Sand. Angela Ray

it.

      An old lady picked me up. I was such a fine child that she thought she’d keep me herself. At first, I believed that she was my own grandmother, and we lived together for several years, but then by chance I came across the book, which she had concealed beneath a floorboard in the storeroom. I was thunderstruck. In an instant all the memories came flooding back. Without stopping to say goodbye to grandma, I set off for the estate. Once I got there, I was faced with the bitter disappointment and pain of loss. No one recognized me, and they wouldn’t let me into the house; but then the servants told me that my parents were no longer alive, and that the heir to my fortune was a pimply freak who was clearly weak in the head. I swore then and there to restore justice, to find the book at any price and to reclaim all that belonged to me by virtue of my birth.”

      Mama was crying, burying his face in his apron.

      “Poor boy! I will help you, I will not leave you. Would you like a biscuit, or a dried apple?”

      Ghost’s eyes were shining. He embraced Mama and took the proffered biscuit.

      “Only, I can’t go there myself; I’m too heavily built for those passages. You need someone to help you; there’s no way you can do it on your own. Ask Nort to go with you. Explain everything to him; he seems like a good lad.

      Ghost chewed the biscuit intently.

      “I don’t know him at all. I’ll size him up for a week or so, and then we’ll see. Is there any cider left?”

* * *

      Momo looked cautiously in all directions, freezing for a moment, and then carefully released the booty from his mouth. The tips of his ginger whiskers moved rapidly. For several minutes he lay there, twirling his tail and listening, not taking his eyes off it, and then he pounced and began to whirl madly about the hall. He was so distracted by this game that he did not notice Betty creeping towards him. Lottie blocked the doorway. The girls seized the cat and his loot with cries of triumph and flew up the staircase, chasing and shoving one another, into the countess’s chamber.