Episode 64: Beyond the Veil of Midwinter's Night

28:00While stoking the cooking fires, the fumes ignited. Schmeidl collapsed to the sand, engulfed in flames. And he was already dead. The remaining archaeologists, now terrified with no laborers remaining, debated amongst themselves if the curse really did exist. One pointed to the far-off horizon where a slow-moving sandstorm loomed. The curse! The endless swarm! Gamal, the advisor to Lakao, shouted. Just as the inscription read, we will be scattered beneath the feet of an endless swarm! The breath of Ra putting sand in our lungs! Seeing they still had an hour before the storm would reach them, the doctors decided to light the lanterns inside and take whatever photographs they could to give proof to La Cah for an extension, more men, and a proper excavation after the storm passed.

28:51They would travel back to Ajwan where Gamal would send word back of their discovery and then travel back with the film as proof. The Germans and Americans retrieved the lights and fuel quickly and went about lighting up the interior of the temple. It was truly massive. Rooms and antechambers branched off from the main entryway and worship area. They wouldn't have the proper time to fully explore before the storm arrived. Taking as many photos as they could with their folding bellows and box cameras, along with the high-detailed cameras the Germans brought, they worked feverishly against the clock.

29:25The scientists and Gamal raced back to the truck, the sandstorm's huge presence now apparent. Little time remained. The team noticed one of the Americans wasn't with them. They raced back to the entrance, screaming for the man and pleading with him to hurry. As they peered through the hole, they saw their colleague. A backpack full of artifacts and gemstones spilled out onto the floor, and he was covered with a swarm of scarabs. Standing over him was a towering form, nine to ten feet tall, wrapped in old dirty linens and wearing a black mask. A mask that looked like a scarab face, feasting on the bloody leg of the missing scientist, the awakened god Kepri, with King Manek at his side.

30:13The men ran, jumping on the truck and fleeing as quickly as the truck would take them, the sandstorm on their backs the whole time. They made it back to the city and the hotel where they were staying at to ride out the storm. The telegraph lines were down due to the wind, so Gamal made an immediate reservation for the train leaving the next morning. Come morning, with the sandstorm now less intense and dissipating, Gamal headed back to Cairo, and the scientists waited until all was clear and the telegraph lines were repaired so they could call for help at the military station north in Luxor. But Gamal never made it to Cairo.

30:53During a stop, Gamal was robbed and killed by criminals, taking the film and everything else he had on him. The military showed up a few days later, and the scientists escorted them back to the dig site. Due to the sandstorm, the topography of the area had completely changed. Wherever the temple was, it had been reclaimed by the desert. The scientists were discredited as simply wanting attention after the King Tut discovery. Their story never believed, and the temple buried back under the sand. The scarab god Kepri returned to sleep after feasting, awaiting the next poor soul to disturb his slumber.

31:33Whoa, that was seriously good. Excellent job, Dr. Lorenz. My spine is literally tingling. Holy shit, that one got me sleeping with the lights on for true. Aw, thank you all, but it obviously wasn't real. Scarabs are actually extremely docile, and they aren't carnivorous in the least. Oh, that doesn't matter. These stories don't have to be real, just spooky. I think you did an awesome job, Doctor. Aw, you're a very sweet person, Thomas. You can just call me Gemma. Oh, okay. Thank you. Nerds. Well then, Mr. Ferguson, why don't you show us up then? I picked you as the next storyteller. Oh, yeah, fine.

32:19Buckle up, toots, because I got one for you. It's both true and terrifying. And let me set the damn scene for you. Summer, 79, Camp, uh, Clear Pond, or whatever. That name sound mighty familiar there, Chief. Oh, yeah? That name sounds familiar, Swamp Boy? Maybe it's probably because somebody got friggin' whacked there, alright? Does that jog your memory, champ? Anyway, so, Summer, 79. My ma, right? She marries this dirtbag from the bar. Boom. Now he's my stepdad. And let me tell you, guy's a total jag off. So he ships me off to Summer Camp like I'm a busted TV that he don't want to pay for. I'm 13.

33:01I got zero craps to give, right? But this guy's got to flex, so he picks the worst camp in America. Ah, Missouri. No, no, no. I said America knew Top Cup. Even worse, New Freakin Jersey. Yeah, I said it. Even back then their hockey team was a dumpster fire. We waxed them like 8-1 that year. But anyways, boom. So my punk ass gets put onto a bus heading down to the Pine Barrens. And that's South Jersey, okay? The lowest pit of hell. Satan's armpit, bro. No offense, Demon, brah. Hmm? Oh, I tuned everybody out after the Egypt story. watching Verdict Impossible with the subtitles on. So now I'm on the bus, and I'm sitting next to some kid heading to the same camp.

33:49He was an alright dude, I guess. Bit of a puss, but he was rocking this wicked-ass Black Sabbath shirt, so I gave him some respect. On the way down, he tells me how this camp sweet go into is just being reopened. Now it's been shut down for like decades, because a bunch of camp counselors there were all too busy playing hide the baloney to watch the kids. Anyways, so this one poor schmuck goes for a night swim. Boom, dead. Drowns while the teen horndogs are playing tonsil hockey. These 60 hippie summer love teen counselors all get fired. The camp gets sued and whatnot. But this happened in New Jersey, so, you know, who notices?

34:25You know what I'm saying? Okay, now we arrive. And I can't believe my friggin' eyes. This ain't no Jersey shithole. It looks like a toxic dumping ground. This place was tight. everything all new all new cabins all new boats bows and arrows they even had an atari baby none of that in television bs crap that looks like your uncle's divorce settlement but the best thing the absolute best thing that made every dude's jaw hit the damn dirt as we get off the bus is the real prize these girly counselors bruh every one of them look like they just walked out of a white snake video. I'm talking C-cups minimum.

35:07And shorts so tight and small you needed to shave before you put them on. And I ain't talking about the legs neither. Oh, way to objectify women there, Fire Chief. Is he always this way? He's getting worse. Hey, he, um... No, he never gets any better. So we get off the bus. A-O-O-A, said my bus buddy, Sabbath. This is gonna be a bitchin' summer. Damn straight, bro, I says. And we get all settled and whatnot. So the first few fucking days, epic. We're outside, we're playing some Atari, we're eating burgers and watching the Red Sox just whoop up on the Yankees. I mean, it was friggin' paradise. And oh, oh, little Fred is seeing more underboob than a Vegas pool party.

35:51Off track, Mr. Frickin, just off track. Can you just please, like, you know? Yeah, of course, of course, I'm getting there. I'm setting the tone, okay? Keep your pants on. So a few nights after we get there, one of these counselors bursts into our cabin. Hey, yo, you kids see that punk-ass kid Timmy? Kid what, loves the Detroit Red Wings? And we're all like, nah, bro, the Red Wings suck harder than a vacuum with a grudge. Who cares about Timmy? Who cares about Chicago? You know what I'm saying? So he goes, yeah, yeah, true. Them clowns skate like my grandma on Ambien. But you guys keep rocking, okay?

36:24Then he dips. However, next morning, Timmy, boom, dead. Now, we're in the middle of the fucking Pine Barrens, right? Only thing around us is some monument to, like, Emilio Estevez's grandpa who did something or crashed a plane, I don't know. Now, the two people that owns this joint are fossil relics who have a house nearby, and it's all only adults around. Anyway, the counselors all call us to give us the news. Now, the head dude, he comes in, his name Jonathan Knight, bro. He comes walking in, looking like he knows everything except what a barber is, and he breaks it down step by step. Okay, you guys.

37:01Now call it what you want, but that punk-ass Timmy, the kid what loves the Detroit Red Wings, yeah, he got all murdered. And he's like, what? And he's like, yeah, dudes. So then, Sabbath pipes up. Hey, yo, Counselor Jonathan, we appreciate you's hanging tough, but how'd that punk-ass Timmy, the kid what loves the Detroit Red Wings, eat it? I mean, was it like a machete or a farming implement? Because, you know, details matter. It would make him less of a pussy if we knew how he died, right? Nah, bruh. Jonathan says, Punk ass Timmy, that kid who loves Detroit Red Wings, was killed with a freaking throwing star to the face and a sword through his heart.

37:41Okay. Now, be honest here. That's the coolest thing that most of them kids ever heard, myself included at that time. Suddenly, Timmy wasn't no punk ass no more. Timmy goes from fucking zero to hero like that. Dude died in the most fucking metal way possible. So now, me and Sabbath, we aren't from around here. We're Boston Strong, baby. We both heard all them stories about Jersey, especially what happens to be in the Pine Barrens. Ooh, the story of the Jackson Whites? The Black Dog? Blackbeard's treasure? Oh, the Pine Barrens have so many amazing stories. Now, Thomas, forget all the old wives' tale crap, man.

38:17Come on, Squirt. Everybody knows that the Jersey Pine Barrens is really known for an evil ninja. Justin... The evil ninja Justin Vortex. Yeah, yeah, yeah, and that's badass, because this ninja has a goalie mask in IBS. Justin Vortex, an evil ninja who has questionable control of his bowels, lives in the dense forests of New Jersey in the late 70s. I can honestly say I did not see that coming. Dude, boss, that's what I'm saying. Man, that's what makes it so spooky. You never see a ninja coming. Man, that's why they're frigging ninjas. Now, the fact that this one also smells like my Uncle Lenny after a big corned beef and cabbage meal, and you still ain't know he's around, now you know.

39:08That's how the term started. Silent but deadly. Any whatevers. Me and Sabbath, we're like, we gotta do something. Because all these local chumps got no clue about no ninjas. So we start laying out our plan. What does a murderous ninja psycho killer want? What does a friggin ninja hunger for? What is a ninja's motivation? You guessed it, boobies. Anyways, we hide and we wait until later that night. Now once they did the bed checks and all the whatnot, we sneak out and we take our position. Around 11 o 'clock, two of the counselors, Lorenzo Lamas and this hot piece of ass, blonde Chrissy, go sneaking out of their cabins to go off giggling into the trees for some late night Cinemax action.

39:56So we follow them, of course. And once they stop all the giggling and they get to second base, we get ready. Bows and arrows, set. Red bandanas, on. Face full of grease paint and muscles rippling in the moonlight, looking like shredded bro, Rambo style. Soon as Chrissy's firm sweater puppies catch the moonlight, we know it's on. This ninja is baited, baby. Like them sirens in the ocean what kill dudes in boats. How my Uncle Lenny bought it now that I'm thinking about it. Ninja Bashan with baby oil. Mr. Ferguson. Right? Right? Boy, they was firm. I mean, yeah. Now, look, I got to preface this, okay?

40:37They was teen boobs, but they're 018 teen boobs, so it's not pervy boobs, okay? So get that right out of your minds. Now, these two counselors, they're going to town on each other. And then we hear a snap. And suddenly, boobs, boobs, boobs, boobs, stab, stab, stab, stab. Sabbath, you hear that? Boobs, boobs, stab, stab, stab, stab, stab. I hear it, Fred. Lorenzo looks up, and wha! Katana right across his tight mullet. Chrissy gets on her feet, and she takes off. Now, she's running, but oddly, she's running in, like, slow motion. Like she's on Baywatch or something. Just ba-boom, ba-ba-bang, ba-ba-boom.

41:18Oh, the re-burp. We get the arrows ready, and as soon as she strips, both me and Sabbath shoot vortex in each of his eyes, like a friggin' boss fight. Sugar Tits Chrissy runs over, she gives us a huge topless hug, like we just saved the fuckin' planet. And she's like, oh, you Boston dudes are dreamboats, you saved my life and whatnot, let's call the fuzz and later I'll give you a reward. Man, I can still smell the cocoa butter lotion and the chali perfume on our knockers. We was ready to head back and everything. But then... Oh, this is not good, boys. Sabbath, right, my dude? He turns to look at me and Chrissy, and he has three poison ninja darts in his neck.

42:06Broke fell down like a sack of waffles. Youse too. Youse lead me here. I'm done for. Like when a frank falls through the grill slats on the barbecue when the kid brother didn't clean up after Mama Ray told him like a couple of three times. Fuck, I hate that turd burglar. Avenge me, Fred. Avenge me. So I gotta avenge my boy now. So I give Chrissy a firm smack on that tight turd cutter and I told her yous go back to camp there, baby. In ninja land. Just in vortex is the law. but out here i'm the law and he best not be pushing me because if he pushes me i'm gonna give him a war that he cannot believe so chrissy starts running back again in slow motion ba-boom ba-ba-bang ba-boom i don't know must be a jersey thing maybe jersey ain't so bad anyways like i was saying so i lead justin vortex deeper into the forest i mean we go deep deep i mean deeper than Catron with some more.

43:11I don't mind hearing more. So, there I am. I'm setting up like I'm frigging John Rambo in First Blood Pine Barrens. I'm rubbing mud and grass and KY, just whatever, all over myself to blend in with the foliage. Looking like a lobster roll grinder and camo. Now, Ninja Jerk's chasing me, right? But I get a couple licks in, a couple punji sticks to the ankles like a nam, but this guy's persistent like a fly at a barbecue it's friggin cat and rat man i think you mean maybe just let him finish we're starting to pass out over here so we go back oh hey that's what she said oh so we go back and forth like a couple of drunks at the white tower drive-thru and monster ninja dude traps my ass in a friggin cave all right so now i'm crawling in this friggin cave y 'all i'm from boston we ain't got caves i'm on my knees my zippo flames moving like i'm friggin indiana fred over here i'm searching for wind daylight it's just someone to blame and then i find this hole and let me tell you i am pissed like last beer in the cooler pissed especially when it's one that we bought from the friggin combies and your idiot cousin grabs it even though he knows that you fucking brought it to the body he knows so i set up the mac daddy of fall traps.

44:32I find this huge log, like massive fall off the truck, huge log, and I hoist it up in the air. Took me a whole eight minutes. I mean, probably had to be like tree Aerosmith songs playing. Bruh, to even get that massive tree all lifted up like a 76 Chevy engine on chains. So the trap is set. I was the bait. Both me and the stage was lit. Now I set the ground nearby on fire, and I held a torch in the air and gave the loudest war cry I knew that would get any Jersey dude's attention. Springsteen songs. Sounds like a drunk uncle yelling his resume over a harmonica.

45:14Friggin' A. Boom. Justin Vortex comes flying in like a pissed off Ninja Turtle. Two throwing socks fly right behind me into a tree. I go full Tarzan. I'm swinging on a vine like a hairy jungle badass. He throws another ninja star, and I shoot that ninja star out of midair with an arrow, and I knock that bitch out like I'm robbing friggin' hood. Now I swing to another tree, and it makes him pivot, right? So he's got to move slightly over to where I've got this X on the ground, right in the money spot. Ho, ho, ho. I'm there, baby. All over your chest. I cut the rope, and the massive log swings. Bam!

45:52Catch him, and I'm right in the bread basket. Justin goes flying through the air and gets impaled on a tree that I just so happened to shop in a little bit earlier. Stuck there, bleeding this like, like glowing green. It's like, you know, weird ass like green goop looking like, you know, them rave kids used to fucking play with them in the 90s. It looks like that, but that's just blood, right? Friggin disgusting. Anywho, I go over to him and he's rough, bro. Like drunk and passed out at the end of a Zeppelin concert rough. So I go up to him, and I'm gonna be like, decaffeinating him or whatnot.

46:25And this douchebag, he just starts laughing. He's got this wristwatch gizmo with these little Japanese doodads blinking on it. And suddenly it starts beeping like something's about to blow. And suddenly, I hear some spooky-ass something's-about-to-blow music in my friggin' soul. This jagoff was gonna nuke the place like a Denny's bathroom at 4 a.m. So I haul ass, and I am running free like Iron maiden, tearing through them woods. Suddenly from behind me, go friggin' boom!

46:55There's this super bright flash of light, and I get thrown off my feet, and everything goes dark. Two days later, I wake up in the hospital bed looking like burn cream and jello. Doc leans in, sees I'm awake, and yells, yo, you guys, pansy boys up! And then bam! Who walks in but Chrissy, smelling like cocoa butter and wet dreams she says i earned a sponge bath and i'm like yes ma 'am i did earn a sponge bath next friggin jonathan and jordan that's his brother the camp counselors they show up and these camp counselors that work at camp clear pond they're saying you got the right stuff baby i'm like you know what friggin i do got the right stuff baby my boy sabbath then comes through the door and i'm like what the fucking hell sabbath you died man i saw you get taken down by ninja dots in the neck and he's like no bro metal never dies it just switches to seven string and keeps shredding hells yeah bro next the doors swing open the men in black come in and who do i see i shit you not i see here walking in with movie star swagger it's the friggin president of the united states ronald friggin reagan for real and i'm like yo mr p what's cracking?

48:10And he goes, well, I'm chilling like a villain, Freddy boy. You're the most badass motherfucker in the U.S. of A. I'm giving you the super American freedom kick-ass Iron Eagle medal. I salute you, my man. And I told him straight up, right now, Mr. P, I'm going to be saluting the real stars and stripes because this hot piece of tail Chrissy is about to give me a deluxe sponge bath and I'm about to motorboat the man. You know what I'm saying? Hmm? You guys know what I'm saying? Uh, it was very colorful. Showed a lot of imagination. Ain't never smelled no hog slop that bad in all my born days. What does motorboat that mean?

49:03Ooh, I got this one. Okay, Doc. You stand up and you whip them out. Mr. Ferguson. Hey, she asked. Sit down. Right, boss. Okay. Your choice. Mr. Thibodeau or Franklin. Oh, this is an easy one. Young kid Cajun thinks he can outstory me? Let him try to follow that. All right, y 'all. Come set a spell. Well, this here tale my grandma used to tell us youngins when we'd go visit her, yeah? Grandma, she one of them witchy-type ladies living off by herself down in South New Orleans. Way deep in the bayou. Little town of Delacroix. St. Bernard Parish, if you please. Shut up, Fred. Oh, I'm behaving. Grandma's townshare is cut off.

49:56Fog hanging low. old-time Creole ways running deep. Folks talk soft, watching strangers with one eye a shout. Now, my grandma's grandmama done passed her this tale about a city boy from some uppity place full of fancy peacocks called... Boss Town, ma. Gentlemen, can we not? Please? May we? Don't say Landry ain't accommodating, non. We'll call it New York City then, make everybody happy. Now, it's 1922, and this boy want to write about local color. About that old Cajun folklore going back to the Acadians, yeah? He want to do a piece about that voodoo. Young Buck, 24, he catch a bus down. Name's Hubert Pierce.

50:53He step off in Chalamet wearing a dandy suit. Easy spot like a pelican at a crawfish boil. He rents himself a room right off Colt House Square. The first week, he asking all kind of fool city boy questions about Cajuns and old practices. Every now and then, some quarter tourist wanders out, gets drunk, asks dumb coyune questions. So folks mostly stare, maybe give a friendly warning. Watch what you're asking, Che. Hubert, he thinks money talk. He finds one local fella down his luck, lady done throwing him out for the third time this month, and Huber offers him five dollars and all he can drink.

51:34Now, five bucks in 1922? Hoo-wee! That's good as a hundred today, Sha. Enough for a flopped three, four nights instead of feeding them skeeters. The local starts telling him about the lady of the bayou, Madame Marie Lafleur. Her folks say she a voodoo priestess what can stir up dark tang. He say them strange going on's the last ten years Folks missing, people taking sick, crops going south That's her curses, yeah Keep your gris gris handy in your barn In your house, keep them bad tangs out That's what Hubert come hunting He don't believe none of it, ain't respecting the old ways But he thinking, ho ho ho, I got me a story for the reader's me Name in his pocket, he goes to person to person asking about Madame LaFleur.

52:27Town folk don't like speaking her name out loud. Ain't talk for outsiders. But one by one, and with a little bit of that Langy App crossing palms, they start talking. Everybody got a story about strange ways down in the bayou. Huber, he still ain't buying it. But even him, he start feeling something crawling in that hot midnight air. After a while, he hears an old harvest moon ritual Marie calling spirits from the other side. Two days off, they say. You know that boy's ears perked up. Golly, this is really exciting. Oh, please, keep going. Merci, mon ami. City boy thinks he done hit pay dirt. He grabs writing paper, pen and pencil, gets himself ready for that harvest moon.

53:16Locals say Madame Le Fleur live way out. A man named Dufresne, he run a guide out near Delacroix, little place Ruggio. Got a fishing lodge rent by the night. Catch you up front and he'll drive you down and back to Chalamet come morning. Hubert say, deal, and heads out that afternoon. Ruggio is just a poke down hold Highway 300, back then to stir. About two hours on foot, easy. Night falls, Hubert slips out the lodge and hoofs it to Delacroix. and sets up early, keeping an eye on that old shack where Madam and hers live. Around half past eleven, out she come. And lordy, what he see. He heard tales of a swamp witch stirring trouble for forty years, but she looks sixteen.

54:06Little sliver gal with a lace dress, breeze could knock a cattywampus. He thinks, nah, that ain't no crone. But neighbors tarting home from drinking tipped a hat. Bonjour, Madame Le Fleur. Bonjour, Tante Marie. Bonjour, Madame. Tu es tranquille de ce soir. Them old boys drunk as frogs in a rain barrel, but respectful, oui. Nia scared. One even called her Tante. That's auntie. You saved that for big respect. So, yeah, he know he got the right lady. How a woman supposed to be 65 look like a debutante? That just makes the story sweeter. He tells her careful through the road, through the field, into the bayou.

54:57She's stopping a clearing ring by cypress, Spanish moss hanging like torn curtains, moonlight slicing through. Madame Le Fleur strips bare, stands center of the clearing, holding a silver dagger older than the trees. Bones laid in a pattern, low fog hiding her ankles. She starts chanting. Not English, not French, not Spanish, not Portuguese. Just other. He's scribbling, sketching, her dancing slow in the moonlight, hypnotic. And let me tell you, you ever tangle with a bayou woman? Woo! Shea, you best say your prayers and hold on with both them hands. You in for a ride. Oh, man. I know exactly what you're saying.

55:47Yeah. No, you don't, Fred. Hush up some now. Where was I? Right, Hubert. Hubert's feeling big and brave now. Want to call her bluff, prove all this is hooey. He stepped from the brush, and as soon as his foot touched inside that cypress ring, Marie's head snaps round. Air gets thick, dark, heavy like syrup. He try another step, but something cold presses his chest. Shadows creep. Moss swings like curtains covering her modesty in black. He push again. That cold don't let go. Fingers like ice wrapped round his heart, squeezing tight, tight. The panic hits, he bolts, runs near two hours back to the cabin.

56:41While he running, whispers chasing, eyes on the back of his head. Windows show reflections of a wrong-shaped human, twisted, outright. The spirits are watching, waiting. He don't sleep. He light a fire, every candle he can find. He's sitting in the corner till sunrise. Dufresne roll up. He ride back to Chalamet. But no, Chell, that ain't the end. Next day, town looked different. Faces hollow. Voices turned sideways. He hears laughing. Far off, but never far enough. Boy thinks he's losing his marbles. That night, after seeing all kind of odd things, he climbed them creaky stairs by candle glow.

57:39Easing to his door, he got that key in hand. There go that laughing again. Now with a low snarl like a mean old yard dog. Sweat rolling down his brow. Blood turned thick as ice. Shadow slipped under the door crack. He swears it. A cold breeze pushed him down that hall to that big wood door. He set that key. Slow, slow turning. He reached for the knob. The door flies open. He stumbles back. Out steps his hideous-looking something crawling toward him. Dr. Lorenz, here's your skin. Evening, Lorenz. Oh, please don't tell me you, a woman of learning, goes in for this type of jocularity and fireside tales?

58:39Doc W., I'm titty shitballs. I'm expensing my boxes after what you just did. Come on. Just glad I'm wearing some tonight. Oh, Doctor. Gee whiz, you gave us all a scare. All due respect, Dr. Wainwright, today is supposed to be a holiday. And everybody has the day off, so I don't think it's appropriate to tell me how to spend it. Oh, you are quite right, Doctor. I do not have the right to tell you how to spend your free time on June 21st, Midwinter's Day. Oh, would you look at the time? According to my watch, it is 1.34 a.m. June 22nd. The holiday ended 90 minutes ago. Oh, no! Oh, yes, Doctor. You were to have joined Dr.

59:30Jovac for research 30 minutes ago. I left Carlton in the lab with a ball attached by a string to a cup. He should be all right for another 20 minutes or so. But you need to be there with him, and now. I am so sorry, Doctor. I just simply got engrossed in all of the... I am not interested in where you were, just where you are going now. Right. Thanks for the stories, everybody. I had fun. Um, Gemma, I'd be happy. I mean, gosh. Would you like to meet for breakfast so I can tell you how the story ends? Oh, I'd really like that, Thomas. Yes. Oh, that's so nice of you. I'll meet you there at 8 a.m.

1:00:13right after my shift is over. That would be swell Yeah You little player you That a boy Oh shush It's just breakfast you two Oh she said yes See you in the morning Thomas Gentlemen Night Good night Dr. Lorenz Dr. Wainwright Since you are here why don't you join us tell us a story you have oh i certainly think not i shall leave you all to your bucolic bard's tales sure doctor we'd love to hear what you may have us marshal over the years you and i have never gotten on well so i No, that was it. By all means, retreat to your science, Doctor. The dead may whisper secrets, but even they know better than to compete with the sound of your condescension.

1:01:21I suppose the dead already find you a dreadful boar.

1:01:28The Wainwrights have been accused of many things over the centuries. embezzlement, tax evasion, influence peddling, insider trading, and the occasional dialing into antitrust disagreements, but a Wainwright, accused of being a bore? You, demon, you have thrown down the gauntlet, and I shall pick it up. I accept your challenge with, what's the term? With gusto. Well, here you go, Doctor. Take this chair. Okay, Mr. Thibodeau, go ahead and finish your fascinating story, and then we'll hear from Dr. Wainwright. I assure you all, if I yawn, it is only in anticipation. Okay, then. Where I left off? Oh, um, okay, so Hubert saw the voodoo ceremony, but was back in town and walking to his bedroom.

1:02:26Right, right, thanks, Mommy. me.

1:02:31A monstrous shape lunges at him out the room. Bam, he wake up, soaked in sweat, still in his bed. Just a nightmare. But ever since that young gal dancing in the bayou, he get nothing but night terrors and dead faces in every shadow, fingers reaching from the dark. The Taos folk, don't they know. Plain as day, he's step where regular folks don't belong. They tell him straight he's gonna stay sick till he go back to Delacroix and ask Madame Marie Lafleur to forgive him. He gotta go see the lady of the bayou, else it only get worse. Ain't like he got a choice. He makes a deal for a ride back to the fishing lodge, spend a night, hope Madame take pity.

1:03:15Now he shuffled that dirt road looking like death warmed over. It's dusk, frogs and crickets singing. He'd knock on that old shack door. Please, Madame LaFleur, help me, he begged, stepping back hat to heart, trying to show respect. I come apologize. I meant no harm. The door opened, and there she is, same young demoiselle as before, pretty as a picture. One look, and she knows spirits moving in him like ranters who don't pay. Please, madam, he says. I can write your story, tell folks your power. They'll come, you can heal, make buku money. Just please lift this curse. She look a little thing, hair thick and curly, smell like jasmine, skin smooth as a river of stone, but when she speak, that voice old as the cypress trees.

1:04:18Hush now, child, said the little girl with that ancient voice. You ain't did me no wrong. Hubert stand there, mouth open. Nah, shit. Only wrong, you seen me how the bondweed don't make me. For that I oughta smack your mouth for not looking away But what's holding you That ain't me That's them other side They the ones you upset He's more confused than a possum in a washbox He asks us what she mean Ain't no curse, she says It's punishment for you stirring the balance between living and dead. You riled them. Only way they let you be is a sacrifice. Something that matters. It done gone full, Doc. Her eyes look past them deep browns, staring into the night like she see company out there.

1:05:29They want a sacrifice, monsieur. Something you love. Your fancy writing job, your life, or your soul. They say you choose now. Okay, so? What the hell happened, Francois? Don't leave us hanging with blue ball ears. Finish it off. I must say, I'm very glad I accepted this challenge. That's it. Nobody knows. Except Madame LeFleur, that boy Hubert and them spears he made mad. You make a sacrifice bomb, but you go brag on it after? Well, then it ain't no sacrifice, him. Needless to say, weren't no big voodoo expose in his paper. Matter of fact, nobody heard from Hubert again. Some say he quit his career, that's why he vanished.

1:06:28others say if you drive that lonely stretch late late you see a young man in an old time suit wrinkled shuffling like the dead wandering the bayou and then there's folks like my grandma still in delacroix across the road and down a piece from where madam shack still stands she says them spirits wanted all three from him as a lesson yeah so remember respect the old ways Don't go poking your nose where it don't belong. Y 'all must mind that share. Impressive. I have to say, Mr. Thibodeau, you tell one hell of a story. Blows mine away, no doubt. That and he blew something, all right. Gagging. Well, that just leaves our esteemed guest and newest member of Jack's Night in his first...

1:07:22Only. Only story he will ever tell during Jack's Night. Dr. Lawrence Emerson Can we please dispense with the pageantry And just let me regale you with the fables So we may all turn in for the evening, Mr. Kelly Sorry, Doctor, the floor is yours Very well When I first was asked to journey to our fare station Back in 2015 to improve upon Well, everything, honestly I had a two-week stay at McMurdo Research Station to attend a series of astrophysics seminars from my peers. It was January of the summer season, and for those who are interested in such trivialities, there was a rare occurrence of the powerful storm affecting the area, which resulted in the extreme appearance of the raw astralis.

1:08:16Um, what's that, Doc? Southern lights. Right, right, right. Green lights in the sky and all that. Thanks, Squirt. Yes, Mr. Ferguson, the pretty lights in the sky. Although being the summer season, they were not as visible as they would be in the winter. It was to be an unusually long occurrence given how slowly the weather system was moving. Thus, with the strong winds and electromagnetic disturbance caused by the aurora, travel was restricted for five days. Yeah, I done heard about them kind of snowstorms, Sheriff. That true day only roll in about once every ten years or so. Give or take when the cold air and the Gulf winds get a dancing like a drunk couple at Mardi Gras.

1:08:59Gentlemen, the good doctor doesn't like questions until after this presentation is done. Learned that the hard way myself. So, in deference to our guest, let's hold the questions until he is done. How thoughtful, Marshal Marlow. yes it is a once in a decade event now we were relaxing with the evening meal inside the galley they were playing scores by mozart that evening so the day was not totally without its merits of course it would not last long as an old time simpleton from the communications team burst in to notify the station leader, they had received a mayday call. People ran to the observation center where they heard the distress signal coming through.

1:09:53The person said many the mayday had invited himself as Jonathan. He said there'd been a fire in the mechanical room of the vessel he was traveling on, and the captain had ordered all passengers to board the lifeboats and wait nearby in the event the damage control team could not contain the conflagration. That's a fire, Mr. Ferguson. Jonathan had been returning from a month since Scotland after a few days there. McMurdo had boarded a small supply vessel called the Pole Astern, which makes runs around the coast to supply the stations, and so his group could tour the facilities. But while those in lifeboats were waiting, the winds from the storm arrived, causing the lifeboats to begin drifting more than was anticipated.

1:10:36The ship's crew, now in addition to addressing the crisis on board, the fire, had a second crisis, lashing the lifeboats by tether to one another and the vessel. It was during the hectic scramble the lifeboat with the people on board drifted far away and back towards the shore. With the conditions on the sea, the storm, and waves, two of the four rescue boat occupants were swept overboard. While Jonathan, his remaining colleague, did make it to the shoreline, he had become separated from him due to with heaving snow and ice drifts causing very low visibility. Jonathan traveled towards the direction of what he thought would be McMurdo Station.

1:11:17Instead, he found himself at the foot of Mount Erebus, looking at the entrance of a large cave at Erebus Tongue Glacier. He obviously went inside for shelter from the winds and the cold, and this is where he made his mayday call from. There were many ice caves in the area caused by thermal vents of the Erebus volcano, So for the moment, Jonathan was safe. Technicians from McMurdo began attempting to trace the origins of the signal. However, the signal clarity was being heavily distorted and fluctuated due to the ongoing magnetic storm, which was just concluding its first of five days it would be in the area.

1:11:57The station had sent out a team of five atmospheric scientists a week earlier, who had petitioned to bring shielded and sensitive equipment out to a point just five miles away from what Jonathan said he was. They had strong and sturdy tents for shelters and plenty of provisions to weather the five-day storm. They were also close enough to try for a rescue, much closer than those of McMurdo. However, they were not answering their radio because the interference in the storm making communications impossible. And transmission to the ship and the sound couldn't be established either, most likely due to the damage from the fire and assuming she hadn't sunk.

1:12:35transmission further than 20 miles seemed to be impossible and the mayday call they were receiving was the extreme outmost range jonathan would call every hour so with his situation and with as much detail on the terrain outside the cave mouth he could discern to keep his spirits up they had him talk about his home his time at mcmurdo but he was looking forward to idle chit chat honestly, but anything to keep morale up. The crew at McMurdo had the decision to make, and opinions were divided as to what should be done. Did they try to guide Jonathan to the camp they had just five miles away? Did they risk more lives and send a team from McMurdo out, despite the storm interference, or wait till the storm passes and hope that Jonathan is able to survive?

1:13:26After heated debate over many hours, a plan began to take hold. Rescue supplies and a team would be prepared. The electrical interference made it impossible to go by vehicle, though. The electrical systems inside these crafts were at extreme risk of shorting out and would strand the rescue team as well as Jonathan out there. Any attempt they made would have to be on foot. The weather was continually monitored, and the worst and most severe impacts of storm would occur the following evening on day three. The team would go out on day four with enough provisions to sustain and keep them warm until a wheeled rescue could be prepared 36 hours later.

1:14:07Over the next two days, many people took turns talking with Jonathan, keeping his spirits up and trying to distract him from the harsh conditions. There was worry about the remaining battery life, so as you can imagine, communications were limited to only 10 minutes every few hours. Jonathan had relayed that his pack had food and water for another day and that could be rationed and stretched out It was not a concern What was of concern was a lack of heating fuel he had to keep him warm That would not be able to be rationed Cold and freezing would be what killed him if they didn't arrive in time On the fourth day, the storms and conditions, while not back to normal had lessened significantly and the rescue attempt was cleared to head out The exact location of the cave Jonathan had taken shelter in was still being refined, but they had narrowed the area down.

1:14:59The plan was to arrive and deploy handheld air horns to have him direct the rescue team the rest of the way. It was 15 miles to the general area their technicians determined the calls were coming from. And I can only imagine what those men must have faced. Sub-zero temperatures, 40 mile per hour gusts of wind, near zero visibility, each hauling 40 to 50 pounds on their backs or on toe sleds, and the footing on rocky and icy terrain, making an altitude game of 5 ,000 feet over the trek. Their stamina and endurance were Herculean, to say the least. Back at McMurdo, they kept communicating with Jonathan, talking, albeit it was getting more and more difficult.

1:15:49The rescue team would listen in But they needed to focus on the route rather than the repartee The stranded man was obviously now feeling the stress and fatigue Not just the cold They said he'd start to ramble on communications with McMurdo Describing odd sensory input which simply could not be Talking about how he could see people near a fire How he thought the others in his life must have made it out after all He spoke of having visited a month since Scott and the fun he had traveling back and forth. His situation was dire. His heating fuel had been completely spent. It was still 12 hours until rescue was estimated to arrive.

1:16:33The final transmission McMurda received made no sense at all. He asked them to tell Dr. Lukasik that he had kept his promise. What? I am not finished yet, Marshal Marlow. Honestly, must we every time? Excuse me. Now, where was I? The rescue team arrived and frankly began sounding their horns. Time and again, they would blast them and then move down the ridge, attempting once again. After fourth such attempt, they saw a signal flare ignite up the ridge a bit further. They had found their man. Quickly approaching, they were shocked to see not one individual but five. The research team McMurdo had sent out the week previous to gather data from the storm, now overhead.

1:17:27The researchers said after the first night, their reinforced shelters they had were not enough to match the winds, which were almost double what had been expected. They had to gather what supplies they couldn't head back to a cave that they had scouted on the way back to the observation point. They had decided if things had gone bad, and they had, that this would be their fallback point. And they were elated to see the rescue party had been sent out to collect them. But they were also mystified as to how they knew, as the Aurora Australis had made communications out impossible. The party told the rescuers how they had been talking to a man named Jonathan, and it had been a lifeboat that had been washed ashore.

1:18:09They had been talking with him for days now, and they began to panic. If they had not found Jonathan, he was still out there and in critical need for help. The researchers all passed a look amongst themselves, like the wind had been knocked from their lungs. and the rescue team demanded to know what the issue was. The researchers pointed to the rear of the cave that they had taken shelter in. Through a flashlight beam they saw the petrified body of a man, obvious who had been there for quite a while. They said they had found him dead when they had gotten there and the poor soul had been there for eight years.

1:18:49And although they were hesitant to do it, they checked his clothes and pockets to find out who he was. his name was jonathan jonathan westcott he had scribbled such on a small note and shoved it into his pocket saying who he was where he was born that he'd been attending the dedication ceremony of a munson scott back in 2008 that had fallen overboard from the polis turn on his way back home at the bottom of this note he had written couldn't make the meeting at rothra but it's safely out of their hands i kept my promise to you stephen well for obvious reasons none of the researchers nor the rescue team wanting to include that bit in their official reports speaking to a man who had died eight years earlier how it was an otherworldly specter whose voice showed them the way to where the remaining people in danger as he had been as far as the official records indicated it was the research team that had radio in.

1:19:53They were found, and two days later all were returned safely to McMurdo. What really happened was obviously swept under the rug. And that poor soul, Jonathan, still resides in the rear of that cave. Now his frigid tomb. And with that, gentlemen, I have answered your challenge. Honor restored, and the demon put back in his figurative and, well, literal place, I bid you all an evening. Well, now, I don't rightly see what all the fuss was about, no? Ain't none of them stories any better than mine, I'll tell you that. I'm heading back up on the bed, Cher. Let me know when y 'all got something worth losing sleep over.

1:20:40See ya, hell dude. Thanks for letting us run with the devil and whatnot. Uh-huh. Welcome back, uh, never. Tip, I mean, uh, Marshall, it has to be the guy who had the last, the Nicola... Shh, not here. Not now. Let's, let's all just get some sleep. I'll put the call out in the morning at the bar at 10 a.m. This is what we've been waiting for. Night, Franklin. Good night, Franklin. Yeah, whatever you guys need. Oh, object already, you moron. You passed the bar first time? My firm demonic ass you did. Hi, Brian Bradley, your creator of 90 Degrees South. We made a promise from day one. No ads. No awkward breaks for mattresses, meal kits, or magic racers.

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1:22:34This has been 90 Degrees South. On behalf of the cast and crew, I'd like to thank you for listening. If you liked the episode and are enjoying the series, please remember to give us a like, a share, a tweet, send a raven, or review on iTunes, Audioboom, or your favorite podcast site. It helps us to get the word out and keeps the cold at bay. Until next time. This has been a BMB production.