I had longed for the end of term, to the end of the chafing restrictions of school. But when I had freedom I did not know what to do with it. Mr Ratcliffe set no boundaries whatsoever on my conduct. In this he was perhaps wiser than I realized at the time. But he made it clear — wordlessly, and w...
It was delivered by hand through the letter-flap from the High Street while Janet and I were having tea in the kitchen. She ripped open the envelope, which had the arms of the see on the back, read the note from Mrs Bish and pushed it across the table to me. She had asked the Byfields to dinner. ...
Not one of the coarser manifestations: Uncle David would be a sophisticated devil, the sort who charms or terrifies according to his whim. ‘You’re being very foolish.’ The old priest’s voice was quiet but carrying; Uncle David had learned to fill the empty spaces of churches in the days before pu...
on Monday. As he walked across the manicured grass in the direction of the school buildings, along with scores of other kids, the events of the evening before seemed increasingly like a strange dream. He hadn’t told his mom about Fox and Christian’s plan to break into the medical centre, of cours...
I was working in the study the following afternoon when the telephone rang. ‘David, it’s Ronald Trask.’ The voice was abrupt to the point of rudeness. ‘What’s this Cynthia tells me about an outbreak of Satanism at St Mary Magdalene?’ He used the word Satanism like a cudgel. I took a deep breath a...
Movement made him dizzy and slightly nauseous; but that was scarcely to be wondered at. He rang the bell and slumped into the chair by the dead fire. He pulled a blanket over his knees. The chair still had the straps attached to the arms. There was a spot of dried blood on the floor. He probed th...