THE laughter and screams of the children rang sharply through the night as they ran and frolicked. The yard was big with enough room for chasing and tagging games like Hide and Seek, ‘Ketcher’ or Last Lick. Soon they grew bored with this and decided to take their games abroad. Scaling the fence they ran up and down in the nearby alley.
In the quiet almost quaint village of Solitude, folks worked hard, drank hard and had a good relationship with each other. The only thing odd about the village was their belief in the supernatural.

Time and time again, stories emerged about strange and bizarre incidents which occurred in the community. There were even recent sightings of different beings like Old Higue and Moon Gazer.

As they played, the children ventured deeper and deeper into the dark alleyway. They were playing Hide and Seek. One person stayed from a distance turning their back on the others. The players then had 30 seconds to conceal themselves before the seeker began searching for them.

The first person that was caught would become the next seeker. The game was punctuated by loud shots and shrieking laughter.
It was while seeking a dark place to hide that little Matthew stepped on the Old Dutch Bottle. Stooping, he scooped it up and looked at it with curiosity. It was too dark to see it properly so he headed for the light forgetting about the game for a moment. His reminder came with a sharp thump in the back!
Crack!

“A ketch yo!”
The old bottle fell from his hand and smashed to bits on the concrete pavement.
From all around them came a harsh guttural voice.

“AT LAST! FREE! FREE! HA! HA! HA! HA!”
Then a violent breeze swept through the alley bringing with it a chilling wind. In terror, the children fled for the safety of indoors.

Two nights later all was forgotten. The kids were again racing around in the alley. This time they were playing ‘Ketcher’. In this game, one child chased after the others trying to catch him/her in order that they would now become the catcher. It was great fun and the children horsed around completely forgetting what had transpired two nights ago. They soon got a rude reminder.

A group of them were racing to outrun the catcher when they ran into the strangest person they had ever seen. He was shorter than them all and had the largest head on the planet. He was ugly with matted, wild looking hair. His teeth flashed wickedly and his short stout hands had nails that grew more than six inches long. They were essentially claws and had dark matter on the tips as if they were used to tearing flesh from bones. His large eyes were yellowish red and flashed with mischief. From deep in his throat, a low howl arose. It kept getting louder and louder until the ears of the children were under threat. As if awakening from a trance, they fled the dark alley together screaming and bawling. Matthew was a distant first.

Uncle David was relaxing in his favourite hammock. His preferred mode of relaxation was always horizontal. He fell into a peaceful sleep and dreamt of performing on stage. His performance was so well appreciated that the ladies were screaming for more. They surged towards him grabbing and shaking, their screams testimony to his brilliance on the stage.
He jumped up from his pleasant dream to see his nieces and nephews along with some of their friends all crying, shouting and pointing at the alley. Their words were a confused gaggle and he only understood that they had encountered something scary there. One of them said Baccoo, the other Jumbie. Whichever it was, it was going to get a good thrashing from him. He suspected that it was just a cruel prank but prank or not the culprit would feel his wrath. He headed for the alley on the run.
“Uncle David don’t go. Baccoo gon get you!” His niece screamed and pleaded with him.
“I don’t believe in Baccoo! I not afraid of no Jumbie!” The man said.
Big, big mistake.
As David descended into the alley he was met with an avalanche of missiles. He was hit on every conceivable part of the body.
The hero departed as fast as he had arrived howling in agony and bleeding from numerous lacerations.
The alley was officially declared off limits to everyone. Any curious thrill seeker who ventured there was met with the same fate as David.
Eventually the Obeah Man-Papa Duncan- was called in. He was paid a tidy sum to get rid of the spirit. Next night, the man went to work with a bunch of bananas, a bag of nuts and a bottle of cow milk.
No one knows what he did down in that dark alley, but he emerged from the alleyway with the Baccoo trapped in the bottle. All the children are now playing indoors.