Pandora Read Online Free PDF

Pandora through gritted teeth. She hated having her stuff messed with. Her mother had no idea about privacy. What was Pandora’s was also her mother’s, by some strange extension of matrilineal right.
    “You haven’t done it properly,” snapped her mother as she refolded clothes and put them in different drawers for no obvious reason. Pandora breathed out heavily and wondered, not for the first time, how her father had failed to either divorce or murder his wife.

Chapter Eight
     
     
    That evening, Pandora slipped from the house to explore Willowcombe Clatford.
    She had already seen it with her family, but this was the proper exploration of the area, the solo journey to find out how the village worked when it thought no one was watching.
    Getting out of the house was a little more difficult than in Lowell. There, Pandora had the help of the kitchen extension to drop onto from her bedroom window, but here it was a case of sneak out through the back door and into the fragrant garden. Then, it was a hop over the wall into the woods, which ran along the length of the village.
    The moon was covered by clouds, so Pandora used a torch to pick her way along the track, stopping frequently to listen for any strange sounds. Unfortunately, the wood was full of strange sounds belonging, she assumed, to rabbits, foxes, badgers and whatever else lived in trees. She shone her torch into the bushes, and myriad creatures scuttled away in alarm.
    She moved soundlessly until reaching the village, staying close to garden walls, bushes, trees, anything that provided shadows and cover. When a vehicle drove past, she seemed to melt away into the dark before emerging once more. She soon came to appreciate that Willowcombe Clatford was truly nothing like Lowell, where danger was always present from urban decay and human predators.
    Here in Willowcombe, there were no drunks, drug abusers or thugs lurking on dark corners. No unattended children roamed the streets, setting fire to anything that would burn. There wasn’t even an empty lager can or a discarded cigarette end on the ground, the usual droppings of modern life. Pandora made her way back home. Perhaps she could relax and enjoy herself here. It was a new feeling, and one she was keen to share with the twins before going to bed.
    “What’s it like out there?” whispered Sarah in fear as Pandora opened the door to their room. As always, the twins were still awake, waiting for the return of their big sister.
    “Peaceful,” replied Pandora in a soft tone. “Everywhere was very quiet.”
    “Really?” said Anne. “Are you sure?”
    “Absolutely,” said Pandora with a reassuring smile. “It seems we’re in a much nicer place.”
    “Great!” exclaimed Sarah.
    “You’re still going to check though, aren’t you?” asked Anne worriedly.
    “Of course. Every night, if need be.” Pandora felt slightly guilty as she spoke, aware that her nightly walks were as much for her benefit as for the twins.
    The twins smiled and relaxed.
    “Night-night,” whispered Pandora, kissing each one lightly before quietly leaving the room. The girls were asleep almost instantly.

Chapter Nine
     
     
    The next morning, the family went into the village to do their shopping.
    Pandora would never have believed that shopping could be so sociable. Throughout the village, people stopped as they passed each other and exchanged smiling words. It was certainly a change from shopping in Lowell, where you kept your head down and hurried through the crumbling concrete centre, grabbing what you needed and getting out fast before any trouble erupted.
    The new arrivals were of particular interest to the rest of the village and not one person went by without giving them a cheerful greeting. Some even stopped to talk, usually with the same opening phrase, which Pandora soon grew to hate. “Oh, you must be Mabel’s family!”
    Many of the shoppers consisted of families. Pandora had never seen so many parents