“Oh my God, Florence what happened? Are you alright?”
I was lying on the bedroom floor. My head hurt and so did my back.
“I’m not sure. I must have fallen out of bed.”
‘Can you move your legs?’
I could; although I felt stiff and very shaken. Aunty Marmalade helped me up.
“I heard a terrible crash Florence. If I hadn’t you could have been here all night.”
“I’ve fallen out of bed before Aunty M. Mum says my bed looks like I’ve been wrestling gorillas. She goes mad with me. She says I ought to try to lie still but you can’t help what you do when you’re asleep can you?”
“Don’t worry about mum, for goodness sake. As long as you are alright and there is no damage to you; she need never know. Now back to bed and we’ll see how you are in the morning.”
“Yes, I’m fine. Just a bit shaky. Aunty M?”
“Yes, my darling?”
“Do you ever hear funny noises?”
“What sort of noises, darling?” asked Aunty M as she plumped up the feathers in my duvet.
“Sort of thumps and bumps and moans. That sort of thing.”
“Of course. It’s the wind. It makes the most awful noises. Even I get spooked sometimes.”
“Do you?”
“Yes I do. I’m a real ninny aren’t I?”
“No you’re not. You’re the best, Aunty M. See you in the morning.”
As Aunty M walked out, I tried to think back to when I got to the hatch. As it fell down it must have knocked me. Yeah, it was so dark that must be it. I lost my footing and fell back. I was lucky I didn’t break anything or worse. I looked towards the hatch. It was closed. I couldn’t have closed it so someone must have. Aunty M would have seen the open hatch if it was open. Then she would have known that I was going up to the attic. As I drifted off to sleep I heard, very faintly, but definitely, the sound of someone calling out my name.