Doctor Who_ Psi-Ence Fiction - Chris Boucher [70]
Josh took the lead as they stumbled their way along the track, passing the darker, more distinct shapes of a chapel and a large yew tree before reaching the first, and what looked like the oldest, burial area.
Josh said. 'That little chapel back there and these graves here were probably all there was to begin with. This would have been the original cemetery.' He shone the torch about like a guide directing a tour party's attention to interesting features.
It was immediately obvious that the place was routinely maintained and cared for. An effort had been made to keep the weeds and brambles back and under control. The grass paths between the old graves had been clipped and edged. The gravestones were tilted and uneven, their surfaces weathered, lichen-pocked and stained with age but there was a neat and dignified elegance about the decay.
'I'll bet it's pretty in the daylight,' Meg said. 'If you like that sort of thing.'
Josh swept the torch slowly and systematically across the area. 'Something reasonably level would be favoured.' He found what he was looking for in the far corner of the plot. 'There's one.'
'Typical,' Tommy said. 'Have you noticed that about tombstones? The one you want is always the furthest away.'
Josh led them through the jumble of graves. 'It's a pity we can't tell much about who's in any of these,' he said. 'There's no way of separating the saints from the sinners unfortunately. Did you know they used to bury the bad 'uns face down? They wanted to be sure they couldn't dig their way out. Now, if we could find one of those who knows what unquiet spirits might be stirred into action.'
'I thought you said this was all crap,' Ralph said. 'Are you telling us it's different in the dark?'
Josh said, 'You have to be open-minded about things don't you?'
Ralph slipped on the narrow path. 'Not always. Some things don't deserve to be given that much respect.' He clutched at a headstone to regain his balance. Pushing himself off it he whispered, 'Excuse me, I meant no disrespect.'
'You seem to know a lot about cemeteries,' Tommy said.
Josh said, 'Vacation job.'
'I thought it might be a hobby,' Tommy said. 'A sort of necrophiliac trainspotting?'
'Or a Good Cemeteries Guide,' Meg offered from behind him.
At the back of the line Chloe thought she had misheard. A vacation job?
Was that what he said? A vacation job. As she waited for Ralph to get moving again a sudden icy doubt chilled Chloe. Could it be that this whole thing was just another stupid game? A really, really sick joke? She wouldn't put it past Josh Randall to have lured them here to make absolute idiots of them. It was the sort of cruel idea that would probably appeal to someone like him. 'Did you say you worked in this cemetery?' she asked, trying to keep the suspicion out of her voice.
'Not this one, no,' Josh said. 'Trust me, if I'd worked in this one I'd have had a key to that gate.' He turned round to look at her and shone the torch directly on his face. This time the illumination did nothing to make him look grotesque. 'And I'd have said wouldn't I? I mean if I hadn't said, you might think I was playing stupid games. Trying to make you look like an idiot.' He shone the torch back on the grass path.
'Is that what I'd think?' Chloe challenged. 'What gives you that idea? How do you know what I think?'
'It's what I'd think in your place,' he said reasonably. 'It would only be reasonable. It's what any reasonable person would think.'
They reached the chosen grave and filed on around it so that they were standing two on either side and one at the foot. From the worn carving on the headstone and the roughened surface of the marble there was no question but that this grave was as old as any of the others. Some fluke of drainage, or perhaps it was the quality of the original workmanship, had left the memorial stones solid and unmoved. Unlike most of the others the headstone was vertical, and the main part of the grave, built up and carved to look like a miniature vault, was level and undamaged.