Episode 1 (start)       Episode 39 (next)        Info          Use Search for other Episodes

Short Fat Stubby Finger Stories PRESENTS:

The moon is high and bright – and darkness is on the rise

Episode 38

   After Joseph left, Martin decided he needed a nightcap before retiring, only this time he stood at the bar to drink it.  And, as he stood there, sipping on his drink, his eyes strolled around the room and they soon took in Mary and her group.   ‘How deep and meaningful their conversation seems for people meeting for the first time.   I wonder what they are discussing.  It certainly seems to have MARY excited … or is it agitation that I see?’   He wondered, ‘she certainly makes friends easily considering this is her first day in the village.  She’ll get along like a house on fire in this village if she decides to move here.’ 

   Martin turned his eyes away from Mary and looked at his watch and decided that he too really needed some shut eye, swallowed the remainder of his drink in one gulp, and turned around to head up the corridor to the stairwell and his room.    

   But before he had taken more than one step William Jones, the hotel owner and manager, entered the room and walked up to Martin to ask if he  could join him for a drink, and a bit of a conversation.   All thoughts of sleep disappeared from Martin’s mind and he agreed immediately.    ‘One more drink will only help me sleep better,’ he thought.

   Less than a minute later Martin settled himself down on the lounge in William’s private office as William poured out two glasses of scotch handing one to Martin, before seating himself down in the seat opposite.    

   “Well, here’s to Trenthamville, and the wonderful visitors it brings here for us to meet.”   William offered as he raised his glass for a toast which Martin quickly reciprocated to.    William’s first words of conversation were pedestrian to say the least; inane ramblings about the contents of the room and the hotel’s history, but the chat quickly turned to the farm, and the night of the long light, and the hotel manger had some very interesting things to tell Martin.  The man the locals referred to as Old Laurie had always considered himself to be the local custodian of the ‘power to defend’ that existed in the village.   Old Laurie was aware of the fact that somebody else in the village also had some kind of connection with the outsiders who helped protect the village, but he was never aware of the power and connections that William Jones had with the guardians of Planet Earth.

   “There are an awful lot of things that will happen in this village over the next day or so.  William stated so softly and quietly that Martin almost didn’t pick up on the applied impact the words relayed.”   Powerful, dangerous things that even I can’t begin to imagine … and I somehow feel that you and your friends …”

   But before William could say another word, the door to the office burst open and William Jones found himself confronted by the most distraught employee ever.  The woman was beside herself in fear and shock and was barely able to get the words out to tell him what she had just found in room twenty two.

********

Go to Episode 39