Be Still My Banshee Heart

Chapter 13

Samuel walked down the path that led to the river, his small flashlight loosely held in his hand. The path was once more becoming worn with his and Jess's walks.

"Jess," he called in the direction in which the dog had ran, their walks were having a great effect on Jess, she was becoming quite the ball of energy.

Jess bounded out of the dark through the thick shrubs, then once again darted off towards the river, barking happily.

"Daft dog," he muttered watching her disappear. Truth be told Jess had really grown on him, he couldn't imagine not having her now, she was his constant companion.

"She won't be there, Jess," he called, knowing who Jess was looking for.

They had been out here every night in the hope that Mary might be there.

He had not seen anything of her since the day at the cafe, he had turned round and she had just been gone, that was days ago.

The cottage had also been awfully quiet, nothing was being moved, there had been no disturbances at all. This resulted in all the walls now being a lovely new shade of cream.

Most of his Ma's knick knacks had been safely packed and placed in the attic.

The latest power shower had been installed in the bathroom along with new sink and toilet. Fresh white tiles now covered the walls, how his mother had stayed quiet he did not know.

Now with the walls painted and the shower fitted, it was quiet. There was no sound of his fathers laughter, no crazy lady suddenly appeared in the kitchen to bake him a pie.

It was just him and Jess and eventually he had to admit to himself that he missed them, that he missed her.

The sound of growling and barking broke through the quiet night. Jess never growled, on instant high alert he sprinted after her. As he rounded the bend he halted to a stop as he saw Jess, her front crouched low to the ground, snarling and growling at something before her, she was in full attack mode.

Samuel had never seen or heard Jess like this and even to him she sounded truly scary.

Fumbling he clicked on the flashlight and shone it towards Jess. He strained his eyes into the dark, trying to make out what had gotten Jess so worked up. It was no good the flashlight was to small its beam not strong enough to cut through the dark, he would have to get closer.

Jess was only about six feet in front of him, yet it felt like a mile as he slowly inched forward to see what lay ahead. He held his small light out ahead of himself waiting for whatever it was to come into view. Jess continued to snarl and growl, she seemed to be getting braver the closer Samuel got and would every so often inch forward snapping her jaws.

"Holy Mary, Mother of God," what is that smell, Samuel suddenly gagged as he grew closer.

Lord, but he had never smelt anything as vile, the closer he got the more he gagged till he was forced to stop and empty the contents of his stomach onto the grass.

Shrieks of high pitch laughter erupted before him causing Jess to bark and growl even more wildly. Wiping his mouth on his sleeve he once again inched forward, "oh lord," the smell if possible got worse, he emptied what was left in his stomach.

His empty heaves and gags sounded in the dark as he made his way toward a snarling Jess. Eventually the light started to cut through the dark making out three small shapes before Jess, no more than three foot or so in height. The shapes appeared to be taunting Jess, kept reaching for her, then pulling back when she snapped at them.