Tim's Tales: A Hallowe'en tale

HIDDEN on the edge of Gifford woods are the lonely ruins of Yester Castle. The remains of the castle are ancient and the oldest part is called Goblin Ha. It is partly underground, and its name means Goblin Hall.

According to legend, a wizard named Hugh de Gifford made a deal with the Devil nearly 800 years ago, and in return an army of goblins swarmed up from hell and built Yester Castle for him. Goblin Ha is the part of the castle dating from that time and that’s how it got its name.

It is said goblins lurk in the shadows of the ruins, and especially in Goblin Ha itself. At sunset, when night falls, they come out of their hiding places and crawl about in the darkness.

One autumn day quite recently a dad decided to take his two children on a trip to find Yester Castle. He worked long hours during the week so he kept weekends for his children.

His daughter Suzie had just turned 13 and his son Jake was eight. Jake was mad about Harry Potter and wizards, and when he discovered there was a castle nearby made by goblins for a wizard he begged his dad to take him. Suzie was given the choice to stay at home with her mum, but at the last minute she decided to come.

It was sunny when they set off. “A perfect day to explore a castle made by goblins,” said the dad jokingly. They parked at the golf course and walked towards the woods.

“Maybe the goblins play golf,” Suzie joked to her wee brother.

“You shouldn’t make fun, they might hear you,” he said.

They finally reached the edge of the wood and peered into it. Suzie found the bridge over the ravine that led to the ruins but then Jake ran ahead very excited, looking for goblins.

It was difficult to imagine what the castle had originally looked like because it was so ruined. Jake said it reminded him of the ancient ruined temple in The Jungle Book movie. But one thing was for sure: it had an eerie atmosphere. As they explored, the dad walked under an archway and suddenly felt a shiver down his spine. He turned round and saw something move in the shadows.

For a moment they stood absolutely still. Then a bird flew out, giving them a fright. The dad and Suzie burst into laughter.

“Just a stupid bird!” said Jake, disappointed.

After a careful search they found the entrance to Goblin Ha. It was a small entrance leading to a low, dark passageway. Jake bravely led the way, with his sister and dad close behind.

A cold and damp atmosphere hit them as soon as they entered the chamber. Although it was dark, two windows above gave just enough light to see.

“So all this was supposed to have been made by goblins?” asked Suzie.

“Yeah,” said Jake, who was still getting over the excitement that he was actually in Goblin Ha, “and they came from hell up that stairway.” He pointed to the dark steps in the corner.

All three stood peering into the dark stairway which plunged deep into the ground.

“According to the legend, this stairway was made by the Devil after he had done a deal with the wizard and it leads to hell. But it’s blocked up now,” explained Jake. He looked at his father: “Can we go down dad, please!”

“Seems a bit dangerous to me son.”

“Aw, come on dad,” said Suzie, “we can’t come all this way and then not go down the stairway to hell.”

“Very well, but I’ll go first and we’ll use the torches on our phones,” said the dad.

Slowly they began to climb down the stairs. The light from their mobiles lit up the old walls and ancient worn steps as they descended. Suzie took photos in the darkness, although the flash wasn’t powerful enough to light up everything.

Eventually they reached a point where great stones blocked the way so they couldn’t go any further. “They were put there to keep out the goblins,” said Jake. His sister was now feeling a bit uneasy: “Can we go now, dad? It’s too spooky down here.”

“Scared of the goblins are we?” her wee brother mocked.

“Yes, let’s go back up,” said the dad. Jake led the way up to Goblin Ha. “It’s time we should be going, we’ve found the place so mission accomplished. It’ll be dark soon, let’s go now while there’s still good day light.”

So they left the ruins and walked back across the golf course, laughing and talking and admiring the beginnings of a sunset and a full moon in the darkening sky. They were at the car when Suzie realised she didn’t have her mobile phone.

“It was in my back pocket, it must’ve fallen out,” she insisted.

“Aw no Suzie, it could be anywhere,” her dad said, annoyed.

“Dad, we have to go back to get it, please. I know I had it in Goblin Ha, it might have even fallen out there.” The dad wasn’t happy but the mobile was expensive and so reluctantly he agreed.

They retraced their steps all the way back to the castle. It had only been 40 minutes since they had left the ruins but the atmosphere in the dim twilight was very different.

Finally they reached the entrance to Goblin Ha.

“You go first, dad,” said both children at the same time.

And so the dad put on his torch and entered. His children followed close behind.

When they emerged into Goblin Ha it was dark so the dad shone his torch on the ground, searching. “Where could you have left it?” he asked Suzie.

“Anywhere,” she replied, shrugging her shoulders.

They couldn’t phone it as there was no reception, so they kept searching.

It was Jake who heard it first: a faint sound coming from the dark stairway. He lifted his head and looked in its direction but it was too dark to see anything. There it was again, it sounded like breathing.

Jake froze in real terror. “Dad…” he whispered, “dad, there’s something there.”

“Stop it you wee bam,” said his sister, “you’re just trying to spook us.” But then she heard it too. It was louder this time, a strange breathing sound. It was definitely coming from the stairway.

Intrigued, the dad shone his light down the steps, although the mobile’s torch wasn’t strong enough to completely light up the dark.

Then suddenly a pair of red eyes appeared, staring back at him.

The dad screamed, making his two children scream as well, and they instinctively ran for the exit. But it was dark and they couldn’t see the way.

“Dad, for God’s sake shine it over here,” cried Suzie, now completely terrified.

The dad shone the torch and they ran through the passageway in a total panic. Once outside there was more light, from the full moon.

“Why did you scream, you scared the hell out of me!” Suzie shouted angrily at her dad.

“I’m sorry Suzie, it just gave me a fright, I didn’t mean to scare you,” he said.

“What gave you a fright, what did you see dad?” asked Jake, who was now scared himself despite his earlier bravado.

“Not sure really, I thought I saw, er…”

“Yes, yes what?” asked Suzie stretching out her arms impatiently.

The dad hesitated, then said: “Well it looked like eyes.”

“I am now officially freaked out,” said Suzie, “please let’s just get out of here, never mind the sodding phone.”

“I’m sure it was some kind of animal, maybe a fox or even an owl,” said her dad, trying to reassure her, “but yes it’s too dark now, we should go back to the car and maybe we can come back tomorrow in the light to look for your mobile.”

Jake was suddenly distracted. He saw something in the passageway.

“Dad… dad, whatever it is, it’s coming after us, look!”

The shadow of some creature was in the passageway, moving towards them.

Both Suzie and Jake were now in a state of complete terror and they ran.

“No, no, it’s dangerous, there’s a steep fall there, don’t run!” called out the dad.

The kids stopped just in time. In the moonlight they could see they were standing on the edge of a steep fall. Their dad caught up with them and took their hands. They walked together carefully with hearts racing through the trees towards the bridge that led to the golf course.

Behind them, a dark shadow came out of the entrance and crawled into the wood.

They were just past the arched wall when they saw the dark shadow move in front of them, blocking the way. The dad shone his torch directly at it, and for a split second he saw it before it vanished into the darkness. He looked shocked.

“What the hell was that, dad?” shrieked Suzie.

“I honestly don’t know,” he said

Whatever it was, it was still in the woods, moving in the darkness. Then it came towards them once again, this time making strange noises.

Jake suddenly yelled out: “Our father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come thy will be done, in heaven as it is on earth…” Whatever it was made a sound like a scream and retreated back into the dark wood towards Goblin Ha. Jake continued the prayer and finished with a loud “amen”.

“Let’s get out of here,” said the dad. All three ran in the moonlight out of the shadows of the wood onto the golf course. They kept running until they reached the car park, legs aching and completely breathless.

The dad fumbled for his keys while the children stared at the golf course, looking for a moving shadow.

Finally the dad found his keys and they were in the car and away as fast as possible.

Suzie was the first to speak: “I ask again, what was it?”

“I think the dark was playing tricks on us,” said her dad, “it was an animal of some sort.”

“But what about that horrible scream?” she asked.

“Foxes can make a strange screeching noise at night, Suzie, that’s what I think it was,” said her dad, trying to reassure her.

“It was a goblin, wasn’t it dad?” asked Jake.

“Aye right,” replied his sister sarcastically, “you read too much Harry Potter. And what was all that praying about? That was just weird.”

“It was a redcap goblin,” said Jake, “you can’t outrun them and the Lord’s Prayer is the only thing that will stop them. I had memorised it before our visit, just in case”.

“How’d you know that?” asked Suzie

“I read about it,” said Jake.

Suzie was just about to say something when her dad winked at her and interrupted: “Well if it was a redcap then the prayer seemed to work.” He hoped this would stop them arguing. And it did. Jake smiled and put on his earphones.

“I’m sure it was a fox,” whispered the dad to his daughter, “or maybe a big rat, but just let Jake think it was a goblin.”

They got home with a story to tell their mum!

In a quiet moment, when the children were busy, she asked the dad: “So what was it you saw?”

He hesitated to answer the question, as if he wouldn’t be believed.

“To be honest, I don’t know,” he said. “I told the kids it was a fox because I didn’t want to spook them, but I really can’t say.”

Who knows the truth of it all? If Suzie’s phone is ever found, the photos she took in the dark stairway might reveal what was really hiding in the darkness on that day.