51, Janefield Place
Draxburgh
17thDecember 1881
My dear sister Gertie,
Do you remember the first time you saw the house down by the stream? We were in Father’s carriage on our way to Breemam for our music lessons. Old Farnell the driver was in a foul mood and we kept annoying him by knocking on the roof. Such innocent fun.
We thought it a derelict when we first saw it standing on the riverbank by the waving frondlike leaves of the willow trees. I think you said it must be haunted. We laughed and shivered deliciously at the same time.
Well dear sister, my darling husband Bert has bought it lock stock and barrel. Since our marriage last year the old darling has been looking for something for me that was romantic and idyllic. (The silly billy!) When he was offered the property which consists of the house (a ruin), an acre of ground and the fishing rights for the stretch of the river at the bottom of our garden, he snapped it up!
Since then Bert has been busy, busy making plans. He has employed an architect who will check the fabric of the house, you know whether it must be all knocked down or if we can keep bits of it and build up from there.
Hope you and William are well and your recent trip to Southsea was beneficial to your health.
Will write again soon.
Love from your sister and brother-in-law.
51, Janefield Place
Draxburgh
Happy Christmas Gertie,
Both Bert and I hope you and William had a lovely and relaxing Christmas.
Thank you for the gifts you sent. The cardigan you knitted for me is exquisite. It matches my new bonnet exactly and Bert can’t get over the Meerschaum pipe you sent him. The house is a veritable smokehouse as he tries out his different brands of tobacco.
The architect has been down to see our ‘new’ house and he thinks that although the remaining bit of roof has got to be removed, internal and external walls are sound. He predicts we should be in by March at the latest! Isn’t that good news?
We went over to see old Mrs Garland yesterday, just to bring in some seasonal cheer to the old lady. Since her poor husband died she has been behaving like a recluse. She was so happy to see us that we managed to encourage her to come for a walk with us. We made sure she was well wrapped up before we sallied forth; it was a very cold day.
Thank you also for your last letter. It was lovely to hear how your neighbours were faring after that last bout of ‘flu they had. You both keep warm Gertie, you don’t want to get ill.
Love from us both
Catherine and Bert.
51, Janefield Place
Draxburgh
My dear Gertie,
Thank you for your last letter. I am glad William didn’t take the ‘flu too badly. It certainly was a cold period. The snow down here was three inches deep! We had an awful job getting bread and milk, but the road men have cleared most of the roads and apart from the unsightly piles of snow everywhere, life has returned to near normal.
We got some really good news before that last blizzard stopped work on our house. The roof was fixed before the snow started falling and if the decorators can scrub the walls down and whitewash them, we can be in by next month! Imagine a month earlier than we had hoped!
We were so glad to hear that your cat Flossy successfully gave birth to her litter. I would imagine having six kittens running all over the place must be fun for you! Have you managed to get homes for them yet?
I will put a copy of Mother’s marmalade recipe in with this letter. Good luck with it, the last time I tried to make it it was so runny it wouldn’t stay on Bert’s toast!
Hope you are both well.
Your loving sister and brother-in-law.
The New Place!
Outside Breeman
My dearest Gertie,
Yes, you will have guessed! We are in my ‘romantic and idyllic’ hideaway.
We packed all our clothes, moved our furniture and vacated Janefield Place
Well my dears, Bert and I are sitting by an open window listening to the tinkle of flowing water. There is a little breeze just flicking the willow’s leaves. A bird is calling to its mate and in the neighbouring field a cow is mooing. This is heaven Gertie!
We were glad to hear you were keeping one of the kittens to keep old Flossy company.
I’m sure the little soul will enjoy being Flossy’s protogee!
Well sis, I’m just off to bed for a very peaceful sleep. All this country air certainly makes you tired. I can’t wait to go exploring tomorrow!
Your loving sister Catherine.
‘The Willows’
Near Breemam
My dearest sister,
Thank you for your recent letter wishing us every happiness in ‘the Willows’. I am sure that will be the case as soon as Bert and I get used to all the strange noises the countryside makes! My first night’s sleep was punctuated by sheep bleating, owls hooting and my friend in the next field, mooing! Don’t they all go to sleep at the same time?
Bert and I have explored all our property and we found something very exciting. Just at the back of our garden there are some ruins. Bert (the amateur archaeologist) reckons they could be very old. It maybe the site of a castle or an abbey. You never know Gertie, I might just acquire a title from this place. Imagine, Lady Catherine or Lord Bert!
Sorry to hear your marmalade was unsuccessful. When I make it you could drink it and when you have a go it’s as stiff as a board. Good old Mother had the knack!
We will just have to persevere and you never know, we might just produce an acceptable batch between us.
Give William all our love. Hope he has recovered from his ‘flu.
Your loving sister Catherine.
P.S. What name have you given to the kitten?
The Willows’
Near Breemam
Dearest Gertie,
Thank you again for your very welcome letter.
Bert and I think Marmaduke is a great name for the kitten. I wonder if he will be a gentle cat like his mother or a tyke like that tomcat who seems to like visiting you garden?
The local vicar came to see us today. The Reverend David Glossop to give him his full title! He is somewhat of a historian and we spent a very interesting, if not fearful hour listening to him narrate the history of the old ruins in our back garden. Oh Gertie, it seems that it was an abbey which had been built on the site of a grove of trees sacred to some ancient god. The site was reputed to be haunted by a guardian who was responsible for keeping everyone except the priests of this god away. When the abbey was built the foundations were set in the grove and the trees were chopped down.
The Rev. Glossop thinks that the abbey eventually had to be burnt sometime in the eleventh century after a particularly virulent strain of the Black Death decimated the area. He promised to do some research and let us know what he finds.
Bert was fuming last night. It had rained all day and he decided to have an early night. Well, he was just dropping off to sleep when he heard the drip of water. Yes, we had a leak and it was coming through the wall from the roof. We put a bucket and some cloths below it. Bert says he will call the builders as soon as possible. Hope that it doesn’t rain tonight!
Enclosing a recipe for Spotted Dick. This is Bert’s favourite pudding. See if William likes it.
Your loving sister Catherine.
‘The Willows’
Near Breemam
My dearest Gertie,
Some really frightening news for you.
Bert had the builders in to look at the leak. They had been off on holiday so this was the earliest they could come. The men started taking off the plaster and trying to trace where the water was coming through from. I was just making a pot of tea for them when I heard one of them cry out. I ran through to see what had happened.
Well Gertie, he was standing back with a real scared look on his face. I turned to see what he was staring at and found myself looking into the empty eye sockets of a skull!
When the men had removed all the plaster and lathe a small recess was exposed and in there sat the skull.
Well Gertie, you know me I wont have a dead mouse in the house let alone something like that! So I asked one of the workmen if they would get rid of and he kindly threw it in the back of their dray with the rubble. You can imagine how relieved I was.
Thank you for your recipe for apple pie, although I have made it before it always seems very dry. The pie we tasted at your house last year was so much more succulent.
Weather here has brightened a bit. That last burst of rain caused the stream at the bottom of our garden to swell and parts of the flowerbed were very marshy.
I will write again soon, but I am hoping to catch up on the gardening as the weeds are starting to appear and some of the bushes need trimming.
Your loving sister and brother-in-law.
‘The Willows’
Near Breemam
My dearest sister,
Sorry this will be quite an epistle for you both.
The Rev. Glossop turned up just after lunch today. He was waving a bit of paper about and saying “I’ve got it! I’ve got it!” Upon sitting the venerable man down and giving him a small glass of sherry he explained that he had spent the last two days in the local library reading and recording all the history of the abbey.
Apparently after the abbey was built, several of the brothers were murdered quite brutally and speculation and superstition abounded blaming it all on the ancient guardian avenging itself on the non-believers.
The Father Abbot at that time was a man called Gruynyer and he refused to put up with this nonsense and led a party of holy brothers to the site of the last murder. They prayed and Father Gruynyer blessed the area with Holy Water. It was said that the intervention by the Father Abbot curtailed the deaths and he was venerated as the abbey’s saviour so much so that when he died his body was buried at the exact spot of the blessing.
After that, in the fourteenth century the Black Death arrived in Britain
The Reverend Glossop also had a copy of a very old map that showed the location of the abbey and Father Gruynyer’s grave.
Oh, Gertie, I think they built ‘the Willows’ on the site of his grave!
Sorry for the history lesson Sis, but it is fascinating isn’t it.
I mentioned finding the skull to the Reverend and he seemed slightly confused, then he said rather fatuously I thought, that it could have been Gruynyer’s skull which was discovered when the builders were digging the foundations.
But, when I asked why it would be kept within the house, he mumbled something about protection. As far as I was concerned I was glad it was away wherever it ended up.
Before I forget, thank you for the photograph of you and William you sent to us, it is a very good likeness.
Write soon Sis, you know I miss you.
Your loving sister Catherine.
‘The Willows’
Near Breemam
Dearest Gertie,
Something horrid has come to my idyllic heaven
I feel a dark shadow has fallen over ‘the Willows’. The air is very still and there is a feeling of expectancy in the air. A palpable heaviness that weighs heavily on me.
Bert went out to try his hand at shooting this morning. I could hear his gun going off in the distance and I hoped he was having success. As I stood in the window I felt cold and a shiver ran down my spine. Feeling rather stupid I went through to the kitchen to start preparing a pot of soup. Nothing, as you well know, chases the chills away like vegetable soup with a piece of homemade crusty bread.
While I was peeling the potatoes and onions I happened to glance towards the stream. A burst of rain the previous night had increased the flow and I could make out small waves running ashore due to the speed of the water’s flow. Then, all at once I was looking into the eyes of something that had risen to the surface of the stream. It looked for all intents and purpose like a dolphin or porpoise, but the feeling that I got from these eyes were emptiness, lack of pity or humanity. Infinitely cruel and evil.
Well Sis, I am not ashamed to say that I rushed to the front door and bolted it shut. I then ran through to the kitchen where I closed and locked it too.
When Bert came home a few hours later I had to unlock the front door to let him in. I babbled at him in my terror and he held me tightly till I calmed down. He looked out of the window but could see nothing that could have caused me the fear that I was displaying.
That night I heard strange noises that seemed to come from all over the house. I knew that Bert had locked the doors and windows, but what off the chimney? Each creak, each groan set me on edge and I could feel the cold sweat running down my back. Something was probing our defences. Searching for a way in.
Hello Gertie, I am finishing this letter for Catherine. I have had to put her back to bed as she has developed a fever. Some of the things she has been saying. A creature in the stream. Something creeping around the Willows. I ask you?
I promised to finish this rather garbled letter and post it off to you
I’m sure Catherine will be back to her old self again soon.
Love to you both from us.
Catherine and Bert
The Following partially finished letter is part of the evidence collected from ‘the Willows’ on 17th April 1882 .
The Willows’
Near Breemam
Gertie, my darling sister Gertie,
This will be all I will ever be able to write to you
It was outside all last night, hunting, seeking
I should never have got rid of the skull. It was Father Gruynyer’s. It was the talisman that held the beast at bay!
I have doomed Bert and myself
When Bert emerged from the house this morning he found slime trails all over the ground and all over the walls and roof! He tried to explain it away but I saw it.
It looked like a massive slug had crawled all about the area.
Bert has just run inside and barred the door. I heard something slide off the roof and land with a thump on the ground.
Oh God Gertie the door is bending inwards. The hinges are cracking
Oh my God It is in
‘The Willows’ had been visited by the Reverend David Glossop on the morning of the 17th April 1882 and upon finding the door broken in and the state of the interior of the house, the reverend gentleman immediately contacted the Constabulary here at Axburgh, it being the closest town to Breeman.
Doctor John Purdie MD Report
I was requested to attend ‘the Willows’ for the purposes of establishing termination of life.
The owners of the property, a Mr Robert Barthol and his wife Catherine, formerly residents of the said property ‘the Willows’ had lived at the house from the 17th of February 1882.
In my opinion the couple were savaged by some animal which was attested to by the large quantities of blood coating the walls of the rooms and the terrible state of their bodies.
I would have the Constabulary warn the public that some wild and ferocious beast is at large.
This case is still pending 12th July 1882
………………………….+………………………………………
Loved this, written as if by hand adds to the effect,decent epistolary stories are difficult to produce, but this has succeeded where others have failed. The reader can see Gertie sitting reading this series of letters gradually appreciating the horror which her sister is experiencing. I think this particular story could be developed into something much more powerful. Perhaps set it in a Gothic period, say 18th century England with the householders members of the aristocracy, and are unable or unwilling -due to religious and class restrictions- to come to terms with what is occurring around them.
ReplyDeleteGreat though
Really enjoyed it Neil, A++++++++
ReplyDeleteThe formal, understated tone of the letters make this a very real and convincing piece of writing. The partially finished letter emphasises a dramatic change of pace and contrasts with the previous letters...revealing the mental stress of the writer. In a more visual medium (a graphic novel, a movie!), this letter could have been shown torn and splattered with blood stains - this could still be achieved with a description of the physical evidence which is the letter.
ReplyDeleteThe type written extracts suggests to me something journalist; this would work well as a cutting from a newspaper, with maybe a sensational headline: WILLOW'S COUPLE SLAUGHTERED - Beware Ferocious Beast at Large!
It might be effective to have the Reverend David Glossop as the remorseful, guilt ridden investigator at the end. This could lead to a great investigative character for a series!
one more comment on the letter writing; it might have been effective to have a gradual breakdown of the formal well written letters...into less well written, more fragmented letters with slips in grammar and even spelling...reflecting a mind that is becoming distraught!
one thing that stikes me as odd; there was no hint of the 'willow's' past history at the start.
ReplyDeletesurely there would have been some rumours, inklings of the past...