{5}
They ComeA warm light flickered from a tallow candle burning low on the windowsill. The flame wavered for a moment before wick and hot wax met and it sputtered and died. Santha turned on her straw mattress, the rough sheet brushing against her thighs and night dress.
She woke with a start, blood pounding in her temples. Where am I? She could smell the faint odour of day-old hay in the dark and felt the coarse coverlets over her legs. She was in her bedroom, that much was clear, but how? And why was she in her night dress?
Santha’s mind worked through her memories, trying to recollect the day’s events. The heaviness of slumber slipped away and she jumped to her feet. There were wights in the Valley! She recalled how the black creature had laughed before it crushed poor Milky’s head i
