Chapter 7: Night Three

[Mr. Handy]

Alexander rushes to help pull Harry Forby back up to the clifftop.

[HoneyDog]

Gasping and struggling, Forby is hauled back to safety. He lays for a moment trying to catch his breath, and then sits up.

“Has it gone?” he asks. “I heard it fall into the water.”

Without waiting for an answer, he takes a lantern and peers over the edge. It is too dark to see much, but there seems to be no movement.

“Let’s return to the house” he says. “We can come back at daylight and check.”

With that, the exhausted companions assist Forby back to the house. Outside, the body of Fred has been covered where it lays in the rose garden.

“Poor Fred” says Forby. “That damn statue!”

Inside they are greeted by the rest of the household; Gertrude and George are delighted to see Forby still in one piece. Mrs. Bates and Connie set about making tea for everyone.

“I think we need something a little stronger” says Forby. “Bates, please fetch the brandy.”

“But Harry!” Gertrude complains.

“It’s fine, dear” says Forby, settling into a chair. “My headache has gone, now.”

He looks around at the others in the room.

"Icarus has returned to the water. I think he'll stay there now."

OOC,Is the horror finally over? Is the mystery finally solved? I'll begin a new thread tomorrow and we can wrap things up. Please add any thoughts if you wish. Harry will have recovered his sanity after a good night's sleep, although he will have some longer-term difficulties yet to be discussed.

[Philulhu]

Vic eschewed the brandy and nursed her cup of tea as she stared out of the window into the darkness beyond. She hoped the creature was gone for good - quarries were deep, with steep sides - but she’d have felt better for having seen the creature put out of its misery and knowing it could never return...

[Mephistophilis]

Harry Brown paces back and forth, his eyes fixed on the darkness, what is that he can hear on the wind? It sounds like a voice. His attention snaps back to the room and he looks around, 'Where's Lieutenant Meddler?'

[HoneyDog]

“John hasn’t returned” says Gertrude, her face worried.

“We’ll search for him in the morning, dear” says Forby reassuringly. “He can’t have gone far.”

He slumps back in his chair, exhausted.

[Mr. Handy]

"I prefer scotch," says Alexander, "but I'll nae turn down a fine brandy. In the morning we'll be able to see if the thing was truly destroyed. It withstood two shotgun blasts and turned my shotgun into so much scrap metal. Still, better the shotgun than me."

[HoneyDog]

“It’s gone, Alexander” says Forby grimly. “I can feel it.”