the kitchen window sill. The thing had evidently smashed with considerable force, because the
other pieces had flown several feet across the paved area and beyond.
‘There’s no one around,’ said Simon. ‘Where the heck has it come from?’
We all looked up. Trudie’s open bedroom window was immediately above the point where the vase had fallen.
‘It’s been open all day,’ she said, in answer to an unasked question.
‘Do you think someone’s got into the house?’ I asked.
After a brief debate, the boys decided to undertake a thorough search of the premises, having first stationed Trudie and me at the front and back doors respectively. I stood in the kitchen,
hopping from one foot to the other and straining to catch any sound from elsewhere in the house. As usual I had fallen in without demur: biddable Katy who always goes along with everything, then
ends up standing with her heart in her mouth, waiting for the Mad Axe Man to appear.
But it was Simon who eventually entered via the door from the hall, to report that there was no sign of any intruder.
‘I don’t believe there was anyone else here,’ Trudie announced, when we had reassembled on the back lawn. ‘I think it was a sign that Agnes is getting more restless.
Maybe she wants us to do something for her – hold a seance or something.’
Danny was poking at his congealed beans with his knife. ‘I’m a Catholic,’ he said. ‘We don’t go in for that sort of shit’
‘I don’t think we ought to start messing around with stuff like that,’ I said. I couldn’t help thinking that the way the vase had made its dramatic entrance – right
under Trudie’s open window – was highly suggestive. She couldn’t have thrown it out herself, because she had been sitting with the rest of us in plain view: but maybe she had
found some way of rigging it, so that the vase would inevitably topple out of the window at some point during the evening.
‘If we go on ignoring her, things may get worse,’ Trudie persisted.
‘Well, I don’t want to do it,’ I said, confidently expecting Danny to second this opinion; but he was preoccupied with organizing the plate in his lap, and didn’t
appear to hear me.
‘I don’t mind giving it a go,’ said Simon. ‘I don’t see what harm it could do.’
‘Well, if everyone else wants to do it, I don’t mind joining in,’ said Danny. Ignatius Loyola he certainly wasn’t.
‘You’re not scared, are you, Katy?’ Simon asked. ‘I thought you said you didn’t believe in ghosts and all that sort of stuff, when we were talking about it the
other night.’
I sensed the mockery in his voice. I hated being teased. ‘No, I’m not, and no, I don’t.’
‘Looks like three to one anyway,’ said Simon. ‘Democratic decision of the majority.’
‘You don’t have to be there if you don’t want to,’ said Danny, in a vaguely conciliatory tone. I tried to catch his eye, but he was still poking at his plate and
didn’t notice. He had to be joking. There was no way I was going to sit somewhere on my own in that big empty house, while the other three had a shot at calling up the spirits. I was about to
say something else when he burst out: ‘Bloody hell. There’s a bug in my food.’
Trudie leant across, so that her hair draped over his shoulder. ‘It’s not,’ she said. ‘It’s just a bit of burnt breadcrumb.’
‘It’s obvious Trudie fixed the vase to fall out of the window,’ I said crossly.
She rounded on me at once. ‘What do you mean?’
‘What I said. It’s just another of your little stunts – to draw attention to yourself.’
‘Don’t be ridiculous,’ Simon said. ‘How could Trudie possibly have made the vase fall out of the window when she was sitting here with us?’
‘There are ways of doing it.’
‘All right then, name one.’ Simon threw out the challenge with a triumphant sideways glance in Trudie’s direction.
‘I don’t know. I’m not a member of the
other pieces had flown several feet across the paved area and beyond.
‘There’s no one around,’ said Simon. ‘Where the heck has it come from?’
We all looked up. Trudie’s open bedroom window was immediately above the point where the vase had fallen.
‘It’s been open all day,’ she said, in answer to an unasked question.
‘Do you think someone’s got into the house?’ I asked.
After a brief debate, the boys decided to undertake a thorough search of the premises, having first stationed Trudie and me at the front and back doors respectively. I stood in the kitchen,
hopping from one foot to the other and straining to catch any sound from elsewhere in the house. As usual I had fallen in without demur: biddable Katy who always goes along with everything, then
ends up standing with her heart in her mouth, waiting for the Mad Axe Man to appear.
But it was Simon who eventually entered via the door from the hall, to report that there was no sign of any intruder.
‘I don’t believe there was anyone else here,’ Trudie announced, when we had reassembled on the back lawn. ‘I think it was a sign that Agnes is getting more restless.
Maybe she wants us to do something for her – hold a seance or something.’
Danny was poking at his congealed beans with his knife. ‘I’m a Catholic,’ he said. ‘We don’t go in for that sort of shit’
‘I don’t think we ought to start messing around with stuff like that,’ I said. I couldn’t help thinking that the way the vase had made its dramatic entrance – right
under Trudie’s open window – was highly suggestive. She couldn’t have thrown it out herself, because she had been sitting with the rest of us in plain view: but maybe she had
found some way of rigging it, so that the vase would inevitably topple out of the window at some point during the evening.
‘If we go on ignoring her, things may get worse,’ Trudie persisted.
‘Well, I don’t want to do it,’ I said, confidently expecting Danny to second this opinion; but he was preoccupied with organizing the plate in his lap, and didn’t
appear to hear me.
‘I don’t mind giving it a go,’ said Simon. ‘I don’t see what harm it could do.’
‘Well, if everyone else wants to do it, I don’t mind joining in,’ said Danny. Ignatius Loyola he certainly wasn’t.
‘You’re not scared, are you, Katy?’ Simon asked. ‘I thought you said you didn’t believe in ghosts and all that sort of stuff, when we were talking about it the
other night.’
I sensed the mockery in his voice. I hated being teased. ‘No, I’m not, and no, I don’t.’
‘Looks like three to one anyway,’ said Simon. ‘Democratic decision of the majority.’
‘You don’t have to be there if you don’t want to,’ said Danny, in a vaguely conciliatory tone. I tried to catch his eye, but he was still poking at his plate and
didn’t notice. He had to be joking. There was no way I was going to sit somewhere on my own in that big empty house, while the other three had a shot at calling up the spirits. I was about to
say something else when he burst out: ‘Bloody hell. There’s a bug in my food.’
Trudie leant across, so that her hair draped over his shoulder. ‘It’s not,’ she said. ‘It’s just a bit of burnt breadcrumb.’
‘It’s obvious Trudie fixed the vase to fall out of the window,’ I said crossly.
She rounded on me at once. ‘What do you mean?’
‘What I said. It’s just another of your little stunts – to draw attention to yourself.’
‘Don’t be ridiculous,’ Simon said. ‘How could Trudie possibly have made the vase fall out of the window when she was sitting here with us?’
‘There are ways of doing it.’
‘All right then, name one.’ Simon threw out the challenge with a triumphant sideways glance in Trudie’s direction.
‘I don’t know. I’m not a member of the
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