Take Me to Church Read online

  “Where are Mama and Pappa?” she asks, stumbling alongside me.

  “They'll be fine,” I reply. “We'll find them, just -”

  “It's up there!” she screams, stopping suddenly and pointing up at the roof of the church.

  Looking up, I see that she's right. The bone snatcher is directly above the door, as if it's daring us to go through. His gray skin looks even paler now with sunlight just about managing to break through the clouds, and the creature's yellowing eyes are filled with more anger and hatred than I've ever seen in another living being. For a moment I hesitate, before reaching down to check whether my hammer is still hanging from my belt.

  It's not.

  It must be inside.

  “We have to get through the door,” I tell Tammy.

  “But -”

  “We have to!” I shout, reaching down and scooping her trembling body into my arms before starting to run forward. I don't know where I'm getting the energy, but I guess sheer panic is enough to drive me onward as I duck through the doorway, narrowly avoiding the bone snatcher as it reaches down to grab me. Dropping to my knees, I spill Tammy out onto the floor and then turn back to see that somehow, miraculously, I managed to get us back into the church unscathed. Out of breath and exhausted, I feel the extra energy already starting to drain from my body, but still I get to my feet and look out once again. The bone snatcher's hand is reaching down from above the doorway, but slowly it slips up and out of view.

  “Where's Mama?” Tammy sobs. “Where's Pappa?”

  “I -” Turning to her, I realize I have no answer.

  “Where are they?” she screams.

  “It's okay,” I stammer. “Don't cry, please...”

  “Where are they?” she shouts again, sobbing as she runs past me.

  “They're alive,” I reply, grabbing her to keep her from going out, and then taking a moment to watch the rough sea for any sign of life. “They have to be. When did you last see them?”

  “Mama tried to hold onto my hand when the causeway collapsed,” she tells me, “but it was so cold and wet, we got separated. I felt her sinking.”

  “That's okay,” I continue, “she must have made it out somehow.”

  “Where are they?” she whimpers, with tears flowing down her face.

  We stand and watch the stormy sea for a moment, as rain pours down from above. A cold wind is blowing through my soaked clothes, rippling against my freezing, bloodied skin.

  “Tammy,” I say after a moment, “I...”

  “Where are they?” she asks, grabbing my hand and tugging at my arm. “Please, make them come back. I know you can do it.”

  I shake my head.

  “You can!” she shouts, pulling on my arm harder and harder. “I know you can! Why won't you save them?”

  “I -”

  Stopping suddenly, I realize I can see something moving far away, on the shore at the other end of the wrecked causeway. I squint, trying to get a better view, and finally I realize that I'm right: I can just about make out two small figures crawling up the opposite beach. The sight seems impossible for a moment, too good to be true, and I hold back before I say anything, just in case I'm wrong.

  But I'm not wrong.

  “They're alive,” I say with a sigh of relief. “Tammy, do you see them? They're over there, they must have -”

  Suddenly there's a rumbling sound from above, and the sound of the bone snatcher scrambling once again across the roof.

  “What's it doing?” Tammy asks. “Is it going to attack us again?”

  “It can't,” I reply, turning to keep track of the bone snatcher's progress. It seems to be moving up toward the top of the roof, but a moment later I hear it scrabbling down again until it's directly above us. “It can't come inside. Whatever it's doing...” I pause for a moment, my mind flooding with possibilities. “It's smarter than I thought,” I continue. “I never guessed for one moment that it would try to draw me out by attacking you. I mean, that shows planning, and cunning, and a lot more intelligence than I anticipated.” I pause, before turning to Tammy. “I swear, I thought you'd all be safe. It never occurred to me that the creature would go to such lengths to get to me, I'd never have let you -”

  Hearing a splitting sound, I look back across the church's main room and see that water is suddenly raining down close to the altar. I let go of Tammy's hand and start hurrying along the aisle, pushed onward as pure adrenalin courses through my body and defies the pain. That feeling of razor blades is now spreading up from my ankle, filling my chest and cutting into me every time I take a breath. Finally, as I reach the steps, I look up and see to my horror that one of the roof's wooden panels has been entirely broken away, revealing the face of the bone snatcher grinning down at me as rain falls onto the altar. Before I can even react, the filthy creature reaches its arm through into my church, grabbing at me even though it's far too high up.

  “Out!” I shout, looking around for something I can throw before spotting my hammer on one of the benches. I aim the hammer at the gap in the roof but I miss, and the bone snatcher simply continues to grin before suddenly disappearing from view and scuttling across the roof.

  My hammer lands hard on the floor nearby.

  Looking down, I see more rainwater spattering against the church's floor, while I can already hear the storm starting to build again outside.

  “No,” I whisper, filled with rage as I turn and hurry toward the side-room.

  “Rachel!” Tammy shouts from nearby.

  “Not now!” I hiss. “Can't you see I'm busy?”

  Heading into the side-room, I make my way to the far end and open the dresser, pulling out as many of the old metal plates that I can carry. I hurry back through to the main room and over to the altar, and then I get down onto my knees as I start arranging the plates. All this rainwater will end up damaging the wood if it's allowed to fall unchecked, and I can't risk that, not now that I'm getting too weak to make proper repairs. It takes a moment, but I quickly get the plates set out in a row, catching most of the rainwater, although I realize after a moment that some splashes are still hitting the wooden floor below.

  Muttering several curses under my breath, I start rearranging the plates, determined to ensure that no more water falls onto the wooden floor, but no matter how I set the plates out, I don't have enough to get everything covered.

  Suddenly I hear a splitting sound from the roof, and I look up just in time to see that the bone snatcher has torn away another section.

  “No!” I shout, stumbling to my feet and knocking the plates out of the way as I struggle around the side of the benches. More rainwater is now coming through the fresh hole and the bone snatcher is once again reaching through, as if it somehow thinks it can reach me from up there.

  “Rachel!” Tammy calls out.

  “Not now!” I shout, looking around for something, anything, I might be able to use to catch the rainwater that's already splattering onto the floor in this part of the church. It's as if all the work I've done over the years is being ripped apart, and rising anger in my chest is making it hard for me to know how to put it right.

  From above, I hear the bone snatcher's snarl.

  “Go to hell!” I scream, looking up and seeing the creature's foul grin. After a moment, the beast scuttles away, and I can hear it moving across the roof once again, as if it's trying to choose another section of my beloved church to rip apart.

  “Rachel, I'm scared!” Tammy shouts from the doorway. “I want to go back to my parents!”

  “Soon,” I mutter, limping around the edge of the benches and heading toward the side-room, determined to find more plates, or cups, or something I can use to catch the rainwater. If I don't find a solution soon, the wooden floor could end up soaked and warped. I already need to go back up to the roof and fix these fresh holes, and that's before I've even considered trying to find a way to keep the creature from causing more damage. I can't die with the church in this state, I have to stop th
e damage somehow and then start to make repairs.

  “Rachel!” Tammy screams.

  “Not now!”

  Making my way to the side-room's far end, I open one of the other cupboards, only to find that there's nothing inside.

  “Rachel, help!”

  “Come on,” I whisper, trembling with anger as I look around, desperately trying to find something I can use. My mind is racing, filled with thoughts, churning as I wait for a solution to present itself. All my work, all those years, and now this filthy creature is going to undo everything and leave the church in a worse state than the day I first came. “This can't be happening. I can't lose my church now, not right at the end, not -”

  Suddenly I hear Tammy screaming from the main room, and she starts shouting for me to help her. Realizing that I've been ignoring her while I was worried about the roof and the floor, I limp across the side-room and look through.

  “Tammy!” I shout. “Not now! Came and -”

  I freeze as soon as I see her.

  She's over by the door still, her eyes filled with horror as one of the bone snatcher's hands reaches through and grips her by the shoulder, trying to pull her out. There's blood on the front of her dress and she's trying to hold on to the nearest bench, but the creature is slowly dragging her through the doorway.

  “Stop!” I scream, staggering past the benches as fast as I can manage, pushing through the pain as I hurry to the door. Slipping on some of the plates I set out earlier, I almost fall; stumbling forward, I steady myself against the farthest bench and then make my way toward the main door as Tammy continues to scream.

  “Help!” she shouts.

  “It's going to be okay,” I stammer, grabbing her by the arm as more rain is blown through the open doorway. Taking hold of the bone snatcher's rigid gray hand, I start to force its claws out of the child's flesh one by one, until finally I get Tammy loose and pull her away. We both fall hard against the floor, but I immediately take hold of her and drag her further into the church before looking back and seeing that the bone snatcher is still watching us, almost as if it's daring itself to come inside.

  Next to me, Tammy lets out a gasp of pain as she sits up.

  “Get out of here!” I shout at the creature, stumbling to my feet and taking a step forward. “Leave her alone! It's me you want!”

  The creature hisses and spits, and its grasping hand reaches toward me.

  I should go out there right now and end this one way or the other, but a moment later I realize I can hear Tammy sobbing behind me. Looking down at her, I know without a shadow of a doubt that I have to help her before I risk my own life, and that means getting her back to her parents on the mainland. Sure, Donald and Marnie will eventually find a way over here, they'll travel to the nearest town and borrow a boat, but that process will take days and I can't be sure that Tammy will stay safe for that long. For one thing, the bone snatcher might yet surprise me again and try to hurt her; for another, I won't last much longer and I can't leave her alone.

  “It hurts,” she sobs, as the bloodstain on her shoulder continues to grow, spreading down the arm of her dress.

  “Let me see.” Kneeling next to her, I examine the injury and see to my relief that it's superficial. The bone snatcher didn't have time to do anything too bad, and she'll get away with just a scar. Provided she gets away at all, that is.

  “It stings,” she tells me, her tear-filled eyes staring at me as she waits for me to make everything better. I have to get her away from this place, but...

  I pause for a moment, as Tammy continues to sob and as the storm builds outside. Turning, I see that the waves are still not as strong as they were yesterday, which means a boat would definitely be able to reach the short just half a mile away.

  If we had a boat, that is.

  “It's okay,” I whisper, turning back to Tammy as I start to realize what I have to do. “I'm going to get you out of here.”

  “My shoulder hurts,” she replies, her whole body shaking with cold and shock as her wet clothes cling to her.

  “Go into the side-room,” I tell her, hauling her to her feet, “and try to find something dry in one of the cupboards.”

  “What if that thing is in there?” she asks, clearly terrified.

  “It won't be.”

  “But you said before that it -”

  “You'll be safe,” I continue, even though I know my words must sound hollow by now. “Please, you just have to trust me one more time. I told you the creature from the roof wouldn't come into the church, didn't I? And I was right. Mostly, anyway.”

  She stares at me, and I can tell I'm starting to win her over.

  “Go find some clothes,” I tell her again, gently pushing her toward the door. “I have to get to work. Find some clothes, and use some bandages from the medicine box to dry your shoulder. And when you come back through, bring the tool-box that's under the bed.”

  “What are you going to do?”

  “The only thing I can do,” I reply, stepping back and watching as she makes her way into the side-room. Turning, I make my way past the benches, ignoring the scattered plates on the floor and the fact that rain is still falling into the church Instead, I limp toward the altar and then over to the far wall, and finally I reach down and pick my hammer up from the floor.

  This is going to hurt.

  This is going to be the opposite of everything I ever stood for, but...

  “Forgive me,” I whisper.

  I make my way back past the altar and head to the wall at the rear of the main room. If I'm going to do this, I can at least do it in a section where the damage will be less visible. My hands are trembling as I stop at the wall and look for a spot where the wooden planks are joined together, and then I turn the hammer around and start digging the clawed section into the wood. One by one, I start pulling out the nails, the same nails that I hammered into place all those years ago when I was young and was first setting out to repair the church. Every time one of the nails comes loose and drops to the floor, I feel as if part of my soul is being ripped away, but I also know that I have no choice.

  Tammy is more important.

  “I'm sorry,” I stammer. “I wouldn't do this if there was any other way.”

  The wall creaks, almost as if it's answering.

  After pulling some more nails out, I'm finally able to pull a plank away from the wall. Wind and rain blow through the gap as I carefully maneuver the plank onto the floor and lay it out, and then I immediately get to work on another part of the wall, digging out the nails until I can pull another part of the wall away. I can feel my weakened body struggling with the work, but I know I have to keep going for Tammy's sake so I simply ignore the pain. I set the second plank down on the floor, then a third, and I work at such a furious pace that within just a few minutes I've managed to get ten entire pieces of wood away from the wall. Turning to start work on another, I slip on the rain-soaked wooden floor and fall down, landing hard and letting out a gasp of pain.

  I take a deep breath as I look at the hole in the wall, and I can see the vast stormy sea and sky stretching out far beyond. It's as if I've opened a huge wound in the church's side, a wound I most likely won't ever get to fix. As a fresh gust of wind blows in from the sea, the church creaks and shudders, as if it's suffering.

  “I'm so sorry,” I whisper, with tears in my eyes. “Don't hate me. I have to do this!”

  Despite the fresh pain in my right leg, I grab the hammer and then start gathering the old nails from the floor. Some of them are old and rusty, and some are bent, but I'll make them fit. Just as I'm about to get to my feet, I hear a snarl from nearby and I turn to see that the bone snatcher has finally noticed what I'm doing. He reaches through the gap in the wall and tries to grab me, but I swing the hammer at him and slash through his hand, causing him to cry out in pain as he recoils. Crawling across the floor, I start arranging the wet, heavy wooden planks as my mind races with the plan that's still forming. I don't even know
that this will work, but I have to try.

  No, I'll make it work.

  “What are you doing?” Tammy asks.

  I turn and see that she's wearing one of my old tunics. It's far too big for her, of course, but it's better than her soaked, freezing dress from before.

  “You know the tarpaulin I was wrapped in when I came here?” I ask, as I reach out and take the tool-box from her hands.

  She nods.

  “It's over past those benches,” I continue, pointing toward the far end of the church. “Keep well away from the door, but go get the tarpaulin and drag it back here. It's going to be heavy, but I need it.”

  “What for?”

  “I'll explain when you get back. Just do it, Tammy, please...”

  She stares at me for a moment, before turning and running past the benches.

  Feeling a jolt of pain in my chest, I continue to lay out the planks until I've got a rough idea of how I'm going to work, and then I open the tool-box. To my immense relief, all my old tools are still in here, albeit a little rusty these days. I take out the saw and examine the teeth for a moment, before looking down at the nearest plank.

  I can do this.

  Nearby, the bone snatcher is still watching me through the hole in the wall, desperate to get to me but too terrified to actually cross the threshold of the church.

  “I don't have time for you right now,” I sneer, glancing at him briefly. “I'll deal with you later.”

  With that, I get to work sawing one of the planks in half. I remember how carefully I treated this wood before, how tenderly I worked on the church, but that was back in the old days when I had no-one else to worry about and the only thing that mattered was restoring this building. Now, working furiously to cut the planks into the lengths I need, I figure I have no choice but to keep going. I can worry about the hole in the wall later, maybe I can even summon the energy to cut down a tree, fashion some fresh planks and fix the damage; I can probably even cobble together some old spare pieces of wood from the basement, pieces that might just about be suitable for a wall. They wouldn't be suitable for what I'm doing right now, however.