Free The Woman in Black by Martyn Waites Page A

was. Like last night. Yes. A hallucination.
    She sat down at the table with her tea.
Don’t think about it
, she told herself,
talk about something else.
    ‘Was … your husband called up when the war started?’ Eve asked, then immediately regretted it. Eve knew from experience that Jean didn’t take kindly to questions about her personal life.
    But to Eve’s surprise, Jean smiled. ‘No,’ she said. ‘We’ve been in the services our whole lives. Our two boys, too.’
    Eve leaned forward, responding to this new-found warmth. ‘Do you have any photos?’
    The shutters came back down. ‘I know what they look like.’
    Eve put the cup to her lips, took a drink and, refreshed, tried again. ‘Where are they?’ she asked, quietly.
    Jean took a sip of tea. As she swallowed the liquid, she seemed to relax a little more. ‘One’s in Africa, the other in France. My husband is in France, too.’ She looked away from Eve, took another mouthful.
    ‘Do you …’
    Jean turned back to her. ‘I try not to think about them. They’re not here. If I started wondering, then … who knows where my mind would lead me?’
    She looked away once more, but Eve had seen the glitter in the corners of Jean’s eyes. She thought again of Jim Rhodes’s words and didn’t press her further.
    Jean drained her cup, stood up. ‘Goodnight, Eve.’
    Eve’s mouth fell open. That was the first time her headmistress had called her by her first name.
    She was so startled, she could barely say goodnight in reply.

Fire in the Sky
    Edward couldn’t sleep. He had closed his eyes tight, and lay as unmoving as he could in his bed, but it was no good. He was still awake, his thumb firmly in his mouth, Mr Punch clutched close to his chest. He knew the rest of the children were talking about him, and while it didn’t help, that wasn’t the only thing keeping him awake.
    He heard Tom tell Fraser that he thought Edward had seen a ghost when he was locked in the nursery. This excited Fraser, who was so full of questions and wild speculation that Edward, listening to it, knew he would never get any sleep tonight.
    He sat up, put his glasses on and looked round the dormitory. A few candles were still burning, the only illumination in the room. Tom and Fraser were lying in their adjacent beds, whispering to eachother. They saw Edward was awake. Fraser stared at him, open-mouthed. Tom just looked straight at him.
    ‘Didn’t you?’ Tom said, knowing Edward had heard everything they had said. ‘You saw a ghost, didn’t you, Edward?’
    Edward made no reply.
    ‘Was it your mummy?’ asked Fraser, and Flora, listening in, winced at the small boy’s insensitivity.
    ‘Leave him alone,’ she said.
    Tom turned on her. ‘Say what I like. He’s not your boyfriend, is he?’
    ‘Be quiet.’ Joyce spoke in her usual schoolteacher-in-training voice. ‘I shall tell Mrs Hogg about this. About all of you.’
    Alfie pulled the blankets over his head, and curled himself up. ‘I just want to go to sleep,’ he said, his voice muffled and tired.
    Edward turned away from all of them and put his hands over his ears. He had to block them out. Block everything out.
    He stared at the wall.
    And a hideous face appeared right in front of him.
    Edward jerked back, panicked and fell out of bed. He risked looking up at the grotesque face, flinching, hiding his eyes with his fingers in case itwas going to scare him again. He saw it for what it really was. Tom wearing his gas mask.
    ‘Got you,’ the boy said, taking it off and throwing it aside. Laughing, he walked back to his bed.
    Edward pulled himself slowly up off the floor and, ashamed and embarrassed, climbed back into bed. He clutched Mr Punch even tighter.
    Tom was clearly enjoying the anguish he had caused Edward, but it wasn’t enough. He knew that the rest of the children’s sympathies didn’t lie with him, but he was still determined to provoke more of a reaction.
    Tom held up Edward’s drawing and waved