Under the Arches

nervous as the weekend approached. The team had had a pretty ropey start to the season, losing both their initial matches and only having a single goal to show for it. Angelina’s small comfort came from the knowledge that she could hardly make them any worse.

  When Saturday arrived without the prospect of rain she took the opportunity to sharpen her skills by taking the ball and stick she had borrowed for the event and practicing in the park across the road. For several hours she doggedly dribbled the ball between the piles of fallen leaves and practiced her long range passing by trying to hit the tree trunks from a distance.

  Eventually she got fed up with playing by herself and went back home to spend the rest of the afternoon trying to wade through the mountain of homework that had been set for her. With no Zeus around it was a fairly bleak evening and with little on the television to hold her attention she decided on an early night.

  The following morning she was up with the crows, and the nervous feeling that had been steadily growing in her stomach was suddenly amplified to nauseating heights. After eating a light breakfast, which she promptly threw back up again, she settled down in front of an episode of Spongebob in an attempt to calm her nerves. It seemed to do the trick, and as she left the house and walked down the hill to her school, she held his silly yellow face in her mind for comfort. A coach pulled up at the entrance as she arrived and a group of girls who looked far bigger and fitter than any of her team got off.

  ‘It’s all in your mind,’ she told herself, trying to keep her spongy mascot in her head as she turned in the direction of the changing rooms.

  The atmosphere when she got there was little different from normal PE lessons. The other members of her team were gossiping away about who had snogged whom the previous night at a party Angelina had no idea was taking place. Not that she minded particularly. She found them all a tad shallow and had little interest in what they had to talk about.

  ‘Am I being a snob?’ she asked herself. ‘No, I don’t think so. I just don’t have any interest in what they have to say. Plain and simple.’

  With that resolution put to bed she made her way out on to the playing field. It was a chilly morning, and as she stood on the sideline during the first half watching her team getting slaughtered, she found herself shivering involuntarily with the cold. It turned out that her mind had not been playing tricks on her and the opposing team were actually quite a lot bigger than hers. They lumbered around in a meaningful way and their passing was direct and accurate, but they were by no means a good team. It was just that they played together, whereas Angelina’s side were intent on running with the ball whenever one of them happened to be in possession and showed no vision or passing ability whatsoever. It was a miracle that they did not reach the half-time any more than two goals down.

  ‘Here’s your chance Angelina,’ said her teacher, Mrs Watson, as she prepared to send her on. ‘I need you to take over the middle of the park and show our girls what movement is all about.’

  Angelina nodded and took two steps onto the pitch.

  ‘And any penalty corners are yours to take,’ Mrs Watson called after her.

  ‘No pressure then,’ thought Angelina as she ran to join her teammates.

  It was not a miraculous transformation (there were still ten other headless chickens chasing the ball), but Angelina did manage to bring a semblance of order to proceedings with some pinpoint passing and tireless defensive work. So it was that when the final whistle blew the score was a respectable 4-2 defeat, which earned Angelina great praise from Mrs Watson.

  She was glowing with pride and exertion as she walked back down to the school gate, and was almost through it when she saw a familiar figure standing on the pavement beyond.

  ‘Zeus!’ she cried, running over and giving him a big hug. ‘What are you doing here? I thought you weren’t back until tonight. Did you see any of the game?’

  Zeus laughed and hugged her back.

  ‘From a distance,’ he said. ‘You’ve got to be a little careful nowadays standing on your own watching young girls running around in shorts. People start to ask questions.’

  She gave him a sidelong look and then laughed. They began walking back up the hill together.

  ‘You should have come to the sidelines. I’m sure no-one would have minded.’

  ‘Nah, I was fine where I was. You seemed to be doing all right.’

  ‘Yeah, I really enjoyed it actually. If rest of the team learned to play together then I reckon we’d be quite good.’

  ‘Excellent stuff. Well I got my business over and done with a little earlier than planned and managed to catch a different flight. And it wasn’t delayed this time either.’

  ‘Really? Where have you been?’

  ‘I’ve been on a quick tour of the Middle East, visiting a few old haunts and seeing what life is like for the people out there now.’

  ‘And?’

  ‘It’s pretty grim to be perfectly honest. It’s a whole different world out there. Yet in many ways things are much the same as they always were. For one reason or another it has always been a place of conflict. Most of it is down to religion, which makes me sad. Some of the greatest atrocities mankind has ever committed were done in my name, or that of another deity. Yet religion is often used as an excuse to cover up the underlying motives and prejudice. It’s all very messed up.’

  ‘What will happen to the people out there?’ asked Angelina.

  ‘What do you mean?’

  ‘You know, when we reach, err… the end of the year.’

  ‘Oh, right. Well they will be treated in the same way as everyone else.’

  ‘Really? Even those who aren’t Christians? Muslims and suchlike?’

  ‘Of course. They are all God’s people. In fact their faiths will stand them in good stead.’

  ‘Really?’

  ‘Many people are born into religion Angelina, and will only choose to make a commitment to it in later life, by which time it has become part of their very being. My father would not begrudge them that. In many ways, belief itself is more important than what you actually believe. I mean, it is better to believe in something than to believe in nothing. In its purest form religion of whatever kind is a way of guiding a person through life on a just and honest path. People say it is for those who cannot see right from wrong on their own, but that is not the case. I have seen it bring people from the brink of despair to achieve a greater glory than any non-believer could possibly attain. It gives those with nothing somewhere to turn. For a person to dedicate their entire life to a faith in such a way is something that should be rewarded, providing of course that they do not use it as a way of discriminating against others.’

  ‘Wow,’ said Angelina. ‘I thought it was only Christians that went to heaven.’

  ‘Try not to think of it that way. That in itself is a form of segregation. Rather think of it that those who choose to believe that their time on this world is fleeting, and that something better awaits them at the end of it, are the ones who will stand the best chance when the time comes.’

  ‘But so many people will only believe in something if they can see it before them and touch it.’

  ‘That’s why they call it faith.’

  ‘Oh.’

  Angelina’s brow furrowed deeply as she considered it all.

  ‘Sorry,’ said Zeus eventually. ‘A bit heavy for a Sunday afternoon I know.’

  ‘It’s all right,’ said Angelina. ‘You made me think, that’s all.’

  ‘Check it out though,’ said Zeus, his face a beaming smile once more. ‘I almost forgot.’

  He reached into his pocket and pulled out the gruesome mask he had ordered form eBay and put it on.

  ‘Grrr!’

  ‘Now that’s scary,’ said Angelina pulling a face in return.

  ‘There’s no need for sarcasm,’ said Zeus. ‘This thing will knock ‘em dead. At least, metaphorically I hope it does.’

  ‘We’ll find out on Wednesday.’

&nb
sp; ‘What time should we start out?’

  ‘Dunno. I can come round straight after school if you like and we’ll just work it out from there.’

  It just so happened that when Wednesday arrived, so did a truckload of new assignments for school. In addition, Angelina had found out on the Monday that she had been put in to take her Standard Attainment Tests (SATs) early and had been given some past papers to look over. It was all well and good, but it would have to wait a short while longer because it was Hallowe’en and there was plenty of other work to be done.

  The clocks had gone back on the weekend and the evenings were drawing in earlier, so by the time Angelina had dropped her school stuff off and made the short walk down to the Arches it was already quite dark. As she neared the roundabout she noticed a faint glow coming from around the door that was different from normal. As she got closer Angelina realised that Zeus had been busy with some decorations. A glow-in-the-dark skeleton hung from the door striking a rather bizarre (and slightly camp) pose at passing motorists, while an intricately carved and really quite disturbing looking jack-o-lantern scowled malevolently from near its feet. In addition, spider’s webs were laced across the door, making it a foreboding place to look at. Angelina smiled and gave it a knock.

  There was no response.

  She knocked again.

  This time Judas could be heard giving a mournful howl from somewhere within, but there was still no reply.

  Angelina shivered. She was beginning to feel strangely nervous.

  Suddenly she felt a hand grasp hold of her shoulder and gave it a sharp tug. She twisted round instinctively and was met by a hideously malformed face.

  ‘Mwahahahahaaaa!’ it cackled.

  Angelina screamed.

  The face continued to cackle, but slowly it became less sinister and more like a normal laugh.

  Angelina stopped screaming.

  ‘That’s not funny,’ she said, trying to recover her composure.

  ‘Yes it was,’ said Zeus removing the mask. ‘At least it proves that I can be scary.’

  ‘Yes, well, hurry up and let me in. It’s bloody cold out here.’

  Zeus got out his oddly shaped key and opened the door. The cobwebs stretched and dangled around Angelina’s head as she walked in. Judas came bounding over and began licking her hands excitedly.

  The entire room was lit up by huge church candles that stood in clusters at the corners of the room. Their shadows danced off the walls and the high ceiling as they made their way over and sat down by the table.

  ‘OK, I’ve brought my old school uniform and some make-up with me,’ said Angelina placing a carrier bag on the table. ‘I hope it still fits.’

  ‘Right,’ said Zeus. ‘If you want to get changed in the bathroom, I’ll get ready upstairs. I’ll also stick a pizza on so we can have something warm inside us before we go out.’

  Angelina was not sure whether or not to be pleased that her old school uniform still fit her. It either proved that she had not developed significantly since starting secondary school, or that the amount of lounging around the house she did had not had any ill effect on her figure. True, the pleated blue skirt was now a little on the short side and the white blouse was a slightly tighter fit, but on the whole they still felt quite comfortable.

  Taking her bag of make-up, which now looked decidedly insufficient for the task at hand, she found a pale shade of foundation and applied it liberally to her face. Then, with little thought for where it actually went, she whacked on some eye shadow and an excessive amount of mascara before finishing the whole look off with a dash of red lip gloss.

  ‘Not bad,’ she said to herself as she stood back and admired her handiwork. Without thinking she turned on the tap to wash her hands and promptly soaked them in mulled wine.

  ‘Damn it!’ she said out loud. Then, looking down at the deep red liquid on her hands, wiped them in broad smears across her top. Then she took her blue cardigan and left the bathroom before the scent of alcohol became too much for her.

  ‘Boo!’ shouted Zeus, jumping out in front of her as she opened the door.

  ‘You need to do something about those taps,’ she said without flinching.

  ‘Yeah, well I thought about that,’ said Zeus removing the mask and sitting down at the table. ‘Then I thought that with Christmas round the corner it would be quite handy.’

  Angelina went over to the kitchen sink and washed her hands with some bottled water.

  ‘You’ve done a good job there,’ said Zeus conversationally.

  ‘You reckon?’ she replied, turning round and looking down at what she was wearing. I don’t feel very spooky.’

  ‘That’s where this comes in,’ said Zeus reaching down on to the chair next to him and bringing out an unerringly realistic looking axe. The blade had a large arc notched out of it and there was what looked like an Alice band attached to it.

  ‘I’m supposed to wear that?’ Angelina asked.

  ‘Yeah, check it out.’

  Zeus put the Alice band on his head and tucked it beneath his dreadlocks. The axe appeared to be stuck in the side of his head.

  Angelina giggled. ‘That looks quite good actually,’ she said.

  ‘Yes, and watch this...’

  Zeus grabbed the handle of the axe and wrenched the handle up and down, jerking his eyes from side to side as he did so.

  Angelina burst out laughing.

  ‘What?’ said Zeus looking slightly deflated.

  ‘No, no, it’s brilliant,’ she said holding on to the sideboard for support. ‘I only hope I can do it as well as you.’

  Zeus brightened again. ‘Well, I figured that since this is my one and only Hallowe’en we’d best do it properly.’

  ‘Give it here and let me have a try,’ said Angelina.

  Zeus placed the axe on her head and hid the band beneath her long locks of hair.

  ‘There you go, can’t see it at all,’ he said.

  Angelina gave the handle an experimental pull and at the same time made her eyes go cross-eyed and stuck her tongue out. Zeus roared with laughter and collapsed to the floor holding his stomach. When he eventually looked up his eyes were streaked with tears.

  ‘That’s perfect,’ he said still chuckling. ‘It’s even funnier when someone else does it.’

  ‘OK, but it’s meant to be scary.’

  ‘It’s all down to the way we do it. If we both manage to keep straight faces it’ll be spot on.’

  After eating the pizza Zeus had cooked they left his house and walked up Eastbury Road until they had passed the Parish Church of St Matthew on the left hand side. They then turned into Kingsfield Road and walked up past the rows of parked cars that lined its kerbs.

  ‘So, what do we do exactly?’ asked Zeus as he adjusted his mask so that it concealed his dreadlocks as much as possible.

  ‘Pick a house, preferably one with lights on inside, knock on the door and shout ‘trick or treat!’. Then just wait to see what happens.’

  ‘Sounds simple enough. Will this one do?’

  ‘I guess so.’

  They walked up the steps to one of the houses on the left hand side of the road. A light was on in the downstairs window and another shone through the frosted glass of the front door.

  ‘Well then,’ said Zeus with a glance at Angelina. ‘Here goes.’

  He reached up and pressed the doorbell. They heard it chime faintly inside and it was swiftly followed by footsteps in the hallway.

  ‘Trick or treat!’ they both shouted as the door opened to reveal a fat middle-aged woman with a warm smile and a bowlful of sweets in her hands.

  ‘Here you are my darlings!’ she said without a moment’s pause. ‘My little ones are out at the moment doing just the same as you. I wonder how they are getting on.’

  ‘Thanks very much m’lady,’ said Zeus reaching into the bowl and taking a handful of sweets. He searched about is person for somewhere to put them but what with the ripped t-shirt and jeans he was
wearing he eventually gave up.

  ‘Do you want a bucket my love?’ asked the woman.

  ‘Sorry?’

  She reached behind the door and brought out an orange bucket moulded into the shape of a jack-o-lantern.

  ‘You’ve got to have something to put your goodies in.’

  ‘Cheers, thanks a lot,’ said Zeus smiling (although the lady could not see it). ‘God bless,’ he added as they turned to go.

  Back on the street, Zeus turned to Angelina.

  ‘That went well,’ he said peering at the small pile of sweets in the bottom of the bucket.

  ‘It was pathetic,’ replied Angelina grumpily. ‘You can’t go around being all smiley and charming and saying ‘God bless’ to people. It’s bloody Hallowe’en!’

  ‘Oh,’ said Zeus. ‘Sorry. More menacing next time, perhaps. Should we try our little routine?’

  ‘I think we’d better.’

  They sized up their next house and knocked on the door. Angelina stood stock still staring straight ahead. Zeus had one hand on the shaft of the axe.

  ‘Trick… or treat,’ he growled as the door swung open. A man in his late twenties stood there looking at them. As he opened his mouth to say something Zeus gave the axe a sharp yank and Angelina rolled her eyes back and let her tongue loll out.

  There was a long pause before the man suddenly burst out laughing.

  ‘That’s awesome!’ he cried. ‘Full marks to you guys. It’s nice to see some people putting a bit of effort in for a change.’

  He disappeared from view for a moment and then reappeared with a tube of Pringles and a bag of popcorn.

  ‘Take the lot,’ he said. ‘I doubt anyone will be able to top that tonight.’

  ‘Thanks buddy,’ said Zeus putting them in the bucket. Then, with a glance at Angelina added in a sinister voice, ‘May the forces of the dark lord be kept from your door this night,’ and finished by making the sign of the devil’s horns with his hands.

  The man returned the gesture and they left.

  ‘That was better,’ said Angelina as they continued up the street. ‘But that was laughter, not fear. I want to scare someone.’

  ‘OK, I’ve got another idea,’ said Zeus.

  A few houses further up the street, a small boy of around seven years old opened his front door to be confronted by Zeus in his leering mask and ragged clothes.

  ‘Trick or treat,’ hissed Zeus, leaning forwards until he was barely a foot away from him.

  ‘You ain’t scary,’ scoffed the boy. ‘I’ve played Resident Evil and that don’t scare me neither.’

  ‘Oh no?’ said Zeus continuing in his slow, malevolent voice. ‘Then perhaps you wouldn’t mind talking to my little friend back there.’ He nodded over his shoulder.

  The boy peered round behind him.

  ‘I snatched her this evening as she was walking home from school. I think she’s a little unhappy.’

  He stood to one side to reveal Angelina in full. She was standing bolt upright, unmoving except for a few strands of hair that blew listlessly in the breeze. Her eyes were closed.

  ‘That ain’t a real axe,’ said the boy scornfully.

  ‘Oh really?’ said Zeus. He took a couple of paces back, grabbed the handle and gave it a tug. Angelina’s eyes popped open