Soon Ben came home with Lulu and Anna announced she was going upstairs to play in her bedroom.
Lorenda told Ben what Anna had told her. "Ren," as he called his wife, "Anna's only young. This Jess person must be an imaginary friend of hers. You know how kids are."
Lorenda was more than willing to accept Ben’s logical explanation.
Anna was in her room for hours. Finally, Lorenda wandered upstairs to find her to tell her dinner was ready. As she climbed the steps, Lulu bounded up the stairs and nearly knocked her flying over the banister. At that moment, Anna opened her bedroom door and Lulu darted inside.
Anna started shouting, "No, Lulu! Jess is scared of dogs! Get away from her! Mummy, make her stop scaring Jess!" Anna was almost in tears. Lorenda pulled Lulu out by her collar and looked into the room, half afraid of what she’d see. No one was there. If this was an imaginary friend, Lorenda thought, it must be quite vivid to Anna.
Lorenda knelt to Anna’s height. "Who's Jess, Anna?" she asked.
"My friend," Anna explained quietly. "She let me play with the doll’s house and now she's my friend."
Lorenda stared intently at her daughter, then nodded softly, wanting to believe Ben's reassurance. She took Lulu and Anna downstairs to dinner.
Saturday night
For the next few days, Anna would come running to wherever Lorenda was in the house to tell her that Jess was misbehaving. At one point she complained that Jess was hogging the toy box. This became such a common occurrence that Lorenda would simply shoo Anna away with such remarks as, "Well, what a naughty girl Jess is. Why don't you go and watch television?"
The real horror came on a Saturday night.
Ben had gone to the pub with a few mates and Lorenda was in the kitchen petting Lulu. Anna had fallen asleep on the sofa in the living room. Just as the grandfather clock chimed midnight, the house lights flickered and went out. Lorenda heaved herself up and blundered her way to the closet where she found a torch (flashlight).
Lulu accompanied Lorenda to the living room where she planned to stay with Anna and light some candles. She opened the door and nearly dropped the flashlight. A scream caught in her throat.
Next page: Lullaby and terror
