Read Online The Boy in the Cemetery by Sebastian Gregory - Free Book Online
Authors: Sebastian Gregory
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Carrie Annie, it was indeed consumption or as we know it nowadays: tuberculosis.
“Since its loss as a legal grounds of burial, London Council have done little to maintain the cemetery and it has fallen into neglect, save for the efforts of a conservation group the Friends of Dark Wood Cemetery, who campaign to have the cemertey declared a protected conservation area. “On the evening of 3 June 1862 the cemetery was the location of a destructive and vicious riot by angry London citizens.This was due to accusations that the Reverend John Lovesey and his aid Isaac Mathews were neglecting to bury corpses, and instead selling them to the city’s local hospital for use in dissection and medical experimentation. The rumours were proven false, although there were also talk of Satanism—and Lovesey and Mathews were instead fined by the city for reusing graves in order to save space.. However, the saga did not end there when seven days after the court decision the two men—Lovesey and Mathews—were found wandering the cemetery completely insane. Both men had lost all of their wits and in Mathew’s case his hair. They both died exactly one month later in the asylum.”
The class was silent.
“So any ideas what may have happened to unfortunate Lovesey and Mathews?”
The teacher waited expectantly. “Anyone?”
Carrie Anne knew she had seen it that night from her bedroom window, looking back at her. She was confused at first but now she understood those eyes. They were old, from something that had resided in the cemetery for a long, long, long time. They had kept watch and protected the dead from those who would exploit them. Carrie Anne wanted to know more and her want for knowledge overrode her feelings of panic.
“Could there be something living in the cemetery?” she asked.
There was a gasp that Carrie Anne didn’t hear; someone stifled a giggle.
“How do you mean, Carrie Anne? Like an animal?” the teacher asked.
Carrie Anne’s throat became dry and she realised she had accidently become the centre of attention.
“Like a person?”
The class burst into fits of laughter, making Carrie Anne jump with the sudden uproar. The teacher tried to restore order but the class were too far gone and they humiliated Carrie Anne with a barrage of laughter. “Can I go to the toilet, please,” she quietly asked and without waiting for a reply she stood up and nearly tripped over her desk, stumbled and was out the door. She ran down the unfamiliar corridor as the class continued to ridicule her in fits of uncontrolled laughter.
Chapter Six
Sarah Miller was fourteen years old and had lived a troubled life. Her father was a drunk and violent and her mother a drug addict who wasted any money they managed to scrape. Two years ago she had been taken into foster care when her dad went to prison and her mum into hospital. In that time Sarah enjoyed shoplifting, bullying, fighting and smoking weed. She was moved from foster home to foster home as each of the well-intentioned foster parents failed to cope with her behaviour. Her last foster home reported to social services that their beloved dog, a pug called Russ, had gone missing. They reported that Sarah never really liked the dog and they were worried she may have harmed the pet in some way. Sarah protested her innocence but as she left to go back into another care home, she did mention to her one-time foster family there was a strange smell coming from the drains. Sometime later Russ had been found in a pipe where he had been forced. After her latest bout of shoplifting and ASBO breaking, Sarah was told by the local authorities to stay in school and out of trouble or else she would be facing time in a young offenders’ institute. So she had begrudgingly made an effort to conform.
Sarah Miller’s only friend was Michael Miller, her cousin. He was also fourteen and although his life had not been as troubled; he was fast growing into a nasty piece of work. His father had
“Since its loss as a legal grounds of burial, London Council have done little to maintain the cemetery and it has fallen into neglect, save for the efforts of a conservation group the Friends of Dark Wood Cemetery, who campaign to have the cemertey declared a protected conservation area. “On the evening of 3 June 1862 the cemetery was the location of a destructive and vicious riot by angry London citizens.This was due to accusations that the Reverend John Lovesey and his aid Isaac Mathews were neglecting to bury corpses, and instead selling them to the city’s local hospital for use in dissection and medical experimentation. The rumours were proven false, although there were also talk of Satanism—and Lovesey and Mathews were instead fined by the city for reusing graves in order to save space.. However, the saga did not end there when seven days after the court decision the two men—Lovesey and Mathews—were found wandering the cemetery completely insane. Both men had lost all of their wits and in Mathew’s case his hair. They both died exactly one month later in the asylum.”
The class was silent.
“So any ideas what may have happened to unfortunate Lovesey and Mathews?”
The teacher waited expectantly. “Anyone?”
Carrie Anne knew she had seen it that night from her bedroom window, looking back at her. She was confused at first but now she understood those eyes. They were old, from something that had resided in the cemetery for a long, long, long time. They had kept watch and protected the dead from those who would exploit them. Carrie Anne wanted to know more and her want for knowledge overrode her feelings of panic.
“Could there be something living in the cemetery?” she asked.
There was a gasp that Carrie Anne didn’t hear; someone stifled a giggle.
“How do you mean, Carrie Anne? Like an animal?” the teacher asked.
Carrie Anne’s throat became dry and she realised she had accidently become the centre of attention.
“Like a person?”
The class burst into fits of laughter, making Carrie Anne jump with the sudden uproar. The teacher tried to restore order but the class were too far gone and they humiliated Carrie Anne with a barrage of laughter. “Can I go to the toilet, please,” she quietly asked and without waiting for a reply she stood up and nearly tripped over her desk, stumbled and was out the door. She ran down the unfamiliar corridor as the class continued to ridicule her in fits of uncontrolled laughter.
Chapter Six
Sarah Miller was fourteen years old and had lived a troubled life. Her father was a drunk and violent and her mother a drug addict who wasted any money they managed to scrape. Two years ago she had been taken into foster care when her dad went to prison and her mum into hospital. In that time Sarah enjoyed shoplifting, bullying, fighting and smoking weed. She was moved from foster home to foster home as each of the well-intentioned foster parents failed to cope with her behaviour. Her last foster home reported to social services that their beloved dog, a pug called Russ, had gone missing. They reported that Sarah never really liked the dog and they were worried she may have harmed the pet in some way. Sarah protested her innocence but as she left to go back into another care home, she did mention to her one-time foster family there was a strange smell coming from the drains. Sometime later Russ had been found in a pipe where he had been forced. After her latest bout of shoplifting and ASBO breaking, Sarah was told by the local authorities to stay in school and out of trouble or else she would be facing time in a young offenders’ institute. So she had begrudgingly made an effort to conform.
Sarah Miller’s only friend was Michael Miller, her cousin. He was also fourteen and although his life had not been as troubled; he was fast growing into a nasty piece of work. His father had
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