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  CHAPTER 4

  By the next morning, the police had roped off most of Oakshot Wood. The mining company was allowed to carry on drilling. The official story given to the media by the police was that the creatures were a hoax. A film company was staging a viral marketing campaign to promote a new movie. The police would find those responsible and prosecute them for causing a nuisance.

  “Idiots!” said Sarah. “Everyone on our section of Oakshot Road saw those things! What about poor Mrs Burke?”

  Joe and Sarah met in the school canteen at lunchtime. “They’re saying she was paid to play along with their hoax,” said Joe. “Yes, it’s a stupid explanation. However, to be fair, which explanation sounds more likely: that it was a stunt, or that it really was weird creatures from the woods? The police must be taking it seriously, on the quiet, or they wouldn’t have roped off the woods. On the way to school, I saw more police being posted outside the drilling site.”

  Sarah sighed. “I’m going to the public library after school. I’m going to do some research. We have to find out what those creatures are and where they came from. Why have they suddenly appeared like this?”

  As the sun set that day, Sarah called at Joe’s house. When Joe opened the front door, he heard the distant sound of the mining company’s drills.

  “They’re working late,” he said.

  “They’re due to get the first supplies of gas out of the site tonight,” said Sarah. “The media

  and the local MP are there to see it. The mining company wants lots of publicity.”

  Sarah was carrying a bundle of files and papers.

  They spread them out on the dining room table.

  “What did you find?” asked Joe.

  “The truth, I think,” said Sarah. She slid papers and photocopies across to Joe as she spoke. “I’ve spent hours looking back through local archives. The library has newspapers going back to 1789. They also have other records made by people living in this area, going back to the Middle Ages. This is a newspaper cutting from 1955. Notice anything familiar about it?”

  The cutting began:

  Farmer disturbed by unusual sights and sounds

  The tenants at Oakshot Farm have been alarmed on a number of recent nights by strange events in and around the farm’s buildings. Mr Biggs, the farmer, is said to have encountered intruders in his barn on no less than three

  occasions. These intruders were, says Mr Biggs, of the animal variety.

  “They weren’t like any animal I’ve ever seen before,” he told our reporter yesterday. “They walked on two thin legs and they made a horrible, wailing cry. They looked like something from a horror story. One of them went after a couple of my chickens.”

  “This is just like the newspaper article from last week,” said Joe. “But where’s Oakshot Farm? I’ve never heard of it.”

  “It doesn’t exist any more. These houses we live in were built on the land in the 1960s. Now look at this. It’s another press report, this time from 1820.”

  The headline read:

  Workmen digging cellars flee in terror: they report pursuit by hideous goblins

  “They were building the original farmhouse that stood where Oakshot Road is today,” said Sarah.

  “They said they were chased away by monsters. One of them became a nervous wreck and went to live abroad. Another was caught by the creatures and was never seen again.”

  Joe looked at the cutting. It included a drawing made by one of the workmen. It showed a creature very like the ones from the wood.

  “And here,” said Sarah, giving him another sheet of paper. “This is dated 1690. They were clearing part of the wood to make room for cattle pasture. People refused to come near this place after several locals vanished. They said it was haunted by evil spirits.”

  “So these creatures have been seen, on and off, for centuries,” said Joe. “But why now? And why then? Why did they appear at those particular times?”

  “I think I know that, too,” said Sarah. “In 1955, the main road past town was being built. There was a report about it in the same newspaper. A huge section was cut out of the hill beside the

  wood so the road could run straight and level. In 1820, big holes would have been dug right where we are now to create cellars for a large farmhouse. In 1690, they’d have been chopping down huge, heavy trees. Do you see the connection?”

  “Each time, they’d be disturbing the earth beneath us,” said Joe.

  “Right,” said Sarah. “And today, there’s a mining company fracking for shale gas.”

  “These creatures must live deep underground,” said Joe. “Now and again something forces them up to the surface. Something disturbs them and they crawl out to see what’s going on.”

  “That’s what I think, too,” said Sarah. “Left alone, they stay underground.”

  “All these reports from the past,” said Joe. “The disturbances were only temporary. But this fracking could go on for years. They’ll be coming up to the surface all the time!”

  “And in the past,” said Sarah, “there weren’t many people living in this area. Even in 1955, the main part of town was still over a mile away. Today, there must be hundreds living right on top of these creatures’ home.”

  Joe looked up. “We have to warn them at the drilling site.”

  They hurried out of the house and down Oakshot Road. The entrance to the site used by the mining company was filled with vehicles. There were official cars used by the town’s mayor and the local MP. There was a large van used by a news crew from the local TV station.

  A group of protesters was gathered at the entrance, too. Security guards and police were stopping all unauthorised people from entering the site.

  “We’ll never get in,” said Joe.

  From where they were standing, Joe and Sarah

  could see a collection of officials gathered beside the main drilling rig. The site foreman was being interviewed on camera. Everyone was wearing hard hats and high-vis jackets.

  Behind them the drilling continued. Suddenly, the noise of the drill was drowned out. From the edge of the wood, a howling cry sounded.

  CHAPTER 5

  A goblin scurried into view at the far end of the site. Then another. Then another, and another. Soon, a swarm of the creatures was leaping and running in all directions.

  The protesters at the entrance screamed in fright. Most dropped their placards and fled. Workmen inside the site ran, too. The officials and the site foreman stood frozen in disbelief for a moment. Then they, too, rushed for cover.

  The news camera was turned towards the creatures. The goblins were avoiding the main drilling rig as it was brightly lit. They scuttled

  around the large pool of light. The man carrying the news camera didn’t notice that one of the creatures was rushing up behind him. He screamed as it toppled him over. The camera smashed on the ground.

  Sarah turned to Joe. “If we can shift those lights by the drilling rig we can drive them back, the same way we did last night.”

  “Right,” nodded Joe.

  The security guards and police were no longer taking any notice of the site entrance. Most of them were arming themselves with whatever they could. There was soon a battle raging between the police and the creatures. The creatures were winning. They slashed at the humans with their claws.

  Joe and Sarah dashed towards the drilling rig. The site foreman was there, standing terrified under the glare of the lights.

  “Get these lights pointing at the woods!” cried Joe.

  The site foreman shook his head. Sweat ran down his face. “No way. We’re safe in the light. They’re coming from the hole. I should have listened!”

  “What are you talking about?” asked Sarah.

  “My men found a hole in the ground the other day. Just inside the woods. Like a large rabbit’s hole. They said it looked odd. Wasn’t there before. Fresh. Dug from underneath. I said, leave it. But that must be where they’re coming up! I’m going to get
explosives from the hut over there and I’m going to blow it up! Seal them in! Stop them forever!”

  “No!” cried Joe. “Just stop the drilling. They’ll go home.”

  “Can’t!” cried the foreman. “Too much money at stake. No, just deal with these horrors. Seal the hole! Seal them in!”

  He ran off before Joe or Sarah could stop him. He ran towards a small hut nearby where the mining company kept explosives used to start off the drilling. Joe and Sarah lost sight of him in the confusion.

  The creatures were attacking in force. Some of the police had found heavy metal bars amongst the drilling equipment and were swinging them at the creatures like baseball bats. The goblins were fighting back fiercely.

  The lights around the drilling rig were fixed onto tall stands. They could be turned using handles fixed to the back of them. Joe and Sarah each took hold of one. They directed the wide, bright beams wherever they saw one of the creatures.

  The goblins hissed and wailed whenever the beams struck them. They screwed up their pale eyes and scuttled back into the darkness. One by one, they were sent scurrying for the safety of their burrow.

  “I think it’s working!” called Joe. “They’re all heading back!”

  “At least if we can send them back underground for now,” called Sarah, “then we can – ”

  Suddenly, there was a gigantic flash of light from the direction of the woods. A thunderous bang echoed around the drilling site. The ground shook. Most of the lights toppled over on their stands and smashed. The humans who were still in the area cried out in alarm.

  “The foreman,” said Joe. “He got hold of the explosives after all.”

  More police turned up, along with several ambulances. At the edge of the wood, a crater was found. The hole the creatures had dug to reach the surface had caved in. They were sealed up underground once more. No trace of the site foreman was ever found.

  A few days later, Oakshot Wood had returned to normal. The fracking had been stopped and the drilling site closed down.

  Joe and Sarah felt that they would never return to normal, ever again. Everyone at school wanted to hear about what had happened that night. Media reports about the incident were dismissed as exaggeration or scare-mongering by those who hadn’t been there.

  Meanwhile, in the loneliest, darkest part of the wood, the soil began to stir. After a few moments, a claw broke the surface.

  THE END

  Underworld ISBN 978-1-78464-204-4

  Text © Simon Cheshire 2014

  Complete work © Badger Publishing Limited 2014

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be

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  electronic, recording or otherwise without the prior permission of the publisher.

  The right of Simon Cheshire to be identified as author of this Work has

  been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

  Publisher: Susan Ross

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