Robert Kingham

Prompt: On Tuesday she asked me the most peculiar question - From Episode 02

On Tuesday she asked me the most peculiar question. ‘Do you want to see where I lived? When I had Toby? That’s the way to our house. In Northeye.’

This was by Fordwood Lane. We’d taken a scenic route back, and she told me to stop the bike. The lane goes to the village of Northeye, but there’s no sign that tells you that.

This is my cousin’s daughter. She’s six years old. Toby is… she’s always referred to Toby as her son. When she started talking, she cuddled her soft toys and called them Toby.

So I swing the bike around. She’s in the sidecar, giving me directions. I’ve never been here before. She seems to know the way. 

‘That’s it.’

It’s a semi-detached house. 1930s. Same as the rest we rode past.

‘That was our bedroom. The big window.’

‘But your mummy and daddy have never lived here,’ I tell her gently. ‘They bought your house before you were born.’

‘Yes,’ she says. ‘But this house belonged to my other parents. Look, the little window. That was where Toby slept. But that big room downstairs, I stayed down there when I was sick and I died.’

Now I’m not looking at the house, I’m looking straight at her. When I look back I see the light in the hallway has come on.

Much of Robert’s writing is for the original, esoteric and theatrical guided walks he runs, including the Weird London of Arthur Machen, the Boozy, Bawdy History of Drury Lane, and the Uncanny 1980 UFO Incident In Rendlesham Forest in Suffolk. He has also written a book about the mysteries of 17th Century London, ‘London Baroque’, the documentary film series ‘Pagan London’, and the ten part full-cost audio drama thriller ‘Bluebird’ - all to be found at minimumlabyrinth.org