King John

 

‘What the heck is that?!’ exclaimed Sue as she removed her coat and hung it neatly on the coat rack in the hall. She was still staring as her husband finally appeared at the top of the stairs.

On the console table in the hall was a very dirty skull with a little bronze crown glued to it. The glue had clearly not been applied very carefully as it had dripped and oozed out down the back of the skull. Sue wrinkled her nose in disgust.

‘Hmm?’ said Joe not really registering what she meant straight away, then he realised as he saw her peering at it. ‘Oh, THAT!’

‘Well??’ She said impatiently, positively glaring at Joe over her driving glasses. He started to walk down the stairs until he was about halfway then he paused and sat on the step.

‘We found it today when we were ripping out the wall in the bar, y’know, in The Peacock pub where they’ve been renovating’ said Joe shrugging his shoulders.

‘Yes’, sighed Sue annoyed, she was well aware that he’d been working at the pub in the village. ‘Working’ was such a loose term when applied to Joe. ‘But WHAT is it doing here and what even is it? Is it real??’ She scrutinised it at closer quarters, it certainly looked real.

‘Noooo’ said Joe uncertainly inspecting his hands which were still dirty and dusty, Sue had arrived just as he was about to take a shower. ‘Nah, its not real, landlord reckons it was bricked into the bar wall as a bit of a joke years ago, but that is just what the locals have told him, builders are always pulling stunts like that!’

Sue looked at Joe and shook her head. ‘Its not staying here’ she said emphatically as she picked it up, raising it to eye level. It gave her the creeps, those blank sockets staring into her soul and why the crown?  Joe raised his eyebrows and stood up.

‘I’m going for my shower, do what you want with it!’ He said as he headed back upstairs.

I most certainly will, thought Sue as she held it at arm’s length. Morse their over excitable spaniel appeared and jumped up at her thinking it was a ball or a new dog toy. She considered the bin, but thought it was maybe a bit disrespectful, even if it wasn’t real. She settled on the shed, putting it behind some boxes on the plastic shelving that held all the half-used paint pots.

Joe and Sue settled down for the evening, well, Sue watched the soaps with a bar of chocolate while Joe dozed in the armchair, the dog snoring softly at his feet, their usual familiar routine if a little boring. They had probably another twenty years of this before they could retire and maybe do exactly the same but with no pressure to get up in the mornings. They were in a rut and Joe was no romantic. Some nights Sue would say to him, we should DO something, go for a walk or just go for a drink at The Peacock, but even though Joe would nod in agreement another month, another year, would pass slowly by. Joe liked his routine; he wouldn’t even go abroad for their annual two-week holiday as he ‘hated flying and foreign food’ he was lazy too, expecting Sue to do everything around the house.

Their very routine evening peace was shattered by the sound of sirens. Sue jumped up immediately to look out of the window. Joe came to and sprang out of his chair. The siren was an ambulance and it had stopped outside the pub.

Craning their necks, they tried to see what was happening but to no avail. It wasn’t until the next day that Joe was able to report back that the landlord Pete, had taken a tumble down the stairs, top to bottom. Miraculously he escaped with just bruises and was back at the pub by lunchtime, shaken but generally ok.

When Sue returned from work later, she stopped in her tracks, the skull was back, glaring at her from the kitchen counter. She immediately confronted Joe. ‘Did you bring that thing back in here?’ she asked, her voice was tense.

Joe shook his head. ‘No, I just thought you hadn’t put it away?’ He could see that Sue was pretty spooked and, on her instruction, he placed it inside a box and took it down the garden to the shed. He even locked the door and double checked it.

Their routine evening passed without event, soaps, chocolate, Joe dozing, dog snoring. At Eleven Sue woke Joe, screwed up her chocolate wrapper and went into the kitchen to put away the supper dishes. As she lowered the blind, part of her bedtime routine, she noticed that the outside light had flicked on. Sue glanced into the garden and noticed that the shed door was open, swinging slightly in the breeze. She frowned and shut the blind.

Joe wandered into the kitchen yawning. ‘You didn’t shut the shed!’ said Sue accusingly. Joe rubbed his face and blinked, he looked puzzled. ‘I’m sure I did…’ he said as he opened the back door. Morse appeared from nowhere and shot down the garden barking angrily. He stopped mid pelt and stood with his hackles up, growling at the darkness inside the shed.

Joe tried to calm the dog, gently placing his hand on his back, he continued to bark. ‘Shh Morse, the neighbours will complain’ he chided quietly. Joe slid the bolt across the shed door and had to drag the dog back to the house. Morse didn’t quit growling until he was inside the kitchen with the door shut.

Sue and Joe went to bed, but Sue couldn’t shake the uneasy feeling that something was amiss, and sleep evaded her for most of the night.

The following morning Joe was shaken awake by Sue screaming his name. He raced down the stairs two at a time. Every single cabinet and drawer was open in the kitchen and the skull was back sitting grinning eerily at them from the breakfast bar. Once again Joe removed the skull to the shed. He went to work but Sue decided to call in sick, her nerves shattered by the recent events.

She spent most of the day jumping at the slightest flicker of a shadow and kept Morse close at hand even to visit the bathroom. Thankfully, the dog was quiet and behaved perfectly normally all day giving Sue the confidence to relax a little even though she spent a lot of time looking out of the kitchen window to check the shed was still shut.

Joe was late home that night, the work at The Peacock was taking much longer than normal. After the landlord’s accident other things were not plain sailing. All the lights had fused leaving Joe scratching his head as he could NOT see what the problem was. Hours later everything seemed to be working again without explanation. Some of his tools had vanished and then reappeared in places he knew he hadn’t left them. He had rewarded himself with a pint or two and a chat to the barmaid.

Sue was nodding but not listening to a word Joe was saying about his day. She was bent over her laptop furiously scrolling, the screen lighting up her face. Joe came up behind her and gave her a quick kiss on the cheek. She wrinkled her nose; she could smell beer.

‘It was a hard day’ said Joe defensively noticing her pull away slightly. ‘What are you looking for exactly?’ He continued, looking at the computer screen over her shoulder.

Sue mouse clicked furiously without looking up. ‘I don’t know ... you probably will think I’m losing it, but I think the house is haunted. I think it has something to do with THAT…’ she jerked her thumb backwards in the direction of the garden shed. Joe snorted. ‘You don’t believe in all that bullsh..’ he began but stopped when she swivelled round violently to face him.

‘I don’t know what to believe any more, it seems ever since you brought that THING into our house something strange is going on. The dog was scared witless, and what about the kitchen cupboards and drawers?’ she looked up at him, anxiety etched on her face. Joe could tell she was really spooked. ‘AND’ she added ‘What about The Peacock, the landlord and his accident, the electrics, your tools? What if they disturbed a spirit or something, what if that skull is actually real and not a joke?’

‘Coincidence, it has to be’ said Joe leaning on the table with both hands, his fingers spread wide. He stood up and sighed. ‘Look if it will make you feel better why don’t I ask Claire from The Peacock to come and see if she can help? She reckons she’s a bit psychic, she has Tarot cards and all that stuff. I’ve seen her doing readings for some of the regulars’

Sue visibly brightened at Joes suggestion. She liked Claire, she was probably one of the few remaining women in the village who Joe had not slept with, that she knew of. She had been the barmaid for many years and was always a bit dismissive of Joe but very warm towards Sue on the rare occasion they drank in the pub.  ‘Can you sort it sooner rather than later?’ she pleaded. Joe agreed and they had a relatively normal evening and night that passed without event.

A couple of nights later Joe arranged for Claire to come and speak to Sue. She was barely through the door when she froze. ‘You were right to contact me’ she said quietly ‘Something is very wrong’

Sue clutched Joe’s arm in fright, watching as Claire went from room to room closing her eyes and breathing in slowly, absorbing the atmosphere of the house.

Finally, they all sat around the kitchen table together. Claire seemed to go into a trance as she spoke telling them all the detail she had gathered from the ‘spirit’ inhabiting their house.

John, the man that the skull belonged to was a traveller who had lived in the 1600s he was always known as King John Murphy to his fellow travellers who feared and respected him in equal measures. He and his family had lived in the area, long before much of the village that existed today was even thought of. It was mostly fields in those days, which suited them and their horses just fine. The local people didn’t much like the travellers or their lifestyle but tolerated them knowing they would move on eventually. Except they didn’t. Johns failing health meant he couldn’t travel so he and his family set up permanent camp right in the heart of the community. When John died, the traveller community banded together to mourn the loss of their ‘king’ and they chose to bury him in a wooded area just outside the village. A few years later two drunken village lads thought it would be fun to dig up ‘old John’ dragging him from his grave, severing his head and tossing his torso into the river that ran to the East of the wooded burial area. The ‘fun’ continued with the lads making a small crude crown which they fixed crookedly to his skull.

Rumours spread fast in small villages and the travelling family soon retrieved the head of John though the body was never found. Johns widow Rose cursed the lads and vowed to seek vengeance.  If John was scary, Rose was ten times scarier. She was rumoured to be able to turn milk sour and make people ill with one of her curses. Neither lad lived beyond a year after the desecration of King Johns grave. When he was reburied Rose reportedly had the crude crown made by the lads replaced with a proper metal crown and she was said to have spent hours making protective spells to prevent any further disturbance to his grave. People gave it a wide birth not even daring to approach it.

A century passed, the travelling family died or moved on as the village expanded.  The wooded area was cut back to make way for a track for farm traffic.  By 1800 the bones of the village as it is today, formed. It was about this time that the local inn, The Peacock, was built and when the foundations were laid, they accidentally dug up the remains of John. A series of disasters affected the build including three men dying when a wall collapsed. The story of the curse of King John which had been dismissed as an old wives tale by recent generations, suddenly surfaced again.

The innkeeper made the decision to inter John into the wall of the bar as the build did not allow them to return him to his original grave, it seemed to do the trick and peace was restored.

But now, the peace was well and truly shattered with John having been disturbed once again. He was, as Claire said, an extremely angry entity. The answer seemed to be clear, return King John to his resting place and hopefully all would settle down again. Unless he had attached himself to one of them which Claire warned was a possibility.

As Claire finished speaking, she seemed to snap out of her trance like state, she looked exhausted and pale. Sue had been silent, listening intently to the story as she continued to clutch Joe’s arm almost cutting off the circulation at one point, finally she spoke. ‘So, Joe if you return John will this all go away? If so, can you take him back now?’

Joe glanced at the time. It was nearly 11.30PM and he didn’t want to disturb the landlord now. ‘I will tomorrow, I promise, its too late tonight’ Sue pulled a face, she was definitely having Morse sleep with them tonight.

Joe walked Claire home, Sue insisted that he did, it was late. After tidying the living room, she headed up to bed with Morse at her heel, only to see his hackles rise and hear him let out a low growl. She froze in fear as she saw the skull grinning at her from her pillow. Without hesitation she turned and fled down the stairs and out of the front door almost colliding with Joe who had just arrived back. 

Despite Joe trying to calm her, Sue was insistent that she wouldn’t spend another night anywhere near that skull. She loaded Morse into the car and headed off to her mothers after phoning her in hysterics.

Watching Sue drive off into the distance Joe let himself into the house. In the bedroom he scooped up the skull and put it in a plastic bag. He headed back down the stairs, let himself out of the front door and locked it behind him. Putting the key into his pocket he walked back to the centre of the village.

Claire half opened her door to see Joe standing there. ‘She’s gone!’ He said grinning. ‘How long for?’ Asked Claire. The hall light spilled out from behind her as she edged the door open just a fraction more and the outside light clicked on as it registered Joe’s presence.

‘I’m not sure, but a couple of nights at least, she’s gone to her mums’ he said still smiling.

‘You played a real blinder there Claire, all that stuff about the skull, it totally spooked out. Absolute genius stroke putting it on her pillow too! I don’t know how you did it? I’m kind of hoping she doesn’t come back, all thanks to this guy!’ He raised the plastic bag skywards.

‘I have my ways, did a little research too, all that stuff about curses. I mean who even believes that rubbish!’ she said as she pulled her dressing gown a little tighter around her neck with her free hand. The wind was getting up and she shivered.

‘Sooo…’ said Joe lightly running his finger up Claire’s exposed arm ‘Do I get to come in or what?’

Claire pushed the door too a little more. ‘No, I’m really sorry babe, I’m SO tired after all that play acting’ She said shaking her head and yawning.

‘Awww come on!’ Joe looked thoroughly disappointed. ‘Tomorrow’ said Claire firmly but she leant forward and gave him a kiss as compensation. ‘Mmm I will hold you to that,’ said Joe. He could not wait.

‘You can give me the skull, I will take it to work in the morning, if she comes back, we will think of something else to completely freak her out’ said Claire reaching for the bag Joe was carrying.  ‘Sure, I don’t want that ugly thing in MY house’ he said and with a wink he disappeared up the street whistling.

Claire slept so well that she didn’t hear any of the commotion at the other end of the village and she was a little confused when she awoke to see police cars, an ambulance and a fire engine at the top of the road. She dressed and hurried outside where a couple of her neighbours were standing in the street. There had been a fire at Sue and Joes house, electrical was the conclusion, it started in the living room and spread to the hall blocking Joes exit. He had died from the effects of the smoke before anyone could get to him.

Claire stood for a while, quietly exchanging shock and disbelief with the rest of the street, Sue had been contacted and she would be back soon. She had already been offered a place to stay within the village and the fire damage was such that it could be repaired IF she decided to stay in the house.

Realising the time Claire hurried back to her own house and got ready for work. She picked up the plastic bag containing the skull on her way out, it was time to return it to where it belonged.

At the Peacock Pete was waiting, he had commissioned a special glass dome to hold King John to keep him safe. He pulled out a few loose bricks in the remaining wall behind the bar the recess was just big enough to fit the glass dome so it could be sealed in.

‘Protect your own’ was a motto the Murphy traveller clan lived and died by, a motto Claire was very well aware of, being a descendant of John Murphy. When Claire had recounted the tale in Sue and Joes kitchen, it had for the most part been true and accurate. Except, not ALL the Murphy family had moved away, changed their names down the generations, yes, but still there had to be a guardian of the cursed skull of their leader until there were no more descendants. The last remaining Murphy adult family members were Claire Pete and Sue and only Pete had children, the clan was slowly dying out. Sue was unaware of her heritage, her great grandmother had distanced herself from the family, being a Murphy was not an easy path, prejudice was rife back in the day. A change of name ensured that given time people would forget.

For twenty years Claire, who was well aware of the family connection, had watched Sue endure a marriage to Joe which consisted of him being unfaithful at every opportunity, even with Sues best friend and chief bridesmaid at their wedding reception. It had got to the point where she could not bring home friends for fear that Joe would make a pass at them. He was very charming when you didn’t know him, and women seemed to fall at his feet. He refused to have a family with Sue, her one dream, because kids would tie him down. Consequently, Sue was existing in a loveless marriage and leading a very empty life. With Joe refusing to divorce or give up the house they had reached a stalemate. Sue did not want to leave the house she had worked so hard for or the village she had grown up in either. Claire had in depth knowledge of the curse of King John and Pete knew exactly where the skull was interred.

Pete called Joe and pretended there was a bit of building work for him at the pub. Joe was lazy and if he could get work locally so he could stay in bed longer and get home earlier he would jump at the opportunity. The curse was such that it passed directly to the first non-family member who touched the skull, so when Pete handed it to Joe when it was revealed in the rubble of the bar wall, his fate was sealed.

Although Pete falling down the stairs was a complete coincidence, he had one too many rums the evening of his tumble, the electrics problem and the disappearing tools however were very definitely unexplained. Part two of the plan involved Claire flirting with Joe and telling him to ‘frighten’ Sue by moving the skull around the house to make her leave. Claire’s skin crawled every time Joe touched her. She managed to keep him pretty much at bay with the promise that they would be together once Sue was out of the picture. She had done extra protection spells to ensure Sues safety but once she had left the full wrath of revenge was heaped upon feckless Joe.

Sue was finally free, and the Murphy clan were once more able to live in peace.

 

Sarah Russell Dark Wishes Designs 2021