There’s Something In The Hedgerow
Richard and Penny were finally on their way to retire to their home in Italy. A long awaited day. They had bought the old country house several years earlier and had since then been spending only their holidays there. Each time they left was harder than the first, especially as their neighbours had become their close friends.
After their last packed box had left the apartment to go onto the removal van, Richard and Penny took a last look around their rented apartment to make sure nothing had been forgotten. Handing in the keys at the reception desk, they said their good-byes and made their way to their car for the long drive to Italy.
“Thank God that this will be the last time that we have to do this long haul to Dover” said Richard.
Tiring as the journey was, the longest and the most weariest, was the one from Manchester down to Dover.
“If it wasn’t for that stupid channel crossing, we could be over in no time at all. Why couldn’t they have made the tunnel so that you could just drive through it.” Richard ranted.
I hope he is not going to be like this all the way, Penny thought. Today he should be the happiest man. Humph – some happy man.
The journey down to Dover, along with the ferry crossing to Calais, went like a dream. No delays and the traffic kept on moving.
After travelling for almost two days non-stop, except for short breaks for snacks and the use of the toilets and oh my goodness, some of these were diabolical. How on earth anyone could get a turd to balance on the edge of a toilet seat, well they had to be a magician.
On the last stop to fill up with petrol, they bought a daily paper. Although there was still a language barrier, because they didn't know a lot of Italian, but they knew enough. On the second page was a small news item, which told of several people who had gone missing over the last couple of months. The missing people had all been travelling along the autostrada towards the exit at Pedaso. Which just so happened to be their turn off point. The only items, which the police had been able to find so far, were small items of jewellery or pieces of clothing. Small things which had been caught on the many shrubs which grew along the roadside.
“Bloody hell, I hope you don’t want to stop for anything. If you do, tough, I’m carrying straight on” said Richard. “I want to have a few years of enjoyment before I disappear,” he carried on.
“What the devil could have got them. It’s always so quite down this way. Apart from the idiotic driver who thinks he can beep you out of the way” said Penny.
As they neared the turn off for Pedaso, they scanned the hedging along the road for any signs, of what they couldn’t say. They just craned their necks like all the tourists do.
But just as they passed by, a slight shiver ran down Penny’s spine.
The last leg of the journey passed by quickly. All the flowers were in full bloom, as they drove by all the houses leading up to Tavernelle. As it was a Sunday there was still a lot of movement on the road, as many people went about visiting their relations. Big family gatherings for lunch on a Sunday was something which still happened here.
“Doesn’t it feel good that we will now be staying here. Not just for a week or so, but always. Hey, have you noticed anything? No, well we have clear skies, no sign of clouds for a change. This has got to be a good omen.” Penny ventured to say. “Hope I haven’t opened my big trap too soon” she added.
“We’ll soon see, when we drop down the last lane and catch sight of our house. If we see clouds bubbling up, we will know that the rain will follow soon after.” Richard answered back.
Taking the last narrow road slowly, as this road always seemed narrower on the first day, they rounded the bend and saw their home. All was quiet, no visitors about. Most unusual. But this did give them a chance to check out their house before going in and turning on the lights. After a quick tour around each of the rooms, Richard then went and opened up the garage and turned on the water. All was well in there as well. So far so good. What bombshell was there lurking for them.
The next few weeks were hectic ones. They had to clear out of the old furniture, before they could start on repainting the whole house. A mammoth task, for where could everything that they wanted to keep go. In the end it was decided that the old stables would be cleaned out and that they would use that space. When they first bought the house and they had looked at the stables, they had the idea that this could have been made into a small bedsit. Maybe they could have rented the main house our for bed and breakfast and they would have slept in the stables. But no, far too much work would be involved, plus all the extra money that it would cost. So after brushing and scraping all of the walls, and a coat of white emulsion, it had transformed itself into a nice storage area. Having accomplished this, Richard and Penny started work on the main house. One room at a time. But all too soon they had finished it all off. All they had to do now was move a little more of the furniture and wait for a couple of more days for the rest of their belongings to arrive.
“Perhaps we might get a little beach time in before starting work when the removal van has been,” Penny said. “Oh I do feel excited, like a kid with a new toy.”
Indeed they did get to the beach. The weather stayed glorious all day long. Although on the first evening there was a little rain.
Furniture day arrived and the first of their problems began. Phone call after phone call and telling the removal men that they were trying to drive into the hamlet from the wrong direction and that if they did drive through the right way, then yes, their van would be able to get to us. In the end after lots of arguing, the men said that they would have to hire a smaller van and then bring our furniture to us in several trips. No way were we going to pay for the hire of the van, Penny told the manager. Just make sure that they get everything to us tomorrow, or there would be trouble.
A wasted day, hanging around doing nothing but argue. “They had bloody well get our stuff to us tomorrow, or they can stick it up their fat backsides,” Richard fumed. “Bloody well quick enough to take your money and the amount that this has cost us. If I had known there would have been this much farting about, I would have dumped it all back in Manchester and made do with what we had here already,” he added.
So 24hours later and the furniture van finally arrived with its first load. Meeting the driver and his mate for the first time, well just to look at them made up your mind straightaway. Neither of them seemed to have a brain between them. After four trips in the hire van they finally got it all unloaded. All that remained now was to put everything in place. How easy that sounded.
But with Richard and Penny it was more like Laurel and Hardy. Whichever end of a piece of furniture Richard said lift, Penny always got hold of the wrong one. Lots of sniggers and with shoulders shuddering in laughter, Penny couldn’t help herself, especially when Richard’s face remained so straight. But for now they said that they had done enough for one day. Tomorrow bright and early they would make a fresh start.
After working ceaselessly for the next few days, all the work was done. Sounds easy but it wasn't. “Thank heavens for that” Penny groaned. “I don’t think I could do anymore. My whole body aches from bending, lifting and shoving. It’s OK for you, you’re a man, big and strong, me I’m just a weakling.” She carried on.
“Cup of coffee sounds good to me” Richard smirked.
“OK then, lets drink it outside and have a well earned rest.”
Over their cups of coffee they discussed what they were going to do next. As usual top of the list was the beach, along with days of going to the shopping centre. One of the best things that they loved to do together was shop. Never had they gone home empty handed. They always found some bargain to pick up.
Life settled down to their own daily routines. Richard helped out with doing local odd jobs, anything from helping with the planting or picking of vegetables. Helping out with any repairs on houses. Richard had learnt a great deal over the last few years of owning their own old farmhouse. From replacing the roof tiles, fitting glass into windows and most of all plumbing. Their so called “beautiful bathroom”, describe in the sales blurb, was something else. Nearly all the pipes had had to be replaced from either having blown off the walls, or the rubber lining perishing. All that could be heard one night was “What the hell has happened now. Damned bathroom. I’m completely soaked. Don’t just stand there – do something” Richard bellowed.
As he ranted on, getting more purple in the face, Penny ran up and down the stairs getting cloths to mop up with and tools for him to fix the burst. All the while she tried to keep a straight face, but in the end she couldn’t. After more snorts of laughter and that included Richard, the situation eased and Richard calmed down and managed to do the repair without any more bouts of blasphemy.
With more time on Penny’s hands, she decided that she would try and start up her own collection of knitted baby clothes and toys. She knew that she would be able to ask one of her friends to put them in their shop, to see how well they sold. If they didn’t sell, well she could always try something else.
Richard had been in to town to pick up a few more tools and had brought back with him the daily paper. Something which they hadn’t bothered with for several weeks.
As they sat outside, enjoying the peace and quiet and drinking their coffees, Richard started to read the paper.
“Hey, remember the story which we read weeks ago about the people who had gone missing near Pedaso, well it seems that another one has gone missing. Lets see, it says here, latest victim is a young lady, who had recently passed her driving test and had decided to go for a short drive. Her car had run out of petrol, typical woman – Richard muttered, and there was no other sign of her. Richard read on, this in now the seventh disappearance and the police and local authorities and volunteers were no further in their investigations in finding out what was going on. A full list had also been released in the newspaper of everything, which so far had been found near to the site where these people had disappeared. Anyone who thought that they may recognise any of the items or who may know of some reason for these disappearances, should ring a local number to give their information to.”
“Bloody hell, this is like something you read about in a Stephen King novel.” Penny remarked. As avid Stephen King readers, anything ghoulish was right up their street, as the saying goes. “Gives me the heebie jeebies though. I hope we never have to stop anywhere near there,” continued Penny.
Later on that night when they went to bed, Richard clambered in beside her and started to creep across the bed sheet, making sucking noises and hanging out his tongue. “I’m the thing from the hedgerow and I am going to gobble you up – slurp slurp.” Richard murmured as he nuzzled against her neck.
“Oh God, stop it, you’re making me squirm. Stop slobbering you beast.” Pushing him away Penny dried her neck and turned to face him again. Later after they had made love, they both lay there awake. It was Penny who first spoke, “I wonder what the families of the missing people are going through. Lying here with only the sounds of the night animals, you can’t imagine anything like that happening around here.”
“I know what you are saying. We think it is ideal living in such a quiet place, but being so close to the sea, you never know if these people have been caught to be traded out. I’m sure this still goes on. As we have read that most of the missing people are females. Get paid more for them, as you can get more work out of them as well.” Said Richard
“Cheeky bugger,” said Penny, giving him a dig in the ribs. “Trust you to think of something like that. Any way, I’m going to try some shut eye, I’ll see you in the morning, love you, night night” Penny said.
Morning came around very quickly, a beautiful bright sunny morning. Pushing back the bed sheets, Penny tiptoed downstairs to put the coffee on. Opening up the shutters, she stood looking out over the hillside. Oh what a beautiful place, she thought, so quiet and tranquil. But also her thoughts crept back to the missing hedgerow people. Who or what could have got them, she pondered. All of them had been in cars, as no one walks along the autostrada, unless they had broken down. Other things like drinks or any sort of liquid were also mentioned as being gone. This was something which the newspapers had reported. Penny shrugged her shoulders as the percolator rasped out its last drop of water, which brought her back to getting the coffees poured. Penny carried the coffees upstairs, “wake up sleepy head,” Penny whispered as she gave Richard a nudge to wake him. “Coffee has arrived.”
“Don’t I know it,” he said, “with the racket you make in the kitchen, no one can stay asleep.” He stretched out and gave a long yawn, his mouth as wide as a tunnel. Sitting up he looked out of the bedroom window. “Oh great, just the kind of day I like. Spot of sunning myself as I finish off the repair on the garage roof. Any chance of giving me a hand with some of the tiles.” Richard gave that sweet smile of his.
“I’ll see, I have sill got the shawl to finish for Rosa, she needs it for Friday.”
Later on in the evening Penny received a call from her friend Louisa, who had a house down by the sea front, only a couple of hours drive away. After finishing the call she went outside to tell Richard. “Louisa was wondering if I could go and see her and perhaps stay for the weekend. She has been a bit down of late, since loosing her baby and was thinking to herself that she could do with a bit of company to cheer her up. I told her that I didn’t think you would mind, but I will ring her back later. I could go on Friday and be back later on Sunday. I know that you will be out most of Friday and possibly out shooting on Saturday morning. You don’t mind do you? Oh good. Love you lots you know.” Penny ran back indoors and made the arrangements to see Louisa on Friday about midday.
When Friday morning came, Richard got ready to go off to help out at a neighbours field, digging up the carrots. “Well drive carefully now and don’t go speeding.” Richard ducked as a playful punched was aimed at him. “Have a good time and give my love to Louisa. Tell her she must come and stay here one weekend. Love to get together with Pino again.” Richard kissed Penny on the cheek and gave her a quick pat on the bottom, whistling as he went.
Penny soon followed. She locked the house up and with her overnight bag in her hand, she went out to her car. Soon she was off down the road and with thoughts of what they could do for the afternoon, she soon found that she was nearing the tolls to get on to the autostrada. With another half hours drive, Penny soon took the turn off to get to Louisa’s. All the hedges surrounding Louisa’s house were still in bloom, their fragrance hung in the hot air. Penny was hopeless at remembering plant names, but they had large purple flowers, with a heady scent. Parking the car, Penny called out. “Ciao Louisa, caught you napping in the midday sun have I.” They hugged affectionately and Penny sat down under the sun umbrella. “It is so good to just sit in the shade. Driving has been so bad in the car. Is it far too noisy with the windows open, but far too hot when they are closed. Next time I’m going to get a car with air conditioning. Moan, moan, and here I am supposed to be cheering you up. Well what have you got planned for us to do this afternoon?” Penny leaned back in her chair and took a long drink from the cool fresh orange juice which had just been handed to her.
Louisa replied “I though that we could go the new store which has recently opened up nearby. They have some wonderful paintings. Then maybe we could go to the ice cream bar, I know how much you enjoy ice creams. When we return, I have already prepared a meal and I thought we could just put our feet up and have a long chat, pure nonsense, but something to make me laugh. Pino has been away for two weeks now and still has another two weeks to go before he gets back. It is the biggest time of the year for him. Getting everything ready for the annual Fieri in Milan for next seasons hotel requirements. Hopefully we can then book a holiday and maybe get out to see you for a weekend, to see how your house looks now after all your work which you have done. How is Richard?”
“Oh he’s fine. Loving every minute of his early retirement. But keeping busy as well. You do know that he has taken up doing any sort of odd jobs for anyone,” Penny replied.
“No I didn’t. But I can imagine him doing it though. It was something he always said that he wanted to do. I remember one night when you were staying with us, the lights all went out and all you could hear from Pino and Richard was, bugger me, what do you do with that and Richard replying, put it in the slot and screw it up tight. You and I were in fits of laughter, doubled up when they finally came out of the cupboard. At first they didn’t know what we were laughing at until we told them. That was a great night.”
After several hours of shopping Louisa drove them the short distance back to her home. Unpacking the car with all the gifts which they had bought, they then set to in finishing the preparations for the evening meal together. Louisa laid the table out for their meal, then they sat down and ate in silence for some time. A cool evening breeze blew through the open patio doors. Lightly moving the fine white gossamer curtains. “I think that this has been the most enjoyable day that I have had for a long time. It has been like having a breath of fresh air with you being here today. I have not had any time to sit thinking about what could have been, if only my baby had lived. Thank you so much for today.” Louisa leaned forward and gently grasped Penny’s hand.
“I am only too glad that I have been able to take your mind off things for a little while. They do say that with time the pain does ease. You are still very young and I know that it is little consolation at this time, but there will be other children that you and Pino will have one day,” Penny said.
They sat in comfortable silence for quite some time. Both of them thinking back to the times gone by. The silence was finally broken by Penny who yawned long and loud. “I think it is well past my bedtime. I have always been one for going to bed early and just look at the time, well past midnight, it is extremely late for me.” She leaned over to Louisa and gave her a sisterly kiss on the cheek and bid her goodnight.
Penny woke up and could hear the sea gently sending in its waves on to the beach. She was looking forward to having a lazy day on the beach, soaking up some of the sunshine, which had continued all through the month of September. Now as October was nearing, the cooler weather would be arriving, but the weather was never anything like it was back in England. She dressed ready to go to the beach and made her way to the cosy kitchen where Louisa was already sat, sipping a cup of morning coffee. “Good morning to you, I hope you had a good sleep. I went straight off for a change. It must have been the wine which made me go to sleep so quickly. Please help yourself to coffee and juice, and there are fresh rolls in the bread basket.” Louisa said.
“It is good to see you so cheerful. I hope you are looking forward to having a lazy day on the beach today. The sky is so clear and blue, and listening to the waves when I woke, has also made me look forward to having a quick dip in the water as well. I do love going to the beach and when I think of the days that I had to spend sitting at a reception desk all day long.” Penny gave a sigh of relief.
The rest of the day and evening went by very quickly. But by the look on Louisa’s face, it showed that some of her anxieties had been laid to rest, for the time being anyway. Sunday morning came around and Penny made ready to take her leave to go back to Richard and her home. Penny picked up her small suitcase and placed it in the boot and turning to Louisa she said, “I have had a wonderful time. I hope that you can get out to see us soon. The grapes will be ready for picking shortly, perhaps you can come up for that. We are going to have a go and make our own wine. Goodness knows what it will turn out like. But with Gino’s help, it should be OK. Thinking of Richard, poor man has been left all on his own for the last couple of days. You never know what he can get up to. I just hope that Gino hasn’t been tempting him with the wine jug. When they get together, well all I can say is that there have been times when he has had to be carried back home.” They both laughed at the thought of Richard being carried home. With Richard being well over six foot tall, the image of their two friends, who were only small, carrying the large frame of Richard, it did conjure up a funny vision. “Please do not leave it too long before you get in touch.” Penny added.
After lots of good-byes Penny set off for the journey back home. She filled the car up with petrol just before she got on to the autostrada. With thoughts of the painting which she had bought for Richard, she hadn’t realised how quickly she had reached the sign for Pedaso. The road was very quiet, even for Sunday morning. The car gave a slight shudder, then another one. Glancing at the controls, Penny was struck wondering of what was wrong with the car. It wasn’t getting overheated and the petrol level was two thirds full. She was still pondering over this, when the car gave a final shudder and practically stopped in the lane that she was driving in. Managing to get the car on to the hard shoulder, where it came to a standstill. She tried turning the key in the ignition again, but all that she got from it was a rattle. Penny opened the car door and went round to the boot to get her handbag and to get her mobile phone. She was still thinking that the traffic on the road was quiet, when all of a sudden she caught a glimpse of something slithering up from the undergrowth along the verge. As it neared her it split into many long thin strips, of what looked like string. Still puzzled about what was happening, Penny reached into her bag and took out her phone. As quick as a flash the long stringy things sprang forwards. Each of the strands driving their way forwards to their own position along the car. Penny gave a little squeal of surprise and made to run away from the one, which appeared to be making its way towards her. But she was too slow to get out of its way. With rapid speed it quickly wrapped itself around her ankle, making her fall forwards, and landing on her hands and knees. She gave out another squeal of surprise that such a thin looking thing could be so strong.
As she sat there, she could hear a faint sucking noise, rather like an elderly lady having to sip through a straw that she wasn’t used to doing. The thin strands of string started to grow, as if they were gaining weight. It then dawned on her that these things were slowly draining the fluids from the car. Realising this, she then understood what was happening. This was the something from the hedgerow. As if sensing that she was beginning to understand what was going on, the strand coiled around her leg tightened its grip and started to drag her forwards. The other strands started to come away from the car and attached themselves to Penny, helping the first strand to pull her into the verge. Screaming and trying to grab hold of anything which came to hand to try and stop herself from being dragged forwards. The strands far outnumbered her in strength. With each tug she was pulled further and further into the hedgerow. Managing to lift her head upwards to look in the direction she was being pulled, she saw that the strand had started to join itself up to being one thick strand again. It appeared to be coming from a long slit at the base of one of the hedges. Both of her ankles had a couple of strands attached to them and as her feet approached the narrow slit, the slit opened up more to allow her to go through without scraping at her.
Slowly she saw her legs, then her lower body being enveloped by the black slit. She was still screaming as she was finally pulled through and she was put into complete darkness. With her hands still free, Penny felt around her surroundings, trying to make out what sort of hole or burrow she was still being pulled down into. Raising her hands palm upwards, she felt along the roof. Feeling nothing but a smooth surface, she brought her hands down to the sides and then onto the floor. All of which felt the same. Even and smooth. This wasn’t some animal burrow she was in. It felt more like man made. There were other things that she started began to notice, the air she was breathing was clean, like being in an air-conditioned room. Also the silence, even though she was still being pulled along, there was a stillness to the atmosphere.
When after an indeterminate length of time, Penny realised that she was no longer being pulled along. Sitting up she started to feel at her ankles, nothing was there. All the time that she had been being dragged along, she had been in total darkness. Now that she had stopped she tried to focus her eyes, but there was nothing at all to be seen. Starting to panic again, Penny slowly raised herself onto her hands and knees and began to explore her surroundings. The room, for a better word, was not high enough for her to stand, but by kneeling up she could stretch her back. She shuffled around the room and felt three solid walls, but the fourth one, was something she couldn’t make out. When she put her hand on it, there was a resistance to it. Like when you press a balloon, your finger goes so far, but then won’t go any further.
Completely mystified and very scared, Penny moved backwards and sat down resting herself against the wall. As she sat there, wondering all the while what was going to happen next, she saw a faint pinprick of light coming towards her very slowly. As it neared her, the light began to grow, lighting up the whole area. As it grew lighter in her room, she was able to see that the walls seemed to be made of some kind of ceramic tile, all one piece, very shiny and slightly warm to the touch.
Finally the beam of light stopped maybe a metre away from her. It then took on the shape of an orb, and as it did so, it started to waver in front of her, as if it was making a search of her. A piece of the orb broke away and attached itself to the wall to her right, the rest of the orb quickly sped away the way that it had come. The piece which was left on the wall, still light up her room, enabling her to watch the doorway.
Penny had no idea of how to escape. She sat there alone and frightened. It was only when she started to cry and needed a tissue to wipe her tears, that she realised that she still had her handbag. She had put this over her shoulder and head when she had first opened up the boot on her car. She was overjoyed that she had been able to keep something from the outside with her, that she stopped thinking about her tears, which has now dried on her cheeks. She looked at the bit of orb attached to the wall, wondered to herself if it was still watching her. Taking no chances, she turned her back on it and crouching over her bag she started to look through it to see what, if anything that she could possibly use to try and get her out.
The only thing that was of any use, but she was pretty sure that it would probably not work with her surroundings, was her mobile phone. She was too afraid to try it for the time being and returned it to her handbag. Not wanting to be apart from her handbag, Penny kept it across her shoulders.
Looking at her wristwatch, she saw that the time was almost 2 o’clock. By now Richard would be wondering where she was. She had rung home before she had left Louisa’s to say that she was on her way. That had been at 10 o’clock. She was now nearly two hours late in returning home. As she was thinking of Richard, she didn’t notice the stringy thing pushing a tray towards her. Startled, she pushed herself backwards until she couldn’t go any further. The tray stopped at her feet and the string slid away.
After several moments looking at the tray, Penny reached towards it. There was a glass with some white liquid in it and a plate of what looked like biscuits. She carefully dipped her index finger into the liquid and with a drop hanging from the finger she slowly brought this to her nose, there was no smell attached to it, so she thought, well here goes lets have a taste. Very gingerly she put the small drop on her tongue. She was so relieved after tasting it to find that the liquid was milk. Surely then whoever had brought her here had to be human. But why? Penny settled back against the wall and slowly sipped at the milk. Her thoughts once again went back to Richard.
Back at home Richard looked at his watch for the umpteenth time. Where the bloody hell could she be. He decided to give Louisa a ring to see if Penny had delayed coming back for some reason. Even though he had spoken to her earlier that morning.
“Hi Louisa, is everything OK, only Penny hasn’t got back home yet and I was wondering if she had left later than planned?” Richard tried not to sound too worried.
“Penny left soon after she spoke to you. She didn’t say that she would be stopping off anywhere,” replied Penny.
“I’ve tried her mobile, but I don’t seem to be able to pick up a signal. But knowing her, everything will be locked in the car boot. Some things are hard to stop doing if you have lived in main busy town, with loads of villains about. Well if she does ring you, can you please tell her to get in touch with me. I don’t want to start a search party for her yet, especially it being a Sunday, everybody is out visiting their relatives!” laughed Richard.
After saying good-bye, Richard sat outside, taking in the peace and quiet of the early Sunday afternoon. Gino and Palma had been taken out for an unexpected meal by their son Roberto. Richard had been working on the back of the house since returning from the morning shoot. He was now feeling a little tired and all too soon his eyes closed and he drifted off to sleep.
A short while later he woke up and glanced about wondering where he was. Still half asleep, he went back indoors, stretching as he went, as he had been sitting on the garden bench and had aches and pains all over him. Once inside he looked up at the kitchen clock, the time now read 4.10p