Black Bess Read online

  My knees were giving way and I could feel myself slumping. Gravity was pulling me

  to the floor. My attacker relaxed his grip, let me fall and started to tug at my coat. He knelt down beside me pulling at the fastenings of my clothes. I batted against him ineffectually, dazed, and only half conscious. He was going to hurt me. Badly.

  A cold light filled the passageway and I was glad. “Take me away,” I murmured.

  “Take me away from here.” I wanted to go far from this man’s hatred and aggression and

  from my own sorrow and self-loathing… far away … far away …

  In my semi-conscious state, it took me a few moments to become aware of a vibration

  on the ground beneath my back. Then a roar that was at first merely rock group loud, before it became decibel defying and totally deafening in the narrow confines of the alley. It was Bess.

  Dave had the throttle pulled hard back and was letting the clutch out bit by bit. Bess kicked and jerk and skipped towards us, roaring like a demon possessed.

  With dreamy eyes I watched as my attacker froze and then pulled away from me. I

  sagged into the earth, feeling the cold, wet concrete beneath my neck. Rain dripped from my chin and ran under my collar. The man looked down at me and then up at Dave. I was laid out on the ground, blocking the alley. Dave could not ride Bess through after my attacker,

  without running over me. The attacker acknowledged this by flicking Dave the bird and then starting to stroll away in the opposite direction.

  Bess bellowed, and Dave dropped the clutch. Virtually catatonic now, and beyond fear, I watched as the bike screamed towards me and just as I though the front wheel would crush my head, the bike kicked and jumped and Bess soared above me, landing gracefully a few meters or so beyond where I lay. Her tires spun and the engine screamed.

  I rolled to watch, imagining that my attacker felt less cocky now. He started to run,

  but once again Dave gave Bess her head. She lunged forwards, lighting the guy up in her beam. The silvery blue rods of lightning painted onto her tank, glowed brightly, pulsed, and then flashed forwards, penetrating my attacker’s chest. The air around me quivered with an unearthly energy. I saw the man jiggle crazily as though electrocuted – a macabre dance of death, his mouth open in an agonized grimace and his eyes bulging in terror and pain. He bucked and jerked, his face turning red and then purple, his neck swelling until I feared he would explode, and then Bess released him. For a moment my attacker swayed, blood ran

  from his eye sockets, and then he collapsed to the floor, just meters away from me. Smoke drifted out from his ears.

  Dimly, I could hear a siren heading my way. Dave was kneeling next to me now. He

  was out of focus. I blinked my eyes. Closed them and then as I opened them again he smiled at me. Such a beautiful smile. I started to cry.

  “I’m so sorry.” I said. “I’m so sorry.”

  Dave reached down to put a finger to my lips. He made a shushing motion. I reached

  out to hold his hand. It was cold, so cold, but his smile was warm. It filled me with his strength.

  “I was a fool,” I sobbed. “I love you.”

  Dave shook his head and his eyes were full of love. It doesn’t matter he seemed to be

  saying.

  Flashing blue lights were reflected in the alley now. Dave leant down and put his cold

  lips over my swollen ones. He was leaving. I knew he was.

  “No!” I tried to say to him. “Don’t go away again. I can’t bear it.”

  Dave looked sad, but he glanced anxiously at the lights at the entrance to the alley and then at Bess.

  “Take me with you,” I croaked and then my voice broke and I was sobbing

  uncontrollably again. “Please take me with you. Please.”

  Dave leaned close to me again; his green eyes glinting. Then his forehead touched

  mine. I could hear his voice clearly although his lips did not move. “It’s not your time. Not yet. Live now.” It was the voice in his heart. “We’ll find each other again when the time is

  right.” There were footsteps in the alley. I tried to hold onto Dave but he slipped away softly and silently, quicksilver between the cracks in the concrete of the alley.

  ***

  I had to stay in hospital for two nights. I was bruised and shaken and had concussion

  but I’d had a lucky escape. When it was time for me to leave a nurse brought me my

  belongings and helped me dress in my sorry looking clothes, mucky from the ground in the alley, and stained with hot chocolate and my own blood.

  After I’d pulled on my shoes, I stood, and the nurse handed me a set of keys. I stared

  down at them in confusion.

  “There aren’t mine.”

  “Oh, are you sure?” asked the nurse. “Only a gentleman left them with us this

  morning with a note apologizing that he wouldn’t be able to pick you up. He said he’d left your ride in the car park.”

  I shook my head but took them off her, and when I was ready I gingerly trekked out to

  the hospital car park to search for my ride.

  I didn’t have to look far. Black Bess was parked in a motorcycle bay, shining

  gloriously as she always had. My helmet was chained to her front wheel. I was aghast. I’d never ridden Bess alone, and I wasn’t sure I was in any fit state to ride a motorcycle at all.

  I moved alongside her; stroked the contours of her tank and felt her energy seep into

  me, endowing me with her strength. I swung my leg up and over, straddled her, and rocked her off her side stand. She was beautifully balanced. With my hands on her handle bars, determination coursed through me. I knew I could ride her. I knew I’d be alright. Bess would look after me as she had once looked after Dave.

  She started on the first kick and glided effortlessly out of the car park, swinging

  gracefully onto the main road and into traffic. I straightened in the seat, and felt Dave’s chest connect with my back. His thighs gripped my hips and his arms folded me into his loving embrace. My soul began to mend the moment Bess’s engines pulsed beneath me.

  “Where are we going?” I asked.

  “Who cares?” was the response, and I don’t know whether it was Bess or Dave that

  answered me.

  But indeed. Who cares?

  THE END

  From the author

  If you go down to the woods today, you’d better not go alone.

  I hope you enjoyed Black Bess. If you did, you may like my debut novel, Crone,

  released 3rd May 2017, a story about a bereaved mother, Heather Keynes, who is forced to take on a murderous witch. Along the way she meets an interesting group of people who are Guardians of a portal to another time. It’s a mild horror, dark fantasy, part mystery, part thriller, so there’s something for everyone .

  Crone is available from the usual places.

  If you would like further information about my new releases, please do sign up for my

  newsletter. I have an anthology of short stories due in the Summer of 2017 and my second novel, a psychological horror is due for release Autumn 2017.

  Keep in touch!

  You can tweet me @thecushionlady

  Find me on Facebook on my page: Jeannie Wycherley

  Find out more about my writing and sign up for my newsletter @

  http://www.jeanniewycherley.com

  Thanks so much for reading Black Bess. Mind how you go! X

  Jeannie Wycherley

  20th June 2017

 

 

 
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