Hair Rising, Heir Raising, Erasing

Noah M Wilton

Noah M Wilton is the revered character, founder of Wilton Town, ancestor of Abraham Wilton-Cough. We hear about him first, mentioned proudly by Abraham who boast to be the eleventh removed from him.

Larger than life, Noah takes shape and form in a formidable statue in the delirious dying dream of Wilton-Cough. As Abraham catches his breath at the base of the colossal brass effigy of his ancestor, he regains stock of who he is, who he came from but also the courage to face his own future, hence the judgement for his mistakes.

Despite being a beacon, the founder of a town, Noah is far from being without faults himself. There are dark corners in his legacy which plagues his descendants like a curse. The foundation of the town was not easy. From the wilderness, out of the beaten track where Noah and his followers settled, they did not get many returns at first. In desperation, as famine took them one by one in a deadly toll, they started to eat their own dead to survive. From the disturbed graves of the eaten came the curse of their unrest upon who gets to live and have descendants. The curse is the monster within your family which you can barely tackle for it has grown out of proportion without your understanding. Every 150 years, descendants of the survivors, if born during a full moon night will be plagued by the curse of the eaten dead: they become ghouls. Without the necessity of their forefathers, they consume human flesh. Their grisly acts perpetrate upon all descendants of the first settlers in Wilton Town a form of punishment: none shall be allowed to rest in peace, as their ancestors disrespected their dead.

We found the dead of Wilton Town rising one Autumnal night, in Wilton-Cough’s nightmare for in their peculiar town with its peculiar past, it is common currency yet the living are unaware of that fact that is until the day they pass away… There are more stories to come from the cemetery of that small town, like the first one, they will be published for every Halloween, ghosts and ghouls permitting.

Returning to our bold Noah, his character does not take simple measures. He is a strong fighter which will cut the mustard in any place in the world. He will survive and make you do so too with methods that may leave you pale and asking the internal question, if there were no other ways to get by. However he lifts the spirits of many by his sheer engagement to deal and tackle what no one would and be left beaten by.

Like his namesake, he is one that gets to resettle upon Earth. He saved as many as he can doing so. He is the tough decision maker that all turn to. Passed away, his legacy remains strong. Passed away, he gets to stand tall in a living statue, brass shining, axe swirling, arse kicking. His metaphorical self will always make it through and make sure others following his footsteps do just as well.

Regarded by all as an heroic figure, almost a legendary one, his lineage bestows the consideration of everyone as being important. Although Noah had humble origins being born from a peasant couple, he displayed leadership qualities from an early age. He became a logger in order to provide his parents with a better roof. However the hardship of being tenants felt throughout the village meant that no one could ever hope to raise on day above poverty. The cruelty of the owner of the land of his parents grew to such an extent that the young Noah plotted for all hit hard by the imposed extreme taxes to escape to uncharted land, still free for all to claim.

The sheer charisma of Noah M Wilton made him be followed by the entire village with not one soul missing. The story of Noah, his followers and the creation of Wilton Town will be narrated in a fairy tale like novel… Watch this space.

Noah M Wilton in quotes:

This must be his last straw, he thought. However a strong voice and hand recalled him,

-Abraham, stand up and face everything. You are one of mine hence strong. On your feet now.’

‘Seizing the chin of the skeleton, the statue of Noah revealed,

-This very town was founded by eating our own dead. This is what we had to do to survive. Some of our descendants are since plagued to become ghouls. The fate of Zachary is not your fault, it is entirely mine. Let me deal with your bone suckers. Join the others and wait for your own judgement.

Doing as he was told, Abraham Wilton-Cough saw the colossal brass statue of his ancestor stepping down from its base and brandishing his huge axe against the incoming ghouls. It resounded like the clashes of the titans with gunshots hitting metal and the vibrant noise of the battle axe against flesh and bones. The living dead were literally hacked off Wilton Town by its very founding father.’




Cordelia's Compendium of Characters
Index
Full Page Index
Dedication
The book dedication
Introduction
This comprehensive nomenclature will be ordered by the chronology of the published books and within it by the alphabetical order of the characters. Following the ‘Who’s Who’ of characters, you will find a ‘What’s what’ section, a list of created or combined words with their meanings. There are a fair few occasions where I applied this poetic license to fit closely to the heartbeat of the story or a particular individual within it. The last sections are the peep-holes to the future publications relating to those stories, spin-offs, prequels or next instalments to look forward to. It will offer the tangible glimpse of what is coming next or what happened before.
Hair Rising, Heir Raising, Erasing
Published the 21st of October 2014, this short story was born like many of my stories within the midst of a nightmare. I remember still vividly hearing some chilling noises, some eerie music, sad laughter, stuck in the darkness of a long box. I pushed the door open to realise that I was in my coffin. A cowardly glance outside revealed a hilly cemetery, a moonlight night and other corpses rising from their graves, some dragging others to do so. I was freaked enough at the sight to lay back in the safe darkness, thinking that it must be a bad dream and that it will all pass. But someone saw me, someone recognised me, called my name out loud and opened my coffin lid wide open. In front of that half decomposed cadaver, my heart seemed to fail to beat any longer. I closed my eyes of fright and I woke up in my bed safe and well. I was not exposed in a coffin, exhibited to other dead people, I was in my bedroom with for only witness, my black cat Mystic blinking her yellow eyes at me peacefully from the other pillow.
Finding It-666: the Beast
It-666’s story can not be told in one sentence not even in one book. It has a fateful spin to it which will last for as long as it is meant to last. It is determined.
Compendiums till the End
We have reached the end of this first edition of the Compendium. I hope you enjoyed meeting my characters. To resume, they are the ones of my first two published books so far. As the Compendium is far from being fixed and pre-determined, as more of my stories will be released, it will be expanded regularly.
Hair Rising, Heir Raising, Erasing
Abigail Bates
Illegitimate daughter of Abraham Wilton Cough and Amelia Bates, Abigail was not conceived out of love. She is a pure mistake, simply made by her respective parents out of drunkenness. Despite her controversial conception, even unborn she is a blessing to all. To her guilt ridden father, the mere fact that she is the growingly visible result of his action within the belly of the Widow Bates caused his nagging unrest and prophetic nightmare on his death bed. Her unseen presence pushes the proud Abraham first to admit that he did commit mistakes during his lifetime. With her mother playing the spiritual guide to the departing soul of Abraham, they help him to go from admission to making amends, passing by the acknowledgement of his errors.
Abraham Wilton-Cough
If that Angelic character brings about the redemption of her own father prior to his death, she is also a blessing in many ways to her human mother, the lonely good sweetheart that is Amelia Bates. For Abigail provides her finally with the family, the widow had craved for the many years of her childless marriage. She is a providential heavenly gift who repairs Harry Bates’ lack of progeniture to his loving wife on his funeral night.
Amelia Bates
Her shrieking voice is the dreaded and familiar one which guides Abraham Wilton-Cough during the night of the rising dead. Born Elroy, the widow Bates has the privilege to be Abraham’s impoverished neighbour. Always in the now and know, Amelia is his perfect guide.
Angela Wilton-Cough
Angela is the beautiful yet suffering wife of Abraham Wilton-Cough. Present by his death bed, she hold his hand until his last breath. She is the recipient of his last orders, the soldier that can execute his last wills, which starts with burning the ones he had written previously with a lawyer and friend, with a cold and calculating heart: The very will which would have seen her become totally destitute and dying on the church steps of Wilton Town’s church a very bitter winter night, the 23rd of January 1866.
Harry Bates
Private Harry Bates is the quintessence of absent characters. Talked about, missed, grieved, his lack of presence, nonetheless affects the other characters in many ways. Like a missing link the life of Harry Bates can explain and shed light about the lives of others and their behaviours. Let’s take the example of the always well informed Amelia Bates to illustrate the point. She has developed that trait of her character because of the military career of her husband. Harry is the determining factor behind a self taught Amelia who reads the newspaper to know if he is still alive, which part of the world he is located, which battles he faced, their results and consequences on the world and people, and trying desperately to guess when would he possibly be able to come back.
Aunt Josephine Cough
Briefly mentioned, she is the character which presents Angela to Abraham in one of her tea parties, warning him to not fall in loves with the Italian shop keeper’s daughter. Aunt Josephine is the would be keeper of old generations and old fashions yet to still be in fashion herself and for her parties not to be obsolete, she has to invite the new generation which brings life to the old town and the like of Angela. Angela is like a mirror of herself in her younger years, an up and coming socialite to be watched.
Josiah Wilton-Cough
Josiah by his imaginary piano/organ/organic instrument, playing beautifully and powerfully, is a pure vision. The youngest son of Abraham Wilton-Cough symbolises all the children who had to endure the will of their parents as their own. If they do not do so, they end up beaten up badly.
Noah M Wilton
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Father Odell
The character of Father Odell looks after his parish like a shepherd after his flock. Ready listener of their ailments and tribulations, he offers to them the comfort of an educated comprehension, wraps their shoulders by his understanding and instead of letting them face their worst nightmare alone, he leads them to forgiving solutions to their dilemmas.
Terah Wilton-Cough
Father of Abraham Wilton-Cough, Terah is just mentioned by him with great pride. This character is not elaborated in this story. From the association of two powerful families, the Wiltons and the Coughs, Terah is a member of the third generation. His important wealth handed down to his son made him own half of Wilton Town. Still not enough, Abraham endeavoured to increase his fortune by creating the first bank of the town.
Doctor Valdi
Doctor Vincent Valdi is another character barely mentioned in the story. At the bedside of the dying Abraham Wilton-Cough, he is monitoring his last hours, unable to save him. Like Angela Wilton-Cough and Amelia Bates, he is from the generation of people who came to make their lives in Wilton Town. Well regarded, Doctor Valdi is an indispensable member of the community. He is present at the birth of its people and at their death. Best friend of father Theo Odell, the atheist Valdi shares with him the passing and going of all in Wilton Town. He also beholds the secrets of everyone in town like the priest does. The two men serve as watcher and peacekeeper of Wilton Town population.
Zachary Wilton-Cough
What can I say about Zach? The first time you encounter him you will not like him a tad. I wrote him with his sheer stupidity aligned with his false cleverness. Zachary Wilton-Cough is a character as daunting as a sponge which was left to absorb vitriol until it is so poisonous, your guts instinct are to just leave it there and ran away without dealing with it or squeeze it out of the bullshit it is full of.
Wilton Town
Wilton Town is a whimsical place with a far-West feel to it. Created out of the sheer wilderness of a large, dark and strange forest by the broad axe of Noah M Wilton, it represents all the hope of a better future that people do carry with them. However it didn’t quite synthesise itself on the ground, despite Noah and his followers’s best will and efforts. The hard working and generous Noah provided them with the free land, built the houses, designed a small town out of the treasure of their surrounding seas of trees.