A Christmas Inheritance 06: The Holly Bears A Bark

### Players

Joseph Chance as Edward Caister, Dominic Allen as Sidney Wagner, Dan Wheeler as Rev. Peregrine McCutcheon

### Podcast Link

https://www.podbean.com/ew/pb-v4cvr-116ce92

## Synopsis (Spoiler Warning)

We rejoin the investigators as Peregrine tells Edward about his nightly encounters, the intro follows, and Edward decides to keep the gun at hand while also making the mistake of calling Peregrine "Perry"; he excuses himself and the awake investigators block the door to Edward's room. Peregrine gives Sidney a hit point back thanks to a first aid roll, and notices that the cuts and rips in his hat-armor derive only from their brief fight in the previous episode. Sidney wakes, and tells the others about the nature of the game: how the bear sneaked up behind him while he was ready, making it now *his* turn to play; Edward and Peregrine wonder about the likelihood of a bear having entered the house, and as the latter looks down at his knife he realizes that within the semicircle of large, pointed teeth there is another mark which is clearly from a smaller, human mouth. This unsettles the Reverend, but the extended discussion regarding land-sharks undoubtedly lightens the mood. Edward realizes his shotgun isn't loaded, backs away from Peregrine's injury, and trips over Sidney's body on the floor; crying, Peregrine comes to the conclusion that he might have actually injured a child and that the creature never actually overpowered him. Sidney wakes up a second time, appearing slightly confused, while Edward tries to load his ammunition and eventually throws a shell at him, as he protests that he thought this to be his own room; the three characters converse and Peregrine hears a creaking from outside the door, in response to which Sidney calls out Samuel's name.

The sound of a child crying echoes through the door, and Sidney convinces the group to ask them some questions in the form of a "game" in which the child should knock on the door twice to respond with a "yes" and once for a "no"; Sidney asks if they understand and the answer is yes, he then asks if they're feeling alright and if they're scared, the answer to both of which is no. Peregrine suggests to ask whether or not they're alone, which Sidney mishears, then asking them if they're alive, to which there is no answer: Edward finds this quite disturbing. Peregrine's original question is then asked confirming that they're alone, and they try to ascertain if it's Samuel by asking if their mother's name is Judith: the child denies this as Edward lowers his shotgun towards the door. Lastly, Sidney asks if they intend to harm him and the others, and the crying begins once more, this time sounding deeper and more sincere, but the sound is cut off when Edward shoots both barrels into the bottom half of the door: there is a pained shriek ("like an animal caught in a trap") and the child runs off.

Sidney ponders on the transmogrification of berserkers into bears and realizes that the figures in the pamphlet they found remind him of the Isle of Lewis chess set: the image in his mind is that of teeth over a shield, which is similar to what the berserkers would do to prepare for battle. He then recalls how taboo the real word for "bear" used to be and how these warriors would attempt to channel the force of the bears. He then asks Peregrine who the man the children call "baldhead" is, walks over to the window and screams out wondering who the moon-faced man they met on the way was; as he does, he notices a singular bush of holly on the lawn, which turns around and displays the fact that Peter Ainsworth's face is encased within it. Sidney opens the window and the plant and face disappear. The characters then think to summon William in order to extrapolate some information from him, pondering also on how the whole affair now seems to be some sort of trap, and William himself arrives after having heard the gunshot; Edward tells him there is an intruder of some kind and he seems genuinely taken aback but also slightly annoyed. William then tells them that he disapproved of the company his previous master held. Peregrine tells William of his bite mark, which seems to frustrate the man; it's revealed that Thomas Caldwell was acquainted with many individuals "without any moral objections" which William clarifies by saying that he's a christian and that they seemed to blaspheme and speak in unfamiliar languages. These people would usually arrive around this very time of year, and in order to gain more insight into these gatherings the players perform and push various social rolls, offering William some brandy, putting a Capuchon on his head, and telling him to imagine that he's in confession. William tells them these people would conduct rites near the Greco-Roman temple and the maze; Sidney then asks who Lawrence is, and it turns out that he was Thomas Caldwell's grandfather. The family plot is then brought up, and William tells the men that he can't quite write down the key to the maze, but is very capable of walking through it in the moment. The intruder is mentioned again, and William says the person he thinks it might have been would have already left, and isn't worth naming anyway; Peregrine implies it might have been Leaf, and William suddenly seems slightly sad, and set on completely avoiding the subject. The men agree to meet again at breakfast, and Peregrine suggests William watch over the house as they try and get some hours of sleep; Sidney looks out to make sure that the previously seen holly bush isn't on the lawn anymore as Edward speaks to William about Thomas Caldwell. He raises the question about children getting lost in the maze, something which William assures him he would never allow. Meanwhile, as he goes to close his window, Peregrine hears a soft whistling just before he and the others finally fall asleep.

## Important NPCs

* Ben the dog
* Peter Ainsworth
* William Purdue

## Quotes

* "Apologies to everyone. Literally, to everyone, for quite a lot of our content." (Joseph)
* "Sharks have multiple layers of teeth, maybe it was just a shark..." (Danann) "Oh yes, the famous Victorian land-shark." (Dan)
* "Of course, something that a lot of people don't know is that more people per year are killed by sea-bees than land-sharks." (Dan) "In fact, you're more likely to be killed by a cashew nut falling on your head from a balcony then you are by a land-shark." (Danann)
* "Weirdest fucking confession anyone's ever seen, you've got a party hat on and a glass of brandy..." (Dan)

## Trivia

1. ↑ Something similar happens in M. R. James' *The Rose Garden*
2. ↑ Most likely the whistle inspired by the one in M. R. James' *Oh Whistle, and I'll Come To You, My Lad* which will come up later on.