the black opening. âDonât be an idiot. Come back.â
A moment later thereâs a rattle of small stones and Josh appears. He grins. âDid you lot think old Ma Jessop had got me?â He waggles his fingers at me like heâs casting a spell.
Illustration 2: Josh coming out of the cave, laughing, Ella, Karl, Carrie and Helen all crowded round, Ella looking worried.
âYouâre
so
not funny,â I say as Carrie squeals and throws her arms around him.
âI donât know why we were all so scared!â Helena says, moving away from the cave.
The others are quick to follow. I scowl at Josh but he whispers to me, âIâve got something to show you. Come over to my house later.â
* * *
It takes until three oâclock before I give in and decide to find out what Josh is talking about. I march around and bang on Joshâs door.
âWhat did you think you were doing?â I snap as soon as he opens it.
âYou know we shouldnât have gone anywhere near the quarry.â My voice rises to a shout Iâm so mad.
Josh grins, then he pulls out a crumpled hanky and puts it in my hands. Iâm surprised by how heavy and how cold it feels. Then I realise that itâs made of stone.
âWhere did you get this from?â I hiss.
âWhere do you think?â Josh takes the stone hanky back from me.
I should have guessed. Heâs taken it from Ma Jessopâs caves. âYou idiot!â I shout. âWhat have you done?â
âGet a grip, Ella!â Josh grins. âWhen are you going to accept thereâs no such thing as witches?â
I step back from him. âYouâre wrong Josh. This is dangerous.â
âIâd like to see her come and get it,â he laughs.
I shake my head. I have a feeling his words may come back to haunt him.
* * *
The next morning Iâm woken up by a banging on the door.
âDo you know how early it is?â I demand, as I stare at Josh.
He ignores the question. âTake it.â He pushes the stone hanky at me.
Illustration 3: On Ellaâs doorstep. Terrified and tired Josh handing Ella a stone hankerchief, Ella looking at Josh, shocked and angry.
I stare down at the reddish brown stone. âI donât want it,â I say.
Joshâs voice shakes. âI couldnât sleep last night. I kept hearing noises. Freaky sounds! As if someone was trying to get in through my windowâ¦â
âOh yeah?â I guess Josh is setting me up so he can laugh about me with the others. I bet the hanky didnât even come from Ma Jessopâs cave at all.
âTake it,â Josh begs. âI donât want it.â
I shrug, deciding to play it cool. Even if the hanky did come from the cave itâs not as if anything will happen to me.
Iâm not the one that stole it.
5
Midnight Visit
I put the stone hanky on the windowsill in my bedroom, then forget all about it as my mum takes me and Nan out for the day.
We get back late and Nan makes an excuse to get me on her own.
The moment the door shuts she asks, âWell, what happened?â
I donât tell her we went to Ma Jessopâs cave. And thereâs no way Iâm going to tell her about the hanky. Besides, the more I think about it the more Iâm sure Josh is winding me up. I mean, what would Ma Jessop have wanted with a stone hanky?
âNothing happened,â I lie. âWe just hung around for a while.â I feel bad for not telling her the truth but Iâd have felt worse if Iâd made her worry.
I watch a bit of TV then I head up to bed, switch off the light and slowly drift into sleep.
Iâm not sure what wakes me.
I lie in the dark, my eyes wide open, my heart thumping. The bedside clock tells me itâs five past midnight. I strain my ears, but canât hear a thing. But just as my breathing slows down thereâs a noise directly above my bed on the roof. My mind races as I