Fisher And The Bears Read online

  “Hang on.” Dad squinted. “Did I see you at the house the other night?”

  “You cleaned up the paw prints they left on the ceiling?” Mrs Sussex added.

  Doreen nodded. They looked at me. I roughly explained what had happened in the Other World. At the same time Doreen took a sip of water to see if she could in fact eat. It worked so she stared in some confusion at the menu. Ted confidently ordered mild but flavourful dishes for her and tried to explain what a mango was like.

  “So she is haunting you?” Dad asked. “Do we know much about her?”

  “Not much.” Doreen looked ashamed.

  “That she saved me.” I said.

  “I don't remember much. I was in the camera so long reliving the same moments I don't know if there is anything of the old me left.” She looked at Dad. “And if I betray your trust, the bears and your son will exorcise me.”

  “I will do it myself.” He warned. His face softened. “But for now you are very welcome. I thank you for bringing my Fisher back to me.”

  “So what was the thing that came for you?” Mrs Sussex asked. “Any idea?”

  Dad shrugged.

  “I'll look into it.” I said. “You know how trouble these things can be if they get curious.”

  “Oh my!” Doreen slammed her palm into the table. She was holding a fork full of my Sunrise Chicken and her eyes were wide. “My mouth is on fire!” She said. I hurried to pass her a sip of my light beer. She took the whole pint in one. “That is amazing! May I?”

  I nodded and she took my plate from me and started to find ever deeper levels of fascination in the exotic menu.

  “This is good!” She said , copying Tiger to dab at it with a naan. “Is there more?”

  “I believe we can find such a thing.” Ginger suggested, opening a menu. “How about a real challenge?”

  *

  It was a good night. It felt good to take my mind off the job for a while. But it took a lot out of Doreen to be noticed. On the way home she slipped from view in a way nobody noticed, until only I could see her, then she slipped a little further until I could only see her in reflections. Her presence was strong enough for her to help me herd the bears to their beds with teeth clean and washes. Then I think she stayed with some of them as I could not feel her near me as I carried the hoppers full of laundry down to the basement and set them to wash and dry overnight.

  I double checked all the locks and windows before I stopped in the study to borrow my battered paperback of the Celestinomicom. I took a long shower to soothe my bruises and bring some life to my muscles, then I lay on my bed with the book and flicked through looking for something that have been the creature who had sent me such scorn in the Other World.

  Nothing jumped out at me. I could feel her on the other side of the walls. Enjoying the novelty of being able to sit on a bed in the room rather than just being an echo of emotions and shapeless thought in the room. I left her to it and sat in bed with the book. Still I could see nothing that might describe the rusting knight with the stone wings.

  My eyes closed. I turned off the light and exhaustion let me drift easily into sleep.

  The Knight was waiting for me.

  I dreamt I was in the Azrael Church on the cliff top, kneeling in the aisle, midway between the pair of stained glass windows. He was a shadow on the wall, a living slither of darkness that crept across every surface. Wherever his shadow fell the paint turned rotten and the stone crumbled to dust. The wood of the pews decayed and the tiles aged into motes of sand that drifted away on a sudden cold breeze. Then as I span on my heels and tried to avoid the touch I realised I had no defence against the shadow. It fell on me. I felt my skin shrivel with age and my bones creak. Liver spots swallowed me, and my strength faded as I became an invalid. My hair turned white and tumbled away.

  The church was filled with a laughter that was like nothing a human mouth could form.

  I awoke to find I was laying on my bed. At first I could not see Doreen, but I could feel the whisper of her presence in the room.

  “It is fine. Just a bad dream.” I said. “I'm fine.”

  She sat beside me. Her fingers lay on my chest.

  “I know.” She did not move. “You are fine.” She looked at me. “I am sorry I kissed you.” She said, making the words seem laden with serious meaning. “I can't promise it wont happen again.”

  “It's fine. Just a peck. Barely a kiss. A friendly gesture. I appreciate it.”

  “Not a kiss?” She said the words slowly.

  “Sorry. That was not an insult. I just mean it didn't cross a line you are worried about.”

  She laughed.

  “I am making a mess of this.” I said.

  “I know you are trying to be kind.” She said. “But, if at some point I wanted to do a proper kiss. The kind that makes the blood boil and the body turn to warm jelly under the tender touch of a dedicated lover. That makes the breath quick and shallow and opens your body to each other. What would I do differently?”

  “You really liked that book?” I asked. She nodded.

  “A retelling suitable for young women mind. I wonder if some details were edited.” She sighed.

  “Maybe. But I think that kind of kiss is more than just the touching of lips. It isn't something I ever thought about before. It just kind of happened when I happened to find somebody it felt right with. Which was pretty rare.” I smiled. “When you find somebody, and you know it is right, and you know you are both ready, you will know the difference. It will kind of happen.”

  “And then?” She asked. “The other passions?”

  “Those you might have to find out about in your own good time.” I said. “Ask me again when we know a little more about each other.”

  She giggled, nodded and lay on the bed.

  “Or you could use the computing machine?” She said, pointing to my lap top.

  “Maybe not a good idea.” I said. “The world has moved on a little since your day.”

  She laughed a little. “I think it has.”

  “I'm sorry.” I said. “I just...”

  “You care for me.” She said. “You are afraid of hurting me.” She had a smile on her face that drove away the shadows. “Like you hurt another?”

  I nodded.

  “She is happy?”

  I nodded again.

  “Sleep.” She faded away and her voice echoed. I could feel her watching me until I drifted off once more.

  *

  I was woken by the feel of somebody climbing onto the other side of my bed.

  “Good morning.” I said with out opening my eyes. “Did you think any more about kissing?”

  “Aw. He must be dreaming.” Tiger whispered. “I can wake him.” A paw slapped me across the cheek. “Wake up pervert.”

  “No.” I said trying to hide under the quilt. “And learn some boundaries.”

  “Wake up!” Tiger shouted. A glass of water crashed over my face. “Now.”

  “Why?” I mumbled.

  “I think I found your angel.” She hissed. “On the news. And we really really REALLY need to stop him. Before somebody else dies.”

  “Somebody else?” I asked. All traces of sleep vanquished from me.

  “People died.” She whispered. “A lot of people.”

  I jumped out of bed and wrestled my way into some clothes as I scrambled down the stairs. The bears were watching a rolling news station is silence. Staring at images of a small village maybe six or seven miles from town. From anywhere. Little more than a hamlet. There was a green, a pub, a post office and a few scattered houses. On the screen there were a lot of dead bodies and a number of confused looking first responders. A lone figure stood on the green. Though it did not look green any more. The grass was as dead as the still forms that covered the street, the dirt baked hard and cracked. The gardens of the houses were as dead. The pond was filled with fish and birds that floated on the surface. The footage was from a helicopter above the scene.

&n
bsp; Armed Police had surrounded the village, but it looked like they knew not to approach the Knight. Every now and then a bird fell from the sky, or one of the ancient oaks collapsed under the weight of its rotten trunk.

  “Is that what saw you?” Tiger whispered.

  “Yes.” I said. “I think it came through to kill me. I need to face it so it is satisfied and goes home.” I looked at her. “I think.”

  “You think wrong.” Tiger responded. “HaMahhit is not here to kill you. He has been looking for a way out of the Other World for a very long time.”

  “You know him?” I asked, trying not to sound surprised.

  “All bears know him.” Ted said from the corridor. “He is the Eleventh Plague, the Angel of All Destruction, Death Untold. He is the thing that children hear under their beds at night, breathing on their neck to remind them of mortality.”

  “He is the eater of souls, killing the body in this world not to be reborn There.” Ginger whispered.

  “He goes bump in the night, he seeds disease, he poisons the well.” Mac hissed the words.

  “He puts shadows in your heart and makes you blame the Other, the Unlike, the Different. He fans the flames of hatred so you are too busy fighting among yourselves to fight back.” Ember whispered from deep inside the hood of her sweatshirt.

  “And he leaves the toilet seat up?” I asked.

  “Worse.” Tiger said. “He ends worlds.”

  “Then I best go stop him.” I said with a grin that fooled nobody. “He is a spirit. He can be exorcised.” I said.

  “No.” Ted shook his head. “He can't. He isn't just a spirit. He is a fragment of a god. He is Judgement.”

  “Judgement.” I said.

  “The best we can hope for is that he chooses a champion of this world to duel in single combat. Otherwise he might just decide to end the whole world.” Ted said. “Every bear knows this.”

  “And why does he do this?” Doreen was there in a blink. Holding my hand.

  “Because floods got too costly?” Ginger suggested.

  “And I suppose that he is not easy to fight?”

  They shook their head.

  “So if I trapped him in the Other World, would that do the trick?”

  “But he can't be banished there.” Tiger said slowly. Making sure I understood.

  “No.” I agreed. “But he made his way here. He can go back. The trouble will be with convincing him.”

  “No.” Doreen grasped my hand. “That is a very stupid plan.”

  “But will it work?” I asked. “He came back with us. Through my circle. I let him out. I have to try and make this right.”

  “It will work.” Dad was running up the stairs to join us. “But he wont just walk into a magic circle. And there is only one way to slip through where the circle was. It's too dangerous.”

  “But it will work?” I asked.

  “There has to be another way.” Doreen whispered. “Please.”

  “It's going to be fine.” I said quietly. “I wont leave you for long. I know exactly what I am doing.”

  I am not very good at telling lies. But I sold that for all it was worth.

  “Relax lass,” Dad smiled, “it isn't like he will be alone.”

  “No Bears!” I shouted as I walked down the stairs. I was followed by thudding footsteps. The dainty patter of paws. “Really no bears!” I said. Which exactly as much as effect as you would expect. They beat me to the van. They were all armed. Ginger had even made himself some armour.

  I drove towards the village. I didn't get all the way there. HaMahhit was waiting for us on the dual carriageway, untold dead in his wake. Thankfully the Police were well practised in effecting blocks to keep the public away from danger now. The road was empty in both directions. The junctions crowded with those blocked by police vehicles. The plants on the embankment were dead. There was a sporadic rain of dead birds, insects and other critters. I opened the van and stepped out.

  “Doreen.” I said gently. “Keep as far away from me as you can. Please.”

  I felt her distinct presence fade. It popped back and she stood nose to nose with me. She put her lips on mine. Sod it. I was going to die. Don't judge me. I kissed her back. Touching lips became more with very little action from either of us.

  “Oh.” She said as she faded away again. “I see.”

  “Does she know what you plan?” Ted asked. “Does she understand?”

  “She wont pass over with me.” I said. “If I can help it.” I looked down the road. The Knight was still looming. There were a few cars abandoned on the road. I convinced myself the drivers and the families had fled. “So you guys hang back for support. I have to do this alone.”

  “Sure.” Ginger said, with the approval of his fellows. “We will.” Click. Click. Woof.

  I walked towards the Knight, with no weapons, no armour. Just a board game and a crazy plan.

  “I challenge you.” I shouted. “As the champion of this world. I choose this as our battlefield.”

  I held up the board game.

  The Knight drew his sword.

  “Oh.” I said. “Wait. Listen.” I glanced around. The bears, keeping their distance, were forming a circle around us, each carrying a pair of kilogram bags of salt. Ready to make a magic circle. “You want a champion to combat? To show their worth? Well, murder is not a measure of worth. If you were created by any god worthy of my faith you will know that murder solves nothing. A game of skill, wits, and tactics will serve you better. See?” I held the box up. “Please?”

  He swung the sword. I stepped aside and it slashed past where I had been standing.

  “Oh?” I took all my fear, all my nervous energy, everything that was turning my blood to ice and I turned it into anger. “So you have power, but you don't have a mind? Is this truly what you want? How many have you killed today? Do you even recognise what that means? Do you shed them a single thought?” I had to move quickly again, as the blade slashed close to my ear. “Give me a reason to think you have a mind. That you are a living being worthy of mercy. Give me a reason to believe your life is worth saving.” The sword tried to stab me. I sacrificed the game to deflect it. The board shrivelled and turned to dust. “I tried to do this another way.” I said to the looming Angel.

  I had explained my plan to the bears. They had simulated it with the board game. Doreen and Mrs Sussex had watched with grim fascination as they took out their blackboard and they worked through my idea and turned it into a strategy. Ted had carefully chosen his cards and played them one at a time, as Ginger explained what I intended for each step.

  “Gambit Front: Reassign all forces in one territory to a new terrain type of your choosing.” Ted said as he dropped the first card.

  I looked past the Angel Of Death to the circle of bears holding paws and humming together. This was how they turned the circle to more than just bags of salt. To a middle ground between Here and There. The Angel tilted his head and flexed his wings.

  The Bears turned their hum into a chant. A spell. It worked the same way as my Rites, but it sounded a lot more like David Bowie. They were singing a banishment chant, that unbound a soul from a body and cast it out to the Other World.

  The Angel laughed. He lifted his sword right back behind his head.

  “They aren't chanting for you.” I said coldly. “If you want to fight me. Come find me.”

  The Bears hit the high note and I was torn from this world. I was faintly aware of my body falling to the floor, dead.

  I hit a wall of air.

  Then I was in the Other World, the same corner of it where I had first found the Angel. Where the Kitten was endlessly driving. I stood on the moss and the heather of the moor and I waited. The plan was not working. So I screamed a name to the heavens.

  “Prince Sylas!” I spat the words with contempt.

  Ted had laid the second card down on the table with a particularly devious grin. The other bears had made a suitable ooh sound.

  “Misinf
ormation.” He had explained. “On playing this card do not direct an enemy directly. Instead a playing piece on an adjacent territory enters combat against the target.”

  “What are you doing King Fisher?” The voice belonged to a tall and pompous figure, dressed in a rich blue suit that may have been silk, or may have been woven pearl. A Prince of the Elfin, with blonde hair in a tight perm and a powerful build. His face was almost entirely sneer. “When did your duty to my Father become the freedom to hop between worlds at will?”

  Sylas. Looking exactly as he had in the memories that had flashed to me when I touched the Kitten. The Prince of the Other World whose grubby little fingerprints and sinister sense of humour had been all over the magic of the car.

  “I have been returning your lost toys Sire.” I bowed to him. “First a car that was meant to be forever roaming your forest after foolishly causing you harm.”

  “The wretched mortal ran me down! Me!” Sylas spat the words.

  “And an Angel of Death that was on your Moor.” I said.

  “Well him you can keep. Or kill.” Sylas waved a hand. He narrowed his eyes. “You are luring him back here aren't you?”

  “I believed he was your lost property Sire. Possibly escaped when I passed through your land.” I explained. “I thought returning him would be the only way to show respect.”

  “Not escaped. Not lost.” Sylas corrected me. “Stolen. Somebody stole the car. Then when you returned it they released the Angel. My Angel.”

  “As you say Sire.” I knelt. Behind me I heard the popping of air being displaced as the Angel entered this realm. “But now returned.”

  The Angel let out a battle cry as it hefted its sword anew and ran at us. Sylas held out a hand and scowled. Brambles and hawthorn burst from the ground to tangle the feet of the Knight.

  “Be still little weapon.” Sylas approached the Knight with a frown on his face. “You are returned to me. So remember I own you.” He clicked his fingers. I could see no change in the Angel but it dropped the sword and clawed at its head, trying to reach some deep inner pain.

  “What is that Sire?” I asked quietly.

  “Every harm he has ever caused others. He is reliving them.” Sylas walked past me, almost pushing me aside as a huge grin crossed his lips. He put his face against the visor. “Do you think you can fight my will little Weapon?”