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  This confused Jackie a bit. If you had just gone through all that stuff - the fighting, the vampires and the ghosts - people being murdered, why would you want to be scared shitless every so often in a creepy house? Sitting in the dark, just by firelight, probably people’s ghosts standing all around you. That didn’t make sense at all to her.

  Perhaps she had to walk a mile in their shoes before she understood.

  Or, was it was like some kind of a club, like the Freemasons? Jackie realised that if she wanted to mix in the same group of friends as her sister, she might have to sit by the firelight in this house with them. That could be harder for her, not having shared their experiences. But Jackie was a strong woman, just like her sister. If she, Wee Renee and some of the others that she had met could get through it, so could she.

  The Grange had been painted magnolia throughout. For the first couple of weeks in January, the Band went from top to bottom and painted every room in the house. Each member of the Band had helped and, in that way, had done a couple of rooms a day. It now smelled and looked like a completely different house.

  Ernie had made the executive decision that they would keep the majority of the furniture. Brenda had disinfected the lot from top to bottom. All the dining chairs were used in the main rehearsal room for the Band to sit on.

  Ernie had set up what he called the main office in the vampire Master’s old study. It was now painted white and had a metal filing cabinet in there, but had the same leather chair and expensive desk, which they all thought was an awful waste to get rid of.

  One of the other rooms was now the music room. All the music in there had ‘Melden Silver Band’ stamped on it. Friarmere Band’s music had burned, alongside the Bandroom. In that room was also a photocopier and the spare instruments.

  Another big room was empty. There was an idea to make this a function room, which the Band could hire out or use themselves.

  The kitchen held mainly items for tea and coffee, but there were a few bottles of wine, which everyone made sure was white, after last time. And a bottle of whisky, just for medicinal purposes or celebrations.

  The final room downstairs was filled with a lot of the furniture they had saved. There were a few tables, which were placed around the edge of the room. In a semicircle, there were many plush chairs. These chairs faced the open fire, which was lit at least once a week for reconvening. A meeting of the faithful, as Wee Renee called it. This is where they told their tales.

  When Pat, Wee Renee and Jackie arrived, there was already plenty of noise in the practice room. Alan was laughing loudly at something, and his wife Ann was in the kitchen clanking cups and teaspoons with Sue and Brenda. They had a list of who wanted tea or coffee. Sue looked down the corridor to see who had entered.

  ’Hiya, what are you drinking?’ Sue shouted.

  ’What do you want, Jackie?’ Pat asked.

  ‘I’d love a tea,’ Jackie said.

  ’Three teas!’ Pat shouted.

  ‘Sugar?’ Sue asked Jackie from the kitchen.

  ’Two sweeteners’ please, if you have them,’ Jackie replied.

  ‘Bloody hell, Jackie. It doesn’t matter about your weight tonight you need sustenance to get through a full rehearsal with Alan. Just you wait and see. You would be better off like me, three sugars. Besides that, who are you watching your weight for now? Your arse can get as large as a horse’s, and it doesn’t matter one bit,’ Pat said, shaking her head.

  ‘Take no notice. Have your sweeteners if you want them, love,’ Wee Renee said simply.

  They walked into the rehearsal room to see that at least half of the Band were there. Andy and Liz were talking to Maurice, who all looked up to see them and gave the three ladies a wave.

  ’Who’s that?’ Andy asked.

  ’Andy, how many times have we told you that Pat’s sister is coming on tuba,’ Liz said.

  ‘Ah, I recognise her now,’ Andy said. ‘She’s got her hair done a lot different from when I last saw her.’

  ’Yeah, she’s gone red and had it cut short. She was definitely more chestnut when she played with us before,’ Maurice said.

  ‘Yes, that’s what threw me. I think it was in a bob as well,’ Andy confirmed.

  ’And you don’t think that she looks like Pat? Jackie is tall and built exactly the same as her. She looks like a younger version of Pat. Sometimes I think you ought to have your eyes tested. I bet your optician would bring out glasses thicker than Maurice’s,’ Liz said. Maurice laughed, and Andy wondered why it always took him so long to connect a face to a name.

  Tony was oiling his trombone slide. His son Bob was at the back trying to teach his best friend Adam to play the percussion. There was also another new recruit of Rick, who was taking private lessons and was coming along very nicely. That gave them a full percussion team, albeit two trainees and one who only just knew what he was doing.

  Pat, Wee Renee and Jackie walked to one corner of the room

  ’You can put your coat on those pegs,’ Wee Renee said. ‘Sometimes it is a little cold in here, but I find with the walk up, and once we start playing, I don’t feel it. If you really want to though, you can leave it on, or put it on the back of your chair, it’s up to you,’ Wee Renee said.

  Jackie stood for a moment, waiting to see what her sister and Wee Renee would do, and it seems like they were taking theirs off, so she did too. She picked up her cup of tea, looking around as she waited for the two ladies to get their instruments out.

  ‘Come on,’ Pat said. ‘Let’s take you to meet the others.’

  Terry was the only Tuba player there up to yet.

  ’This is Terry,’ Pat said. ‘He has been on our adventures.’ Pat waited for Jackie to look at her and then gave her a wink. ‘Terry played with Melden Silver Band before now, and he is a Dentist. Is there any more I should say, Terry?’ Pat asked.

  ’No, I think that’s everything there is to know about me,’ Terry smiled.

  ‘This is my sister Jackie,’ Pat said.

  ‘Pleased to meet you,’ Terry said, putting his hand around his Tuba to shake Jackie’s.

  ‘Pleased to meet you too,’ Jackie said.

  ‘This is your seat,’ Terry said. ‘The music is out for you and your instrument is at the back. I’ve checked it, and it is well oiled and moving nicely. I think you’ll find it free blowing.’

  ’Thanks,’ Jackie said. ‘Thank you very much, Terry.’ She walked over to the back. She was a little more graceful than her older sister and more ladylike, but she indeed was no ballerina. Then again how many ballerinas could manage a tuba?

  Jackie tried out her instrument, running through a few scales, seeing how high and how low she could go on the new tuba. After that, she started to look through her music while the other people entered.

  The last person to arrive was the flugelhorn player Gary, who breezed in and seemingly with one movement sat down, got his instrument out and put it to his lips, still wearing his wet khaki coat.

  At last everyone was seated. Ernie walked in from his office to the front of the Band so that he could address them in time honoured tradition. Another person who had left his office with him waited at the back.

  ‘Right Band, everyone put your hands together for Alan’s first official rehearsal,’ Ernie said. Alan nodded gratefully as the whole Band clapped

  ’I feel like I’ve been here a lifetime already,’ Alan said.

  ’It’s Hotel California here you know,’ Gary said.

  ’I can imagine,’ Alan said. ‘Hee-hee.’

  ’Yes, you’ll never leave. Not alive anyway,’ Ernie said, laughing. All the Band burst out laughing apart from the person that Ernie had bought in from his office. Ernie realised that she had no idea what the joke was and might walk out if he didn’t change the subject sharpish.

  ‘Anyway, can you all welcome Jackie, Pat’s sister, who you know is coming on tuba,’ Ernie said. The Band clapped again, and Pat turned around to look at her sister proudly. Jackie felt ve
ry embarrassed but very welcomed.

  ’We also have a new cornet player,’ Ernie said. He gestured with his hand to the person that stood behind them, who they had not seen come in. ‘This is Hazel. Alan has taken her in another Band and assures me that she is top class. She will be sitting on the front row.’

  While Ernie was saying this, Hazel was getting out her cornet. She walked around the Band taking the empty third seat down, Principal Cornet. Carl who was previously from Melden Silver Band turned to Hazel and shook her hand.

  ’Welcome to Friarmere Band,’ Carl said.

  ’Thanks,’ Hazel said, a little nervously. She looked over at Jackie, who was in exactly the same boat as her. Jackie looked nervous and flustered too, but the person next to her was reassuring her about certain parts in the music. Hazel started to leaf through hers, for a distraction.

  ’I’ve done,’ Ernie said simply and walked out of the room.

  ‘Settle down you lot,’ Alan said. ‘Now I am well and truly at the helm, you will really find out what I am like. Hee-hee. Mask off and everything. You don’t know what you have let yourself in for,’ Alan laughed, and the Band laughed with him.

  They knew that Alan was the one who didn’t actually know what he had let himself in for. He had just signed up to be the new Conductor in the Melden Triangle. There was no doubt Alan would see some sights on his drive home from now on. He also stood in front of over twenty people that had saved the world. Currently, the ball was definitely in the Band’s court.

  ’We’ll warm up with a little hymn, and then I’m going to start a new march. Plenty of time to get it perfect for Whit Friday. I’ve decided on ‘The Champions’,’ Alan said.

  Sue and Tony would be at Band for a while. So, would their son Bob and their adopted son Adam. There were no humans in the house. The only inhabitants of Sue’s house were her three cats. Two of these were in the back garden, sitting in the trees, trying to spy mice.

  The other one, Basil, was in Sue’s bedroom, lying very luxuriantly, on the fur throw at the bottom of the bed. Basil preferred to catch frogs, and it definitely wasn’t frog season yet. He stretched his toned ginger body on the throw. It would be ages before he had to move when Sue and Tony got back. Then he would just return once they had gone asleep.

  Basil began to hear strange noises from the driveway, his driveway. The place where he lived. Disgraceful! He was trying to sleep.

  The noises travelled around the side of the house towards the back. He heard a piece of garden furniture fall over. This was no cat or dog. They didn’t bang into furniture. This must be another human. Maybe it was one of Bob’s friends coming to call for him, or perhaps they had called to play a prank. With Bob and Adam’s friends, that happened a lot.

  Basil jumped off the bed and walked out of Sue’s bedroom and into the boys’ room. He leapt onto Bob’s desk, which was the easiest way to get to the window. There was peace for a moment as the noises stopped. Basil sat down.

  He began to hear scratching. It sounded like the scratching was getting closer and then it would stop again. Very strange. Basil jumped onto the windowsill so that he could look down into the back garden.

  Something was in there. It was in the complete darkness of the shadows, but Basil could still see it. Of course, he could, that was one of a cat’s blessings.

  It whipped its head around, aware that it was making noises. It didn’t want anyone to observe it trying to get in. It didn’t want anyone to observe it at all. Then they would see it wasn’t human.

  It was so dark, but Basil could see it. He had never seen one like it before.

  Basil looked into the trees at the back of the garden, facing him. Bramble and Willow watched the creature too. This was very different from the mice they usually caught. It was enormous. Three cats would not be able to best it. What they needed were three people. Three people with sharp, stabby weapons.

  Outside, Bramble and Willow knew that it also did not smell like a person. It smelled bad. Ripe. Basil continued to look down at the intruder. Again, he heard the scratching and knew now what it was. The beast was trying to climb up the wall towards this window. It would get so far climbing up the wall, using the electricity cable, before falling off and sliding down to the bottom. It would check that it hadn’t been discovered, by listening and looking before trying again.

  How strange, Basil thought. What if it was trying to get in to steal his cat food? It could mean that he would have to do something about this. He had been brave before, but he had also had the backup of humans and a dog at the time. He hoped that it wouldn’t have to come to that.

  Basil heard another noise approaching. A loud car radio. This noise was comforting rather than alarming. He knew what that was. He had experienced that many times. The lady next door, the new lady that lived in the house, liked to order pizza. She would get a man to come with a pizza, and the lovely smell would waft out to Basil’s nose. That man had the radio.

  The man stopped his car, stomped up the lady’s drive and banged wildly on the door. The creature was extremely startled. Basil watched it. It thought the man was at their house. It looked this way and that. It was nearly ready to bolt.

  There was quiet apart from the car radio. When no-one came to the door the pizza man, who knew he had the right address from experience, banged again.

  That was it for the beast. It ran through the back of Sue’s garden. Pushing through a gap in the trees at the corner, into the house at the back. Cracking the fence as it made room for itself to get through.

  Basil stared at Bramble and Willow across the garden, who both looked back at him. That was a close one, he hoped it wouldn’t return.

  3. A Strange Meeting

  This place, this house with the small thing inside was only one of the locations that the creature needed to visit tonight. There was another place to see. He knew where both things were, and they would have to come together. It looked like that wouldn’t happen tonight, as at least the first one of them was now out of bounds. The banging noise showed that someone was there guarding the item. Someone would see him.

  This other place would be even worse. It was always full of people and noise and laughter and smells. No one else was aware where the precious item was. It was in there, hiding inside a box.

  There would be one moment. One time that no-one would be guarding, it could go in and get what belonged to it out again.

  This had taken a long time to find. The second one had been so much easier. The small one had taken the item out many times and the scent had been picked up. Now it just needed the third item. That would be the most difficult. Crucially, it would have to find it soon too.

  After Band, the group that lived down Wellmeadow Lane all walked home together. Jackie had parked outside Wee Renee’s house, and they had walked up from there, so they were walking home. Along with Wee Renee were Bob, Adam, Sue, Tony and Gary.

  As they got closer to Wee Renee’s house, she could see one of her neighbours under the streetlight with their dog. Tommy didn’t seem to be walking Bella, but just standing on the pavement looking up at the clouds above him.

  ’Evening Tommy,’ Wee Renee said.

  ’Evening Wee Renee. Are you able to have a quick word about something? Privately?’ Tommy asked.

  ’Of course, yes,’ Wee Renee said. ‘A private word’s not a problem.’ Wee Renee wondered whether she had not been attending to her neighbourly duties and Tommy was about to give her a rude awakening. She could not imagine what she had done. Tommy was not the kind of person to ask for a private conversation.

  Sue, Adam, Bob, Gary and Tony carried on down the road to their houses, quite intrigued about it all. Pat stood looking at Tommy, she didn’t know whether to leave Wee Rene alone or not. Pat decided to be discreet.

  ’Er … Rene didn’t I have to come in for something. You know that thing I needed,’ Pat said.

  ’Oh, it’s fine Pat,’ Wee Renee said. It was obvious to all present what Pat was getting at. ‘To
mmy’s fine. I’ll be alright, don’t worry. I’ll speak to you tomorrow.’

  Jackie and Pat got into the car, and Jackie quickly started the engine. Pat’s face was pressed up against the window for the whole time that they drove off until they had turned around the corner and Wee Renee was out of sight.

  ‘Go back around,’ Pat instructed her sister.

  ‘No Pat, she’s fine,’ Jackie said grumpily.

  ’Come in then love,’ Wee Renee said to Tommy. The two people and the collie dog began to walk down Wee Renee’s path ‘No Suzanne tonight?’

  ’No, she’s in the house. She didn’t want to come out again in the dark. After I tell you why you’ll understand Suzanne’s current state,’ Tommy said.

  Tommy was going to attach Bella’s lead just outside Wee Renee’s house, but she said it was okay for her to come in. In fact, if Tommy agreed, she would like to give her a biscuit. Before she had even shut the door, Tommy began to tell her what he wanted.

  ’Wee Renee, I hope I’m not speaking out of turn, but around these parts, you are known as the foremost expert on strange and supernatural happenings. Is that right?’ Tommy asked.

  ’Aye,’ said Wee Renee honestly. ‘I think I am. What’s happened now?’

  ’In a nutshell, me and Suzanne have seen something on the Moors. This morning we found a strange pile of droppings, which sounds nothing now. A little further on we saw a bone. Time was getting on, and it was raining heavily, so we went back this evening,’ Tommy paused for a breath. Wee Renee was getting ready for the big reveal, she was listening to every detail and from experience, knew there was more.

  ‘Bella was itching to get on the Moors again. Up there the fog is a lot worse than here, and it was a good job that the footpath was against the fence or we would have got lost. That doesn’t bear thinking about, considering what happened. This time when we went, we found what I think was a human pelvis, Wee Renee. And there was more than that. I don’t even want to say,’ Tommy said. His face was sweating, even though it wasn’t hot. His skin was pale, the texture waxy. Wee Renee was concerned about what he was actually going to say next, but she was also trying to not clap her hands together with excitement.