‘Someone
was trying to break into my wardrobe.’ Said Jack, showing him
the damage. The manager was puzzled: ‘But why would anyone want
to break in here?’
Jack remembered the walking stick, but on unlocking the wardrobe door
he was relieved to find it still there. ‘And how on earth did
they get away?’ mused the manager. ‘No one passed me.’
Jack went to the window. But it was securely fastened. Then he spotted
the flowers: fresh and bright only a few hours ago, they were now
just brown wilted stalks.
‘Shall I fetch the police, do you think?’ asked the manager.
But they both agreed that, as nothing was missing, there seemed little
point.
Later the next morning Jack returned to Curiosities, but he found
the door locked and a sign ‘gone to sale’ hanging in the
window. The country house sale at Apley Manor, he assumed.
He found the proprietor there, milling about with other dealers, catalogue
in hand. He seemed unconcerned to see Jack, but when he saw he had
the walking stick with him he paled and looked afraid.
|
‘You
didn’t get this at any sale,’ cried Jack, roughly taking
him to one side. ‘You stole it from someone who is now following
me around trying to get it back.’
The man sighed: ‘You’re right. I did steal it. But not
in the way you think. I’ve lived all my life in Apley and
I have often heard the legend of Doctor Murdo’s fabulous walking
stick, and how it was said to have been fashioned for him by the
devil himself. But, of course, I never believed it. Then one day
I chanced upon a painting of the good doctor, walking stick in hand.
I was mesmerised, just as you were, by its ghastly beauty, and I
vowed to find it. Indeed, the pursuit of it became an obsession.
I knew it had been buried with him in an unmarked grave, which was
somewhere in an unhallowed part of the churchyard. It took me years,
but by piecing together clues from the various legends, I finally
managed to locate the exact spot. Digging there late one night,
I found a coffin, and on forcing it open there, in Murdo’s
bony claw of a hand, was the walking stick – as beautiful
as when it was first made. It was difficult to prise it from his
grasp, strong even in death. But the moment I did, the skeleton
fell to dust. |
