Fabulous Folklore: Rats Castle

It was a wet and wild October night. Tom Tinker was struggling to make his way across the muddy fields to his Leicester home when he realised he needed to take shelter. There were no farms around. The only place nearby was Rats Castle - a sinister building with a spooky reputation. Tom didn’t know what it was haunted by, but with torrential rain lashing down, he didn’t have time to worry.

He found Rats Castle and made his way in. His first task was to make a fire, well away from the chimneys and windows leaking rain. He unpacked his day sack, and set about making a cup of tea. Quite absorbed in the process, he didn’t notice the creature until it spoke.

“Eh up” it said, in true Midlands fashion.

It was the ugliest creature he had ever seen. Tall, covered in thick dark hair with horns and a tail, a huge nose and sharp, yellow teeth; Tom immediately recognised it as a bogeyman.

“Aren’t you frightened?” asked the beast.

“Not really” said Tom, handing him a cup of tea. The bogeyman drank the piping hot tea too quickly, causing a searing pain in his throat. He crumpled the tin mug and threw it at Tom, who immediately deflected the mug with a pair of pincers. The mug ricocheted into the mouth of the bogeyman, knocking out several teeth. The creature howled in pain and ran out the door.

Just as Tom caught his breath another appeared. Twice the size and with two heads! 

“Aren’t you frightened?” asked the beast.

“Not really” said Tom, offering him a cup of tea from one of his other mugs. In true bogeyman fashion he guzzled down the drink, launched the tin at Tom who immediately batted the thing back; slamming it into one face before it ricocheted off into the other, knocking out several pointy teeth from each head. The double-headed beast howled and ran off.

Before Tom could wonder what would happen next, a large hairy hand appeared down the chimney breast, feeling its way around the hearth. Without hesitation, he struck the hand with his hammer, causing a loud howl. The hand disappeared.

Gathering his things up, Tom understood that he needed to get out of there as quickly as possible.

Two large hands suddenly lifted the roof off the tower, and three ugly heads on one set of shoulders peered down.

“Eh up!” said the bogeyman. “Aren’t you frightened?”

“Not really” said Tom “But I’ve run out of tea, so I’m just popping home to get some more, and then we can all have a nice cuppa together!”

Tom scurried out of the door, tripping over a large tail which he quickly nailed to the floor so that the bogeyman couldn’t follow. He ran all the way home and vowed never again to return to Rats Castle.

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