Tim bowler storm catchers Chapter 1

Ella was upstairs in Sam's bedroom when she heard the sound. A sharp tap above the sound of the rain. There was a storm coming - a fine start to the summer holi­days - but that wasn't the problem. The problem was that she was alone in the house at ten o'clock at night looking after her little brother Sam. Her parents had gone to the pub with their neighbours, the Meades. Fin, her big brother, had gone to see his friend Billy Meade. She had told him to go, promising that she'd be all right.

But she wasn't all right. She was terrified.

She heard the noise again, downstairs.

Three-year-old Sam was sleeping peacefully. At thir­teen, Ella never slept so peacefully. She was afraid of the dark. She had lived at Polvellan all her life, but the house still frightened her. Not just because it was an old building. There was something else, something she did­n't understand.

Tap! The sound came again. Her brother Fin was small for fifteen, but he'd go straight downstairs to find out what it was, and she knew she should make herself do it.

She walked quietly to the bottom of the stairs. Nothing in the hall. Tap! The sound was coming from the living-room.

The door was half open and the lights were on, but she couldn't see if there was anyone in the room. Nervously, she opened the door and looked round it. The room was empty.

Tap! She jumped. It was the window. Someone was outside, hidden by the curtains. She hurried to the phone, picked it up and started to dial 911. Then she put it down. The tapping wasn't regular. It might not be a person at all. What would Dad say if she called the police out for nothing?

Finding new courage, she walked over to the win­dow, pulled back the curtains and began to laugh. It was only the chain of one of the hanging flower-baskets striking the window in the wind! She was just going to close the curtains again when she saw, reflected in the glass, something that terrified her: the figure of a huge man in black behind her. A hood and scarf covered his head and face.

"Don't hurt me. Please don't hurt me! What do you want?"

"You," came the answer. It was a young man's voice.

She turned and ran to the bookcase, opened the hidden door to the secret passage, and slipped through. He followed her across the room, but she shut the door just before he reached it. The secret passage only led to the kitchen, but she would have more time to reach Sam and get him out of the house. She ran down the passage to the kitchen and quietly up the stairs to Sam's room.

"Sam," she whispered. "Get up, quick!"

"Ella?"

"Sam, quick! We've got to get out of the house. Come on."

He was still half asleep, but she pulled him out of bed.

"Teddy," he said, looking around.

Ella picked up the teddy bear and carried them both to the door, but it was too late. The black figure was at the bottom of the stairs.

"Listen, Sam," whispered Ella. "I want you to hide in your secret place. It's a game — an important game. Don't come out till you hear Mummy or Daddy or Fin. Promise?"

From her serious face he knew that this was something important. He opened the wall cupboard and hid himself and Teddy at the back, behind a big box of toys.

"If anyone opens the door, make sure he can't see you," said Ella.

"Ella? Are you going away?"

"Just for a bit, but I'll be back soon. It'll be a good game! And you must be very quiet. Not a sound!"

She shut the cupboard door on Sam's serious face and went back to the bedroom door. She could hear the man outside. He was looking for her. The door to Sam's room began to open slowly. She hid behind it. The huge figure walked into the room and towards the bed. Ella jumped out and pushed him as hard as she could. He fell over the bed.

Ella rushed out of the room and down the stairs. She reached the front door, but the man grabbed her shoul­der as she tried to open it. She pulled herself away and ran back to the kitchen, pulling open the back door as the hand grabbed her T-shirt a second time. Again she managed to pull herself away and ran screaming into the garden, through the rain, towards the gate. If only she could reach the Meades' house down the road...

But he was quicker. He caught her and picked her up like a toy.

"Leave me alone!" she screamed. "Leave me..."

He dropped her to the ground, tied her hands behind her hack, slipped a gag over her mouth and dragged her back to the house. He pushed something through the letterbox and pulled her towards the gate. She could not cry out. She could not escape. She could only cry. Crying as the rain hit her face, crying as he opened the gate.

Crying as he took her away.