Harriett (The Tipton Hollow 1)

The glass began to move across the table toward the ‘Yes’ square.

The smooth way in which the glass moved across the surface of the table was something they had all been waiting for. Nobody made a sound when the glass began to move from letter to letter. Babette began to scribble furiously as Harriett called out the letters the glass stopped at.

T-H-E-D-O-G-I-S-F-I-N-E-H-U-G-O.

Hugo Montague looked a little puzzled and shook his head at the expectant faces that were now staring at him.

“I don’t have a dog,” he protested and glared almost accusingly at Madame Humphries.

“I can take that message,” Minerva Bobbington piped up. “I used to have a dog named Hugo. He was a small grey lurcher that used to follow me everywhere as a child.” Against instructions, she removed her finger from the glass and sat back in her chair to stare at the table for a moment while memories resurfaced. “Heavens above, I forgot all about him,” she whispered.

“Let’s see what else we get,” Beatrice suggested eagerly and nodded at Mrs Bobbington, to put her finger back onto the glass. With a shiver, the woman did as she was told and they all waited patiently for more messages. They didn’t have to wait for long. No sooner had Mrs Bobbington’s finger landed on the top of the goblet than it began to move again.

“Oh, dear Lord,” Mr Montague whispered as the glass moved firmly from letter to letter. This time there was no hesitation, no juddering and the words were spelled out in rapid succession.

Y-O-U-F-O-R-G-O-T-T-O-L-O-C-K-T-H-E-D-O-O-R-A-G-A-I-N-L-O-V-E-M-O-T-H-E-R.

Mrs Dalrymple emitted a small cry. Her hands flew to her throat and she stared at the glass with a mixture of horror and delight on her face.

“Mother?” she whispered in a tumultuous voice. Hope and desperation flooded her gaze and she stared avidly down into the middle of the table.

“Can you take the message?” Madame Humphries’ demanded.

“Y-yes,” Mrs Dalrymple replied in a quivering voice. After several moments of silence she see

med to snap out of her daze and became aware that people were waiting for her to explain the message. “Oh, well, I have always been a bit forgetful. Even as a small child I was always putting things down and losing things. Anyway, that hasn’t changed as I have grown older and, well, unfortunately I always seemed to be in such a fuddle that I regularly forget to lock my back door. Mother always used to scold me for it, but I am still the same, even now. No matter how much I try, as soon as I leave the house I hurry off. I have obviously forgotten to lock the back door behind me again.”

Sensing that the woman was apt to ramble on for hours, Harriett eased back in her seat and gently interrupted her monologue. “Let’s see if she has anything else for us, shall we?”

P-U-T-A-K-E-Y-A-R-O-U-N-D-Y-O-U-R-N-E-C-K.

Harriett smothered a laugh and even Mrs Dalrymple smiled.

“Seems a reasonable suggestion,” Mr Bentwhistle remarked wryly.

“I will do that, mother, thank you,” Mrs Dalrymple replied reverently, although whether she would remember was anyone’s guess.

Y-O-U-H-A-V-E-S-O-M-E-N-E-W-S-C-O-M-I-N-G.

“Is that for me?” Mrs Dalrymple asked with a frown. “Oh, I wonder what it could be.”

The glass shot to ‘No’.

“Oh, dear. I had hoped -” the woman sighed and looked despondent. “Well, never mind.”

The glass began to move again.

U-N-C-L-E-B-E-N-I-S-F-I-N-E.

Tuppence gasped and stared at the glass. “It’s for me,” she whispered in an awestruck voice. Harriett knew that Uncle Benjamin was someone Tuppence was still in mourning for and, from the look on her face, she was relieved more than upset to have a message about him.

“Thank you,” Tuppence replied, and flicked a hesitant glance at the ceiling.

U-N-C-L-E-B-E-N-I-S-W-I-T-H-M-E-H-E-M-A-D-E-I-T-S-A-F-E-L-Y.

Tuppence gasped and stared at the glass. Tears pooled in her eyes and Harriett watched her blink rapidly in a valiant attempt to keep them at bay. “I am so glad,” she murmured, and smiled her thanks at the neatly pressed handkerchief Mr Bentwhistle held out for her.

Y-O-U-H-A-V-E-S-H-E-D-M-A-N-Y-T-E-A-R-S-T-I-M-E-T-O-S-T-O-P-N-O-W-M-A-N-Y-C-H-A-L-L-E-N-G-E-S-A-H-E-A-D-Y-O-U-W-I-L-L-B-E-F-I-N-E.