The wishing well

Chapter 3

"Can anyone see him?" the teacher asked.

"There he is," said one of the boys, "getting over the barbed-wire fence. Do you see him?"

"Yes, it's him," said another boy. "I recognize his sweater. Now he's making his way towards the wishing well."

"That little idiot!" the teacher growled.

At that moment, one of the boys let out a high-pitched scream and covered his eyes.

"What's that black thing on the path?" cried another boy. "Crawling on all fours... It's a woman. Oh God! Don't let me look at her!"

"Stop it!" the teacher said loudly. "Get a hold of yourselves! I'm going down there. Hancock and Fartleby, you run to the farmer's house and call for help. The rest of you boys stay here and don't move!"

The teacher ran off, leaving the boys alone on the ridge, staring down at the field below. To their horror, they saw another black figure emerge from the bushes. Then another and another. They saw Stanley Jenkins making his way towards the wishing well. He didn't seem to notice the black figures approaching him, shuffling forward with their arms outstretched.

The boys started yelling as loud as they could, trying to warn him. As he reached the wishing well, Stanley Jenkins seemed to hear their cries. He suddenly stopped and turned around. Then he let out a scream more piercing and dreadful than any of the boys on the ridge, but it was too late.

The black figures closed in on him until he was surrounded on all sides. Then, they pounced.

The boys stared at the scene below in a terrified silence. They could hardly breathe as they watched the horrific struggle. The hood of one of the figures fell back, revealing a white skull with stringy wisps of hair. Their gnarled, bony fingers were ripping and tearing at Stanley Jenkins and soon his awful screaming ceased.

The boys spotted their teacher running towards the field. He scrambled through the barbed wire fence, but then he stopped and wouldn't go any further.

The farmer arrived with a number of policemen. The boys pointed down at the field below and screamed "They got him! They got him!" over and over again. The policemen ran down into the valley.

The headmaster arrived and all of the boys were transported back to the school. Some of them were so traumatized that they later left the school.

The teacher stayed there with the police all night. The next morning, at dawn, they found what was left of Stanley Jenkins at the bottom of the wishing well. He had been torn to pieces. His parents came to collect the remains.

The farmer put up another barbed wire fence, encircling the field and erected large signs with "Danger" and "Keep Out" written in large red letters.

Locals in the area say that the field is now haunted by five ghostly black figures... Three women, a man and a young boy.