Three Mile Drove, Chapter Twenty Seven (standard:horror, 1403 words) [28/29] show all parts
Author: Brian Cross	Added: May 14 2008	Views/Reads: 2679/1907	Part vote: 0.00 (0 votes)
For Darren Goldwater, the turmoil that has plagued Three Mile Drove is almost over, but will he survive it?

CHAPTER TWENTY SEVEN 

He'd followed Darren at a distance through the smoky haze and gathering
darkness, only the stranger's unfamiliarity with the terrain allowing 
him to keep up. Thanks to the man in front of him his mission wasn't 
finished, in fact it had hardly begun. 

He could have turned away, resigned his mission to the jaws of defeat
and let the simmering evil erupt, but it wouldn't be the end of things. 
Of that he was sure. 

And it wouldn't be the way of the righteous. 

There was only one place they could be headed now and Darren would lead
them there in his own cumbersome way. Stranger or not. 

It had taken longer than he thought, the man had taken the wrong track
on one occasion and on another he'd been sure Darren had realised he 
was behind him. Then, his feet aching from the unaccustomed trek they'd 
reached the clearing, where makeshift circular homes, like wattle and 
daub of mediaeval times surrounded a large barn. He'd paused, moving 
around to the eastern edge of the clearing, brushing rain from his eyes 
and watching as Darren stumbled across the barren patch then into the 
barn. He'd heard his stifled yell amidst Tomblin's throaty roar and the 
shrieks of his natives. 

Tomblin as well, there could yet be triumph from failure, but his only
tactic wouldn't work – the barn's structure would be too soaked with 
rain for fire to take hold. He'd held back, racking his head for a 
solution that wouldn't come. Then he'd seen a figure run quickly into 
the clearing and head for the barn, wrenching loose some sacking before 
hurling it down and turning. His heart rate already too fast rose even 
further. Why couldn't Claire stay away damn her. 

She'd disappeared around the side of the barn, out of his sight. He'd
made to follow her but her movement had been too quick and the faint 
light thrown from the barn wasn't enough to aid him. He'd stood for 
several minutes at the edge of the clearing, rain soaking his already 
drenched clothes, unsure what to do. Then with a suddenness that drove 
daggers of fear through his tangled senses the barn door burst open. He 
saw figures fleeing outside then turn and ring Darren and Claire as 
they emerged at the entrance. From the huts other figures, their 
grotesque forms eerie in the darkness wondered forth to join the 
assembly, oblivious to his presence. 

Lightning forked through the sky, splintering light through the clearing
and for a second Claire seemed to be staring right at him, he thought 
he'd been exposed – and then the pair of them had taken a backward step 
and the door had slammed shut. 

Then another lightning strike and amidst it the unmistakable form of old
man Tomblin, trailing his left leg, his torch leading the way, 
something else in his right hand. He squinted, unable to make out what 
else Tomblin was carrying and then as the glint of light struck the 
barrel while he directed the torch at the barn door he saw what it was. 


Tomblin pushed his way inside; the others ringing the entrance began to
follow him through, lead by the huge figure of Joseph. 

So now they were all in there, he had them all. Old man Tomblin, his
ogre of a son Shaun, the gruesome hunchback Joseph and the assortment 
of freaks and misfits who for too long had lead a purposeless life in 
conditions you wouldn't keep a dog in. 

But what did he do? 

Then he remembered. *                      * 

What light there was emanated from the front of the barn, as Tomblin
shone his torch into the faces of Darren and Claire, his old gun held 
at waist height directly into their faces. Darren's last reflection was 
going to be what might have been, if in another place and time he'd met 
Claire. Even in this final moment she stood beside him unflinching and 
in the strange silence which had followed the excited cries he could 


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