Uncle Montague's Tales of Terror Read Online Free PDF Page A

judging by the amount of lace and the enormous doll's house. It was certainly of no interest to Harriet, who quickly closed the door and moved on.
    None of the rooms proved very interesting in fact. Mrs Barnard clearly did not trust her servants and had locked away anything of any value. Although Harriet had managed to lift a few interesting items and a little cash from the bags and coats of the women at the seance, it was hardly a memorable haul.

    As she returned downstairs, she saw two doors to her left that she hadn't noticed before and wondered if there might be anything worth investigating in them. She turned the handle of the left-hand door. Just as she did so, a voice behind her made her jump.
    'I shouldn't go in there if I were you.'
    Harriet turned to see a girl standing behind her, a little younger than herself. She was dressed in expensive, if rather old-fashioned, clothes.
    'Hello there,.' said Harriet with her most winning smile. 'What's your name, then?'
    'Olivia.'
    'Olivia?' said Harriet. 'That's a pretty name. Well, I'm sorry, Olivia. I'm afraid I was lost.'
    'Lost?' said the girl with a little snort. Harriet did not much like her tone.
    'Yes,.' said Harriet. 'But the door was locked. I see now I came the wrong way.'
    'The door is not locked, miss,.' said Olivia, stepping closer in a way that Harriet found unaccountably threatening. 'It is blocked. We call it the Un-Door.'
    'The Un-Door?' said Harriet.
    Olivia nodded, smiling even more. 'That's what we call it,.' she said. 'Because it's a door, but it's not a door. Do you see?'
    'Well, if the door is blocked, Olivia, why tell me I shouldn't enter?' asked Harriet, trying to retain her temper. 'I could hardly go through a door that is blocked now, could I?'
    Olivia carried on smiling but made no reply.
    Harriet scowled.
    'Anyway,.' said Harriet, turning away. 'I must get on.' She walked towards the drawing room, in which the seance was taking place. She turned back as she opened the door, but the girl was gone.
    Harriet re-entered the seance just as silently as she had left. She took a few seconds to adjust her eyes to the gloom and when she did so she could see Maud, staring ahead in a trance. Harriet had to admit it: Maud really did look the part.
    Harriet glanced around the table - it was the usual mixture of the curious and the desperate: sad widows in their black clothes and jet jewellery, bored wives looking for a thrill. She stifled a yawn. Suddenly, Maud began to scream
    'Please!' she shouted. 'Maud! For God's sake!
    Help me! Help me!'
    The voice was so wild it made the whole room gasp and Harriet was as taken aback as anyone else - especially to hear Maud using her own name. Harriet was momentarily rooted to the spot.
    'Help me!' Maud screamed. 'For God's sake! Help me! Maud! Maud!'
    Harriet pushed forward and grabbed Maud and tried to calm her down. Had Harriet not known Maud was a charlatan she would have said that she was possessed; her whole body seemed to be in spasm as if she had been struck by lightning.
    'Goodness,.' said an excited voice to her left. 'Is Mrs Lyons all right?'
    'Quite well,.' said Harriet brusquely, and indeed Maud did seem to be coming out of it. She blinked up at Harriet.
    'Does anyone know a Maud?' said Mrs Barnard, looking round the table.
    'What's that?' said Maud, startled at hearing her own name.
    'That's right, Mother,.' said Harriet, frowning at her. 'You were saying the name Maud just now.'
    Maud stared back, confused.
    'I think perhaps Mother has overtired herself,. ' said Harriet. 'Perhaps we should end it there.'
    There was a groan of disappointment from the assembled ladies, but Mrs Barnard said that, of course, Mrs Lyons must not exhaust herself and that perhaps she ought to take a turn in the garden.
    Harriet agreed and took Maud outside as the guests collected their things and began to leave, with Mrs Barnard thanking each of the ladies in turn. Harriet took Maud by the arm and led her away to a more secluded