Chapter 11
Buffy kept on glancing at her son all through breakfast, but he seemed not to have a bother on him at all.
“Mommy can I have some bread in case there are ducks?”
“I think so baby…have you finished?” Izzie nodded a big nod and then her mom said,
“Okay then, go clean your teeth now. Have you finished Billy?”
“Yes thankyou”
“Good boy…are you alright – did you have a bad dream in the night?” Buffy asked cautiously
“No mommy, why?”
“Oh, I thought I heard you call out that’s all – it could have been a fox. Go help Izzie will you, and don’t use too much toothpaste!”
Spike looked at Buffy
“Well, he doesn’t seem worried does he?” Buffy said
“Let’s just try and forget it, shall we? – So, what are you going to do, the second coat in the children’s room’s, or first coat in the bathroom?”
“Thought I’d do the bathroom, then start back at the beginning with the second coats. What are you going to do?”
“Finish off those posts for the fireguard, and then I was going to start sanding down the woodwork to paint” Buffy nodded
There was a loud knock at the front door.
“That’ll be Giles. I feel guilty him staying in a hotel”
“Hardly the Ritz pet, it’s only a little Bed and breakfast, doesn’t cost the earth does it?” Spike opened the door and Giles came in.
“Good morning! How is everybody this morning?”
“Oh, you know! Trying to get motivated to do the painting…Giles”
“Yes? – Oh there you are!” Izzie and Billy came down stairs, Izzie clutching one of her dolls, and they both went straight to their uncle.
Giles looked up at Buffy, but she didn’t continue what she was going to say to him, instead she said,
“Okay, let me look…” Both children gave her big cheesy grins and then opened their mouths so she could see that they’d cleaned properly.
“Very good, now be good for Giles won’t you”
“Yes. Got some bread mommy?”
“Oh yes…you’ve got a thing about ducks lately haven’t you?” Buffy smiled indulgently and straightened her daughter’s bow.
“What time shall I bring them home?”
“Oh…when you get fed up of them!” Buffy said smiling
“Okay then…well come along you two, I’ve got a surprise for you?”
The children clamoured at their uncle and after seeing them off Spike said,
“Before the farmers market, he’s going to take them to the bird sanctuary in Torridge, our daughter will see all the ducks she wants there!”
Time being of the essence, they cracked on and they both managed to get on with quite a few jobs and painting.
At 1.20pm, Buffy looked at her watched, surprised it was so late. She went downstairs and met Spike, holding two mugs of coffee
“I was just going to bring you this!” gratefully taking the drink she looked at the fireplace.
“Lost track of time! Wow – that looks brilliant – and the new wood has stained just like the old wood surround…how will it hold the fireguard?”
“I’ve got to fix in some small brass loops, they just screw into the wood, and the fireguard hooks into them”
“Oh yes, I see – can’t wait to have a real fire in here!”
“And I’ve shaved the bottom of the door so it now fits properly and shuts, and I’ve also measured the top of the well outside – that chap in Barnstaple said I was to ring through the measurements and he’d make a cast-iron cover for it, like the spokes of a wheel so the water can be got easily, but I’ll be too small for children to fall down”
“Great…I’ve done the first coat in the bathroom and the second coat in the room where the children are sleeping at the moment. So I was thinking, because of the smell of the paint, they can sleep in our room tonight”
“Right. Good idea – I’ll also make you rest a bit easier won’t it?” Spike said
Without smiling Buffy said,
“Do you think we’ve done the right thing?”
“What do you mean love?”
“Buying this place…”
“Having doubts now?” Spike asked frowning
“No…I don’t know, it feels different”
“Different?”
“How can I put it…oppressive…sad – I don’t know” Buffy wrapped her arms around herself like she was cold.
Spike finished his coffee and said,
“You’ll feel different when it’s all done and decorated and we’ve got the furniture in, you’ll see” He kissed her cheek and took the empty mug off her and put them in the kitchen. He glanced down the hole and went back to the lounge.
“I’m just popping out for some more 5 amp cable, I won’t be long” Andy said and left
“Well, we better get on, I’d like to do the spare room and the little bedroom before the day’s out”
“I’ll phone the measurements through to the iron worker”
Spike sat at the little picnic table in the lounge, checking the measurements and looking for the guy’s number, when from upstairs Spike heard Buffy scream and a loud thud.
Dropping everything and running upstairs calling her Spike saw Buffy lying on the floor.
“BUFFY – Baby – what happened, gods, are you alright?” He knelt by her side and she raised her head groggily
“Come here baby…what happened – did you slip on the mat?” he helped her to sit up, she pointed shakily to the wall
“The wall”
“The wall?” Spike turned and looked at the wall, in fact he looked all four walls, and everything looked normal. The room smelt of paint, despite the window being open and the only other things in the room were a small three runged step ladder, an old sheet down to protect the floor, the tin of paint and the roller and tray.
“I don’t see………what about it baby, hmm?”
“When I came up the stairs…” Buffy began, and her eyes filled with tears
“Hey…come on now kitten, it’s alright, what did you see – or think you saw?”
Spike cuddled her up, but she pushed away and stood and went over to the wall searching and touching it, getting wet paint on her hands
“Baby, what did you see?” Spike came and stood behind her, scrutinizing the wall for the minutest detail as to what she was on about, to no avail.
“I…I saw the words ‘Help me’ written in blood, and the words were all dripping and running down the wall…then there was a rush and I fell over”
“Baby, there’s nothing written on the walls, look – just wet paint” Spike said gently
Tears dripped from Buffy’s eyes and she said,
“I know! I know – it’s just like the drawings!”
“Drawings?” Spike frowned and Buffy got a little angry
“Billy’s drawing this morning, with the blood then it was gone!” She turned to rush out but Spike caught her by the shoulder
“Hey…come here kitten…I’m sorry…don’t cry baby…it cuts me up when you cry”
“Spike…what’s happening here…I can’t let the children sleep in here!”
“Shush…okay, like you said, they can be in our room tonight…how about if we ask Giles to do a – a cleansing spell or something, hmm? Would that make you feel better?” Spike kissed her forehead and Buffy cuddled in
“’Kay” she sniffed deeply and held onto him tightly.
“Come on now kitten, where’s my brave slayer gone, hmm?” Spike gently rubbed her back
“I know, but when it involves MY kids…”
“I’d NEVER let anything bad happen to any of you, you KNOW that”
Buffy nodded but didn’t say anything at first, and then she said,
“I want to go down and see what’s behind that door in the cellar”
“Okay, look shall we do it now, else Giles will be back with the children”
****************
“Want me to try?” Spike asked
“No, just you hold that torch steady…I think it’s coming!” There was a sound of grating metal then a sort of clunk, and Buffy fell forward, banging into the closed door
“Oh hell!”
She held out her left hand with half a key in it.
“Damn key broke in the lock!” She gave the door a vicious kick.
“Hey, steady on, that door could be 17th century!”
“I don’t CARE! I. Want. To. Know. What’s Behind. IT!” giving the heavy door a kick between words, the door finally gave in by one of the hinges, and Buffy pushed it inwards, then pulled it forward, but it was no good, she couldn’t see into the room
“Hand me the torch………”
“Can you see anything?”
“Nope, not a bloody thing…I need to – stand back” she was just about to pull the door off it’s hinges with both hands when the torch died on them, and they heard Giles’ car draw up.
“What – I don’t believe this, I’ve only had it a few days!” Spike shook the torch and slid the on/off switch back and forth, but it was dead.
“Come on, let’s go up – but I swear I’m coming back down here later…when the children are in bed” Buffy said
They climbed out and Buffy went upstairs to wash her hands.
“Daddy – look what I’ve got!”
“Let me see…where did you get that?”
“Uncle Giles bought it for me, her name is um…Dan…er…Duf…uncle Giles, what’s her name?” Izzie held up the fur toy duck he’d bought for her at the bird sanctuary.
“Daphne – Daphne Duckling” Giles said
“Danny-fee duckly, daddy!” Izzie said, trying her best, making everyone laugh.
“And I got this book, look it shows you all the different birds I could see in the garden. Where’s mommy?” Billy asked
“Just washing her hands – let me see your book…uncle Giles spoils you, you know!”
“I’m here baby, have a nice day?”
“Oh yes, look what uncle bought for me”
“MOMMY – I got a Dufnin-nin-duckly, look!” Izzie went running over to her mom waving the soft toy and Buffy picked her up, giggling at her daughter’s attempt to say Daphne Duckling, and putting her other arm around Billy’s shoulders, she admired his book at the same time.
“I see, and were you good children?”
“Tea Giles?” Spike asked
“Please, love some…so…oh I see you’ve got on well in here!” Giles said, noticing the fireplace and the shut door that wouldn’t shut before.
“Sure did” Spike said over filling the kettle
“Mommy, can we go upstairs and play?” Billy asked
“No baby, there’s wet paint and stuff, you can go in the garden though, but stay where we can see you, and NO going by the well, okay?”
“Kay mom…where’s my book…I want to draw some birds”
“It’s upstairs, I’ll get it for you” Buffy went upstairs, and got the sketchpad, she carefully pushed open the door to the room where the incident had happened earlier and almost scared, she looked in, but everything was normal and she realised that she’d been holding her breath and her body rigid, she relaxed and went down, handing Billy the book – both children went outside to play.
“Giles…I don’t know how to say this…do you feel anything here?”
“Feel? Oh, thankyou” Giles took a mug of tea off Spike.
“What Buffy means is, do you sense an ‘atmosphere’ – a presence, something …well something not right, odd about the place?”
Giles frowned, thought for a moment or two and said,
“No, why?”
“Only we’ve had a couple of weird things happen, hold on, I’ll just…” Spike went over and closed the window so the children wouldn’t accidentally over-hear and be frightened.
“Early hours of this morning, Billy had a bad dream, his head was whipping from side to side, he was worried that something or someone was hurting – I don’t think it was him it was hurting – but anyway, you know his drawings”
“Of Tilly, yes, they are very good”
“Tilly?” Buffy and Spike said in unison
“Yes, he just piped up with it in the car when we were coming through Barnstaple. He said, Tilly is very sad because she died, and I said, who’s Tilly, and he said the girl in my drawings, her name is Tilly. – Oh and don’t worry, Izzie was asleep, she didn’t hear any of this. So then I said, how do you know her name then, and he just shrugged and said he did”
“Well, what ever her name is, she’s trying to tell us something, his drawings were covered in red crayon, to mean blood. There was a slash-mark on the neck of the first drawing, crayon used to look like spurting blood, and the one where she’s lying down had cut wrists and there were daggers, really ornately drawn, with fancy handles all dripping with blood. Gave me the wiggins, I couldn’t understand why he’d draw such a thing”
Giles looked horrified and said
“Oh my god, what did you say to him?”
“Nothing…when I looked this morning, they were all back to normal, just his pencil drawings, no blood or crayon, just the pencil drawings, I went through the whole book from front to back and back to front”
“Strange…could it have been a trick of the light – there’s no electricity upstairs yet, is there?”
“No, but well, Spike saw it too, didn’t you?” he nodded Spike had arms folded and he looked at Buffy and she in turn looked at him.
“And that’s not all………” Buffy went onto explain what happened earlier in the bedroom.
Giles sat contemplating, tenting his fingers and removing and cleaning his glasses.
“Well, it could be poltergeist activity of course, often happens when there are young children in the house, they are attracted to the energy”
“Well it can just jolly well UN-attract itself…can you do a cleansing spell or something?”
“You mean an exorcising…yes, I could do, well I could try”
“Oh please, would you – I’d feel so much better if-”
“Mommy, MOMMY! Izzie’s been stung by a wasp! We tried to run away but it wouldn’t go” Outside Izzie could be heard howling and crying.
“Oh, I’ll see to her, you and Giles have a chat about things okay?” Buffy went to sort out her daughter.
When he was sure that she was out of earshot, Spike said,
“I never told Buffy this as I didn’t want to alarm her, but one of the barmaids in the Smuggler’s pub down in the village tried to warn me something bad had happened here, but the landlord soon shut her up. And Buffy herself has come up against hostility when folk learned we’d actually bought this place”
“Okay look, I’ll need to go into Exeter, there’s a supply shop there, also I’ll need to hook up my laptop to the Internet and access my books, I haven’t done an exorcism for god – I can’t remember! So tomorrow night will be the earliest I can do, will that be alright?”
“Yeah, fine – we’re going to have the kids in our room tonight anyway, because the smell of the paint”
Buffy came in carrying a tearful Izzie
“Daddy, a whops bited me!”
“Stung you pet…oh never mind…mommy make it better for you” Izzie nodded and whimpered.
“What’s for tea?” Billy asked wandering in
“I’m making a casserole with the stuff I bought at the farmers market!” Giles said.
“Oh yes…so you can cook then?” Billy said smiling
“It has been known, young man – and saying that, I better jump to it” Giles finished his tea and stood up, then went into the kitchen.
Billy went over to the torch on the table and slid the ‘on/off switch.
“Don’t touch that Billy, it’s - ” A bright whitish yellow beam hit the wall
“It’s what, daddy?”
“Broken, what did you do?”
“Just switched it on” he showed his dad to demonstrate.
“Thing just died on me earlier, I thought it was a broken bulb or the battery was flat or something!”
*****************
“Hmmm – that was delicious!” Buffy sat back in her chair, finishing her glass of wine, hand on her tummy.
“It was indeed, the chicken was so tender” Spike agreed wiping his mouth on a serviette.
“Tilly used to feed the chickens…” Billy said suddenly.
Buffy and Spike had to pretend they didn’t know who Tilly was, so standing up and stacking plates Buffy said casually,
“Who’s Tilly?”
“Girl in my picture, she used to live here, years ago” Buffy didn’t want Billy to talk about Tilly in front of Izzie, so she quickly changed the subject
“Oh – well, I was thinking, it might be nice if we kept a few hens once daddy has the garden straight, and then you could have nice big brown speckled boiled eggs for your tea, would you like that?”
“Could I help you feed them?”
“Of course”
“An me mommy?” Izzie asked, then she yawned
“And you poppet!” Buffy ‘pretend’ tweaked her daughter’s nose.
Spike pulled Izzie onto his lap and she promptly fell asleep.
“Coffee, Giles?”
“Please”
“Uncle Giles”
“Yes Billy?”
“This thing you’re going to do”
“What thing, Billy?”
“The…the exercising?”
“Exorcising – how did you know about”
“It won’t hurt her, will it?”
“Hurt who?”
“Tilly of course!”
Buffy had heard what her son had said and came back into the lounge. Putting her hand on his shoulder she said,
“Don’t you worry yourself about such things Billy, everything will be alright, okay? Nobody will get hurt”
Billy nodded, then yawned.
They’d given up asking how Billy knew such things when nothing had been said in front of him; they resignedly put it down to his ‘special’ powers.
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