The wind had begun blowing
quite hard as I stepped down on to the platform at Dounitch railway station.
This was to be an interim stop on my route north. My connecting train wasn’t
due until eight o’clock that
evening and the thought of hanging around a draughty station was not my idea of
pleasure, so I had decided to explore the town for the next four hours.
My journey had begun at
Garthwood city where I had been living. The flat I had occupied was ‘bijou’
which meant that you couldn’t swing a cat round in it, but it did me as I was
working down at one of the city’s eating houses. The boss was a fair man who
cooked wonderful meals but paid minimum wage to his workers. Often I would wait
behind after the restaurant had closed to get any of the left overs.
One morning when I had
awakened, yet again feeling as if the walls were falling in on me and decided
that this was my last day in Garthwood. Surely I could get a better job further
up north where most of the country’s affluence was. I had collected a little bit
of money from eating ‘left overs’ or not eating at all and I could live for at
least a week on what I had. So… now was the time. Every journey starts with one
step and other well known sayings.
My boss at the restaurant was
not happy when I told him I intended moving on the next day, but eventually he
gave me my pay up to date and grudgingly wished me good luck, for, as he added,
I was going to need it.
Dounitch town looked deserted
as I left the station after putting my bits of luggage into one of the lockable
cabinets by the ticket office. A spoor of snow blew around the street and the
trees by the road shook menacingly as an icy gust tugged at their branches. A
bill board message warned of impending blizzards forecast for that weekend with
an icy stretch of weather to follow. I realised that my proposed journey north
should have waited for a few months. Ah well, I thought, too late now.
As I walked up the road I
looked up at the houses on either side. Curtains were drawn and in some cases,
storm shutters had been pulled across. It looked like a town in a state of
besiege awaiting the arrival of an adversary. The shops were battened down and
from what I could make out through the windows; the shelves were nearly empty
of any goods. Surely, somewhere must still be open, I reasoned with myself.
A bit ahead I saw a long
stretch of light on the road. It was shining from a doorway above which a
rickety sign hung. The joints screeched as the wind plucked at it. It was
weather-beaten, but a welcome sight. The King’s Head Public House. A harbour,
for a wandering soul in need of shelter and some liquid comfort on such a night
as this.
The door hinges creaked as I
pushed them open and stepped inside. Ahead of me stood a bar behind which sat
numerous bottles on shelves. Two or three optics hung at the end of the bar
with several beer siphons at the fore. A man with a knitted cardigan stood
behind the bar.
“Cold night,” I grunted to the
man, whom I took to be the publican. “Can I have a whisky please?”
The man looked behind him and
taking a glass drew some liquid from the optic.
“Will it be a large or small
one?” he asked.
“Better make it a large one,”
I laughed, “I’m freezing.”
The fiery liquid coursed its
way down my throat and I felt a warmth spread through my body. I had sat down
at the nearest table and after removing my coat and scarf surveyed the scene
about me.
The room had been some sort
of old meeting room and the walls were covered with dark wood embellished with
carvings. Rosettes, branches of ivy and egg and dart designs covered the walls
and ceiling. An odour of antiquity permeated the surroundings and lent an
ambience of past grandeur to the place
“What was this place
originally, “I asked the landlord. “Was it a club house of some sort?”
He grunted and finished
drying a glass before he replied.
“It was the meeting place of
the Gentle. They were like the Quakers, went about helping poor folk who had
fallen on hard times.”
“What happened to them?” I
asked.
“What happens to all those
who try to fight against something larger than themselves. They realised that
it was a ‘no win’ situation. Eventually they just moved on…somewhere else.”
The entry door squeaked as
three burly men came in.
“Evening Jeb,” said one of
the men to the barman. He was a giant of a man, at least 6 and half feet tall
and built like a brick…wall. He sported a gold ring in his ear and a black
beard. He glanced at me suspiciously.
“Hi there, Mory,” replied the
barman. “Hell of a night!”
Mory and the two other men
sat at a table over on the far side of the bar. They talked among themselves
and then one of the other men, a small mousy looking creature approached the
bar.
“I-I-I w-w-want t-t-t-two
whiskies and a r-r-r-rum,” he stuttered painfully.
“Ok, ok, Guy, I’ll bring them
over to you,” Jeb the publican replied, trying not to smile. He looked over at
me to see if I found anything amusing, but I put on my disinterested, poker
face and he returned to making up Guy’s order.
I sat gazing into space as I
counted the minutes mentally before I could escape from this place where I felt
as welcome as the Black Death and catch my train.
Checking my watch I realised
that at least two of the hours had passed and with only another two hours, one
hundred and twenty minutes, seven thousand, two hundred seconds, I could brush
the dust of the town of Dounitch
“It’s a whiteout!” came a
voice from the front door as it screeched open. A man rushed into the pub
shaking snow off his coat. “At least two inches and a lot more to come!”
Jeb stepped forward and began
drawing a beer for the arrival.
“Do you reckon it’ll stop the
buses running, Saul?” he asked as the frothy ale splashed into the glass.
“Reckon everything will stop
in an hour unless it lets up.” Saul said as he accepted his drink.
Jeb looked over at me.
“You got far to go tonight?”
he asked not unkindly.
“I have a train out at eight o’clock this evening,” I
replied. “I’m heading up North.”
A burst of laughter came from
the three men at the far table.
“No way any trains will be
running tonight, not with this snow.” chortled Mory.
“N-n-no way j-j-j-jose!” Guy
mocked in a high pitched staccato voice.
The third man of the group
stood up and came over to where I was sitting.
“Sorry, if we find your misfortune
a joke, my friend,” he drawled. “It’s just we don’t get many strangers in our
little town. My name is Eli Fallon and I’m the town’s undertaker.
He proffered his hand which I
shook.
“I’m Joe Ritton, new in from
Garthwood, but that’s ok, Mr Fallon,” I replied. “It’s just that it looks like
I’ll have to spend the night in the railway station waiting room.”
Eli Fallon stroked his clean
shaven chin and looked thoughtful.
“I think that will be the
simplest solution,” he replied before going back to his table and sitting down.
I sat considering my options.
I realised the bar would be shutting sometime near eleven o’clock . It would be the landlord’s
discretion, but I couldn’t see good old Jeb, keeping the bar open for one
minute extra than he had to. Sometime thereafter I must have nodded off. The
whisky, the warmth and the mumbling of the three men at the far table had a
strong soporific effect on me and I dropped gratefully into a welcome sleep.
Suddenly I was awoken by the
clamour of people talking, arguing and making their points very loudly. The
room was full of men dressed in dark clothes. Some of them sported bushy
beards, but the most of them were clean shaven. The bar, the three men at the
far table, Jeb and his customer had vanished and all I could see was a sea of
faces.
All at once the men parted to
let something come towards me. It was a female deer and her eyes were wide with
terror.
“You must help her!” shouted
one of the men.
“It is in your power to do
it!” screamed another.
“Yes and we will aid you.”
whispered a voice by my left ear.
The poor animal was terrified
and did not know which way to turn to escape from the throng. I felt powerless
to do anything except put my hand out and attempt to let it smell my scent in
an effort to calm it.
“Sir! Sir!” a voice called
out awakening me from my sleep. “Mr Ritton are you alright?” It was Jeb, he had
come over to collect my glass when he had seen me in some distress.
“No…thanks, I’m fine,” I
mumbled, a little embarrassed. “I just fell asleep and had a cracking
nightmare.”
“Well, you better prepare
yourself for a shock, the snow is about a foot deep outside and I don’t think
you have any chance of making it to the station tonight!” Jeb said.
“Well, I haven’t got much of
a choice have I?” I grunted. “You’ll be shutting up soon, wont you?”
Just at that moment there was
a loud scream from outside the front door of the pub. The door gave an almighty
squeal and a loud thump resounded in the vestibule.
“What the hell?” shouted Jeb.
“It looks like a woman.”
Mr Fallon jumped up from his
chair and went across to where the person lay on the floor.
“You’re right, it is a woman
and it looks as if she is injured!” he shouted.
Mory came over and looked
down at her with distaste.
“It’s Skanky Eve from the
caravan park. She has obviously fallen out with someone. She is bad news”
“Y-y-yes, i-i-its her,”
stuttered Guy. “R-r-reckon you s-s-should k-k-ick h-h-her b-backside out o-o-of
h-h-here.”
Saul helped the woman to her
feet and sat her down at one of the tables.
“Can we have a brandy for
her, Jeb? She seems to have had a bit of tussle with someone. She has blood on
her face”
“And who’s going to pay for
it? She won’t have any money on her if I know her of old!” Jeb grunted.
All at once I stood up and
reaching into my pocket pulled out a five pound note.
“Here,” I said. “Take it out
of this.”
Mory, Guy and Mr Fallon went
back to their table and made ready to leave. They began putting their coats on
and wrapping scarves about their necks.
Saul had gone to get some
water to wipe the blood from Eve’s brow. It looked as if she would have a black
eye in the morning.
I sat close to her not
knowing what to say.
“You’re not from around here,
are you?” Eve asked.
“No,” I replied hesitantly. I
just stopped off here on my way north.”
Saul arrived back with a damp
cloth and between us we managed to make Eve look a little more presentable.
Mr Fallon and his two
comrades paused at our table as they made their way to the door.
“I trust you have recovered
my dear?” the undertaker said. Mory and Guy just glared at Eve.
Eve looked at the three of
them and smiled. “Yes, thank you and I’ll get back to my part of town as soon
as is possible,” she replied sarcastically.
Five minutes later the three
men returned.
“It’s hellish out there Jeb!”
said Eli Fallon brushing the snow from his shoulders. “It’s a foot and a half
deep and the wind chill factor is in the low minuses. You could die out there!”
Mori approached the bar and
looking at Jeb said,
“You can keep the bar open
all night, can’t you? At your discretion?”
Jeb looked uncomfortable.
“Well, yes I could, but my licence only allows me to serve alcohol until midnight .”
“A-a-all w-w-we w-w-want is
s-s-somewhere w-w-warm to w-w-wait out the s-s-snowstorm!” pleaded Guy.
“We won’t trouble you for
drinks after hours, Jeb,” Mr Fallon confirmed.
Eve had relaxed as the night
wore on. Every so often someone would check outside, but the storm roared on
unabated.
I decided to find out where
Eve had come from that night and who had assaulted her.
“My boyfriend has been
dealing in drugs and had just received a large shipment. I hid them from him
and wouldn’t tell him where they were.” she confided to Saul and I. “He and his three buddies were roughing me up to give
them the location of the drugs when I escaped and ran out into the storm. Lucky
in a way it was so wild, I was able to hide from them.”
“But…won’t they be looking
for you now?” I asked in a horrified voice.
“Nah,” said Eve disdainfully.
“They are a load of pansies, scared to get their Gucci shoes wet or their hair
blown out of shape!”
The evening rolled on and as
the midnight hour approached
Jeb announced ‘last orders’. I had a whisky as a night cap and Saul and Eve had
a brandy apiece, paid for by yours truly.
The three men at the far
table had dozed off and Saul had found a couch to lie down on leaving Eve and I
sitting alone.
“Why is it no one seems to
like you?” I asked.
“Ah… it’s because my family
and our relations live on the east side of town in caravans,” she confided.
“The town’s folk call us trash and no better than tramps, but we’re just not as
well off as a lot of them.”
“What will happen when your
boyfriend catches up with you tomorrow,” I asked, fearing the answer.
“He’s got to catch me first,”
Eve laughed. “I’ll give him a run for his money.”
“But why did you pinch his
drugs? Do you use them?”
It was as if someone had
flicked a switch. One moment Eve was sitting quietly and speaking quietly then
suddenly she was on her feet, her eyes flashing and angry.
“I have never done drugs! And
I have no intention of ever taking them! My young brother died last year after
taking one tablet! It destroyed my parents, Dad left home not long after. He
felt somehow responsible!”
“I’m sorry! I’m sorry! “I
repeated over and over. “That was a stupid thing I said.”
Eve seemed to calm down and
after a few minutes asked if she could lay her head on my shoulder to get a few
hours of sleep. I gratefully agreed and soon her sweet warm breath was tickling
my chin. I admired her secretly as she slept. Eve had long brown hair, green
eyes and a pixie like nose. Truly a beauty, I thought as I too slipped into a
doze.
Once again I was back in the
room where the black clothed men gathered. The deer had blood on its body and
was breathing in short gasps.
“She is in great danger!” one
of the men shouted.
“You hold her fate in your
hands,” another hissed.
“But what would you have me
do?” I pleaded to the assembly as the wounded animal moved back and forward.
“Well, well, well!” came a
loud braying voice. “Isn’t this cosy!”
A brutish looking young man
stood just inside the door. Behind him stood three other thug like youths. I
felt Eve awake and cringe as she took in the scene.
“Lommie!” she spluttered.
“It’s not what you think…!”
“And what should I think my little beauty or
should I say thief!” Lommie spat at her. “Where have you put my stash? Bommo
said he left it for me and I still have to pay for it or else he will be
looking for me like I have been hunting for YOU!”
“Lommie, you don’t need the
drugs. Give them up!” Eve pleaded.
Lommie looked uncomfortable
and glanced around the room nervously. “That’s right girl, involve all these
good people. They don’t need to know anything! Get your coat on, we’re going!”
Lommie looked around again, but this time with menace, daring anyone to
intervene.
Mory and Guy looked down at
their feet and Eli Fallon raised his hands in placation. Jeb and Saul looked on
uncomfortably.
“No, Lommie. I want to stay
here!” Eve shrieked.
A knife suddenly appeared in
Lommie’s hand and he walked over to where Eve sat and grabbing her by the arm, yanked
her to her feet.
“Please Lommie…!” Eve sobbed
struggling.
All at once I heard the voice
by my left ear whisper,
“Save her, she is in great
danger!”
Lommie was dragging Eve to
the door as I leapt to my feet. With a clenched fist I struck Lommie on the
side of the face. He let Eve go and turned on me snarling like a wild animal.
He swung the knife to and fro looking for an opening to stab me. I jumped back
and began to step side to side in an effort to put his aim off.
“Right lads!” screamed Lommie
to his three allies. “Get him, we’ll take ‘em both and have some fun!”
“Your not taking Eve
anywhere!” I shouted as the three youths approached me in a pincer fashion. I
can’t take them all, I thought desperately.
“And who’s going to stop us?”
sneered brave Lommie as he and his ‘men’ prepared to take on one unarmed man.
“We will! Wont we guys?” came
a loud voice from behind the group of four youths.
Mori and Eli stood shoulder
to shoulder and all at once began to wade into the opposition. It was obviously
a rallying cry for next Jeb and then Saul joined the fray. Even little
stuttering Guy had been endowed with a solid right hook and knew how to use it.
Oh, Lommie’s gang were the
typical bullies, plenty of bull but little bottle; but they bled and wailed
like the rest of us.
Soon it was over and the four
drugees turned and ran out into an unforgiving night where even Nature had
turned on them.
Jeb opened the bar again and
handed out drinks ‘on the house’.
We stood together like
comrades after a long, hard battle and toasted each other’s bravery.
“These little buggers needed
sorting out. They’ve ruined Dounitch with their blessed drugs. It’s time we all
made a stand!” Jeb said filling up my glass for the umpteenth time.
Early that following morning
the wind had dropped and a massive thaw was under way. We all felt like sole
survivors emerging from a shelter as we walked out onto the street, but now
with the snow only recognisable as little piles here and there, we realised
that it was business as usual in Dounitch. The milkman drove by us in his van,
the dustcart was collecting the bins and several of the inhabitants of the town
were clearing slush from the front of their houses.
I had had an experience that
I was not liable to forget in a hurry. As I remembered that assembly of men
dressed in black, I wondered who they could have been. Could it have been a
spiritual residue of the Gentles? Maybe they hadn’t just gone away as Jeb had
said, maybe they were part and parcel of the fabric of the town of Dounitch
The train pulled away from
the station and I waved goodbye to my four new friends who had insisted they
see me off. Did I say four friends? Well my fifth friend decided to come with
me on my sojourn north. Until Lommie was sorted out by his supplier, Bommo and
associates, Dounitch was not a place Eve wished to remain in and anyway I think
something might develop between us – given time.
“Where did you hide Lommie’s drugs?” I asked my beautiful travelling
companion.
“In the back of his mum’s
fire,” she replied, looking at her watch. “The old girl will just be about to
light it up! I hope there aren’t any birds by the chimney!”
Cairniehill
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