Chapter 18

Chapter Eighteen: Summer Holidays But This Brought Problems!

Beryl and Sid, the landlady and landlord, could only catch the odd weekend here and there over the summer period for a break. This lasted from July through to September. Again their redoubtable daughters stepped in. They could always be guaranteed to find excellent temporary staff. The bar staff. Lina, Magda, and Sven all had time off in their home countries. The 'Slippery Jake Productions' committee had taken a break, more or less until September. Percy and Humphrey were still there as usual. Yes, very much part of the furniture. They had a reasonable walk to get to the Pub so they reasoned that the exercise balanced out the quaffing of the very fine ales. They sat there with their fine woolen sweaters/pullovers whatever the weather! However, their youthful 'six-packs' had long gone to be replaced by a 'beer belly' each!

As for Old Slippery himself, he still made regular appearances both upstairs and downstairs. The trigger is the usual one of the temporary barmaids cleaning his chair and serving food.

Pamela Parsons did take a holiday of sorts in California. However, as usual, she was extremely busy. The BBC documentary was very successful. This in turn was repeated on several channels. It was soon up on YouTube. She was in Hollywood in deep discussions with film producers there. Pamela had secured some access to the movie by helping to produce it. She is the only person there with direct experience of Old Slippery. Yes, it was very 'Hollywood'. The violent bits were hyped up a bit, but not too much, as the consensus was that this should be a 'family-friendly movie'. Sentimental angles were also added. All in all, Pamela felt it was a reasonable compromise.

The TV documentary, pretty much-getting world coverage meant that the Bull Public House was fast becoming 'a must go to' tourist destination. Slippery Jake loved all the attention when he appeared. The Lounge Bar-Restaurant and the Cellar Bar Restaurant were now packed. The resident ghost would sit on his chair, his throne, decked out in spectacular garments of the period. This may sound totally preposterous in the 21st century.

As for myself, the birth of our first child, a little girl was nearing, Isabella's mother and both Isabella's sisters came over to stay. I had been to the Philippines a number of times so I had some idea of their culture. It is pretty much opposite to being English. As I said, there is no 'lifting of the 'net curtain' to see what your neighbour may or may not be doing. It is a very communal culture. There was the Philippines adobe. This includes meat, seafood, etc, and vegetables marinated in vinegar, soy sauce, and black peppercorns. This in turn is browned in oil and simmered in marmalade. The Bull got wind of this, so Isabella's mother and two sisters went along to the Bull to explain how to cook it.

Needless to say, both Isabella's sister brought their families with them, respectively two little boys and a girl, plus three little girls in the other family. Lots of little 'randoms' flying around the place. A taste of what was to come. All in all quite enjoyable, but a touch tiring.

The Cellar Bar Restaurant had proved very successful. Both the Lounge Bar Restaurant and Cellar Bar Restaurant were packed. This, however, was to bring problems. Old Slippery's main chair was upstairs and his original cape and dueling sword were downstairs. Although they somehow materialized when he needed them on his person.

A close eye was kept on the sword and cape at all times. There was this new chair for him downstairs though. He loved to sit down and survey the scene. Both the chairs and the trunk downstairs were roped off with the elegant brass stands.

Detective Chief Inspector John Higgins had a good month away in the south of Spain. He needed it. It was now mid-August. Isabella was now only a few months from giving birth.

People started to come back from their holidays. Justin and James were also back along with Lina and Magda. Sandra and Kevin were back. They had been commissioned to record at odd festivals and gatherings around Europe. They were happy 'touching base' with other like-minded Goths. However, they were also pretty pleased to be back.

Rev William Frampton and Father O'Halligan have seemed to have made a habit of coming to the Bull just before Evensong and Vespers. Needless to say, Humphrey and Percy were there. The only regular not there was Pamela Parsons. She was extremely busy and was trying to take as many breaks as possible, abroad preferably, during this summer period. She aimed to be back if she could in the Autumn.

I too managed to slink out on a Friday afternoon. There seemed to be a permanent 'party party' in my home. An hour or two respites at the Bull was what I needed every Friday afternoon, in order to recharge my 'batteries'.

All seemed fine but human nature being what it is, the large influx of people did bring problems.

It started downstairs. Maybe someone wanted to examine 'Old Slippery's' cloak and sword. On the other hand, the intention could be to steal them. These were two casually dressed young men, possibly students, who seemed to be interested. They seemed to want to open the trunk to see them.

It did not take long for the resident ghost to react. His form quickly materialized, looming menacingly above both of these young men. They turned and tried to run, but to no avail. Slippery grabbed both with each of his two hands, holding their wrists really hard. This was like a surge of cold electricity in both of them. They seemed to go into an immediate cardiac arrest and both slumped to the floor.

Although Isabella was not there, luckily there was an experienced nurse in the Cellar Bar Restaurant. She started hammering both their chests and gave mouth to mouth resuscitation. This worked and they started to show signs of consciousness An ambulance had been called. If she had not been there, they would have both died.

Detective Chief Inspector John Higgins immediately rushed downstairs along with the two young detectives. The Detective Chief Inspector gave Slippery a stern look. He was still hovering over the two prone figures. They were communicating. Again the Detective Chief Inspector could 'feel' the ghost inside his mind. He was no longer afraid. Yes, he understood why Old Slippery had done this. However, at all times Slippery must try and control himself. There were other customers in the restaurant. These incidents could drive people away. Slippery seemed to understand. He still had huge problems controlling these 'reflex' actions of his. The ghost then faded away,

The people downstairs were understandably highly agitated and seemed to want to leave immediately. Some knew the situation, others were new to this. Beryl and the Detective Chief Inspector then explained the situation. This had happened before. It would always take place if any of Slippery's items were touched by strangers. He would react to any threat to the Public House. He had an extremely violent past, there was no hiding that. However, they had got to know the ghost pretty well by now. There was now nothing to worry about. This seemed to settle everyone down and they all stayed.

There were of course repercussions, especially from the media. The 'red tops', the newspapers that trade on sensation were, of course, waiting for another 'event' like this at the Bull. They went to town with their headlines.

"Crazy Ghost Runs Amok At The Bull"

"A Bull In A China Shop, At The Bull."

"We Need Good Old Fashioned Discipline Back In Our Schools!!"

The logic of the last headline escapes me. That particular paper uses any excuse to reinforce its reactionary agenda. (Yes, I am a bit of a leftie.)

The Detective Chief Inspector had to be on a special alert now. He could now combine 'business with pleasure' by making regular trips to the Bull Public House. He was always very busy. However, he found time to drop in when he could. His superiors had noticed that John Higgins had the ability to calm the ghost down. They were not wanting any more public disorder issues there. His good wife kind of accepted this as long as he arrived home at a reasonable time and not too drunk!

His services were required again though. More unscrupulous members of the press were tempted to use agent provocateurs. (Nothing to do with an underwear company I might add!) The general idea was to find a way to 'wind up' Old Slippery if possible. This was an extremely dangerous undertaking in itself, given the ghosts probable reaction.

This is where the Detective Chief Inspector and Old Slippery worked together and had an understanding. The recent incident had not dented any trade this time, it may well have increased it. Both John Higgins and the Right Hon Jake Horatio Higginbottom knew, 'smelt' who the dodgy customers were and possibly related trouble makers.

There were several reporters from certain newspapers regularly coming to the Pub. Plus, the Detective Chief Inspector strongly suspected agent provocateurs had filtered in.

Humphrey and Percy kept his upstairs seat warm, so to speak. They had pretty well both taken root at the Bull. The Chief would make tours downstairs, taking up base down there, if Old Slippery was spending more time downstairs. The ghost just loved all the attention, so he made an excuse to make an appearance.

The Detective Chief Inspector knew all the telltale signs of the ghost being agitated, especially the reddening of the eyes, and the rattles. The Chief would quickly glance around the bar he was in. It did not take long to spot the source and origin of any potential problem. Press members would complain of harassment, but the Detective Chief Inspector knew what line to take with all of them, and they pretty well got up and left. John Higgins took a stronger line with the potential trouble makers. He often brought his two young detectives along. There were uniformed police officers on stand by as well. Some of these individuals were hardened criminals and were wanted for other offenses. This also helped the Chief no end in clearing up cases. Arrests were discretely undertaking and the offenders had their sorry arses hauled off to the waiting police van.

Yes, Old Slippery knew who they were too. He could 'feed a thought' through to the Chief Inspector and look across at a general direction and pick out these individuals. He was always right as well. He had access to their dark souls and knew full well what they were capable of. Slippery Jake could bide his time. It would not be too long before these lost souls would be joining him, in the depths of Hell.

The nature of a lot of these agent provocateurs really worried the Chief Inspector. These concerns were 'passed up the line' to his superiors. How did certain areas of the press get hold of 'certain individuals' like these? They must know that most if not all had been and are involved in criminal activities.

This also gave the Chief more leverage with these areas of the press. He told them that all of this would be followed up and any culpability from any of them would come to light. And there would be consequences. Basically playing them at their own game. They hated this. They were totally compromised. The Detective Chief Inspector had won. He loved this.

At the end of each evening, the Chief would make a formal bow to Slippery Jake. To which he reciprocated with all the flummery and OTT etiquette of the Regency Period. This had been a standing event at the Bull. All the customers still there eagerly awaited this. Endless cell phone video recordings and photos were taken. These then all flooded out onto the web, thus further adding to the notoriety of Slippery Jake. Such exposure would have seemed a dream in his day.

This meant more customers for Sid and Beryl. So from their point of view, it was a good thing. However, this did mean all the bars were close to full capacity most of the day and bursting during the evenings. The pub had developed a good reputation as a Gastro Pub, but it still catered for the regulars and the 'seasoned real ale drinkers' like the Majors. They were coping very well. More quality staff were recruited. For those that were drawn to the pub because of its Old Slippery notoriety, many stayed when the discovered the excellent quality of the service, drinks, and food. Reporters had a huge thirst. This was another plus after an Old Slippery incident, up to a point.