‘Oh no. I’d soon tell you if you were.’

Paul and Heather came back into the room, smelling of smoke. Jamie looked at them both and wondered if they’d been up to anything out there. He decided that Paul would have been smiling more broadly if they had. He got up and made coffee.

All in all, he was pleased with the way the evening had gone. He couldn’t imagine that they would ever be best friends with the Newtons, but they seemed like a nice enough couple, and they did share common interests. Plus it was in everyone’s best interests to maintain peace in the building. It was a shame Lucy was so antagonistic about Mary – but he was intrigued by the idea of her being called a witch. It was an attitude that didn’t seem to belong to this century.

After drinking their coffee they said goodnight and Lucy and Chris went down to their flat. Paul and Heather remained behind for a while. Jamie got the PS3 out and he and Paul played FIFA soccer. Kirsty and Heather chatted and finished up the wine. Jamie noticed that Heather kept glancing over at Paul, who was oblivious, too involved in the game. He smiled. It had been a good evening.

But that night, Kirsty woke up with her heart beating fast and a cold sweat on her brow. She grabbed hold of Jamie and shook him awake.

‘What is it? What’s wrong?’

She pressed her hand to her chest and waited for her breathing to return to normal. ‘I had an awful dream. I was being chased through the woods by a witch, and she was trying to put a spell on me. I came to this house – and it was like the house in Hansel and Gretel, made of delicious-looking gingerbread. I ran inside and I felt safe and happy, and I was thinking about all the gingerbread I could eat. Until I realised it was actually the witch’s house, and I was trapped. She put me in a cage, just like in the story. God, it was horrible.’

She lay back down and Jamie held her. After while her breathing pattern changed so he knew she was asleep. All that talk about witches over dinner. He didn’t realise Kirsty was so sensitive to things like that.

The next morning, when Jamie went out to get the mail, he found a dead rat on the carpet outside their door.

Chapter Five

Five

Jamie hurried back inside.

‘What is it?’

‘You don’t want to know.’

She pushed past him. ‘Oh, it’s horrible! Jamie, get rid of it. Now. Please.’

‘OK, OK. I’m going to.’