Something deep inside of me was trying to warn me.....

This time I was "Smee". Violet Sangston found me while I was searching for a hiding-place. That game didn't last long. Soon there were twelve people and the game was over. Violet felt cold, and wanted her jacket. Her husband went up to their bedroom to fetch it. As soon as he'd gone, Reggie touched me on the arm. He was looking pale and sick. 'Quick! ' He whispered, 'I've got to talk to you. Something horrible has happened."

^^^ We went into the breakfast room"What's the matter?" I asked.^^^

"I don't know. You were "Smee" last time, weren't you? Well, off course I didn't know who "Smee" was. While Mother and the others ran to the west side of the house and found you, I went east. There's a deep clothes cupboard in my bedroom. It looked like a good hiding-place. I thought that perhaps "Smee" might be there. I opened the door in the dark - and touched somebody's hand. "Smee?" I whispered. There was no answer. I thought I'd found "smee ".

^^^"Well, I don't understand it, but I suddenly had a strange, cold feeling. I can't describe it, but I felt something was wrong. So I turned on my electric torch and there was nobody there. Now, I am sure I touched a hand. And nobody could get out of the cupboard, because I was standing on the doorway. What do you think? "^^^

...'You imagined that you touched a hand,' I said....

He gave a short laugh. "I knew you would say that, " he said. 'Of course I imagined it. That's the only explanation, isn't it? '

I agreed with him. I could see that he still felt shaken. Together we returned to the sitting-room for another game of "Smee". The others were all ready and waiting to start again.

... ________ 4 ________...

Perhaps it was my imagination (although I'm almost sure that it was not). But I had feeling that nobody was really enjoying the game any more. But everyone was too polite to mention it. All the same, I had the feeling that something was wrong. All the fun had gone out of the game. Something deep inside me was trying to warn me. 'Take care,' it whispered. 'Take care ' . There was some unnatural, unhealthy influence at work in the house. Why did I have this feeling? Because Jack Sangston had counted thirteen people instead of twelve? Because his son imagined he had touched someone's hand in an empty cupboard? I tried to laugh at myself, but I did not succeed.

Well, we started again.While we were all chasing the unknown 'Smee' we were all as noisy as ever. But it seemed to me that most of us were just acting . We were no longer enjoying the game. At first I stayed with the others. But for several minutes no 'Smee' was found. I left the main group and started searching on the first floor at the west side of the house. And there, while I was feeling my way along, I bumped into a pair of human knees.

I put out my hand and touched a soft, heavy curtain. Then I knew where I was. There were tall, deep windows with windows-seats at the end of the passage. The curtains reached to the ground. Somebody was sitting in a corner of one of the window-seats, behind a curtain.

"Aha!" I thought, " I've caught 'Smee' ! " So I pulled the curtain to one side - and touched a woman's arm.

It was dark, moonless night outside. I couldn't see the woman sitting in the corner of the window-seat.

'Smee?' I whispered.

There was no answer. When 'Smee' is challenged, he or she - does not answer. So I sat down beside her to wait for the others. Then I whispered,' What's your name?'

And out of the darkness beside me the whisper came :

'Brenda Ford '.

I did mot know the name, but I guessed at once who she was. I knew every girl in the house by name except by one. And that was the tall, pale, dark girl. So here she was sitting beside me on the windows-seat, shit in between a heavy curtain and a window. I was beginning to enjoy the game. I wondered if she was enjoying it too. Not only that, but I whispered one or two rather ordinary questions to her, and received no answer.

'Smee' is a game of silence. It is a rule of the game that 'Smee' and the person or persons who have found 'Smee' have to keep a quiet. This, of course makes it harder for the others to find them. But there was nobody else about. I wondered, therefore why she was insisting on silence. I spoke again and got no answer. Furthermore, I began to feel a little annoyed. 'Perhaps she is one of those cold, clever girls who have a poor opinion of all men,' I thought. 'She doesn't like me, and she is using that rules of the game as an excuse for not speaking. Well,if, ife doesn't like sitting here with me, I certainly don't want to sit with her!' I turned away from her. " I hope someone finds us soon," I thought.

As I sat there, I realized that I disliked sitting beside this girl very much indeed. That was strange. The girl I had seen at dinner had seemed likable in a cold kind of way. I noticed her and wanted to know more about her. But know I felt really uncomfortable beside her. The feeling of something wrong, something unnatural was growing. I remembered touching her arm, and I trembled with horror. I wanted to jump up and run away. I prayed that someone else would come along soon.

Just then I heard light footsteps in the passage.......

To be continued.

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