Sherlock Holmes and the Sussex Sea-Devils by James Lovegrove

Author:James Lovegrove [Lovegrove, James]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Titan
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

The Dead Brought Back to Life

A HEAD BROKE THE SURFACE. IT SLID SLEEKLY UP, a domed cranium, then a heavy brow ridge, then a pair of wide-set, bulbous eyes.

The creature paused, apparently taking the lie of the land. Behind it two similar heads emerged, likewise stopping when their eyes were above water.

The foremost of the trio, seemingly having established that the coast was clear, resumed its rise from the sea. Now a flat nose and a froggy mouth came into sight, along with a pair of fan-like structures, which flared back along its temples, somewhat resembling a bat’s ears but most likely the creature’s gills. Rounded shoulders, a profoundly humped back, and long arms tipped with webbed hands were next, until at last the thing stood on the foreshore wholly revealed, a hulking, slouching hybrid of human and amphibian. Water poured from its skin – a loathsomely glossy integument, dappled grey in the moonlight – while its chest rose and fell with slow heaviness, as though the creature was accustoming itself to extracting oxygen from air and this was a more arduous task than extracting it from water.

As the Sea-Devil’s two companions joined it on the beach, I could not suppress a shudder. I had met a fair few monstrosities in my time, but these three were amongst the most hideous. Perhaps it was because they exhibited so many manlike traits. Their similarities to our species made their differences from us all the more glaring and appalling. A snake man seemed a close cousin by comparison, altogether more sophisticated and less primordial. The Sea-Devils harked back to an epoch when life was just clawing its way out of the oceans, flopping in the liminal mud to bask in the sun.

“Now, Watson!” hissed Holmes, scrambling to his knees. “While they are still getting their bearings.”

“We are going to attack them?”

“Why ever not? We have weapons; they do not. And we have the element of surprise.”

So saying, my friend slithered down off the promontory and began pounding along the beach, gun drawn. I, with some bemusement and no little circumspection, followed suit.

It was not until Holmes was within twenty feet of them that the Sea-Devils noticed him coming. Almost in unison they halted mid-stride and swung in his direction.

Then, to my astonishment, almost in unison they pivoted round and started making for the sea.

“Halt right there!” Holmes commanded, and when the Sea-Devils did not comply he loosed off a bullet into the air. The gun report froze them in their tracks. “That’s it. The next shot will not be a warning. The jig is up. I have the measure of you, you rascals. Put your hands up now, nice and high.”

The Sea-Devils looked at one another in evident consternation.

“Hände hoch!” barked Holmes. “Schnell!”

Now the Sea-Devils’ hands rose, as did my eyebrows, for Holmes had just addressed the trio in German – and they had understood.

“Holmes,” I declared, catching up with him. “What in heaven’s name is going on? These three are… Germans?”

“Yes,” said he with a small smile of triumph.

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