Limelight

By Martin Cowap

'Doctor Loughbridge?'

Katherine had just put one foot out into the road she had been attempting to cross when the call came from her right. The town was unnaturally busy that evening and it seemed like the entire population of the world, let alone the town itself, was out here walking the streets with her. She scanned the crowd, but none of them were looking in her direction, as she would've expected if someone had just called out to her. She shook her head slightly, then threw her laden rucksack over her aching shoulder and stepped out into the road.

'Doctor Loughbridge!' There it was again.

Katherine kept walking across the road to avoid getting run over, but continued to look back over her shoulder in the direction she figured the call had come from. Still, nobody was looking at her, so she stepped up onto the opposite pavement and turned around. The townsfolk were going about their business as if she was invisible; just like whoever it was that was calling out to her.

'Doctor Loughbridge!'

'What?!' Katherine yelled, at once conscious of the looks she was getting.

'Here!'

The voice was now close and coming from behind her. Katherine jumped and whirled around, but could still not see anyone ready to address her. She stood motionless for a moment then she took off her hat and fanned herself with it, dropping her rucksack onto the pavement in the process. It was a lame excuse, she knew, but maybe the heat was starting to get to her after all, despite all the promises she'd made to the contrary when she had commenced her work here.

Suddenly, without warning, a hand grabbed the hem of her shorts and tugged them sharply. Katherine let loose a stifled yelp and looked down. A midget man, no more than two feet tall, was standing at her feet and grinning up at her. He was on roller skates.

'Hello,' he said amicably. 'Couldn't you hear me?'

Katherine took a moment to study him; she could see straight away that his features were not local, along with his accent. She could identify neither.
'Er…it's not that I couldn't hear you,' she replied uneasily. 'It's just that-'

'You couldn't see me,' the midget interrupted. He gave her a sly sideways glance. 'Don't worry,' he went on. 'Most people can't.'

'Oh, I didn't mean any offense,' Katherine added quickly.

The man shook his head briefly. 'None taken,' he replied. He performed a brief pirouette on his skates then pointed a stubby finger at her. 'Now, 'he said. 'You and I need to talk.'

Katherine was taken aback by this. 'I…beg your…pardon?' she said. She'd done her homework on the town of Taulihawa before she had arrived and reckoned that she didn't really have too much to worry about, as long as she watched her back. She bent forward towards the man and placed her hands on her knees. 'Who are you?' she asked quietly. 'What do you want?'

'I'm Erasmus,' the man replied simply. 'And like I said: you and I need to talk.'

Katherine straightened up and put her hands on her hips 'Do we now?' she said, glaring down at him.

'Yes,' Erasmus answered defiantly. He began to skate around her in circles. 'After all,' he went on, 'you're not here on holiday are you?'

'Yes and no,' Katherine replied. 'I've always wanted to see the Himalayas, but I'm mostly here to photograph the Red Pandas.'

'I know, that's what I'd like to talk to you about.'

Katherine's face registered surprise. 'Really?' she said. Erasmus nodded. 'Well before we get into that,' Katherine went on, 'how come you know my name.'

'I asked somebody.'

'Rubbish. I've only been in town three days. Look, will you keep still a minute!'

Erasmus obediently skidded to a stop in front of her. 'Really, word does get around,' he said. 'You're a scientist, not the first and not the last. They come and go around here all year long. You tend to get noticed.'

Katherine glanced behind her: over one shoulder, then the other. Her initial fear was that Erasmus had been a decoy to distract her while someone picked her pockets or swiped her rucksack; but a quick check of her belongings told her that all was well. She looked back at Erasmus. He looked harmless enough and she had yet to befriend one of the locals.

'Okay,' she sighed. 'What do you need to know?'

'Like I said Doctor Loughbridge-'

'Katherine, please.'

'Like I said Katherine, I'd like to talk to you about your work here.'

'Feel free.'

'You say you're here to study the bears?' he said.

'The pandas, yes…to photograph them.'

'Why?'

Katherine frowned. 'What do you mean, why?' she asked. 'Why not?'

Erasmus gestured towards the Himalayas. 'There's something far more exciting than bloody pandas up there,' he stated indignantly, his eyes twinkling all the more to emphasise his point.

'Oh really,' Katherine replied. She had a more virulent reply on the tip of her tongue; but she held it back, as she didn't yet trust this little man. For a moment she even felt annoyed with herself for succumbing to his charm in the first place instead of telling him to go take a hike. She had things to do.

'Yes really!' Erasmus replied with a grin. 'Tell me, when are you planning to go up into the mountains?'

'Tomorrow night,' Katherine said. This, of course, was a lie, as she didn't want anyone knowing of her plans or whereabouts. In reality, she was going to set up camp in the lower regions on the morning of the day after tomorrow.

'You mean the day after tomorrow,' Erasmus replied with an accusing frown. 'So much for trust.'

Katherine nearly choked. 'How did you -'

Erasmus waved her question away. 'It doesn't matter,' he sighed. 'I suppose you're reluctant to talk too much. I can't say I blame you.'

'I…don't know anyone here yet.'

'I understand,' Erasmus said, smiling at her again. 'Well,' he went on. 'I must be off; things to do.'

'That's it?' Katherine asked, bemused. She spread her hands. 'I thought you said we needed to talk,' she added.

'We have done,' Erasmus replied. 'Thanks for your time.'

'Hold on!' Katherine cried, suddenly having to raise her voice above the noise of the street. 'You can't have just stopped to tell me that!'

Erasmus stood looking at her for a moment, his head cocked a little to one side.

'How old are you?' he asked suddenly.

'Er…thirty seven,' Katherine replied, bemused. 'Why?'

'Stay up in the mountains for at least three days,' Erasmus said. As he spoke, Katherine felt her gaze drawn to the distant Himalayas. 'Eventually he'll find you,' Erasmus went on, 'but don't worry, he won't hurt you.'

Katherine looked back down at him. 'Who -' she began. But Erasmus had skated into the passing crowd and vanished.

By the time the morning of her departure for the mountains had arrived, Katherine had dismissed Erasmus as nothing more than a harmless lunatic. Besides, she had more important things to do, like making sure she'd packed all the right provisions to take with her. Once she'd checked and double-checked that nothing had been overlooked, she slung everything into her rented jeep and set off towards the fields and small villages that lay at the foot of the Himalayas.

As the road wound its way out of Taulihawa, it dwindled away to nothing more than a narrow, pot holed dirt track. Several times, Katherine had to stop to allow another vehicle to pass; on each occasion the drivers and passengers peered quizzically at her, doubtless wondering who she was and why she was travelling towards the mountains. The last vehicle she saw was a large open truck and as it went by she happened to glance into the back of it, gasping suddenly as she glimpsed its cargo. She'd only been granted the briefest of moments to take in the sight before the truck went on its way, but she was certain of what she'd seen. It was the lifeless body of Erasmus.

By the time her third night on the mountains had arrived, Katherine had barely seen anything of interest, let alone the animal she'd come to study. After cooking herself a light meal on her portable stove, she lit a cigarette, unfolded her deck chair, then sat down at the door of her tent and pondered over how she was going to prevent this trip from becoming a complete waste of time and money. She had never known the wild to be so quiet before. She'd spotted a few birds and small mammals but that was all. Even the gentle breeze that had washed over her for most of the day had died away, leaving the smoke from her cigarette free to float vertically towards the branches of the surrounding trees.

With a resigned sigh, Katherine leaned back in her chair and closed her eyes. Maybe she would have better luck tomorrow, she thought. Maybe she wouldn't and would end up having to stay up here a few days more until she'd got what she wanted. That would really make Henrik - her Norwegian partner of four years - a very worried man.

It was as Katherine was thinking about her relationship with Henrik when something lightly struck her cheek. She flicked her eyes open and saw that it was a dead leaf. She brushed it away and took another drag on her cigarette, but to her astonishment, she saw that its trail of smoke was now floating horizontally away from her, even though there was not a breath of wind in evidence. With a gasp, Katherine threw the cigarette to the ground and stamped her foot upon it until she was certain it was extinguished; that done, she jumped to her feet and looked around, screaming suddenly as her eyes fell upon what was waiting for her.

What could only be loosely described as a man stood before her, regarding her intensely with eyes that shone out from beneath his lumpen brow, and inhaling what was left of the stream of smoke from her cigarette. He was standing at least twenty yards from her, but Katherine could clearly see that this was, astoundingly, like nothing she'd ever seen alive before.

His body was covered in soft brown hair so dark it was almost black; on his head it grew so long and shaggy it resembled a lion's mane. His arms were long and ape-like, but his legs and upper torso were strong and muscular, like an athlete's. Had Katherine been pushed into making an identification at that point, she would have called him Australopithecus, one of man's earliest ancestors. This, of course, was impossible, as this creature had become extinct about three million years ago, as man continued his steady progress towards the species of humanity that presently held onto the gene.

However, as her pounding heart began to slow, Katherine noted that there were several characteristics in his appearance that suggested traits other than those familiar with Australopithecus. As it was however, she had little time to study him further, as he had begun to walk towards her.

Katherine gasped and took a hasty step backward, as although there was nothing outwardly aggressive about his manner, she was still in a state of shock over his appearance, and he was also crossing the ground between them a touch too quickly for her liking.

'Stay…away…from me,' she stammered.

'Oh don't start going all heroic on me Dr Loughbridge,' Australopithecus replied.

Seeing this man-thing advance towards her had been bad, but hearing her own name emanating from his lips was ten times worse, and it was all Katherine could do to stop herself from panicking and bolting from the scene. She backed away from him until her back hit a tree trunk.

Trembling and unable to decide what to do next, she pressed herself against the tree and froze there, ready for anything. Australopithecus however, simply came to a halt in front of her and, gazing at the forest floor, sat himself down.

'Must be terrible,' he said, idly playing with some dead leaves.

'What…must?'

'To spend your life looking for something yet be so fearful when you find it.'
At that he raised his head and looked up at her.

From this proximity, Katherine saw two bright blue eyes, the likes of which she had only seen once before.

'Erasmus…?' she whispered.

'Half right,' he replied with a sigh. 'I couldn't stay in that little fella's carcass for too long; he was cretinous. It was cramping my style. You got a cigarette?'

'Sorry? Oh…er, yes.'

With trembling hands, Katherine reached into her pocket and pulled out her crumpled packet of cigarettes; she pulled two out, tossed one at Australopithecus and put the other between her lips. She lit her own and then looked back at him; he was holding his giant hands towards her, the fingers spread and the heels of his palms pressed together, ready to catch the lighter. She tossed it to him and he lit up. One drag and he was grimacing almost immediately.

'Good God!' he groaned. 'You call that a joint!'

'…Sorry…?'

'Never mind,' he sighed. 'Here.'

He reached into the clump of hair behind his left ear and pulled out two rolled joints. He lit them and passed one to Katherine.

'Try this,' he said grinning wickedly.

Katherine tentatively took a drag; almost as soon as she did, she felt like she'd drunk six neat double scotches.

'…Oh…' she slurred, giggling in spite of herself. '…Oh my…what is…this stuff.'

'Good weed,' Australopithecus replied, climbing to his feet. The drug had no such effect upon him it seemed: he stood before her no less sober than he had been when she'd first set eyes on him.

'So…' he said.

'What…?' Katherine replied giddily.

'Get your clothes off,' he ordered pleasantly. 'Come on, hurry, hurry!'

<><><>

Eight and a half months later, Dr. Katherine Loughbridge stood in front of her bedroom mirror, ran a hand over the bump in the front of her sweatshirt, and wondered what on earth she was going to give birth to in approximately two week's time.

Henrik had left her six months ago, of course, once the swelling in her belly had become too profound to be hidden, even under the baggiest of jumpers. She hadn't even bothered to explain, much as she loved him. There was no point: she'd been unfaithful to him and that was that as far as he was concerned. The truth, of course, was beyond all plausible explanation.
She'd gently resisted all suggestions that she went for a scan, opting for the excuse that she wanted as natural a pregnancy as possible.

In reality however, she was terrified of what might show up. Indeed, a hospital delivery was also out of the question; she was going to have to suffer the pain and indignity of delivering her child alone here in this house.

It was three o'clock in the morning twelve days later when her water broke. Thankfully, she'd been awake at the time; unsurprisingly, sleep had not come easy to her of late.

Fighting against panic, she stripped out of her night clothes and took up position on the floor, with her back against the bed for the added support she sensed she was going to need. She had just started to breathe deeply, when a deep voice echoed thunderously from within her.

'Bugger!' it said.

Katherine froze in mid exhale, her eyes wide, her heart thumping. She told herself that she hadn't really heard that. Trouble was, it came again:

'Anyone fancy giving me a hand?'

And again.

'Anybody out there?'

That was it. Katherine stared down at the heaving bump in her belly and screamed until the all wind had gone from her lungs and all the sane thoughts that she'd clung to in the last few minutes had fled from her head. And so, breathless, she fainted.

When she came around she could see that although she was alone in the room, the bathroom light was on and there were sounds of exasperation emanating from within. Concealing her nakedness as best she could, Katherine struggled to her feet and staggered to the bathroom door. Her bleary eyes instantly widened as they came to rest upon the small hairy creature that was sitting on the side of the bath, wringing a towel into the tub. The water it yielded was blood red. As the thing sensed her gaze, it looked up.

'Ah Mom,' it said, grinning at her. 'You're awake.'

Now it had turned to face her, Katherine could see its features better. It was undoubtedly male and her hysterical mind was telling her that it was a baby Australopithecus, as the features were unmistakable. And yes, she thought. It did just call me Mom.

'Sorry about the mess,' the creature went on. 'But it was a tight squeeze getting out.'

At that moment, Katherine realized that there was an agonising pain in her abdomen, which was hardly surprising, of course, given that the thing before her had departed her womb without medical assistance of any kind.

'How are you feeling?' the creature said. 'You look awful.'

'Thanks…'

'Seriously, how are you feeling?'

'Crazy!' Katherine squealed suddenly, laughter and tears now coming in equal amounts. 'I'm going absolutely crazy!'

She staggered back to the bed and collapsed upon it, face up. Moments later she felt the duvet sag next to her. She opened her eyes and saw that the creature had jumped up onto the bed and was regarding her with a worried expression upon his simian face.

'You look like you need some breakfast,' he quipped.

Katherine simply waved her hand. 'Whatever,' she whispered.

There was no problem, she told herself. All the weird stories she'd ever read told her that, in time honoured tradition, she would wake up in a few minutes to find this had all been a very bad dream. She didn't. In the background, she was vaguely aware of the creature jumping off the bed and leaving the room, followed by his little feet pattering down the stairs. After a while she could smell bacon frying.

On the afternoon of the third day after Katherine had given birth, the doorbell rang. It was Henrik, demanding, he said, at least some sort of explanation. Katherine stood her ground at the door, saying that she'd not been well and wanted to be alone. A poor excuse in reality, given the noise that was coming from behind her as her hairy little friend gleefully played with the controls on the tumble dryer. There was a short, mismatched struggle, then Henrik forced his way in to the house.

'You and I,' he said as he stormed past her, 'are going to have an amicable chat over a cup of coffee.'

'No,' Katherine begged, 'please don't go into the -'

'JESUS CHRIST!!!'

'- kitchen.'

<><><>

'And that's all I can tell you,' Katherine sighed.
Henrik simply stared at the floor, as he had done so throughout her entire account of the last thirty-six weeks. The baby Australopithecus had found a baseball cap from somewhere, placed it on his head, and was now sitting on the back of an armchair, admiring himself in the mirror.

'Say something…' Katherine urged.

'Does he have a name?'

'Er…well, I never really -'

'Bismark!'

Katherine and Henrik both turned to face Australopithecus Junior. He turned away from the mirror as they did so and grinned at them from under the peak of his cap.

'It's on the picture,' he said, pointing out into the hall. 'I like it.'

'What's he talking about?' Henrik asked Katherine.

'Sink the Bismark,' she replied. 'The painting on the wall in the hall, the one I inherited from Uncle Denbigh. It was a German warship.'

'Not a very apt -'

'I like it!' Australopithecus Junior yelled at Henrik.

Henrik raised his hands towards Bismark. 'Okay,' he said, feeling rather foolish. 'Point taken.'

'It doesn't matter what his name is,' Katherine sighed. 'I still don't know what we are going to do with him.'

'Well…we must hand him over to the proper…authorities.'

'Authorities!' Katherine yelled at him. 'Has it not occurred to you that the…authorities, as you put it, might want some sort of explanation?'
Henrik appeared more than a little offended by her outburst.

'I…I…don't…' he began.

'Sweetheart,' Katherine went on, her tone softening, 'he's the son of a creature that shouldn't be alive; a creature that died out three million years ago…and I've had his baby…' She appeared to say the last sentence more to herself than Henrik.

'So what are we going to do with him?' Henrik pleaded.

Katherine sighed but said nothing. She then glanced at Bismark and all but cried out. He had turned to face her, but his face had changed: his brow had grown more lumpy, his hair, longer and more bushy, his eyes, bluer.

He jumped down onto the floor, and stood up straight. Then, he grew. All of a sudden he was six feet tall. Katherine and Henrik screamed and grabbed hold of each other as this new monster stood over them. After a few terrifying seconds, Katherine recognized him as the creature she'd met in the Himalayas.

'That wasn't very nice,' he said, looking at Katherine.

'Wh…what…?'

'Saying that I shouldn't be alive.'

'I'm sorry…I…'

'Oh it's okay,' Bismark replied, waving her apology away. 'I'm grateful, really I am. Without you, I'd still be stuck on those God-forsaken mountains.'

All of a sudden Katherine understood what had happened. She hadn't given birth at all. This creature had simply changed its shape to fit and hitched a ride. Inside her. She felt nauseous all of a sudden.

'What happens now,' she sighed, not knowing or caring even less whether it was Henrik or Bismark who answered. As it happened, it was the latter.

'This is London isn't it?' he asked with a wicked little grin.

'Yes…'

'Well, I'm going to take a look around.'

'You are not!'

Bismark seemed to be completely flummoxed by Katherine's response.
'Why the hell not?' he asked. Before either Katherine or Henrik could reply, Bismark turned the baseball cap around so that the peak was at the back. He glanced in the mirror again and grinned. 'Right,' he said, rubbing his hands together. 'Who's coming out on the town?'

'You're serious…' Katherine whispered.

'Of course! I've heard all about London and now I'm here I want to see it.'

'You can't just walk out of here and onto the streets.'

'Why?'

'You'll frighten every body to death; you might even get shot!'

'You reckon?'

'Yes…'

Without another word, Bismark walked over to the window and opened the curtains. He then stood to one side and gestured with his enormous hand.
'Take a look,' he ordered gently.

Katherine and Henrik looked at each other, then slowly got up from the couch and went to the window. It was early evening by now and the light was far from good, but once their eyes had adjusted, neither could stop themselves from crying out.

Across the street, two more hairy creatures like Bismark were leaning against the wall and chatting to each other, the hand gestures that accompanied their conversation so human in their execution. Their body language and casual stances suggested that the right to be there had never even crossed their minds; in fact, as Henrik and Katherine watched, open-mouthed, two more Australopithecus strolled into view. They ambled slowly past the first two, nodding and exchanging brief pleasantries as they did so, before disappearing from view. All around them, the human pedestrians wandered by without so much as a glance.

'You see,' Bismark said from behind them. 'Nobody sees us, so nobody cares.'

'We can…see you,' Katherine replied, not taking her eyes off the two creatures who where still chatting across the street.

'Yes,' Bismark agreed. 'I engineered that because you helped me to come here. Your man friend here can see me because I didn't want him to think you were crazy, talking to something he couldn't see. I'm grateful Katherine, without you I would still be stuck on those bloody mountains, and I didn't think you'd appreciate the sensation of something you couldn't see come crawling out of your -'

'Yes, yes! Okay!' Katherine interrupted. 'Point taken…'

'We've always been here,' Bismark went on, 'but we choose when we want mankind to see us; and believe me, that isn't often.'

Katherine found herself thinking about how many times the Yeti had been sited, as well as the legends of many other Monkey Men that had been reported around the world; Bigfoot in America chief amongst them. All of them were surely down to these miraculous creatures, one of whom shared her living room with her right now. As she thought about this, she felt Bismark's eyes upon her and turned around. He was smiling at her, and nodding.

'I know what you're thinking,' he said.

Before Katherine could answer, Henrik leaned close to her. 'Darling,' he whispered. 'Do you think we should…take him to the zoo?'

'Henrik!' she hissed at him, slapping the back of his head.

'Yes,' Bismark replied. 'You could take me to the zoo.' Katherine and Henrik exchanged another glance. 'Then tomorrow,' Bismark went on,' you could take me to the fairground!'

At this he threw back his head and roared with laughter so loud, Katherine was sure she felt her teeth rattle in her gums. Bismark then turned to Henrik, smacked him between the shoulder blades; then, still laughing, he picked him up, hugged him tightly, and planted a big wet kiss on his cheek. Henrik appeared to be rather winded by the time he was gratefully set back down again.

'Old ones are the best eh?' Bismark chuckled.

'…Quite…' Henrik wheezed.

'Right, come on,' Bismark went on. 'Let's go and entertain the troops.'

As soon as Bismark stepped out of the front door, he bounded across the road and was soon exchanging high fives with his monster friends. They were identical to him, and after a few seconds Katherine and Henrik could not tell him apart from them. Katherine was just about to follow when Henrik grabbed her by the arm.

'Shouldn't we just let them go?' he asked her.

'Are you kidding?' she replied. 'I've waited all my life to see the miraculous; I'm not just going to let it wander off into the night.'

'I thought you'd say that,' Henrik replied with a sigh.

'Then you're not disappointed then, are you?' Katherine replied with a smirk. She put a foot out into the road, but before she could start to cross, a voice that wasn't Henrik's called out her name.

'Doctor Loughbridge!'

She looked around in all directions but could see nobody apart from the Australopithecus and Henrik, who was looking at her with a puzzled expression. No…not looking at her at all: he was looking down, towards the ground. Katherine did likewise and gasped. The grinning face of Erasmus was gazing back up at her, his eyes bluer than ever. Katherine was not really surprised to discover that she could see right through him and that the pavement below was visible within his diminutive outline. Sadly, he was no longer on roller skates.

'He's right,' he said. 'You should let them go.' He turned to look at Bismark and his friends. 'Lord knows I wish they'd just make there bloody minds up and decided if they want to be seen or not,' he added. It would save everyone a load of trouble.'

Katherine looked over her shoulder. Bismark and his gang were currently eyeing up a couple of passing beauties. As she watched them she smiled, but her face then quickly darkened as saw that they too were starting to become invisible just like Erasmus; the rough texture of the wall could clearly be seen through their hairy bodies.

'They'll be gone soon,' Erasmus whispered with a sigh. 'But they'll always be here. Maybe one day they'll show up again.'

Katherine simply nodded as she thought of all the people who would walk the streets of London tonight, blissfully unaware of the miracles that walked amongst them. By now Bismark's gang was nothing more than a trio of barely visible shadows, so Katherine watched for a few more seconds until they had completely disappeared, then turned back to Erasmus.

'One last -' she began. But, not altogether unexpectedly, he too had vanished.

© Martin Cowap 2002

TABLE OF CONTENTS

ABOUT THE AUTHORS