Restless Echoes
struck them as strange. Even when he did not see or
hear it, he knew it was there. The air felt icy-cold despite
being warm only a few feet away.
When Dave was baby-sitting, although he’d heard
about the ghostly dog, he had never expected to see it;
apparitions were something other people saw or
imagined. As soon as he reached the top of the stairs, he
saw it at the far end of the landing, outside the girls’
room. There had been no warning snarl or growl. It was
difficult, he said, not to turn and run, but he kept
reminding himself that it wasn’t real and couldn’t hurt
him if he didn’t panic.
“It was grey,” he told them, “and huge. It edged
towards me with its head down – then it snarled, baring
its teeth. I steeled myself to step towards it and it sprang
at me. I was scared stiff I can tell you, and it was minutes
before I dared move and check on the kids. I hesitated
before opening their bedroom doors, as if the thing
might appear again and get into the rooms. How stupid
can you get!” he added dryly.
“I can understand why you are all so worried,”
Sarah said, “and impressed by your attitude. I’m sure you
are right in thinking that ghosts, however frightening,
can’t inflict bodily harm. Causing people to panic and
injure themselves is another matter.” She was satisfied
that the account tallied with what she had seen herself
and commented that Peg’s guess that the dog was
guarding the children could be right. “In which case, it
would seem that only men are regarded as the enemy.
That might be significant.”
The history of the area was unknown to Dave; the
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