Southend U3A

September 2024

The Institute - Lynn Gale

‘Bran, are you sure we are going the right way?’ Jane swiped at the buzzing insects that wouldn’t leave her alone. ‘I’m going to be covered in bites later.’

Bran John Douglas, a long, thin boy, looked around at the tall trees and overgrown bushes, giving the forest a gloomy feel. ‘Come on, we can’t be far now,’ he said, opening his old, well-thumbed, leather-bound book he found in the library. He traced the map with his finger. ‘It’s this way, follow me.’

‘I don’t like it,’ a red-faced, sweating Archie said, ‘We’ve been walking for hours. I think we should go back. After tonight’s tests, Doctor Cullis promised me some of that lovely chocolate.’

’You shouldn’t trust him,’ Bran told his brother. ‘He’s not a nice man.’

‘Look, is this the tree!’ Jane cried as the three of them stepped into a small clearing. The ancient oak was tall and wide, growing between a fork in the leaf-covered path. The children stood by its gnarled trunk and looked up at the branches, twisted and knotted, like grasping hands reaching for the sunlight. ‘Let’s get a picture.’ Jane held out the Polaroid camera Dr Cullis had shown her how to use. The boys leaned on either side of her. ‘It’s magic,’ she laughed as she shook the photograph dry to reveal their pale faces in the moonlight. She tucked the photo in Bran’s book.

‘Can we go back to the house now? Archie asked, ‘I’m hungry.’

‘No!’ Bran snapped. ‘Sorry,’ he said, seeing his young brother’s crestfallen face. ‘This may be our only chance to get home.’ The sound of voices, dogs barking and flickering lights shone through the trees in the distance. ‘Come on!’ he cried, pulling the twins down the left path.

Bran and his siblings entered the curved, ornate gates and walked down the wide flower-lined driveway leading up to the imposing, ivy-covered Woodside House. ‘We’re back,’ he smiled, breathing in the fragrances and vibrant colours of Roses, Lupins and Peonies. The stable was busy as grooms in polished boots brushed the horses until their coats shone. Jane reached out to hold her brothers’ hands as they made their way up the white steps leading to the main door. Bran dropped the book on the steps. ‘We don’t need it anymore,’ he told Jane, who looked at him quizzically.

‘Welcome home, young Masters and Mistress. Your supper is waiting,’ a butler in waistcoat, bow tie and grey-striped trousers stepped aside to allow the children to walk through the door into the darkness beyond.

June 1978: The newspapers headlined the mysterious disappearance of the three Douglas children, found wandering the woods three weeks ago and placed in the care of Dr Frank Cullis, manager of the Woodside Institute. An extensive police operation involving volunteers and dogs to search the woods for any sign of 14-year-old Bran and his siblings, twins Jane and Archie, aged ten.

September 1978: ‘After three months, we are no closer to finding out what happened to the children,’ Chief Constable Carter stated, ‘We have decided to scale down the search, but the case will remain open for any new leads that may arise.’

September 2022: Breaking news: The discovery of new evidence may solve the mystery of a forty-four-year-old case. Announced that in light of some new evidence, Dr Frank Cullis has been arrested in connection with the disappearance of the Douglas children. A book found on the steps of the newly repurposed Institute, revealing details of his experiments on the children, along with a photograph of the Douglas siblings who have now been missing for forty-four years.

October 2022: ‘They were time travellers!’ Frank Cullis screamed from the back of the police van as it pulled up outside the Woodside Mental Health Institute. Escorted through the carved ornate gates, he never noticed the new blue plaque on the wall.