Hills of the North Ch. 02

In her still-dark bedroom, Alice stared at the ceiling and listened to Ray's soft, steady breathing. His naked body was warm and hairy. She was glad she'd asked him to stay the night. It felt so wonderful to have a man to snuggle up to again. Mike was away so often, he'd taken to sleeping in the spare bedroom, to avoid disturbing Alice. More likely a convenient way for him to avoid getting intimate. She squinted at the illuminated green numbers on the bedside clock. Five-thirty. Outside, the birds had started their dawn chorus.

The early morning was quiet. The rain had stopped, and the sky was no longer shaken by thunder. Occasionally, wind brushed across the roof and sighed wearily at the windows, but the fury had gone out of it. Alice teetered pleasantly on the edge of sleep. She was a bit light-headed from the whiskey she had been slowly sipping throughout the evening, not to mention the intense sex she and Ray had engaged in.

Falling off the edge, dropping into a well of sleep, she had the ugly, unwelcome thought she had resisted so strenuously on many occasions. The thought that God had punished her for wanting a baby. Because of something she did in her past. She'd never been able to have children. Now, at forty-three and with perimenopause creeping ever closer, she could feel that dream slipping away, like sand in an hourglass.

Then she was in a strange, smoky place where there was not much light, where something glinted just out of sight. The nightmare unfolded with the sound of loud, nerve-jarring pipe organ music. This is more than just a dream, she thought desperately. Much more than that. This is a memory, a prophecy, a warning.

Suddenly, she was running down a church aisle. On the altar stood a bloody, severed head. The head of Reverend Hosking. As Alice stood transfixed by that grisly sight, the dead eyes rolled in their sockets and focused on her. The cold lips twisted into icy smile.

With a gasp, she drew back the covers and swung her bare legs out of bed. She sat on the edge of the mattress, hugging herself.

Ray was still asleep, snoring softly. Alice knew she wouldn't be able to get back to sleep after that nightmare. Like it or not, she was up for the day. Light seeped in around the curtains; it was too dim to reveal the details of the furniture, but it was just bright enough to deepen the shadows and distort the shapes of everything, so that the room seemed like a dreamscape. Shuddering, she headed off to the bathroom. In the shower, Alice thought about the nightmare, which had been considerably more vivid than any dream she'd ever had before. The organ music that had been playing in it was a hauntingly familiar hymn. Try as she might, she couldn't recall its title, despite having played it many times.

After her shower, she headed back into the bedroom and tried to dress herself as quietly as possible.

"Wow, someone's up with the lark!"

Alice spun round. "Oh, sorry if I disturbed you, Ray. I...couldn't sleep."

Sensing tension in her hesitation, Ray said, "What's wrong?"

"Well..." She cleared her throat nervously. "Might sound corny, but I had this most horrific nightmare. It was gruesome. I've never experienced anything like it. I woke up in a cold sweat and my heart was pounding."

"You're not feeling guilty over last night are you?" He said, sliding out of bed and putting his glasses on.

"No, not at all Ray. It's nothing to do with that."

He embraced her. "Alice, you're trembling. Whatever was it?"

"Seeing as we've become so well-acquainted now, I feel the need to tell you something. A secret. A secret I've kept hidden for a long time."

She was deadly serious, and the normally-jovial curate sensed her desperate need to unburden herself to a sincere listener.

"Whatever it is, Alice. I'm here for you and anything you tell me, will be in confidence. You have my solemn word."

She nodded and sat down on the bed, her hands in his.

"Ray, as a man of God, tell me. Can anything be forgiven?"

He took a deep breath and thought carefully before replying. "Yes. But the person seeking forgiveness has to truly want to be forgiven." Secretly, his heart lurched. He prayed that this gorgeous woman he was falling for hadn't committed some brutal, cold-blooded murder in her past.

Alice continued. "Growing up, I was a mess, I was in a bad place." Ray listened intently as she gradually revealed the horrendous story of her monstrous childhood. Her alcoholic mother who'd died when she was fourteen, her violent drug-addict father who'd beaten her, ended up in jail for downloading child abuse images -- and when she was sixteen, he'd been beaten to death in jail.

I ran away from home, lived with an aunt for a bit, but my behaviour was so damn bad, she threw me out. I started drinking. Got in with a bad crowd. At eighteen, I got myself pregnant. The father was a lad called Jordan. As soon as I told him, he fucked off. Didn't want to know. A few weeks later he was killed in a motorbike accident.

I considered an abortion but I just couldn't bring myself to do that. The birth was traumatic though. I put the baby up for adoption, Ray. There was no reasonable alternative. I simply hadn't been financially or emotionally or mentally capable of providing for her. I sorted my life out, got a job, rented a flat. Got involved in a church. Started learning to play the organ. Had a few relationships, but they didn't work out. I tended to push men away. Ten years ago, I met Mike. He seemed safe. He was thrilling at first. Hard to believe, I know. We were happy. We relocated from Coventry to up here. But he became obsessed with work after we kept trying -- and failing to have a child together. I never told him about the baby I gave up. He wouldn't understand."

"Oh Alice," Ray said, tears pricking his eyes.

"And now, twenty-five years on, the guilt I feel with every passing year gnaws at me like a starving dog with a bone. On each anniversary of my daughter's birth. I often wonder what she's doing with her life."

"Have you ever tried to find out?" He asked softly. "There are ways and means. If you'd like, I'll gladly make some enquiries."

"I haven't. Been too afraid at re-opening old wounds. But I'd dearly love to know. I need closure."

Ray nodded and pulled her into a tight embrace. "Alice, you're a stronger person than I can ever be. I want you know how much I admire you."

"Thanks so much for understanding. I feel like a lead weight has been lifted off my shoulders."

He felt strangely humbled. "I want to help you in any way I can."

"By the way, how are your two kids?"

"Oh Laura and Ben are doing great. Laura's just turned twenty and is at Salford uni, studying engineering. Ben's seventeen and doing an apprenticeship. Wants to be an electrician. I see them when I can. We have a good relationship. I'm lucky, I'm on good terms with both my exes, despite me cheating. They've remarried anyway."

"That's good. Glad you all get along."

The day was ashen, chilly, forbidding. Wind pressed on the glass, and howled softly round the eaves of the house.

"Fancy a cuppa?" Ray said, pulling on his underpants. "I think we need one after everything you've told me."

"Absolutely. I'm gagging for one."

"By the way, about that nightmare you had. What was it about? Was it...about your baby?"

Alice fastened her dressing gown. "Oh no, nothing like that. It'll sound stupid, but it was horrid and gory. I dreamt I was in the church...and the vicar's severed head was on the altar."

"Bloody hell," Ray chuckled. "Poor Reverend Graham! Did Quentin Tarantino write that nightmare?"

She laughed back. "Who knows? I've never watched horror movies. Had to give up on Game of Thrones because I found it too violent. I have no idea how such a horrific image entered my mind."

"Well his sermons aren't that bad!" Ray continued. "The Devil obviously makes work for sleeping minds as well as idle hands. Perhaps reading a passage from the Book of Revelation will cast out any future nocturnal demons?"

"Good idea. You...don't think it's a warning of some sort do you? I don't want to think that the vicar's in real danger."

"Not at all. It was just a bad dream. It doesn't mean anything. The human mind is a fascinating thing, and still not fully understood. Don't worry. Probably best not to mention it to the vicar though. Doubt he'd see the funny side!"

Alice walked through the lounge and lifted the lid on the old upright piano that stood in the corner. The instrument was shabby and had seen better days, but it served its purpose for practising on, on the rare occasions she couldn't use the church organ. She played a few notes. The piano was badly in need of retuning. "There was organ music playing in my dream," she said. "This hymn. I know the tune so well, yet I can't remember the name. What's it called?"

Ray recognised it at once. "That's Hills of the North Rejoice. The tune's the Little Cornard one. One of my favourite hymns. It's an advent one, but I wish it could be played all year round. It's very powerful. And we are surrounded by hills of the north aren't we?" He looked out of the patio doors. In the distance, like a spectre, Pendle Hill loomed over the landscape.

The Sunday Eucharist was well-attended, much to Reverend Hosking's delight. He was half-way through his sermon, when he noticed a face in the congregation that made him momentarily stumble over his words. She was here. The beautiful woman who he'd almost knocked down the other day, was sat on the front row pew.

She was listening carefully, and her lovely smile immediately made him feel strangely warmed all over. He simply had to get to know her.

After the service, he did his usual shaking of hands at the door, and the young woman was one of the last to leave the church.

"Ah...good morning, and nice to see you again, er..."

"Emily," came her reply.

"Emily! Yes, well, I assume this is your first visit to St. Peter's?"

"I came here when I was little," she said. "Used to attend regularly with my parents. But I lost my faith as I grew up. Dad died in 2020 during the height of the pandemic. Mum never got over it. She died a year later. That's when I regained my faith. I decided to move. Back to Clitheroe. The town where I grew up."

"I'm so sorry for your loss," Reverend Hosking said. How sad that this woman was orphaned in her twenties. "Do you have siblings?"

"No, I'm an only child," Emily continued. "I find myself all alone in the world. So...I turned back to God."

"No-one is ever alone if they have God in their life," the vicar replied, his voice a little shaky. He was desperate for this conversation to continue, even though he was supposed to be joining his loyal flock for tea and biscuits in the church hall. "Perhaps you would like to talk in confidence if you're not sure where you stand with God? I run a relaxed and informal Christianity course once a week at the vicarage. It's a small group of people, all different ages. Alice, our church organist attends, along with..."

"I would much prefer to talk to you alone, Reverend," Emily said.

His stomach lurched. In the spring sunshine, the floaty, white dress she was wearing gave her the aura of a mirage. As crisp, beautiful and radiant as an angel.

"I see. Well, you are most welcome to call round at the vicarage this evening if you'd like to discuss something in private. If you need to report a safeguarding issue, I can help you with that."

"That would be great. Thanks so much!"

"Not at all. Around six?"

Emily nodded. "Oh and I enjoyed your sermon. Your words flow like a river."

"Praise indeed? Um, thank you very much Emily! Er...are you heading to the church hall for a drink?"

"No thanks, I need to get back home. I'll see you later." Before she could lose her nerve or he could respond, she rose on tip-toe, granting the vicar a swift, soft kiss...

Dear God! He feared he was about to faint. Steadying himself against the door, he fiddled with his surplice as he attempted to process what had just happened.

A hand on his shoulder almost made him jump out of his skin.

"Whoa there, didn't mean to make you jump!" Ray exclaimed.

"Sorry. I was miles away."

"Good service today. You alright? Your face has gone bright red."

"I think I've just fallen in love."

Ray did a double take. "Oh I see....wait, what? Are you sure you're feeling okay, Vicar?"

Reverend Hosking nervously paced up and down in his lounge as checked his watch for the umpteenth time. He was as nervous as hell and his stomach was doing cartwheels. Five to six.

Suddenly, the doorbell rang.

"It's all part of God's plan," he said, crossing himself.

He and Emily had an informal chat about religion and some passages from the Bible. He watched her as she read out loud. A large floor lamp behind the chair she was sitting in provided ample light. For a moment, her body was outlined through the thin material of her dress. The Reverend saw this and quickly averted his eyes to prevent himself from staring at her breasts.

A little flustered, he asked her about other churches she'd been to and about her parents. He discovered that she was twenty-five, worked as a librarian in Clitheroe and that she'd been adopted. Her adoptive parents had been unable to have children of their own and had been middle-aged when they'd adopted her. Emily had never traced her birth mother, but now that her adoptive parents were dead, she expressed a desire to do so. She bore no malice towards her birth mother, stating that she must've had good reasons for giving up her child.

"I'm so glad I grew up round here, in this area of Lancashire. I love the history of the place. The story of the Pendle witches."

"They were all quite ordinary women, and their story is one of superstition, cruelty and persecution. Life was so very harsh back then."

He knew for certain that he was hopelessly bewitched by this beautiful woman. "Er, it's going a little chilly in here. I'll just put the fire on."

The room wasn't really cold, but he needed to stand up for a bit. The erection he'd developed was uncomfortable, and he prayed she hadn't noticed the bulge tenting up his black trousers. He kept the copy of the Bible held in front of him as he headed over to the gas fire.

Emily shifted uneasily in the chair as blue flames rose from the fire with a whoosh, then settled down as he turned it to its lowest heat setting. She closed her Bible as he returned to sit opposite her. She glanced warily at the small flickering flames, then back at him.

"Reverend Hosking...may I ask you something...personal?"

The mention of "personal" immediately had him alerted. "Why certainly, Emily. And please, call me Graham."

"Do you think it possible to have an instant attraction to someone?"

He blinked. "Oh yes. It is indeed possible."

"Forgive me for asking...have you...ever been attracted to someone?"

Talk about being put on the spot. He blushed immediately. "Ah...well yes, many times. I'm er, not very good at chat up lines though. There are some things even the Bible can't help me with!"

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to embarrass you, Reverend...Graham."

"Oh no it's alright. I blame myself. My work always seems to get in the way...as does my shyness. I don't think the good women of the world would want such a catch as me."

"I would," Emily replied. "Shyness is an attractive trait."

His voice was shaky. "I beg your pardon?"

She stood up and took the stunned vicar's hands in her own. "Graham...I have been attracted to you ever since that first day, when..."

"When...what?" He felt faint again.

"In the road. When you said I was beautiful."

His heart was armoured. She'd just broken through and touched it.

Without saying another word, she slid her arms around him and pressed her lips to his. The Bible fell from Reverend Hosking's hand as he simply stood there, too stunned to react. Eventually, her actions emboldened him and he plundered her soft mouth. She whimpered in his embrace, gasping when his mouth moved down to her neck, nipping and biting the soft flesh before crossing her collarbones and heading for the perfumed valley of her cleavage.

His quivering fingers worked at the buttons on the front of her dress, sliding inside and then in her bra, and and filling his palms with her full and pert breasts.

Suddenly, he halted his explorations. "O good heavens, what am I doing? I'm so sorry!"

"No, don't stop." Emily murmured, urging him to continue. "God won't mind..."

Her skin tingled when his mouth captured a nipple and she gasped at the sensations that streaked from her breasts to her pussy.

Emily reached forward, letting her hand slide along his thigh, shivering when her fingers found the bulge in his trousers. He growled against her breast, sending warm ripples through her and she unbuttoned unzipped his fly, reaching in to his underpants and pulling his hardened cock out.

"Oh..." the vicar could only gasp when her warm hand gripped his erection and allowed her to push him against the wall. He'd never been touched intimately by a woman before, and this was painfully obvious.

Emily unbuttoned his black shirt, and slipped her hands underneath it, running her fingers through his chest hair. His body was slim and well-toned. And then, she did something that surprised him. She bent down and licked the tip of his cock. Reverend Hosking nearly screamed in pleasure, his body arching against the wall, bewilderment in his face. She licked again. He moaned.

"I think I've found something you like, Graham," Emily purred, wrapping her hand round his shaft and jacking it gently. "Let me see if you like this."

Her tongue slowly licked across his balls and then upwards. He forgot to breathe.

"Is this your first time?"

He just nodded.

Hiding a smile, she repeated her actions, paused a few seconds, then lowered her mouth over the head of his cock.

"Dear Lord!" Reverend Hosking breathed, his entire body quaking from the warm, wet touch of her mouth. Her tongue curled around the head, tickling the sensitive ridges and slipping into the slick opening. He groaned as she sucked him, roughly tongue-lashing him. "Emily..." Being his first time, it didn't take him long to reach orgasm. Before he could warn her, he was cumming, his dick spurting its pearly issue in her mouth and to his amazement, she swallowed every drop.

Emily waited for a few moments, gently licking his member until his body relaxed against the wall, then she moved up next to him, pressing kisses to his flaming cheeks. He opened his eyes, gazing at her and she placed two fingers on his lips before he opened his mouth to speak, then kissed him.

"Shall we go upstairs, my sweet Reverend? I'll make your first time a special one."

"I...I..."

"It'll be alright, Graham," she added, trying to reassure him.

"I'm sorry Emily," he said at last. "I can't. I...think you should go."

"Graham, please..."

"Forgive me," he said, turning away.

Sensing it was unwise to push him further, Emily calmly gathered up her bag and fleece hoodie. "Okay."

Alone in the vicarage once more, Reverend Hosking staggered to the dining table and zipped up his trousers. Leaning heavily against it, he felt his heart pounding. His mind was a tempest; This stunning woman who he barely knew had crashed through the protective wall he'd built around himself. The rigid adherence to the church which he'd vowed to keep. His crippling shyness. But it wasn't just his lack of experience that worried him. It was the fact that he'd given in to temptation so easily. Emily had enthralled him in a way he couldn't describe. If she was a witch, then she'd placed some kind of spell on him. He suddenly realised he'd probably blown the best chance of experiencing love that he'd ever get.