Mistake - Episode Four

1

Betty’s day had been getting weirder and weirder, but then that was nothing new. She was buried alive somewhere god only knows and when she thought that was it, she would never hear another voice in the short time she had left. She heard a voice, Peter’s voice. 

Somehow someway he could talk to her. Or maybe she really had gone mad.

“Peter is it really you, but how?” Betty asked.

“You’re not buried in a cemetery.”

“Where am I buried?”

“You’re not. You’re coffin is on a pile of them in the basement of some big old house.”

“Where are you?”

“Sitting in a chair facing the wall, why I’m facing a wall is any ones guess. I’d feel for a dunce cap if I could only move my arm.”

“They’ve tied you up?”

“No, I remember they injected me with something. Ever since then I haven’t been able to move a muscle.”

“Do you know how long we’ve been here?”

“At least a day maybe longer, Sorry I can’t be more precise.”

“That’s okay. Have you managed to see any of them? I felt a huge bugger come up behind me.”

“Oh Betts, I’m the wrong person to say a line like that to.”

They both giggled, it was nice to find the time to be juvenile when in a useless situation, even though she was sure Barbara wouldn’t approve. What the hell else were they going to do?

“I didn’t see the big guy properly either, but Jacob called him his brother.”

“So that’s his brother. Is there anyone else?”

“I don’t think so, not that I saw.”

“Well two on two that’s better odds.”

“We do have one teeny tiny problem though.”

“Yes”

“Barbara’s library key, remember” Peter explained. “You put it in my pocket and I forgot to take it out when we went to the funeral parlour.”

“So you’ve still got it. Crikey imagine if we lost that, I think I’d rather stay in here than face the wrath of Barbara”

“That’s the problem I haven’t. They took it.”

“Shit” said Betty followed by “Sorry Barbara.”

“What are we going to do?”

“First, I’m getting out of this coffin then I’m going to search for the key and the exit. Then I’m coming back for you, and if the injection hasn’t worn off I’ll just have to sodding well carry you.”

“Brilliant plan” said Peter.

“Right then, first things first.”

“First things first?”

“Getting out the coffin.”

2

Waiting for the returning squatter gave Barbara and Christopher time for a breather. They lit a few candles and sat on the hopefully not to rotten duvet. Christopher momentarily forgot where he was and almost lied on his back thankfully managing to stop himself before he got into position.

“It feels like they’ve been gone forever.” He said. “But it’s only been a couple of days, hasn’t it.”

“It feels like an eternity. I never thought I’d miss her so much.” Replied Barbara “And I don’t even think it’s because I’m worried she might die. It’s just the space where her voice should be, it seems so huge now. It’s like part of my ear isn’t working anymore.”

“You know when I said there were things I wished I had said to Peter, and I‘m going to when I see him.”

“Yes.”

“What are you going to say to Betty when you see her?”

“Don’t be ridiculously soppy.” Barbara laughed. “We don’t do things like that.”

“Is there anything you wished you already had said, regardless of how stupid it is?”

“What?”

“I bet there is something isn’t there.” Christopher sounded excited, was he about to chip another piece of Barbara’s armour off he wondered. “It’s gnawing away at you right now, I can tell.”

For a moment it looked as though Barbara was about to say something, but the moment soon passed and her mouth remained closed.

With no answer forthcoming, Christopher it seemed had decided to silently stare into Barbara’s eyes, and it started to make her feel uncomfortable.

“What?” She finally said. She may even have blushed slightly.

“You know, you remind me of a cat.”

“Nice.”

“They have that glint in their eye like they see something the rest of us don’t. That they know much more than they could ever tell. Not that they could say anyway.”

“I’m not really sure what you’re getting at my boy?”

“It’s like there’s a layer of skin all around this planet, and the real world is beneath. Only you get beneath the skin and see it all for what it really is.  All the rest of us can hope for is the tiniest glimmer of a glance if we stay near you long enough.”

“But stay too near, for too long, and you’ll probably get blinded.”

“Sometimes I look at you and I think, maybe it is a risk worth taking.”

Barbara was no longer paying any attention to Christopher, her head was now turned the other way.

“Fine I nearly open up to you and you turn around.” Christopher continued.

“Don’t be silly, shush, I hear something.”

“You shushed me. Again.”

“Well if you stopped needing shushing, I’d stop needing to shush.”

Christopher didn’t answer.

“Good boy” Barbara said with a wink. Now quickly go stand behind the door if someone comes in.”

“What are you going to do?”

“I’m going to be the distraction of course.”

“You’re going to be the distraction. What you going to do, wiggle your bottom?”

“I don’t understand.” Barbara looked generally confused. Christopher chuckled then did as he was told and walked over to hide behind the door, picking up a candle holder as he passed, just in case.

Barbara, quick as a flash, pulled out her knitting and got to work on whatever she had been working on, all the while keeping one eye on the doorway. She expected the frame to be filled at any minute, judging by the noise coming from the stairs.

3

“So Betts, how tight is the lid of the casket, will it budge at all?” asked Peter.

“I don’t know, haven’t tried yet.”

“What do you mean you haven’t tried yet?”

“I thought I was buried alive, I thought there would be no way I could shift it.”

“You didn’t even try?”

“I thought I would, but then I felt kind of comfy in a weird way. Well until you started freaking me out.”

“That was funny. Anyway stop changing the subject. Try the lid.”

Betty pushed at the lid with as much strength as she could muster. It wouldn’t budge.

“No it won’t move.”

“Okay what about if you rocked side to side, it’s on a pile of caskets so maybe if you rocked it enough it would fall off and break open.”

“I don’t know. It might just break me.”

“What other choice do you have?”

“I could wait until that injection of yours wares off.”

“It could take hours. How do we know they haven’t given me something that has paralysed me for life?”

“Don’t say that.”

“If it gets you to move your bottom I will.”

“My goodness you sound like Barbara.”

“My god I sound like Chris.” Peter sounded sad again when he said the name.

“I bet you can’t wait to see him again.”

“He might not want to see me after what I said, I’m such an idiot. I’ve been such an idiot for years.”

“Of course he’ll want to see you, and you’re not an idiot, you're Peter. You’re great just the way you are.”

“I remember telling someone else that not too long ago.” Peter laughed.

“Moral of the story we’re amazing.”

“Anyway Betts, I’m sorry but it’s time you rocked the boat.”

“Very well” Betty said finally defeated. “What’s the worst that can happen?”

“I can’t believe you just said that”

Betty didn’t reply she was too busy trying to rock back and forth.

To begin with nothing much was happening if you looked from the outside. Peter couldn’t, he was facing the other way. But inside was a different story. Betty rolled herself left and right, each time trying to ram her body into the sides of the casket. Each time building up more and more momentum until finally after making herself feel rather dizzy and sick, the casket began to wobble.

“Yes it wobbled” cried Betty.

“Well keep going then girl.” Peter replied. “Come on almost there.”

Betty felt a surge of power going through her now she knew there was a slim chance of victory over the horizontal prison she thought she would never leave. She rolled this way and that, slamming harder and harder. If she hadn’t had such an adrenaline rush she would have realised how much it was probably going to hurt her later. How much of her body was to be covered in bruises.

As she continued her assault the casket visibly began to rock back and forth. Slowly at first but then, just as the whirlwind inside had, began to pick up pace. It was almost there, almost over.

“JUST” Betty slammed her body to the left.

“A COUPLE” Betty slammed her body to the right

“MORE” Betty slammed her body one last time to the left, and then there was nothing to stop it.

The casket span round as it crashed to the ground so it landed bottom side up.

“OUCH” Betty screamed.

“So, can you open the lid now?” Peter asked excitedly.

“No, it still won’t budge.”

“Oh. Well at least you’ve changed position.”

4

Two seconds after the moment Barbara thought someone would appear at the door, someone appeared. She recognised the face immediately. It was Mr Red Herring who had driven the hearse they had followed what seemed a life time ago.

The man didn’t run. He just stood there staring at Barbara, his head turning slightly this way and that.

Barbara pretended not to notice. The man took a step forward into the room all the while his stare never left her. The expression on his face was pure bewilderment.

Barbara quickly looked up from her knitting and looked him straight in the eyes.

“Oh you startled me” she said. “Sorry, hello there, my names Barbara.”

The man did not answer instead he took one tentative step toward her, then another.

“So then, are you Jacobs brother, are you Victor?” Barbara asked.

The man stopped in his tracks and smiled at Barbara, then shook his head.

“So you just work for them then?”

The man nodded.

“So where is Victor, is he in his room?”

The man shook his head. “He’s not here. No one’s here, just you and me.” The man smiled again.

“Oh, you can speak. How delightful. Now if you wouldn’t mind, could I just take a look in his room anyway? I promise I won’t take anything.”

The man shook his head again, this time quite fiercely. He slowly started to approach Barbara again.

“No one is allowed to go in there.”

“Why?”

“It’s where it all began.”

“What do you mean? Is that where Jacob’s and Victor’s dad died?”

“Yes”

“But that was a long time ago, why can’t I have a look.”

“No, it’s different on the other side.”

“I don’t mean to down play the final moments of that poor fellow. But it was just the death of one man. Surely no single death can have that much significance?”

“Not one man, two. Two men died in that room.”

Barbara hadn’t noticed how close the strange man had got until a voice from behind him spoke.

“I think that’s far enough funny guy.”

The man swivelled round to see Christopher walk out from behind the door.

“What is this?” The man protested.

“Tell me where Peter and Betty are?” Christopher demanded, raising the candle holder.

“Now now Chris, calm down. We want information not blood.”

“Listen to the lady.” The man piped up.

“Where are they?”

“Jacob’s taken them to Victor’s house.”

“Where’s Victor’s house then?”

The man closed his mouth it seemed refusing to divulge any more information.

“Right let’s see if this will make you talk” said Christopher as he stepped out into the hallway and started kicking at the lock to Victor’s room.

“No stop.” The man screamed running after him.

Christopher didn’t stop. He kept kicking at the door harder and harder.

“Please” the man squawked as he watched Christopher’s final kick break the handle and the door flew open.

The crazed man leaped onto Christopher, arms wide, fingers spread. A row of yellow jagged nails dug into Christopher’s arm. He cried out and toppled backwards, his deranged attacker on top of him, arms raised to go in for another attack. Just as the man’s arms came down, a hand bag flew round and collided with his face, the sheer force sending him sideways across the floor.

“You see Chris” said Barbara waving her handbag. “Everything in my bag is in there for a reason, and one of those reasons is combined weight.”

Christopher got to his feet then went to see where his attacker had landed.

Barbara looked down at her handbag and smiled.

“I do love this bag” she said. “It’s got ever such a good swing to it.”

“My god” said Christopher from the other the other side of the room, he was standing over a very still body. “You’ve knocked him out cold.”

Barbara rummaged through her hand bag eventually pulling out a thick bundle of wool.

“This, my friend, is the strongest wool you will ever see.”

“You’re like the James bond of Knitters.”

Barbara laughed.

“Tie him up with it. We need to take him back to Rose Cottage.” She said. “I think he needs to sample some of Betty’s tea.”

“Aren’t you forgetting something Barbara?”

“What’s that then?”

“Well it’s another reason for bringing your knitting right, so which number is this?”

“Erm, number five, or is it number six?”

“You sure you’re not making these up as you go along?”

“No, honestly. I’ve got this amazing guide to combat knitting at home.”

“Combat knitting.” Christopher couldn’t stop another chuckle escaping. “Okay that is it, I’ve officially given up.”

“Good boy.” Barbara patted his head. “Now get a move on, he’ll wake up soon.”

Christopher tied up the sleeping man as best he could, as far as he could tell the man shouldn’t be able to escape. Well as long as his disgusting nails can’t reach any of the bindings.

Barbara made her way towards Victor’s bedroom, she didn’t know what to expect, though the fuss old Mr Herring was making did point to maybe something.

Victor’s room was tidy of rubbish or any other human touch, but not the touch of other things. Thick cobwebs and dust covered almost everything. The whole place looked like an abandoned city of spiders, the homes were there but the residents had long gone. Barbara couldn’t see any eight legged freaks, something she secretly hoped wouldn’t change.

There were only four pieces of furniture in the room that Barbara could see. A bed, table and chair, and on the far side of the room was a wardrobe. But that was about it.

Christopher stepped up besides Barbara as she surveyed the room.

“Doesn’t look like there’s anything of interest in here either.” said Christopher, a little annoyed. “You’d think after the way he acted there’d be, I don’t know, some old diary that explained everything.”

“I think you’re missing the point.”

“Somehow I knew I would be.”

“No one’s been in this room for a very long time, I doubt even sleeping beauty over there has ever been in here.”

“So it’s just what he thought would be in here?”

“Maybe he’s superstitious, or maybe that’s what he was told. Or maybe he’s been in this building so long he can sense something coming from in here.”

“Either way he’s certainly in reverence of it”

“Like worships it?” Barbara’s face seemed to change. Did she look slightly older all of a sudden? “Christopher there is something else going on here, but I can’t quite put my finger on what it is.”

“What do you mean something else?”

“I was assuming we were just dealing with a psychotic family that fiddles with dead bodies.”

“And now what do you think?”

“There’s something going on with this room, I think I can feel it too. Something happened here, and I don’t mean the death of their dad or whoever else died here.”

“What then?”

“Do you remember what he said, it began in here. Not ended.”

“What does that even mean?”

“I’m not sure but we’ve got to get a move on, time is running short.”

“Do you want me to carry Mr Herring to the car then?”

“Don’t be absurd, he probably weighs more than you can manage” said Barbara as she walked over to the sleeping lump and with one swoop of her arm he was hanging over her shoulder.”

As Barbara walked to the exit, she swore she heard something, a strange little noise, like something was vibrating. It didn’t last long so she didn’t have enough time to figure it out. And in the great scheme of things it seemed hardly important. So, just as the noise stopped, so now, had her thoughts of it.

5

“Oh for goodness sake I’m fed up being in this blasted thing” Betty suddenly shouted, kicking the bottom of the coffin, which of course was now the top. She kicked so hard her foot went straight through. Light shone into the hole immediately, and air.

“Dodgy bottom” Shouted Betty.

“What?”

“This casket has a dodgy bottom. Of all the cheap tricks.” Betty repeatedly punched and kicked into the shoddy workmanship and in no time at all it was in pieces.

Trying to stand was harder than Betty thought it would be, her legs were very wobbly and she needed to hold onto the wall for a moment to get her balance.

“Right” said Betty whilst brushing down her dress. “Time to get down to Business. No more Ms nice guy... girl, no, lady” She smiled.

Betty did a quick three hundred and sixty degree scan of the room. There was Peter not far from the coffin, sitting in a chair facing the wall. Betty thought the image looked funny and swore she would find him a dunce cap.

They were in a basement of some other building. She decided that she would make sure, on their next adventure, she would be staying above ground level for the duration.

The only other thing of note in the room was a stone staircase against the far side of the room. Betty knew that was where she had to go, by herself and sort all this mess out. So she turned back to Peter’s back.

“Do you want me to turn you round Pete?”

“This may sound stupid but no, I can’t move so if someone comes to kill me, I’d rather not know they were coming.”

“I like your way of thinking. I would do the same.” Betty’s tone then turned serious. “Pete do you trust me?”

“What?”

“Do you trust me Pete? I’m going to have to leave you in a minute. I’ve got to find out where we are, how we’re getting out and where that blinking library key is.”

“Okay Betts”

“Will you be okay?”

“Don’t worry about me Betts I think I’ll just hang around here for a bit. You know how lazy I am, probably still be sitting right here when you get back.”

“Right, I’ll be off then.” Betty turned to go, she looked up towards the exit and stopped once more. She knew whatever was beyond that door would change everything. As much as she wanted to know the truth, Betty wasn't sure she was ready for some revelation, and she was still worried about leaving Christopher defenceless.

“Betts, it’s okay, I trust you” said Peter “with my life.”

They were the words Betty needed. Betty could do this, she knew she could. She had no choice.

To be continued...