Grave Robbery

And besides, he worked cheap.

Tom’s heart suddenly threatened to jump out of his chest as his spade struck wood. Snidley offered him a rare smile and said, "There we go boy-o; pretty soon you’ll be eating like The Earl of Farthingsworth." But at the moment food was the furthest thing from Tom Brown’s mind.

Soon they had the box uncovered and they prepared to stand one end up in the hole. There was the heavy aroma of moist earth and rotting wood in their nostrils as they laboured with their quarry. Snidley said, "You hop up top; and when I lift, you pull like the devil."

Tom did as he was told and they managed to procure the casket from the deep depression. He dragged it backwards from the hole and then dropped his end to the ground. Then to his horror, as the heavy box landed, the lid came off. He froze in absolute fright. There the boy stood almost catatonic and whimpering to himself. Snidley had said that Uncle Percy was a few rows further up the way. It seemed it was a lie. There in the pine box before him, by the dim light of the crescent moon, he stared in to the pale face of his dead uncle.

Snidley jumped out of the hole and dusted himself off. He then had a look in the box for himself. The older man appeared genuinely surprised, and said, "Awe Jesus Murphy, I’m sorry lad. I must have got my directions screwed up in the dark. I swear, I didn’t mean for it."

Tom somehow believed his employer that it had been a mistake. Snidley had no reason to lie, after all, there were other fresh graves in the cemetery. "All right then, let’s put him back," he mustered. "We simply can’t sell Uncle Percy."

Snidley looked solemn for a moment and then shaking his head he said, "Sorry lad, I don’t like it much neither, but we haven’t the time to put him back and go for another. The constable will be around again. If you want to eat like the earl then you best put your feelings behind you and help me get him on the cart."

Reluctantly, and with tears in his eyes, the distraught youth helped to lift the coffin onto the two-wheeled vehicle. They quickly covered the box with a light blanket and tossed their shovels along side. Under orders from the older man, Tom stood in front of the cart, reached down for the two poles, stood up and began pulling the ill gotten booty toward the cemetery gate.

Once through the fence, they re-latched the gate and quickly made haste down the street. After only a couple of minutes, the already malnourished and over-tired lad became fatigued pulling the wagon and its load. Snidley angrily took control of the poles and set off at a great pace, with a stern look in his eye. He would not dally. The good doctor was waiting across town with his money in hand.

Tom now tried to keep up along side the speeding wagon. His tiredness caused him some dizziness and he nearly tripped on more than one occasion. Then suddenly he was brought fully awake and with great alarm.

As he glanced to the coffin which rolled along bumpily beside him, to his horror the lid came flying off. It clattered noisily to the cobblestones. Then the corpse of Percival Brown sat up. The pale head turned towards Tom, and the eyelids opened revealing two deep, all-black orbs.