He winked at them and got into his car, switching on the blue lights so he could catch up with the ambulance. In fact, he’d give the bloody thing an escort to the hospital to make sure they all got there in one piece at the same time.

31 December 1931

It had been a whole year since Joe had gone into the cellar and never come back out. Martha had grown up more in the last twelve months than any young girl her age should have to. She had been watching for the monster, but that day in June had been the last she had seen of it.

The next day in the kitchen she’d heard Mary gossiping to Lucy about someone falling into the lake. No one could find the body, even though it hadn’t been long before the alarm had been raised. Martha didn’t say anything to them, but she knew they never would find the body of whoever had been so unfortunate. The body had been dragged through the maze of tunnels and sewers to wherever the monster lived and slept. Martha hoped, no prayed, that whatever it was had gone to sleep for a very long time like Arthur had told her.

Each night she would creep down and listen at the cellar door to see if she could hear it scurrying around on the cold, limestone floor, its sharp claws clickety-clacking as it tried its best to get into the house. The first few times, Martha had heard nothing but the pounding of her heart as the blood rushed around her body; the fear had been so strong. But when she listened night after night and there was nothing but silence, no scratching and no tinkling of the jack-in-the-box, she began to feel braver. She knew that the monster thing would kill her if it got the chance, but a part of her had died the night Joe had gone anyway, and she wondered if it would be so bad. At least she would be back with Joe and they could play together again. No child should have to feel as lonely as she had done this last year.

There was no party tonight like there had been every other year that she could remember. The staff had all been given the night off and Martha’s mother had taken to her room earlier, crying and sobbing. Her father had promised he would play a game of snakes and ladders with her, which would be nice, but he was obviously torn between comforting his wife and his daughter. Such a harsh life lesson on divided loyalties was another thing that no child should ever have to learn.

She had gone downstairs to listen at the cellar door because she could hear the muffled voices of her parents as they argued. She felt guilty because they were no doubt arguing about her. For a heart-stopping moment she thought she heard a scraping sound coming from the cellar below, but then the back door slammed shut, making her jump away from the door to see a windswept Davey come inside.

‘Good evening, miss, what are you doing down here all on your own?’

‘I was just…I was just listening.’

Davey nodded. ‘I see. And what were you listening for?’

‘I don’t really know. My brother, I suppose. You know what day it is, don’t you?’

‘I do indeed. That’s why I came back to see if you were all right. I could never forget what day it is, young Martha.’

She nodded her head. ‘Good. I’m glad you won’t forget and I’m glad that you came back. It’s so sad and lonely here now.’

‘I know. This isn’t the same house, is it?’

‘Davey, did you see it? I heard Father say that he sent you down into the tunnels to look for Joe and you were terrified. Was that because you saw the monster man?’

He knelt down so he was at eye level with her. ‘I’m not going to lie to you, Miss Martha, because you’re far too clever for that. I didn’t see it as I’m seeing you, but I saw something that was big and scary. It scared me so much I thought I was going to pee in my pants and I haven’t done that since I was…well, since I was younger than you.’

‘I saw it too. I saw it on the lawn one day as it was getting dusky. It was by the water’s edge and it was staring up at this house. I was scared, but I couldn’t look away from it. It had long pointed teeth and big black claws instead of fingers. I don’t want it to come and gobble me up like it did Joe.’

‘I don’t know what it is, Martha, but it’s not like you or me. It lives in the sewers that run along this side of the lake and somewhere down there it must have a place to live and sleep, because I haven’t heard sight or sound of it for months now, and trust me, I’ve been listening for it just like you have.’

‘Davey, do you think that it’s gone to sleep? Father’s friend said it probably has.’

‘I do. I think that you can sleep a bit easier now, miss. I was talking to some of the men in the…well, it doesn’t matter where it was, but they said that the last time someone went missing around here was that man who fell off his boat last summer. So I think that maybe it sleeps for an awful long time, just like those bears that hibernate in the big forests in America. So if it’s hibernating that means it’s forgetting all about coming round and sniffing in that cellar.’

‘I hope so. Thank you for telling me, Davey.’

‘Let’s just hope that neither you nor I are still here when it wakes up.’

Martha nodded her head. She didn’t think she would be here when it woke up, and if she was she would buy a gun and shoot it herself.

‘Davey, does my father know any of this?’

‘I’ve told him what I’ve told you, but I don’t know if he was listening to me the way you have. Those friends who came to visit told him a lot of things about it as well. That was why we painted those funny symbols around the house to protect us all. One day, Miss Martha, you might have to explain it all to him again, but for now he is in a world of hurt and pain. I know he tries his best, so you keep on being patient.’

‘I will, thank you.’

‘Now come on, miss, let’s go and play a game of snakes and ladders. I bet you can beat me with your eyes shut.’

Martha began to giggle. She tried to picture herself wearing a blindfold, playing a game, and that made her giggle even more. Just then her father appeared at the top of the stairs. He smiled to hear his daughter laughing.

‘You’re just in time, sir. Miss Martha was going to show me how to lose at snakes and ladders.’

‘That would be the two of us then, Davey, because she always manages to beat me as well.’ He ran down the rest of the stairs and scooped her up into his strong, safe arms and Martha let out a sigh. A look passed between the two men. They shared a terrible burden – of knowing that a monster lived in the sewers – and it was a secret that would bond them to each other until one or both of them died.

Epilogue

Will had been in surgery for four hours and they had removed his spleen and repaired his ruptured kidney. He’d had blood transfusions and was on strong painkillers, which made him do nothing but sleep. He’d woken up a couple of times to see Annie at his bedside. She was sporting a black eye, just for a change, and had butterfly stitches on the side of her head, but she was alive.

He’d thought he was going to die when Megan had buried that knife in his side. Will had never known pain like it, but a young girl’s voice had kept whispering in his ear that he had to stay and fight it. She had such a sweet voice. He remembered at one point asking her what she was called, and she told him Sophie. When Annie’s voice had taken over, telling him to stay with them, he had known that everything was going to be fine, give or take a hospital stay. He’d been so relieved to feel her stroking his head and talking to him, it had made him more determined that he wasn’t going to die at the hands of Megan and Henry. He opened his eyes and Annie was curled up on the reclining chair next to him reading a magazine. ‘Hey, beautiful, what are you reading?’

She jumped off the chair, throwing the magazine to one side, and bent to kiss his dried lips. ‘A baby magazine. It’s all that was left in the waiting room.’