Mr Loveheart grins. “Excellent, girls. Really well done.”
The pudding is brought in: a huge steaming treacle tart with cream. Goliath has three helpings and I wipe my sticky lips on my napkin.
Mr Hazard wipes cream from his lips. “I think we should play the game again. This time let the girls guess our worst fear.”
The girls gaze simultaneously at Mrs Pigwittle. “Being denounced a fraud.”
They examine Rufus. “Crocodiles.”
They look at Goliath, who is peering fruitlessly at his plate for the last morsels of treacle tart. “Not being able to protect her.”
They look at me. “The grandfather clock, tick tock tick tock,” they mimic.
They turn finally to Mr Loveheart, who looks directly at me. “It’s her you fear the most.”
We all remain silent for some time, until Mr Hazard slaps his hand down on the table. “Well that was delicious. When does the séance begin, Mrs Pigwittle?”
Mrs Pigwittle stands, “Of course, follow me into the library. We’ve got it all set up. I’ve a rare brandy, gentlemen, if you fancy a glass.”
We are directed into an impressive room where a skull sits as an ornament on a circular table. The expression on its face is one of amusement. Candles flicker softly, shadows creeping up the walls.
“Ooooh, spooky,” the twins sigh, excitedly.
We are seated around the table, Florence Pigwittle placed gently next to Mr Loveheart. The skull’s eye sockets flicker gold. Goliath is sat on the opposite side of the table from me, next to the twins. He winks at me.
The lights are dimmed, our shadows stretching like witches’ fingers over the walls. We are told to hold hands, to be quiet and let Florence concentrate. I grip Mr Rufus’s big fuzzy hand, and he whispers “Time for the ghouls to come out and play, little one.”
Mrs Pigwittle sighs deep uncomfortable breaths and then slumps back into her chair. She opens her eyes, which are white orbs of the blind; her voice not her own, but something distant: “There’s somebody dangerous in the room.”
Mr Loveheart removes a pair of scissors from his waistcoat pocket and stabs them into her neck. Blood sprays across the wall and the faces of the twins. Goliath stands up, pulling the table over, trying to grab him, but Mr Loveheart is too fast and leaps over the table and grabs me by my hair and and drags me to the door.
The table is thrown across the room. There is screaming and chairs are being knocked over. I cry out for Goliath.
I bite Mr Loveheart Sink my teeth deep.
A terrible roar sounds; Goliath has turned into an enormous tiger, his tail a flickering whip, his teeth massive. He lunges at Mr Loveheart, who releases my hair and I am flung to the floor while the pair of them crash through the window and out into the garden.
“Good god!” I hear Mr Hazard shout as he lunges for the fireside poker to defend himself, while blood drips from the walls. I run to the shattered window and peer into the darkness. I can see nothing.
III: The Dream
The Twelve Dancing Princesses
Once upon a time there were twelve princesses and they were locked in a tower. None of them were beautiful and all of them would befall terrible fates. Their names were: Myrtle who was small and scared of clocks Rose who kept falling asleep
Violet who dreamed she’d never wake up
Nettie who was overweight
Clarissa who was only a reflection of her sister Sophia Sophia who was only a reflection of her sister Clarissa Florence who was agoraphobic
Maggie who was really a cat
Foxglove who wore a mask, for she had no face Lily who was scared of food
Belle who was invisible
Rosebud who poisoned people
Mirror who ate demons.
One beautiful autumn evening when all the stars were in the heavens winking like pearls, a crow with a little tinkling bell around his neck arrived with an invitation for them all to attend a magnificent ball.
All twelve princesses were released from the enchanted tower and transported to the ball in black carriages with enormous horses that carried them all into the Underworld, where the King of the Dead was waiting.
The King’s name was Mr Fingers and he sat on a throne made of antique clocks, which chimed every quarter of an hour. His palace was decorated with the wallpaper of moth wings and firefly lanterns. When the princesses arrived they were greeted by many princes of the Underworld, who took them by the hand and led them away. The King of the Underworld chose Princess Myrtle to be his wife and he placed her on his knee on his throne of clocks. She was so frightened she lost her voice and when she opened her mouth only moths flew out.
Of all the princes, the most beautiful of all was Prince Loveheart. He chose Princess Mirror for his own.