Meet Father Merton, a character in Through the Nethergate

I have been over at K Morris – Poet blog with a post about Father Merton, one of the significant characters in my forthcoming novel, Through the Nethergate.

Father Merton is a Catholic priest who grew up on a diet of Norse mythology and Scandinavian folklore emanating from his mother’s side of the family who lived in Norway. His background and continuous exposure to superstition and mythical beliefs have resulted in him having a much more open mind about such matters than his colleagues who have grown up in a much more science focused world. Father Merton considers situations from all perspectives and applies all his senses, including a highly developed sixth sense.

Following his own encounter with a spirit as a young priest, Father Merton made a career choice to become an exorcist within the structure of the Catholic Church. During his career as an exorcist, he has interacted with plenty of charlatans who were putting on a fine show of being haunted, but he has also come across several genuine hauntings.

“As he drove along a stretch of the road lined on both sides by tall trees, he happened to glance into his rear-view mirror. In the moonlight he saw a teenage girl sitting in the back of his car.

He assumed she was the daughter of one of the Catholic families who had attended the service and his initial reaction was one of irritation. Why had she stowed away in his car? Was she running away from home?

He swung around to look at the teenager over his shoulder, but there was no-one there.
A few seconds later, he looked in the rear-view mirror again and the girl was back. Her skin shone whitely although he couldn’t see her face clearly in the dim light. He swung around for a second time and his annoyance intensified when he saw she was gone again. Why was she ducking down behind the seat when he turned to look at her? It was such a childish thing to do.
He slammed on the brakes and climbed out of the driver’s seat of the car. Marching around to the back door he flung it open, intending to give the girl a good telling off, but there was no-one there. The car was completely empty.

She couldn’t possibly have jumped out of the car and run away; he would have seen her.
He shut the back door and walked back to the driver’s door. Taking his seat, he again peered into the rear-view mirror. The girl was back. She was sitting serenely in the back seat, hands folded neatly on her lap.

Carry on reading here.