AN: I am not the original author of the story below my goal is to gather any stories from around the web and have them in one area so that they don't get deleted. If you are the original author and would like me to remove this story I will.


Martha You Dope, Part 4

The rising wind nearly blew George's mac over the top of his head as he got in back of Ringo's car. The light rain that had started earlier was getting heavier, and flashes of lightning in the sky promised another stormy night.

John turned in the front seat to greet George. "Lovely English weather, we're having, what?" he said in a mock jolly tone.

"Makes my hair grow faster," George joked, shaking water out of it.

They continued into London, speaking only occasionally as the rain turned into a downpour. Ringo concentrated on the road through the furiously working wipers, trying not to let the bad weather turn his thoughts to gloom.

Everyone in town had taken shelter for the night; the streets were nearly empty. The wind pushed at the car and plastered tree leaves across the windscreen as they turned onto Cavendish Avenue. A large roll of thunder sounded.

"Forgot my raincoat and mucking boots," John commented sarcastically.

"We're going to get soaked the second we get out," Ringo said.

"At least I brought a torch," George said, pulling a flashlight from his coat pocket and flicking it on.

"Good lad," John said. "I didn't think to bring any of my grappling hooks, ropes or rescue equipment."

George gave him a disgusted look and put the torch back in his pocket.

They reached the front entrance to Paul's house. The weather had even succeeded in driving the ever vigilant scruffs away for the night. The place looked deserted. The large trees around the house shook and swayed in the wind as flashes of lightning lit up the sky, creating an eerie backdrop of the shadow of the large house.

Ringo cranked down his window, shivering as the rain came in, and pushed the code to open the gate. It opened slowly, with John adding a "cr-e-a-k" sound effect, making the night seem even more like a surreal halloween scene.

Martha cowered against Paul as thunder rattled the dishes in the dining room. It didn't help that her motionless master gave off the scents of both fear and pain, including the heavy metallic tang of blood. Then she lifted her head and pricked up her ears. Something was outside. She heard a car door slam and faint voices. Getting up, she wuffed gently, then trotted to the front door. She turned back to Paul, but he hadn't moved.

"Bloody freezing!" John yelped, being pelted by wind-driven rain as he got out of the car.

George turned up the collar on his mac and they all ran for the relative shelter of the front entry. A tree branch crashed down in front of Ringo and he nearly slipped in the mud to avoid it. "This is like a bad dream!" he yelled above the wind.

They clustered in front of the door, drenched from their short flight. John immediately pounded on the door again, hoping the lights would go on and Paul would let them in for a hot cup of tea and some explanations. Nothing happened.

Ringo put his face up against the window and tried to see inside, but it was too dark to make out anything.

"Aye, I'd watch that," John said with a strange glint in his eye.

"What?" Ringo asked, trying a different angle against the glass.

"Woof, Arf, Arf!" Martha flung herself desperately at the face in the window.

"Gaaa!" Ringo propelled himself backward and would've taken a header off the porch if George hadn't grabbed his arm and pulled him back.

John was bent double, laughing so hard tears streamed down his cheeks.

Ringo straightened his coat and smoothed his wet hair carefully. Turning to John, he said, "When you are through busting a gut, please be so kind as to get out of the way so we can see inside."

John tried to pull himself together. He clapped Ringo on the shoulder. "Same thing happened to me this afternoon, lad. I just couldn't resist. Let's at least rescue the Princess Martha, shall we?" He swallowed another laugh at Ringo's and George's irritated expressions.

"Come on, John, get serious," George said with a worried frown. "I've got a feeling that something is wrong." Martha was barking furiously and continually, leaping at the window and clawing at the door. George pulled the flashlight out of his pocket and moved to the window. Trying to see past the large shaggy dog jumping in front of him, he shone the torch into Paul's house.

The thin beam of light picked out the stairway first. He was about to shine it elsewhere when something dark caught his eye at the bottom of the stairs. Squinting, he thought it looked like a suitcoat lying in a heap.

"See anything?" Ringo asked anxiously.

"Not sure yet," George replied. He moved the light toward the living room, but his view was partially blocked by the wall. The torch revealed a telephone on the floor. "What the..." George muttered, completely puzzled and getting more concerned by the moment.

"I'm going to look round the back," John said, restless to be doing nothing.

"You'll get all wet!" Ringo said.

"Already am," John replied and jumped off the porch into the storm.

A large crash of thunder made Martha back away from the window. She dropped down and padded toward the back of the living room where it met the dining room door. George tried to follow her with the flashlight, straining to see. Suddenly the light shone on a figure slumped against the wall. An unmoving male figure with dark hair. He was shirtless and barefoot, dressed only in baggy pajama pants.

"Oh, God," George breathed. It had to be Paul.

"What, what? What do you see?" Ringo asked frantically.

"I think it's Paul. And there's something wrong. We've got to get in," George said, frustrated that the light wouldn't reveal anything else.

Ringo grabbed at the torch. "Let me see!" George surrendered it and stepped back. Ringo flashed the light around the inside of the house until lightening suddenly illuminated the room and he too got a glimpse of the scene inside. "Oh, no!" He turned to George with large eyes. "You don't think he...?"

George simply gave him a distressed look and jumped off the porch to get John. He ran around the side of the house and spotted him trying to climb up the foundation stone so he could see into the dining room window.

"John!" he shouted as the wind attempted to blow his voice the other direction. Rain splashed in his face.

John heard him and dropped back to the ground. His clothes were soaking, his hair plastered against his head as he walked to George. "What is it?" he shouted as thunder boomed above them.

"We found him!"

"Is he ok?"

"No, we're going to have to break in somehow."

John frowned. "What do you mean 'no'?"

"He's had an accident or something. Come on!" George could see John was going to ask him another question. All he wanted was to find a way to get in the house and fast.

Meanwhile Ringo was still looking inside with the light. Martha had taken Paul's limp hand in her mouth and was trying to tug him to the door. In alarm, Ringo watched as she tugged hard enough to pull Paul over onto his side. Finally he could see Paul's face. "Christ," he whispered and looked around wildly for George and John. Ringo ran off the porch and found the others around the corner in the wild rain.

"What're you doing?" he shouted as the wind whipped the words from his mouth.

"Trying to figure out how to get in," George said.

"I saw his face. It's covered with blood," Ringo blurted.

Before John or George could respond, a lightning bolt blazed down from the black sky and sizzled somewhere in the garden behind them. All three of them jumped, looked at each other with wide eyes and raced back to the safety of the entry.


An: I fixed some spelling mistakes if you don't think I should edit I could upload the raw one instead

Ex: lightening to lightning