The Power and the Glory

Book 3 Chapter XV: Rise and Fall

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In the course of his job the constable had received many minor scrapes. This wasn't even the first time he'd been bitten. He checked the injury before leaving the shrine. The bite had broken the skin, but only just. A small plaster would deal with that while it healed.

He went home, rinsed the wound, put the plaster on, and went to bed reflecting on the shocking turn today had taken. Perhaps it was because of the frights he endured, but he found it difficult to get to sleep. After tossing and turning for a while he began to feel hungry. So he got up and went down to the kitchen for a late-night snack.

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For the past three thousand years the constable had hired local youngsters to clean his house after breakfast. It earned them money, gave them something to do, and spared him from having to do the housework, so it was a very convenient arrangement for everyone. His current housekeepers were three siblings who stopped by on their way to school. As soon as they drew knew the house they sensed there was something wrong.

Rioghaen, the oldest, shielded her eyes with her hand as she stared at the house. "Weird. The curtains are still drawn."

Chaebioth, the middle sibling and the only boy, shrugged dismissively. "He probably left in a hurry."

Fennijan, the youngest, shook her head emphatically. "Look! His bike's still outside the door. He hasn't left yet."

This was something new. Normally the constable woke up at around ten, had his breakfast, and cycled off to the district police station at around eleven. When the children arrived at half-past eleven they would find the door locked but the key under the doormat, the curtains open, and the dishes from breakfast and the previous day's meals in the sink.

All three of them exchanged puzzled looks.

"Maybe he's sick," Fennijan suggested.

They went up to the house. The door was unlocked. Rioghaen gestured for her siblings to stay behind as she stepped inside. It took her eyes a minute to adjust to the darkened hallway. She pulled open the curtains and let the light flood in. Then she saw the state of the place. She gasped.

It looked like a burglar had broken in and ransacked the whole house. Furniture was overturned and smashed, pictures hung askew on the walls, and there were marks on the floor that suggested a dog had clawed at it.

The kitchen door was ajar. She poked her head in. More chaos awaited her. The fridge doors were wide open. So was the pantry door. Both fridge and pantry were stripped bare. Yesterday they had both been full. Pieces of food littered the floor. It looked as if a starving mob had descended on the place.

Muirus 9436[1], being a planet at a considerable distance from Vanerth, had its own folklore that had very little in common with Saoridhlém's even though the original settlers were from Saoridhlém. But both planets had stories about the ghosts of people who starved to death. Saoridhlém called them shaberos. Seroyawa called them tenewa. Muirus 9436 called them lonijed. All three places agreed they were eternally hungry and would eat everything in their path -- including people. Rioghaen thought of those stories. She paled.

It was time to get out of here.

She turned to flee. Her foot slipped on the spilt food. With a crash she fell against the table.

Heavy footsteps crossed the landing and hurried down the stairs. Rioghaen jumped up, just in time to see something lunge at her.

Her screams echoed through the house. Then they stopped.