Grigory Borzenko A world of mysterious, amazing and scary stories Issue four The Wandering Coffin of Charles Coghlan

Grigory Borzenko
A world of mysterious, amazing and scary stories
Issue four
The Wandering Coffin of Charles Coghlan

Episode one
It seemed that God himself was angry with a small Canadian village on Prince Edward Island for something. The leaky skies poured inexhaustible streams of water onto the roofs of the fragile houses in a continuous downpour, the evil wind brought down its furious blows on the glass windows, which trembled and rang, almost breaking from such a pressure of the elements.
If even an adult and strong man found himself alone in the forest in such terrible weather, he would probably have the right to lose sight of such pressure of inconveniences and troubles that befell him. And there’s nothing to say about the boy! A child is a child. His soul would certainly have sank in fear. What do you take from a small child...
But the hero of our story, a boy named Charlie, was not a timid boy. Finding himself alone in the forest, suddenly caught up in such terrible weather, he, of course, was incredibly upset by such an opportunity. But he understood that evening was approaching, which would quickly turn into night. Then he definitely won’t be laughing if he doesn’t hurry up to get out of this trap and doesn’t rush home. Where you could hide from bad weather and cold.
And the cold was truly terrible. As they say, it chilled me to the bone. From the continuous streams of water falling from the sky, he was completely wet to the skin. Which made the boy endure even more terrible discomfort and chills.
Soon evening really came, and twilight began to rapidly deepen. This started to scare the boy a little. In addition, a terrible howl was heard in the distance, which made the boy feel uneasy. It could very well have been just some kind of wild animal. But, of course, the far from physically strong teenager did not want to be alone with him, in such an environment.
However, now it was not so much about the strength of the body, but about the strength of the spirit. Physically, Charlie could cover long distances. This didn't bother him. He was resilient. Something else frightened him. Much more important for the sergeant major. The whole point is that he, like probably all children on earth, was terribly afraid of all sorts of ghosts, evil spirits, dead people and other evil spirits. He really, really loved listening to exciting and intriguing stories about them with a sinking heart. But under no circumstances would I want to find myself in the place of their victims.
Therefore, now, when the darkness more and more hid the view of the nearby trees, from behind every branch or bush he began to imagine someone’s evil eyes glowing terribly red, watching him. It seemed to him that this was not just a look, but a hungry look! Eloquently speaking about what he plans to do with him, with Charlie, the one who is now hiding, but at any moment can quickly jump out from behind the thickets and jump on his victim...
But still the boy stood strong, drove away stupid thoughts from himself, realizing that this was just a vision, and nothing more! You just need to pull yourself together! True, the terrible howl of a wild animal seemed to be getting louder, which gave the impression that the danger was getting closer and closer. The boy would not want to see this animal, or any other visible creature. He was especially afraid of ghosts. His soul would certainly sink in if a ghost now appeared before his eyes, in the form of a thin and scary old woman, with a scythe in her hand...
But this is exactly what happened in the next moment!!!
With a shocked look of horror, Charlie saw how an outrageously thin, short, hunched old woman was walking along the neighboring forest path adjacent to the one he was now walking on!!!
The only consolation was that she did not have the above-mentioned braid. In other respects, she was very similar to a witch... Like a terrible and scary old woman, from his childhood horror stories, who kidnapped naughty children, fried them at the stake, and then ate them deliciously...
Things couldn't get any worse for Charlie. Realizing that his only salvation would be to escape, he had already gathered his strength to run away, when he suddenly heard the old woman’s voice. She called out to him.
- I got lost in the forest, boy! Is there a village nearby? I need to warm up... I don’t have the strength to walk anymore...
We have already said that Charlie was a sensible guy beyond his years. Yes, there were childhood fears, as in all his peers, but he could think straight even in his peak moments. Although now he was afraid of the old woman, but when he heard her voice, the voice was quite benevolent, he realized that this was not a ghost, but an ordinary elderly woman. From which you should not run away, but, on the contrary, you need to help her.
Shaking his head decisively, driving away all fears, the boy responded:
- The village where I live is very close! Let's go! I'll guide you!
And he not only led the grandmother to the village, but also helped her the rest of the way, albeit a short one.
Arriving at the village, Charlie took the old woman not anywhere, but to his home.
- You need to warm up, grandma. – The boy spoke in a loud voice, shouting over the noise of the wind and rain. – Our house is modest. We are a poor family of Irish immigrants. But we have a place to stay warm and shelter a kind person. Let's go!
The next morning, the invigorated old woman, warmed up, dried her clothes, slept well and rested, leaving the house, and sincerely thanking the owners for their hospitality, fixed her gaze on Charlie. She looked at him very intently and mysteriously, and said:
- Give me your palm, my young savior. I will try to predict your fate...
The intrigued boy extended his hand to her.
She looked for a long time, studying the lines on his palm. Then she started talking. Her words sounded quietly, very slowly.
- You will be famous and lucky... But his soul can rest in peace only on his native land...
Amazed by the prediction, the boy raised his palm to his eyes, trying to see there what the old woman had just seen, but he saw nothing. He raised his eyes and noticed that she was no longer there... She either left quietly and unnoticed, or disappeared as unexpectedly as if she had disappeared into thin air...

Episode two
In those days when Charles Francis Coghlan, the hero of our story, lived, people believed in mysticism more than you and I do now. Then, when the mysterious old woman was leaving little Charlie’s house and telling fortunes by his hand, that morning a neighbor ran into the boy’s parents’ house for five minutes. These five minutes were enough for him to witness what the guest was saying to the child.
The mysterious appearance of the stranger struck the neighbor so much that he then began to tell everyone in the village that the mysterious stranger had predicted that the young resident of the village would become popular all over the world! This man was a respected person among his fellow villagers, so everyone believed his story. From then on, the villagers began to take a closer look at their young fellow countryman.
Years passed...
The boy grew up, from the boy Charlie grew into a smart and quick-witted young man named Charles. Which made more and more impression on the people from his village. He impressed them with his intelligence, liveliness of thoughts, prudence and ingenuity. At a time when others his age were, as they say, fooling around, the guy sat with books and notebooks, engaged in self-education. Often in conversations he talked about his dreams, that he would like to get a real education, in some big temple of science! This would help him immensely in achieving what he had in mind.
But money was needed to pay for school. Therefore, in his free time from classes, the young man worked hard, trying to save the necessary amount.
Seeing such a desire of the guy, and realizing that it was precisely such a person who could glorify their village, fellow villagers decided to contribute to a good cause. They donated as much as they could, collected a considerable sum, and paid for Charles’ education in England!
The years continued to fly by. Charles, in turn, tried to continue to achieve what he had in mind. His diligence was not in vain. He became a famous comedian and went on tour all over the world!
The predictions of the mysterious old woman have come true! He really became famous! Echoes of his popularity reached the residents of his native village. The villagers were glad that at one time they acted nobly and supported their promising fellow countryman. Now it turns out that he lived up to their hopes.
But, as we remember, there was a second part to that old woman’s prophecy. Much more mysterious and incomprehensible than the first! I wonder if it will come true?

Episode three
There are people who were born and raised in villages, sometimes very tiny and modest, who remember their Little Motherland all their lives, remembering it with love and warmth. And they don’t just remember. But they also glorify her. They write books about her, compose songs, and dedicate other works. Sometimes, having become stars and millionaires, living in luxury houses in big cities, giving interviews to TV channels or newspapers, they are not embarrassed to admit that they come from such and such a small village. Its residents hear the name of their village spoken publicly and understand that people all over the world are also hearing it at this time! The villagers are proud of this, and mentally thank their fellow countryman that he is not arrogant, that he remembers his roots.
Charles Francis Coghlan was one of these people. Perhaps it was precisely because of his love for his native place, and perhaps, remembering the long-standing prediction of the mysterious old woman, that he wrote in his will to be buried at home, on this island, in the village of his childhood.
Charles wrote this even when he did not even think about dying. He, like all of us in similar situations, did it intuitively, so to speak, for the future. Sincerely hoping that the event he envisaged will happen very, very slowly.
Alas, we are all perishable in this world... This cup will not pass anyone by. Sooner or later…
She did not escape Coghlen either. During a tour of Texas, he fell ill and suddenly died... Far from his native place, no one knew about the artist’s will. He was placed in a zinc coffin, sealed hermetically, and buried there in the local cemetery in the town of Galveston, in 1899...
Usually, all events associated with a person occur during his life. After the death of a person, everything connected with him either goes into oblivion or fades away. This means that interest in his personality and in everything connected with him is fading away.
In this case, everything happened exactly the opposite. The most mysterious and incredible events that will perpetuate his name for centuries to come occurred precisely after Coghlen’s death. Attention! Now the most mysterious, and most importantly, incredible, inexplicable thing begins. What happens next will be so unusual that even centuries later people will not believe that this could happen. Since this contradicts all theories of probability...

Episode four
On August 27, 1900, a tropical storm began in the Atlantic Ocean halfway between Africa and the Antilles. Having reached the Antilles, it turned into a raging hurricane. And already in the Gulf of Mexico, wind gusts reached 200 miles per hour. When the hurricane hit the city on September 8, it was accompanied by a tsunami more than six meters high. In Galveston alone there were more than six thousand deaths! That's about one death per six residents! The damage amounted to about thirty million dollars. More than five thousand buildings were destroyed by the raging sea and maddened wind. They say it was the worst hurricane ever to hit an American city.
Having subsided, the huge wave brought with it not only the remains of houses, trees, cars, personal belongings, but also the bodies of those who died in the disaster. And also the dead, torn from their graves: entire cemeteries were washed ashore. Charles Francis Coghlan was buried among them.
Some of the coffins washed up on beaches or in the marshes that bordered the Gulf of Mexico and the Antilles. But many coffins were not found. Some undoubtedly sank, others continued to float for many years...

Episode five
Fans of adventure literature really enjoy moments in novels. When a sailor on a cruise ship, located in the so-called “crow’s nest,” shouts loudly, intriguing the ship’s crew: “I see a floating object ahead!”, the sailors invariably rush to the deck, driven by curiosity, trying to quickly see what or who , floating in the middle of the ocean?
Something similar happened in October 1908. The first winter storm to hit the eastern side of the North Atlantic has finally passed. Fishing boats, tied to the port for a week, began to go out to sea again. Throughout the Gulf of St. Lawrence, fishermen hurriedly cast their nets to make up for lost time last week.
In one of the boats fishing near Prince Edward Island, there was a man who, as in the example we gave above with the sailor in the crow's nest, shouted that, they say, look, some kind of floating object is visible ahead!
It is clear that this was not a sailor at the top of the mast, but an ordinary fisherman, and in his hands he was not holding a spyglass, but a fishing net. But his cry had the same reaction as on the sailboat mentioned above. A sense of curiosity is inherent in fishermen too.
Swimming closer, they saw an oblong box that was soaked in water and barely kept afloat. It was completely covered with shells and therefore almost invisible under the waves that covered it. Having no idea what the box could be, but doubting that it could be of any value, the fishermen attached it to the back of their boat and dragged it to shore. Of course, having pulled the find onto land, they immediately began to examine it.
The longer the workers scraped the shells that had stuck to it from the surface of the box, the more convinced they became that this was nothing more than a real coffin!
Intrigued, they continued to investigate the highly unusual find.
They realized that it was a zinc coffin, hermetically sealed. This gave them the answer to the question of why he did not drown, but floated on the seas for so many years, overgrown with shells and algae.
The desire to open the coffin and look at its contents was so great that the fishermen could not resist the temptation, and finally opened it!
As you would expect, there were human remains inside the coffin.
There was no reason to be surprised...
But still there was a huge surprise. It was not just a huge surprise, but a real shock!
- Look! – One of those who did not calm down, but continued to clean the coffin lid from shells, exclaimed something. – There is some kind of metal tile attached here! And there's something written on it!
Of course, the other fishermen immediately began to help their attentive friend, and began to clean this tile together with him. To be able to read what is written.
When the surface of this tablet was cleaned, an engraved inscription appeared before the amazed eyes of the fishermen with the following content: “Charles Francis Coghlan, born in 1841 on Prince Edward Island (Canada). Died 1899 in Galveston (Texas)."
These fishermen were residents of a village in which everyone had heard a lot about their glorious fellow countryman Coglen. Everyone knew that he was, as they say, distant lands from his former home. And suddenly there is such a zigzag of fate...
The house where little Charlie was born and lived was next to the place where these fishermen were now!!!
The actor was buried a second time at home, in the local cemetery. Just as he wanted in his will.
If they had told me to come up with something like this, I wouldn’t have come up with it. I was afraid that they wouldn’t believe me. They will call him a visionary.
More than once I have read and heard about cases so incredible that no writer’s imagination could have come up with such things. And this real, real case is also truly unique!
To me, the most surprising things about this story are two things.
First. That this coffin was carried on the waves for nine whole years! Nine!
Second. In the end, he washed up not just anywhere, but precisely on the shore of his native village! In fact, straight to home!
If someone says that this is not a miracle, then let him be the first, as Ostap Bender once said, to throw a stone at me...

Date of writing this story: March 1, 2024,
Place of birth of the story: Great Britain, North Wales, Flint, Bolingbroke Street 135.



You are provided with the text of the next story of the new detective series, the author of which translated from Russian into English using the usual Google translator. We really need a literary editor for the English texts of these detective book series. I am ready to pay for the work of an editor and translator. Respond! Thank you! Best regards, author.
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