A Little Death Read Online Free PDF Page A

the door and into the yard, and I was going to follow her in case she did herself a mischief, but Mrs. Mattie suddenly came up behind me and grabbed me by the arm. She was only a little mouse of a woman, but she had quite a force when she wanted to—you should have seen the bruise I had, it was like a chimney-sweep’s handprint on my arm. I said to her, ‘I was just going to see about the noise, Mrs. Mattie,’ because I didn’t want her to think I was the one screaming and shouting, but she wasn’t having any of it. She got hold of my shoulders and spun me right round, ‘You’re going back in the scullery. Now!’ and pushed me in the chest. Well, I just stood there gawping at her. Just then, Ellen and some of the other maids came dashing round the corner to see what the noise was, because honestly, you could have heard it a mile off, the racket Miss Louisa’s governess was making. Well, there was Mrs. Mattie and I in the middle of the passage, about five steps away from the back door, and Mrs. Mattie took one look at all these girls and she went and stood in front of that door like a policeman, yanking me by the collar so I didn’t have no choice but to go with her. I heard my frock rip, which was just as well because she was holding me so tight I was choking. The others stopped dead when they saw us barring the door like that. To be honest, at any other time it would have been funny, because they were all standing there intheir brown-and-white uniforms boggling at us, it was like a herd of cows had got into the house. Mrs. Mattie was holding me in front of her so I couldn’t see her face, but I could feel her eyes all right, burning into Ellen and the rest of them. ‘Stop! Get back to your work, all of you. There’s no need for this rumpus.’
    Well, for a minute they all stared back at her and I thought, they’re going to charge at us, but then Miss Louisa’s governess suddenly appeared at one of the windows, screaming and pounding on the glass with her fists: ‘Help me, somebody help me!’ It was right next to where Ellen was standing and she leaped clear into the air from the shock of it, and then just for a moment we all stood quite still and stared at this horrible face, all pink from crying and blurred against the window like her skin wasn’t made in fast colours, going, ‘For the love of God, somebody please help me!’ Then one of her hands smashed right through the glass and she slid down, crying and howling, until all we could see were her ten fingers holding on to the sill, covered in threads of blood and bits of broken glass.
    Mrs. Mattie roared, ‘Into the scullery, all of you,
now!’
like a lion. Then she let go my collar and rushed towards the girls, and shooed them all in there and shut the door. Then she dashed past me and out of the back door and into the yard. I was seeing everything a bit fuzzy, so I sat down with my head between my knees and tried to get my breath back.
    Ellen came out of the scullery after a few minutes. ‘You don’t half look peculiar. Are you all right?’
    ‘I should think I’ll live. What’s happening?’
    ‘I don’t know. I thought you did. Wait a minute, though…’ and she went over to the broken window and looked out into the yard. ‘Mrs. Mattie and Miss What’shername just went behind the hedge, there’ssomething going on… Ada! There’s a man there, one of the grooms, he’s got Master Freddie in his arms, he’s carrying him like a baby. Master Freddie’s got a handkerchief wrapped round his head, there’s blood… It must be an accident, Master Freddie’s had an accident! Oh my Lord, they’re coming back to the house. Quick, Ada, get up! Whatever it is, we’d better make ourselves scarce or we’ll catch it.’ We got back to the scullery in the nick of time.
    Mrs. Mattie came in. She looked very serious and said, ‘I’m afraid there’s been an accident and Master Freddie’s been hurt. Now, I don’t want a lot of talk and fuss,