The Lonely Shadows: Tales of Horror and the Cthulhu Mythos Read Online Free PDF Page B

isn’t an easy thing to accept. You’re a lawyer, and your legal mind always tries to seek a logical solution to everything. It was the same with me in the beginning. But there were too many little isolated incidents happened here, and when I collected them all together, and linked them up, I found that they made a strange kind of sense, a frightening kind of sense, but one which couldn’t be ignored. I’m a doctor, Jeremiah. I believe in the things of the mind as well as of the body. Perhaps if I explained a little to you of what I discovered about Henry Belstead, you might begin to understand.” He lowered himself into the chair and leaned back, knocking out his pipe into the tray beside him, the ashes gleaming redly for a moment. “Madness was in all of the Belsteads. I’ve recognised that from the beginning and I can prove that it was there from the middle of the Fourteenth Century. It must have been something to do with the family, because you’ll find that there aren’t many of them. Their family tree didn’t put forth many branches, and the few that there are soon died out, leaving only the single line. Certainly, the madness came out in Henry Belstead when he was a younger man. He went off on long trips into the jungles of New Guinea, taking only natives with him. No white man would venture into the regions that he visited, but it was not until he came back and took up residence here that the talk really began. It was perhaps his own talk, especially when he was drunk, that led to the rumours so rife in the village later. I’m not surprised that the villagers thought him to be mad, when he talked of strange rites that were practised in the hidden jungles, of a power even stronger than voodoo and the ways these people had of raising the dead and other such hideous things.”
    Calder uttered a sharp snort. “And you’re asking me to believe all of this? Good Lord, you’re a doctor, you must know that these were just idle traveller’s tales. There couldn’t have been a word of truth in any of them.”
    “You think so? If it is true that evil was practised in that house out there, a really potent brand of evil, might it not be that some of it still exists, some terrible force that had somehow been crystallised in the place, still able to exert some tremendous influence over anyone living there?”
    Calder licked dry lips with a tongue that seemed suddenly to have gone stiff. Something that was lurking terror uncoiled itself in his mind. “If you are right,” he said uncertainly, “what can be done about it? Is there any way that it can be stopped before it gets out of hand?”
    “I’m not sure. It all depends on how potent that force is.” The doctor spoke almost professionally, as if he were discussing a case with a patient. “There are always ways of protecting yourself from these things. I’d already made up my mind to go there and see for myself—tonight.”
    “But why at night?” He looked perplexed, bewildered almost.
    “I’m afraid that you still don’t fully understand, Jeremiah,” said the other gently. “We aren’t fighting things of flesh and blood and the powers that these things can command are not things that we can examine scientifically and catalogue for easy reference. These are the dark things of the night, the black knowledge of evil which has been sought throughout the long ages, discovered by only a few, and kept hidden. But all of the knowledge that has been gained is there for everyone to read if they only know where to look for it.”
    “I see.” Calder nodded, no longer sure of himself. “And what do you think will happen when you go? I only ask because I think someone should go with you and I’d like to know what to expect.”
    “That’s very difficult to say at the moment. If I knew, I’d feel a little easier in my mind.” Woodbridge grimaced slightly, then forced a smile.
    * * * * * * *
    Immediately, the silence settled down about the place. The moment