A Dark Secret: Part 2 of 3. Casey Watson. Читать онлайн. Newlib. NEWLIB.NET

Автор: Casey Watson
Издательство: HarperCollins
Серия:
Жанр произведения: Биографии и Мемуары
Год издания: 0
isbn: 9780008298630
Скачать книгу
that bridge when we came to it, only a couple of days later I had further evidence that perhaps we couldn’t. That I’d been lulled into a false sense of security.

      In fact, it was in the night-time when it happened – at 3.20 in the morning. A horrible time to be jolted awake at the best of times, but even worse when you were woken by screaming. And there was something about Sam’s screams that never failed to go right through me.

      ‘I’ll go,’ I whispered to Mike, who had also woken up. ‘You go back to sleep, love. You’ve got to be up in three hours.’

      ‘Wha? Wha time is it?’ he mumbled as I pushed the covers back. Then he grunted and pulled the duvet back over his head.

      Screams still piercing the silence, I pattered out onto the landing, pulling on my dressing gown as I went. I knew Tyler wouldn’t wake up, at least – he’d been football training after college and it would take an earthquake to wake him after that. He might even still be wearing headphones while sleeping – it wouldn’t be the first time, as he often finished the evening with a late-night comedy podcast; it always made us smile to hear him tittering away to himself.

      Sam, though, despite my assumption he was screaming in his sleep, appeared to be wide, wide awake. He was sitting bolt upright in his bed, clutching the covers under his chin, his little hands balled into tight, white fists.

      But as I approached I wasn’t sure he was awake after all. His face was wet from sobbing, his eyes and pupils huge, but he didn’t seem to see me.

      Sam nodded – so he was awake, at least half-awake – but he still stared straight ahead towards the mirror on his dressing table. I followed his line of sight and wondered fleetingly if that might be the problem. It was probably a scary thing if you woke in the night and saw a reflection of yourself in a mirror. I didn’t have time to dwell on that, however, as Sam had by now begun rambling. Not quite sense – more a string of random words and phrases, only a few of which I could pick out. Dog cage. The bad man. It hurts. Mustn’t tell.

      Sam was beginning to shake now, as well, so I put my arm around him and gently rocked him, holding him tight but not too tight as he continued spewing words out. I still wasn’t entirely sure if he was asleep or awake. The bad man. Mustn’t tell. Mustn’t tell Mummy. Courtney. He was sobbing too, little whimpers. Like a dreaming dog, chasing rabbits in its sleep.

      ‘The bad man,’ I said eventually, keeping my voice to a whisper.

      ‘He’s so bad,’ he said immediately, and I felt him stiffen in my embrace.

      ‘The bad man in your dream?’ I tried.

      ‘He’s real,’ Sam said finally. ‘He’s proper. He’s real.’

      ‘And he hurt you?’

      A small nod.

      ‘In what way, sweetie?’

      ‘My winkie. He said he wouldn’t but he did! He’s a liar!’

      Can a heart ‘sink’? Of course not. It’s too firmly anchored. But the expression is a common one for good reason. Nothing else captures that sensation of resigned, heavy gloom quite so accurately. That moment when a person sees or hears something so wretchedly unwelcome that an exhalation or a head shake just isn’t enough. His winkie. A bad man. A man who hurt his winkie. It was a Pandora’s box I’d had the misfortune to have opened more than once – those few words so often the portal to a whole raft of nasties, the implications of them so huge. Were I given to swearing, I’d have sworn then, no question. This again.

      He was crying harder now, as if the admission had opened a sluice. ‘Oh, sweetheart,’ I said, clutching him tighter. ‘Shhh, now. It’s okay. You’re safe, no one can hurt you here, I promise.’

      And, of course, he was. At least from the bad man who’d hurt him, whoever he was. But from the demons lodged in his head, not at all.

      Конец ознакомительного фрагмента.

      Текст предоставлен ООО «ЛитРес».

      Прочитайте эту книгу целиком, купив полную легальную версию на ЛитРес.

      Безопасно оплатить книгу можно банковской картой Visa, MasterCard, Maestro, со счета мобильного телефона, с платежного терминала, в салоне МТС или Связной, через PayPal, WebMoney, Яндекс.Деньги, QIWI Кошелек, бонусными картами или другим удобным Вам способом.

/9j/4QAYRXhpZgAASUkqAAgAAAAAAAAAAAAAAP/sABFEdWNreQABAAQAAABQAAD/4QNxaHR0cDov L25zLmFkb2JlLmNvbS94YXAvMS4wLwA8P3hwYWNrZXQgYmVnaW49Iu+7vyIgaWQ9Ilc1TTBNcENl aGlIenJlU3pOVGN6a2M5ZCI/PiA8eDp4bXBtZXRhIHhtbG5zOng9ImFkb2JlOm5zOm1ldGEvIiB4 OnhtcHRrPSJBZG9iZSBYTVAgQ29yZSA1LjAtYzA2MSA2NC4xNDA5NDksIDIwMTAvMTIvMDctMTA6 NTc6MDEgICAgICAgICI+IDxyZGY6UkRGIHhtbG5zOnJkZj0iaHR0cDovL3d3dy53My5vcmcvMTk5 OS8wMi8yMi1yZGYtc3ludGF4LW5zIyI+IDxyZGY6RGVzY3JpcHRpb24gcmRmOmFib3V0PSIiIHht bG5zOnhtcE1NPSJodHRwOi8vbnMuYWRvYmUuY29tL3hhcC8xLjAvbW0vIiB4bWxuczpzdFJlZj0i aHR0cDovL25zLmFkb2JlLmNvbS94YXAvMS4wL3NUeXBlL1Jlc291cmNlUmVmIyIgeG1sbnM6eG1w PSJodHRwOi8vbnMuYWRvYmUuY29tL3hhcC8xLjAvIiB4bXBNTTpPcmlnaW5hbERvY3VtZW50SUQ9 InhtcC5kaWQ6NTlFMjFCREYzMzIwNjgxMThDMTRFMzkwRURGNDYwRTciIHhtcE1NOkRvY3VtZW50 SUQ9InhtcC5kaWQ6RTdDNTU0QzRGMTk2MTFFOEE5ODVGQTUxQzc2NjRCOEMiIHhtcE1NOkluc3Rh bmNlSUQ9InhtcC5paWQ6RTdDNTU0QzNGMTk2MTFFOEE5ODVGQTUxQzc2NjRCOEMiIHhtcDpDcmVh dG9yVG9vbD0iQWRvYmUgUGhvdG9zaG9wIENTNS4xIE1hY2ludG9zaCI+IDx4bXBNTTpEZXJpdmVk RnJvbSBzdFJlZjppbnN0YW5jZUlEPSJ4bXAuaWlkOkVBMTYzN0M3OTMyMTY4MTE5RjA2RTNGOURB Qzk1Q0Y1IiBzdFJlZjpkb2N1bWVudElEPSJ4bXAuZGlkOkVBRDUzM0IwOTMyMTY4MTE5RjA2RTNG OURBQzk1Q0Y1Ii8+IDwvcmRmOkRlc2NyaXB0aW9uPiA8L3JkZjpSREY+IDwveDp4bXBtZXRhPiA8 P3hwYWNrZXQgZW5kPSJyIj8+/+IMWElDQ19QUk9GSUxFAAEBAAAMSExpbm8CEAAA