The Oxford Set
Renowned historian Ben Jones slouched above his desk, poring over yet another dusty old manuscript that had come into his possession.
The sun shone brightly through his window, almost blinding him, and distant waves crashed against an unseen shore.
He felt the quick vibrate of a notification on his phone and took it out of his pocket to examine it.
A text had come through from his gardener, a middle-aged man named Giles Forester, telling him that he was currently stuck in the abandoned shack deep in the moors and needed help getting out.
Ben had been wondering why Giles hadn’t arrived to sort out the garden for some time.
The historian sighed and sent a quick reply to say that he was on his way.
He tore away from the engrossing manuscript before him and left the room.
His wife Alice, a successful archaeologist, was in her office, planning to excavate potential Roman remains at a nearby farm when her husband entered the room.
”I’m going out onto the Moors, darling,” Ben said. “Giles somehow found himself in the abandoned shack and needs rescuing. I’m going to fetch him.”
Alice slowly swivelled around in her chair, a frown on her face.
Her generally bulbous eyes were even more so underneath the wavy troughs on her forehead.
”You mean the haunted place? The one occupied by that mariner who drowned three hundred years ago?”
Ben grimaced at his wife. “Supposedly, yes. That’s where I shall be should you need me or wonder where I am. Bye, darling.”
He stepped back over the frame of Alice’s office and began to venture out of the cottage, but Alice leapt out of the room and stopped him.
“You don’t think you’re gonna go without me, do you?” Alice said.
Ben stared at his wife for a moment. “There’s no point in both of us going; it won’t take long to get Giles out of the shack and back into Porthysek.”
“But it’s a beautiful day for a walk out on Goon Brenn, don’t you think,” Alice said, putting on her walking boots. “Besides, since you think the manuscript you’re examining can wait, I can surely put my excavation plans on hold for an hour.”
Ben pursed his lips as he stared deep into his wife’s large eyes. “I’m not going to persuade you otherwise, am I?”
Alice smiled at her husband. “Nope.”
Ben opened the door and stepped outside into the crisp sea air.
”Very well,” he said, ushering his wife outside and closing the door behind him once she was out.
The two of them then strode up the steep path towards the top of the headlands, which overlooked the Atlantic Ocean and the village of Porthysek.
“Can you tell me what will happen,” Alice said once they were at the top of the headland and strolling along the South West Country path.
”We’ll arrive at the shack, retrieve Giles, then bring him home,” Ben said. “Those are the only events that will occur.”
”What about the ghost,” Alice said, glancing at her husband.
Ben scrutinised the woman in front of him. Alice tilted her head away from him and stiffened her posture while waiting for his answer.
Ben frowned at her. “The ghost, as you shall discover, does not exist. I know there’s a lot of buzz surrounding the shack, but none is true.”
Ben stormed on ahead, staring purposely into the distance.
Alice rushed after him, trying to keep his pace.
”But that might be why Giles is stuck there,” Alice said. “The ghost could be keeping him hostage.”
”Or, most likely, it’s a big building, and he’s forgotten where he entered,” Ben said. “I have no idea what he was doing in there in the first place.”
Ben sauntered on, Alice doing her best to keep his pace.
”Probably for the same reason as everybody round here: curiosity,” Alice said. “There’re a lot of stories about that place.”
”Indeed there are,” Ben said. “None of them are true, however. Come along.”
Ben trekked through the moor, quickly becoming a tiny dot in the distance.
Alice broke into a jog to catch up with him.
Eventually, they arrived at an ominous black cube in the middle of the grassland.
The bright sun ensured it stuck out like a sore thumb underneath the deep blue sky above it.
It was a house or, rather, the decaying remains of one.
”Here we are,” Ben said, staring at the building before him. “The famous abandoned shack in the middle of Goon Brenn.”
Alice recoiled from the sight in front of her, grimacing. “It sure looks creepy.”
Ben stepped closer to the building.
Alice froze and crossed her arms.
She rubbed them as she scanned the desolate plains surrounding her.
”We don’t both need to go in there, right,” she said.
Ben gazed back at her. “I suppose not. But I thought you were interested in venturing inside.”
Alice rubbed the back of her neck. “I did. But now I’m here, I’m not so sure.”
Ben peered through what he wasn’t sure was the remnants of a window or a hole in the wall and saw a lamp flickering inside.
”Giles has found a lamp somewhere, so at least he was prepared,” Ben said.
He jolted at the sound of a gravelly voice calling his name from within the shack.
Ben clutched the bit of wall at his waist level and leaned inside the building.
”Giles,” he said.
”Ben!” Giles said from within the shack. “You’ve come!”
”We have, yes,” Ben said. “Just hold on, we’re coming in.”
He spun around towards his wife, who was still standing a few feet behind him, acting as though it was colder than it was.
“I’m going to retrieve Giles,” Ben said. “You can come along if you wish.”
Instead of waiting for Alice to respond, Ben marched towards the shack’s entrance and ventured into the darkness.
Ben crawled through the darkness, using only the torch on his phone to guide him.
Occasionally, bits of the ceiling crumbled above him, but he managed to dodge them before they did significant damage to his cranium.
”Where are you, Giles,” Ben said into the darkness.
”I’m in here,” Giles said.
Ben frantically shone his torch in all directions. “Where exactly is here, Giles? I need to know.”
”In here. In this room,” Giles said. “Where’re you?”
”I’m in the main hallway,” Ben said. “Or rather, what was originally in the main hallway.”
Ben noticed an open doorway to his right and sneaked in.
It was a large room with a flickering lamp in the centre, but it was empty.
It was the room Ben had seen through the gap in the window, and Giles wasn’t in it.
He shone his torch around the walls to ensure he was alone in the room.
Ben froze when his eyes met the hole he had previously peeped through.
Alice was still outside, in the same position she had been previously, hugging herself.
“Alice,” Ben said, squinting as he stepped towards the hole, “why didn’t you come?”
Alice rubbed her left arm with her right hand and gazed at the grass beneath her.
”I don’t know,” she said. “I just feel a bit iffy about going in, that’s all.”
Ben gestured the space around him. “There’s absolutely nothing in here except me and Giles, presumably.”
Alice clasped her elbow with her other hand and tilted her head slightly. “We don’t both need to be in there, right?”
Ben glared at Alice. “I thought your insistence on coming was to explore the shack.”
Alice sighed and bent forward slightly. “Yeah, you’re right.”
She hugged herself as she traipsed towards the entrance to the house.
Ben skulked around the room, letting his torch lead the way.
”Giles, I need to know your precise location,” Ben said. “I’m in what was potentially the living room, where your lamp is.”
”Leave that room and come round the corner,” Giles said. “But be careful, he’s coming round.”
Ben’s eyebrows furrowed as he circled the room. “Who’s coming round.”
As he turned around, his eyes shone on Alice’s face.
She was perpendicular and appeared more confident than she had been before. Her face was blank.
Ben slumped and laughed shakily. “Ah, Alice, there you. Giles is in the-“
”I don’t love you anymore,” Alice said, her face and body emotionless.
Ben’s head flinched back slightly. “What,” he said pretty breathily.
”I want a divorce,” Alice said nonchalantly.
The colour drained from Ben’s face. His heart began to pound, and his breathing became laboured.
”Don’t listen to her,” Giles said. “It’s him. He’s trying to mess with ya!”
Ben swallowed some saliva and stared his wife directly into her large eyes.
”Ignore him,” she said. “He wants me to remain trapped in a loveless marriage. But I don’t; I want to be free.”
Ben wiped the sweat off his forehead with a shaky hand. “You didn’t need to join me if you felt this way.”
“Who’re you talking to, babe,” a disembodied voice that sounded like Alice said.
Ben spun his torch in a frenzy and shone it right in the eyes of another Alice, who was hugging the house’s walls.
Ben examined the other Alice with a furrowed brow. “What?”
”The ghost is trying to confuse you,” Alice said. “Don’t let her.”
Ben tried to control his breathing. “Ghosts do not exist.”
The other Alice began to tremble; she backed herself into the corner of the room.
”Who is that talking,” she said. “Why does she sound like-“
Ben shone the torch into Alice’s eyes, allowing the other Alice to gaze directly into them.
The other Alice buckled to the floor, struggling to catch her breath. “What the hell?”
”Don’t let him get to you,” Giles said. “I’m in here.”
The other Alice slowly got herself up from the ground, and with legs like jelly, she stumbled over to Ben and clung onto him.
“We need to get out of here,” Alice said, gulping. “I’m not sure if we can rescue Giles.”
Ben examined the woman clinging to him and then the woman standing in front of him.
At this moment, the Alice in front of him was surprisingly calm for a woman who, up until that point, was reluctant to enter the building, whereas the woman clinging onto him for dear life was trying her hardest to fight off her fear.
He smiled at the honest Alice and tightened his grip on her arm.
“Giles is just around the corner; we’re so close,” Ben said.
He took a few steps forward and led his wife out of the room, both trying to ignore whatever was in the room with them.
Ben and Alice entered into another room.
”Guys, you’ve found me,” Giles said. “You just need to get me out of this thing.”
Ben shone his torch in the direction of Giles’ voice. Both he and Alice recoiled at the sight in front of them.
Somehow, the gardener had found himself trapped inside a small cage.
”How on earth did you get into this predicament,” Ben said, crouching and crawling towards the cage.
“He locked me in here,” Giles said. “The fella who was trying to be her.”
Ben frowned at Giles as he fumbled through the lock. “Who,”
Alice’s face turned blank. She glanced at her husband. “The mariner.”
Ben turned towards Alice and scoffed. “Don’t be ridiculous.”
“She’s right, you know,” Giles said as he shuffled on the cage’s sand-covered floor. “Not sure how he got me in here, mind you.”
Ben crawled around the room, searching for the key to the lock.
”He must be pretty angry about intruders,” Alice said, sifting through her pockets for something she could pick the lock with.
”You could find out who he is,” Giles said, a bright, gappy grin on his face. “Investigate this pile of rubble.”
”I’d love to,” Alice said, smiling back at him. “But I have a lot going on now, and I’m on a tight budget.”
Giles chuckled. “Yeah, I can understand.”
Ben searched every nook and cranny in the room but could not find the key.
He then spotted something in one of the corners and rushed over to it.
It was a bloody pillow of unknown origin.
Ben grimaced at the site and quickly threw the pillow to one side, but nothing was underneath.
”I don’t see a key anywhere,” Ben said, turning back to Giles and Alice. “We may have to-“
Ben froze on the spot and gawped at Alice and Giles, who were now outside the cage.
”Have to what, pick the lock?” Alice said, holding a bent paperclip aloft. “You may never know when an old paperclip will come in handy.”
Ben cleared his throat and approached Alice. “Yes, good thinking.”
After Giles had checked to see that he hadn’t left any of his belongings in the cage, he put on his hat.
Ben placed a hand on Giles’ shoulder and simpered at him. “Take as much time as you need to recover, Giles.”
Giles beamed and nodded his head. “That’s most kind, sir. I’ll return to the garden by July; you can trust me.”
”I know I can,” Ben said.
”Right, shall we get out of here and go home now,” Alice said.
”Yes, that would be a good idea,” Ben said.
But as Ben, Giles, and Alice made for the exit, they discovered it was blocked.
Standing in the doorway was a bedraggled man wearing torn clothing and rough stubble on his chin.
He grinned maliciously.
”You didn’t think I’d let you escape that easily, did you,” the mariner said.
Alice began to shake as the Mariner cackled.
Ben gently held her arm. “Relax, dear. He exists merely inside our heads.”
”Oh, do I,” the Mariner said, leering at the historian.
”I think the stories are true, Ben,” Alice said, gazing at her husband.
Ben stared at Alice wide-eyed and gulped. “They can’t be. We must be hallucinating due to inhalation of mould spores.”
The mariner fleered. “My, you do come up with some fanciful stories.”
Giles glanced out of the window.
Outside, he could see the car he’d used to drive up to the shack.
”We could try climbing out this way,” Giles said. “My car is just outside.”
Alice’s eyes darted towards the view, and her face brightened.
”That’s great, Giles,” Alice said.
She tugged Ben’s arm. “C’mon, we’re gonna go out here.”
Ben turned towards the window and laughed. ”Of course, excellent idea!”
The Mariner stared at the opening, dropping his jaw as far as it could go.
Giles squeezed himself through the hold in the wall first.
“No! Nooo!” The Mariner said, flying towards the window.
But it was too late; Ben and Alice had just about escaped the shack and ran towards the car.
The Mariner tried to reach them but was propelled backwards because he was trapped within the shack.
Instead, he screamed as Gile’s speeded through the moors and back towards Porthysek.
Once Giles was safely home and the Joneses returned to the cosy confines of their cottage, Ben examined a cracked tile in their kitchen.
”I hope you’ve adequately satiated your curiosity,” Ben said, fingering along the crack.
”Oh yeah, I’m never going there again,” Alice said, calming herself down with tea. “I’m much too fearful to visit a second time.”
”There’s a good girl,” Ben said, ambling over to the kettle to make himself a cuppa.
“Although, there’s one thing I don’t understand,” Alice said. “Which is why the Mariner didn’t put up much of a fight.”
”Because he existed only in our minds,” Ben said. “It would be impossible for a physical entity to manifest in your and be able to feed on my darkest fears in such a short space of time.”
Alice waddled over to the window and observed a vast blue ocean beyond. “I don’t know. The poor guy didn’t seem to have much agency.”
Ben opened a sugar jar decorated with pink Starfishes and placed two spoonfuls into his tea.
”He didn’t need agency,” Ben said, stepping over to his wife to admire the view with her. “He was a fictitious entity created by our familiarity with the stories associated with that building.”
Alice glared at Ben. “You can’t possibly think Giles locked himself in that cage, do you?”
Ben took a sip of his tea. “It’s possible. He’s had similar mishaps before.”
Alice shook her head and stared out of the window.
She spotted a momentary flash of light appear in the sky.
Alice’s eyes widened. “Did you see that light?”
Ben frowned at his wife. “What light, the light of the sun. It’s quite impossible not to see it.”
Alice groaned and made her way out of the kitchen. “I’m returning to my office; I’ll see you later.”
Ben smiled as he watched her leave. “Very well,” he said.
The historian chuckled to himself before he, too, vacated the kitchen and went up the stairs to his bedroom and the Medieval manuscript he was examining before he got an unusual text from his gardener.
The Robinsonverse 