The boy had been running for what seemed like hours but it had in fact only been a few minutes. He had seen the creatures glowing red eyes and had felt the fire that it had breathed.
His parents had always told him stories of the witches and their familiars that searched for lost children to take them back to their lair and devour them. Until this day he had always thought that this was silly. Not any more. He had been watching the witch, hearing her talk to with familiar and he knew if he were to be caught then they would kill him.
Looking back he could not see anything. Maybe he had lost them. Suddenly he tripped over a branch. Cursing his bad luck he picked himself up only to face the witch with her familiar next to her, it's eyes glowing. He turned to run but it was too late. He screamed.
HAIR OF THE DOG
She had been in Casablanca for three weeks now and had seen all she wanted to. So the time had come to move on. "But," she thought, "one more night on the town..." And so at six that evening she left her hotel room and took a stroll by the harbour. She had been walking for about an hour when she came across a bar called Jades. Looking upon this as fate she decided to spend a pleasant evening getting drunk.
The bar was a Spartan affair a few tables and chairs, a few unusual pictures on the walls. In the far corner were some men playing poker and at the bar sat a couple of sailors looking at each other very intently.
She took a seat at the bar and ordered a neat double vodka. The barman gave her her drink and asked her if she was enjoying her stay in Casablanca. "How do you know I'm only visiting?" she asked.
"Oh you have the look of a traveller," replied the barman. "I see, she said, paying for her drink and moving over to the far corner to watch the poker game.
With fascination she noticed that one man dominated the game; a large man with long black hair, a beard, and the longest fingernails she had ever seen on a man. And intense eyes that seemed to burn into your soul. He gave a great belly laugh as another of the players left the game penniless. Eventually the table was empty except for the man, whom she had found out from the barman was the owner while ordering her sixth double vodka.
The man looked at her and spoke. "Would you care to play a hand of Poker with me?"
"Oh I don't know anything about this game," she lied.
"I'll let you win," replied the man and the funny thing was she believed him. "Oh all right then," she agreed.
As the game progressed the man was as good as his word and her winnings increased with each hand as did her alcohol consumption. Then little by little the winnings decreased until she found she was rapidly losing. "Hang on you said you would let me win," she said with indignation.
"Yes I did, but you said you did not know anything about this game so all bets are off. Time to get serious," he said in a mocking tone.
The game went on until finally the pot on one particular hand became so big she found she could not cover the bet, so the man pointed the a bracelet on her wrist which seemed to fascinate him. She told him that the bracelet was worth ten times the amount of the bet. He agreed and produced the keys of the bar and, for a laugh, an old treasure map. "If I lose," he said, "then the pot the bar and this map are yours."
"Fine," she said, "I'll take the bar but I've had my fill of buried treasure."
She took off the bracelet and put it next to the money, keys and map. It was a tense moment. She turned over her cards: a Jack of clubs, a King of clubs, King of hearts, King of spades and finally the King of diamonds. She smiled and reached over to collect her winnings.
"Not so fast," the man said as he laid a queen and four Ace's on the table. "Checkmate I believe," purred the man.
She could not believe it. He reached over and took the bracelet placing it around his wrist. "Perfect fit wouldn't you say? You have my thanks."
"Your welcome," she said with a slight trace of bitterness, desperately trying to think how to get the bracelet back. Then she realised the man was talking to her. "I'm not totally ruthless you know. I would not leave a fellow traveller stranded. Here, take this." He handed her a bag, counting enough money to live comfortably on for many years, and the map. "That should be enough to keep you going, and there is always the map if you get bored. I shall bid you goodnight." And with those words she was escorted off the premises and driven to her hotel where she fell into her room and a drunken sleep.
She awoke the next morning with the hangover from hell. She stumbled around for a few minuets and then she remembered SHE HAD LOST THE BRACLET! Thanking her drunken state from the night before, she did not have to waste time getting dressed so she left the hotel as fast as her hangover would allow. Retracing her steps, she finally found Jades bar and went in. It was exactly the same as it had been the previous night except for the people and the four-inch thick layer of dust everywhere. The cobwebs this place had indicated that it had not been entered for at least fifty years.
That was it. She was stuck now. What would she do? She put a hand into her pocket to retrieve a miniature she always kept in case of emergencies. "Hair of the dog," she thought and instead found a crumpled piece of paper. Unfolding it she found it was the map. She laughed, but upon closer inspection she found it to be an old map of Scotland.
This intrigued her. What would a Scottish treasure map be doing in Casablanca of all places? Deciding she had nothing to lose, she booked passage on a ship leaving for Southampton that very night. The journey would take four weeks, enough time to bring her journal up to date and study the map. "And I just hope my stomach can handle it," she thought.
***
The journey was uneventful apart from the several brief encounters with many of the ships crew, which was the subject of much gossip among her fellow passengers. Upon arriving at Southampton she booked into a guesthouse and made travel arrangements to get her to London the next day.
She arose early and ate a hearty breakfast before setting off. When she arrived in London she decided to spend few days taking in the sites and shows. After a few days of fun and relaxation she found herself replenished, ready for the task ahead, and so booked herself on the overnight sleeper to Glasgow. It had been many years since she had last visited the great city and that was for an old firm match, which had led to a six-day pub-crawl with some fans after the match.
While she had been on the ship she had studied the map closely and found it to be over two hundred years old. She had obtained from the ships mapping officer (for a favour) an up to date map of Scotland for comparison.
On the old map the treasure was buried in the valley of ghosts where X marked the spot. "How corny," she had thought but on the modern map she found the place was called Kilmartin, a small village in Argyll on the west coast of Scotland. So once she had obtained a car, some camping and digging equipment, she headed for Kilmartin.
For many weeks she had been enjoying herself camping all around the area. It was quite like old times, she thought to herself. The locals were very stand-offish and seemed more than a little afraid of her. "We baint loik strangers around these here parts," she thought as she chuckled to herself. And coupled with the fact that she spent most of her time in what the locals still referred to as the valley of ghosts did nothing to improve their liking of her.
Apparently, about 25 years previously, many of the villagers that had been in the valley had disappeared under mysterious circumstances. It had never been explained and even to this day the valley was still considered a no go area, so with this in mind she tried to maintain a low profile. Not easy for a stranger in a small community. Little did she know that one particular local was taking an avid interest in her activities...
She spent most of her days surveying the valley. She had had no luck until during a day in her fourth week there she came across a small stone circle in the middle of a clearing. Although there was nothing unusual in that, as the area was famous for having many stone circles within a small radius, what was unusual was the fact that this particular circle had many smaller stones inside it which made the shape of an X. "Bingo," she said. "Mustn't do anything now. I'll wait till the evening." She started to set up camp.
As she began to unpack she did not notice the young boy watching her from the woods.
Connor had lived in the village all his life and he had heard all the spooky stories of witches and their familiars that roamed the valley, searching for lost souls, but he didn't believe such silly stories. He was ten and too grown up to be scared by such nonsense. So when the strange woman came to the village and set up camp in the valley the villagers regarded her with suspicion and the rumours grew in strength. This only served to make Connor all the more curious. As he watched her unpack he decided that he would come back that evening and find out what she was up to.
***
"Time for bed young man," shouted Connor's mum from the kitchen, he put down his book and gave his mum and dad a kiss and said good night. "And don't forget to brush your teeth. I'll be up in minute to tuck you in," his mum called after him.
"Alright then," he said. He did as he was told and was in bed by the time she arrived. She came over to him, kissed him good night again, and then left the room, turning the light out as she left.
As soon as she had left, he got up. He was still fully dressed. He grabbed his school bag, which contained a torch and an apple in case he got hungry through the night. He opened the window very carefully and climbed out.
He made his way through the woods at the back of the house until he came to the edge of the forest next to the stone circle. There, the woman was leaning over something, close to the ground. He could just make out that the woman was digging and decided to get a better view so moved towards one of the larger outer stones. Suddenly he heard a clunk. She had hit something solid with her spade. He saw her struggle with what appeared to be a large box. She took a few seconds to drag it out and clear the earth off of it and then she took a strange device from her pocket. It made a high-pitched noise. After some time he heard a click and she opened the box. A look of surprise shot across the woman's face. "Oh goddess," she cried as she took an object out of the box. He could make out a vague shape but not much more. The woman knelt by the shape and touched the top. Suddenly the shape came to life and he could see that the shape was in fact a creature with glowing red eyes. Then it was talking to the woman. He stumbled on a stone underfoot, letting out a yell. They heard him and the creature breathed fire that ignited a tree behind him.
He thought that he heard the woman shout "no."
'The witch' and her familiar advanced towards him so he turned and fled into the woods.
The woman gave chase with the creature behind her. After a few minutes they caught up with the boy who was by now terrified and screaming about monsters and demons. "Hey hey, calm down. We're not going to hurt you!" She held out her hand and introduced herself. "My name's Bernice and this thing next to me is no demon. He's just a metal dog and I've been informed his name is K-9. He's very sorry for frightening you and I promise you that you'll be safe with us."
Connor looked at them both little warily. "My name's Connor and I'm sorry for spying on you."
"That's okay. At least you made an effort unlike the rest of this village. Anyway, lets not stand about here getting cold. What do you say to beans on toast?" Connor agreed and they headed back to the circle.
When they arrived back Bernice was as good as her word and made them beans on toast while Connor befriended K-9. After they had finished there meal Bernice stood up and said to K-9, "now lets work you out my little friend." She went over to the box and retrieved a folded parchment with her name on it and a wax seal that she recognised. She hurriedly broke the seal and read the contents of the parchment it said "B.... press green button. D..." Doing as instructed a small beam of light emitted from K-9's main sensor. Fearing more fire Connor recoiled but was surprised to find that the light was forming a picture of a small man in a cream suit, hat and question mark umbrella. Bernice smiled as the image spoke.
"Well I see you made it. Now what have I always told you about talking to and playing cards with strangers. Hmm, you should be more careful with your toys so I'm returning your lost property. The Time Ring is around K-9's neck don't lose it again. I thought you could do with a little adventure for old times sake, and speaking of old times, K-9 ... well, let's call him a souvenir in remembrance of the time we spent together. He will be good friend. Anyway must go now, I'm meeting myself last Thursday and I'm already two weeks early. Don't let K-9 fight with Wolsey Oh yes and say hello to Connor for me. Goodbye... now how do you turn this blasted thing o.."
Bernice and Connor looked at each other in bewilderment. "What did he mean? How did he know my name?" asked Connor.
"Search me," said Bernice. They looked at each other for a while and then Connor spoke. "You're leaving, aren't you?"
"I'm afraid so. Wolsey will be needing fed."
"Wolsey," said Connor.
"My cat it's a long story," Bernice replied.
"Maybe you can tell it to me some day," said Connor.
"Who knows," said Bernice as she knelt down by K-9 and retrieved the Time Ring and something else. Placing the bracelet around her wrist she looked at the other object and, smiling, handed it to Connor. "Here take this to remember us by and maybe we'll come back and visit one day, eh K-9?"
"Affirmative mistress, goodbye master Connor."
Taking the object, he said his goodbyes and watched as Bernice touched the bracelet and both she and K-9 faded out of existence. He stood watching the spot they had occupied pondering on the mans words and all that he had witnessed that evening. Then suddenly remembering the object he opened his hand and looked at it for the first time.
It was a small metal disk with some writing on both sides. On one side it simply said K-9 but it was the other side that intrigued him. It said, "To Connor, a young man with vision and courage. Live the future as it happens... The Doctor."
"What did it mean?" He knew that in time it would all become clear. Smiling, he put the disk into his pocket and, turning toward the woods once more, he headed for home.
EPILOGUE
The young man had only been in Oslo for a couple of days and he was already bored. He had been walking around taking in the night air when he entered a deserted alleyway with a door at the end and a sign above the door, which said simply 'Jades'. He pushed open the door and walked in.
The bar was very quiet except for a game of poker being played in a far corner of the room.
The man with the long hair and nails looked up at the young man who had just entered and studied him intensely the young man was blond, good looking, around six foot tall and well built. And he had a small bracelet around his right wrist. "Will they never learn?" thought the man as he smiled to himself.
The young man ordered a drink and sat watching the game with interest. When all the other players had lost to the long hired man he turned to the young man and said "Would you care to play a hand of poker with me? I'll let you win."
The young man smiled and said "sure why not?" Taking up a chair at the gaming table the young man reached out his hand towards the long haired man and said "Oh my names Chris Mr...?"
Taking his hand, the long haired man paused for a moment then smiled and said " Pleased to meet you Christopher.....I'M Foreman."
