The Tall Man

There is something about the transitory, enigmatic nature of the following little story that charms me. I always enjoy those moments when The Weird suddenly appears, slaps you in the face with a dead fish, and just as quickly and inexplicably vanishes for good.Our tale takes place on a pleasant English Sunday, May 5, 1924. A young woman named Betty Bone went on the bicycle ride of 15 miles or so from her lodgings in Breamore, Hampshire to visit her family in Southampton. However, along the way she had been bothered by “gipsies” demanding money, so her brother Alf and a friend, Ewart Pole, volunteered to accompany her back home. The roads were virtually empty, and it was a clear, sunny day.The trio was cycling along what is now the B3078 when, near the entrance to the Bramshaw golf course, they observed something odd. Walking along the side of the road in the same direction was a man. They were a bit surprised to suddenly see him--as one of them later put it, “He just appeared.”…