Frost Hollow Hall Read Free Page B

nudged away at me, but I couldn’t for anything work out what it was.
    Will sat beside me all the way home. I didn’t have the strength to protest when he put his arms round me. He was warm and quiet, and after a while I got used to it.
    When Ma opened our front door, her face was like thunder.
    ‘Where’ve you been?’ she cried. ‘You’ve been gone hours!’
    Then she saw the state of me and her hand flew to her mouth. Will tried to explain what had happened. It didn’t sound good. We were very clearly in the wrong, and I knew I’d be in for a right earful.
    ‘I’m sorry, Mrs Higgins,’ Will said, and finally let go of me.
    My legs gave way before I could get inside.

    
Dreaming: 1
    I’m in the middle of the lake. The ice groans. I tilt forward. The water pulls me under. Everything is hushed. Down and down I go, in a stream of tiny bubbles.
    ‘Help me!’ I cry.
    No one hears me. The water deadens everything. Darkness closes in. I’m a goner this time, I’m sure of it.
    Out of nowhere, a light darts towards me like a will o’ the wisp. My heart leaps. The light becomes a shape. It’s him again, the boy in the white shirt.
    He stops a few steps away. I see how his hair curls over his collar, and how his eyes seek out mine. I’ve never seen anyone so lovely. I go all fluttery inside. Trouble is, I know what happens next. Any second and he’ll lead me to the bank. But I don’t want to be saved just yet. I want to stay here like this.
    He comes closer. I can barely meet his eye. It’s then I see how sad he looks. Something is clearly very wrong.
    ‘Tilly,’ he says.
    How do I hear him? And how on earth does he know my name?

4
Following a Dream
    Early next morning, I woke with a start. Thin, grey light filled the room. It took me a moment to gather my wits and realise I was safe at home in bed. Behind the old curtain that split the room in half, Ma and Pa would still be asleep. Eliza lay next to me snoring, and I was glad of her, all familiar and warm, even though she had more than her share of the blankets.
    The dream left me feeling strange. My shift was damp with sweat and my heart thudded uncomfortably. What’s more, a thought had lodged inside my brain, going round and round like a moth bumping at a lamp. It was such a mad idea. No one would ever believe it. They’d laugh right in my face.
    I shut my eyes. I tried to go back to sleep. But the thought wouldn’t go away.
    Something, someone had been out there in the lake. What’s more, he’d saved my life. Just when I’d been breathing my last, he’d appeared out of nowhere, all lit up like a star.
    Yet if he’d really been an angel, he’d have taken me up to heaven. I’ve have gone with him, too. Instead, he took me back to the lake edge so that I might live.
    Now he was here in my dreams, only it shocked me to see him so changed. There was real pain and sorrow in his face. What’s more, he knew my name. How the heck was that possible? It didn’t make sense. Not one bit.
    From behind the curtain came sounds that Ma was stirring: her little cough and the wince as her feet touched the ice-cold floor. No sound yet from Pa. But knowing he was here lifted my spirits, and I couldn’t lie still any longer. The cold made me dress fast, tugging on my everyday frock, which was too short and too tight under the arms. Just the effort of it made me dizzy, and I grabbed hold of the bedstead until the feeling passed.
    Ma called out, ‘Tilly? That you?’
    ‘Yes, it’s me.’
    ‘You well enough for work?’
    My eyes smarted with tears. A kind word wouldn’t go amiss. But she was cross with me. And I supposed I deserved it.
    ‘I reckon so,’ I said, because this was the answer she wanted. It wasn’t much of a job I had, just a pupil-helper at the village school, cleaning slates and carrying coal and showing the young ones how to read. But it brought in some pennies and it meant I’d got quite clever at my letters.
    I heard rustling as Ma