Writing for Fun
November 2016
Borley - Bob Wendelkin
They sat around the fire looking at the flames as they went up the chimney and taking with them the occasional burning spark. It was the evening of Halloween, the eve of All Saints Day. Halloween being that day when all the sprits of the unrest rise up.
‘What shall we do, I don’t want to sit around here all night. Let’s do something adventurous,’ said Ruth.
‘I’ve been reading about Borley Rectory, it was supposed to be the most haunted place in England. It’s only a few miles away in north Essex,’ replied Steve.
‘I’ve heard of Borley but what was it all about,’ asked Ruth with a glint in her eyes that this could be something to do.
‘Well it seems that in the mid 1920’s there was a spate of haunting by a nun and some poltergeist activity. So much so that the Daily Mirror got involved and called in a clairvoyant to investigate, called, I think, Harry Price. Well you can imagine when you involve a professional like him the activity would go right up as it would have been good publicity.’
‘Who was the nun, did they find out and what happened to her?’ questioned Ruth as she was interested in spooky things.
‘It was reported that Maire Lairre who was a nun from the nearby Convent, she fell in love with a monk called Henry Waldegrave.’
‘So they fell in love, lots of people do, it’s not great crime is it? I fell in love didn’t I?’ said Ruth.
‘Well yes but you weren’t a nun were you? Anyway the Authorities didn’t like it, as their power over their subjects was being called into question. So they hanged the monk and they walled up Maire in a cell and let her starve to death. So now she walks the place where the Benedict Monastery once stood.’
‘Oh! The poor girl, how wicked to do that to them just for loving one another. When did all this happen?’ asked Ruth.
‘I think it was in the 13th or 14th Century, but ever since there have been reports of ghostly sightings even to this day. At the end of the 1930s the Rectory caught fire and was burnt down and finally demolished in 1944. It was said that the Ghostly apparitions then transferred to the nearby church along with some poltergeist activity.’
‘That is it, Borley isn’t too far away and it being Halloween, I think we should drive over and see if we can raise a ghost or two, said Ruth with a firmness in her voice that would brook no opposition.
Ruth had always had a feeling for the spooky ever since she was a child when she was certain that she saw the ghost of an old man who said he was her great grandfather. Since then she was interested in but not afraid of meeting any ghost.
Steve put the location of Borley into his Sat Nav and they got into the car and set off for their Halloween adventure.
It was one of those nights where there were the occasional wisps of mist covering the countryside road as they drove through the night. Things started to go wrong the Sat Nav started to play up, the mist became thicker as they began to approach Borley, almost as if something didn’t want them there, even the car engine seemed to be reluctant to pull the car.
Finally they arrived in the village of Borley then they started to search for the Rectory or at least where the Rectory once stood. They knew that it was across the road from the church. Finally out of the mist the top of the church tower emerged. They stopped the car.
‘Well Ruth we are here, are you going to get out of the car?’
‘It seems to be a bit cold out there, I think we should go home, we’ve been to Borley, we can cross that off our list,’ Ruth replied with a note of distinct reluctance in her voice.
‘You wanted to come and I’ve driven through the mist. Now we are here at least let us have a walk round the grounds,’ was his reply with some exasperation. ‘Come on get out.’
‘Only for a short walk, then.’
The couple got out of the car and walked towards where he believed the Nun’s Walk is located. As they walked the clock on the church tower stuck the mid-night hour and the mist began to swirl even thicker around them and the temperature in the air seemed to fall until both of them began to shiver.
‘Let’s go home, I don’t want to be here, things seemed to be trying to drive us away,’ said Ruth as she began to shudder as the cold seeped into her very bones.
Before he could reply there appeared the vision of a nun walking towards them. She was young and her face was so sad and tear stained. She seemed as if she was in a world of her own. The couple were sure they could hear her talking to herself but it was in a French that Ruth didn’t recognize, it seemed old fashion.
Something appeared to happen to Ruth, suddenly she became emboldened and walked towards the nun and stood directly in front of her. The nun would either have to pass though Ruth, disappear or deviate from the Nun’s Walk.
As he watched Ruth held out her hand to the nun and said in old fashion French, ‘I know your story and it is time that you went in peace to your love Henry who is still waiting for you. You must put aside any hatred you have for those who imprisoned you in that cell and left you to die. Any hate you have for them is holding you back, let it go. They are being punished there is no peace waiting for them because of their wickedness.’
As the Nun began to answer clumps of earth began to fly towards Ruth and the nun. It was strange because as the clods flew towards them they seemed to hit a protecting wall that was guarding Ruth and the Nun.
‘I forgive them and may God forgive them and may we go to our rest,’ said the Nun as she took Ruth’s hand.
Before Ruth could reply the vision of another ghostly figure appeared, it turned out to be the vision of a Benedictine monk who had been the Abbot of the Monastery.
Steve had never seen his Ruth behave like this before as she pushed the nun behind her and stood between her and the Abbot.
‘Call yourself a Christian what you did to these two was pure evil, and may you rot in hell forever,’ shouted Ruth to the apparition of the Abbot.
‘Out of my way, my dealings are with the nun not you, get out of my way, I won’t ask you again,’ snarled the Abbot, as more clods of earth flew towards Ruth, but some force protected her.
‘Listen you piece of slime, Maire is now free as she forgives you. How could you as a Religious Man do such things?’ said Ruth in a quiet voice that showed firmness and determination.
‘You don’t understand power do you? It has nothing to do with Christianity it’s about control. All religions after their initial creation end up passing into the hands of the Controllers, in the end it’s all about power. There are those who control and those who are controlled. These two showed an independence that had to be crushed so that the others didn’t question those in control,’ replied the Abbot.
‘I believe you are right, in our time we had leaders who brought misery to the world. Now you are no more so back to Hell and take that stench of corruption with you.’ With that Ruth pointed a cross that she had been wearing at the Abbot.
This caused him to shield his eyes as a laser-like beam shot out from the cross and struck the Abbot in the face, so much so that he began to back away, slowly at first then faster and faster.
‘I’ll not forget this,’ shouted the Abbot as he finally disappeared into a cloud of mist.
Ruth turned to the nun who was on her knees, Ruth gently raised her up and gave her the cross that she had used on the Abbot.
‘Go to your Henry, to that place that has been waiting so long for you. Go with my love,’ said Ruth as she looked deeply into the Nun’s eyes.
The Nun began to fade only this time her tears had been replaced with a smile.
‘Come on Steve let’s go home.’
‘If I hadn’t seen it for myself I would never have believed it especially of you,’ replied Steve as they walked to their car. After seeing Ruth’s hidden strength Steve could never look at her again in the same way.
‘So much for Borley,’ said Ruth as she put on her seat belt as if nothing had happened.