Hounds Of Hell

Early in the thirteenth century, in the town of Stamford, England, lived a wealthy man named Lord Albert Hutchins. He was slender with long, dark brown hair. Lord Albert had heavy bags under his eyes due to sleepless nights spent mourning the death of his beloved wife, who had died giving birth to his daughter, Helen, their only child.
Lord Albert’s whole world revolved around his beautiful blue eyed, ash blonde, freckled-faced daughter. Whatever Helen wanted, Helen received, which turned her into a spoiled brat. At just nine years of age, Helen saw Amanda Fowler, a very dramatic “gothic” looking girl. With keen interest, Helen watched Amanda happily playing with her nine week old Mastiff puppy. For Helen, it was puppy fever at first sight.
Helen tugged on her father’s coat. “Goodly father, I do wish to possess that young hound which doth lie in the arms of yon raven haired maiden.”
Lord Albert stroked his beard, looked at his daughter, and saw her pointing at Amanda. “Art thou certain?” Lord Albert hesitantly asked, noticing the huge smile on Amanda’s face and the wiggling tail of the pup.
“Quite certain,” answered Helen.
Lord Albert, looking away from Amanda in shame, approached her father, a fat, greedy, man who was halfway to being baldheaded. Lord Albert handed Mr. Fowler fourteen-shillings. Within seconds, Amanda had her puppy taken out of her arms by her father, only to watch it be placed in Helen’s arms.
Amanda’s ghostly white face suddenly turned red with rage. “Fret not precious,” her father told her, handing Amanda seven shillings. “Now daughter, thou hast money enough to buy thirty pups.”
“I do not want thirty pups! Or any bloody money!” Amanda yelled, throwing the shillings at her father’s feet in rage. “I only desire my own pup, which thou hast given me last week -- for my tenth birthday!” Amanda closed and opened her eyes, while inhaling and exhaling a massive breath. Facing Helen and Lord Albert, Amanda drew an imaginary rectangle in the air with her finger as she warned.
“May a scarred curse, like that of my heart,
be bestowed upon thee, if ye neglect me beloved puppy.”
After saying this, Amanda burst into tears and fled. Lord Albert and Helen felt strong powers of darkness released by Amanda’s words. Though only ten, Amanda already had knowledge of witchcraft. Her mother was a witch who had taught Amanda how to cast a spell. Amanda’s father, trembling and fearful that his daughter might turn on him, picked up the money before running after her.
Helen, making light of the matter, said. “Dread not father; I shall never neglect my pup!”
“I do hope not,” her father replied, as he walked away with his hand on his beloved daughter’s shoulder.
That day, Helen enjoyed her new puppy very much, so much, in fact, that she demanded another one the next day. Of course, she received another puppy that day. This went on every day for the next several months. At first Helen would hug, play with, and care for each new puppy like a mother tending to her baby. However, as the puppies grew older, she neglected them. For Helen focused all her attention on the newer puppies. Noticing this, Lord Albert would periodically try to reason with her: “Pumpkin, thou hast acquired too many dogs.” He even would occasionally refuse to provide her with any more puppies. But upon hearing this refusal, Helen would scream and cry.
“I do love pups; they bring happiness to me. I must always have many pups to care for, unless thou dost not care for me. Thou must not love me any more, father!” Helen would scream and cry for hours. Her father’s heart, breaking at each angry word, would always cause him to give in. To avoid having hundreds of dogs living on their estate, Lord Albert would take several of the neglected older pups deep into the forest, abandoning them to fend for themselves. On the way home, Lord Albert would stop to buy another puppy or two. Helen had so many puppies that she never noticed the ones that disappeared.
But the townspeople did take notice. The local hunters noticed that the cherished prey that had been abundant in the forest for so long had become scarce. Several of the townspeople tried to reason with Lord Albert. They pleaded with him to stop purchasing pups, not wishing for any more dogs to be abandoned in the forest. Lord Albert, however, would not hear of it. The good-hearted breeders refused to sell any more puppies to Lord Albert at any price. Unfortunately, there were breeders who cared more for money than dogs. These unscrupulous breeders learned that they could demand five times the normal price, and Lord Albert would always pay in an attempt to fulfill his only child’s every desire.
Years passed. Helen remained a spoiled brat, unable to make any friends, and cared only for the new puppies her father continued to bring home. Well, she also enjoyed eating sweets, so much so, in fact, that she was the plumpest youth in Stamford.
One night Lord Albert drove his carriage deep into the forest, as he had done on so many other nights. He brought with him twelve of the neglected young dogs, taking them to where he had dropped off several hundred dogs before. However, this dry, cold night would prove to be different. On this night, at first Lord Albert thought he was hearing the souls of the abandoned dogs crying out. It sounded as though hundreds of the once beloved dogs were howling and moaning their heartbreak at the full moon. Hearing this, Lord Albert abruptly halted his horses, jumped down from his carriage and unloaded the twelve young dogs. For the first time, Lord Albert felt the guilt of having abandoned hundreds of young dogs in the forest. As he climbed back into the carriage, he felt a chill come over him.
As Lord Albert started to drive off, he held his torch to his right hand side. There he saw several hungry dogs close at hand. Howling and snarling with bared fangs, the dogs paced alongside his horses. Lord Albert slowly turned to his left hand side, only to see a similar sight. Lord Albert swallowed hard and shook with fear. In his panic, he dropped his torch inside the carriage. He quickly picked up the torch, but did not notice the spark that remained. Lord Albert threw his torch at the dogs. A fire quickly took hold in the forest, igniting first the underbrush, then the trees. The forest soon became an inferno. Whipping his horses furiously, Lord Albert fled in his carriage as fast as his horses would take him. The dogs pursued, biting at the heels of the galloping horses as they sped away from the burning inferno and towards the town. As they approached the Hutchins mansion, the more brazen dogs jumped into the carriage, knocking Lord Albert out and on to the ground. A few dogs stayed on and rode in the carriage, while others chased the horses. Several dogs attacked Lord Albert, whom they all seemed to remember. It was as if the dogs wanted to make sure that Lord Albert would never again abandon their kind deep in the woods.
Helen heard her father’s cries and quickly ran from the mansion to his side. Seeing the dogs, she yelled at them to stop, crying out, “Leave my father alone!”
The dogs remembered Helen’s voice and stopped instantly. They turned and looked at her with their drawn, half-starved faces. Helen slowly began to recognize a few of the dogs when she saw their eyes. It was as though both the dogs and Helen were simultaneously transported in memory to their earlier and happier times together. Their few short weeks playing together and feeling loved emerged from their collective consciousness. Helen could see the recognition in the eyes of the dogs, and she knew that they still loved her unconditionally. However, the dog’s faces and eyes were not happy as she had remembered them. The faces were now sad and haggard, with droopy eyes that showed the pain of separation from their first caretaker. Seeing Helen again brought a fresh pang of separation. The dogs, howling as if their hearts had been shattered, turned and ran back through town, catching up with the rest of their pack.
The whole town of Stamford awoke to loud howling and what sounded like the stampede of bulls. As the townspeople peered out through their shutters, they saw a huge forest fire in the distance and hundreds of dogs running into town. The dogs were still chasing the carriage, although the townspeople were unable to see the horses hidden in the smoke and cloud of dust. For that matter, the townspeople could not tell it was a carriage, as it was now completely ablaze. No one was able to discern that this was a carriage on fire. What the town of Stamford saw through their shutters that night was a fireball of flame, with a few dogs that appeared to be flying on top of the flame. Through the dust and smoke, those closest to the fiery procession could not see the horses as they ran by, but only a glimpse of the, fast, agile dogs that managed latching onto the sides of the galloping horses. The illusion that this provided led the townspeople to assume that these dogs were ghosts that had ascended from the pits of hell.
As soon as the horses ran out of town, their reins caught fire, disintegrating in the flames, and allowing the horses to separate from the fiery carriage. The horses were powerful stallions. Their strength and speed enabled them to shake off the dogs and run to safety. Luckily for the dogs, the horses had led them near a herd of small wild pigs. The dogs found the pigs to be an easier meal than the horses.
Lord Albert had been bitten, bruised, and battered. The worst injury was a large bite on his face, which would leave him with a permanent scar. Helen held her father and cried tears of relief that he was alive. She also cried tears of remorse, for deep down inside she knew it was her fault that those abandoned dogs had turned vicious. Helen knew that it was her neglect that had led to their abandonment. It was her love that had broken their hearts. For the first time in her life, Helen realized what it would be like to live without the one person who, like the heartbroken dogs, loved her unconditionally. Recognizing her selfish ways, Helen apologized to her father through her tears. Her father, also crying, held Helen. Lord Albert tried to console Helen, accepting the blame for indulging Helen’s selfish irrational demands.
“The fault is not thine that thou art thus. The responsibility is mine. I do love thee more than life itself! I did think that nothing should be denied my pumpkin. I was unable ever to ever tell thee nay, and thus ‘tis I who have created the events of this dark night,” he cried.
Helen shook her head to say no. “Father, do not blame yourself. ‘Tis not your fault that I have taken advantage of your kind heart by making such unreasonable demands. I did learn at an early age how much you do love me and how hard it was for you to deny me my wishes. This night of terror, the pain you do feel, is all because of my childish behavior. Never again shall I abuse your love. Nor do I want any more pups.” Helen paused, wiping a tear, before continuing, “especially after seeing the sad faces of those heartbroken dogs. For the first time I do see my own selfish ways. I now do know my responsibility. I am going to be very kind to the dogs that I now own. They shall all be loved for the rest of their lives. None of them shall ever be abandoned.” Tears poured down Helen’s face like rain as she thought about the poor dogs she had seen that night.
The next day, rumors began to spread over England about the dogs of Stamford. It was made known that this wealthy lord had abandoned hundreds of young dogs deep in the forest and had left them to starve. People spoke of the souls of those dogs that came riding through the town of Stamford on a cloud of fire under the full moon. The stories included the disfigurement of Lord Albert, left with a gruesomely scarred face. The storytellers warned the listeners to never mistreat mankind’s best friends, the faithful and loyal dogs.
In the town of Stamford, the townspeople believed that the souls of the abandoned dogs would not return because Lord Albert had heeded the dogs’ warning and had stopped abandoning any more dogs. However, every now and then on a full moon, it is rumored that the old dogs’ souls still howl in pain. These dogs were given the famous nicknames, “Dogs of Doom” and “Hounds of Hell”. Several families even moved out of Stamford because they believed if the Hounds of Hell returned, they would not be as merciful as before, but would kill and destroy the entire town. The forest where Lord Albert had abandoned the dogs was considered a very haunted place.

Back

This page and all contents are Copyright © 2008 by Bullistic Bullys and The Legendary Bulldog, Hollister, CA USA