Read Online Five Parts Dead by Tim Pegler - Free Book Online

from the NE. At 4 ditto. Put out the lamps at 6.53am. At 8 very unsettled weather—a dark threatening appearance. Mr Sam away overnight, searching for the remains of other passengers of the Loch Awe .
    Last night an horrific event befell our small community. As Miss Wilton walked to the light station to deliver my supper, the hillside fell away in a mudslide, exposing her father’s grave and his tragic remains. Fortuitously, two men came to her aid—strangers who stated they were survivors of a wreck and begged for sustenance. They have been living on raw eggs, grass and, judging by the stinking carcasses strung around their necks, the flesh of any seabirds they could snare.
    After we covered Captain Wilton’s body with a tarpaulin, I invited the men to my cottage. They gave their names as Ewing and Pierson and stated they had been walking through the scrub for weeks, following the coastline in search of a settlement. I gave them food, clothing and blankets and bid them sleep on the back verandah.
    I look at Pip, stunned. ‘It’s…it has to be her…Miss Wilton and the penguin men. It’s unbelievable. Exactly as I saw it—as I dreamed it. But how?’
    â€˜Maybe the question isn’t how, but why?’ She peers up into the tower, frowning. ‘What has happened here that keeps these…memories so close that we can still feel them? And what is it about you, Dan? Why do you feel it more than us?’ Now she’s looking straight at me.
    â€˜Actually, that’s four questions…’
    Pip scowls.
    It’s clearly not the moment for being a smartarse.
    I sigh. Hang my head. ‘Sorry. I’ve been asking myself “why me?” ever since I got here. I don’t think I’m psychic or anything. Bit of a dreamer, maybe. Probably more of a cynic than anything else. That’s what’s got me spooked. Nothing like this has ever happened to me before.’
    I adjust my bum on the stairs and lean closer to her. ‘You know the time you and Mel woke me up…two days ago?’
    Pip nods, waiting like a seagull beside a picnic table.
    â€˜That day I…I took way too many painkillers.’
    Her eyes widen.
    I speak faster. ‘No, I didn’t want to end it or anything. Just wipe out…and not dream. But while I was out of it, I dreamed anyway, about the captain dying. And then last night I saw Lily and those men. It’s like I’ve plugged into something here. And…I wish it would stop.’
    I’m hoping Pip didn’t hear my voice waver. My hands are trembling. I need to keep them busy so she doesn’t see. I close the log, shifting it to the step behind us.
    Pip leans in and puts her hands on my knee.
    I flinch—in a good way. All this honesty is exhausting but also a turn-on; I don’t think I’ve ever felt so close to a girl. I’ve no idea if she feels the same way, though. Not a clue. Actually, I’m afraid she’s more interested in some let’s-be-friends Vulcan mind-meld than anything else. I wish I knew…
    â€˜Dan,’ she begins…
    About forty things I’d like her to say roll through my mind like a TV news ticker.
    â€˜Dan, I don’t know why this is happening. I do know I like…you trusting me enough to talk about it. And I’d hate for anything to happen to you.’
    I think she’s blushing but can’t be sure. I can’t look her in the face — she’ll see right through me and not like what she sees.
    My confidence has evaporated. It felt like a moment to take action, seize the day, do something, but now I’m scared. I’ve no idea how Pip might react. I can’t face crashing and burning if she only wants to be mates… and can’t risk her telling Mel.
    So, in true Dan fashion, I do nothing and regret it instantly.
    â€˜The séance message was “Beware dead penguins,”’ I mumble. ‘It doesn’t