خانه‌ی هامپتون

Chapter six

Hampton House

For the next few days Kathy stayed quietly at home. In the evenings, people came to visit her and told her about the search for a new meeting place. Everyone in the town was helpful, offering their garages, garden sheds or even their spare rooms but none of the places were any good as an office for Helping Hand.

“That’s it then. Helping Hand will have to close.”

“What about Hampton House? An old lady at the Old People’s Home was telling me about it. Maybe it’s just what we need for an office as it’s been empty for years.”

“It’s worth a try. You never know.”

Two days later, William found some information about the house. He told Kathy that it was near the Old People’s Home. He had checked on an old map of the town and found out where it was.

“We’re going there this afternoon. Do you want to come, Kathy?”

“Of course. You can’t leave me behind!”

It was a warm afternoon. Kathy sat behind William on his motorbike and waved to the crowd from Helping Hand. They wanted to come and look round the old house, too. After a long ride they finally saw its old wall with tall iron gates in the middle of it. Some energetic young people climbed up onto the high wall while others looked in through the gate.

Kathy saw a wild garden with old trees covered in ivy. The house was exactly as she had imagined it, except the roof had fallen in. The windows were covered in dirt and dust, and they were cracked from the stones children had thrown at them for fun.

“It’s falling down. What do you think Sue?”

“It does look dangerous. Where are you going Adam?”

“I’m going to have a look round.”

Adam jumped off the top of the wall into the garden. Everyone watched in fear as he tried to walk across the wild garden to the house. Suddenly, he came back to the wall and climbed quickly over it to the road.

“Snakes! The garden is full of snakes!”

“That’s it, then. We can’t use the old house.”

“I’m not afraid of snakes.”

Before anyone could stop her, Kathy climbed up to the top of the wall, and jumped down. Carefully, she walked across the garden to the heavy wooden front door. She bent down and cleared the stones and earth from the bottom, then she slowly turned the big brass handle to open it. The door opened just enough for Kathy to get inside, then it closed behind her.

Kathy was in a large room. The walls were cracked and peeling, the ceiling hung down in places and the floor was covered in dust. The few floor boards that showed, looked worm-eaten and dangerous. Kathy saw a great staircase covered with spiders’ webs and a small mouse sitting on the bottom step. Quickly, it jumped away in a cloud of dust. Kathy became so frightened that she couldn’t move. She was ready to leave the house when she saw a large table and four chairs. There was no dust on them. A candlestick stood in the middle of the table with a lit candle in it. Kathy went closer and, at that moment, she heard “the voice”.

“Please sit down, Kathy.”

Strangely, Kathy felt relaxed and comfortable when she heard it. She sat down on the nearest chair and waited. A plate of delicious food appeared in front of her. It was hot and smelt delicious. Kathy felt hungry, so she picked up the heavy silver knife and fork. And soon, her plate was empty. It disappeared, and a bowl of strawberries and cream arrived in its place.

“Lovely! Thank you! I never could say no to food.”

“Our time together is not ended. Please, come to the house another day, Kathy.”

She accepted the invitation, then carefully stood up from the table and walked round the room, keeping close to the wall, until she reached the front door. It opened easily and she was outside again in the bright sunshine. The crowd gathered round her.

“What happened?”

“Is the house any good for our meetings?”

“Why did you stay in there so long?”

Kathy told them about the clean table and chairs, about the lovely meal and about “the voice”. She saw the way they looked at each other and she knew they didn’t believe her.

“Come on, Kathy! It seems the bump on your head is more serious than we thought.”

“If there’s free food inside, I’ll go next time.”

Everyone relaxed and laughed as they walked away from the old house.