Frost Hollow Hall Read Free Page A

I was dead, if I’d crossed over to the other side and this was an angel coming to meet me.
    He was the most perfect creature I’d ever seen. His golden hair moved gently with the currents, and his eyes were strange, beautiful things coloured like lavender. As he came closer, the light followed, as if it was coming from right inside him.
    I stared. I couldn’t move. He stared back, his eyes all wide at the sight of me. He reached for my hand. His skin felt icy cold, but his hold was steady. If I was dead now, it didn’t matter. Here was my very own angel, beautiful and full of light.
    He took my other hand and pulled me away from the deeper water. I let him take me. I knew I’d go anywhere with him. Then as grey daylight came through the ice again, I saw we were heading towards the bank. I pulled back.
    I didn’t want to face Will Potter, or Ma or Eliza. Right now, I didn’t even care about Pa. I wanted to stay right here with this beautiful boy. Yet before my very eyes, he began to fade ’til he was no more than a speck of brightness in the water. I tried to swim after him, but my skirts got caught in the weeds, and I couldn’t break free.
    He was gone.
    Next I knew, I was up on the bank. I saw a pair of feet, then heard Will saying, ‘Tilly? Can you hear me?’
    Blackness.
    I sensed I was a bird high up in a tree, looking down on the lake. Somewhere near the middle was a person-sized hole, all dark like a stain. And over on the bank was a girl – me – sprawled lifeless across the grass. Will Potter was crouched beside me, calling and calling my name. Steam rose off my skirts, and my hair, worked loose, lay wet against my face. Suddenly, my whole body jerked into life. I retched water and weeds and goodness knows what all over Will’s boots, and he didn’t so much as flinch. He thumped my back and kept talking, though his face was stricken and pale.
    I came back to myself.
    Head, legs, arms, everything hurt. I swore I’d been jabbed in the ribs a thousand times. It was agony even to draw breath. My eyelids were stone-heavy. All I wanted was to stay still and sleep. But I grew aware of a tugging at my feet. Rough fabric pressed up against my cheek. I was jolted this way and that. I sensed darkness, then daylight, then dark again. I came to on a strange doorstep, with Will’s arms wrapped tight around me.
    A buzzing noise filled my head. Everything started to spin. The darkness came back.
    I woke to the sound of voices. I was lying down on a hard surface. My chest was on fire. As I rolled over to cough, a pan was thrust in my face, ready to catch the foul-tasting water as it streamed from my mouth and nose. The room tipped sideways. I reckoned I was about to throw up. I shut my eyes until the tipping stopped. Everything went quiet.
    Next thing I heard was a woman’s voice. ‘We’ll be for it if she comes in.’
    ‘But look at the state of the child. We can’t just fling her back out in the cold,’ said another.
    ‘Can you get us a ride to the village?’ It was Will, sounding far away.
    I tried to focus my eyes but it made my head hurt, and I drifted off again.
    ‘Quick! Mrs Jessop’s coming!’
    The voices were back. This time they sounded sharp and loud. I wondered if I should be scared. But it was too much effort. I slipped back into sleep.
    I awoke to hear footsteps. A new voice said harshly, ‘Fell through the ice, did she?’ A hand gripped my shoulder and shook me hard. ‘Is she dead?’
    My eyes flew open. A stranger in a dark frock loomed over me. She didn’t look altogether friendly. Then her face turned suddenly pale. Her hand hovered close to my cheek; to slap me or stroke me, I didn’t know which.
    ‘Take her away at once!’ she said, and was gone.
    *
    They bundled me out of the door and into the back of a cart. Someone had draped a blanket round my shoulders and I was mighty glad of it since by now I couldn’t stop shaking. Wide awake at last, I felt sick as a dog. And a thought