It was three days before Christmas and I had been sent to the village on pony and trap to pick up the last of the supplies. My father was busy degoosing the turkeys and my mother was in the drawing room practicing her ju-jitsu.
The snow lay heavy on the ground as I prepared for my first solo journey. They said that I was a mere slip of a lad of sixteen but as I was still fifteen, you can imagine how much more of a slip I actually was. No matter my slippy levels, I was determined to do a good job. Off I set on my lone mission. Just me, the horse, the cart and a large canvas sack. All four of us were glad to round the corner at Bounders Bridge and we looked forward to warming ourselves by the fire of the nearest establishment. I say 'we', but it was really only me going in, and at a push, the bag. The others would stay outside and keep watch.
*neigh* (horse voice) 'but what are we keeping watch for?' I asked. Doing the voice of the horse helped me pass the time and keep my mind off the cold.
'Look, horses don't go shopping', I replied sternly.
*neigh* (horse voice) how do you know we can't. You've never even let me try.'
Lad:
I didn't say you can't. I said you don't.
Lad as horse:
*whinney* now we're into semantics. I've been saving up my pocket money all year. I'd love to go shopping. I brought you here didn't I. It would be extremely disappointing, after travelling all this way if you won't let me go in.
Lad:
Look! Ok! I'll see what I can do ok! But it's highly unorthodox. Wait, who's keeping watch with the cart then?
Lad as Horse:
The bags will do it.
Lad as bag:
)squeaky voice) no we won't. You promised us that we could go in before the horse ever kicked up a fuss.
Lad:
I can't leave the cart here by itself in the Main Street. I'll push it up towards the school and park it outside.
Fx struggling.
Lad:
Ugh my back!
Lad as horse:
Oh my God! What an idiot. I'd have done that for you no bother.
Lad:
Shut up!
Lad as horse:
No.
Lad: (intense)
Look, you're on very thin ice! One more step out of line-
Lad as horse:
Oh yeah. And what are you going to do? Huh? Huh? You want a piece of me?
Lad:
What the hell am I doing? I'm fighting myself as a horse, fighting myself as me and also being a bag. Must be brain freeze, plus my face is frozen ear to ear.
We reached the shop and strangely, the horse was let in without incident. The bags however were told to wait outside. We filled the bags quickly and headed back to the cart outside the school. A thick freezing fog had begun to descend and we were eager to get back home before dark.
We were shocked to see an old woman of about eighty running circles around the cart at an alarming rate.
Woman:
Oh you've done it now.
Lad:
*neigh* (horse voice) done what now?
I asked, briefly forgetting which voice was actually mine.
The woman stood in confusion before completing two more laps around the cart.
Woman:
You parked an empty cart outside the school. Some time ago there was a boy who, at Christmas, was left alone in the school. His father, being a cruel sort would park his empty cart outside the school to torment the boy. Without the horse attached he had no way of getting home.
Lad as horse:
Told you. You're not supposed to lift it yourself.
Woman:
That's right. And so the boy would stare out the window all over Christmas, longing to be at home enjoying the festivities. Now that you have done that same thing, you have awakened the spirit of that same boy.
Lad:
Did he die?
Woman:
Um, I suppose...I'm not rightly sure. Regardless, you have served a bitter reminder to him today. They say his ghost still roams the corridors of St. Spinnigans. Staring out the window at this time of year, hoping against hope to see a horse drawn carriage parked and waiting to take him home.
Lad:
If you don't know that he's even dead, how is he a ghost?
woman:
Oooou, they say he's haunted. The boy is haunted..by a ghost. The ghost is, um haunted, yes, haunted. He's a haunted ghost. You'll never get past Bounders Bridge, never!
And with that the woman spun into the fog, disappearing in a circular fashion.
We paid little heed to the old woman's ramblings, attached the horse to the cart and off we set.
Easing our way through the thick fog we reached the edge of the village, only to realise that we seemed to be at the opposite end of the town. Doubling back, then trebled back the other way and thought about quadrupling before we realised that we were hopelessly lost.
Lad:
We're going around in circles.
Lad as horse:
Just like the old woman.
Lad as bag:
I've got a compass in here somewhere.
Lad:
Great thinking bag...aha! Right, we know home is east.
Lad as horse:
What are we at now? Sextupleting back the other way.
Lad:
I don't think it's called sextuplet...we much be close to Bounders- woooahh!
That 'woah' was to signify the horse and cart was teetering on the edge of the embankment by Bounders Bridge. We could hear the rushing water below but in the fog we could see nothing. If there's one thing I hated it was teetering on the edge of something. No, give me flat open spaces any day. I tried in vein to free us from our plight, but the more I tried, the more we teetered. There couldn't have been much more teeter left before a fall would happen. I pulled, I dragged, I spoke to the horse, I spoke as the horse, but to no avail, he just couldn't get his footing. Maybe the old spinning lady was right, we never would make it past Bounders Bridge.
When we had just about abandoned all hope, a silhouette emerged from the misty haze. Not just a silhouette, it was also a person, a small person, it was a ten year old boy of about twelve.
Quick as a flash he slid under the cart taking the reins with him, bounced off a tree and toppled down the embankment never to be seen again...or so we thought. He rose up with an almighty surge bringing the horse and cart with him to safety.
Lad as horse:
Who are you that is so skilled in the art of rescue?
Boy:
I'm the boy from the school.
Lad:
So you're not a ghost then?
Boy:
I'm definitely not a ghost. Why would you think that?
Lad:
Well you certainly have some unearthly powers.
Boy:
Nah, I can promise you that all the powers I have are earthly ones.
The boy told us that his father did abandon him in the school every Christmas and that this year his father had gone a step further and ran away from home. He asked if my family would take him in but just as we reached the gate for home, the boy, he disappeared. The poor chap had fallen down the gap between the horse and the cart. I pulled him up and he seemed to be alright, just a bit dazed. My parents warmed to him straight away and that is how we took in the haunted ghost of St. Spinnigans.