safer then, I could go out dressed up
and knock on strangers’ doors, but times change. It’s not safe.’
‘You don’t have much
faith in our daughter,’ Jim said folding the paper carefully.
‘It’s not a matter of
faith. It’s just Prudence.’
Jim closed his eyes for a moment. ‘Of course, sorry.’
‘That’s ok; you know
how I get this time of year. I’ll never forget.’
‘But you’ve said that
was a long time ago dear.’ Jim rose and gave his wife a hug.
‘Yes, that’s just what
I mean. People are more aware nowadays.
‘Ok, perhaps I’ll have
a quiet word with her too,’ he said.
Glenda nodded then gave her husband a peck on the cheek. ‘Thanks
you know she listens to you more than me. Daddy’s little girl.’
Jim smiled, looked at his watch and said, ‘I’ve just got time before
going into work.’ Then he shrugged on his jacket and went up to his daughter’s
bedroom.
Halloween Evening:
‘Are you sure you’re
going to be warm enough?’ Glenda asked her daughter as she fussed with the
little blue jacket the child was wearing.
Elaine rolled her eyes and sighed. ‘Yes, Mum. Will you stop fussing?
I’m going to be late.’ She picked up her plastic bag which contained the
canister of silly string for her ‘tricks’ and plenty of room for her ‘treats’.
‘Ok, ok, go, enjoy,’ her
mother said as she ushered her child out of the door and into the chilly night.
The street outside was already thronged with a plethora of ghosts, ghoulies,
vampires and all other manner of fancy-dress costumed children. One, a mummy,
trailing an unravelled piece of bandage from one leg, approached Elaine and the
two children walked off excitedly into the night. Jim came from the living room
and put his hands on Glenda’s shoulders.
‘Looks like she’s one
of the very few without a costume,’ he said.
Glenda turned. ‘Perhaps next year.’ She glanced out once more
for a final look but the children had already gone from view. Reluctantly she
closed the door.
‘Have you got it?’
Elaine asked Rachel, her mummified friend.
‘Of course, you didn’t
think I’d let you down, did you?’ Rachel mumbled through the bandages over her
mouth.
‘Cool!’ Elaine replied
excitedly and just checked they were out of sight of her house before delving
into Rachel’s bag and extracting the clothing. It was a witch’s costume,
complete with pointy hat, false wart-covered nose and broomstick. ‘Great, I
thought you looked really scary in this last year, thanks for letting me borrow
it.’
‘S’ok, doesn’t fit me
anymore anyway,’ Rachel said as she helped Elaine get dressed. ‘What’s the
matter with your mum? Why won’t she let you dress up?’
Elaine shrugged. ‘Something to do with her sister, my aunt. She
died. A long time ago though and mum won’t really talk about it.’
‘Oh,sorry,’ Rachel
said as she straightened Elaine’s cloak, ‘there, you look fab. I’m really
scared, that nose looks horrible, all those ugly warts and veins.’
‘Har har, I haven’t
put it on yet!’ Elaine said testily.
‘Oops’
The two friends commenced their tour of the small town. Before
long their plastic bags were weighed down with loose change, sweets, an apple
or two and even a piece of homemade cake. Rachel’s canister of silly string had
been exhausted and consigned to a wastepaper bin but Elaine shook hers. ‘Plenty
left in mine yet.’
‘You’re just not nasty
enough to be a witch,’ Rachel commented. ‘I emptied mine ages ago.’
‘Yeah, I noticed,’
Elaine said as she pulled clumps of the silly string out of her hair. ‘I’m
bound to need this here anyway,’ she motioned towards a dark house set back
from all the others. A single light from a naked bulb shone from an upstairs
room.
‘Old Man Robinson?
They say he was a preacher, you know, before he got kicked out of the church,’
Rachel said looking warily at the shadowy house.
‘I heard he was a
surgeon who lost his licence for cutting off a man’s leg,’ Elaine replied.
‘Aren’t surgeons supposed
to do that, anyway?’ Rachel turned towards Elaine and tilted her head.
‘Yes, but they’re also
supposed to cut off the bad leg, not
the good one...’
‘Oh...’
‘Yes, ohh... Anyway,
whether he’s a mad preacher or a stupid doctor I bet he won’t give us any
treats, so he’s going to have this! The rest of the canister!’ Elaine said
brandishing the silly string.
‘I don’t know, it’s
getting late. Perhaps we should go now,’ Rachel said glancing at the house
again.
Elaine tapped her foot
mimicking her mother’s actions flawlessly. ‘Late? You’re just scared, big
baby.’
‘Not scared, it’s just
late. Come on we’d better go, don’t forget you’ve got to change too.’
‘You go then; I’ll
catch you up and meet you at the corner again where I changed into the costume.
I want to finish off my silly string. Just one last house.’
‘And what if Old Man
Robinson gives you a treat instead? Are you going somewhere else then to use it
up? You could be out all night!’
Elaine frowned. ‘Didn’t think of that.’ She scrutinised the dark
house. ‘Bugger it, even if he does give me a treat he’s gonna get stringed.
Anyone with a creepy old house like that deserves a good stringing.’
‘Potty mouth. Ok, go
do your dirty deed, I’m off. I don’t want my legs sawn off.’ Rachel said and
shambled away glancing once over her shoulder as Elaine approached the
shadow-filled porch to Robinson’s house.
Former Lay-Preacher Ezekiel Robinson put down the book he was
reading and sniffed the air. The hairs on the back of his neck stood on end and
he frowned. When his doorbell rang he just nodded as if confirming to himself
that his premonition had been correct, then he raised his wiry frame out of the
threadbare chair and went down to confirm his suspicions.
‘Trick or treat, sir?’
The little witch asked him when the door opened and he stood there
open-mouthed, hardly believing his luck.
‘What?’ He managed to
mumble finally.
‘Halloween, trick or
treat,’ Elaine faltered, Robinson seemed mesmerised by her, ‘sir...’
His face brightened. ‘Of course, Halloween. Come in, child, come
in.’ He stepped to one side and motioned for Elaine to enter the dimly-lit
hallway.
Elaine swallowed nervously. She hadn’t expected an invitation to
go into the old man’s house. She looked around quickly, but Rachel had gone.
She hesitated.
‘The treats are in my
study, please, do come in,’ Robinson repeated and before Elaine knew it the man
had gripped her shoulder. He urged her inside.
Glenda paced back and forth in the passage way. ‘She should be
back by now.’
‘You know what kids
are like; she’s probably playing with Rachel. It was Rachel in the mummy costume wasn’t it?’ Jim asked.
‘Of course,’ Glenda
replied and then sighed as the doorbell rang. ‘She’s back!’ She pulled the door
open and looked past the little mummy-figure expecting to see the blue-coated
shape of her child. Elaine wasn’t there. ‘Where is she? Rachel, where’s
Elaine?’
The mummy shuffled uncomfortably and dropped the plastic bag.
Out spilled an apple, some sweets, a piece of cake, loose change and the sleeve
of Elaine’s blue coat.
‘Talk, now!’ Glenda
commanded and Rachel spilled the beans. She told Glenda everything, unable to
do otherwise.
‘Preacher Robinson,
shit. Of all the damned places to go into alone. Jim, take Rachel home.’ Glenda
picked up Elaine’s coat and narrowed her eyes. ‘I haven’t finished with you yet, Miss,’ she said softly to
Rachel and the child’s blood seemed to freeze in her veins. ‘She’s wearing your
costume, too?’
‘Yes, it was too small
for me, a witch’s costume,’ Rachel stuttered.
‘A witch’s costume...’
Glenda echoed and Rachel nodded glumly.
‘Ok, Rachel. Let’s get
you home,’ Jim said and patted the child’s head. ‘You want the car?’ He asked
Glenda.
She raised an eyebrow at him. ‘No... I’ll be fine.’
‘Just be careful,’ he
said.
‘Obviously,’ Glenda
replied as she pushed him out of the door and went back to the kitchen and
opened the tall cupboard.
Gloominess shrouded the porch to Preacher Robinson’s house. A
gloominess that seemed to emanate from the small child that sat sobbing quietly
on the door step. She fingered something wet and slimy at her side and jumped
when a rustling from nearby bushes startled her. ‘Who’s there?’
‘Your mother,’ replied
Glenda as she stepped out of the foliage, brushed herself down and looked
around suspiciously. ‘Are you all right?’
Elaine nodded. ‘Yes. I didn’t expect him to invite me in. I
didn’t expect him to do what he did. I’m sorry, mum, I really am. I should have
listened to you. The costume too...’
‘So, what happened?’
Glenda asked as she approached the step.
‘I asked him for a
trick or treat and I sort of got dragged into his house. The door closed
and...’
‘...and?’ Her mother
prompted.
Elaine shivered and motioned to something on the step next to
her. ‘And...’
‘That’s the trick? Or
is it the treat?’ her mother asked as she picked up the slimy toad and examined
it.
‘That’s... Old Man Robinson,’
Elaine replied.
‘Ah...’ nodded her
mother, ‘he perceived you then. He
saw you for what you really are. I feared as much when Rachel said where you
were... and just look at you. Why don’t you just wear a great big placard too?’
‘I didn’t think...’
‘Undoubtedly, that’s
why I’ve been so protective of you. Not everyone is capable of perceiving us, but some are. He’s one.’
She nodded at the toad which squirmed in her grasp. ‘But, on the plus side, you
did very well. Transfiguration isn’t all that easy, yet you’ve done a fine job.
Unfortunately we can’t allow him to revert back. It just wouldn’t be a good
idea at all,’ Glenda said as she closed her hand and the toad exploded with a
wet plop.
‘Sorry, mum,’ Elaine
said reaching up for her mother.
‘That’s ok,’ Glenda replied
as she picked her child up and carried her to the bushes, ‘perhaps it’s time I
told you about Aunt Prudence and what happened to her in 1780. We thought the
witch hunts were over, we were wrong then and many of us have been wrong now. They still remember. Some still perceive us. We have to be
more than careful now. There aren’t that many of us left.’
‘Is daddy mad?’ Elaine
asked.
‘Of course, dear!’
Glenda laughed. ‘What sane man would
marry a witch? But, that’s beside the point. Now, jump onto my broom and let’s
get home. By the way I like what you’ve done with your nose...’
