The CBB :: View topic - The Lady of the Lake

#1: The Lady of the Lake Author: CBB Secret Santa,

Posted: Sat Dec 11, 2004 11:48 pm

*faints with horror* Erk! A split second after I had posted this, as myself, I realised (duh!) that it was supposed to be a secret... Embarassed

“Come into the water and bathe, my love
Come swim in the swirling pool
Come down in the deep with the rocks and bones
You’ll swim with me now, sweet fool…”

Sang Jo in an eerie voice. The group of middles gathered around her gazed, enchanted, at her pale face. The only light in the big common room came from the stove, and the moonlight reflecting off the snow, which added to the spooky air surrounding the little gathering. One particularly nervous new girl shivered as she was introduced to the ‘unearthly, Chorister-like tones’ in Joey’s voice.
It was Saturday afternoon, but the dark came on early in winter. The girls had had an exciting morning skiing on the crisp, sparkling snow that had been rendered hard as iron with the previous night’s frost. Now they were relaxing, many nursing various bruises; and Jo had offered to tell stories. After her tuneful introduction, she continued, ‘This tale is no legend, it’s the solemn truth. When I lived in England, I met a girl who came from the Lake District, in the north. She was on holiday with her parents, and we played together every day that she was there. Milly always had a rather mournful expression, although she was happy enough, and great fun. But her eyes…they looked, well, haunted. One day I asked her why.
She told me that, once, she had had a brother, called Harry, older than she. She told me about what happened to him. They used to do everything together; Milly adored Harry, and he didn’t mind her following him around. He would make up adventures and they would spend hours running around the countryside in which they lived, making dens and forts, capturing baddies, rescuing princesses and so on.
One particular day, Harry decided to be a Red Indian. He wanted to build a wigwam. Harry and Milly ran down to the shores of Ullswater, the lake near their house, to collect some tall grass to build it with. Milly couldn’t reach out very far, but Harry was taller, and braver. He crept to the very edge of the lake, and leaned out. He couldn’t quite reach the grass he wanted, so he slipped off his socks and sandals. He slid his feet through the green weed floating on the water, and waded out towards the grass.
As he waded, the weed was disturbed and moved around in ripples. It swirled quicker and quicker, Milly said. Then it began to bubble, as though the water beneath it was coming to the boil. The swirls began to take on a form, and slowly a young woman emerged from the water. She had pale green skin, and her hair hung in thick, shiny ropes that twined around her body instead of clothes. The whites of her eyes had a green tinge, too, and her teeth, when she smiled, were a mottled greenish grey. Milly thought she was the ugliest lady she had ever seen, but her brother clearly had other ideas. He was gazing at the creature, as though he was in a trance, Milly said. Then the strange lady began to sing, in a beautiful voice, something that sounded like a lullaby.’
Jo sang her song again, and went on softly,
‘As the lady sang, she held out her arms to Harry, who walked towards her, his eyes locked on hers. The lady moved backwards, out into the lake, and Harry followed. He didn’t notice that the water was coming above his knees and soaking his shorts. Then it reached his shirt, and then his neck. Milly cried and called for him to come back, and shouted for help; but Harry ignored her, and there was no-one else near to hear her cries. All Milly could do was watch while Harry walked towards the singing lady, and disappeared beneath the green weed on the water. Before the lady followed him, she looked at Milly and said, ‘Would the sweet girl like to play with Jenny, too?’
Milly fled. She told no-one what happened that day. She told her parents that Harry had been drowned, but when they asked she was unable to tell them more. They never found Harry’s body. Jenny Greenteeth had taken him to her home on the lake bed.’
Joey’s soft voice trailed off and she looked around the group, all of whom had wide eyes, and were huddled close for comfort. She chuckled, and said, ‘You set of mokes! It’s not really true, just a story!’
At that point, Mademoiselle entered the room, and switched on the light; and Jo’s ghoulish tale was forgotten for the time-being.

Several months later the Guides of the Chalet School were in Camp. They had a fine time cooking and sleeping out of doors; being woken (or not, in some cases) in the morning by a bugle, instead of the rising bell; and singing around the campfire.
One morning, several of the girls decided it would be a good idea to fish for the camp’s breakfast. Rising early, Jo, Grizel and Juliet set out in the boat and rowed to a likely spot, overshadowed by a face of the mountain that rose sheer from the water, like a cliff.
Soon they had caught fish enough to feed everyone, and Juliet…was about to suggest that they really must go back, when she suddenly felt a tug at her line. ‘A bite!’ she cried. Very carefully she began to draw in; and then it struck her that whatever she had caught this time was considerably larger than anything which had gone before.
‘Whatever can it be?’ asked Grizel.
‘I bet it’s a pike,’ said Jo, who was leaning perilously far over the side of the boat. ‘I believe I can just see it down there- like a shadow- Juliet, it’s huge! Whatever it is, it’s simply enormous!’
Jo was not entirely correct in her judgement. The thing was indeed rather too large to be a fish, but really only a moderately sized creature of its kind. Juliet continued to pull with all her strength, and eventually, the expressions on the faces of the three changed from excitement to horror.
A head adorned with closely cropped auburn hair, with a covering of lake slime, emerged from the water, followed by an apparently human body clad in a lime green catsuit streaked with mud. The creature’s face was sporting a look of anticipation as she regarded the three in turn. She opened her mouth, revealing sharp, pointed teeth, and spoke in a somewhat gravely voice (‘probably from swallowing too much lake water’, Jo thought absently).
‘My thanks are bestowed upon you for providing me with this fine meal. Lesley Greencliff is always grateful for a tasty morsel.’
And with that, Lesley Greencliff (who, it turned out, was a European cousin of Jo’s Jenny Greenteeth) stretched hands with curiously webbed fingers into the boat, and snatched Juliet into the depths of the lake, where she was devoured. The remaining fishermen returned to shore in silence, wondering how they were to explain the situation to Juliet’s fiance.

#2: Author: patmac, Location: Yorkshire England

Posted: Sun Dec 12, 2004 7:51 am

Lovely Santa!

#3: Author: Lesley, Location: Rochester, Kent

Posted: Sun Dec 12, 2004 4:14 pm

Thank you Santa! Laughing