Rattleyard by European P. Douglas

Author:European P. Douglas
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Tags: YA, Horror, Folk Tale
Publisher: European P. Douglas
Published: 2016-02-29T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 9

Crispin and Arthur stood in the unshaded sunlight at the football fields where Dick was going to meet them. It was hot out and only a slight breeze did anything to allay the suns assault. The fields and trees around glistened bright green in the daylight. It had passed the time when he was meant to meet them, but not by much. Where they stood offered a long view in all directions, and there was no sign of him in any of them so far.

“Do you think he’ll bail on us?” Crispin asked, squinting against the white reflected from the footpaths.

“He could. Maybe he is just buying time so he can get away from the house with all his stuff in case we tell Mom,” Arthur said.

“Do you think it was Rattleyard who caused the earthquake last week?”

“No, I don’t think so. There have been earthquakes here before, and it was only a very small one. I doubt anything the size of a man would be able to cause even a slight tremor.” Crispin nodded in agreement, but did he agree?

“Here he is,” Arthur said, and Crispin looked up and could see Dick coming across the football fields at an angle, his confident yet lackadaisical swagger singling him out. It seemed to take an age for him to get to where they were.

“Hi guys,” Dick called out when he was close enough, giving a wave as he did. They said hello back, and then they were standing as a trio looking at one another.

“Well boys, you’ve got yourselves involved in something haven’t you?” Dick said with a smile that was forced and made his face look quite unnatural.

“So what’s going on?” Arthur asked.

“How much did you read in my papers?” Dick asked.

“Enough to know that you knew our father, and there was no accident at Cripple Creek.” Arthur said. Dick nodded.

“This thing, Rattleyard, he is what happened at Cripple Creek.”

“What is it?” Crispin asked.

“We don’t know. There is a legend that when Indians settled on that land, they worshipped a metal God, and that legend was passed on to white settlers in the form of a monster that lived inside the mountains.” Dick smiled ruefully. “Who knew that such vague and wild stories could have turned out to be true?”

“He’s a God?” Crispin asked. He wasn’t following exactly what Dick was saying.

“The Indians thought he was a God, but he’s no God. He’s a killer.”

“Sounds like he was just protecting his home,” Arthur said. Dick shot a glance at him that was crystal cold and frightened Crispin a little.

“That may have been that case at Cripple Creek, but he has followed me for years since. He is here now killing again, and this is a long way from his ‘home’,” Dick said.

“He killed our dad didn’t he?” Crispin asked after a short silence.

“Yes he did, but your father was saving others when he died, me included.” Tears were in his eyes but didn’t fall.

“How did he save you?” Arthur asked.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.