Horror Stories from Horrified - Volume One (2)

they mind if she built the fir e up? She w ent to the open fir eplace; spar e logs lay in a
tempting pile on the un-sw ept stone hear th. Sur ely, they w ouldn?t mind. Wher e was
Simon? He had been gone an age. She bent dow n and thr ew tw o logs onto the dying
ember s, coaxing them w ith the poker that had been leant uncer emoniously against the
stone fir e sur r ound. The logs began to ignite w ith little pine-smelling cr ackles, and she
r etur ned the poker to w her e she had found it. She stood up str aight and str etched befor e
the gr ow ing flames, yaw ning openly. Tir ed; hungr y; cold; w et; happy Chr istmas! Wher e the
hell was Simon? Then for the fir st time, she noticed the painting hanging over the fir eplace
and it made her shudder to her mar r ow : a snow y moor land landscape and the body of a
dead hind lying pr one in the heather , her lifeless head thr ow n back in the violent thr oes of
death. A w ound glar ed ver million against the cinnamon of her flank and lar ge dr ops of
blood tainted the w hite of the snow ar ound her body. And by her side, a tiny faw n looked
on, star ing into the cold, vacant face of its mother in confusion and fear. In the backgr ound,
standing on a small hummock of cotton gr ass, stood a huge stag w ith gr eat majestic antler s,
and he watched the scene, helpless and for lor n. Beth looked at the painting?s br ass title
plate set into the bottom edge of the scr atched, gold-painted fr ame: ?The Tr agic Accident?.
She felt the tightness in her thr oat that for ebodes tear s. This place was hor r ible. Why
w ould they hang that up? Who w ould want to see that?
She tur ned away fr om it abr uptly. Wher e was Simon? It sur ely couldn?t take this long to
see if ther e w er e any people about. What had happened to him? The eyes of the stuffed
buzzar d glinted at her in the fir elight. She felt a dull sinking, hot in her belly. Had
something bad happened to him? She was star ting to think something bad could happen to
someone in a place like this. The heavy ticking of the gr andfather clock taunted her. He
had been gone an age.
Then, like bluster , he r eappear ed thr ough the door behind the bar and took dow n tw o
glasses and a bottle of w hisky. He put them on the bar and pour ed himself a glass, dr inking
it dow n in one lar ge gulp.
?Simon, w her e have you been? What?s the matter ??
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