CHAPTER 12

CHAPTER 12

The first time the Beast left:

Sally’s hope was repaid one afternoon, around two weeks after the Beast first appeared.

She wasn’t aware of the actual time it occurred because she was busying herself with chores. David was in the conservatory, a cluttered room with large, single glazed windows at the back of the cottage. The room was something of a dumping ground. They kept the recycling in there, along with an assortment of gardening tools and some old rattan furniture.

Sally had found no effective way of bringing David out of his torpor, so she’d taken to leaving him in the conservatory. He was out from under her feet and she hoped that when the sun came out, he’d at least enjoy the feel of it on his face.

She was in the kitchen, which was also at the back of the cottage, washing the dishes and staring out across the garden, wondering what else she should try and plant in the flower beds. Something caught her eye at the very end of the garden, just beyond the wall. It