"________________ ." "NVEE ________________" "Now, children" "Are you sitting comfortably?" "Then I'll begin." ""This story started many thousands of years ago but it was all over in just seven days." "All that long, long time ago none of the things we can see now" "... thesun,themoon,thestars  the earth, the animals and plants" "... notasingleoneexisted." "Only God existed, and so only He could have created them." "And He did ... "" "Mr. sim pson ... , whatacharacterhewas!" "I wonder whatever beca me of him?" "Oh, I imagine he's dead like all the rest." "Ah, those were the days..." "Mr. Tuttle, your hair!" "Yes ..." "Good morning, ma'am." "We've come about the ..." "Oh yes, of course ... comein ." "I wasn't expecting you so soon." "You are ... ?" "I'm Bertha Mills, ma'am." "And this is Ed m und Tuttle." "Pleased to meet you, ma'a m." "You m ust be the gardener." "Ay, that's right, the gardener..." "And this young lady's called Lydia." "Have you had m uch experience in service?" "Oh, don't let that angel face fool you, ma'a m ." "She's older than she looks." "Can you iron?" "What's the matter?" "Has the cat got your tongue?" "Ah, she can't talk, ma'am." "The poor little mite's a m ute." "Oh!" "Oh, but she's a good little worker I can promise you that." "All right." "All right." "The other girl I had spoke too m uch anyway." "Follow me." "Mrs. Mills, you and the girl you will sleep in the attic room at the top of the stairs." "And you, Mr... ." "Tuttle, ma'am." "... AhTuttle... you cansleepintheshed around the back." "As you can see, the housework has been rather neglected since the servants disappeared almost a week ago." "You mean they just vanished?" "Into thin air... nonotice... nothing." "They didn't even collect their wages." "They ... theyjustleftus." "What a strange thing to do!" "You'll soon find out there are times when this house is not exactly an ideal home." "Hence my advertisement in the newspaper requesting honest, hardworking people." "Oh, there's nobody more honest and hardworking than us isn't that right, Mr. Tuttle?" "Oh, ay, we're very honest..." "And uh m, ... veryhardworking." "The kitchen." "I have breakfast at eight the children at nine." "Lunch will be served at one and dinner at half past seven." "And the master, ma'am?" "The master went off to war..." "a year and a half ago." "I had no news since the war ended Which of you does the cooking?" "I'm so sorry, ma'am." "Which of you does the cooking?" "Have you all noticed what I am doing?" "In this house no door m ust be opened without the previous one being closed first." "It's vital that you reme m ber this." "It's not as easy as it may seem." "There are fifteen different keys for all of the fifty doors, depending on which area of the house you're in at the time." "Mrs. Mills, from tomorrow onwards I will be leaving a set of keys in your charge." "Yes, ma'a m." "The m usic room." "That old piano was already here when we moved in." "Please do not let the children thu m p away on it it sets off my migraine." "Silence is something that we prize very highly in this house." "That's why you will not find a telephone a radio or anything else that makes a racket." "Ah ... wedon'thaveelectricityeither." "During the war, the Germans kept cutting it off so we just learned to live without it." "Let's continue ..." "M a'a m, there's really no need to show us around the whole house, we ..." "Yes!" "Yes, there is." "Because here, most of the time you can hardly see your way." "It's often difficult to make out if there is a table, a chair, a door a sideboard or one of my children playing Hide-And-seek." "What do you mean ma'am?" "Perhaps I should introduce you to the children." "Mr. Tuttle, you can see to the garden now." "You'll find tools in the shed." "Yes, ma'a m." "You two can start closing the curtains." "All of them." "Come." "I'll wake them." "You wait here." "Whatever you do don't open the curtains." "Wakey-wakey" "Now, come on, eyes closed hands together." "Blessed be, at light of day," "Jesus, to whom now I pray." "Blessed be the Virgin pure" "Whom I greet with faith so sure." "Jesus, M ary, spotless Rose," "Keep us till this day doth close." "They're still half-asleep." "What sweet little children!" "Well?" "What do you say?" "How do you do?" "How do you do, children?" "My name's Mrs. Mills, but you can call me Bertha if you like." "What are your names?" "Anne." "Nicholas." "Anne and Nicholas." "What pretty names!" "Are you going to be our new nanny?" "Yes, my dears." "I'm your new nanny." "It's time for their breakfast." "Lydia, you go to the kitchen and close every shutter." "The doctors were never able to find a cure." "For what?" "Their condition." "The children have a very serious allergy to light." "They are photosensitive and they m ust never be exposed to any light m uch stronger than this." "Otherwise in a matter of minutes they would break out in sores and blisters and begin to suffocate." "It would eventually be fatal." "Good Heavens!" "I don't like this toast." "Oh, why not?" "It tastes funny." "I liked it better before." "Well, that was because, before somebody else made it." "When are they coming back?" "They're not won't be coming back, child." "Just like daddy." "Daddy is coming back, though." "Mrs. Mills, our father is fighting in a war in France, you know." "It's the World War." "I know, but he's in France." "That's enough chatterboxes ..." "finish up your breakfasts." "Are you going to leave us, too?" "Of course not." "Why should I leave you?" "The others said they wouldn't." "But they did ... andthenithappened." "Be quiet." "What do you mean Anne ... ?" "Whathappened?" "M u m my went... mad." "Nothing happened." "Yes it did." "No it didn't!" "Yes, it did!" "Be quiet!" "What's going on?" "I want to see those plates em pty in less than a minute." "Is that clear?" "Mrs. Mills, would you come outside a moment, I'd like a word with you." "Yes, ma'a m." "The postman usually comes every Wednesday, but I've just checked the letter box and this week he hasn't." "I'm afraid I don't follow ma'a m ." "This letter should have been collected and delivered to the newspaper five days ago." "It's an advertise ment for servants." "Since it was never published would you mind explaining to me what you're doing here?" "Now I understand." "Well, ma'am, that's exactly what I was going to say to you when you opened the door to us." "The truth is that we just come by on the off-chance." "You know a big house like this is always in need of someone who knows the ropes." "You mean you've served in a house like this one before?" "This may come as a surprise to you ma'am but we in fact used to work here." "Here?" "Oh now, it was a few years ago ..." "and if you don't mind my saying so ma'a m they were the best years of my life." "That's why we come by because this house means a lot to us." "Perhaps I'd best show you our references ma'am." "No, no, no." "Don't bother there's no need." "Ah, so you say you know the house well?" "Like the back of my hand ..." "Well that is always assu ming that the walls haven't sprouted legs and moved in the meantime." "The only thing that moves here is the light." "But it changes everything." "It's rather difficult, to say the least one might almost say unbearable." "The only way of enduring it is by keeping a cool head." "Oh, Yes ma'am." "I don't like ... fantasies..." "strange ideas." "Do you know what I mean?" "I think so, ma'am ." "My children sometimes have strange ideas but you m ustn't pay any ttention to them." "Children will be children." "Yes, of course, ma'am." "All right, you can stay." "Thank you very m uch, ma'am." "It did happened." "The Roman governor tried to make them change their minds afterwards ... "" ""To make them change their minds."" "Full stop. "Afterwards ... "  "Afterwards he ordered them to be beaten." "But Justus and Pastor... "" "far from being afraid, rejoiced and showed themselves willing to die for Christ." "When he saw this, the Roman governor was filled with rage and ordered their heads to be cut off."" "What do you find so am using?" "Well ..." "Well, what?" "Those children were really stupid." "Why?" "Because they said they only believed in Jesus and then they got killed for it." "Ah, and what would you have done?" "Deny Christ?" "Well, yes." "Inside, I would have believed in him." "But I wouldn't have told the Romans that." "Is that what you think, too, Nicholas?" "I see." "so you both would have lied to the point of denying Christ." "Oh you'd have saved your heads being chopped off by the Romans ..." "that's true ..." "But what would have happened afterwards?" "When?" "In the next life, the one that's waiting for us after we die." "Where would you have gone?" "Oh." "Oh ... where,Nicholas?" "To the children's Lim bo." "What is the children's Lim bo, Anne?" "One of the four Hells." "Which are ... ?" "M e, me, me, me, me ... me!" "No, no, no." "Let him answer." "Which are?" "There's the hell where the da m ned go then there's Purgatory" "Yes and the Bosom of Abraham where the Just go and Lim bo where children go." "At the centre of the Earth." "Where it's very, very hot." "That's where children go who tell lies." "But they don't just go there for a few days, oh no." "No, they're dam ned, forever." "Think about it." "Try to imagine the end of eternity." "Close your eyes, close your eyes and try to imagine it." "Forever... pain." "Forever." "I'm getting dizzy." "Now do you understand why Justus and Pastor told the truth?" "Right, ah, open your readers at Lesson 6." "Can't we go and play?" "You most certainly cannot." "First you're going to read the lesson and then you're going to learn it, by heart." "All of it?" "!" "Anne, any more protests and there'll be no playing for you at all today." "In fact, I think you can study in separate rooms ..." "No, no, no!" "Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes ... !" "But we get scared if we're separated." "You get scared ... !" "As if you weren't used to this house by now." "What if we see a ghost?" "Has your sister been telling you one of her stories?" "I haven't told him anything." "Well, if you see a ghost, you say hello and you continue on studying." "Anne, come with me to the m usic room." "Why me?" "Because I say so!" "Now come on take your book." "Nicholas, I want to see that lesson learned in less than an hour." "M u m my ..." "What?" "Give me a kiss." "Oh sweet..." ""Give me a kiss, give me a kiss ... "" "Anne, wait for me outside." "You know I can't." "Over there." "Mrs. Mills, close all the curtains." "My daughter is going to cross the living room." "Yes ma'am." "All right darling." "Darling, m u m my can't be with you all the time, h m m?" "You m ust learn to be on your own." "Where's your rosary?" "Ah, whenever you feel afraid I want you to squeeze it with all your might and say an Our Father and then your fear will go away." "It won't..." "Yes, yes it will." "Honestly." "Don't you see that when you do that the Lord is with you?" "There's no reason to be afraid." ""The house and the family." "We all live in a house with our family." "The fa mily is usually made up of parents children, and their grandparents." "We m ust be obedient and kind ... "" "" ... obedientandkindtowardstheother mem bers of our family and we m ust never argue or fight with our brothers and sisters ... "" "Do you have any children?" "No." "Mr Tuttle and the girl Lydia, are all I've got." "And I'm all they've got." "Was she born like that?" "Beg your pardon, ma'am ?" "The girl, was she born a m ute?" "No ..." "You know I think I've finished here ma'a m." "If you'll excuse me, I think I'll go and see if Mr. Tuttle needs a hand." "Nicholas!" "Nicholas, I'm coming!" "Nicholas ... ?" "What's the matter?" "Why were you crying?" "I wasn't crying." "I was reading." "But I just heard you ..." "Anne!" "..." "Anne!" "Anne!" "Anne!" "I haven't learned it yet, m u m my." "Are you all right?" "Yes." "Why were you crying?" "I wasn't crying." "But I just heard you a moment ago." "There's no need to feel ashamed darling." "I don't. lf I'd been crying I'd tell you." "Oh, really." "So, I imagined it, did I?" "No." "It was that boy." "What boy?" "Victor." "Who's Victor?" "The boy who was here a moment ago." "I told him to let me study but he wouldn't stop crying." "I think he's a spoilt brat." "He said we had to leave the house." "Did he now?" "Why was he crying?" "Because he doesn't like this house but he has to live here." "His father's a pianist and ..." "Oh. ah, his father's a pianist, is he?" "Yes." "And I've already told him that he's not allowed to touch the piano he isn't, is he. m u m my?" "So. you've spoken to his father as well?" "No, only with Victor." "His father is with the others in the hall." "But I've just come from the hall there's no one there." "They m ust have gone upstairs." "They're viewing the house." "That'll do, Anne." "That's enough." "Now, why were you crying?" "It was Victor." "So where is he now?" "He went out through there." "Would you mind telling me how a boy can get in and out of this room if it's locked ... ?" "I thought I made myself quite clear!" "No door is to be opened without the previous one being closed first." "Is that so hard to understand?" "This house is like a ship." "The light m ust be contained as if it were water by opening and closing the doors." "My children's lives are at stake!" "But, ma'am." "I ..." "Do not argue with me!" "Be quiet!" "Now which was the last of you to enter that room ?" "Lydia?" "She hasn't got a key I already told you that." "Well. that leaves you, then." "But, I was in the hall the whole time." "And then I went out into the garden." "You saw me with your own eyes." "I hope you are not suggesting that was me!" "Do you think that I would overlook such a thing and endanger the life of my own daughter?" "You're not supposed to read at the table." "Oh really?" "And who is going to tell m u m my ... you?" "Or perhaps ... you?" "Did you really see a boy?" "Yes, he's called Victor." "Is he a ghost?" "Don't be stupid." "G hosts aren't like that." "What are they like?" "I've told you a thousand times." "They go about in white sheets and carry chains." "How do you know?" "Because I've seen them ." "They come out at night." "Fibber!" "Where?" "You're stupid." "Not half as m uch as you." "Well." "I don't believe you saw that boy." "Believe what you like." "You'll soon be begging us to play with you." "Nicholas." "Nicholas." "What?" "Look." "Why have you opened the curtains?" "It wasn't me." "Who was it then?" "It was Victor." "He's been doing it all night." "You're a liar." "I'm going to tell m u m my." "So I'm a liar, a m I?" "Yes." "Victor, come out from behind that curtain so my stupid brother can see you." "Leave me alone." "So you don't want to see him now, eh?" "You're a cowardly custard... . cowardly cowardly custard ..." "cowardly, cowardly custard" "Well." "I'll just have to do it myself, then." "That's enough, Victor..." "Nicholas." "Nicholas." "Tell him to leave the curtains alone." "He won't listen to me." "Stop it!" "Get off my bed, both of you!" "This is our bed." "No, it's mine." "Anne, please stop putting on that voice." "You be quiet, cowardly custard." "Listen, if you don't stop" "I'll call my mother and she'll kick you out." "You don't know my mother!" "And you don't know my parents." "Anne, I'm going to tell m u m my about you." "Don't be stupid!" "Can't you see it's not me ... ?" "Victor, touch his cheek so he knows you're real." "Help!" "M u m my!" "Help!" "M u m my!" "M u m my!" "What is it?" "." "Help!" "M u m my!" "What is it?" "What is it?" "She was frightening me and I told her to be quiet and ..." "I'm fed up!" "Do you hear me?" "I am fed up with you!" "I didn't do anything!" ""Therefore the Lord God sent him forth from the garden of Eden to till the ground from whence he was taken." "so he drove out the man and placed at the east of the garden of Eden Cherubims, and a flaming sword which turned every way to keep the way of the tree of life."" "There!" "I've finished." "Very good." "Now you can ask the Virgin for forgiveness." "What!" "?" "That's not what we agreed." "We didn't agree anything, young lady." "Today you're being punished and you'lI do as I say." "You can't make me ask the Virgin for forgiveness." "How dare you!" "?" "M u m my, I won't ask forgiveness for something I didn't do." "You told your brother that there was someone else in the room!" "There was!" "You're lying!" "I am not!" "Anne, Anne. do you re mem ber the story about Justus and Pastor?" "Children who don't tell the truth end up in Lim bo." "That's what you say." "But I read the other day that Lim bo is only for children who haven't been baptised." "And I have." ""And Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering and laid it upon Isaac his son and he took the fire in his hand,..."" "" ... andaknife and they went both of them together"" "" ..." "AndIsaacspeakunto Abraham his father, and said," "My father: and he said Here am I my son." "And he..."" "Did you look in on Nicholas?" "Yes ma'am, the little angel is fast asleep." "What about Anne?" "Is she still on the stairs ?" "Oh yes, ma'am." "I'd prefer to have her where I can see her but I can't em broider in such poor light." "How long is this punish ment going to go on?" "It's been three days now." "It's up to her." "She's got to learn to swallow her pride and ask for forgiveness." "Anyway, it's about time she started to read the Bible." "Well. the priest will be very pleased to hear that ma'a m." "If he ever deigns to pay us another visit." "He knows perfectly well that the children can't go out." "Oh he told me yesterday he'd be by as soon as possible." "H m m. I'm beginning to feel totally cut off from the world." "And this fog doesn't exactly help." "It's never lasted this long before." "Well. that's true, ma'a m ." "Even the seagulls have gone quiet." "Anne!" "Anne, I can't hear you!" ""...and Isaac speak unto Abraha m his father, and said, My father..."" "Incidentally Mrs. Mills, I've had to put up with the noise of Lydia running around above my head." "Sh ... . she'sbeenhurtlingbackwards and forwards as if there were three of her up there." "Would you kindly tell her that it's not necessary to kick up quite such a ru m pus just to do a little cleaning." "I couldn't bare to get another migraine attack." "I'll tell her. ma'am." "Thank you." "" ... beholdthefireandthewood:" "but where is the lam b ... "" "Now she's really gone too far..." "Lydia!" "Lydia!" "" ... andtheangelofYave..."" "What's going on up there?" "Nothing. m u m my." "I'm just reading. like you told me." "Did you hear it as well?" "Hear what?" ""And the angel of the Lord called unto Abraham out of heaven the second time, and said:" "'By myself have I sworn saith the Lord, ... " '" "Shhh!" "What was that?" "I don't know." "Anne, tell me who's making that noise?" "I can't tell you, m u m my." "You tell me!" "I told you there was someone in the room and you punished me!" "Now I don't know what to say!" "Anne, I want the truth!" "Tell me if there is someone upstairs." "There." "In that junk room ." "M u m my, you're letting the light in!" "She's here. she's here ..." "M u m my, she says she's here." "She's watching us ... she'swatchingus!" "Where did they go?" "They just ca me past here." "Didn't you see them?" "Which way did they go?" "Over there, over there ... oh and down there. as well." "They're everywhere." "They say the house is theirs." "And they say they're going to take the curtains down as well." "M a'a m, stay calm please." "I will not stay calm!" "For five whole years during the occupation, I managed to avoid a single Nazi ever stepping foot in this house!" "And now there is someone here under my nose opening and closing the doors!" "M a'a m, this is a very old house." "Why. the floorboards squeak and the plu m bing clanks, and ..." "There were voices." "I'm telling you." "M u m my, look." "A boy and two women." "And they were talking together." "M u m my ... m u m mylook." "I did it yesterday." "This is the father, this is the mother this is Victor and this is the old woman." "What do these nu m bers stand for?" "That's the nu m ber of times I've seen them." "I see the old woman the most." "Oh." "God in Heaven!" "Mrs. Mills, go and call Mr. Tuttle." "Tell him we have to search the whole house, im mediately before it gets dark." "Yes, ma'a m ..." "Therenow..." "M u m my ..." "Yes darling." "It's all right, nothing's going to happen to you while m u m my's here." "Look m u m my, she really scares me." "It's as if she's not looking at you but she can see you." "And she's always around, saying:" "Coooome with meee ..." "Oh Anne. don't lie to me!" "Honestly, m u m my." "And she asks me things." "Victor told me she's a witch." "What does she ask you?" "Things." "Her breath smells." "We have to open all the curtains." "I don't want any dark corners where someone could hide." "Yes, ma'a m." "You both search the right side and I'll take the left." "Then we'll search upstairs." ""Perhaps they are ghosts who lived in this house before and who ... "" "Don't be stupid." "I've already told you ghosts go about in white sheets and carry chains and go ... " oooO Oooo!"." "Anne, why do you make up such stories?" "I don't." "I read them in books.." "Well. you shouldn't believe everything that you read in books." "That's what our mother says ..." "she says that all this stuff about ghosts is rubbish." "And then she expects us to believe everything written in the Bible." "And don't you believe it?" "I believe some things ..." "But, for exa m ple, I don't believe that God made the world in seven days." "And I don't believe that Noah got all those animals into one boat." "Or the Holy Spirit is a dove." "No, I don't believe that either." "Doves are anything but holy." "They pooh on our windows." "Have you mentioned any of this to your mother?" "Eh m ... ma'am..." "Yes ... ?" "They've searched everywhere ma'am." "There's no one." "I see." "Mrs. Mills?" "Yes ma'am?" "Do you have any idea what this might be?" "Oh. it is a photograph albu m, ma'am." "No but look, they're all asleep." "Look." "They're not asleep, ma'a m ..." "They'redead." "It's a book of the dead." "In the last century." "I believe they used to take photographs of the dead in the hopes that their souls would go on living through the portraits." "There are even group portraits ..." "Ah!" "..." "Andchildren!" "Ahh ..." "It's macabre." "How could these people be so superstitious?" "Grief over the death of a loved one can lead people to do the strangest things." "Get rid of it." "I don't want it in the house." "Yes ma'am." "Mrs. Mills, it's cold." "Why don't you come and sit by the fire." "Thank you very m uch. ma'am." "So. tell me about when you worked here before." "Did you have to look after children then as well?" "No." "I was in charge of organising the housework." "Were there many servants?" "Oh. about fifteen." "Though in the end there were just the three of us left." "Why?" "My em ployers moved to London." "They came here less and less it being so out of the way like ..." "And so gradually the house just became em pty." "Everybody ends up leaving this dam ned island." "My fa mily left in the su m mer of 1 940 just before the invasion ..." "That was the last I ever heard of the m ..." "Oh." "I don't blame them ." "Actually, we left, too." "Although ... youknowsometimes when you leave a place it's like it's there with you all the time." "I always felt like I never left this house." "Why did you leave?" "Oh. it was on account of the tuberculosis." "The whole area was evacuated." "Ah ... wasthatwhenLydiawentdumb?" "Yes, I think so ..." "Though you know, my memory is a bit rusty these days ma'am." "What happened to her?" "Well suddenly, one day she just stopped talking." "Well there m ust have been a reason ..." "People don't just stop talking." "These things are always the result of some sort of trau ma ... ." "Something m ust have happened to her..." "Did your em ployers treat you well?" "Oh. they were always very kind to us." "They treated us just like family." "You know ma'am." "I think I will go to bed" "I'll never be able to get up in the morning." "Off you go." "I'm going to stay here a while longer." "Yes ma'am." "I'm sorry I was so hard on you." "Can you forgive me ... ?" "Anne ..." "Oh ..." "M u m my." "What?" "When's daddy coming home?" "When the war's over." "Why did he go to war..." "I mean nobody's done anything bad to us?" "Daddy went..." "Daddy went because he's very brave." "And because he wasn't prepared to let the Germans tell him what he had to do." "Why?" "Charles ... whereareyou ?" "Mrs. Mills!" "What's the matter, ma'a m?" "The key to the m usic room!" "Give it to me!" "Quickly!" "What's happening?" "Come on!" "Oh. my God ... !" "I checked that room myself." "It was e m pty." "Now take these tablets, ma'a m." "And yet..." "They'll do you good." "And yet, and yet I felt as if there was someone else there." "And it wasn't hu man." "There is something in this house. something diabolic." "M a'a m!" "Something which is not, not at rest..." "I know you don't believe it." "You don't believe it, do you?" "No, I don't blame you." "I ..." "I usedto notbelievethesethings." "I do believe it, ma'a m." "I've always believed in those things." "Oh. they're not easy to explain ..." "but they do happen." "We've all heard stories of the beyond now and then ..." "And I think that, sometimes the world of the dead gets mixed up with the world of the living." "But it's im possible!" "The Lord would never allow such an aberration!" "The living and the dead, they will only meet at the end of eternity." "It says so in the Bible." "Ma'am. there isn't always an answer for everything." "Where are you off to ma'am?" "I'm going to the village to pay Father Legrand a visit." "If he won't come here then I shall go to him." "And I shall bring him back." "M a'a m, you should wait till the weather im proves ..." "I've waited long enough." "M a'a m the priest told me ..." "I don't care what he told you!" "I want him to tell me. personally." "He m ust come today." "Well. what are you going to tell him ?" "We have searched every room in there inch by inch." "And now I need them to be blessed." "Off" "M a'a m, please, wait it's still very early!" "Mr. Tuttle." "Good morning. ma'am." "I need you to search the whole garden for gravestones." "Gravestones?" "Yes, when my husband bought this house we were told there was a little cemetery" "I think it was somewhere over there amongst the trees." "I've not seen anything." "Check carefully." "They could be overgrown." "Yes, ma'a m." "I need to know if there was a family buried here ..." "and if they had a little boy, Victor." "Now she thinks the house is haunted." "Do you think it's safe to let her go?" "Oh. don't worry." "The fog won't let her get very far." "Oh. yes. the fog." "The fog ... ofcourse." "And when ... whendo youthinkweshould bring all this out into the open?" "All in good time, Mr. Tuttle All in good time." "Speaking of which ..." "Oh!" "Charles ..." "Grace ..." "You're here!" "You're here!" "They said there was no hope." "They said I should give you up for dead!" "They say a lot of things." "Oh. oh, thank you, thank you God." "Thank you." "Every night I've prayed for this ..." "begging God to bring you back." "To bring the children their father back." "But where have you been all this time?" "Out there, looking for my home." "You're so different, so different..." "Sometimes I bleed." "M a'a m ." "Mrs. Mills, this is my husband." "I'm very pleased to meet you. sir." "He's very weak." "I want you to prepare a hot bath and some clean clothes and something to eat." "Right away, ma'a m." "How are my little ones?" "Daddy!" "Why did you take so long?" "Hello, Nicholas." "I told you, you see!" "I told you he'd come back." "Have you both been well behaved?" "We've been very good." "Have you been good to your mother?" "Very good." "We study everyday for our First Com m union." "Daddy, did you kill anyone?" "Oh. here he comes." "Darling, we've prepared lunch for you." "Are you coming down or would you prefer that... ?" "When's daddy coming down?" "Be patient Anne, Daddy is not well." "He said he's seen lots of dead men." "Ssshh ..." "M u m my, when people die in the war where do they go?" "Ah. what a question!" "It depends." "On what?" "Well ... onwhethertheyfoughtonthe side of the "goodies" or the "baddies"." "Your father, for exam ple fought for england on the side of the "goodies"." "How do you know who the "goodies" and the "baddies" are?" "That's enough questions." "Eat your food." "You'll never go to war." "We'll never go anywhere." "Oh. you're not missing anything." "You're m uch better at home with m u m my and daddy, who love you very, very m uch." "And the intruders." "There are no intruders here." "But you said that there were." "No, I said that there are no intruders here." "And I don't want to hear another word on the subject." "But you said ..." "No, that is enough!" "Can I say something?" "No!" "Why not?" "!" "Because ... becauseyoucan 't!" "Anne, stop breathing like that." "You heard me." "Stop it!" "Stop breathing!" "Right, you go to your room." "Go to your room ." "There's no dessert for you today." "Oh no crying now ..." "No crying ..." "Oh,stopthat...here ." "Oh. look what an awful face you've got when you cry!" "I don't care!" "There. there ..." "Youlistentome." "I've seen them, too." "You have?" "Yes." "Then why don't you tell my mother." "Then maybe she'll believe me." "There are things your mother doesn't want to hear." "She only believes in what she was taught" "But don't worry." "Sooner or later, she'll see them." "And then everything will be different." "How?" "Oh. you'll see ... therearegoingto be some big surprises." "There are going to be ... changes." "Changes ..." "Now she is behaving as if nothing had happened." "What about her daughter?" "Oh. she's not so stubborn." "The children will be easier to convince." "No it's the mother who is going to cause us problems." "Do you think her husband suspects anything?" "No, I don't think he even knows where he is." "Oh. look what a pretty daughter I've got." "M u m my made this veil especially for you, h m n?" "I look like a bride." "Yes you do." "Now I need to shorten the sleeves a Iittle." "You can take it off now." "Nooo ..." "Anne, this dress has to be spotless for your First Com m union." "I promise I won't dirty it." "Just let me wear it for a little longer." "Just a little." "Oh. just a little ..." "All right." "I'll be back shortly." "No sitting on the floor." "No leaning against the walls!" "No." "M onsieur. would you like to dance ... ?" "I'd love to." "Charles, you can't go on like this." "You m ust eat something." "Oh ... oo...oo..." ""In the sky..." "I don't know if it's cloudy or bright because I only have eyes for you... dear... the moon may be high..."" "Anne, you need to take the dress off now.." "Anne, are you listening to me?" "Anne ... ?" "!" "What did I tell you about sitting on the floor?" "But it's clean." "It makes no difference." "Why can't you ever do as you're told?" "What's the matter?" "Where is my daughter?" "What have you done with my daughter?" "!" "Are you mad?" "I am your daughter." "No!" "You're not my daughter!" "No!" "No!" "You're not my daughter!" "No!" "No!" "No!" "No!" "No!" "M a'a m, I heard shouts ..." "She wants to kill me!" "She won't stop until she kills us!" "She won't stop!" "She won't stop until she kills us!" "H ush." "H ush child." "Come with me." "Come with me." "You're wicked!" "You're wicked!" "Wicked!" "How is she?" "There's no calming her so I've left her with her father." "She insisted on speaking with him." "What happened?" "Why did you fight?" "It wasn't her." "It was the old woman with the strange eyes." "She was imitating my daughter's voice." "I'd swear to God that it wasn't my daughter." "Oh God." "God help me." "God help me." "What's the matter with me." "I don't know what's the matter with me." "You m ust get more rest." "You can't take on all the responsibility of this house." "Leave it to us." "We know what has to be done." "What do you mean by that?" "What do you mean you know what has to be done?" "Nothing. ma'am." "I was just suggesting ..." "There's nothing to suggest!" "Who do you think you are!" "You have no idea what has to be done!" "Or do you?" "What are these?" "The tablets for your migraine. ma'am." "The ones you always take." "Please, I need to be on my own." "Yes, ma'a m." "Come on child." "Anne told me everything." "I wish I had an explanation but I haven't." "At first, I thought there was someone else in the house." "I even thought that there were ghosts." "I'm not talking about the ghosts." "I'm talking about what happened that day." "I don't know what you're talking about." "Tell me is not true." "Tell me what happened." "Happened ... ?" "I don't know what came over me that day." "I..." "The servants had left during the night." "They hadn't the courage to tell me to my face ..." "and they knew that I couldn't leave the house." "They knew." "Anne ..." "Anne,whathappened?" "She hit me." "She went mad ..." "like she did that day." "Do you remem ber?" "No." "You m ust forgive me Charles." "Not me...the children." "They know that I love them." "They know I'd never hurt them ..." "I ..." "I 'ddiefirst..." "What are you going to do?" "Are you angry with me?" "I just to came back to say goodbye to my wife and children." "Now I m ust go." "Go where?" "To the front." "The war's over." "The war is not over." "What are you talking about?" "!" "You're not going, do you hear me?" "You left us once already." "You can't go!" "Why?" "Why did you have to go to that stupid war that had nothing to do with us ... ?" "Why couldn't you have stayed here like the others did?" "The others surrendered." "We all surrendered!" "The whole island was occupied!" "What..." "Whatdidyou expect?" "What were you trying to prove by going to war?" "Your place was here, with us with your fa mily!" "I loved you and that was enough for me living in this darkness ..." "In this prison ..." "but not for you I wasn't enough for you." "That's why you left it wasn't just the war." "You want to leave me. don't you?" "Forgive me." "Grace" "Anne!" "Nicholas!" "Oh my God ..." "Wait!" "Oh. my God ... !" "No!" "Ah!" "No!" "Where are the curtains?" "!" "Mrs. Mills!" "Oh!" "..." "Let me see." "Let me see." "Are you alright?" "You're alright." "I want my daddy." "Daddy's gone!" "It's not true!" "Yes it is!" "It is true." "I love you m u m my." "Find the curtains." "Who was it?" "!" "Who did this?" "Tell me!" "Tell me!" "You know what's happening here ..." "You know because it happened to you. too!" "Now tell me!" "Write it down." "Write it down." "Please." "Please." "That attitude won't solve anything. ma'am." "And anyway she can't write." "Where are they?" "What?" "The curtains!" "The curtains my children's lives depend on!" "Someone has taken the curtains!" "I have noticed ma'am, there's no need for you to raise your voice ..." "Oh." "Mr. Tuttle, I was just on the point of calling you." "Did you know someone's taken all the curtains?" "The curtains?" "Oh. dear..." "Why should anyone want to take all the curtains?" "Oh, to let some daylight into this house." "I imagine." "Daylight... ofcourse." "Someone wants to kill my children!" "Now, why do you think the daylight would kill the m ?" "Are you mad?" "I told you." "I already told you, the children are photosensitive!" "The light will kill them." "Yes, but that was before." "The condition could have cleared up by itself." "I mean. if you never expose them to the daylight how do you know they're not cured?" "My sister-in-law used to get terrible attacks of rheu matism in her legs and back ..." "Then one fine day ... theydisappeared." "I'm going to find those curtains and when you have finished helping me hang them you will leave this house." "What about the master ma'am?" "What does he have to say about all this?" "Give me your keys." "I want the keys now." "I know what you want." "You want to frighten us." "You want to get us out me and my children." "You've wanted to take over this house ever since the first day you arrived ..." "Now, you give me those keys." "I will not ask again." "You should try and calm down, ma'am." "Give me the keys!" "Give them to me!" "And now, get out of here." "You know something, Mr. Tuttle ... ?" "I think I've reached the end of my tether..." "What about you?" "Oh. yes... . definitely." "We'd better go and uncover the gravestones." "What's m u m my doing?" "I've already told you. she's gone mad." "Liar." "She's gone mad." "Liar. liar..." "She's gone mad. she's gone mad!" "..." "Liar!" "Liar!" "Liar!" "Night time." "Where are you going?" "I've had enough." "I'm going to the woods to look for daddy." "Are you going to run away?" "If I hang on to the pipe I can clim b down to the ground." "It's very easy." "If m u m my finds out, you're in for it." "Yes, yes, yes ..." "Anne, wait!" "I want to come and look for daddy, too." "Liar. you just don't want to be left on your own ..." "scaredypants, scaredypants ..." "Be quiet!" "Anne, I think we've gotten lost." "We still haven't left the garden yet, silly." "I'm scared." "You shouldn't have come, then." "Say something." "What shall I say?" "I don't know." "Anything." "Let's see ... myna me 'sAnne and I'm walking." "I'm walking and my na me is Anne ..." "What's that over there?" "I think they're graves." "Don't go near." "Why not?" "What if a ghost ju m ps out?" "Graves don't have ghosts." "Only skeletons." "There's something written here." "Let's go." "Wait." "Anne, what does it say?" "You m ust be strong now, children." "Nicholas. come here!" "Mrs. Mills, please don't tell m u m my we've run away." "Don't speak to them!" "Why?" "They're dead." "What?" "They're ghosts. please come here!" "Children. we ... !" "Nicholas!" "If they're ghosts. why aren't they wearing sheets and clanking chains?" "You said that..." "I don't care what I said!" "Get away from them!" "You're always teasing me and telling Iies. and I'm sick of it." "I'm not teasing you!" "I'm telling the truth!" "Come here!" "Quick." "No!" "Children!" "Run!" "Run!" "Go!" "Run!" "Into the house ..." "Don't come any closer!" "Don't move!" "Don't trouble yourself. ma'am." "Tuberculosis finished us off..." "more than half a century ago." "Go away!" "Open the door ma'am, please." "What do you want?" "M u m my, don't open the door. don't..." "We've seen their graves." "Go upstairs and hide ..." "Goon !" "I'm scared ..." "Don't separate." "Anne, oh." "Whatever you do don't separate." "Go hide." "Go!" "Go!" "We 've been trying to make you understand ..." "U nderstand what?" "About the house ..." "about the new situation." "What situation?" "We m ust all learn to live together..." "the living and the dead." "If you're dead, leave us in peace!" "Leave us in peace!" "Come here." "Get inside." "And suppose we do leave you do you think they will?" "Who?" "The intruders." "There are no intruders there are no intruders ..." "They took the curtains down oh. yes." "I assure you it was them." "And now they're in there with you and the children." "Waiting for you!" "Nooo!" "Yeees!" "And believe me sooner or later they'll find you ... ." "Listen. wait here and I'lI be back in a minute ..." "No, no, no ... !" "M u m my said we shouldn't separate." "I can't leave her on her own!" "Stop breathing like that." "Nicholas. stop breathing like that." "Stop breathing!" "Can't you hear it?" "There's someone there." "Come with us ..." "children." "Nicholas ... ?" "Anne ... ?" "Where are you ... ?" "Answer me!" "The intruders have found them." "There's nothing we can do now." "You'll have to go upstairs and talk to them." "Our Father, who art in heaven hallowed be Thy name" "Thy kingdom come." "Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven." "Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses ..." "Why are you afraid children?" "Why don't you want us to be your friends?" "Come on, speak to us. speak to us." "Tell me what happened?" "Don't tell her!" "Don't tell her!" ""Don't tell her."" "If I tell her they'll leave us in peace." "M u m my!" ""M u m my."" "Why are you crying, children?" "What happened in this room?" "What did your mother do to you?" "Something about a pillow ..." "Is that how she killed you?" "With a pillow?" "She didn't kill us." "Children. if you're dead why do you remain in this house?" "We're not dead!" "Why do you remain in this house?" "We're not dead!" "We're not dead!" "We're not dead!" "We're not dead!" "Why do you remain in this house?" "We're not dead!" ""We're not dead, we're not dead ... "" "We're not dead!" "We're not dead!" "We're not dead!" "We're not..." "... Dead!" "Are you all right?" "Yes, just a bit dizzy." "That's all." "What happened?" "They made contact." "All three?" "Apparently, yes." "The mother and the two children." "Quite interesting, don't you think?" "Interesting?" "I was scared out of my wits!" "Darling, calm down." "No." "So far we have handled this matter your way." "But now you listen to me." "We can't possibly stay in this house any longer." "It is quite clear that these beings do not want us to live here." "We don't know anything about them yet." "Yes, we do." "We know the woman, went mad smothered her two children and then shot herself." "That's quite enough." "Think of our son." "There's nothing wrong with Victor." "Yes there is!" "He has nightmares he says he has seen that girl." "And even this lady has been possessed by her." "Please, let us leave this house." "All right." "We will leave tomorrow morning." "Thank God for that." "I'll just go and check on Victor." "Once again, thank you so m uch for coming." "A pleasure." "I hope we've been of some help." "Oh yes, of course but I ad mit that was not the most pleasant evening of my life." "I understand." "However I found it electrifying." "At first I couldn't understand what the pillow was doing in my hands." "And why. you didn't move." "But then I knew ..." "It had happened ..." "I'd killed my children ..." "I got the rifle" "I put it to my forehead" "and I pulled the trigger ..." "Nothing ..." "And then I heard your laughter in the bedroom." "Ah. you were playing with the pillows as if nothing had happened." "And I thought, ah ... theLord in his great mercy." "was giving me another chance telling me, "don't give up, be strong." "be a good mother for them ."" "But now, ah ..." "what does all this mean?" "Where are we?" "Young Lydia asked the very same thing when she realised the three of us were dead." "And that was the last time she ever spoke but I couldn't tell you that before now." "Shall I make us a nice cup of tea, ma'am?" "The intruders are leaving but others will come." "Now, sometimes we'll sense them and other times we won't." "But that's the way it's always been ... ma'am." "M u m my ... daddydiedinthewar didn't he?" "Yes." "Will we ever see him again?" "I don't know ..." "If we're dead, where's Lim bo?" "I don't know if there even is a Lim bo ..." "I'm no wiser than you are." "But I do know that I love you," "I've always loved you." "And this house is ours." "You say with me: this house is ours ..." "This house is ours ..." "This house ..." "This house is ours. this house is ours" "M u m my ..." "look." "It doesn't hurt any more." "No one can make us leave this house ..." "Come along, Victor."