‘It’s unbelievable.’
‘What is?’
But he had darted back into the darkroom, and I tore in after him. There, floating in the developing tray, were two prints. One showed a wolf cub sitting on the cushion as before. The other depicted a large female wolf with huge fangs, sprawled on a sofa. The eyes were menacing – and unmistakably belonged to Mrs Ralph.
‘It’s her,’ I said woodenly.
‘Who?’ Uncle Harry gazed at me in gathering bewilderment.
‘Mrs Ralph.’
‘She’s a wolf?’ he asked incredulously.
‘I don’t understand.’ I was close to tears. ‘I just don’t understand. There must be something wrong somewhere.’
‘But it’s not the equipment,’ he said decisively. ‘It can’t be – I’ve checked out every little bit of it.’
‘Then what is it?’ I asked desperately. ‘How does the mistake happen?’
‘Is it a mistake?’ Uncle Harry sounded as if he were talking to himself. Then he looked at his watch, staring at its face for a long time as if he couldn’t believe that either.
‘What’s the time?’ I asked nervously.
‘Just before six. They’ll be here soon.’
‘Don’t open the downstairs door,’ I pleaded, swept by a wave of blind panic.
‘I left it ajar.’ His voice was grim.
He had, I remembered now, and I was sure I could hear footsteps. But they weren’t footsteps. More like the padding of paws on the stairs, quick and determined …
‘So that’s how you got the scar on your neck?’ said Tom.
‘I don’t want to talk about it any more,’ replied Kim.
The door of the next-door cabin opened with a rasp.
Fearfully they all scrambled for their bunks and lay there, listening to the dark. Mrs Henshaw had such large teeth…
A Note on the Author
Anthony Masters was renowned as an adult novelist, short story writer and biographer, but was best known for his fiction for young people.
Many of his novels carry deep insights into social problems, which he experienced over four decades by helping the socially excluded. He ran soup kitchens for drug addicts and campaigned for the civic rights of gypsies and other ethnic minorities. Masters is also known for his eclectic range of non-fiction titles, ranging from the biographies of such diverse personalities as the British secret service chief immortalized by Ian Fleming in his James Bond books (The Man Who Was M: the Life of Maxwell Knight).
His children’s fiction included teenage novels and the ground breaking Weird World series of young adult horror, published by Bloomsbury. He also worked with children both in schools and at art festivals. Anthony Masters died in 2003.
Discover books by Anthony Masters published by Bloomsbury Reader at
www.bloomsbury.com/AnthonyMasters
A Pocketful of Rye
Confessional
Finding Joe
Ghost Blades
Hidden Gods
Murder Is a Long Time Coming
The Men
The Seahorse
Children and Young Adult Books
Cries of Terror
Dead Man at the Door
Ghost Stories to Tell in the Dark
Horror Stories to Tell in the Dark
I Want Him Dead
Nightmare in New York
Scary Tales to Tell in the Dark
Vampire Stories to Tell in the Dark
Werewolf Stories to tell in the Dark
For copyright reasons, any images not belonging to the original author have been
removed from this book. The text has not been changed, and may still contain
references to missing images.
This electronic edition published in 2013 by Bloomsbury Reader
Bloomsbury Reader is a division of Bloomsbury Publishing Plc, 50 Bedford Square,
London WC1B 3DP
First published in Great Britain 1996 by Puffin Books
Copyright © 1996 Anthony Masters
All rights reserved
You may not copy, distribute, transmit, reproduce or otherwise
make available this publication (or any part of it) in any form, or by any means
(including without limitation electronic, digital, optical, mechanical, photocopying,
printing, recording or otherwise), without the prior written permission of the
publisher. Any person who does any unauthorised act in relation to this publication
may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages.
The moral right of the author is asserted.
eISBN: 9781448213740
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Werewolf Stories to Tell in the Dark Page 8
