Tap, tap, tap.
There was that noise again. Tap, tap.
No, this time it sounded a little different.
I turned over in bed and opened my eyes. It was morning. I could see Mum knocking on the door to my room.
“Do you think you will be getting up today Thomas? It is nearly 9 o’clock. This time next week school will have already started.”
Oops! I must have slept in after my adventures during the night.
“Are you sure you are feeling okay?” asked Mum walking over to me and sitting on my bed.
Pushing back my fringe, she held her hand to my forehead as if she was checking for some sign of sickness.
“It isn’t like you to sleep in Thomas. You are usually the first one up. I hope you are not getting that cold. How are those sneezes going?”
“I’m not getting a cold Mum and my sneezes are just fine. I just slept in a little bit, that’s all.”
“Did you sleep well? I hope you weren’t awake in the middle of the night?” I tried not to look guilty.
“Not that I can remember Mum,” I lied.
“Well I have to go out shortly. I have a job interview at 10 o’clock. So you and Millicent are going to stay here with Flora and George. Is that okay?”
“Sure Mum,” I replied.
“Good,” she said getting up from my bed, “And make sure you don’t give Flora any hassles.”
She smiled at me and tousled my hair before leaving me in my room. As soon as she left, I put my hand under my pillow and very carefully dragged out the dark red feathers.
“My task today is to find out more about these.”
I changed out of my pyjamas and into jeans and a t-shirt before heading downstairs for breakfast. I placed the two red feathers into the top pocket of my shirt and then made my way down to the kitchen, where I was greeted by Flora.
“So what would you like for breakfast young man?” asked Flora as I sat at the kitchen table.
I saw that the breakfast cereal had not been put back in the cupboard. “I’ll just have some cereal Flora,” I said picking up the box.
As I was pouring the cereal into a bowl, I thought back to last night – the shed, the light, the tapping and the feathers. Maybe Flora knew about the tapping? Maybe she knew about the light and the feathers? Maybe it was something that happened here all the time? There had to be a logical reason for it, I decided. I thought I’d question Flora – not directly of course!
“So Flora,” I started, “How often do you use the shed in the back garden?” “Oh no, I haven’t used it in years,” she replied, “I do think it looks awfully sad
though. I’ve been meaning to paint it for quite some time.”
“So what is in it?” I asked without trying to sound too curious.
I noticed out of the corner of my eye that Millicent entered the kitchen. She stood next to the table where I was sitting. She didn’t say anything, but I knew she was listening to our conversation as she had her head down. She was snooping.
“Gosh, I actually don’t know what is in the shed Thomas,” Flora replied. “I haven’t been in it for years and years. Only the gardener uses it now.”
A gardener? Maybe he had been in the shed last night?
“I didn’t know you had a gardener, Flora. I thought you did the gardening yourself.”
“No I only do the small things,” she replied. “It is such a large garden that I get Clay to help me. He does most of the gardening, plus fixes anything around the house that might need doing. This house is very old and there are often things that need repairing.”
“So how long have you had a gardener for?” I asked.
“Oh Clay has been here for years. It has been so long I can hardly remember.
He just turned up at my door one day asking for a job. All I can recall is thinking that the house and garden were so big that I immediately employed him. Clay may have even met your father when he came here on holidays years ago.”
I had now gathered a little bit of information. Maybe this gardener, Clay was the one I needed to ask about the incident last night?
“At any rate, you will get a chance to meet Clay because he will be here this morning,” said Flora walking out of the kitchen.
I started eating my cereal. Millicent sat down next to me.
“So,” she said shuffling her body closer to me, “What were you doing sneaking about the house last night?”
I gulped, nearly choking on my cereal. That was another thing about Millicent.
She noticed everything.
“I thought you were asleep,” I said trying to sound composed.
“How could I stay asleep with you stomping around like an elephant in the middle of the night? What are you up to Thomas?”
“I did not stomp around like an elephant,” I protested, “And I am not up to anything!”
“You are too!” said Millicent, “I know when you are up to something Thomas
Bradley, so tell me!”
“I have already told you Millicent. I am not up to anything!”
I plunged my spoon into my cereal and shovelled a large heap into my mouth. I chewed on it and swallowed hard hoping to demonstrate to Millicent that I wasn’t going to answer any more of her questions. But Millicent wasn’t giving up that easily. She wanted the details. She knew that I was walking around our new home in the middle of the night and she wasn’t going to let up until she knew why.
“So?” she said rapping her fingers on the table.
I scooped another spoonful of cereal onto my spoon and shovelled it into my
mouth.
“I know you will tell me.”
Millicent started fiddling with the pink bow on her hair as she waited for my answer. As for me, I kept chewing but I knew in my heart that I had no choice but to tell her, otherwise I would have faced hours, if not days of torture with Millicent following me around and scrutinizing everything I did. In the end I swallowed my mouthful and looked around to check that no one else was near.
“Okay, I’ll tell you,” I whispered owning up, “But do you promise not to tell anyone?”
“Who would I tell?” she said lowering her voice.
“Well,” I said looking around again just to make sure no one was listening. I motioned with my finger for Millicent to come closer.
“What I have to tell you concerns the shed in the back garden.” “The shed? What shed?”
“There is an old shed in the back garden.”
“A shed? What could possibly happen in a shed?” she asked loudly.
“Look Millicent,” I said trying to quieten her, “Listen to me. I heard a noise last night. It was coming from the shed.”
“What kind of noise?”
“It was a tapping noise. I looked through my window and saw a light on in the shed. I went and investigated it.”
Millicent looked back at me suspiciously. I could tell that she didn’t believe what I was saying.
“I swear to you Millicent. I went out there. George did too. As I approached the shed, the light went out and whoever was in there had disappeared.”
Millicent’s face started to change. I could tell that she was almost ready to believe me.
“They had disappeared?”
“Yes, well they sort of vanished. The light, the noise … they just weren’t there any more and then … and this is the strangest part …”
I reached into my pocket and retrieved the larger of the dark red feathers.
“I found two feathers near the shed after the light went out. This one was just outside the shed door. Tell me, have you ever seen a feather like this before?”
Millicent studied the hard bristled red feather. Her fingers gently ran over its black stalk and hard dark red frame. The look of disbelief left her face. I could tell that she knew I was telling the truth.
“No,” she said looking up at me, “No, I don’t think I have ever seen a feather like
this.”
“Now do you believe me?” Millicent nodded.
“So what do you think was in the shed?” she asked. “The shed?” a deep, rough voice behind us inquired.
A large shadow fell across where Millicent and I were sitting at the table. We both swung around. I quickly took the feather from Millicent’s hand and pushed it back into my pocket.
Standing at the door to the back garden was an enormously tall man with slicked back, jet-black hair. He was wearing a grey shirt and a pair of black overalls. He looked at us threateningly.
“The shed? What is happening in the shed?” he asked harshly. I was so shocked by his arrival that I didn’t know what to say. “No … nothing. Nothing is happening in the shed,” I spluttered.
The man scowled at me. He took one step closer and bent down to stare into my face. I could tell that he was keen on getting an answer to his question, but as soon as his face was opposite mine, a look of bewilderment spread over it. His eyes grew wide in disbelief. He appeared to recognise me and in the same moment, he seemed almost afraid or nervous. His threatening manner immediately disappeared.
“Peter?” he asked straightening up slowly.
His chin lifted and he peered down at me over his nose. He had a troubled, rather irritated look on his face.
“I didn’t think we would be meeting again,” he mumbled under his breath. Millicent and I exchanged awkward glances.
“I’m sorry but I am not …” I stammered, “I think you may have me confused with
… I am not Peter but …”
Flora then returned to the kitchen.
“Ah Clay, good morning!” she said, “Please meet my niece and nephew, Millicent and Thomas. Their father Peter used to come here years ago on holidays. I think you may have met him once when he visited here.”
Clay kept his eyes fixated on us and half nodded. Flora then turned to Millicent
and I.
“And children, this is Clay, my gardener.”
“Nice to meet you Clay,” I said a little apprehensively and extended my hand to greet him.
Clay didn’t return my greeting. In fact he didn’t even move. I quickly dropped my hand to my side and gazed sideways at Millicent.
“You look very much like your father young man,” Clay suddenly blurted out, “You had me very confused for a second or two.”
He wasn’t the only one, I thought to myself.
“Yes, Thomas and Millicent are going to live with me now,” said Flora, “Their mother, Susan is at a job interview at the moment. You will be able to meet her later.”
Flora left the kitchen again leaving Millicent and I with Clay. “Yes Peter, how could I ever forget?” said Clay under his breath.
Clay then turned to leave the kitchen. He was just about to walk out the back door when he seemed to remember something. He turned back to face us and bent down again so that his head was very close to Millicent’s and mine. He tried to smile this time, but it was actually more of a sneer. As he opened his mouth, all we could see were pointy yellow stained teeth. To make things worse, his breath was foul smelling. It almost smelled as if he had just been eating a can of cat food. Both Millicent and I struggled not to make a face.
“And I heard you mention the shed?” he hissed.
His eyes were wide. He seemed eager to get our response.
“Yes,” said Millicent confidently, “Yes, we were talking about the shed.”
I shot Millicent a look of horror. What was she doing? Was she going to tell Clay what I had just told her about last night? How could she? And after I had insisted on her keeping it secret!
Clay’s face leaned forward some more, anxiously waiting for her reply. “What were you talking about?” he asked expectantly.
“What we were talking about was …” began Millicent, “…how familiar that shed in the back garden looks. Gosh, our shed back home looks exactly like it! They are
practically identical. That’s what we were talking about, wasn’t it Thomas?”
For a second I was stunned by Millicent’s theatrics. “Yes, yes,” I finally gasped, nodding my head furiously. “Oh is that all,” huffed Clay.
He stood up, almost disappointed and began making his way out the door
again.
“Well whatever you do, make sure you keep away from my shed won’t you?” “Your shed?” I asked without thinking.
Clay slowly turned around and crouched down again right next to us. He breathed out right near our faces. The smell of fresh cat food was particularly potent.
“Yes, my shed and don’t let me find you near it.”
Millicent and I kept completely still. We did not utter a word. Silence pervaded the kitchen. Satisfied that he had frightened us sufficiently, Clay straightened up but kept his eyes fixed on us.
“I think I had better make a start on the day’s work then,” he announced to himself, and then quickly marched out the door.
When he was well and truly gone, Millicent turned towards me. “What was that all about?”
“I have no idea,” I replied, “He sure doesn’t want us near his shed. He must be hiding something in there? He has to be.”
“I have to agree with you Thomas. There must be something in the shed that he doesn’t want us to see? Maybe it even had something to do with last night.”
“Well, I think we should keep an eye on him,” I said, “Something is definitely happening with that shed and we need to find out what is going on!”