Free Katy Parker and the House that Cried by Margaret Mulligan Page A

that bad. There are only a few nuns left and my cousin Hillary worships a couple of them. It’s Sister Mary this, Sister Maria that. You can ask her yourself. She’s meeting us outside the school gates to take you to your classroom.”
    Katy shot Patrick a nervous look at the mention of Hillary. What would a teenage Hillary be like? All Katy could picture was a very sad, slightly spooky old lady.
    Feeling completely overwhelmed, Katy began to panic. Taking a deep breath, she dug her nails into the palms of her hands, desperately trying to stop herself from having a total meltdown in front of everyone. She needed to be on her own while she tried to get a grip. Fighting back the tears, she escaped into the front room and stood gazing out of the window. Her feelings of panic were quickly replaced byconfusion. Katy could see a scruffy young boy, aged about seven, and carrying a shovel almost as big as himself, traipsing behind a coal cart, which was being pulled by an enormous shire horse. Unbelievably, he seemed to be collecting horse droppings from the road and putting them into a large metal bucket.
    â€œWhy is he doing that?” asked Katy out loud to herself, with a look of disgust on her face.
    Mrs Graham popped her ahead around the door, “Whatever’s wrong Katy?” she asked following Katy’s gaze out of the window, then throwing back her head and laughing out loud. “You’re a funny girl, Katy. It’s as if you’re from another world. Haven’t you seen anyone collecting horse dung before?”
    Katy shook her head and looked at Mrs Graham in disbelief and grimaced.
    â€œBut what does he want with horse poo?”
    â€œManure of course! It’s the best to be had,” exclaimed Mrs Graham. “Marvellous stuff – does wonders for the vegetables. You’ve seen my roses, haven’t you? They’re absolute beauties.”
    Winking, she nudged Katy, saying, “Your turn next. You’ll find the shovel outside the back door.”
    You won’t catch me picking up poo,
thought Katy.
    â€œYou’d better get a move on. Don’t forget your gas mask; it’s hanging behind your bedroom door. Don’t worry, Katy, everything will be just dandy,” said Mrs Graham, giving Katy’s shoulder a gentle squeeze.
    Susie insisted on walking with Katy down the garden path, holding onto her hand tightly and then stood waving till they turned the corner and finally disappeared out of sight.
    The walk to school felt surprisingly familiar. Not a great deal had changed except for the obvious lack of modern cars, although the streets were just as busy with old-fashioned cars and horses and carts. All too soon, they arrived at the front gates of St Hilda’s and St Joseph’s. Everything looked much the same, except the front lawns had been dug up and made into a large vegetable garden. The huge staff car park now housed several bikes, an assortment of animals and yet another chicken house.
    A large, black, forbidding sign read, ‘Girls’ Entrance’, and next to it another said, ‘Boys’ Entrance’. It looked as if Katy and Patrick would have to say goodbye for the day. Leaning against the gate stood a short, plump girl with a chin-length chestnut bob, hazel eyes and a broad smile on her face.
    Katy stared at her in amazement. It couldn’t be, could it? Her suspicions were immediately confirmed as the girl leant forward holding out her hand in greeting.
    â€œHello. I’m Hillary and you must be Katy. Its jolly nice to meet you but we must hurry. The bell is about to ring any minute. If we’re late for assembly we’ve had it. Stick with me today and you’ll be fine, I promise.”
    Unbelievable!
thought Katy, feeling stunned, utterly unable to connect this young, smiling girl with the Hillary she had feared for most of her childhood.
    Patrick and Katy said a hurried goodbye as both were