Patrick George Callaghan

Episode 52… Plain truth With Charles insistence on just a darkened room. Bill suggested the old stone smoke house at the back of the cottage. ‘We’ve not used it since we moved here and there are no windows, so it may suit your purpose Charlie.’ With thought of having brought most he needed with him, he returned to the car for those items that would be useful. Once his photographs became stable from the dim light of his occasional striking match, the pictures seem to be taking on very different images from those he had seen at the ruins. Through Esme’s mind set, he could see the those fine green laws, those beautiful dancing ladies. This magnificent house of true splendour. A place of dreams. A place of hope and love abounded in its every crevice, every fragment of its brick and stone. Now it was there, alive and in those pictures. ‘Look, this is the plain truth. Look at the photographs.’ All of you. ‘This is what Esme saw. For some reason, I w...

Episode 51… Charles visits the ruins The heavy camera and its tripod were no match for Charles enthusiasm to reach the ruins. In good measure he reached the headland and stood in front of this ruined Manor House. In his eyes, it was as Esme had first seen it. Crumbling structures of forgotten walls, of forgotten rooms, of forgotten lives, overgrown and left to the winds of time. Nothing would enter this dark place, he thought, and yet there was a compelling feeling to it’s strange hypnotism. He felt that love and death dwelt both within its presence and it brought about a chill that could muster only the heart of a living soul. He began walking through what must have been beautiful gardens skilfully managed by loving hands, now only tall unkempt shrubbery, dark and thorn like, stood where ugly weeds grew upon this dismal soil. He felt no change as he approached. No voice in his head, as Esme had described in her encounter. He stopped some yards from th...

Episode 50…Gossip and fantasy There was much relief as she reached the cottage, others had been busy with their morning pleasures and by now it was midday. Margarita greeted Esme with a warming smile and a recommendation for lunch. ‘Bill and Charles will be here soon… They are still discussing Bill’s work, that I’m sure is something of a formality as Charles has always loved anything Bill has put a brush too.’ ‘Margarita’ Can…Look can I ask you…’ Esme stumbled over her words thinking this was foolish. She tried again with some reluctance. ‘Can you tell me about the old house on the headland, it’s a ruin I know, but you must know something about it?’   ‘You’ve been there, well of course. Some folk here think of it as a magical place, a place where certain thoughts, good thoughts, can become a reality. If you spend any little time within its ruins thoughts can become real and touchable, I think true, perhaps? If you are there and have ghosts to exorcize, then ...

Episode 49… Face to Face ‘You have followed me. That’s good.’ He smiled perhaps a little weakly, then stood up and looked at her directly. ‘I thought you were in London. Why are you here and how did you get here so fast? You’re supposed to be looking after the business for Charles.’ Her demand was met with indifference. ‘Oh Charles won’t mind.’ he replied quietly. ‘How do you know that! You haven’t spoken to him.’ She tried dispelling the sudden strange dream like feeling inside her head. It would not go. The stir of a feathered wing outstretched on a standing perch caught her eye. ‘So he’s here too.’ The Parrot lifted its head a little and closed both eyes, then sunk back unconcerned. ‘He may not be a He’, could be a Her’. How do you know Esme. Do you have the gift. Then of course, you know of Rebecca Haig. Is she inside your head Esme. Does she speak to your thoughts.’ The cynicism of his words was self evident. ‘I don’t know ...

Episode 48… The Tower Esme watched Tobias until his form had disappeared from view. She thought for a few moments then decided to follow. She would speak to him, ask him why he was here and not in London. In  The Gwyllt there are days and nights when the mild Atlantic winds take on a humidity borne only of the tropics, they can deceive and disrupt human thought, and such was now, for Esme began to feel she was in her own cloying dream. Is this a dream… I always remember my dreams, she thought. She stopped walking for a moment closing her eyes tight shut, then opened them. Everything was the same, nothing had changed. The house and tower were still in view. She continued walking towards the turret. Her feet found the first steps leading up a steep stone spiral stairway reaching into the gloom beyond. Yes, she would follow him. She was brave enough. She wanted to look for Tobias Westlake. She had no torch and found her way by touching the curving wall with one ...

Episode 47… The Gwyllt (Part Two) The voice in her head laughed with a sallow pleasure and replied; ‘Of course it’s me. I am Rebecca. You know me well’. Then the voice was gone, cried away to the paucity of the ruins. In that moment and one by one, creamy flower heads burst forth all around her and large purple flowers lifted up to feel a warmth of life. Brick by brick began to replace broken debris and steadily the house and turret rose once more and stood triumphant in their wonderment beneath a summer sky. Now, the warming earth of summer love, of seasons lost, of virgin cackle and barking dogs tripped those lovely lawns of ripe red love and pleasant souls. It was upon a marble seat at the farthest end of a small enclosed Rose garden that she saw Tobias Westlake. He was watching her and smiled in a somewhat odd way. He then stood up and with a raised arm beckoned her. At once, he walked away and in the direction of the Manor hous...

Episode 46… The Gwyllt (Part One) A narrow path led off to her right, upward and through the thick undergrowth and toward the headland plateau above her. It was a steady and breathless climb and at one point she could just make out the top of some house or building structure. Then suddenly, she had reached the plateau. Her path had opened to a narrow area of what looked like old onyx pillars with ivy covered marble seating and beyond this she saw the house for the first time. It was derelict and crumbling and had not seen use for many years, perhaps the building she had glimpsed earlier. She walked on. Her footsteps softened within the stillness of the place. Then strange thoughts began to enter her mind. At first she took them to be induced by this odd setting she now found herself. A woman’s gentle voice found favour in her head… “By Gwyllt Pond…A lovers bond…Lay Rebecca Haig’s remains” She stood in front of the ruins gazing into its hopelessness. One time ...