Chapter 4
By the time Milo and Kida made their way down to the beach, the sun was just sinking into the sea. They were just in time, Milo noted: fog was rolling in from the sea in thick, stinking swathes. Obby gave a bark, and raced towards them.
"Oh look, the lovebirds are back." Vinny looked up as they approached, lifting one bushy eyebrow.
"It's good to see you too." Milo replied. "Get up to anything interesting while we were gone?"
"Eh. I tried sunbathing, got smoked-out. Then the sun went in."
Audrey finished lacing her boots back on, and stood up.
"I went for a swim. Swam into a rotten old fish." She sniffed her damp hair, before cramming it back into her hat. "Now I smell like Mole on a hot day."
"I resent zhat comparison!"
"I'm just saying, there's a reason why people keep buying you soap for Christmas."
The wind swept in across the sea, bringing a fresh wave of pungent fog. The ocean lapped at Milo's feet, a few bubbles popping against his boots. He looked up. The greyish sky was slowly darkening.
"Everyone ready to head back to the farmhouse?" He said. "I want to get a start before this fog gets any thicker."
Audrey nodded.
"Yeah, let's get moving. We don't wanna get led off a cliff again."
"That was an accident!" Milo protested. The sea moaned again, deep and low. "Alright, let's head back. It sounds like there's a storm brewing."
They climbed up from the beach, up the crunching gravel pathway. Milo could feel the fog sticking to his skin, mingling with sweat in the night's heat, feel it catching in his throat. With the close, sticky atmosphere, it was a relief to find himself at the crest of the cliffs, and to walk along flatter ground again. He cast a glance back. Yes, everyone was still there, drawing in close to keep together in the mist. Obby practically tripped over his many feet to get close to his master, whining faintly.
"It's okay Obby. It's just the wind." He said. His word seemed to do little to comfort the lava-dog though. He pressed himself as close to Milo's legs as possible, trembling slightly, his beady black eyes staring. A strangled whimper escaped his throat. "Come on boy."
Milo wrapped his arms around Obby, and heaved, doing little to move the chubby creature. It did, however, seem to break the spell: Obby stopped his whimpering, and scuttled to the head of the group, moving with uncharacteristic speed. It was all Milo could do to keep his fat purple tail in view, as he stumbled after him. His heart began to race a little faster, unease tightening around his stomach.
"Hey! Obby! Slow down!" From ahead, there was an impatient bark. From behind, the sound of heavy footsteps as everyone scrambled to keep up. "Obby, we need to stick together!"
With a final burst of speed, Milo managed to throw himself forwards, and grab Obby around the neck, both falling to the ground in a tangle. Obby thrashed in his arms, body contorting, huge teeth snapping. His beady eyes rolled in his skull in a wild panic. Panic began to fill Milo, too. He'd never seen the lava dog so spooked.
"What's gotten into him?" Kida came through the fog, kneeling down and helping Milo to restrain him.
"I don't know, I've never seen him like this before! Perhaps its…"Milo paused, his eyes wide. "Wait! Quiet, everyone! …Do…do you hear that?"
For a moment the only sounds where Obby's faint whining, and their own ragged breathing. Then, not that far off, came the sound of something heavy hitting the ground. Then again. And again. There was no mistaking it: it was the sound of vast, heavy footsteps. Obby threw back his head and howled, a loud shriek of terror. And then Milo saw it: saw the dim shape looming through the fog, taller than a man, taller than a house. He felt its feet shake the earth, felt his eyes burn from the stench of it. He looked up, and for a moment, terror paralysed him. He couldn't run, couldn't scream. He could only stare at the…the thing in front of him.
The creature's head was vast and round, far too big for its scrawny neck to support, so that the head lolled grotesquely to one side. There was only a single burning eye in the hideous head, and it rolled wildly, the mouth below it lolling open, as though the jaw had broken. At the creature's misshapen waist, there were no legs: its body fused into another body, a grotesque parody of steed and rider. This other body was like a horse, a horse with cracked hooves the size of dinner-plates, and a belly bloated, like it had died and rotted in the sun. The head of this second body was also huge, almost too large to hold off the ground, the mouth gaping wide as a whale's, a swollen tongue protruding, with nothing above the mouth but empty eye-sockets.
But for all the horrors of the creature's appearance, these were by no means the worst. They were not what made Milo's breath catch in his chest, or bile rise in his throat.
The creature had no skin.
Its raw flesh glistened with the oily sheen of decay, muscles writhing like maggots as it moved. Milo could clearly see tight white sinews straining, see clotted black blood choking yellowed veins, see crumbling bone and swollen organs. He saw its suppurating flesh flex as it stepped forwards, hooves shaking the earth, lidless eye focusing on him, on them, on the huddled group of figures that were so small, so insignificant compared to it. And then the spell broke.
"RUN!"
His voice came out as a frantic scream. He didn't care. He was running, they were all running, their feet pounding the ground, a mad dash with no other purpose than to get away from that thing, that flayed abomination. He could hear it. He could hear its huge hoof-beats behind them, shaking the earth. He could hear the breath rattling in its chest. Closer, ever closer.
He glanced over his shoulder, and looked straight into the hollow sockets of the lowermost head. It had almost drawn level with them, its wide black gullet yawning. With a scream, Milo pushed forwards, making one final effort, forcing his exhausted legs to work. Ahead lay the little stream, cutting its path through the grass. Milo splashed into it, and to his horror, felt his feet slip on the slick pebbles. The world was a mess of grass and water as he tumbled over, falling flat on his face in the rushing water, and he knew it was over, drawing his arms around his head in a last, futile attempt to protect himself. He heard Kida scream his name, heard someone gasp, heard the creature's footsteps stop. He scrunched his eyes closed. He held his breath.
Nothing. No pain. No snapping of teeth, no trampling of huge hooves. Unrolling himself, Milo dared to peek up. There was the beast, on the bank of the rivulet, so close that Milo could see its hooves tear up clods of dirt as it pawed at the shore. It reared, hooves flailing, bloated entrails showing, its huge head lolling back with a sickening crunch, letting out a low, rumbling moan. The stench from each head was atrocious, strong enough to make Milo's head swim. Then the creature turned, and with earth-shaking steps, lumbered back into the stinking darkness.
Kida was by his side in an instant, helping him to his feet. Vinny grabbed him by the other arm, and helped haul him up.
"What…what was that thing?" He squinted off into the growing gloom. "Why did it stop chasing us?"
Kida wiped a strand of damp hair out of his face, and straightened his skewed glasses.
"The important thing is it's gone."
Audrey nodded.
"Yeah. Let's get inside before it changes its mind."
They limped the last few hundred yards to the cottage, looking furtively over their shoulders as they went. The door was latched, as always, and they pushed inside gratefully. Milo breathed a sigh of relief, to be getting out of the filthy fog. Of course, the logical part of his brain knew that a little wooden farmhouse probably wouldn't offer much protection against the creature, but he was happy to delude himself for now, and join the others in flopping down in the living room. If anything, he wasn't sure his shaking legs could hold him up much longer.
"Alright, first things first." Vinny said, shivering slightly. "What the heck was that thing?"
"Whatever it was, it was creepy." Said Audrey. "If it hadn't stopped when it did…urgh."
Milo leant forward thoughtfully.
"It has to be the water that stopped it. There are all sorts of creatures in classic folklore that can't cross running water. Vampires, demons, fairies…"
Vinny snorted.
"Some fairy."
"…The important thing is, if it can't cross that little stream, this house is safe."
The stairs creaked under heavy footsteps. Milo looked up to see Doctor Sweet stumble into the room. There were dark rings under his eyes, and a grim expression on his face.
"Doc? Doctor Sweet? Are you alright?"
"I'm alright. It's them I'm worried about."
"The horses?"
"D'you think I'd get this worried over horses? No, it's worse than that. A whole lot worse."
"What do you mean?"
"The disease. It's crossed the species barrier. The kids have got it, the adults have got it, and if you lot stay here, I'm pretty sure you're all gonna get it too. I've never seen anything like it in my life: sudden onset, high fever, breathing difficulties, lesions all over the skin… This is too much for me to handle. I've been trying to get through to the mainland, arrange to get them to a hospital, the kids at least, but this place is in the middle of nowhere, and…"
Kida laid a hand on his back.
"You're doing all you can."
"I don't think that's gonna be enough."
Milo stood up.
"Doc, I don't know if this is going to make much difference, but we saw something out there tonight. Some sort of monster. I don't know what's going on, but what if they're connected? What if this isn't any ordinary disease? I know it's a little far-fetched, but something strange is happening on this island, and…"
"It's that old witch on the cliffs!"
Milo jumped, as Mavis' voice interrupted him. She came staggering into the room, her eyes wild, her skin splattered with livid blotches. Doctor Sweet stepped forwards to grab her.
"Mrs Murrain! You're under strict orders to stay in bed!"
"She did this to us! She did this to my children!" She continued, froth gathering at the corners of her mouth. "She sent this disease to ruin us!"
"Come on Mavis. Back to bed with you…"
"Wait!" Milo put a hand on her bony shoulder. "Who is this woman? Where does she live?"
Mavis swayed a little, eyes half-closing.
"She lives alone, in a little cottage on the cliffs, up at the highest point. Always talking about folklore, stupid old sayings… Don't wash your hair on a Sunday, don't burn the seaweed, don't touch cold iron on the first night of a full moon…"
"Milo, I don't think Mrs Murrian is in any state for questioning at the moment." Said Sweet, half-supporting her.
"No, no, I'm sorry. You've been a great help, ma'm."
Doctor Sweet led her back out of the room.
"So what, we've got a witch involved now?" Said Vinny.
"We can't know for sure until we speak to her." Said Milo. "First thing tomorrow, we'll find this cottage on the cliffs, and we'll get some answers. Until then, we'd best try to get some sleep. I don't want to go back out tonight. Not with that thing out there."
Vinny nodded, yawning slightly.
"Yeah. Nothing like running for your life to get you ready for a good nights sleep."
Despite the circumstances, everyone had managed to doze off. Vinny knew this, as he was currently lying wide-awake, surrounded by contented snoring. He rolled over, trying to find a more comfortable position. There was an awkward tightness in his chest that was making it difficult to drift off. He coughed softly, and pulled the blankets tighter around himself, shivering.
He closed his eyes, trying to force himself into sleep. Why did his life always turn out like this? At first it had just been ordinary misfortune: exploding laundries, getting locked up in a Turkish prison, the usual things. Then there had been the expedition: finding a lost civilization, threatening them, changing his mind, fighting for them. Nothing too strange.
He shivered, and rolled over again. This earned him a grunt and a kick from Audrey.
But then things had started to get really weird. He'd seen things that that you couldn't explain: mad gods, and fire demons, and giant squiddy things with mind-powers. Was this what the rest of his life was going to be like? Always stumbling from one strange situation to the other, never settling down, never getting his flower shop up and running, and properly bomb-proofed?
He coughed again, trying to get rid of the wheezy feeling in his chest. Audrey groaned. Next to him, he could hear Milo rolling over.
"Are you alright?"
"Yeah, I'm fine. Just a tickle." He coughed again, his back arching. "…A big tickle."
"You sound awful." Milo's voice had a trace of panic to it. Vinny knew exactly why. It was exactly that same reason that he'd been trying to push to the back of his mind. "Does anyone have a light?"
"I told you, I'm okay." Vinny protested, noticing how his voice rasped.
"Wait a moment…" Mole's voice came from the darkness, a few moments before his headlamp flickered into life, casting the room in a dull glow. "Zhere you go." He smiled for a moment, before his eyes flickered onto Vinny. "Oh…"
There was no denying it: even in the faint light, the blotches were quite clear, making their way up his arms, creeping over his skin. Vinny looked down, dread slowly seeping through him. He gave a strained smile.
"I knew I should have gone to Guernsey instead."