The Little One [Quick Read 2012] Read Free Page B

door. She looked up the wide
staircase. The hallway was dark, lit only by a few candles and the old chandelier.
    Barbara was suddenly eager to see inside some of the other rooms. One door creaked when she pushed it open, but no one seemed to be around. She peered in and saw a huge drawing room with all the
furniture draped in dustsheets. She closed the door, wincing as it creaked loudly again.
    She peered up the stairway to the floor above, then began to creep up the stairs. It was very dark, but eventually her eyes grew accustomed to it. She reached the first landing. The carpet was
so threadbare she had to be careful not to trip. A door was ajar and she could see a four-poster bed with old green velvet drapes. Next to it was a big dressing table with make-up and bottles of
perfume all over the surface.
    Barbara closed the door and inched along the corridor. It was a little lighter here as there was a large window at the end through which the moon spread a cold white glow. She could make out a
small door with a china doorknob covered in flowers. She turned the knob and the door opened on to a child’s playroom. There were puzzles and games littering the floor. She noticed a cot with
many dolls inside, as if in a small prison. Then she heard voices, so she quickly made her way back to the top of the stairs.
    The front door was open now and some of the guests were leaving, laughing and calling out farewells. Barbara moved cautiously down the staircase.
    She stopped. There was a strange click-clicking noise coming from behind her. She turned and saw a clockwork rabbit. Its fur was a dirty grey but its glass eyes shone brightly. It was hopping
down each stair. As it somersaulted and gained the next step, the rabbit clapped its paws together. It had a distorted, slightly whirring, high-pitched voice that kept repeating the same
phrase:
    ‘Bunny bunny, hip hop.
    Keep moving, don’t stop.’
    Two guests heard the mechanical voice and turned to look up the stairs. As soon as they spotted Barbara, the creature fell on its side and stopped singing.
    ‘I was . . . er . . . looking for the lavatory,’ Barbara said in an embarrassed voice.
    And at that point she felt a really hard push in the small of her back. Losing her balance, she tripped and fell head first down the stairs.
    In seconds she had struck her head hard on the newel post and passed out.

 
Chapter Four
    James Halliday carried Barbara into the kitchen and laid her down on the sofa. Alan put a cold cloth on her head and waited for her to come round. When she did, she explained
how she’d tripped on a toy on the stairs. From the look on Alan’s face, she had a feeling he didn’t believe her.
    Margaret had already called the local doctor. By the time he arrived, all the guests apart from Alan had left. The doctor strapped up Barbara’s ankle, observing that it was quite a bad
sprain. He suggested that Margaret monitor the situation. If the swelling got worse, Barbara would need to go to hospital for an X-ray. He prescribed painkillers for her ankle and suggested that
they use hot and cold compresses to help the swelling go down.
    Barbara closed her eyes. She hadn’t told anyone about being pushed. Had she just had too much to drink and imagined it? Maybe it was the noise of the clockwork rabbit hopping down the
stairs that had startled her and made her lose her footing.
    Alan came to sit beside her. He was concerned, but at the same time he couldn’t help wondering if Barbara had planned this in order to spend a night in the house.
    ‘Listen, Margaret has kindly said you can stay over. It’s a long drive and you are obviously not in good shape.’
    Barbara liked the idea more than he could know. She smiled weakly.
    ‘That’s awfully nice of her, if it’s not too much trouble.’
    Margaret came across and sat by the sofa. ‘You can stay down here in the kitchen,’ she told Barbara. ‘I’ll build up the fire so you will be nice and warm.’
    ‘I