Summer

June arrived in a blaze of glorious sunshine.

Aunt Kate had come running back on the evening I stole the keys; in a tizzy, she dived under the couch while exclaiming she'd lost some change that was in her pocket. I gave the performance of my life, and she left frustrated but sure of my innocence; which she shattered somewhat that evening by exposing herself as a blatant liar.

The keys remained hidden in a shallow grave next to our mossy stump, ready to unlock Neegan Farm when the time was right. Meanwhile, Gavin and I skipped home from school in sweltering heat, a whole six weeks of freedom from school ahead of us. Bliss.

One bright sun shiny morning while I was getting ready to meet Gavin in the woods, Mum asked me out of the blue, "Why don't you have any friends?" I was surprised by the question and replied with, "But I do Mum, Gavin's my friend." Her reply was laced with concern. "I mean girlfriends. Girls your age should mix with other girls. A boy and girl of your ages, spending so much time together, it doesn't feel right." I became irritated and raised my voice a little, "But there's nothing wrong with it Mum. What's wrong with two teenagers getting on well together? I just don't understand Mum. Why do you have a problem with me and Gavin, always keeping your eye on us?" I began to cry tears of frustration. Gavin and I were meeting daily at the mossy stump in secret and I just couldn't grasp why my Mother seemed to be discouraging our friendship.

Mum changed her tone when she saw my tears. She sat me down on the couch, wiped my face, and said, "I'm sorry darling. You're right, there is nothing wrong with it at all. It's only good company, and God knows, you need company of your own age."

Mum gave our friendship her blessing.

......

Gavin and I almost collided as we ran excitedly towards each other. I got in first with, "Gavin, Mum's Ok with us being together now..." He interrupted me abruptly, "Pickle, this is much more important, we're going in now. I've been spying all morning and the Neegan brothers have just left on their tractor; the old woman's in the piggery." He said this while hurriedly digging at the ground.

Gavin retrieved the keys to Neegan Farm and wiped them clean, "Go get the balaclavas, we're ready to rumble."

Gavin took my hand and we ran through the sun-dappled woods, both aware that this was it. I had an inherent feeling that our lives were about to change, our childhood about to come to some kind of an abrupt end.

We went straight in, via the front door. I took off my balaclava and scanned the front hall of Neegan farm. It was all ours, we were free to explore and discover.

It was a grand house indeed and as clean as a new pin. We entered the large drawing room first and walked around it, observing its grandeur with awe. I was struck by a large framed photograph of a couple on their wedding day; they looked like movie stars, "This must be their parents, they were killed. Gosh, they were beautiful." I said to Gavin. "Is this the geyser that killed himself?" he asked, bringing over a small-framed photo.

I stared at the picture. The young, fresh faced Charlie Neegan: smiling, tall and proud, dressed in black robes and holding a rolled up piece of paper in both hands. As I looked at this handsome young man, the image of his self-slain corpse lying grotesquely in blood reddened snow returned to my head, causing me to drop the framed picture. The glass shattered into thousands of tiny fragments, glistening like dusty diamonds on the dark wooden floor.

I looked at the broken image and instinctively said out loud, "You killed yourself for a reason, didn't you Charlie?" Half hoping for someone to give me an answer.

......

The first key Gavin put into the lock of the old lady's room didn't yield. He put the second key in and as he turned it we heard the loud click of the lock giving way. We gave each other a reassuring look, before Gavin opened the door, slowly, to lessen its aged creak.

We flinched at the smell: a musty, sour, rotten odour, lingered in the air. However, It didn't overwhelm enough to prevent us from entering, but made us instinctively cover our mouths and noses.

Heavy curtains cloaked the room in bleak, blinding shadows, and we fumbled in the dark, until our eyes became accustomed to the lack of light.

Gavin approached a curtain and pulled it open. A great cloud of pluming dust mingled with flooding sunlight, their combination momentarily blinding us.

With the dust settled, I looked around.

I was standing in the middle of Cecilia Noonan's bedroom, my Mother's childhood friend.

Her large, neatly made double bed was in the corner to my right. I had grown accustomed to the smell and my sense of sight was on full alert, taking in the orderliness of it all.

A small, hand woven basket lay on a stool beside the bed. I walked towards it. Although I was aware of Gavin's presences, I still felt strangely alone, and fearful.

"Oh, sweet Jesus!" I said it out loud, but with control.

"Sweet holy Jesus, Gavin - come here and look at this"

We both peered into the basket and stared at a creature the likes of which we had never seen before.

It lay swaddled beneath a beautifully embroidered white blanket. A woollen bonnet framed a tiny, grotesquely shrivelled face, brown and withered like a miniature, ragged old man.

"What is it Gavin, is it alive?" His finger stretched towards it, I grabbed his hand and exclaimed. "NO! Don't touch it Gavin, please don't touch it!" Its alien nature scared me and I began to grow uneasy, verging on panic.

Gavin put his arm around me and I welcomed the sudden security of his embrace.

"Oh my God Pickle - look!" My head followed the direction of Gavin's outstretched arm. On the dresser, at the foot of the bed, was a neat row of similar baskets. Gavin pointed to them, "Whatever they are, there's three more of em."

But we didn't have time to look, because an ear-shattering scream sliced through the house like an urgent, angry siren.

The screams were as inhuman as the creatures in the room.

Instinctively, I knew it was her - Cecelia.

She kicked and banged at the front door while emitting: pained, guttural, animal like yelps. Her terrifying howls were interspersed with desperate pleading - "My babies, my babies, don't touch my babies!"

I ran into the hall just as a large rock flew through the front window, sending shards of glass flying through the air. I darted back into her room. Gavin grabbed one of the baskets and tucked it under his arm, "Come on Pickle, we're getting out of here."

We were numb and unthinking, oblivious to what was happening around us.

My mind tried to make sense of Cecelia's chaotic chants. Babies? She was calling the things, babies?

We ran into the hall and I abruptly stopped. Gavin pulled me hard, shouting, "We've got to go, come on Pickle!"

The sound of my shout surprised me - "NO! We have to help her!"

Her hands dug at the glass, as she flung big, bloodied fragments behind her. Gavin and I stood, staring, rooted in shock and awe.

We watched as she drew her head back, paused for a second, then launched it at the last un-broken pane of window. Her face crashed through the glass, emerging remarkable unscathed.

She pulled herself through the exposed windowpane and stood before us. Blood dripped from her lacerated arms, which she held up and stretched out towards us," Please don't take my baby, please give it back to me."

Gavin walked towards her holding out the basket. She gently took it from him. She squatted and settled on her knees, cradling the basket and smiling into it while tenderly wiping away her blood as it fell in heavy droplets onto the creatures face. She seemed oblivious to any physical pain she may have been in.

"Gavin, stay here with her while I go and get Mum." I was surprised by the calm maturity of my reaction.

......

Headlines screamed and shouted:

TEENAGE BOY AND GIRL UNEARTH HOUSE OF HORRORS.

TEENAGERS EXPOSE EVIL HOUSE HOLD.

INNOCENCE, INCEST AND MURDER. READ ALL ABOUT THE BEAUTIFULL HOUSE OF HORRORS.

Newspapers carried the story almost daily throughout that scorching summer.

Police and security men stood outside our houses day and night in order to protect us from reporters and the men with cameras.

Unfortunately, the more unscrupulous managed to snap us both during unguarded moments and within a week; Gavin and I became the two most famous fourteen year olds in the whole of the country, and beyond.

Such was the constant intrusion that it was decided we should be taken away for a while. We were to go on a train trip to London, with our parents, where we would be staying at a plush hotel.

As we travelled across lush green fields, Mum informed Gavin and I that we would be meeting some professional people who would explain all we had witnessed to us. When I asked Mum why she couldn't, she just smiled and said - "I don't know how to darling, I'm not qualified."