The Lost Valley

Chapter 1

Chapter 1

Ten-year-old Tom Abbott and his brother Harry walked in slow motion down the aisle of St Mary’s cathedral. Tom had never liked churches, and he especially hated this one. With its frightening frescoes of frowning saints, booming organ music and those twin coffins at the front that, according to Reverend Russell, contained his dead mother and father. Which was which? The coffins looked the same, and neither he nor Harry had been allowed to look inside. Tom desperately wanted a chance to see his parents again, especially Mama. What if she wasn’t dead in there? What if she needed help?

The long, black boxes, engraved with crosses, bore heavy brass handles and were strewn with flowers. Tom couldn’t stop staring; couldn’t stop worrying. Mama was scared of small spaces and Papa? He was so tall, surely he’d hit his head?

The boys came to a halt, causing a traffic jam of mourners. Mrs Boyle nudged them forward. Harry tried to escape down the aisle while Tom ran up to the first coffin and struggled to raise the lid. A man pulled him away, handing him back to his scolding governess.

Grandma Bertha hurried over, chins wobbling, large nose turning red. ‘Control your charges, Mrs Boyle. This is a funeral, not a playground!’

‘I want to see them,’ yelled Tom, squirming free. ‘I want to see my parents.’

Grandma Bertha grabbed his arm in a vice-like grip. She shoved Tom and Harry along the front row and pushed them into their seats. ‘Stay here and don’t move,’ she hissed. ‘We are in God’s house. God is all-seeing and all-knowing. He will punish you boys severely for any further misbehaviour.’

Tom looked at his brother and an understanding passed between them. Grandma’s threat was an empty one. If Mama and Papa were dead, hadn’t God already done his worst? Tom started to cry.