The Woman In Black

Heath village

(Mary's POV)

I stared out the window of my carriage in wonder. I was swiftly approaching Heath village, and as I stared at the town in the distance, I noticed that it looked like it had been through quite a lot.

Smoke was slightly visible from the rooftops of the local cottages, and the cottages, themselves, were absolutely filthy, and had odd little holes in the rooftops.

Even the sky above the village had miserable, grey clouds, almost as a warning to visitors to leave and head back home... but nothing, especially some foolish clouds, was going to prevent me from investigating it.

I could see the the village better as I advanced nearer, but instead of growing larger, it appeared to be shrinking in size.

The village was much smaller than I had thought, considering my husband had been thought to have died here.....

I locked away the thought firmly in my brain, as it was still a delicate matter. In my own defence, it HAD only been three weeks since the news had been unearthed.

*

Finally, the carriage bumped its way up the narrow path, leading into the heart of Heath village.

The carriage stopped at an inn, where I was at the point where I paid the driver a number of shillings, and carried my bags out of the vehicle.

Paying the impatient and rather porky driver the money, suddenly made me realise that, if I didn't have Arthur anymore, who would pay the countless bills we currently receiving? I wouldn't be able to find any job in London, unless it involved sewing, of which was never my strong point.

I would simply have to remarry.

However much I wanted to believe it was that simple, the fact dawned on me, that most rich men, already had a 'loving' bride at their shoulder, demanding for rich, clothes and silken, beaded frocks for their angelic children.

However, before I could think more about the matter, a voice impatiently announcing my name, woke me from my daze.

Slightly embarrassed, I grabbed my bags and walked over to the wooden desk at the front of the cramped room, to spy a tall yet scrawny man, wearing spectacles over his long, fat and slightly pink nose.

Briskly yanking out an embroidered handkerchief from his pocket and blowing delicately into it, gestured to me he must have flu, or perhaps a cold.

'Mrs. Johnson?' he repeated again in a strangely rather high-pitched voice.

'Yes, that's me, I have a reservation?' I replied with a questioning facial expression.

'Hmmm, yes... it appears you have been labelled with room 13, if you would step right this way.' He concluded with a gesture to the stairs.

I gratefully thanked him, before walking towards the steep and narrow staircase.

*

The place I had been assigned to, was not exactly a 5 star room. It had damp sort of smell to it, and it was uncomfortably cramped. The bathroom had brown bits of mould growing in the bathtub, and I could of sworn I saw a bug under the dirty sink.

I shut the door tightly in disgust, and advanced towards my suitcase, where I began to unpack.

Finishing by placing my scarves into a small chest of draws in the corner of the stuffy room, I randomly opened my window just to take a breath of air and took a look at the outside view.

As I hungrily devoured and memorized the picture before me, my eye caught a house that was probably the tattiest out of them all. It was oddly far away from the village, but I could just make out the obvious details.

The house had an appearance that made one think it had been set on fire, then put out at the last minute, before it collapsed on top of itself entirely.

The windows were encrusted with dirt and made my nose wrinkle just looking at it.

The garden beyond the house was in need of some serious care, as it had a very neglected appearance, with nettles and thorns and over-grown bushes popping out of everywhere.

I suddenly became aware of a slightly chilly breeze on my exposed arms, and was in the process of shutting the window, when out of nowhere, my eye caught something in the mist of the house.

A figure, standing in the weeds in the garden.

I squinted to get a better look, but they seemed to have disappeared. Confused I slowly shut my window.

How strange.

If that really WAS a human being, how could they possibly bear to live in such a wreck of a house? Maybe I had just been imagining things.....

Oh well, what harm could a little eye-trickery every now and then, do to effect anyone?