c6e3324c4f84f7e6ed71c7cdde754b42

“The lot,” Sara said smugly and Elsa sighed. She ought to get on with unpacking her things, but every time she opened a box, she started thinking about their old house and her friends…

“The garden is great,” Sara said, threading her way between the boxes and going to look out of Elsa’s window. “We could definitely have a dog now we’ve got a proper garden. I’m going to keep working on Dad.”

[Êàðòèíêà: img_6]

“You can’t see the garden, it’s dark,” Elsa muttered. Sara really wanted a dog, but Elsa wasn’t sure. She had a feeling that if they got a dog her sister would always be dragging her out on long walks before school. But she did like the idea of snuggling up on the sofa with a gorgeous furry puppy.

“I can see bits of it,” Sara insisted. “And next door’s got a trampoline – did you notice? So they must have children too.”

Elsa nodded hopefully. Maybe they would go to the school she was starting at. She was in Year Five, but Sara was eleven and at secondary school, so Elsa wouldn’t have her sister with her. She couldn’t stop thinking about what it would be like, walking in on her own. She shook herself and got up to open a box. It was harder to worry about things when she was busy.

“Help me put this lot away?” she asked Sara pleadingly, but her big sister rolled her eyes.

“Not a chance. Sorry.” She smirked at Elsa and whisked out of the room.

Elsa sighed and unfolded the top of a box. It was actually quite fun, working out where to put everything. She just had to think of it as a new start.

[Êàðòèíêà: img_4]

They had pizza for dinner, but Dad had nearly finished sorting out the kitchen and he said they’d start cooking normal meals again soon.

“When we’ve found the cookie cutters you could make some of those gingerbread stars to hang up,” he suggested. “And we need to get a Christmas tree.” He smiled at Elsa. “That’ll be fun, won’t it? We could have it in front of the living-room window.”

Elsa nodded and tried to smile back. She’d been really upset when Dad had first told them they needed to move, for his work. She hadn’t wanted to leave her friends – it just didn’t seem fair. She was mostly used to the idea now, but Dad was still worrying about her.

“You’re falling asleep,” Dad said a few minutes later, taking a drooping slice of pizza out of Elsa’s hand. “You go on up. I’ll come and say goodnight in a minute.”

Elsa yawned and nodded, but once she was out in the hallway, the pleasant sleepy feeling seemed to fade away. This house was so much older than their last one. It had odd creaky boards and patches of shadowy blackness that the lights didn’t reach. As she put her foot on the first step, she heard a weird little noise, like scrabbly claws…

[Êàðòèíêà: img_7]

She scurried up the stairs in a sudden panic, feeling as though something might be behind her. Was something watching her? Then she hurled herself through her bedroom doorway and scrambled into bed, panting and hugging her knees. If she was curled up small, whatever was following her up the stairs might not see…

After a minute or two, Elsa shook herself. Of course there hadn’t been anything behind her. But there was something about this house. Something strange – as though she and Sara and Dad weren’t the only ones here.

Elsa flinched a little as she heard voices downstairs, and then there was a rush of footsteps and Sara called,“Night, Elsa!” as she came past. Elsa caught her breath, and then giggled and went out to the bathroom to brush her teeth. She was tired, that was all. She’d been half asleep and not thinking straight. Everything was fine. It would all be fine.

By the time her dad came up to check on her, Elsa was fast asleep.

She woke up much later, clutching her duvet in panic. The room was so dark– much darker than the room she and Sara had shared before, where there was a street light right outside. This room was velvet-black and she couldn’t see a thing.

What had woken her? Elsa peered around, her breaths coming fast, as if she’d been running. It was like that weird moment on the stairs all over again.

“Dad’s only across the landing…” Elsa whispered to herself. She could wake him up in seconds. She just had to get out of bed…

Above her head something scratched and pattered– and then cried out.

Elsa burrowed down under her duvet, pulling it over her head to make a safe little tent. She wasn’t goinganywhere…

[Êàðòèíêà: img_8]

“There’s no such thing as ghosts,” Sara said, rolling her eyes.

“How do you know?” Elsa glared at her. Sara always thought she knew everything. Elsa wasn’t sure she believed in ghosts either, but there was definitelysomething going on.

“Because it’s nonsense! You were just having a nightmare, that’s all.”

“Dreams can feel very real when you’re in them,” Dad agreed. “But the house doesn’t seem spooky now, in daylight, does it?” He was looking worried. He and Elsa and Sara had talked a lot about people dying, as the girls’ mum had died when Elsa was two. Dad definitely didn’t believe in ghosts. He’d told them so.

[Êàðòèíêà: img_9]