Текст книги "The Lake House"
Автор книги: Helen Phifer
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Chapter Twenty-Four
The journey home from Bowness was uneventful. There were no strange cars following them. Annie watched the whole time in the passenger mirror, not trusting herself enough to relax. In a way she wanted to see him again. She hadn’t forgotten what he looked like, but he had faded a little in her mind, even though he looked like a complete monster. Jake didn’t drive straight to his house. Instead he took the long way around, going through a maze of streets until he was happy enough they had no one behind them. He parked Annie’s car further away, in the next street to his, and they got out, looking all around them before they began to walk back to Jake’s street.
When they were sure no one was behind them they went inside to hear Alice crying and Alex singing a nursery rhyme to her. Jake held his arms out for the gorgeous bundle of baby who was dressed from head to toe in pale pink. Instantly she stopped crying and lifted a tiny finger to touch his cheek. Annie didn’t think she’d ever seen anything so sweet in her whole life. Jake began to talk to Alice and she responded by blurting back at him. Alex looked at Annie and mimed wiping his brow. ‘Thank God the big man’s home to take over. She’s been hard work all day. She’s either cutting her back teeth or she knows something is wrong.’ He passed Jake the bottle of milk and Jake began to feed his daughter, who was now almost asleep.
‘I never thought I’d see the day. He actually looks kind of cute holding a baby.’
‘No, me neither, but I’m glad he does because imagine how awful it would be if his big, ugly face scared her.’
Jake stuck a finger up at them both and they giggled. Jake turned to leave the kitchen, leaving the pair of them alone.
‘How are you doing, Annie?’
‘Okay, thanks. I just wish he’d make his move and get this over with. I can’t stand this feeling that I’m dangling over the edge of a cliff.’
Alex began to take trays of food out of the oven, then stirred the pans, which were simmering on the stove.
‘I bet you do; I think we all do. I’ve been so worried about you both all day. In fact, I bet that’s why Alice has been so unsettled. They say babies can pick up on their parents’ anxieties.’
Annie clenched her fists. Another bloody reason to make her feel even worse. Henry Smith had a lot to answer for.
‘I’m so sorry about this whole mess.’
Alex slammed the oven door shut. Pulling off the oven gloves he walked over to her and wrapped an arm around her. ‘None of this is your fault, Annie. Just remember that.’
She smiled at him, but inside her stomach was rolling. She wanted to see Will. No, she needed to see him now, before she walked out of here on her own and started looking for the bastard. As if he’d read her mind, not two minutes later there was a knock on the front door and she went to take a look out of the window. Will stood there, running his hands through his sandy, blond hair that needed a trim. He hadn’t had a shave for a couple of days but, damn, the stubble made him look even sexier than normal. She ran to open the door and threw herself into his arms. He pushed her inside, shut the door behind him and then held her as tightly as he could. She kissed him and didn’t want to stop. He kissed her back then pulled away, smiling. ‘Wow, did you miss me or something? It’s only been nine hours since you last saw me.’
‘Miss you? I’ve been wanting to hold you since about ten minutes after I left his morning. It’s been one long day without you.’
Will kissed her again. ‘Yes, you could say that. We need to sort something out. I can’t stand not being with you or knowing what you’re doing all day. You can throw a sickie tomorrow or you can tell them you’re working from down here. I don’t care as long as you’re with me and I can see you. I will not let that bastard drive us apart. I swear to God, Annie, I’ve had enough of his games.’
She hugged him hard and whispered, ‘Please don’t leave me on my own, Will. I’m scared.’
Will felt as though his heart had just been ripped in two. After everything they had been through in the past two years, not once had he ever heard her say she was scared. He didn’t want her to feel like this. It made him feel even more helpless to hear his tough, brave, beautiful wife admit that she was out of her depth. He held her tight. He didn’t want to let her go and she was happy enough to bury her head in his chest and stay that way until another knock on the door behind them broke the moment.
Will turned to peer through the glass and was relieved to see the hulking great figure of Kav standing next to Cathy. There was definitely something going on there, but that was good. They all needed to be paired up until they caught Smith. He didn’t want any of them putting themselves in danger. He opened the door and turned to see Annie wiping at the corner of her eye with the sleeve of her top. Another nail in his heart. She didn’t do crying in public either. For Christ’s sake, he wanted to strangle Henry Smith with his bare hands until the bastard was dead. Kav walked in and straight over to Annie, wrapping his arms around her in a bear hug, making them both smile.
Cathy rubbed her stomach. ‘I never knew what a big softie he was. Just goes to show you should never, ever judge a book by its cover. I hope tea’s almost ready. I’m starving.’ She looked across at Will. ‘Have Thelma and Louise told you their great idea yet?’
Annie pulled away from Kav to glare at her boss. ‘No, we haven’t. Will only arrived a couple of minutes before you did. I want to forget about it for at least an hour until we’ve all had something to eat – pretend we’re normal people for a while.’
‘Fine by me, doll. Just lead me to the food and I’ll say no more.’
Will looked at Annie, who rolled her eyes at Cathy. She took hold of his hand and squeezed it tight. ‘Come on, I need a drink and I should imagine you do too.’
Alex had opened a bottle of wine and had several bottles of lager on the table. He poured Annie a glass first but her stomach lurched at the sight of it. After forcing herself to pick it up, she took a sip, but gagged. Thrusting the glass into Will’s hand she turned and ran for the downstairs bathroom, where she ended up throwing up everything she’d eaten that day. Will put the glass down and went after her. He opened the door to see her kneeling down in front of the toilet, her face ashen. ‘Go away, I’ll be fine in a minute.’
Ignoring her, he walked over to her and began to rub her back. ‘No, I don’t want to go away. I’ll hold your hair up for you.’
Cathy looked at Kav. ‘Poor kid, I think it’s finally getting on top of her. It was bound to happen. You can’t go through everything she has and not get affected by it. We need to get this sorted.’
He nodded his head in agreement. Alex carried on serving up the food. His stomach was churning, but he wasn’t directly involved in any of this, so he couldn’t imagine what the others were feeling. Jake wandered in. ‘See, I have the magic touch. She’s out for the count. Where’s Annie? I thought I heard Will’s voice.’
Alex pointed to the bathroom. ‘She’s not feeling too well. Will’s gone to make sure she’s okay.’
Jake shook his head. ‘Bless, she’s kept it together pretty well up to now. I’d be a quivering wreck if some psycho killer wanted to murder me.’
Alex’s eyes almost popped out of his head. ‘Shh, you big idiot, she can hear you.’
Kav opened a beer and passed one to Jake. ‘So tell me something, good Jacob. Did you find out where our little friend is hiding today? Any good news that might lead us to him so we can put him out of our misery? In fact, any news at all?’
‘Not really. One caravan park was a bit difficult because I’d arrested the manager the other week, so he was being a bit unhelpful. Oh, we do have a bit of a lead. Apparently he’s stopping in a brown caravan, which is situated next to a hedge with a hole in the middle of it.’
Cathy touched Kav’s arm. ‘I wouldn’t bother asking how they came by this information. Let’s just say it was Annie’s special friends.’
Kav frowned, not having a clue what she meant, but he was happy enough to take their word for it. ‘So what next? I’ll go in first thing in the morning, if you want, in plain clothes and have a wander around. If anyone asks I’ll tell them I’m thinking of buying one. That should do.’
‘Sounds like a plan, but I’d rather you didn’t go on your own. I really think we need to be in pairs. Just in case, you know, he remembers us or something.’
‘I’ll go with him, then. I don’t mind spending the morning in my jogging pants instead of those bloody tight combat trousers that don’t give you room to breathe in. It will be nice to walk around pretending we’re a married couple – won’t it, Kav?’
Jake almost spat his lager all over but managed to swallow it and laughed. ‘Well, I never saw that one coming. Congratulations.’
Annie and Will walked back into the kitchen and she smiled at Alex. ‘Sorry about that.’
He walked over and squeezed her arm. ‘Don’t you apologise; it’s fine.’
‘Yes, and besides, it’s not as if it’s the first time. You’ve puked in our en suite before after one too many glasses of wine, so don’t worry about it. Don’t you go pretending you’re all ladylike on us. You’re amongst your friends now and we know the truth.’
Annie began to laugh, easing the tension, and the others joined in. Will kissed her cheek and they both sat down.
‘Tell them all my dirty secrets, Jake, why don’t you.’ She looked at the plates of food that Alex was handing around and her stomach groaned, but this time it was in hunger.
‘That looks delicious. Glad I’ve made room for it now.’ She winked at Alex who passed her a plate, half expecting her to dash out again, but she didn’t. She began to tuck in as if she’d not eaten all day. Will felt relieved. If she was eating that was a good sign. It would have been much worse if she’d lost her appetite.
When they’d finished and spent ten minutes talking about Alice and the weather, it was Cathy who brought them back to reality. She hadn’t wanted to, but it needed to be said. ‘So then, now we’re all stuffed after that lovely meal – thank you, Alex – I think we need to sort out exactly what we are going to do about that fucking man who is turning my hair greyer by the day. I’m sorry, but we can’t go on like this. It’s not fair on anyone, especially not Annie.’
Annie looked down at her hands. The thought of Henry made her stomach churn all over again. Will reached out and clasped her hand in his, then wrapped his other arm around her shoulders, pulling her closer to him.
Cathy continued, ‘Now our very own Thelma and Louise came up with the most stupid idea I’ve ever heard, but I’ve been thinking about it ever since, and I have to say they have a point. Will, you are about to throw the biggest shit fit in the history of the world and, believe me, I know how you feel. It’s how I felt when they were talking about it, but once the shock of it sinks in you will realise that it makes sense. It might be the only way we can speed things up and catch him.’
Annie squeezed Will’s hand. His heart was already racing and he didn’t want to know what Cathy was about to suggest, because deep down he knew anyway. She was going to suggest using Annie to draw him in.
Cathy looked at Will, whose normally tanned skin had turned almost as white as his wife’s. ‘This was Annie’s idea. I wouldn’t dream of even suggesting it, so before you want to rip my head off and shove it up my arse, I’d appreciate it if you could remember that.’
The whole room was fraught with tension. Everyone already knew what Cathy was going to say – it was so obvious – but none of them was brave enough to say it out loud.
‘Annie suggested putting herself out there on her own to draw him in so we can catch him.’
Alex, who was standing with a pile of plates in his hands, began to shake his head. Kav was also shaking his head and Will felt as if he was going to pass out. He couldn’t, wouldn’t, put her in any more danger than she was already in.
‘I don’t just mean chuck her out of the door and leave her to it. Annie suggested a tracker. We could give her a taser, get Smithy to give her the standard course in a half-hour session – as much as I’m scared to do that in case she ends up tasering herself – and she has her CS. But we could have task force following her every move. She wouldn’t technically be on her own. There would be a whole team around the corner waiting to swoop in and catch the bastard.’
‘No.’
Everyone looked at Will, who had stood up and was now pacing up and down. ‘No fucking way is my wife going out there on her own to face that maniac. So you’d better have a plan B.’
‘We do, actually. I suggested that we get one of the task force women to pretend to be Annie and see if that draws him out.’
Will stopped in his tracks. ‘That’s a brilliant idea. Let’s just throw some other poor bugger out to the wind and hope he doesn’t cut her head off as well, should we? Then what? He’s not stupid. He will know it’s not Annie, and whoever it is will end up dying for trying to help. Jesus, I can’t believe I’m hearing this. You’re all mad; do you know that? I mean, listen to yourselves.’ He turned and walked towards the front door. He needed to get out of there and get some fresh air. His friends were suggesting that they actually sent Annie to her death with a can of bloody pepper spray and a taser. He went outside, letting the door slam behind him.
Annie stood up to run after him.
‘Where are you going? You can’t go out there.’
‘Let me talk to him – and do you know what? If Henry Smith is out there, I’m past caring. At least it will be over, one way or the other.’
Cathy looked at Jake. ‘Well, that went better than I thought it would.’
Annie took off after Will, wanting to calm him down and bring him back inside. She couldn’t live if anything happened to him either, and there was a good chance Henry knew this. She opened the front door to see him leaning with his head on the roof of Alex’s car. Annie ran across to him and wrapped her arms around him. ‘Come back inside – please, Will. Don’t be mad. It’s just an idea and it was my idea, not anyone else’s, so if you’re pissed off with anyone, it should be me.’
‘They’re supposed to be our friends, Annie.’
‘They are our friends. Who else do you know who would put up with this shit? I’m very lucky to have such an amazing husband and friends who are willing to stand by me at the risk of losing everything that’s important to them. But I can’t live like this. We have to finish it, and I’d rather have the upper hand than wait around for it to happen when we least expect it. Please come back in and talk about it. You know it makes perfect sense. If I can lure him out, you, Jake and Kav can be there to arrest him. Isn’t that what you want?’
He turned around to face her. This time it was Will whose eyes were leaking. ‘I love you so much, Annie. Just the thought of it…’
‘I love you too, but we can’t carry on like this. It’s not fair to anyone. Come on, I’m pretty good in a fight. You know I am. I beat him before and, if it comes to that, I’ll beat him again. There’s no way I’d let him win.’
Will kissed her. ‘For a girl, you’re a pretty good fighter; I’ll give you that.’
‘Well then, come on, let’s see what we can come up with. It beats this empty feeling of helplessness that’s been rolling around inside my stomach for days.’
She grabbed his hand and tugged him back towards the door and into the warmth and safety of Jake’s brightly lit house.
Chapter Twenty-Five
Henry was in his bedroom, staring at his reflection in the mirror. He was humming a song that his mother used to listen to a long time ago. It was about being what you are, and not needing excuses. His scars were like war wounds. He no longer thought of them as something to be ashamed of. They were his battle scars and he should be proud of them. He wanted Annie to see them in their complete glory when the time came to take her, and it was going to be soon. He couldn’t wait any longer. The police were sniffing around and Megan seemed to be having a bit of a so-called crisis of faith at this very moment in time. He could hear her snivelling to herself on her bed.
Yesterday he would have gone to her and given her some comfort, but today he’d realised that this wasn’t about her, it was about him. He had no idea whether she would hold out. She could decide to go to the police, and then it would be game over for both of them, so he would tell her that it was tomorrow. She was finally going to be famous in her own right because she would be the one to kill Will Ashworth while he kept hold of Annie. He would make her watch the man of her dreams die in front of her eyes. He smiled. A slight twist on the last attempt where he had attempted to kill Annie in front of Will – only that hadn’t gone too well, but he wouldn’t dwell on that. This time he was more than ready and he had Megan to help him.
As soon as it was first light they would go out in the van and park near the police station. Tomorrow would be her last shift if he had worked it out correctly, then they would follow her home and ambush Annie and her lover. His hands were shaking. He was so excited to finally be able to touch her. How he’d longed to run his fingers through her soft curls. He imagined the look on her face when he wrapped a handful of them around his fingers so tightly he could pull her head back and kiss her soft, red lips. He would lick the salty tears that were falling from her eyes as she cried for her dead husband, then he would talk to her and tell her exactly how much she meant to him.
He had dreamt about talking to her face to face almost every night in the hospital. She was all he had ever wanted and it was going to be so special. Nothing would come between them. If he had to he would kill Megan so she didn’t get in the way. Besides, once she’d done what she was supposed to she would be surplus to requirements anyway. He smiled at himself. Tomorrow was going to be a great day.
***
Will let Annie lead him back to where their friends were waiting. They were chatting amongst themselves. He sat back down and Annie reached out for his hand.
‘Sorry, I just don’t want to put Annie in any more danger than she’s already in.’
‘We know. In fact, Jake pretty much had the same reaction as you until he realised that this could work to our benefit.’
Will looked across at Jake, grateful that he felt the same, and Jake nodded.
‘I don’t like it one bit, Will, but like Annie said, surely it will be better for us to have the upper hand. He’s clever. If we wait around he might start picking us off one by one anyway, so he’s able to get to Annie on her own. We’re an inconvenience to him and he doesn’t care who he kills.’
Annie squeezed Will’s hand. ‘I think he’ll be watching Windermere station like a hawk now to see when I come and go. If we do it so it’s not too obvious it should work. I bet he already knows my routines. He’ll know that we go to the café for takeaways. I don’t think he would try and ambush me outside the station but we can’t be too sure. If it was quiet enough then he just might, but if we arranged it so that you lot were already in the café in plain clothes when I went in, you could look out for him, see if he’s following me. The only other place I can think of luring him to is Beckett House. It’s pretty secluded and Miss Beckett, the owner, is elderly and wouldn’t have a clue what was going on. If he followed me from the coffee shop, we could lure him there. I’ve already been there a couple of times this week for work, so it might even be on his radar. There are several sheds and a boathouse you could all take cover in. What do you think?’
Cathy nodded. ‘I think it’s better than the fuck-all we had this morning. It has to be worth a try. It might not work and then it will be back to the drawing board, but at least if we do something it’s better than us sitting around here twiddling our thumbs. And wouldn’t it be a real tragedy if he fell into the lake and drowned? Save wasting tax payers’ money on the piece of crap.’
Will was absorbing everything they had just said. Yes, it did make sense. It made perfect sense if they could lure him to Beckett House and catch him before he even thought about harming a hair on Annie’s head, but could they all live with themselves?
Cathy smiled. ‘Well, that’s sorted then. Tomorrow we’ll do a trial run to see if he’s around, watching. You never know, our Henry might not be as clever as we’re giving him credit for, and we might be able to swoop on him and have him in cuffs before you get so far as ordering your skinny latte.’
Annie smiled. ‘Now that would be nice. Here’s to us: the Famous Five – or at least we will be after this is all over.’
5 June 1931
James waited at the front door for his friend, Martin Simms, to arrive. He was pacing up and down, unable to settle or stand still for more than thirty seconds. The day after Martha had seen Joe in the garden he had phoned Martin and told him the whole story, asking him for his forgiveness and assuring him that they hadn’t all gone stark, raving mad. Martin had listened to what James had to say then taken some time to think about it all.
‘I believe you, James. I truly do. I’ve seen some strange things working in this museum, so it doesn’t surprise me in the least, but I need to speak to my colleague, Arthur Fletcher, who specialises in Indian culture and mythology. I’ll be in touch as soon as I’ve spoken with him. And I’m dreadfully sorry to hear about young Joseph. I’m so sorry for your loss.’
‘Thank you, Martin, I’ll be for ever in your debt.’
Now both Martin and this expert, Arthur, were coming to visit. They had told him they needed to see him in person and that this wasn’t something that could be discussed properly over the telephone. So James had made all the necessary arrangements to have them brought down, and now they should be here any minute. Eleanor came down the stairs and his breath caught in the back of his throat. His beautiful wife was a shadow of her former self. She missed meals and slept a lot. Her skin was pale because she wouldn’t leave the house in case Joe came back and she wasn’t here.
‘Is there anything I can get you, darling?’
She shook her head and he cursed himself for asking such a stupid question. There was nothing he could get her. All she wanted was her son, their son.
‘Where’s Martha?’
‘Playing in her room. I feel as if I should be making more of an effort, but I can’t, because whenever I look at her she reminds me that Joe should be here and that he isn’t.’
James felt another piece of his heart tear apart. Why had he brought that thing here? It had ripped his family into pieces in more ways than one.
‘It’s okay; I’ll go and see her as soon as Martin arrives. I just want to be here to greet him.’
Eleanor nodded then turned and walked towards the kitchen. She visibly flinched as she walked past the cellar door, her head down. She couldn’t look at it. James had even toyed with the idea of having the damn thing bricked up and wallpapered over, but he knew she’d never agree to it. She still believed Joe might come back, and he couldn’t take that last bit of hope away from her because he feared that, if he did, she would give up altogether. The sound of tyres crunching along the gravel snapped James out of his world of grief and he threw open the front door, ready to greet his old friend.
After Lucy had shown the visitors to their rooms they came down to speak to him in his study. James poured out three glasses of brandy and handed one to each of them.
‘Thank you for coming. I need to know what to do and how I can keep my family safe.’
‘You’re welcome, James. I’m just sad it’s under such horrendous circumstances, but I can’t say that I know what to say or do. Arthur is the expert so I’ll let him take over from here.’
Arthur stepped forward, shaking James’s hand once more.
‘I’ve spent a lot of time over in America with the native Indians. They spoke a lot of this Windigo around the camp fires, but I assumed it was one of their tales to scare each other from resorting to cannibalism when food was scarce. I didn’t actually believe it to be real. Where on earth did you manage to come by it?’
‘Through the cousin of a friend at the fairground. He knew a man who dealt in rare and unusual antiquities in London. I was looking for pieces for my freak show and it was perfect, but it looked dead. In fact, it was so grotesque that I didn’t think it was real. I never for one moment thought it could be.’
‘Do you have any pictures of it?’
James nodded and unlocked his desk drawer. Pulling out a crumpled picture of him standing next to its glass display case hours before the fairground had burnt to the ground, he passed it to Arthur.
‘You’re right. It doesn’t look as if it’s real, but my God it’s incredible. It must be at least six feet tall. Look at those teeth. They would rip a man to shreds.’
Arthur stopped mid sentence, realising what he had just said, and looked up at James whose face had drained of all colour. Martin helped him to a chair and threw Arthur a look as if to say no more.
‘I’m sorry, James, that was so insensitive of me. I didn’t think. It’s just I’ve never seen anything like this before.’
James nodded, trying to block out the images in front of his eyes of his son being eaten alive by the monster he’d brought into his house. Martin took the photograph from Arthur to have a look.
‘Are you sure this thing hasn’t been stolen? I mean, I can imagine it would be worth some money to the right people.’
‘I wish I could say that was the case, that somehow it had been taken by two men who had access to the house and the cellar, but there is always someone here. This house has never been empty since we moved in. If Eleanor and myself went away with the children, the staff were always here.’
‘Do you trust your staff?’
‘Yes I do. Lucy and Mary would no more steal from us than they would their own mother. And what would they do with it? I should think if either of them had seen it they would be too terrified to touch it.’
‘What about the man who picked us up – Davey?’
‘Davey is a good man. He would have no reason to steal it and he saw it the night of Joe’s disappearance, as did my wife. It almost caught her in the cellar, but she managed to escape by the grace of God.’
‘Do you think I can talk to your wife about what she saw that night?’
‘No. You will not mention any of this to Eleanor. She is not well and hasn’t been since that night. I don’t want you to upset her. If I find out that you have tried to discuss it at any point, I will not be responsible for my actions.’
Arthur looked at Martin, who put his head down.
‘Of course not, old chap. I don’t want to upset your good lady. I give you my word I won’t talk about anything but pleasantries with her.’
James felt his shoulders relax. ‘Thank you. I’m sorry, but this has been so very hard on us all.’
Martin smiled at his friend. ‘Why don’t we talk about what we do know and what we can do that might help.’
Arthur pulled a book out of his well-worn leather briefcase and a pair of spectacles from his shirt pocket.
‘You have to understand we are on unprecedented ground here. To my knowledge nothing has ever been documented about it apart from in ancient tribal scripts. I have some notes here that I made while staying with the Cree tribe. The elders described it as a Wih-tih-koh. It is supposed to be a half beast of demonic origin, which could either possess the characteristics of a monster or human, and which liked to eat human flesh.’
Arthur appeared to note James wincing, but there was no nice and fluffy way to describe the fact that these things were cannibals. He had clearly decided it was better to just blurt it out and be done with it.
‘Now, the one in your picture looks to me like it was more human, or tried to appear as a humanoid but didn’t quite carry it off. They were cave dwellers and lived in the dark, damp caves or tunnels of the Great Lakes Region. Once they had had their fill and their bellies were full they would hibernate for a long time. I have no idea how long because no one seemed to know that part, but you have to remember what I’ve heard were tales told around camp fires at night. This is not proven historical fact because, up until now, there was no proof that these things existed. I was under the impression it was all mumbo jumbo.’
‘Did they say if they could be killed?’
‘Yes, the only way to kill them was by fire.’
James thought back to that night he had first encountered the thing. It had smelt of burnt flesh. Had someone tried to burn it before he’d bought it? He thought it likely and he wondered who.’
‘We can’t find it, though. We’ve searched the cellar and the drain that leads to the sewers and out to the lake many times over. Some of the tunnels are too narrow for us to get down, so how does it manage when it’s larger than all three of us?’
‘According to the legends it can change its appearance at will, so it won’t have a problem.’
‘It could be anywhere. What am I to do? I can’t rip the entire sewerage system to shreds searching for it. The authorities would think I had lost my mind and have me locked up.’
‘No, you can’t, and who is to say it is under there? It could have found an underground cave somewhere along the hillside. There are certain Cree symbols that we can paint around the house to create a barrier. Apparently it can’t cross them, so the best thing we can do is to paint them on the inside of the cellar door and then on the walls around the house near to the doors and windows. I don’t know if this will work or whether it’s just superstition, but the native Indians believe it works, so there’s nothing to lose. I’m afraid it might be the only thing we can do. When was the last sighting of the creature?’
‘The early hours of New Year’s Day when my wife heard a noise in the cellar and ventured down there looking for our son. No one has seen it since.’
‘Good. That must mean it’s hibernating, so if we seal the house with these symbols hopefully, when and if it does wake up, it won’t be able to come inside and your family will be safe.’
