Скачать книгу

for Hugo Grierson, shut up all alone in this ugly old house. Why did he torment himself so? And why did he use mirror-writing? That struck him as extremely peculiar. Witches did things backwards. It seemed that the beauty of the sea and the woodlands of Lagg, instead of gladdening the man’s heart plunged him into black despair. It was a lovely place, but there was a kind of brooding sorrow about it all.

      Oliver was tired, but he always read a little at night, to get himself off to sleep. He grinned as he heard his mother’s even snoring, and shone his high intensity pocket torch on the pages of his book. He’d smuggled it up here without her seeing it. It was The Bumper Annual of Great Horror Stories.

      At the other end of the stone passage Prill had just sat up in bed. She was annoyed because it had taken her a long time to get off to sleep after that conversation with Oliver, and her hot water bottle had gone cold – a hot water bottle in August – but it was chilly in the dungeons at night. Then, just as she was drifting off at last, Aunt Phyllis had woken her up again.

      When she’d opened her eyes she’d been dimly aware of footsteps coming and going, shuffling sort of steps, the kind you make if you slither along in flat rubber shoes. Aunt Phyllis had several pairs. She was obsessed about not making any unnecessary noise. Then Prill heard her singing softly to herself.

      What on earth was the woman doing? She’d go mad if any of the children went round singing at one in the morning. She’d report it to the management (Dad), who’d warned them all that Mr Grierson was a funny customer and had to be handled with care. Yet here she was, singing at dead of night, and creeping up and down. Was she looking under all their doors, perhaps, to check that they’d obeyed lights out? Prill couldn’t understand it.

      As she listened, though, she realized that it couldn’t be her aunt singing. It must be the radio, or a tape perhaps. But that didn’t make sense. Nobody had brought a tape recorder and they certainly didn’t broadcast church services in the middle of the night … Prill began to feel uneasy.

      She crept out of bed, stood in the middle of the room, and listened carefully. The voice was a woman’s, young and sweet, and it had a distinct Scots accent. She was singing a hymn, very slowly and mournfully, something Prill had never heard before:

      Конец ознакомительного фрагмента.

      Текст предоставлен ООО «ЛитРес».

      Прочитайте эту книгу целиком, купив полную легальную версию на ЛитРес.

      Безопасно оплатить книгу можно банковской картой Visa, MasterCard, Maestro, со счета мобильного телефона, с платежного терминала, в салоне МТС или Связной, через PayPal, WebMoney, Яндекс.Деньги, QIWI Кошелек, бонусными картами или другим удобным Вам способом.

/9j/4AAQSkZJRgABAgEBLAEsAAD/4Qs9RXhpZgAASUkqAAgAAAAMAAABAwABAAAASAIAAAEBAwAB AAAA8gIAAAIBAwADAAAAngAAAAYBAwABAAAAAgAAABIBAwABAAAAAQAAABUBAwABAAAAAwAAABoB BQABAAAApAAAABsBBQABAAAArAAAACgBAwABAAAAAgAAADEBAgAcAAAAtAAAADIBAgAUAAAA0AAA AGmHBAABAAAA5AAAABwBAAAIAAgACADAxi0AECcAAMDGLQAQJwAAQWRvYmUgUGhvdG9zaG9wIENT MyBXaW5kb3dzADIwMTM6MTE6MjIgMjI6MDA6MzYABAAAkAcABAAAADAyMjEBoAMAAQAAAP//AAAC oAQAAQAAAA0CAAADoAQAAQAAABsDAAAAAAAAAAAGAAMBAwABAAAABgAAABoBBQABAAAAagEAABsB BQABAAAAcgEAACgBAwABAAAAAgAAAAECBAABAAAAegEAAAICBAABAAAAuwkAAAAAAABIAAAAAQAA AEgAAAABAAAA/9j/4AAQSkZJRgABAgAASABIAAD/7QAMQWRvYmVfQ00AAv/uAA5BZG9iZQBkgAAA AAH/2wCEAAwICAgJCAwJCQwRCwoLERUPDAwPFRgTExUTExgRDAwMDAwMEQwMDAwMDAwMDAwMDAwM DAwMDAwMDAwMDAwMDAwBDQsLDQ4NEA4OEBQODg4UFA4ODg4UEQwMDAwMEREMDAwMDAwRDAwMDAwM DAwMDAwMDAwMDAwMDAwMDAwMDAwMDP/AABEIAKAAagMBIgACEQEDEQH/3QAEAAf/xAE/AAABBQEB AQEBAQAAAAAAAAADAAECBAUGBwgJCgsBAAEFAQEBAQEBAAAAAAAAAAEAAgMEBQYHCAkKCxAAAQQB AwIEAgUHBggFAwwzAQACEQMEIRIxBUFRYRMicYEyBhSRobFCIyQVUsFiMzRygtFDByWSU/Dh8WNz NRaisoMmRJNUZEXCo3Q2F9JV4mXys4TD03Xj80YnlKSFtJXE1OT0pbXF1eX1VmZ2hpamtsbW5vY3 R1dnd4eXp7fH1+f3EQACAgECBAQDBAUGBwcGBTUBAAIRAyExEgRBUWFxIhMFMoGRFKGxQiPBUtHw MyRi4XKCkkNTFWNzNPElBhaisoMHJjXC0kSTVKMXZEVVNnRl4vKzhMPTdePzRpSkhbSVxNTk9KW1 xdXl9VZmdoaWprbG1ub2JzdHV2d3h5ent8f/2gAMAwEAAhEDEQA/APMl7t/it/8AERgf1r//AD/c vCV7t/it/wDERgf1r/8Az/crnNfKPNAesSSSVNKkkkklKSSSSUpJJJJSkkkklKSSSSU//9DzJe7f 4rf/ABEYH9a//wA/3Lwle7f4rf8AxEYH9a//AM/3K5zXyjzQHrEkklTSpJJJJSkkkklKSSSSUpJJ JJSkkkklP//R4TBxKLOkdRy7amvfRsFdhu2uYXHb7MVvuu3P2+9/6P8A9F+yf4rf/ERgf1r/APz/ AHLyPpmPb+wOo3gEtOjYBJ9o/SQ/Z6dPsLvU9R/6ar9D+jt9H1PXP8Vv/iIwP61//n+5WuYPp/wv 2ID1iSSSqpUkkkkpSSSSSlJJJJKUkkkkpSSSSSn/0uDxPsX7LyfUyHtugxjBriHHT0rN+x1Vf6T0 9+5//otey/4rf/ERgf1r/wDz/cvIunG1n1f6mW2bG2FjS0yQ4N+m1u1zNj/0jP5z1a/+uVr13/Fb /wCIjA/rX/8An+5WuY+X/C/YgPWJJJKqlSSSSSlJJJJKUkkkkpSSSSSlJJJJKf/T4rA9RnQs0h49 C4ltgcYaHs9N1NZb6jd9uRutfR+gf78b1PoMyPsvr3+K3/xEYH9a/wD8/wBy8h6Uzd0Tqg9o37A1 z7fTG5ofbtc1z622ufW1/oVs3v8AV/kL17/Fb/4iMD+tf/5/uVrmNj/e/YgPWJKL2lzHNa4sJBAc IkE/nDcHNXI4/UOv472lma7qL3dSyMIU5Xo01+lRRl5DXOuwsP1W2b6K9/6N/wDxdaqpewSXPdI+ tVvVOpDHZgvrw3t9mT+kMWCurJcy0+g3E2/pn1M9HNuu9Sn+

Скачать книгу