Hungry Moon by Ramsey Campbell Page A

and I take it you're a reporter.'
    'Nick Reid from Manchester. You're not from round here, surely.'
    'I came here last year. I teach school in Moonwell. Don't let my accent fool you into thinking I'm mixed up with these guys.'
    'You've got your doubts about them, have you? Can I quote you?' When she nodded he switched on the recorder. 'Go ahead.'
    'It's just that the whole thing seems so organized to get the response this guy Mann wants. Nobody from Moon-well knew he was coming so far as I know, and if they did they certainly weren't telling. But the hotel's full of people he sent on ahead of him, and so are all the tents around the town. It doesn't feel like religion to me, it feels more like a bloodless invasion.'
    'I'll put that to him. Anything else? Would you like to tag along and hear what he says?'
    'Sure, if you like. I might catch something you'd miss.'
    The crowd was dispersing around them. Mann's followers waited beside the path to speak to the townsfolk, making sure nobody slipped past without answering. A lone figure who'd been watching from a higher slope turned away across the moors. 'Who's that?' Nick said.
    'It must be Nathaniel Needham. He lives out there. I hear he's the oldest native of Moonwell.'
    They made their way across the barren slope to Mann. 'Don't be ashamed to bear witness to your neighbours,' he was saying. 'That's one of evil's greatest triumphs in our time, that people are embarrassed to talk about God or say publicly that they believe in Him.' Though his face was glowing, he looked exhausted, all the more so when he saw Nick's recorder. 'You want to talk to me?'
    'I'd like to if you've time. Nick Reid from Manchester, the News.'
    Mann frowned. 'News travels fast.'
    'That you were here, you mean? I was just passing. Would you rather not have the publicity?'
    'If the faithful want to come and join our congregation they know they'll be welcome. I can't think of any other reason why anyone would want to join us, can you? Unless to hinder God's work, and I hope you wouldn't want that any more than I do.'
    'Excuse me,' Diana said, 'but you seem pretty sure you know what people want. I mean, your people damn near occupied the town so you'd get a welcome.'
    'I don't think anyone would object if that means God occupying their hearts, do you? And I think He has already for many of the people of this town. I guess you aren't one of them.'
    'I wasn't born here, no. I still don't understand why you picked this town.'
    'Because I had faith I would be welcome here. If you can handle the idea, because God told me I was needed here.'
    'For what? To stop them practicing a ceremony that's hundreds of years old?'
    'I'm afraid so.' Mann's face seemed to thrust forward against a strong wind, eyes glittering. 'It's the oldest of all the druid ceremonies in England, maybe you didn't know.'
    'I didn't, but I'd say that was all the more reason not to interfere. We don't have traditions that old ourselves; we shouldn't be jealous of people who have.'
    'God is a jealous God, or hadn't you heard?'
    Nick intervened. 'But how significant do you think this ceremony is? I mean, how much influence can it really have?'
    Mann fixed his electric blue gaze on him. 'While these druidic rites keep being practiced, evil gains ground in the world. Saying they don't matter any longer is like saying there was never anything to fear in the dark, it was only primitive man who thought so. Let me tell you something. The year after I dedicated my life to God, He led me to a cult of Satanists in Hollywood, and some of the people I saved are here with me now. God gave me the power to seek out evil. That's why He sent me here.'
    He seemed suddenly to feel he'd said too much. 'So what can I tell you that you'll print?' he said more quietly.
    Nick asked him standard questions and received the answers he expected: Mann was against abortion, divorce, pornography, 'permissiveness in all its forms,' and on the side of marriage, obedience to