This is not really a Casper fic but I couldn't find anywhere else to put this. I hardly own anything on this fanfic especially the characters. The summery is from the book.
My version of The Phantom of Billy Bantam by Penny Dolan. Billy Bantam haunts the misty marshes around Annie's new home. Annie doesn't know who he is but she needs a friend, ghostly or not. When is threatening her family it's up to her and the ghost of Billy Bantam.
The Phantom of Billy Bantam: rewrite
(Chap 1: Billy Bantam)
Billy flickered through the reads of the misty marsh. He often watched the locals who called themselves 'Water Folk' for they would usually fish at sea, and meet up at the floating market. But for reasons that only he knew they couldn't get out to sea from the marsh.
He would linger and watch them until they noticed him. They would run crying out "Beware the ghost of Bad Luck Billy." and "Stay away! It's the ghost of Billy Bantam!"
Billy always felt sad whenever they blamed him for every little misfortune that they had. "Curse you Billy Bantam." They would yell. What happened in the past years, both before and after he died, had nothing to do with him, and blaming him burnt this heart with an icy chill.
"Maybe if I truly where evil, then it might be better." He would often mutter to himself. "I only ever try to be helpful or friendly, but they don't understand… they don't want to understand." He would always say the same thing, but he never acted nastily, it was never an option back when he was alive, so why should it be an option now?
He was asking the same question like any other day just after the living had ran away, when he heard singing.
He looked above the reads to see a cart coming this way. It stopped near the end of the road and the four children, two twins about the age of 8 (both boys), the youngest was a girl about only 5-6 and the oldest was a girl too, just the same age as him (that would be 13-14) if a little younger, jumped off the back.
"This is as far as I can take you. Are you sure you know the way, Annie?" The driver hopped over to the children.
"Yes, I'm sure. Mum told me the way so I'll be ok."
"So long as your sure."
"I am."
"Then I must take my leave and bud you good by… and good luck." The driver looked slightly concerned when he finished.
Noticing this Annie asked, "Good luck for what?"
"I don't want so spook you too much, so I'll just say this… Beware the Phantom of Billy Bantam."
And with that the man left.
"What on earth was all that about?" Annie looked confused.
(flash back)
Annie had came down stairs because mum wanted to talk to her. She took Annie's slender hands into her large, plump ones.
"Is something wrong mum?" Annie was a little spooked by the way her mum was acting, but didn't show it. She always felt that she had to be strong, being the oldest of four siblings.
"I have a new job, as a cook in the manor house a good few miles from here."
"Well that's a good thing isn't it?" Annie was confused.
"I won't be able to take you or the little ones with me…I'm sending you to Slodger's Fen."
"Sloger's who? What? Where?"
"Slodger's Fen, where your father came from. You'll be living with Granny Tidd and Uncle Foskitt ."
"What? But I've never meat them!"
"I know that. But they want to meet you."
"But-"
"Hush now. You'll be alright."
(End flash back)
The next thing she knew she and the little ones where on the back of a hay cart.
"Where do we go now?" the youngest asked, muffled slightly by her had in her mouth. She was very small, just below Annie's waist. Like her sister she had long red heir and green eyes, only Annie's hair was straight and the little girl's was in lose ringlets.
"This way Tillie. Come on boys." She handed a bundle of clothes to each of the boys and carried Tillie's and her own. "Follow the path like mum said. But keep away from the water."
The path they walked on was mostly mud and dead tree roots surrounded by the waters of the marsh. So they stayed in the middle of the path.
They where nearly near the old bridge that they where told about, when she saw him. His ghostly form peering through the reads. Smiled at him but Billie couldn't smile back. He had been so lonely and ill for all so long, he had almost forgotten how to smile.
With in a blink the boy was gone.
"Can't do it." Tillie sat on the floor crying.
Annie noticed the boys were struggling too. Tears started to make there eyes shine. They too sat down.
Billy hid himself further into the reads, but close enough to see. "They have to keep going. It floods around here and it won't be long now." for some reason the boy couldn't help but worry. He knew how bad it was to drown and die at his age, but the little ones too was out of the question.
Annie pulled out some sweets. "will these keep you going?"
The little ones jumped up and grabbed a sweet each. "Be careful. There as hard as bullets."
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
After a little while they came to the old bridge.
"It looks a little… dangerous doesn't it?" The boys pointed out. The bridge was rather high and warn.
"We'll just have to be careful."
They made it half way across the bridge when Billy noticed that the water around him had risen. He knew what was coming and had to warn them.
He came to the end of the bridge and called out. "Something's coming. You'll have to hold on tight or you'll drown." He called.
Annie was the only one who noticed the boy. She looked ahead and saw something heading this way. "Hold on. Don't let go whatever you do."
Annie held onto the boys and Tillie and the bridge who also cling to the wooden railing. Then she heard a scream as Tillie had been swept out of her grip. But she felt someone's hand on her shoulder and herd Tillie's voice saying "You caught me. I love you Annie."
Once the thing was passed she only saw Tillie and the boys beside her and the boy disappeared.
"Wow!" The boys gasped as something huge and long swam from underneath them, clearly what had caused the wave to sweep them away. But they also had the problem of the flooding. The water was now up to her knees, which meant carrying her clothes, Tillie's clothes and Tillie.
"Where are you, ye slimy sea monster?" Growled a ruff voice. "No one escapes Captain Slew. I'll have you back in my grasp again soon."
"Who is that Annie?" Tillie asked, frightened.
"I don't know."
"And we don't want to know." Said one boy.
"Let's go." said the other.
Annie nodded and they moved on.
Soon they saw a man. He was tall and thin. He ware a strange fishing hat, a long green coat and black Wellington boots. His right leg was tightly bandaged and he used a wooden crutch.
"Hello! Hello, my children. You must be Annie." She nodded. "Joe and Josh."
"Hi! Hi!" The two replied.
"And little Tillie." Tillie curtsied to the man.
"I'm your uncle Foskitt. I'll show you to the house."
They walked along. "What happened to your leg?" Joe asked.
"Joe." Annie frowned.
"Quite alright Annie… I had… lets say a disagreement with Slew and his band of Pirates. Let's leave it at that shall we."
The twins looked at each other wide-eyed then continued to walk.
Her mum had said that Tidd Cottage was hard to spot, and she wasn't joking. It was so hard to spot, because it was literally inside a hill just beside a river bank. There where nets and pieces of… well, everything all over the place.
There was only one room in the house. In the middle of the room there was a sofa and a rocking chair. In one corner was a hammock and built into the back wall was the kitchen. Beside the 'kitchen', inside a wall was a bed with four bunks .
Hunched over a pot on a fire in the kitchen, was a plump, stout woman stirring a soup.
"They have arrived! The Children are here Tidd." The man called to her.
Granny Tidd looked up with her plump, slightly wrinkled face, smiling. "Welcome. Come in before you catch your death in that wet. Sit down anywhere and have some soup." She huddled them into the house and began ladling the soup onto bowls. The twins and Tillie sat on the sofa with uncle Foskitt. Granny Tidd sat in her rocking chair and Annie happily sat on the floor.
'Maybe this won't be so bad.' Annie thought to herself.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Once they all finished there soup and the little ones were asleep Annie felt as if she were being summoned outside.
"May I go outside for a moment?"
"No further than a step Annie. There's strange spirits in these marshes, my dear." Warned uncle Foskitt.
"Don't worry. She'll keep her eyes open, will that one." Granny Tidd smiled, looking up from her knitting. "My old knighting needles sense it. Bolt the door when you come in Annie." and she went back to knitting.
Annie didn't bother bringing a scarf, although it was so cold outside. She sat just at the side of the river that went right in front of the cottage (if you could call it that). She sat and closed her eyes, thinking of the boy that she had seen in the reads. The boy that saved Tillie. It had to be. The boys couldn't have caught her, and if they did then there not tall enough to touch her shoulder.
She opened her eyes and discovered that she had moved. Moved further away from the house in the hill, which, behind her, she could just hardly make out in the distance.
She looked across the deep stream, and there, through the reeds was the boy. His eyes shone bright silver in the moonlight. When he stood up she could easily tell he was her age. When he moved he seemed ever so slightly see through. It wasn't until he jumped at the sound of a breaking stick, and you could see right through his body and the stars shone through, that she realized what he was.
But she wasn't worrying about that now, she was too busy wandering what had scared him so much. She wanted to ask him, and was about to when he shouted. "Look out!"
The next thing she saw was a sword, flying towards her too quickly for her to run from, then a white blur and a hand clasp the end of the blade, stopping it just inches from her chest then nothing. She was so scared that before she could even see who had saved her that she ran back home.
She didn't want to tell anyone, but she felt that maybe granny Tidd could help her. Who exactly was that boy?
Sorry if that was a little long. Hope you enjoyed it so far.