Free Eleven New Ghost Stories by David Paul Nixon Page A

eyes – he
had these big menacing eyes – opened wide and he pulled up his hand
from his side and pointed out two fingers to make a gun gesture.
And he pointed it at me with all the conviction of a man holding a
real fire arm. I ran away quickly.
    I continued my sulk into the
night time, and languished in my room with an old book. Then
suddenly I got a knock at the door and was told my uncle was here
for me. This was an odd occurrence; Guillam would very occasionally
come to the inn to play cards, but even then there was little
likelihood of him calling for me. I walked through the busy bar; at
that time of night it was very busy.
    Guillam was there drinking a
half-pint fussily as though he’d never wanted it in the first
place. I walked slowly towards him, but unfortunately there was no
way to get to him without passing my enemy, Billy, who was in the
pub as well, making a terrible noise; the kind that bullies make to
see if anyone dare tell them to stop. He watched me cross by and I
couldn’t help but look into his eyes as I passed.
    He barked at me, barked at me
like a dog. It made me jump and he and his friends laughed,
although I doubt they really found it that funny.
    Guillam seemed more preoccupied
than normal. He looked tired and weary. He told me that he’d been
researching the clock but he had come to a dead end and would need
to go into London to visit the guild library and that he’d be gone
for a few days.
    This didn’t bother me much. What
bothered me was that he wanted me to stay in the shop while he was
gone to look after the place. Now you can imagine, after what had
happened the day before, just how I felt about this, but he would
have none of it. In fact he snapped at me quite sharply; he was
clearly out of sorts and somewhat keen to get away. In retrospect,
of course, I have an idea why.
    I was to meet him there,
seven-thirty sharp in the morning, to take the keys. He gave me
little chance to protest, only telling me to do as I was told. He
finished his drink quite quickly and told me it was time to make
myself useful. I returned to my room solemnly, dodging an attempt
by Billy to trip me up on the way. He’d been listening to the
conversation; quite closely I’d come to discover.
    So the next morning I did as I
was told and met Guillam at the shop. He was in a rush – I was a
little late – and he was keen not to miss his train. He gave me the
keys, but I was to keep the shop closed, which was a relief.
    However, I was to deal with one
customer; Mr Towney was to pop-by sometime in the afternoon to
collect his wife’s watch, which he had had repaired. I was to stay
in the shop until he visited. I could do whatever else I wanted – I
just wasn’t to touch anything in the shop and I was to stay out of
the museum all together. And that was fine by me!
    Well, it was an uncomfortable
day. I didn’t know much about how to cook, but I was able to manage
on the stove to cook some bacon, which, at that age, I couldn’t get
enough of. After that, there was little else for me to do. His home
was as full of junk as it always was. But if I were to touch
anything, he’d know. Guillam was one of those people who appeared
to live in chaos, but who knew every inch of it, and didn’t like
you inferring with his sprawling madness.
    I found an old jigsaw and began
to get to work on it on the shop counter. I wasn’t very interested
in it, but it helped to stave-off boredom, and the fear that
something in that shop was out to get me.
    I kept the connecting door to
the museum closed, although you could still hear it ticking away,
like the rumbling of the tides of the sea. The shop itself was
actually mostly quiet; most of the timepieces in there, those on
sale, where kept quiet to keep them in mint condition. A few still
ticked away, reminding me of the time. I was of course terrified at
what might happen at four-thirty, if I was still there. I prayed Mr
Towney would show up before then. He was a miserable old