The Raggedy Man's Revenge

Extracts from the Personal Diary of St John Cartwright-Fiennes

 

Tuesday 8th August (continued)

I agreed to join MI13. After all I seem to get roped in anyway. This way I will get paid. In fact Forbush gave me two hundred quid, which seems to be back pay or something of the sort. I don't yet have a good story to explain to Jules where the money came from. Jules and I travelled back to Avebury. On the way, I got a very strong impression that Jules knows more of what is going on than she is telling. However she didn't ask any questions and I wasn't going to raise the subject. Perhaps Barbara's hubby or kids know and told her something. On the other hand I am more inclined to think it is just Jules, she is at least a bit clairvoyant; it is strongest along ley-lines, but it is not totally absent elsewhere.

 

We got home at about 7pm. Belinda, Eliza and Adam turned up a bit later. They wanted me to go to Silbury, and of course now being on the staff so to speak, I had to. I told Jules that they are hiring me to do some paid dowsing. Given how skint we are, Jules clearly won't object to my going on paid work. Actually I will be paid a bit for it, but I can also use this to account for some of the two hundred quid. I left Jules twenty quid.

 

On the way to Silbury, they told me that there has been a warning of interference from Yuggoth. Yuggoth is a name for the planet Pluto, so this does not seem to make much sense.

 

We need to let the creature into the hill. If the plate is in place over the hole, then it won't be able to go in. Once the creature is in the shaft, there will be no way to get to the plate. So we have to get the plate out of the hole before the creature arrives and then get it down there again sharpish once it is in the hill. We had some discussion about the relative risk of raising the plate immediately (what if there is something else down there that can get out), and waiting until the creature is approaching (what if we don't spot it in time). In the end, we, or more precisely the person going to extract the plate, are more worried about the latter. Unless anyone else is volunteering the plate comes up at dusk.

 

We have ropes and a climbing harness so everything is rather safer than it was. It was Elisa who actually went down the ladder. She tied the rope onto the plate and then came up herself. (If the knots slipped and the plate drops it would be a lot better to be at the top of the shaft than the bottom.) She had trouble coming back up, but with the rope and harness we had no problem giving her the necessary help. I don't have much experience with this sort of ladder, but it seems to me that this one is a lot harder to climb than it should be. I think there is something draining your energy while you are in the hill. Then we pulled up the plate and we got to see what was inscribed on it. I recognise it. It is a Voorish sign. This is a sigil that reinforces black magic. It is not at all a good thing. We agreed that we need to consult headquarters on this one, but we found that the mobile phones aren't working. We would have to get to the pub in Beckhampton, which is where the nearest public land-line is.

 

Before we go, I noticed that there was an odd pattern of mist, rolling down Waden Hill on the other side of the Kennet. Belinda and I headed off to Beckhampton. We didn't actually go all the way, as the mobile started to work again on the outskirts. We stopped and Belinda phoned in. The call was pretty unsatisfactory. The guy we spoke to clearly isn't familiar with the situation and has out-of-date information. According to the files, we aren't supposed to touch Silbury Hill at all. The policy seems to be leave everything as it is. I suppose that it is possible that the creature is being held down there with some Black Magic and the Voorish sign is being used to reinforce the spell. We will just have to hope so.

 

On our return to the hill, we found that the mist is more obvious and is starting to fill the valley between Silbury and Waden hills. There is also a strange buzzing noise coming from it. Belinda, Adam and I went down to investigate. The mist was quite thick. However I reckoned that I could work out where the buzzing was coming from. I went to investigate.......

 

Wednesday 9th August

I woke up in hospital with Jules at my bed-side. Apparently I got knocked down by a car on the A4. I don't have a clue how I got there. I was not too badly hurt so I was allowed home at about lunch time. In the evening Belinda, Eliza and Adam turned up again. That is the last thing I remember.

 

Thursday 10th August

I woke in bed in the van, with Jules asking me all sorts of questions about what happened last night. I don't remember a thing, not a thing! Jules says that when the MI13 lot turned up, I started acting all strangely and talking about duty. I disappeared with them. When I got back around about dawn, my face was covered in blotches and blisters. They are fading quite quickly thanks to Jules' crystals. Jules understandably wants to know what I was up to and I don't have a clue. I had never had this sort of black-out before, but I have just had them two nights in a row. This is not good!