The Beast of Smuggler’s Copse

Sometime during the Seventeenth Century, a man by the name of Everett Raven decided to leave his life of an English gentleman behind him, and set out to create a new life for himself on the high seas.

For five years, it is said, Raven explored and discovered many new, uncharted places in the new world. Some had already been discovered, and settled, and others were vast, wild wildernesses where only wildlife lived. Fantastical creatures, the likes of which Raven had never seen before.

On one unfortunate day, Raven lost his left hand to one such creature. He got a little too close to it, and the wild animal turned, snapped, and took his hand clean off.

Raven managed to escape before the animal had gotten a taste for him, and back on his ship he managed to sort out the problem of his hand. He had a very basic medical knowledge, as far as Seventeenth Century medical knowledge went, and very luckily for him, he was right-handed. He managed to attach a hook to his left arm, to help him with various tasks.

The hook, unfortunately, was a mistake. Everywhere he went and met other people, they presumed him to be a pirate. Some threw their belongings at him before fleeing, and others just got as far away from him as they could.

He started to act upon this reputation, and eventually became the pirate everybody else thought he was. He acquired much wealth in this new ‘career’, but didn’t make many new friends… although such was the life of a pirate. They had a respect-of-sorts for each other, but little or no trust.

Raven wore the finest clothes, bought by money obtained from the sale of jewels the likes of which he could have only dreamed of in the olden days.

Ten years after he’d left England, Raven suddenly became homesick. Five years of living as a pirate following five years exploring actually meant nothing to him any longer, and he wanted to go home.

So he returned to England with his fine clothes and jewels and other belongings, although he never spoke of how he came across such wealth. He bought a large plot of land in the county of Chestershire, and built himself a ‘modest’ home, surrounded by luxurious gardens. He named various areas of these gardens after places he’d visited during the ten years he had been away; and one in particular, a dense wooded area, he named Smuggler’s Copse. Here, he hid one of the chests from his ship underground. The chest was locked and couldn’t be opened, and he couldn’t remember what was in it anyway. Not that it mattered to him, as he had everything he needed – he just didn’t want the chest in the house. Something told him it needed to be buried.

As time went by, Smuggler’s Copse became overgrown and wild, unlike the other areas of the gardens. Trees became tangled with each other, and it seemed to gain an eerie feel, most odd compared to everywhere else.

Raven – and his friends, for now that he was an Englishman again he could make friends once more – would hear strange noises and growls coming from the copse. Nobody would go to investigate.

Lady Hetherington visited Raven one day, intrigued by the tales of this strange wood, and she had to see it for herself. Reluctantly, Raven agreed to show her.

At the centre of the copse, around the area where the chest was buried, there was a clear circle where only grass grew. Somehow, nothing else was growing there. And it was here that Lady Hetherington revealed her true intentions for her visit. Fuelled by jealousy and greed, she wanted Raven’s house and wealth. Hidden under her hairpiece was a pistol. When Raven wasn’t looking, she retrieved it and shot him at point blank range. He fell, lifeless, at the very centre of this clearing.

Lady Hetherington ran out of the copse, back to the house, and told the other people that they had been attacked by a beast in Smuggler’s Copse. She told them that Raven had gone to shoot the beast, but had stumbled over a root of a tree and fell onto the gun causing it to fire, taking his life. She also told them that she had seen the beast dragging Raven’s body away with it as it moved further into the copse.

Knowing the tales of the copse, nobody would go to investigate further. The strange growls were very real, and could be heard frequently which backed up Lady Hetherington’s story.

As time went by, Lady Hetherington bought the house and gardens at a very small price. The terrible reputation the copse had gained put other potential buyers off – a reputation that was also added to by Lady Hetherington.

One night, a few years after Lady Hetherington had bought the house, she was walking around the gardens, and heard shouting coming from Smuggler’s Copse. She wouldn’t go into the copse herself, as she’d started to believe her own tales, but walked around the part that was facing toward the house.

Under one of the trees she came across something she instantly recognised: Raven’s hook. The sight of it made her scream, and run back to the house. On the steps leading up to the door she spotted the pistol that she’d used to murder Raven. She ran to the door, and through the window in the door she saw her terrified reflection, and behind her, bizarrely, that of a pirate pointing her pistol at her.