A Man in an Overcoat

Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Ethel sobbed on her mum's shoulder, her tears forming a stream on her mother’s party dress. Her mum comforted her softly and started to hum a lullaby, of which Ethel knew very well from when she was a baby. A while later Ethel stopped shedding tears, still holding her place on her mum’s shoulder, she built up the courage to talk, still trembling.

“It was a man…” she stated, not thinking that she’d put her mum in confusion. Her mum lifted Ethel’s head grabbing her against the arms.

“A man? What man? What happened? Where is he?” Mrs Foster shouted at thin air, her head spinning round like a hand on a clock.

Suddenly they both jumped, to hear the sound of the front door unlocking. The two girls were silenced, while Ethel snapped a look at her crimson watch, seeing that it was the time that dad came home on a Saturday. Knowing this she whispered to her mum.

            “It’s dad” Ethel notified softly.

            “Okay, go lie down on your bed”

 Ethel headed off to bed while her mum exited her room wandering round the house looking for her husband. Soon Mrs. Foster found him and a few mumbles could be heard from the kitchen where  they were talking.  Ethel heard her mum explain that their daughter wasn’t feeling very well and they both had to cancel the birthday shopping trip. That’s when Ethel felt a hot swarm of guilt hit her in the face. She felt ashamed that she had to cancel the party, she felt as though her friends doubted the party all along.

All these emotions made Ethel feel shattered and drowsy which made her teary eyes close. But before she had a chance of entirely dozing off she felt her dad’s presence, when he popped his worried head outside Ethel’s bedroom door. After that Ethel felt a horrible need to wait for her mum to come and when she did she greeted her with solemn eyes. Her mother let out a sigh and finally said:

“What happened here? What man was there?”Beginning to think, that how could her daughter possibly make up such a thing?

“He was a handsome tall man, who wore a cap and a coat”

“He was standing right there!” ahe continued while sharply pointing at the place where she thought the man was standing before. Her mother followed her fingers with her eyes, as if searching for a hidden clue.

“When I first saw him..” Ethel continued until her mum interrupted her alarmed.

“He came to you before? When?” Her voice was now beginning to blast with a thunderous tone.

“It was a long time ago”

“Why didn’t you tell me before?”

“I thought it was just my imagination”

“Yes, but what was this man doing, here?”

“Well, he looked really worried,  he was panicking and started shouting at me, but not the kind of shouting that he was angry at me but to tell me something” Ethel said trying to make sense to her mum.

“I never heard anything” Mrs. Foster admitted.

“That’s because he wasn’t making any noise”

Mrs Foster was not sure about what to think of her daughter’s explanation.

“Is there anything else you remember?” Ethel’s mum noted.

“No, well…no….though when I first saw him he was awkwardly calm; no shouting, no screaming, no panic”

“He was reading a book titled ‘Good Things Come to Those Who Wait wierd, huh?’”

After saying this Ethel gave up on trying to tell her mum about what happened, as she saw that her mum was beyond confused, but when she lost all faith her mum’s eyes shone up with both joy and fear. Ethel stared at her mum in silence while Mrs Foster mumbled to herself. Her mum then stood up, not-believing what she just heard, and commanded Ethel:

“Come with me”

 The pair walked hurriedly past all rooms through the corridor until Ethel’s mum stopped in advance, letting Ethel gradually slow her pace down. Ethel looked up at her mum, who was reaching out with her hand towards a small loop that hung out from a gap in the white painted ceiling. She pulled it softly, giving the piece of rope a nudge and letting a piece of the ceiling fling out. It was only later; Ethel realized that the piece that fell off from the ceiling actually uncovered a secret passage into the attic, which she never had come to seeing. Her mum gave her a quick glance of the corner of her eye, before heaving herself up into the reasonable sized opening. Once she was up and sitting, on what it sounded an old crooked floor, she reached out her hands to Ethel, as if she was going to give an enormous heartfelt hug.

“Come on!” She exclaimed in a persuasive voice, giving the impression of a toddler calling out to his friend about an adventure.

Ethel paused for a few seconds, letting out a deep breath and then positioning her pale hands in front of her. When reaching out, it was a struggle to get up the 1.5 meters, which resulted Ethel having her soft hair in her face and her contact lens about to fall out. When she finally pulled herself up to the top, which seemed a huge distance away,  she sat down letting her legs wave about down below. She then turned to her mum;

“How come we’re here?”

There was no answer, but instead her mum got up and made her way across the wooden panelled flooring. Alerted Ethel got up too and followed her mum into the solemn abandoned attic.

The attic was as plain as any attic wouldn’t be. There were barely any items or objects in the deserted room, apart from a couple of boxes neatly stacked up in one of the corners towards the back. Corners of the area were filled with fine stranded cobwebs, which contrasted with a glistening light that was given by the circular, beautifully stained glassed window. The room was filled with an ancient smell that surrounded every part of it. To Ethel’s surprise the scent smelled like cinnamon and apple pie just taken out from an old fashioned oven, but unfortunately the air tasted dry and unsatisfying in every way. All of these things overwhelmed Ethel greatly, but what was even more amazing you could hear nothing…. nothing at all, something that Ethel wanted to experience more than anything for a long time; the peace of Makestone’s humble village.