Day Four (August 18, 1930)
The Unveiling of Cobb’s Corners: Dreams, Bones, and a Deepening Mystery
The fourth day of our Miskatonic University expedition to Cobb’s Corners, Vermont, proved to be a whirlwind of unsettling discoveries and escalating tension, leaving our team isolated and surrounded by an ancient, malevolent mystery. The previous day had ended dramatically, with an accident at the bridge leaving our geologist, Sophia Picado, shaken and nursing injured ribs, though thankfully, she managed a night of sound sleep.
Shared Nightmares and a Gruesome Dawn
The day truly began with a chilling revelation over an early breakfast. Professor Lilian Neill and Teddy Harris, our folklorists, discovered they had both experienced identical, terrifying dreams for the second consecutive night. They recounted a harrowing descent into a cellar, filled with a primal growl that evolved into unsettling laughter. Vines snaked from the ground, ensnaring them and dragging them into the oppressive darkness as roars of rage echoed around them. The shared nature of these vivid nightmares left them deeply disturbed, a sensation far beyond mere coincidence. Sophia, overhearing their conversation, mused about the house having a basement, a thought that was quickly overshadowed by what followed. Meanwhile, the eerie silence of insects around the farmhouse, a strange anomaly since our arrival, continued to underscore the unsettling atmosphere. Sophia also recalled her own unnerving experience from the first night, when she spotted “several pairs of little eyes looking at her” in the dark woods near the outhouse, a sighting that now resonated with the sinister imagery of the dreams.
As Professor Neill hurried towards the outhouse, something caught her eye in the well-tended flowerbed beside the Maclearan farmhouse – a detail that had always seemed oddly out of place amidst the general overgrowth. The heavy rains of the previous day had exposed something white and off-white. Upon closer inspection, her academic training confirmed the gruesome truth: human bones were jutting from the earth, specifically what appeared to be ribs. She quickly determined them to be adult-sized, though their age was indeterminable. Her shouts quickly drew Teddy, Sophia, and other expedition members, including William Noakes, to the scene. William, with his anthropology background, immediately expressed keen interest.
Police Involvement and a Local Tragedy Unveiled
Recognising the gravity of the situation, Professor Neill ordered Jason to contact the sheriff. Robert Blaine, our expedition leader, who had been the subject of distrust for his evasive behaviour on Day 3, also appeared, advising everyone to step back and await the authorities. Teddy, ever observant, noted Blaine’s initial shock, but then questioned why such bones hadn’t been found during last year’s extensive search for missing persons. Blaine’s dismissive response only heightened Teddy’s unease, especially given his own recent dreams.
The local sheriff and Deputy Cutter soon arrived. The sheriff’s immediate reaction upon seeing the bones spoke volumes, and he quickly retired inside to call for Dr. Perry. When asked, Deputy Cutter quietly revealed their suspicion: the remains belonged to Sarah Maclearan, the sister of the sheriff himself, whose death 10 years prior was believed to have been from consumption, and whose body was thought to be buried in the cemetery. This revelation sent a ripple of confusion through our team; how could she be buried in two places? The sheriff, visibly distressed, vowed retribution for Jimmy Maclearan, Sarah’s husband, hinting at a darker story to come.
When Dr. Perry arrived with a body bag, he, the sheriff, and Deputy Cutter began the solemn task of exhuming the remains from the flowerbed. They treated the bones with profound respect, carefully placing them into the body bag, suggesting a deep personal connection to the deceased. The doctor later shared a shocking secret with Lillian and Teddy: during an earlier attempt by townsfolk to exhume Sarah’s grave in the cemetery, they discovered not Sarah’s body, but the mutilated carcass of a calf. He surmised that Jimmy, torn by grief, had buried Sarah’s real remains in their own garden amongst her flowers, after she had died in the very house we now occupy. Dr. Perry also noted the disproportionate number of child deaths and farm accidents in Cobb’s Corners, expressing a quiet concern that “there’s something not right here, is there, in this town?”.
Blaine’s Agenda and a Detour to Mrs. Bellwether
Amidst the grim discovery, Blaine, the expedition leader, renewed his push to move the main digging operation to Broken Hill. He mentioned potential Indian burial grounds and a mineral called Pasqualeum, but Professor Neill’s keen psychological insight revealed his underlying insincerity; he was twitchy, seemingly wanting to keep the team at Broken Hill while he pursued other, unknown objectives. Sophia also noticed Blaine’s continued “awkward attention” towards Clarissa, a chemistry student, leading her to intervene and ensure Clarissa didn’t have to sit next to him in the truck.
Before heading to Broken Hill, the folklorist team, comprised of Professor Neill, Teddy, and William, decided to make a detour to visit Mrs. Agnes Bellwether, a local woman described by some as a “witch”. Her remote, single-story house was surrounded by a vegetable garden adorned with strange, twisted wicker shapes. Professor Neill, utilising her anthropology expertise, immediately recognised these as fertility symbols, some derived from ancient Goths and Parthians – cultures unexpectedly diverse for this region.
Mrs. Bellwether, an 88-year-old former midwife, born in the very house she inhabited, welcomed them. She spoke of her life, her herbal remedies, and the value of traditional medicine. The conversation turned to the town’s missing folklore books, which Mabel Cruthers, the librarian, had been perplexed by. William surprised everyone by recalling the name of Mabel’s niece, Amanda, whom Mrs. Bellwether had helped bring into the world many years ago.
A Valley Cursed and Eyes in the Trees
Professor Neill then pressed Mrs. Bellwether about the strange occurrences in Cobb’s Corners. Mrs. Bellwether leaned in conspiratorially and recounted a chilling Indian legend: long ago, a tribe that settled in the valley was “wiped out in a single night” by evil spirits, dying in hideous ways – “frozen, burned, ripped apart”. The remains, she said, were buried at the foot of a hill, and the evil spirits then took to the air, screaming curses. William immediately connected this tale to Sophia’s earlier description of petroglyphs on Rice Hill, depicting stick figures fleeing from winged creatures.
Mrs. Bellwether further elaborated on the valley’s strangeness: there were no insects – no bees, no “skeeters” – and no birds flying overhead, nor bears or mountain lions in the surrounding hills. Farmers also didn’t have to contend with weeds in their crops, and despite the “thin, rocky soil,” everything grew remarkably well. This bounty, she concluded ominously, came with a price: “I wonder what we’re paying for it,” a clear reference to the tragic deaths of children in the town.
Professor Neill then showed Mrs. Bellwether the photographs taken at night, revealing numerous pairs of “white lights”—eyes—in the dense woods. She also described her encounter with a strange, mole-like creature with a crude knife that had killed a rabbit right before her eyes. Mrs. Bellwether, visibly frightened, vaguely recalled a “Sloan boy” who spoke of “big brown rats leaping through the trees like monkeys” near the farmhouse a year prior. The folklorists then pressed her further, revealing they were having the same disturbing dreams, causing the old woman to quickly retreat into her house, visibly unnerved and fearful. Lillian, in her academic pursuit, was seemingly oblivious to the old woman’s distress.
Broken Hill: A Mass Grave and a Night in the Wild
Leaving Mrs. Bellwether, the folklorists faced further hardship: Lillian, driving the car towards Broken Hill, blew a tire on the muddy, rutted track, leaving the vehicle jammed and unmovable. After a collective effort to push the car, they decided that Terrence and Jason would stay with the broken vehicle, while Professor Neill, Teddy, and William continued on foot to Broken Hill.
Upon their arrival, they found the digging team had already made a significant discovery. Harry Higgins, a geology major, informed them they had uncovered numerous human bones, clearly belonging to multiple individuals of varying ages – men, women, and children. They also found Abenaki artifacts, confirming the site as a likely mass grave, consistent with Mrs. Bellwether’s tale of the massacred Indian tribe. Sophia, noting the bones appeared older than those found at the farmhouse, surreptitiously pocketed a small bone for later analysis, though Lewis Gibbons witnessed it. Her attempt to charm Lewis failed, but her logical explanation convinced Harry to allow her to keep it for scientific testing.
The team realised Blaine’s earlier push to focus on this mound at Broken Hill and his subsequent departure hours ago had been a ruse – he had wanted them distracted, leaving the site unsupervised. Adding to their growing unease, Professor Neill and Teddy recalled the fate of Boyd Patterson, a student from last year’s expedition who had died in a “climbing incident” at Broken Hill, his body “mangled by a long fall”.
Their situation worsened when Terrence and Jason arrived from the disabled car, reporting that Joe, who had taken the truck to repair the car, had not returned; the truck’s engine had also died, leaving both vehicles broken. Joe, they said, had left to find help, going in the opposite direction. With night fast approaching, no working vehicles, and no food (as Terrence and Jason had failed to bring any of the provisions from the truck), the team was forced to camp at Broken Hill.
They pitched tents and started a campfire, though Teddy was deeply anxious about staying so close to the unearthed bones. They organised watches for the night, with Teddy and Harry taking the first shift. As Sophia drifted to sleep in her tent, she found her fingers clutching the small bone she had pocketed, its presence strangely comforting.
Outside, as Harry and Teddy took their watch, sharing a nip of whiskey, Harry suddenly heard a “weird buzzing sound”coming from the ominous, dark mountain in the distance, a sound Teddy, despite his best efforts, failed to hear. The night closed in on the stranded expedition, leaving them on Broken Hill, surrounded by ancient graves and an unnerving, unseen presence.
Until next time,
Owen