Mirrors by Wendy Cooling

Author:Wendy Cooling [Edited by Wendy Cooling]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780007392735
Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
Published: 2001-01-10T05:00:00+00:00

Paul Stewart

DOUBLE VISION

‘This is terrible!’ Craig heard his mum complaining.

Outside, the fog was thicker than ever. The motorway traffic was crawling along, lights blazing. After two wonderful weeks in the Lakes, the return journey was turning into a nightmare.

Molly and Liz, Craig’s two younger sisters, were asleep beside him on the back seat. Up front, his dad was hunched over the steering wheel, while beside him, his mum peered grimly out of the window.

‘Let’s leave at the next junction and find somewhere to spend the night.’ she suggested. ‘Hopefully, the fog will have lifted by morning.’

‘Good idea,’ said his father.

Half an hour later, the five of them were clustered together in front of a large desk in the entrance hall of Knottley Manor Hotel.

‘You’re in luck, Mr Burgess,’ said the receptionist, looking up. ‘There’s a family suite free for the one night.’

‘Ideal,’ said Craig’s dad. ‘We’ll take it.’

The receptionist handed him a key. ‘Third floor,’ she said. ‘Number thirteen.’

‘Thirteen,’ Craig heard Molly whisper to Liz, as they climbed the stairs. ‘That’s unlucky, that is. I bet you there’s a ghost.’

‘A ghost!’ gasped Liz.

‘It’s such an old place,’ said Molly. ‘There’s bound to be. What do you think, Craig?’

Craig snorted. ‘I think you’re both nutters,’ he said. He wasn’t about to admit that he, too, had been wondering whether the old sprawling manor might be haunted.

Their suite was made up of two bedrooms, a sitting room and a bathroom. The rooms were all small, and made smaller still by the huge dark furniture which filled them. Mr Burgess checked his watch.

‘Bedtime, you lot,’ he said. ‘Molly, Liz; you’re in the room with the twin beds. We’ll take the double bed. Craig, the bed-settee out here for you, I’m afraid.’

‘That’s fine, Dad,’ said Craig. After two weeks of sharing with his sisters, a room on his own sounded perfect.

He wasn’t so sure, later. As he lay in the strange bed with its cold sheets and heavy blankets, the room creaked and groaned with unfamiliar noises, Craig began to feel uneasy. He looked round, and his gaze came to rest on the mirror on the wall opposite.

It was small, round, and set in an ornate, golden frame. Despite its size, Craig discovered that he could see every corner of the room reflected in it – the window, the doors, the fireplace and, propped up against big striped pillows, himself. Like the back of a spoon, the mirror was convex – a huge gold and silver fish-eye that seemed to be staring back into the room at him.

Craig waved his arms. His reflection waved back. He stuck out his tongue. His reflection did the same. He leant across and switched off the bedside lamp, then closed his eyes and imagined his other self lying there on the bed-settee; still, silent, and so sleepy…

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