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Short Fat Stubby Finger Stories PRESENTS:

EPISODE 48

Surprisingly, William’s sudden dismissive tone didn’t worry the trio as, for no apparent reason, each of the three visitors had felt a sudden urge to leave the room only a second or two before he advised them the interview was terminated.  And as they made their way towards the lobby, they found themselves unable, or unwilling, to be more precise, to discuss the preceding events among themselves – at least for the moment.  It didn’t faze them that William had offered absolutely nothing tangible or useful to their problem … only provided them more questions to ponder.  Yet each member of the trio felt that something had been given to them … they just couldn’t explain exactly what it was.

“Well, I think that I will head off to visit Vittorio.”  Joseph decided as soon as they reached the lobby.  “Are you still coming, Mary”

“Oh, you betcha.”  Mary replied with a huge grin as she realised that Joseph had not only remembered her offer, he was encouraging it.

“What about you, Martin.  Don’t want to change your mind?”

“No, thank you, Joseph; I have my own agenda.”

“Then we will leave you to your own devices.  Be sure you do remember the going-to-bed-early part of your agenda, though.  We have a big day tomorrow and we need an early start.”

Martin grinned in reply before giving a wave goodbye as he headed off towards the bar.

********

As Joseph and Mary walked out into the cool night air, they were surprised at how fast the darkness was rolling in on the village.  And as they began the trek through the quietness of the nearly deserted village’s main street, they knew that they were certainly not going to have an appreciation for the ill lit footpath they followed … particularly when the light of virtually every shop in the street outside of the hotel was now in total darkness.

“What was the name of that street we had to turn in to?”  Joseph asked doing his best to cover any expression of the feeling of anxiety that was beginning to overcome him. He was not pleased about this sudden appearance of nightfall.  He had fully expected daylight to hang around for at least another hour.  Stories he had heard about travelling in unfamiliar territory after dark began to unravel in his mind and it made him begin to feel nervous, but he needed to restrain any outburst of emotions for Mary’s sake.  But it was Mary that would suddenly put his mind in a dangerous mixture of both feeling at ease by way of explanation … and simultaneously providing new feelings of trepidation about what life was seemingly offering them at the moment in the dark world they were entering.  And neither environment gave him the comfort he was seeking.

“Harold Street.”  Mary replied, “There should be a sign pointing to the hospital when we reach it.  About three blocks up, I think.”

“I will be glad to get off this street.  It is so damn dark.  My god, it is so dark on this street.  Do the locals close up early every day … or do they know something that we don’t?”

“Perhaps it is the weather.” Mary suggested, “It certainly is clouding over.  I hope we don’t get caught in a storm.”

Mary’s comment forced Josephs’ eyes to turn upwards to the ever greying sky above them and what he saw threatened him with a migraine.

“You and me, both, Mary,”  He replied failing to totally hide the sullen tone of his words as he saw a distant flash behind the thickening clouds,  “Getting drenched would be the last thing that we need.

********

They travelled the next two blocks rather slowly and awkwardly as they discovered huge cracks in the footpath that were barely visible to the naked eye in the grotesquely limited lighting and Joseph was about to suggest that they walked on the roadway for safety, when he crashed awkwardly into something that was nailed at chest height to the non-working streetlight.

“Are you alright, Joseph?  Mary asked with great concern when she heard the heavy thump of his body against the invisible sign.

“Yes, I am fine,” Joseph replied, “Just took the wind out of me.  What in the hell did I walk into?”

“I should have thought of this before.” Mary said, chastising herself as she reached into her purse, pulled out her phone and switched on the torch function.  She quickly flashed the bright beam in the direction where Joseph was standing, temporary blinding him before gasping at what she saw, giggled to Joseph’s bewilderment, then slowly ran the light up the light-pole until the light also took in what she was searching for.

“Well that proves one thing, you will never get lost in the dark. You must have built-in radar, Joseph.  Well done.”

“What do you mean?”  Joseph, who was still trying to clear his vision, asked in total confusion.

“Have a look up there.”

Joseph rubbed his eyes once more then let them slowly focus on the light as it travelled towards the top of what turned out to be another useless streetlight and a huge grin broke out on his face as eyes slowly took in a much shorter wooden post that stood side by side with the streetlight about halfway up the height of the defunct pole; a short narrow post displaying a smaller, flatter extension pointing outwards in the direction of the street that they only now realised was there.  An extension that bore the name they had been searching for … Harold Street.

“At least it’s better lit than the last few blocks have been, but not by much.”  Joseph grumbled.

The new footpath was lined with bushes that appeared to grow in front of virtually every house they would pass before they reached the hospital, but at least it had lighting along the path, poor as it was, and the footpath appeared to be intact if its beginning was anything to go by.  But the lighting still left a lot to be desired.

Joseph was, by now, truly beginning to regret his decision to go to the hospital, however, there was one consolation that he began to notice; as they walked he could feel the shroud of gloominess that he had felt had covered him in the hotel board-room lifting off his shoulders, rising high on its journey to whatever form of oblivion awaited such feelings of depression.

“This is certainly different to our office routine, Joseph … much more invigorating.”  Mary offered cheerfully, happy to finally be alone with Joseph.

“Yes, it definitely is.”  He replied, trying desperately to find a way in his mind to not engage in this conversation, and where it appeared to be heading … he was not quite ready for it at this very moment.  But before he found the need to panic, a sudden intrusion on their thoughts and sanity quickly exploded in their hearts and minds as the a loud, extended rustling sound came flying out from the bushes beside them giving Joseph such a start that he froze on the spot, and Mary literally jumped as high off the ground as her legs would take her, almost knocking Joseph off his feet as she came back down, gulping in air as she tried to shout out that something had touched her.

Somehow Joseph managed to push the alarm that had momentarily rung through his fast beating heart and pulsating head and reached over to Mary’s shaking body and pulled her into his waiting arms.

“Don’t worry.”  He offered in a soft, assuring tone as he held her tight.  “It’s only a cat or something. You probably scared it more it scared you.  William’s ramblings and poor lighting on a dark and potentially rainy night tends to put unnecessarily wary thoughts in one’s head – as does Laurie’s ramblings when you think about it.”

Joseph smiled at her in order to calm her down, but his grin, distorted in the scattered streetlight from further up the street to the hospital, gave him a Bela Lugosi appearance that luckily brought a weak grin from Mary as she saw the irony in it.

“Mary, there’s something that I have been meaning to say to you.”

“Yes, Joseph.”

“About the office … where we work.   There is something going in my life that I can’t explain right at this minute.  But, I would sincerely appreciate that you refrain from talking about where we work in front of the others.  I can’t elaborate on anything, not at the moment, except to say it could jeopardise our efforts in finding the statue and releasing Rosetta and her father from their respective comas.”

“Certainly, Joseph … that’s fine with me.”  Mary looked up at him, suddenly finding the need to speak of the preceding events. “Joseph, what do you think about what William said – about one of us being gifted?  And, that we were all part of some sort of a game plan to defeat this Punjaniti thing?  Do you think that he could be right?”

“I am not sure that I believe anything other than both Rosetta and her father need my help.”  Joseph mumbled so deeply Mary barely comprehended what he said.

“That’s rather an evasive answer, Joseph,” a bemused Mary reprimanded.  “Could you be more explicit?”

“Sorry, I get a little overwhelmed about this whole situation at times. It sometimes feels like mission impossible.  Anyway, as far as what William said …”

But before Joseph could finish, another scuttling noise came from the bushes and Joseph automatically readied himself for Mary’s reaction.  However, this time Mary stayed grounded, closed her eyes for a second and took a deep breath of relief as a result of seeing the brightness of the hospital in the not too far distance.  Mary found herself becoming momentarily mesmerised by the sight of the hospital and continued to stare at it.  And she may well have continued to stare as she began to walk towards the light if it had not been for the sound of several polite coughs that broke into the silence that surrounded her.  Slightly startled by the unexpected intrusion into her personal space Mary suddenly remembered the question she had asked.

“Sorry, Joseph … you were saying?”

“I thought your mind had gone for a stroll for a moment there.” Joseph began with a laugh, but quickly went on with the answer when he saw the reactive scowl on Mary’s face, “I think that there could be some truth in what he said.  There certainly is enough circumstantial evidence to collaborate his offerings.  Even down to the point of your just happening to decide whether or not to buy the farm at the same time as we were trying to find the statue.  Knowing you, and having your co-operation, made it that much easier to get information about Laurie’s version of recent happenings in the village, and because of Harvey we got more information from Vittorio when we finally found him.”

“Que, Sera, Sera?”

“Pardon?”

“Whatever will be, will be … perhaps it is all pre-ordained.”

“It may be.”

“Joseph, why didn’t you mention to William the fact that the fire in the room was still smouldering, and the difficulty that you had trying to move the things in it?  He didn’t make any mention about it.  I thought that you two were going to get your arms zapped when you tried to retrieve the knife.”

“Firstly I don’t think that he would have had an answer.  Secondly, I had a funny feeling that it would be more prudent to keep it to ourselves for the moment, though I have absolutely no idea why.”

“Perhaps it is you that he was talking about.  What do you think, Joseph?  Are you the chosen one?”  Mary asked as she turned her head towards the closest house, slightly distracted by the eerie outline caused by a light suddenly coming on behind a blind covered window in the otherwise darkened house.

Joseph failed to answer, making Mary think that he hadn’t heard her, so she called out again while still keeping her eyes on the illuminated blind.

“Joseph … are you the one?”

But still there was no reply.

Mary swung around mid-step and asked the question once again, only this time to find there was still not only no reply to be forthcoming … this time there was also no Joseph to be seen.

Mary got a start when she unexpectedly realised Joseph had seemed to have disappeared.  She spun her body completely around in mild panic and was surprised to see him standing in the middle of the footpath with a huge grin on his face around fifteen yards back to where they had entered the street.

“Joseph.  What is it?”  Mary asked as she began to walk back towards him.

“I think that I know where the statue is.  But I may need to confirm it with Vittorio.”

“Oh, Joseph … where is it?”  Mary asked excitedly.

But before Joseph could reply, a much louder sound of something rustling in the bushes was heard again, and before Joseph could turn his head in the direction of where he thought it had come from, Mary screamed as something unseen ran between her feet, brushing its sharp, spiky skin hard against her exposed ankles.  There was little difference between the pain and the fear that ran through her body when, a mere second later, her mind coming so close to succumbing to absolute terror, she never saw the thing that suddenly came from nowhere and rammed itself into her chest, its long, sharp, talons threatening to rip apart her thick clothing and rip her heart out.  The sheer force of the attack caused her to lose balance and sent her reeling backwards into Joseph’s open arms. An action which threatened to take them both to the floor as Joseph fought to regain his balance, but it also gave Joseph the unexpected option to react instinctively. As he rocked back and forward on the floor as Mary’s weight took its toll, Joseph wildly swung his clenched fist from around the back of Mary’s neck and hit the attacking creature with all of his might.  Joseph’s fist slammed into whatever it was and it immediately lost all contact with Mary’s thick coat.  In the confusion and action of the moment Joseph became aware of the loud flapping noises and eerily, unearthly, screeches that were coming from god-know-what, but he had no time to be aware of the savage ferocity of the maker of the noises, or be concerned of retaliation from the savage creature.  He was too busy fending off Mary’s wildly flaying arms as she fought valiantly to rid her body of whatever it was she thought was still attacking her.  Finally he managed to swing Mary around to face him, then quickly wrapped his arms tightly around her and pulled her in tight, but it took him the best part of two minutes to stop her struggling and relax her fears.

“It’s alright, Mary.  It’s alright now.”  He whispered continuously into her ears until she finally stopped struggling and let the tears roll freely into the back of his neck.

Satisfied that she was no longer hostile, Joseph took one arm from his grip on her and began to stroke the back of her head with the free hand, softly attempting to give her comfort with words of strength and encouragement he somehow managed to find lying around somewhere in the back of his mind.

Mary, still half-frozen with fear, barely got the words out as the tears finally began to cease.  “What was it, Joseph?  What were those things that attacked me?”  She asked in a shaky, hoarse voice.

“It seems that owls have a penchant for hedgehog for their evening meal, but there is one that is currently licking its wounds that isn’t getting much to eat so far tonight.  Not judging by the pile of feathers on the ground.  Between us we gave him a good thrashing from the look of things.  I think he will be a bit more careful next time he’s getting his meals on the run.  Now please stop talking, take a few deep breaths and try to relax.”  Joseph’s voice was soft, soothing and tender, and combined with his slow, gentle caressing of the back of her head and neck he eventually calmed down her trembling body.  Somehow he managed to extract a clean handkerchief from his pocket and dabbed away her tears.  When he finished she looked up at him through misty eyes.

“I didn’t mean to scream … I’m sorry … I didn’t know what it was … all my brain could think of was the events that I went through this morning.”

“You don’t need to apologise for anything.  You have nothing to answer or explain.  All you need to do is relax and let everything that has just happened to you slowly leave your mind and disappear into this fog that is threatening to take over the whole of Trenthamville.

Mary, her eyes still fixed on his, nodded her head in agreement.

“Thank you, Joseph.”

“For what?”

“For being who you are.”

“You are more than welcome.”  Joseph replied, “We can stay here until you feel ready to move.  I am certain that Vittorio can wait a bit longer for your sweet company without complaining.

Mary smiled her thanks and appreciation with a smile, then let her head move forward and come back to a rest on his shoulder, then greedily soaked in the comfort of his closeness, and the warmth and safety it offered.

********

Several moments passed without a word or a movement passing between them; their bodies entwined as one, the physical nearness providing the warmth needed to protect each of them from the onset of the ever increasing coolness of the evening.  The sound of nearby fear now no longer lingered in Mary’s ears, now there was nought but the roaring of a soft, sweet, silence that surrounded her.  And during those wonderful moments Mary felt more relaxed and safe than she had ever felt in her life, even more than when she had first fallen in love with David.

Mary was happy, she was comfortable, she felt safe, and she was reluctant to move away and lose the magic that was enveloping her.  But something inside her told her, now was not the time for her heart.  It was time to go about their duty, and their duty tonight was to visit Vittorio and try to learn his secrets.  There would be time enough in the near future to take this moment to a higher level.

Reluctantly, and ever so slowly, Mary began moving herself back from their embrace, and as she moved she looked up once again into Joseph’s eyes and smiled shyly at him before she spoke in a soft, clear, voice.

“Thank you, Joseph.  I think that it is time for us to visit Vittorio.”

“Are you sure you are alright now?” Joseph asked quietly.

“Yes.  Yes, I am fine now … thanks to you.”

“Then I think that we had better get going…visitor’s hours might be over soon.  Judging by the shops in the main centre, you can never be sure what times operate around here.”

“Yes, I suppose that you are right.”

********

They walked in silence, side by side along the footpath, as they continued their journey to the hospital, both lost in their own thoughts.  It was only when they had climbed the stairs and arrived at the hospital entrance; only as Joseph went to open the door, did they realise that they were holding hands.  They looked at each other and laughed, their hands still joined, as they moved into the presumed safety of the Trenthamville Public Hospital.