“My stick!” He said, “I forgot it in the graveyard. And …”
“Oh dad! I’ll fetch your stick”, Mary said and ran out into the night.
“No Mary, don’t do that!”
But it was too late. Mary disappeared and ran as fast as she could to the graveyard. When she got there she saw the stick. She bent to pick it up and heard a voice coming from a grave.
“Mary Culhaine, help me out!” She didn’t want to, but she had to do what the voice said.
“Give me your hand.” She put her hand into the grave and suddenly another hand came up and grabbed hers. It pulled her arm and grabbed her body. She looked into the hole and saw the thing, a dead body was using her to climb out of it’s grave. It spoke to her and said “Now we can go to town.”
They came to a house the dead body began to sniff. He said “Go on, Mary! Not this house.”
“What do you want?”, Mary asked.
“I am looking for a house without a cross or holy water or a bible.” he answered. “Straight on, Mary Culhaine!”
After eight houses he sniffed and said “Stop, Mary Culhaine! This is the right house.” He began to laugh and though she didn’t want to hear him, she had to. Mary was so scared. It was late at night so she said “You can’t open the door, it’s locked.”
“No door is locked for me on this night,” he said, and he used his bad magic to open the door. He said, “Go in, Mary Culhaine!” She didn’t want to, but she had to do it. They came into the little house, and the dead body said, “Mary Culhaine, go into the kitchen and make me some porridge!” Mary didn’t want to do it but she couldn’t stop herself. The dead body sat down at the table and Mary began to make the porridge. She put oats and milk and water into a big pot.
“I need blood for my porridge”, said the dead thing. Mary found a large bowl and went with him up the stairs into a bedroom where they found three young boys. She saw a razor in the moonlight and, against her own will, she used it to cut the first boy’s finger. She bled his finger into the bowl and in a few minutes he was dead.
She went to the second boy and then the third boy and cut their fingers, took their blood and left them dead, lying in their beds.
“Take me down into the kitchen, Mary Culhaine”, said the evil thing that brought her there. She didn’t want to do it what it said, but she had to. Her feet moved alone. “Let’s go, Mary,” it said. She went downstairs and into the kitchen with the big bowl of blood. She poured the blood into the porridge and the dead body said to her, “Now we must eat it.”
It took a spoon and the bowl with the porridge and it ate and ate, smacking it’s lips with each bite. “Mary, you eat it too!”
Mary took a spoon and a little bit of porridge with the blood. Mary didn’t want to eat it and this time she was able to fight against the monster’s will. Mary took her scarf and filled it with the porridge. The dead body was fooled and thought she ate the bloody meal. Mary hid the scarf behind a chair.
The body brought Mary back to the graveyard. On the way Mary asked, “What about the three dead boys?”
“They are dead and they can’t live again, because we ate the bloody porridge. The bloody porridge is the only thing that can bring them back to life but we ate it all! Ha-ha-ha!” laughed the dead body.
They arrived at the cemetery and approached the body’s grave. “You must come with me into the grave”, said the dead body. She had to keep moving with it towards the grave. She knew it wanted her to climb with it into that grave where it was cold and dark. She didn’t want to, but she couldn’t stop her legs from moving forward. Very slowly she went to the grave.
They heard a noise, “Moo!” Mary Culhaine stopped.
“It’s only a cow in the field”, said the dead body. “Go on! The night is coming to an end, Mary Culhaine!” She went on, very slowly.
“Mah-ah-ah!” Again, she hesitated, listening to the noise. “Go on, Mary Culhaine! It’s only a sheep in the field!” said the dead body. “Go on! The sun is coming!” and Mary Culhaine went on.
They found the grave and the body climbed down into it, grabbing Mary’s arm to pulled her along. Mary Culhaine didn’t want to go into the grave, but the dead body was strong.
“Cock-a-doodle-do!” The sun came up and the power of the dead body vanished. The thing collapsed, lifeless once more. Mary Culhaine fell down with it and her hand found her father’s stick. She stood up, took the stick and ran home.
On her way she came to the house without across, bible or holy water. She heard a voice, “Our sons are dead!” She remembered what the corpse had said and went into the house.
“I know how the boys can come back to life!” she said. Mary Culhaine went into the kitchen and found the scarf with the bloody porridge. She took it upstairs and began to feed the three bodies in the beds. And as the bloody porridge touched the lips of the boys, they came back to life.
Scotie Rainwater from Houston Texas