The Hunting Ground by Cliff McNish Read Free Book Online

what’s he doing on your bed?’
    ‘How do I know? When I came back he was
just there
.’
    Elliott warily circled Old Albert, studying him from all angles. The teddy’s fat hairy arms were stickingstraight out. He looked desperately keen to be played with.
    ‘Maybe Dad did it as a surprise? A joke,’ Elliott said.
    ‘Don’t be dumb. Anyway, something’s been playing with him.’
    ‘Playing?’
    ‘Look.’ Without getting too close to Old Albert, Ben pointed at his head. ‘There. See where he’s been
brushed
? See the fur? It’s all smooth. And the bow round his neck’s been made … I don’t know … prettier. Dad wouldn’t do that.
We
didn’t do it. It must be the ghost.’
    Elliott felt his skin prickle. If it hadn’t been for Theo’s entries, and the scrishing sounds, he would never have taken the suggestion seriously. But an actual ghost in the house? Despite the diary, he wasn’t quite ready to accept that.
    ‘OK. Let’s suppose you’re right,’ he said, mainly to give himself time to organise his thoughts. ‘Let’s suppose it is a ghost. What kind of ghost are we talking about here?’
    ‘A child,’ Ben said. ‘Like in the diary.’
    ‘OK,’ Elliott agreed. ‘A child, because who else would want to brush an old teddy?’ The thought of that was briefly so ludicrous that he laughed.
    ‘Not just a child,’ Ben said, deadly serious. ‘A girl. Teddies, so a
little
girl,’ he added. ‘In the diary Eve liked her dolls, remember? We haven’t got any dolls. OldAlbert was probably the nearest thing she could find in the box.’
    A real ghost girl?
Elliott thought. It was hard to believe, but the evidence appeared to be on the bed. And if their ghost was playing with cuddly toys, it presumably must be young. Could it really be Eve? The diary gave no indication that Eve had died, but they only had a single fragment to go on. Maybe she’d died soon after the last entry. Had there been an accident? Dad said there’d been a tragedy here the owners didn’t want to talk about …
    ‘A little girl who wants to play,’ Ben murmured. He gave Elliott an astonished look, as if he couldn’t quite believe what he was saying. ‘Are you scared?’
    ‘Yes,’ Elliott said. ‘And stop pretending you’re not.’
    ‘I’m not
that
scared,’ Ben growled back. ‘How scary can a little girl be? But what’s she doing here? And where’s she been hiding all this time? We’ve been here three days now. Where’s she been?’
    ‘The East Wing, I suppose,’ Elliott said. ‘You went in there last night. You opened it, didn’t you? Maybe you stirred something up. Our ghost might have been stuck in there all this time. But now it’s out, and it wants to play.’
    ‘I didn’t make that hole into the East Wing!’ Ben yelled.
    ‘Are you sure?’
    ‘Of course I am. I’m not lying! I didn’t do it!’
    Elliott wanted to believe him, but after reading Theo’s diary he wasn’t entirely convinced Ben was telling the truth. Eve had torn the barrier down without admitting to it as well. On the other hand, if Ben
was
telling the truth, then something had smashed its way out of the East Wing, and suddenly the idea of a ghost in the house, little girl or otherwise, didn’t seem so harmless.
    ‘Maybe we can … I don’t know … find out what she’s doing here,’ Ben said breathlessly. ‘You know, invite her to play. Find out about her. How she died.’ He nodded to himself, squeezing his hands together. ‘Yeah, why not?’
    ‘What are you talking about?’ Elliott said, trying to think. ‘We’re not playing with any ghosts. Anyway, if you were a ghost girl, stuck here, would you rather play with toys or play with
us
?’
    ‘What do you mean?’ Ben asked, taken aback.
    ‘I mean, we’re real. She’ll probably be a whole lot more interested in you and me than in Old Albert.’
    That quietened Ben down. In any case, Elliott could tell that Ben had no desire to play with ghosts, little girls or