SHERLOCK HOLMES and the BEAST of CORNWALL:THE GYPSIES

It was a bone-chilling sight, that Watson and I had set eyes on at Mr McFadden’s farm.

Enough it had been that cows and sheep were being preyed upon by the beast, but a young, innocent woman was something far worse.

After all the locals had told me and what my own eyes had laid upon, I doubted no longer, that there was some kind of terror plaguing the area.

Maybe the paranormal was involved after all.

Watson and I were now making our way to the last farm in the area, in order to question the two gipsies. Maybe that would lead somewhere.

When we reached the farm, we saw a young man feeding over a hundred chickens in the yard.

I knocked on the dark red farm house door and waited.

A moment later, it was opened by a plump woman, between four and five feet tall, wearing a blue dress and a white apron.

“Yes Sir?”

“Is your name Jill Trembath by any chance?”

“It is. Who might you be?”

“Sherlock Holmes and this is my friend and colleague Doctor Watson.”

“So the pair of you have come at last?”

“Is your husband Jake around?” Watson asked.

“Yes Sir. He’s out harvesting potatoes.”

“Take us to him please,” said I.

“First tell me why you want to see him.”

“We want him to introduce us to the gipsies,” Watson replied.

“Very well.”

Mrs Trembath led us round to the back of the house, where there was a large vegetable garden.

It was in that garden that we saw a man, busy harvesting potatoes. He was over five feet in height and plump like his wife with muddy clothing and footwear.

“There are two gentlemen who wish to see you, Jake.”

“Who may they be?” he asked.

“Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Watson.”

Mr Trembath got up and faced us.

“Which of you is Mr Holmes?” he asked.

I nodded my head.

“George Tobin told us that you two are around,” said Mr Trembath.

“We want to see the gipsies,” Watson said. “Will you take us to them?”

“Indeed I shall Sir.”

Mr Trembath led us out of the garden, through a couple of sheep fields and finally into a field with trees at the bottom.

In the left-hand bottom corner of the field, there was a wagon with two gipsies sitting outside on a log, playing woodwind instruments.

One had a long red beard, a thick moustache, a long red beard and green eyes. The other looked very much the same, except his hair was black and his eyes dark. The pair of them were middle aged with fine Romany clothing.

Furthermore, there was a deerhound lying before them.

“Good morning to you Mr Trembath,” the gipsy with the red hair said.

“Who might they be?” asked the other gipsy.

“Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Watson.”

“Which of you is Mr Holmes?”

“I am,” I replied.

“Honoured I am to meet you Mr Holmes,” said the gipsy with the red hair.

“Who might you be Sir?” Watson asked the red-haired gipsy.

“James Cartwright and this is Fred Bailey.”

“I presume that you and Mr Holmes are investigating the mysterious happenings that have been taking place around here?” Bailey asked.

“We are indeed,” replied Watson.

“Well, Mr and Mrs Trembath can’t help you in any way,” Cartwright said.

“Why not?” asked I.

“Because they haven’t had any trouble so far.”

“It will only be a matter of time,” said Mr Trembath.

When the farmer was gone, we continued.

“Have either of you come to any conclusions?” Bailey asked.

“No, we have not,” replied Watson.

“All the farmers we’ve met – except for Mr and Mrs Trembath have fed us the same story,” I said.

“Are either of you convinced?” asked Cartwright.

“We are,” I replied. “But whether or not the supernatural is involved, well, that is yet to be discovered.”

“If it can be discovered,” said Watson.

I didn’t object to that.

“We have however seen the remains of two of the victims,” Watson said.

“Is that so?” asked Bailey.

“I’m afraid so,” replied I. “The first was the skeleton of a calf, but the second, well that was something far more devastating.”

“Tell us,” Cartwright said.

“It was the remains of a farmer’s daughter,” said Watson.

“Oh my,” Bailey said.

“So now it’s humans that are falling victim to this menace?” asked Cartwright.

“I’m afraid so,” I replied.

“Maybe we should make ourselves scarce Fred,” said Cartwright.

“No, were staying.”

“But it may prey on us next.”

“Come to that it may.”

“But – “

“I said we’re staying.”

“Very well.”

This was going nowhere.

I understood that Cartwright and Bailey were living in mortal fear, but so was everyone else – except for David perhaps and it was more than likely that most people in the area wanted to get away.

“Stop arguing please,” I said. “We didn’t come here to listen to the pair of you squabble.”

“Why have you come then?” asked Cartwright.

“To ask some questions,” I replied. “Where you came from? Why you’re here? Whether or not the pair of you are involved with the happenings in the area?”

“It’s all part of the investigation,” said Watson.

“Very well,” Cartwright said. “I have been a gypsy all my life – born and bred.

“Many places I have been to, all over England – farms, by the coast, the rolling hills, roadsides, you name it. Then about four weeks ago I decided to come to this part of the country.”

“What about Bailey?” I asked.

“Unlike me, Bailey was not born and bred a gypsy. Where he came from, I don’t know. He has travelled way farther afield than I have.”

“Where to,” asked Watson.

“He’s been across Europe, Asia, Africa and right into the heart of the Amazon.”

This was turning out to be most interesting.

“Tell us in detail about your travels Bailey,” I said.

“Very well Mr Holmes. While in Europe, I travelled through the Alps, visited Paris, the Netherlands and Greece. While in Asia, I hiked in the Himalayas, visited the Dalai Lama and spent some time in Russia. While in Africa, I explored the bushland and visited Egypt.

“As for the Amazon, that’s a remarkable place with ancient ruins, built by long lost civilizations and many lifeforms, including ferocious reptilian predators, which hunt at night.

“After that, I came here to England, which is in fact, where I was born. I met James here and decided to take up the Romany life. It was then that the pair of us moved here.”

A most interesting person Bailey was turning out to be, but I neither suspected him nor Cartwright for what was going on in the area. After all, I had no case against them.

“Do you suspect us Mr Holmes?” asked Cartwright.

“No, I do not. I have no case against either of you.”

“Holmes – “Watson began.

“What about you Doctor Watson?” asked Bailey.

“Well, Mr Tobin did inform Holmes and I that the pair of you turned up in the area around the time the beast appeared.”

“What of it?” Cartwright asked.

“Just because we turned up here the same time as the beast did, doesn’t mean we have anything to do with the matter.”

“Point taken, but – “

“Save your protestations Watson,” I said.

“Thank you, Mr Holmes,” said Bailey.

I did however want a few more details.

“I would however like to know why the pair of you decided to come here and why you stay away from society.”

“Well Mr Holmes, we knew very little about Cornwall and decided to come for a while – if not to stay,” Cartwright said. “As for going near society, well, I’ve only lived among other gipsies. Fred no longer wishes to go near society, so he sees this as an excuse not to. This is the life he wanted to take up after globe- trotting.”

I was satisfied by that enough.

“Well that all sounds reasonable enough,” said Watson.

“Is there anything else, which you gentlemen wish to ask us?” Bailey asked.

Watson and I looked at one another and slowly shook our heads.

“No, that’ll be all,” replied I.

“We’ll leave you then,” Watson said. “For now.”

“I hope the pair of you will bring an end to the calamity in the area,” said Bailey.

Watson and I left the gypsies and headed back to the yard.

“What do you believe Mr Holmes?” Mrs Trembath asked. “Do you suspect them in any way?”

“No Mrs Trembath, I suspect them not.”

“What about you Doctor Watson?” asked Mr Trembath.

“Right now I don’t know what to believe.”

“They tell very fascinating stories,” I said. “But, I have not a shred of evidence against them.”

“Well Mr Holmes, we hope that you and Doctor Watson will bring an end to the power of evil in the neighbourhood,” said Mrs Trembath. “And fast. Jake and I might be the next victims.”

The thought sent a chill down my spine.

Watson and I exchanged farewells with the Trembath’s and left the farm.

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