The Bend on the Road Completed

7/31/2019 The Bend on the Road Completed

1/28

1

The bend on the road

1 The yellow house2 The bend on the road3 The little girl4 Spooky Action at a Distance5 The Green Road


2/28

2

Episode 1: The Yellow House

I thought about him and as I drove past I saw his face at thewindow of the yellow house looking at me. That night heappeared to me in my dreams. He said I would receive a keyin the post in the morning and that I was to go to his house.

That morning my mum received a call that his body had beenfound earlier in the morning. The key arrived in the post so I

went to the yellow house and inserted the key into the lockof the front door.

I found myself inside a hall with stairs up ahead.

To the left was a door. I turned the handle and went inside.

In front of me was an open plan bedsit with a glass back door

facing onto the back garden. To the left was kitchen area andto the right a lounge area with a corner unit and sofa.

The bedsit was very airy and pleasant to look at but I sensedthat it had not been lived in. The tiled floors in the kitchenarea were spotlessly clean. Although the house was situatedon the open cast road which was the major artery from the

opencast to the processing plant there was no coal fire placeor even a log burner in the room.

I went outside into the back garden. There was a windturbine at the back and on the slopes of the roof there weresolar panels. I went back inside the house and took a look

upstairs.


3/28

3

There were two bedrooms. I was coming downstairs whenthe front door opened.

A young man entered. He looked at me with an interrogativeexpression.

Who are you?

Im Susan.... My mum was a cquainted with Joe

Hed dead do you know that ?

Yes my mum told me this morning.

So why are you here? How did you get inside?

Why are you here? I dont know who you are.

Im Russell Joe was my uncle.

......Im sorry. Were you close?

Not really. I hardly ever saw him. He lived as a recluse in

this house.......Now you know why Im here why are you?

......This is going to sound crazy but I hadnt seen your uncle

for years until I drove past the house yesterday afternoonand saw him at the window looking at me and....... thiskey.....it came in the post in the morning.

.......Thats odd. He left a key to the house at my dads

yesterday afternoon .


4/28

4

.......If you dont mind me asking what did Joe die of?

Natural causes apparently. He died last night. His body wasfound in a field by the side of the road not far from TheBoomer ang.

The Boomerang? But thats where ....

End of Episode 1


5/28


6/28

6

Thats strange its not as if its a yale lock.

I inserted the key into the lock and the door opened again.

Theres something odd about your Uncle Joes house.

When i first walked into the house I had this feeling that ithad not been lived in.... .

As if the furniture is all a front.

Yes exactly! D o you feel that as well?

......Something like that.

We got into our car and drove along open cast road via TheBoomerang until we reached the main road at a junction atwhich point Susan was able to get through to Julie by phone.

The coal processing plant was on the main road to the left.Julie lived in Dealers Hill, a village built on a dormant volcano

situated down the road to the right.

Julies house was si tuated at the bottom of the village. Iwaited in the car while Susan went inside. After a whilecame out of the house and returned to the car.

They checked the usual route he took home from the opencast . Its like he just disappeared.

Who was the last to hear from him?

Foreman at the head office at Quarry said dad left at 5.

We drove back to the yellow house.


7/28

7

Russell - are you thinking what I m thinking?

That J ulies dads disappearance is somehow connected toother matters that occurred yesterday?

Yes.......I have a confession to make. When I was drivingalong the open cast road yesterday I sensed the presence of your uncle before I saw him in the yellow house.....I wasthinking that maybe we could retrace Julies dads steps after

he left work yesterday.... .

What are you psychic?

something like that? Do you believe in that kind of thing?

......Im an open minded kind of person.

I didnt tell Susan that sometimes I knew things withouthaving pre knowledge like pre-cognition.

We drove past the yellow house and over a bridge on theopen cast road that was dubbed Black-Water Bridge becauseof the permanent colour of the water. Everybody assumed itwas pollution caused by the open cast. The environmentalagency investigated the matter but concluded that it was

caused by a natural phenomenon of unknown origin.

To the right at Black-Water Bridge was a private road used bythe open cast lorries to carry coal back and forward from theopen cast to the coal processing plant. To the left a backroad following the woods came out eventually at Dealers


8/28

8

Hill. Ahead a straight road followed up a hill to the open castvillage Quarry.

I drove up to the crossroads at the open cast village calledQuarry. To the right was a park where a little girl was beingpushed on a swing by her mother. We turned right at thecrossroads and drove up to the gates of the open cast headoffice. Susan got out of the car and starting walking back the

direction we came.

I drove past and waited at the crossroads until she caughtup.

Anything?

Nothing.

I drove on again down the open cast road and waited untilSusan caught up.

Anything?

Are you going to keep doing this all the way back?

I cant have you disappearing on me.

I followed the progress of an open cast lorry in the distanceas it left the open cast along the private road.

As the lorry was about to turn into the open cast road at

Black-Water Bridge I had this sensation.

He died at Black-Water Bridge .


9/28

9

That came into my head for no reason. Distracted I drove onleaving Susan behind. When I reached Black-Water Bridge Idrove into a lay by the side of the road and got out of the car.

There was something about the woods on the other side of the road that seemed odd. The trees overlooking the roadthey curled westerly onto the road in crouched like fashionwhile the others stood upright.

I walked up to the woods. Close up the trees next to theroad were rigid and twisted. I climbed over a brick wall andlay down on a spot on the other side. I looked up into thesky and pondered.

After a while Susan joined me.

Where are you?

Im over here.

Susans face came into the view on the other side of the brick

wall.

What are you doing lying down there?

Susan with difficulty climbed over the wall and came up tome. She neared me and then stopped frozen on the spot.

Julies dad. Hes here.

End of episode 2


10/28

10

Episode 3: The little girl

I made an anonymous call to the police. But they didn t finda body at Black-Water Bridge. The police sniffer dogs thoughhad given every indication that something was there.

I was at Julies house. I got up and got dressed. I had a bad

sleep.

I had this vivid dream in Julies house. I woke up and a little girl was standing next to me by the bed. It was the little girl Ihad saw at the swing park at Quarry the previous day.

The little girl walked over to the door and left the room.

I got up and followed her. I left the house and saw herwalking up Dealers Hill. I followed her. Halfway up the hill

she broke into song Jack and Jill went up the hill to fetch a pail of water. Jack came down and broke his crown and Jill

came tumbling after!

We reached the junction without encountering a car on theroad. The little girl began walking along the open cast road. Ifollowed her as we reached The Boomerang and then she

stopped next to the flower memorial the scene of the fatalcar crash on the open cast road.

The little girl slid through the fence and into the field. As Iwas clambering over the fence with difficulty, the little girlbroke into song. Humpty Dumpty sat on the wall. Humpty


11/28

11

Dumpty had a great fall. All of the Kings Horses and all of

the Kings Men couldnt put Humpty Dumpty together again.

I got over and followed her across the field and then shestopped. I walked up to her. She took a few steps forwardand was gone.

I took a few steps forward....

I woke up in J ulies house. After getting dressed I went

downstairs.

It was past noon and I was supposed to be at Joes funeralthis morning.

It was too late so I got in the car and drove back to the yellowhouse. As I drove out of Dealers Hill I looked to the left and

for the first time it occurred to me that the bend on the roadin the distance uncannily had the outline of a boomerang.

I stopped the car where the flower memorial lay at TheBoomerang. I got out and looked up at the field. I pausedand looked around. A lorry approached and drove past,spitting up dust into the air.

I was struggling over the fence when Russells car cam e alongfrom the opposite direction. He stopped and go out.

What are you doing werent you supposed to be at myuncles funeral? I left the funeral party early to find out whatkept you.


12/28

12

Can you give me a hand? My jeans have got stuck on thewire in the fence.

He came over and held my hand softly as I untangled myself.I got over to the other side. Russell held his hand on thefence pole and leaped over one handed.

Do we have a lead?

That little girl we saw at the swing park at Quarry yesterday- she appeared last night in my dreams and took me to a spotover there.

This is where....

You better take my hand so we can go through together at

the same time.

Through where. I thought you said it was a dream

I was able to locate the stick easily. I took hold of Russells

hand and holding it firmly we walked up to the spot....

We reappeared at the crossroads at Quarry village.

How did we get?

The first thing I noticed was that the roads were cracked andpotholed with weed shooting out.

We looked to the right. The little girl was alone on the swingand singing Old McDonald had a farm e i e i o and on that

farm he had some sheep.


13/28

13

The road to the right reached a dead end marking theentrance to the open cast. We walked past her. We saidhello but she just kept on singing.

We were approaching the open cast gates. I hesitated.

What is it?

Hes here?

Who is?

James McDonald..... Hes knows were here. Run!

We ran until reached the crossroads.....

We reappeared at The Boomerang. It was already

approaching sunset.

Russell drove me back to the yellow house. We remained

outside and watched the last of the sun.

So how did the funeral go?

So -so.

I didnt tell Susan what happened to me in the morning.

I had stayed overnight at the yellow house. I got ready to gointo town for the funeral. As I approached Black-WaterBridge I stopped the car to give the right of way to an opencast lorry. The lorry drove past, scooting up dust onto my

windscreen. I started the window wipers.


14/28

14

I must have blacked out or something. I came to and foundmyself lying down looking up. Uncle Joe was there lookingover me. I was in a casket - I was in church.

I lifted myself out of the casket and found myself in a kitchen.A man and women in black were sitting at the table.

The door bell rang and the women got up and shouted

Susan can you get it!

I heard someone come running down stairs and a doorgetting opened.

Mummy its James.

Then I heard shouting coming from the adjacent living room Dads voice. I walked through. Dad was there with mum

he was drunk and he was accusing mum and Joe of.... Dadwas about to hit mum. I got up to intervene.

I was back on my back only this time I was lying in a bed.When I got up I looked outside. I recognised the view. I wasin a bedroom in the yellow house only the wallpaper wasdifferent and tattered.

I went downstairs and saw a log fire burning. I could hearsawing coming from the garden outside. I looked out of thewindow and saw Joe sawing wood. I opened the back door

and went outside.


15/28

15

There was no wind turbine in back garden. I watched as a carpulled up by the side of the road. A young man I didn trecognise got out and offered Joe some coal.

Joe didnt look up once and kept on sawing. A young womanthen got out of the car.

It was Susan.


16/28

16

Episode 4: Spooky Action at a Distance

The following morning Susan woke me up.

Hurry - quick!

What is it?

A lorry has overturned at the bridge up the road and....

What Black-Water Bridge?....And the driver?

Theyre fine. Both lorry drivers are fine.

Both?

When I got out of my car I overheard the open cast rangers

talking about another lorry accident. So I got back into my

car and investigated. The same thing happened at TheBoomerang. Theres an overturned lorry on the road. John is

up there looking into it.

John who?

John McDonald James McDonalds son.

....You said the driver was okay. Did...John say anything toyou about what happened?

He said oil must have spilled onto the road. Hes closing theroad from both sides while he launches an investigation.....You know what i was thinking.....what if both lorry accidents

occurred simultaneously?


17/28

17

.....Did you see what direction the lorries were heading at

the time?

One was heading to the open cast and the other lorry at The

Boomerang was going towards the processing plant.

So they would have passed each other en route about.....

Whats that?

......We need to find out more about.....

That was what I was thinking. Lets go!

We walked over to The Boomerang.

When we got there, however, the lorry was gone. The open

cast rangers were brushing the road with a detergent.

Did you ask John whether he had heard anymore about his

dad?

Yes. But he said it was anyones guess what had happened.

He was abroad doing his post doctorate in physics when hegot the call that his dad had gone missing. Since arriving

back he hadnt found anything.....Theres little point nowtrekking over to Black- Water Bridge isnt there?

I was thinking if we could get into the processing plant maybe we could take a closer look at the lorry that was on its way

before it crashed.......

And how do you propose we get past security?


18/28

18

Theres a rail -track at the processing plant. I was thinkingthat come dark we access the railway further down the lineand walk along it to enter it.

Later than evening after dark we walked along the railwayline. I didnt say to Russell but for a first meeting John askeda lot of questions. He asked me where i was working and isaid i wasnt. And then he ask ed if i was taking a gap year out

from university and i said i wasnt sure .

I was reflecting that I wasnt working, i wasnt studying and iwasnt pregnant either.

Russell and I hadnt spoke very much all day. He seemedpreoccupied. I broke the silence by saying i needed to findsome work.

In that case you must look for a job Whats been keeping

you?

What about you? Why arent you working?

.....Maybe i will apply for a job at the open cast.....Ssh !

I listened. There was a distinct sound emerging. And thenwe saw a light. A train was behind us coming towards us.We hid in the long grass in the banking and waited for it topass. It went by at a leisurely pace with one carriage.

We gathered pace and saw the train enter the processingplant in the distance. We walked up keeping close to thebank. Then the train began to reverse and back into a


19/28

19

hanger. We made our move and followed it in and hidbehind some barrels. We watched.

A haulage truck placed a flattish round shaped object into thecarriage. The train then left the processing plant. We leftthe hanger and walked back onto the line.

Russell wh at do you think that object was?

....What was that? ..... Sorry Im a bit tired.

Oh you poor boy you didnt get your long lie!

You going out to work the idea is growing on me.

We were at it like that all the way back home. When we gotback to the yellow house, Russell was about to put the key in

the front door when he noticed the door had bits of woodchipped away from the lock.

Wait here. im going round to check the back.

I waited and then heard Russell call me round.

What is it?

Look?

The backdoor had the same chip marks at the lock. Russellinserted the key in the lock and walked inside. Just as Iwalking inside I received a text from a friend who worked atthe open cast. I read it out to Russell.


20/28

20

Guess what - about the two truck drivers that crashed their

lorries this morning they re identical twins. Spooky eh?

End of episode 4


21/28

21

Episode 5: The Green Road

Susan was out investigating. A worker had disappeared atthe processing plant while on nightshift duty. I told her that Iwould meet up with her later.

I was getting ready to leave when I heard knocking at thefront door. I opened the door and asked the young man

whom I had seen once before what I could do for him.

Arent you going to let me in?

Its kind of untidy inside?

.....Well, Ill get down to business. Recently its come to myattention that one of our projects has been mismanaged.My dad had requested a tunnel to be built from the open

cast to the processing plant but there seems to have been asurveying error......I was hoping we could come to somearrangement for you to sell.

What did you have in mind?

Well I tho ught maybe twice the market rate for theproperty.

Surveying error - You could be open to lawsuit?

Ive been up front about this and besides Ive overlooked arecent indiscretion such as your recent field visit to ourprocessing plant.


22/28

22

....So how far has the tunnel got to now?

......This house thats how far we got.

What from both ends?

....Naturally. That is how you build a tunnel you meet

somewhere in the middle.

.... Did you tunnel via Black-Water Bridge? Was that a

surveying error too?

......Well I can see you are attached to the place and nothingwould induce you to sell. You can be rest assured the tunnel

will be refilled and re- diverted. Well good day.

So this was John McDonald.

******************************

I felt uneasy a s I drove into Dealers Hill. It was not the firsttime that I felt Russell was keeping things back from me. Iwas on my way to the processing plant when I saw a

pedestrian in the distance approaching The Boomerang.

Russell!

I drove over and confronted him.

Youre not going back alone!


23/28

23

He said nothing. He lifted up the wire to let me slip throughthe fence. We hurried across the field until we neared thespot and then with hands held we walked on together....

We were at the crossroads at Quarry. The road was differentthis time. There were only a few potholes and sporadic weed

growth.

The swing was empty.

We walked to the open cast. We saw nobody.

Russell hes here.

Where?

Beyond the gates inside.

We climbed over the gates and triggered the alarm. Nobody

came out. It kept on ringing as we approached a port-cabin.

Russell - h es in there.

The door to the cabin was locked and wouldnt budge .

Susan the port-cabin is yellow.

What? Do you mean?

Russell took out his key and it slotted into the lock. When hetried the handle, the door opened.


24/28

24

Russell went in first. Inside there was a table and a chair withdocuments filed on a shelf. I closed the door behind me.

On the floor was a man-hole. Without hesitation Russellinserted his key into the lock and lifted the lid....

I woke up on a familiar kitchen floor surrounded by broken

tiles. I saw Russell lying there - out cold.

I was in the kitchen of the yellow house only it had changed.

Next to me was the man-hole with the lid lying open.

I got up and attended to Russell. My eyes caught sight of alog burner.

Russell came to. He had a head knock. I took his hand andassisted him to the settee that I had not seen before. I asked

him to rest for a while.

I took a look round. I no longer sensed the presence of

James McDonald.

I walked upstairs. I opened the door to a bedroom. I couldtell that a couple had been living here.

I opened a set of drawers. A precious keepsake of mine wasthere - an ornamented wooden box. I opened it. I wasimmediately drawn to a faded envelope. I picked it upcarefully and opened the envelope. There was a letter

inside.


25/28

25

I unfolded it and began to read. I felt my cheeks colour as Icontinued reading.

Then I heard Russell calling me. I hurriedly but carefullyfolded the letter and put it back in the envelope and into thebox. I went back down the stairs.

He was standing over the man-hole.

Susan - If we lock it we stop it.

Do it then.

Russell placed the lid over the man-hole. He put the key in

the lock and left it there.

We left the yellow house.

The open cast road was almost green. And we could hearbirds they were everywhere. When we walked past BlackWater Bridge the water was clear. As we approached thecrossroads at Quarry we could hear singing.

The little girl was singing in the park. A ring a ring a roses a pocket full of poses a tissue a tissue we all fall down.

She was alone. She came up to us and took our hands.

We waited expectedly at the crossroads expecting to re-emerge at The Boomerang. But we were still there at the

crossroads.

Russell its not working ! are we trapped here?


26/28

26

The little girl spoke:

This way silly

And with that the little girl skipping merrily led the way out of Quarry and back down the way we came along the greenroad.

After a while the little girl got tired and Russell carried her on

his shoulders . I asked the little girl what her name was?

She didnt answer and broke into song again. I spy with my little eye something beginning with bi.

I said bridge and the little girl said yes .

We walked over Black-Water Bridge.

Your turn

I sang I spy i spy with my little eye something beginning with

Yi.

Thats easy Yellow house.

We approached the yellow house and walked past.

Thats where you live

We walked on until we reached The Boomerang. The roadhere was ablaze with flowers.

Its my turn


27/28

27

I spy with my little eye something beginning with Hi.

Russell and I both looked puzzled.

I said hill.

No

Russell said hole

Getting warmer

We both give up.

Home silly

And she pointed to the spot in the field.

Camel let me down

Russell let her down from my shoulders.

I took her hand but she let it go

Im not going silly

The little girl started waving.

Bye bye! Bye-bye!

Bye -bye.

As we neared the spot I called to her to ask her again whather name was.


28/28

28

Jo

The End

Documents

The Bend on the Road Completed