Ghost car
“Oh I’m so glad you stopped said the young
and attractive woman getting into the car I was almost ready to go home”. The
man nodded but didn’t say anything so the girl prattled on I don’t usually come
out in such stinking weather, but the storm seemed to come up out of nowhere,
look at me I’m soaked to the skin, the man glanced over at her and nodded again
before lapsing back into quietness, the girl chattered on ignoring the man’s
silence she did however notice how he was dressed in an odd way like in the
pictures she had seen of her Nan and Granddad when they were on a driving
holiday around Scotland in the nineteen twenties what had her Nan called them?
Plus fours or something? She now remembered the car had been old fashioned as
well. She put it down to him perhaps being a reenacter or something like that.
The silence began to get on her nerves so she asked
“Can we put the radio on
please” the man nodded and reached out to put on the radio and it came to life
after a few seconds playing big band music, she recognized it from a movie she
had once watched.
“So no CD player then?
“No no CD player” it was the
first time that he had spoken, which was a relief because he had begun to freak
her out
“I’m only out because my boy friends
car broke down last night so he’s stranded in town, we’re going to the
picture’s tonight and I live in the village back there so I’m going to his
house to meet him, mind you if I’d known what the weather was going to be like
I’d have stopped at home, mind that bend up ahead”, the man only increased his
speed,
“Steady on” she exclaimed “There
have been loads of accidents there”
“I know” he said increasing
his speed still further,
“don’t worry he continued
death is quite painless”, suddenly it all came back to her the things he had
said to her, what are you doing she asked nervously still not actually
frightened she glanced over at the man who was now hunched over the steering
wheel, her glance took in his so out of date cloths, that and the vintage car
that she was now travelling in at such an alarming speed, she gave an
involuntary cry of alarm,
“relax” the man sounded
menacing now don’t worry about a thing it won’t hurt a bit, I’ve been doing it
nightly for fifty years now, he increased his speed still further.
The car fishtailed for the
first time then it mounted the verge it never made it round the first corner of
the s bend before it mounted the verge went twenty yards and ploughed headlong
into a tree, as it mounted the verge the girl had put her hand on the door
handle her forward velocity made the door open and she was thrown out and away
from the car, the last thing she heard was a manic laugh before unconsciousness
took her away, she awoke in the early dawn shivering with cold she tried to
stand but she discovered that her leg was broken, there was no sign of the car
or of the manic driver of the previous evening. The search party found her
there at seven thirty later that morning, she was delirious and raving about a
ghost that drove her of the road but they could find no evidence of any such
accident!
