~o~
Lulled by the comfort of the cottage, Alexander slept late the next morning. Only his second day there and he was already feeling that he had at last found were he belonged. He hadn't felt as relaxed as this since before Jane's tragic accident. His initial impressions had proved correct; this cottage was ideal for him. Only the strange unaccountable feeling that he was not quite alone gave him a slight unease. The vase falling off the table; the feeling of the shadow passing by was strange. But during the night he was roused by an absurd feeling that someone was prodding him. It was a little unusual to say the least but he put it down to the stress that he had been living through over the past months. For a fleeting instant he almost wondered if Alice could somehow be behind it, having found a new way to annoy him. He quickly dismissed this explanation as unreasonable. For one thing his mother-in-law had no idea where he was living and the events were too strange to be caused by an angry woman, even one as malicious as Alice. If Alice were after him she would be more likely to set the cottage on fire than to use sleight of hand or conjuring tricks to bemuse him. No, the explanation was far more mundane; after the stress of the past months, he was clearly losing his mind.
The thought made him smile; losing your mind in this fashion was a surprisingly untroubling thing. He rather hoped that being mad would not stop him writing his novel. Alexander had just decided to accept this hypothesis, until more salient facts were at his disposal, when the phone rang. He answered it with the self-deprecating chuckle still detectable in his voice.
"Hello, Alexander Havers."
"Good morning Mr Havers, this is Suzanne Wilcox. I was just ringing to see if everything is all right with the cottage."
"Yes, Hello Suzanne; it is just what I wanted. I have settled in rather well and feel as if I've lived here for years... There's just one thing, has anyone else remarked on any slightly, err... strange things happening in the cottage?"
"What sort of thing do you mean?"
"Well... this is going to sound a bit off the wall but..." Alexander hesitated to use the word but it summed up what he was trying to say better than anything else he could think of "Err... poltergeist activity."
Suzanne choked back a laugh.
"No, certainly not, the house has a friendly atmosphere. What exactly has been happening? I know there is a band of semi wild cats that sometimes make a nuisance of themselves in the garden."
"No it's nothing like that, I had a vase fall off the table for no apparent reason, and I've had some funny feelings that I can't really explain... look Suzanne, I wish I hadn't brought it up now I'm making myself sound stupid, it's probably just me settling in."
"I'm sure that's all it is, if anything else happens let me know. In the meantime, everything else is OK?"
"Yes perfect, this cottage fits me like a glove."
Alexander shuffled into the light of the blue and white painted kitchen and started thinking about a nice leisurely breakfast. He decided on poached eggs and opened the fridge to rummage through its contents. He suddenly had the strange but now familiar feeling bristling at the back of his neck that he was not quite alone. Alexander turned quickly, dropping his eggs onto the stone tiled floor as he twisted round.
There, sitting cross-legged on the slender oak dining table and looking curiously at him with her head cocked over to one side, was the unmistakeable if vague image of an attractive and impishly smiling young woman.
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