MOUSE OF COMMONS. MOUSE OF LORDS.: PART 8 OF GLADSTONE MCWHISKERS AND THE PHANTOM PIE-CRAWL!!!

Wednesday, November 21, 2007

PART 8 OF GLADSTONE MCWHISKERS AND THE PHANTOM PIE-CRAWL!!!

GLADSTONE MCWHISKERS AND THE PHANTOM PIE-CRAWL!!! - PART 8

Part 8 of a 15 part internet-exclusive mini-adventure by Paul Chandler, set in Barcelona.

Meanwhile, back on the streets of Barcelona, not so very far from the DE-GRRR-TASTO restaurant, Oliver and Claud the cat waiter were trying to catch up with Charlie; but it hadn't been easy...

"There he is..." Ollie had called at one stage - as they'd seen a shambling figure up ahead in the shadows, but the figure had turned a corner and literally seemed to have disappeared into thin air.

"I don't think that was Charlie at all..." Claud had admitted. "He didn't look beary enough to me..."

Claud had probably been right and so they had continued - trying to work out where he (and presumably Gladstone, for they didn't know that he wasn't with the bear) might have gone to...

As they'd hurried on their way Ollie had become more nervous - in all the hurry he had forgotten the sinister face that he'd seen peering in through the kitchen window and just thinking about it sent a shiver down his spine. Part of him wondered what exactly it was that he'd seen and the other side of his brain just wished that he'd forget it once and for all.

"THERE HE IS!!" called Claud suddenly and Oliver nearly tripped over the cat's heels he was so busy not paying attention to where he was going.

Sure enough it was Charlie - up ahead and not so very far from the restaurant afterall. He was walking a strangely slow pace - like some kind of sleepwalker through the streets towards the old town. There were very few people around at that time of the evening, for they were all dining in the busier parts of town - but Ollie certainly had no difficulty in imagining that this area might be haunted. The streets were lined with red and blue candles; at slightly above human head height and the flickering of the flames gave out a strangely chilling atmosphere as they trailed the bear, just a little way behind.

"We shouldn't try and wake him..." Claud advised. "He looks like he's hypnotised or something..."

"That'll be the smell of the gravy..." noted Ollie, for there was no mistaking it for it filled the air and couldn't be ignored.

It was only a minute or so later that they appeared to reach their destination - they watched as Charlie paused at the doorway of a large building on edge of a deserted square and then, with a slight excited twitch of his muzzle, he vanished inside.

Ollie looked up at Claud, expecting him to suggest that they followed the bear inside - but he had a sudden peculiar look of fear on his face; he was already a black and white cat - but from his expression Ollie almost expected his fur to go completely white with fear.

"I can't go in there..." he hissed. "That's the pie factory where all the pies are made for all the pie shops in the area..."

"well, no wonder Charlie went in there, then..." Ollie whispered, from where he now perched on the back of the cat's ear. "But why can't we go in?" Ollie was a little concerned now, for the whole time that they had been following Charlie there had been no sign of Gladstone; but he presumed that this was because the mouse was sitting in Charlie's coat pocket. "Come on..." he insisted. "Let's go - this isn't a time to start getting star-struck over pies..."

But Claud shook his head insistently. "I told you - I'm not going in there - not for anybody..." he replied stubbornly, quite literally digging his paws into the ground - not that Ollie would have had the strength to actually physically push him into the factory. "I'm sorry, senor..." he purred, trying to relax a little. "I said I'd help - but I won't go in there because it's haunted..."

Ollie wasn't exactly surprised after all that Charlie had told them - but he was determined not to be swayed from his mission. "Haunted by what, exactly!?" he exclaimed crossly. "I've met ghosts before in the House of Commons, back home and they're not usually half as scary as they're cracked up to be..."

Claud paused for a moment and then sighed. "It's haunted by the pie man..." he explained, shivering as he spoke... "The Spanish call him hombre de tarta - he's the ghost of the man who used to collect the rent from all the pie shops in the area - but he used to steal half of the takings for himself and one day some of the local shop owners chased him back to the factory and pushed him into the pie machine... Legend says that he was baked inside a pie and was drowned in beef gravy... Ever since the streets of this area have been haunted by the figure of a man with a pie head - local people swear they have seen him and his voice can be heard calling out through the streets for the rent of the pie shop owners who murdered him... When he passes the shop keepers leave out tokens of their gratitude; cream cakes usually - as a thank you for him not entering their premises and cursing them..." concluded the cat solemnly.

Ollie listened and even shuddered as he heard the story. "I saw him..." he gasped.

"What!?"

"I saw him, Claud..." Ollie explained. "He was peering in through the window when we were talking together earlier... A man with a pie head..." He paused - thinking back to that chilling moment. "But one thing I'm sure of; that was no ghost - he was as solid and real as you or I..." he insisted.

"Impossible..."

Ollie was silent for a moment - but he was convinced of what he had seen and was certain that there was something fishy about this particular ghost story. Taking a brave stand and turning to Claud he smiled suddenly.

"You know what..." he beamed. "One way or another I intend to meet this phantom pie man..."

TO BE CONTINUED, TOMORROW.

Will Ollie get to meet the phantom pie man? What has become of Charlie inside the pie factory... Next time we also discover what exactly has become of Gladstone McWhiskers...

This instalment was originally written in Barcelona between Friday 9th and Saturday 10th November 2007.

BEHIND THE SCENES OF GLADSTONE MCWHISKERS AND THE PHANTOM PIE-CRAWL

Today my Barcelonian theme is candles... Don't moan - they look pretty. Beware - because tomorrow the theme is spooky geese! You think I'm joking, but I'm so not... More tomorrow...