CHAPTER 9
"I know we shouldn't be late," said Rodney after school. "But I need some stamps to send off for the computer game in my magazine. It won't take long to go to the Post Office."
James agreed to go with him, and Mandy joined them, so they were at least obeying the rule not to be alone.
The Post Office was not far from the school. It was the centre of town gossip and this evening was no exception. In the small queue was the vicar's housekeeper, talking animatedly to the lady next to her.
"Yes," she was saying. "Fancy that. Old Mr Parkin. Over 80 he is, but he has decided to go to Spain for the winter."
"He will be leaving Well Cottage empty, then," said the other lady. "Isn't he afraid of burglars?" "No, I shall keep an eye on it for him, I said. It's only next door to the Vicarage and I'm there most days."
James nudged Rodney."Did you hear that?"
The two ladies went on their way. Rodney bought his stamps and the three of them left the Post Office.
Wow!" said James once they were in the street. "What a stroke of luck. We shall have the well all to ourselves, if we want to explore it. And I think we should. How about you?"
"Count me out!" said Mandy forcefully. "That field was enough. I'm NOT going down a well. Whatever made you think of that?"
The boys remembered Mandy didn't know about Abbot Thomas, so they told her as much of the story as they felt she should know - leaving out the toad or octopus. She was still unenthusiastic and said she thought they were mad. "Still," she said. "I won't stop you. I must admit I'm as curious as you are."
Later on that evening, while James and Mandy were in The Hideout, dutifully doing their homework, their mother called James to come down.
"Oh, Mum," called James crossly. "I'm in the middle of my Maths!"
"Never mind. This is more important. Come down this minute! In the front room, please."
James went down, followed by Mandy, who scented trouble.
Anita was standing in the middle of the lovely oak-beamed room. And there in the chair by the fire was Derek. James had hoped he had taken a night off to do some ghosting, since he had not seen him that evening.
James had hardly got in the room before his mother demanded, "What's this Derek tells me about setting the Police on him? Was it you? It was, wasn't it? It had to be!"
James stared at her defiantly.
"Yes, it was me! If you see something suspicious, you are s'posed to tell the Police, aren't you? So I did."
"Actually," Derek spoke out. "James is right. Anything suspicious should be reported. The only thing is, I am not suspicious. And I told them so."
"Did they believe you?" James found himself asking.
"Yes, they did," said Derek baldly, the look on his face showing he wasn't going to add any more.
Anita broke in again. "Why don't you leave Derek alone? He has only got our best interests at heart. Why try to make an enemy out of your best friend? And you, Mandy," - seeing her in the doorway - "were you involved in this?"
"First I've heard of it," shrugged Mandy.
Derek had no more to say. He just sat looking at them all. Anita finally had to give up, since he was not joining in, and she let James go with a final caution. "No more of this persecution, do you hear? And no more lurking in bushes at night, either!"
"That's what she thinks!" muttered James to Mandy as they went back upstairs.
"You're going to do the well, then?"
"You bet!"
That evening, James did some more planning. He decided that the next night was too soon to try anything, since everyone was so worried by the assault in Elchester Lane. Perhaps Friday evening would be better. He would have to try to avoid being caught like last time, though.
At the history lesson the next day, Mr Wilson made an announcement.
"We are going to have a school visit to Elchester Cathedral next week. All the first and second years are going. If anyone has anything they would specially like to see or be shown, please let me know, and I can tell the Cathedral staff."
"Boring, boring, boring," muttered some of the boys. Rodney was one of them, but James felt that somehow there might be an opportunity here to find out something more about Abbot William. He put his hand up. "Mr Wilson, may we be allowed to see the Library there? I would like to find out more about some local history."
"Not Abbot William, by any chance?" enquired the teacher. "Still, it is good to see you taking an interest. All right, I will contact the Cathedral librarian."
"Is it William you have in mind?" asked Rodney after the lesson.
"Yes. I feel sure there is more to find out than what we already know. I think the words on the window are more than just religious words. He had a meaning there. Perhaps there is something in the library at Elchester which may help."
"You'll have your work cut out. The library will be huge, I expect. It'll be like looking for a needle in a haystack."
"We shan't know until we try, shall we?"
Rodney agreed this was true enough.
That afternoon there was a football match, so there was no time for careful thought. It was a good match, and James and Rodney's team beat the other class, so they went home feeling all was well with the world.
James felt he could conquer anything - even toads at the bottom of wells. Even as they walked home down the dark lane, he was plotting what they should do. The well was in the front garden of the cottage, so getting there was not a problem. The biggest one would be getting the lid off and going down.
"Have you got any rope in your shed, Rodney?" he asked.
"Yes, Dad has," replied Rodney. "Why? Oh, of course, the well. You thinking of going down it?"
"Yes."
"Oh," said Rodney, chewing his gum thoughtfully. He wasn't sure about going down the well. He didn't mind looking. "What about the Police?" he enquired. "I bet they will be putting a patrol in the lane now."
"We'll just have to be careful. If they do that, at least it may put the ghost off."
James arrived home, to the more or less usual kitchen scene - but this time Derek was busy at the cooker and his mother was sitting at the table. Derek, thought James, looked ridiculous. He was wearing Anita's apron, pretending to be a chef, and frying burgers and chips.
"Derek's cooking supper tonight," said his mother.
"We'll probably be poisoned then," muttered James.
Either Anita did not hear this, or she decided to ignore it. She went on,
"Tomorrow night Mandy will be the cook. Derek is taking me out for a meal in the town. I hope you will behave yourselves while we are out!" she added, with a worried frown.
"Of course," said James piously, but his mind was working furiously. Here was the chance he needed. Luck was certainly on his side these days, almost as if he was meant to follow up this clue. It meant that he wouldn't have to worry about what to tell his mother, and also that the ghost would not be there. Both out of the way at once! What a chance.
"Can Rodney come round later on?" he asked.
"Of course, so long as you both make sure you get your homework done," said Anita. She was in a good mood, and did not appear to suspect anything untoward.
So James rang Rodney and later on he joined James and Mandy in The Hideout.
"I didn't enjoy that supper," said James.
"I thought it was nice of Derek to do it," Mandy announced. "He's really helpful, you know. I still don't think he's bad."
Rodney could see a quarrel starting, so he hastily interrupted, "Have you decided about the well?"
"Yes. Mum and Derek are both going to be out tomorrow night, and Mandy's going to be 'Mum', so now's our chance."
For the rest of the evening, they laid their plans. It was going to be hard to wait for Friday night. It seemed that Rodney's Dad had all the necessary equipment in his shed, including a fluorescent light run on batteries - just what you need to see inside a well, as James pointed out.
Friday night finally came. Anita, in her best dress and leather coat, and Derek in his best suit, got into Derek's car and drove off. Not long after, Rodney turned up on the doorstep, wearing his dark clothes.
"I got all the stuff into the treehouse," he said. "It wasn't easy - have you tried to be quiet in a shed? - but I think I got away with it."
"Well, at least the Mums can't get together this time. Let's hope we get this over with quickly," said James.
Once again, they quietly left the house, and crept down the side path to the field at the back. Mandy was with them. Not that she was going anywhere near the well, she was going to be the look-out.
The grass was already crisp with frost, glittering in the light of the moon, now coming up to the full and quite bright. They kept to the hedges at the edge of the field, and soon reached Rodney's back garden gate. Fortunately, the house curtains were closed, so hopefully they would not be seen against the frosty light.
Rodney climbed the short ladder into the tree house, and passed the ropes, fluorescent lamp, and some tools down to James, halfway down the ladder, who passed them to Mandy at the bottom. Then Rodney came down, and they left the garden. No-one shouted out to them, all was silence around them. So far, so good.
They continued across the field and down the path beside the church which led into Elchester Lane. Overhead, the yew tree branches blotted out the moon and stars. The stillness was unbroken except by the occasional passing car in the lane ahead. Suddenly, the peace was shattered by a dreadful shriek.
Mandy clung to James, "What was that? It sounded like someone being murdered!"
Rodney laughed. "That was a vixen," he announced with the certainty of a country boy.
"That all?" quavered Mandy.
"That was all."
That may have been all, and none of them would admit it, but they were a little unnerved by the time they reached the darkened cottage by the churchyard.
The lamp in the churchyard was burning, which relieved the darkness slightly, but not much. The garden was overhung by churchyard yews, not to mention its own overgrown trees, so the moonlight hardly reached it. This, James felt, was an advantage. They were less likely to be seen.
James opened the front garden gate. It creaked loudly, making them all jump.
"Come on," he ordered the others. "Let's get on with it."
Across the frosty grass they crept. The well was a darker hump against the greyness. In the distance the vixen yelled again.
"I don't like this," said Mandy, looking all around her. "What if there's a real ghost?"
"You heard Rodney," said James firmly. "It's a vixen. Anyway, you're the lookout. You stay near the fence."
Mandy was glad to.
The boys reached the well. The first problem would be the lid. Rodney shone the fluorescent lamp, and James investigated. The wood was slimy and felt unpleasant. He found a metal hook holding it to the stonework. It slipped out fairly easily, and he tried to prise up the lid with a crowbar Rodney had thoughtfully provided. To his surprise, it was not as heavy as he had thought.
"Give us a hand, Rod!"
Rodney set the lamp on the grass and joined him. They both heaved, and the lid came up slowly.
"Push a bit harder, we're moving it!" gasped James, pushing harder himself.
A smell of stagnant water and damp earth assaulted their nostrils as the lid rose higher. They had it halfway up, and were making a final effort to try and get it fully open, when Mandy came running up.
"There's someone in the churchyard. I'm sure he's watching us! Maybe a policeman. I don't know."
"Can't be Derek," grunted James, still holding the well lid. "Go back and see."
Mandy ran back to the corner of the garden by the churchyard. The lamp threw the shadow of a man against the wall of the church, just for a moment, then it was gone.
She ran back to the boys, who could not get the lid further open, but were trying to shine the lamp down.
"There is someone there. I think we should leave. What if he kills us and throws us down the well?"
This unpleasant thought did not appeal to any of them.
"I think it's too dark to see much anyway," said Rodney. "Let's come back here another time. At least we know we can do it."
James had to agree this would be a good plan, so long as the watcher did not have the same idea. Carefully they lowered the lid back into place, put the hook in its socket, gathered up their possessions and made their way back to Rodney's treehouse.
