Tanners Dell: Darkly Disturbing Occult Horror (4 page)

Ruby lifted her small, pale face to hers. “I’m scared.”

“I know. And ideally you would not be alone to do this but in the dead of night with no one to either help or believe you, the only thing I can do is offer guidance to try and ease your suffering. And because of your illness this is all particularly dangerous so you do need to take control – we have to do something! So first you
must always, always, always
– I can’t stress that enough – pray and ask for protection before you begin.”

Ruby nodded miserably.

“Okay, now do you remember how to fill yourself with light from the top down like I showed you? You will see and hear the spirits because you are very mediumistic, and you must tell them what to do. Afterwards you will be exhausted but it’s very important you close all the channels down again. If anyone bothers you from the spirit world you must tell them to go away very firmly. You wouldn’t have anyone gate-crashing your home so you mustn’t have them gate-crashing your mind! Imagine the doors to your chakras snapping shut like traps behind you when you’ve finished.” She demonstrated with her fluttery little hands from her forehead down through the rest of her body. “It will take a while but afterwards peace will come.”

“I can’t do it, I’m too scared.”

Celeste stroked her hair some more. “Have courage, love. It is very frightening at first but I will come back and help as often as I can if the staff will let me. You shouldn’t be doing this alone but it really is the only way because if you don’t use your power it shines like a beacon to the underworld, and it will grow and grow until you can’t control it. You have to channel it away, do you see? I know you’re scared – I used to be too, and still am sometimes; but those spirits won’t let you alone until the job’s done. It’s just the way it is.”

Ruby was nodding with resignation. “What if
he
comes back, though? One of the other younger ones might let him in again.”

“Him?”

She clamped shut.

“Who is
he
? Who do you mean?”

Ruby turned her face away.

“Who do you mean?” Celeste repeated.

“This place was a prison, you know?” Emily said.

Celeste sighed at the interruption.

Ruby had stood up and begun to pace around the room in an agitated fashion, muttering to herself, the cigarette waving wildly around in her fingers.

“Sit down, Ruby,” said Emily. “There’s a good girl.”

Ruby stopped stone dead, her face a mask of shocked horror.

Emily flushed. “Oh no, I shouldn’t have said that, I just forgot.” She rushed towards Ruby but couldn’t move her. “Ruby? You’re in hospital and you’re safe, now.” She put an arm around her shoulders and tried to lead her to the bed. “Ruby?”

Celeste heaved herself up but even between them they could not move Ruby’s slight seven stone frame. The girl’s eyes had rolled back in her head and her muscles were set to stone, her body as rigid as a statue. “We need to get help,” said Emily in a shaky voice, reaching for her panic button. But just as she was about to press it, Ruby’s body crumpled into Celeste’s arms, her lips trembling and tears dripping miserably.

“It’s okay I’m here, love,” said Celeste, leading the woman-child to the bed and lifting up her feet so she could lie down. She pulled a blanket over her. “Ruby, are you alright, love?”

Emily stood in the middle of the room holding Ruby’s cigarette, unsure what to do next. “I’ve never been alone with her before. Perhaps I should fetch Noel?”

“She’s thirteen and they’ll baptise her soon…it’s all black dark by the river…that’s where they do it...” Ruby whispered, focusing on Celeste. “Once she’s marked she’s gone. He knows where it is but he can’t talk – they paralysed him.”

“I don’t know what you mean, love.”

The blue of Ruby’s eyes was fading to colourless, the expression one of slight surprise as if she was falling backwards.

Seconds later the blank stare was back.

“Is she okay, do you think?” Celeste said over her shoulder to Emily.

“Um, I think I’ll get Noel.”

Celeste nodded. “Well it might be best…”

“No!” Ruby was struggling to sit up. “No. I’m okay, I don’t want any more drugs.” She rubbed at her neck. “God, me neck hurts.”

“You know the more I think about this, the more I’m sure you shouldn’t do medium work alone. If you can hang on for another night I’ll arrange to come in and we’ll work on it together.”

Ruby started to nod. “If it’s the only way it’s going to stop.”

“I’m afraid it is unless they move you from here, although there will always be something else until you start work as it were: it’s what you’re supposed to do – what you need to do. Are you alright now?”

Tear stains had dried on her cheeks but she smiled weakly. “My throat hurts, and my head.”

Emily sprang into action. “I’ll go and fetch Noel – she needs some paracetamol after switching like that.”

After Emily had left the room again, Celeste looked hard into Ruby’s eyes. “Now I’m being shown a man – swarthy with big, brown eyes – he’s coming through you. He’s standing outside a stone building and I’ve seen him before. Who is he, Ruby?”

Ruby frowned, rubbing her forehead over and over. “Sounds like Jes.”

“Jes? Who is he? How did you meet him?”

Ruby shrugged. “Gypsies used to camp on Drovers Common, so I suppose he turned up that way and kept coming back. I don’t know ’ow I met him, really. Anyway it were ’is mother who’d said you were, you know, like a real medium and not a fake. ”

“Were you close to his mother? Did his family live there?”

Ruby screwed up her eyes. “Jes were just fed up of me going on about the place being ’aunted and driving him nuts. He said it were all me being a mad witch, stuff like that, cos it never ’appened when he were there. Just me on me own.”

Her own private hell. It was always the way. And who would a woman like Ruby have turned to? Who in the sane world would have believed her? Perhaps Jes wasn’t heartless after all – he knew he couldn’t cope and found her a friend.

“I wonder if I knew his mother? Perhaps she was one of my pupils?”

“Doubt it. She said she’d never to set foot in Woodsend again as long as she lived.”

***

                         
 
Chapter Four

Doncaster Royal Infirmary

Sunday morning, 27th December

Detective Sergeant Hall’s booming voice woke her at just after 6.15am. “How is he?”

Becky jolted from a fitful doze in the chair by Callum’s bed and rubbed her stiff neck. The ward was beginning to clatter awake with the lights switched on for a new day, although outside it was still winter dark. Gently she touched Callum’s shoulder while the officer pulled up a chair beside her. “Still spark out by the look of it.”

“Has he said anything yet?”

She shook her head. “No.”

“Has he woken up at
all
since he was brought in?”

“No. Not so much as the flicker of an eyelid.”

For a few moments they both watched Callum’s chest steadily rise and fall.

Frowning, Becky asked, “Where was he exactly when you found him?”

Sid Hall took off his anorak, briefly glanced over his shoulder and then leaned in close. “Actually, I was on my way home when I noticed someone staggering about on The Old Coach Road. At first I thought it was a drunk who’d fallen out of The Highwayman, you know, and got lost, but as it was such a rough night up there I thought I’d just make sure the bloke got home safe. Anyhow – got level and that’s when I saw the state of him! Coated in black soot like he’d just come off a shift at the pit, blood caked all over, not to mention delirious and muttering all sorts of mumbo-jumbo. Anyhow, I called out to him and bugger me if it wasn’t Callum. To be honest I’d given up hope of us ever finding him.”

“So it looks like he
had
been down a mine shaft? And he
had
been left for dead!”

“Well we don’t know that he’d been left for dead. He might have fallen. When did you last see him, Becky?”

“You know I’m surprised you knew about me, Sid – you know, to call me? His children will be here later, by the way, but Callum and I were supposed to be a secret. It doesn’t matter now but…”

“Your name was the only thing I could make sense of: Sister up at Drummersgate, he said. Wanted to um…marry you… Anyway, I’ve a lot of gaps to fill in. His last job had him attending a meeting at Drummersgate on the night of the…”

He thumbed through his notes while Becky reeled from the information she’d just received.
Marry her? Really
? Her glance flicked over to Callum lying in the hospital bed – hooked up to a drip, attached to a catheter and a cardiac monitor, and with an oxygen mask over his face. His forearms, neck and face were covered in cuts and bruises, and there was a large patch of matted blood in his closely cropped hair. It seemed he’d hauled himself out of an underground tunnel despite several broken ribs and a shattered right patella. He must have been in agony.

Marry her?
 

“…Right here we go – the night of December 18
th
. What can you recall about that meeting? What was it for? As the nurse in charge, I take it you were there?”

Her stomach turned in on itself just thinking about that night. “Sort of.”

One of his eyebrows raised in query. “What do you mean, sort of? You were either there or you weren’t there, surely?”

“Yeah.” She turned away for a second. There really wasn’t a cat in hell’s chance of ever being able to tell the police about hers or any of the doctors’ experiences.
Just stick to the facts, ma’am…
“Yes, I was there although I was officially still off sick after an accident. Dr Silver asked me to attend because we have two cases of patients who’ve very likely suffered child abuse in Woodsend; and one of them – Ruby – we believe has a daughter, Alice, who’s still there. On top of that there were some odd things happening to the team and we were pooling information. Callum came along at Dr Silver’s request and then decided to have a look around the area. I didn’t know he was going that night and I wasn’t in a fit state to…” She broke off and looked away for a second. “Anyway, that was the last we saw of him until you picked him up. The rest you know because of what you’ve seen on his mobile. Alice is in a lot of danger and I think Callum must have stumbled on the truth and been left for dead, like I said.” Irritation flared up from nowhere. “You know, I don’t understand why there isn’t more urgency about this!”

“What sort of accident did you have?”

“What? Um, a head injury. It happened at work.”

“I see. And can we contact Dr Silver or any of the other witnesses present that evening?”

“Dr Silver is seriously ill in Laurel Lawns.”

Sid Hall raised both eyebrows this time.

“Dr Isaac Hardy could talk to you, though – he’s the consultant on our unit at Drummersgate. He’s standing in for Dr Silver and Dr McGowan. Oh, and so could Noel, my staff nurse. The other person who was there that night was Martha Kind but she’s now dead so good luck with that one. I’m afraid like both Callum and Dr Silver she made the mistake of asking questions in Woodsend. It never ends well going there.”

Sid Hall appraised her for a few moments before putting away his notebook. He had the look about him, she thought, of a patient father who’d had just about enough of a recalcitrant teen.

“Well, we’ve been knocking on doors in that area for over a week now and not found anything untoward. Nor have we any reason to be suspicious about Alice Dean’s circumstances. As far as the police service is concerned, we’re just waiting for Callum to wake up and tell us what happened. It’s likely he fell down a mine shaft after a head injury from the car crash. It was pitch black out there and those moors are lethal with old mining tunnels. Have you ever been up there when it’s foggy?”

“Pardon? Car crash? On his own when he’s a good driver and it was a clear night? Not to mention that his car was upside down!”

“Picture it Becky. The car hits a bank of fog or there’s sheep on the road and he swerves, breaks, hits a rock and off it goes at speed, rolls over and he hits his head. Then in a delirious state in thick fog he falls down a shaft—”

“That night, I remember it because I went to a church after the meeting. It was freezing but all the stars were out. Good visibility, Sergeant!”

“You said yourself you’d just been off sick with a head injury. Can you really remember? And high up on Bridesmoor…”

“It’s bloody high up at Drummersgate. Stars are stars, and they were out.”

“Quite a few miles away – fog rolls in and off the moors in banks.”

“Even so, assuming things happened as you say, you still can’t possibly leave Alice in Woodsend. She’s not safe.”

“Why?”

“Sergeant Hall, we have two cases of seriously traumatised young adults who suffered child abuse there. Another girl of around the same age, again from the Dean family, has been in a psychiatric unit since she was fourteen. Both Martha, our social worker, and her predecessor Linda, suffered sudden deaths after asking questions in the area. Two doctors have had mental breakdowns – again, after asking questions. And there’s no way Callum would have just gone off the road. He didn’t drink and he was an advanced driver who knew the road well. And it was a crystal clear night, I’m damn sure of it.”

“Why isn’t Alice safe?” he repeated.

“With Paul Dean? Are you serious? That was the man Ruby was arrested for attempting to murder-

“She suffers from mental illness, does she not?”

“She’s lucid a lot of the time and she definitely gave birth. He’s got her daughter. Alice is Ruby’s daughter.”

“He has stated that Alice is his own daughter.”

“So who did he say was the mother? And have you checked she goes to school and that she’s registered with the GP? Where’s the birth certificate? Did anyone ask? ”

“Her GP was there when one of my officers visited. Alice was in bed with a nasty case of measles, apparently.”

“What about school attendance?”

“Apparently she has learning disabilities and she’s being home-schooled. His wife, Ida, was very helpful on that one.”

“And you’re buying that?”

“Becky,” he said kindly. “What you’re describing is a series of coincidences. Frankly, I’m just here to sure there’s nothing more to add to the investigation before it’s closed. Callum is safely in hospital after his accident and the girl, Alice, we’re satisfied is not in any danger. She’s with her parents. CS Scutts has instructed us to close the file as soon as possible.”

“Close the case? Are you joking? What about what Callum has to say?”

“Well yes, of course we’ll be asking him what happened as soon as he wakes up.”

“I don’t believe this! And did one of you ever actually see or speak to Alice?”

Sid Hall sighed heavily and not for the first time Becky thought he looked overweight, a tad weary, and ready for retirement. “No,” he said. “But like I told you – the doctor was there and the child had the measles. The thing is, between you and me, when Scutts is personally involved—”

“Why? Why is he personally involved? Shouldn’t he be at a higher level than that? ”

“I take your point, but with a detective inspector missing and an accusation of child abuse he did get personally involved, so we can’t ask for more than that.”

“No, I don’t suppose.” Her spirits plummeted. They had no social worker now for Drummersgate except a busy temp. And the police had closed the case.
Jesus wept.

“If you don’t mind me saying so, you look exhausted, Becky. Why don’t you go home and rest and I’ll wait for Callum to come round?”

Not bloody likely
. “What happened to his photos, by the way – the ones on Callum’s mobile, which would dispute the fact he crashed his car and fell down a mine shaft?”

Sid shook his head. “His empty wallet and keys were found in the area too. I’m just guessing, but someone must have found the car and robbed him, maybe dropped the phone?”

“Lame.”

Neither of them said anything for a few moments. Callum’s oxygen hissed and crockery clattered from beyond the side room where breakfasts were being handed out on trays.

She shuffled closer so that she was inches from his face and levelled her gaze to his. “You know this isn’t right, Detective Hall. You damn well know there’s something very wrong in Woodsend.”

His steady brown eyes looked straight into hers. Eventually, under his breath and so softly she’d wonder later if he’d said it at all, he replied, “Yes but I can’t do a damn thing about it. Scutts has closed the case and you wouldn’t want to cross Scutts if your life depended on it, Becky.”

***