Read Creeping Terror for Free Online Page B

rubble were strewn over the flagged floor. A few broken struts remained across the roof – visible through a hole in the ceiling and the collapsed upper floor. A round table stood lopsided in the corner, with several chairs lying in pieces beside it.
    Broken glass crunched under Gemma’s feet as she walked behind the bar. There were a few dusty bottles lying on their sides. One of the beer pump handles was snapped off and another was completely missing.
    ‘I’m getting nothing,’ Maria said, looking round with obvious distaste. ‘Nothing useful anyway.’
    ‘Gemma?’ Knight asked.
    She could feel something, but nothing significant. ‘Maria’s right. There are echoes and ghosts, but no more than anywhere else. Nothing unusual.’
    The ghosts of the past were all around her. If she focused, concentrated, she could see them: the old men playing dominoes, the barmaid wiping the glasses. She instinctively knew who they were, and something of their background and history. She watched Henry Jones slapping his son for being stupid. Davie Moorhouse, who slipped and fell in 1876 and banged his head and never got up again, was lying on the floor in a pool of spilt beer and spreading blood …
    ‘Poor man,’ Gemma said quietly.
    ‘He was drunk,’ Maria said, seeing where Gemma was looking. But there was a sadness in her eyes too.
    ‘There’s no point in staying here,’ Growl decided, leading the way back to the door.
    There was an old woman standing in the doorway. Gemma could tell from their reactions that Growl and Knight could see her too. But she wasn’t real . She had white hair tied back with a black ribbon and was leaning heavily on a walking stick that looked as if it was made from a gnarled branch of an ancient tree.
    Her voice was as old and cracked as her wrinkled face. ‘Beware the green.’
    ‘I beg your pardon,’ Growl said.
    ‘The green. You watch out, clergyman. And the rest of you.’ She nodded emphatically, then turned to go.
    Growl and Knight exchanged looks before hurrying after her.
    Gemma and Maria were close behind. But suddenly all they could see were two men standing outside the pub in the midday sunshine. Alone in an empty, deserted village.

Chapter 6
    M ARIA LOOKED ALL ROUND. SHE DIDN’T WANT to check her phone. What if she was the only one who couldn’t see the woman now? What if even Knight had more ‘sight’ than she did – what use would she be then?
    Gemma was close beside her. Maria liked Gemma – the girl reminded her so much of herself when she was that age and had first worked for Knight. But at the same time her presence was a constant reminder that Maria was getting older, that her powers were fading … that she was being replaced.
    ‘She’s gone,’ Gemma said quietly.
    ‘Yes,’ Maria said. ‘I can see that.’
    ‘I’m assuming she was a ghost,’ Knight said.
    ‘What did she mean, I wonder?’ Growl mused, tapping his chin with a thoughtful finger. ‘ Beware the green – the pub, perhaps? The Green Man?’
    ‘The village green,’ Knight suggested. ‘Though I don’t see one.’
    ‘It’s quiet again,’ Gemma said. ‘The woman’s gone and all the ghosts have left.’
    ‘Even the birds have stopped,’ Maria realised.
    Knight had his phone out again. ‘No signal. Typical.’
    ‘We received young Tommy’s information,’ Growl said.
    ‘It would have been sent when the phone got a signal again,’ Knight told him. ‘No one lives here. The army has its own communications. I’m not surprised the mobiles can’t connect.’
    ‘Makes it difficult to find out how Webby and the others are doing with their research,’ Maria said.
    ‘Let’s try the church,’ Knight decided. ‘Then I’ll go and get the car. I’m sure we had a signal outside the village. I’ll drive back and call from the checkpoint on the road if necessary.’
    ‘You don’t think the car will put off our spooky friends?’ Growl asked.
    ‘They’re not doing much for us now,’