Curse of a Devil

By Bill Lindsay

Who or what was Spring Heeled Jack? This book explores most of the major theories of possible origins of this Victorian legend. Was he a mad-genius prankster, an alien, ghost, animal, or the devil himself? With all of today’s fantastic characters, creatures, and machines, Spring Heeled Jack might not seem all that incredible. However, if you had lived in the time period that he lurked about and was misfortunate enough to encounter him, this event might have been a life-altering experience. Several people of that time were witness to this phenomenon and were affected by something that has never been explained. I have attempted to regress the reader back to when the horse was still a common mode of transportation and streets were lit by gas. While my characters are all fictional, remember that Spring Heeled Jack was the real deal.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Page Publishing, Inc.
• Release date: Oct 24, 2017
• ISBN: 9781640279285

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Curse of a Devil

Bill Lindsay

Copyright © 2017 Bill Lindsay

All rights reserved

First Edition

PAGE PUBLISHING, INC.

New York, NY

First originally published by Page Publishing, Inc. 2017

ISBN 978-1-64027-927-8 (Paperback)

ISBN 978-1-64027-928-5 (Digital)

Printed in the United States of America

I dedicate this book to the memory of my sister, Lisa Lindsay Young and her husband, Dr. Stephen Young.

I would also like to thank my wife, Jill, for editing this story and for letting me model the character of Jill Sampson after her. Thank you to my son Colton James Lindsay for allowing me to model another character after him, Colton James, leader of the newsies. Thanks to all who supported me by purchasing my first book: The Bones of Jack, and to all fans of Spring Heeled Jack.

Thank you to Rusty Busse for taking time to read my story and give valuable advice on how to improve it.

Editor: Jill Lindsay, Bill Lindsay Jr.

Illustrator: Bill Lindsay Jr.

cover design: Bill Lindsay Jr.

Foreword

In Victorian England during the 1800s, a character known as Spring Heeled Jack terrorized London and the surrounding area. Over a period of about seventy years, this phenomenon was reported by reliable and frightened citizens in different regions of the country. The origin or identity of this being was never discovered. Several theories were put forward, regarding who or what this entity might be. This book brings the Victorian legend to America and puts forth a fictionalized account that examines several possibilities of a solution for this never- solved mystery.

The Journey Begins

(A Victorian Nightmare)

For the moment, tranquility prevails and relaxing subtle sounds permeate throughout the twilight of the morning. Gently creaking wood and water rhythmically splashing combine with a rocking motion and the sound of a gentle wind blowing to create a calm sense to put the soul at complete ease. Time seems to stand still. Then the calm, relaxing sounds are replaced with muffled bits of quiet conversations that alternate with loud shouts which seem to be orders given to workers. Turn down the mainsail! Bring out the rigging!

As time moves forward, and the sounds fade out, a picture emerges. The setting is of a small English village where night has just fallen. Out of a hazy darkness emerges a figure in action. This dark figure is running and bounding over obstacles as it moves by houses in the town. He hurdles fences, bushes, carts, and wagons, and then jumps from the road to rooftops and back down again. Sounds of dogs barking and horses braying fade in as people appear at the windows and doorways that he rushes by. Attention starts to center on the athlete that bounds so effortlessly. Voices of excited occupants begin to ring out and mix with the alerts of the frightened animals. The volume rises, becoming screaming and yelling as muzzle blasts flash and cannon fire explodes.

The pitch-darkness is once again shattered by the abrupt opening of a cottage door. The door swings wide to reveal a comely young lady, illuminated by gentle firelight. She is startled by the interruption as her eyes strain to focus on the intruder. Her eyes grow wide in fear as she shrieks out a bone-chilling scream of horror! The door slams and the wraith once again bathes in darkness. The sight of another shapely female running comes into the focus of the figure. Bonnie is running for her life from the specter who now is chasing her although this scenario doesn’t seem to make sense. A man with a ratlike appearance in a window aims a rifle at the pursuer and is recognized as Jeremy. This does not seem to make sense either. As the muzzle blasts, the target dodges and leaps high into the night. The shadowy subject at the center of the chaos emerges and progresses. The terrain he traverses transitions into an assortment of grass, bare ground, bushes, fences, trees, and brush.

The escapee finds himself in the middle of a forest, where bird noises and insects and all sorts of critters sing out to acknowledge his presence. Their noise builds into an almost unbearable crescendo and then suddenly—silence. For a moment, there is peace and tranquility, but the atmosphere turns sinister as the woods become darker and intimidating. A subtle noise begins in the distance and slowly builds a distinguishable rhythm which evolves into the sound of horses’ hoofs approaching. Softly at first and then slowly, they become more audible as the horses’ breathing is apparent along with the clatter of wheels and the creaking of leather. Two horses run side by side, manes flapping with every stride, their hot breaths creating puffs of expiration into the chilly night air. A whip cracks but no driver is present as the black coach comes into view. It is a funeral coach which begins to slow as it reaches the viewer, who stands by the road awaiting its arrival. It gradually slows down and then calms to a slow walking speed as the horses trot to a halt. He looks at the fine horses and the fancy harness and then to the coach itself, which has a glass panel on either side. He sees the black casket inside. The coach rolls to a stop and all is now silent. The head end of the casket is open with a corpse inside. The viewer looks closer and is overcome by terror, realizing the corpse he sees is his own! His white face is frozen and he is not able to verbalize his horror, but backs away as the hearse departs without a sound. Bill is reeling from what he has experienced and doesn’t know how he came to be here.

Then a low laughing noise begins from behind him and grows louder. Bill scans the darkness and realizes the sound is coming from somewhere high in the indistinguishable trees. The laughter becomes more terrifying and maniacal as Bill’s eyes find the source. Straining to focus, the dark figure becomes more visible and Bill realizes the pair of red eyes peering down from a high branch belong to the terrible figure of Spring Heeled

Jack, who is crouched in the tree and glaring down at Bill. Bill is frozen in shock, while Jack stands, creating deafening laughter and spreads his winged or caped arms. With a hideous smile, Jack leaps from his perch down on Bill as all goes dark with the sense that the apparition crashed down upon him.

Bill jumps from his nest with a terrible scream and is back to reality. He is covered in sweat, realizing he was having a nightmare. He is aboard the ship which he, Jeremy and Bonnie had boarded to escape the law in England. He scans the area, once again recognizing his accomadations-those afforded a snoozing stowaway. He calms down, and then hears the sound of footsteps approaching his resting place. Jeremy bursts into the scene to see a disheveled Bill coming to from his uneasy slumber.

Are you okay, mate? asked Jeremy. We were up on deck and heard you yelling. Bonnie is up there on the bow watching the sea life.

After gathering his senses, Bill replied. Uh, yes I’m all right now. I should straighten up a bit and get up on deck in a little while. Jeremy gave him some stale bread and a bit of cheese which he had procured from the crew to serve as breakfast. Some of the crew and passengers are a bit unraveled by the moans you were making. I told them you usually had a rough time when traveling by sea although this is actually your first time on the ocean.

As Jeremy proceeded back up on deck, Bill finally calmed down and looked at his finger where he had worn the ring of Spring Heeled Jack. As he rubbed it, he noticed a yellowish glow around the finger where the ring had been. He wondered what it meant and if he should be worried about it for his health’s sake. He would soon learn that he was not the only one concerned with the strange glow from his finger.

Bill gathered himself together, finished his breakfast, and proceeded up on deck to join the others. On the way up, he checked on Donald the racing rat. He was sleeping safely in his cage, unaware that he was napping on a bed covering stolen loot. Jeremy had figured that even if somone discovered Donald, they probably wouldn’t be eager to check out the rat’s cage. Jeremy had met with the captain earlier to explain what he, Bonnie, and Bill were doing aboard his ship without proper admittance. Well, Captain, sir, a very splendid opportunity has come about for us three and we had to leave immediately to take advantage. There wasn’t time to book passage, and we had heard about what a wise, honorable, and compassionate captain was at the helm of this ship. So we thought that we might be able to help with the ships chores and offer a double fare in order to keep from being put overboard, sir. The captain pondered a bit, scolded Jeremy for not following the prescribed customs then accepted.

The sun was shining and the sea air refreshing as Bill came to the ship railing to watch the dolphins following the ship. Both Jeremy and Bonnie acknowledged him, the latter giving him a big smile and an affectionate hug. Is everything all right, Bill? inquired Bonnie. Yes . . . a . . . just a little uncomfortable sleeping, replied Bill with a tone of uncertainty in his voice. Just a dream that didn’t make much sense. You know how dreams can be. The atmosphere was light and optimistic as the trio and others on deck watched a group of blue whales breach the surface and vocalize their presence. This development brought smiles to the passengers and crew. Isn’t this so exciting! chirped Bonnie. We’re off on our own to a new country and our new lives! But it’s also kind of scary too. Both Jeremy and Bill agreed, pondering what may lie ahead for them. Let’s make a pact to always be there for each other and share our lives, Bonnie stated as she looked deep into Bill’s eyes. Yes, let’s do it, the guys agreed. Jeremy and Bill had known each other since early childhood in the orphanage and were more like brothers. They had only known Bonnie for a short time, but she seemed almost like family to the pair already. I feel different when I am around her, Bill admitted to Jeremy earlier. She’s the only woman I think about, the only one that matters. The happy mood continued for a few moments longer and then abruptly changed as clouds moved in to cover the sun and a gusty wind rose up. The ocean waves grew choppy and all signs of sea life had disappeared. The whales were gone and the dolphins which had been playfully swimming alongside the ship also had vanished. Even the flock of sea gulls following overhead had flown away. The optimistic smiles had morphed into disappointed frowns, and Bill felt the suspicious glances from the other shipmates. As it became darker, the glow from Bill’s ring finger became more apparent. The other passengers and crew began to notice and contemplate why the sudden change in conditions coincided with Bill’s appearance on deck. They also wondered about the strange moans and screams that had echoed up from below when Bill had been slumbering for so long into the morning. There had also been speculation about Bill. Since the unfortunate events that had taken place on this voyage were not ordinary. Anything bad that had happened during these days seemed to have a direct or indirect connection to Bill.

As the sea grew more active, the other passengers and crew became more distant from the three. Everywhere, the the three went, whispers and glances toward Bill followed as Jeremy and Bonnie tried to reassure Bill that it was just idle chattering and nothing more. Funny how a change in the weather can affect the moods of some people, observed Jeremy.

Probably just thinking about their personal problems now that there aren’t any interesting sea animals to watch, injected Bonnie. When more people began to point and talk about Bill, he became worried that his shipmates might take some kind of action against him. He witnessed the quartermaster approach the captain and verbalize something to him as they both looked Bill’s way.

The quartermaster finally approached Jeremy. Many of us, including the captain, feel your friend there might be under a curse. He’s been acting strange and is always around when something bad happens. That glow from his finger...and you saw what happened when he came up on deck with the weather changing and the sea life disappearin’ and all. Suddenly, a rogue wave arose from the ocean to jolt the ship with tremendous force. The impact sent most of the people sprawling across the deck and one unfortunate rigger, working aloft, into the ocean. The deckhands scrambled to lower a lifeboat into the water to retrieve the struggling man. All on the ship watched as the crewmembers oared feverishly to save their shipmate. Just as they reached the man, a great white shark fin surfaced as the man screamed and was pulled under. The dead silence was shattered as the man resurfaced flailing and shrieking toward the lifeboat. The rescuers pulled the man out of the discolored water to discover the shark had taken the man’s leg off just below the knee. First aid was rendered immediately while the oarsmen worked hard to get the boat back to the ship. The injured man was lifted back onto the ship with utmost care being taken not to dislodge the tourniquet placed around the severed leg. The ship’s doctor was summoned as the captain called for a keg of rum. While the crew attended the hysterical man, he suddenly jerked toward Bill.

Demon! Demon! he screamed as all attention focused on Bill. The crew hurried the man below deck for medical attention as Bill, Bonnie, and Jeremy moved away from the rest of the people. The captain confronted Bill with the facts that this part of the ocean had never been known to have anything other than calm waters and fair weather and that no great whites had ever been reported here either.

Jeremy vehemently spoke up for his friend, swearing that it was all utter nonsense and that there was nothing at all wrong with his friend. You can’t blame Bill for the unusual weather and animal behavior, Jeremy insisted. He further pleaded his case using all his charm and wit to no avail against the superstitious crowd.

To remedy the situation and put the ship out of dire consequences, I order this man to be marooned on the nearest island. The captain was taking no chances with the safety of his ship and cargo. He was more than willing to sacrifice one cursed man to ensure their safety.

Jeremy, attempting to convince the captain to change his decision, spoke up. If you leave Bill stranded then . . . the fate of three people shall be upon your conscience!

The captain quickly conferred with the quartermaster and crew, then all replied in unison, Agreed! As