Rain sweeps across the roof in gusts, banging and stuttering, then slowly stopping. Tonderai begins again, every word laced with dread.

“Girl remembers with a shiver, the deepest whisper, the whisper no-one dares to speak. She feels again her mother’s breath in her ear, the fear in her voice, when she told her that she must never speak of these things, for this place is a place where evil was done.

Girl trembles, for now she remembers too that beneath this secret there is another secret that is deeper still. A secret that is truly too terrible to say aloud. A secret that lies strangled in the throats of those who know it, tied so tight that few speak of it, even though they know it to be true. And what is this terrible secret?” Tonderai asks, his eyes going from face to face. “The secret is this. It is that Grandpa himself knows of these Bones. That Grandpa was there when these Bones came to be. That Grandpa holds their stories in his fists. That Grandpa will vanish any that speak of how these bones came to be broken in their own soil.”

Tonderai resumes his pacing, his head bowed, his mac gleaming grey in the torchlight. Rudd watches as he vanishes into the dark, swallowed by shadows, only his voice reaching back.

 “Girl’s legs shake for now she herself has seen the Bones. She knows that they are real. And to know this, is to know that now she too must strangle this secret in her own throat, for if she does not her plan will fail. Fright twists inside her. She lowers her eyes and backs slowly, slowly away – away from the sad eyes, away from the old people with their backs to the wall, clutching their children close. Heart straining, sweat pouring, she backs and backs away, one foot stumbling after the next, until the eyes are gone, and the bones no longer beneath her feet. Then she turns, and makes her way as fast as she can across the House, always careful not to run, not to make the People look.

At last she reaches Uncle, with Knowledge and Hope asleep at his feet. As she collapses down beside him, Uncle looks at her, but Girl does not look at him. She knows that he will know just from the sight of her.

‘You have seen,’ he says, his voice calm.

She nods her head, too afraid to speak.

‘Do you know what we must do now?’ he asks.

She shakes her head slowly and looks at him. His eyes are steady as he replies. ‘We must work harder and faster. We must do more, for those Bones will not stay silent for long.’

‘But Uncle, who else will speak, and who will listen? Those who know are so frightened. I myself have seen this.’

‘Yes,’ says Uncle. ‘I know for I too have seen, but this silence will not last. The bones will speak. So we must be brave. We must be clever. We must hurry with our plan. We must try to make a difference. Besides, if we do not try to start the change, then who will do this for us?’

Copyright Georgie Knaggs & The Phraser 2023