Henry Neville- The Geist Therapist

6. Polly: Chapter Six

Goodbye, Father

Standing in the doorway, Polly was stricken with terror at the sight of the henchmen. Determined not to let these bad men harass the children anymore, Polly felt the adrenaline soar through her veins. She let out a deep roaring scream and thrust all of her weight into the brute. By sheer will of her determination and of the surprise unexpected assault, the man was forced backwards. He struck the railings and toppled over, striking the surface of the water like a wall, sinking to its depths.

Polly nervously turned to the other men who towered over her with their clubs in hand. They smiled wickedly as they leaned in closer to their prey. She fell backwards and tried to crawl but found herself pushed against the rails.

"Pretty little thing causing all this trouble," one said.

The other extended a hand to grab her. "She'll pay for what she did to poor Burt."

Polly raised her arm to protect herself but lowered it slightly as a glimpse of a figure behind the two men appeared. It eased her terror a little.

Her father smiled back at her and immediately grabbed the unfortunate man. Lifting him up with ease against his protests, he raised him up high and flung him sideways into the river.

The third man, terrified and confused, turned to run down the gangway. Geoff followed swiftly and struck him down between the large crates on the dock. There was no one left to prevent them from rescuing the children now.

Seeing it was now safe, Polly opened the door and signalled for the boys to come out onto the deck. They gasped in horror as they stepped out onto the deck and saw a transparent figure hover towards Polly.

She turned to face the spirit again, "Have we done it? That foul man, Mallory spoke of having more than sixteen."

"There are no more," Geoff replied coarsely. "You have done it, Poll."

"Then your business here has finished, Father. Now is the time to say goodbye. Please, be free, before Henry comes back with his stick."

"The doctor is in grave peril. Find him before it is too late. I will wait." Mr Alexander moved aside to allow Polly through.

"Thank you, Father," she said softly and marched down the bridge, quickening her pace as she reached the bottom and placed her grateful feet back on the firm ground of the dock. "I will not let you down."

Henry had watched some of the commotion on the ship, in the short seconds he was able to avoid the onslaught of Bill. He was battered, bruised and worn out, having narrowly missed out on a snapped neck under Bill's grip. Down to luck, maybe, but Bill released his grip when he thought he saw a ghost hovering around them. It gave Henry enough time to snatch up a brick and strike the great mass across the temple, dazing him enough to escape.

Hiding behind a large rum barrel, Henry gave himself enough time to check himself over. He was disappointed that the lenses of his goggles were broken. Luckily I made spares, he thought. His rod was still in one piece, slightly bent, but nothing a good hammer could not fix. He felt down his sides and was horrified to find his belt with his bottles was not attached to him. He must have lost it in their earlier scuffle. He poked his head up from the barrel to see if it was in sight in any place.

"Found you, Worm," came Bill's voice. He immediately grabbed Henry and lifted him up into the air. A smile crept across his face as he spun slightly and threw Henry into a pile of crates, smashing them with the impact.

Henry coughed up a small amount of blood as he pushed planks of wood off himself and struggled to his feet, clutching his arm. "I don't think I have enough opium to recover from this in the morning."