MAGDALENA'S GHOST: THE HAUNTING OF THE HOUSE IN GALLOWS LANE by PEPPI HILTON

perplexed. Leaning over the side of the bed, she stuck her head underneath whilst clinging onto the mattress, but then she began to slide slowly down the bed and had to cling on tighter. At that point Anton woke up and turned his head towards her
    “What are you doing?” he asked, rubbing his eyes as if he were seeing things. He sleepily eyeballed her bottom which was sticking up in the air.
    Lucy almost fell off the bed as she struggled to get back up again, so Anton grabbed her by her nightie and dragged her back onto the bed.
    The snoring had stopped, so she knew she was going to look rather foolish.
    “I heard snoring – it was coming from the floor underneath the bed.”
    Anton groaned, grabbed the bedding and swiftly turned over burying himself under the duvet. Within minutes he had resumed his sleep and was snoring, and there was no mistaking this time where the sound was coming from.
    Lucy wasn’t too happy about the experience. She shivered, but it was more from a feeling of eeriness than cold. She was certain that snoring was coming from the floor underneath the bed. She turned towards Anton pulling herself as close to him as possible, before burying her head under the bedding. Fortunately she had muffled out any chance of further noises and soon fell asleep.
    Anton awoke early the next morning and turned to face Lucy, but she wasn’t there. He sat up and looked around the room, but there was no sign of her. Perhaps she’s got up early to make a brew and something to eat, he hoped. So he jumped out of bed and opened the bedroom door.
    “Luce!” he called, his words echoing down the empty staircase.
    “What do you want?” was the muffled reply.
    He spun round to see her legs and feet sticking out from under the bed. She slid herself back out, stood up and brushed herself down in the process.
    “What are you doing?” he exclaimed, looking puzzled.
    “I was looking to see where that snoring noise came from.”
    Anton looked at her in exasperation, threw his arms up in the air and gasped. He marched round to the bed, pulled on some clothes which he had, unusually, left on the floor the night before, and disappeared out of the room.
    Lucy got dressed and tidied up the bed, before following meekly down the stairs. When she walked into the scullery she found he had retrieved their electric kettle and he was now boiling water and preparing bacon for frying on the range. He had made sure it was packed with fuel the previous evening in order for it to stay in all night in readiness for breakfast. She knew he was annoyed with her about the snoring sounds, after all, it did sound pretty stupid in the cold light of day. She’d probably imagined it as usual anyway. She knew the best thing to do was to get on with helping him to make breakfast and keep quiet – he’d snap out of his little tantrum!
    By the time they sat down to eat their food – which by now was on the dining table in the sitting room – he had forgotten all about the incident and was back to his cheery self. He wasn’t one for sulking, or getting angry, he had a calming influence on Lucy because he was so laid back about everything and nothing ever presented a problem to him. There wasn’t anything he could not tackle, or sort. She could understand him getting a little bit frustrated with her after all the hours he had put in to get the house ready for habitation, she couldn’t blame him for that. She couldn’t help but think how she loved his orderliness, his organised methods and eagerness to get everything as perfect as possible. He had surprised her that morning by organising the table and chairs at the back of the sitting room so they could have a proper dining area; it was just like him to do that and she loved him for it. She was a bit of a scatterbrain herself, but she did try to be more organised so that she wouldn’t let Anton down.
    They ate in silence and although the house was virtually empty and needed a complete overhaul, the