The Mysteries of Brambly Hollow

happy, making a family.” Releasing them, she let them race away to the toilet. She felt like the biggest ogre in the world for what she had just put them through.
    Moments later, Cal breezed in. “How did the oldies tour go?”
    Meli burst into tears.
    Between sobs she told him what she had learned from the boys, then added. “This person, this Finn. He’s been coming into our home,” her voice trembled at the notion. “Who knows where he’s been? He might have been in our room, touching our personal things.” Although she looked at him through waterlogged eyes, her expression was clearly expectant. For once he didn’t disappoint her.
    “I think I’d better call the police.” So saying, Cal strode off to make the call. “We’ll get the locks changed as well.” The police arrived thirty minutes later. One officer, PC Holster, who sat over a cup of tea and took the details. Well, he laid his note book open on the table, but he didn’t exactly make any notes. Meli hoped that he would write them all up later. He probably had an excellent memory for facts and details.
    “I’ve lived here for thirty years,” he told them when they had finished, accepting a chocolate biscuit from the plate Cal offered him. “And I don’t know of anyone locally called Finn. Are the boys absolutely sure they got the name right? And are they sure that Finn is his Christian name, not his surname?” Snapping the biscuit in two, he tossed one half into his mouth and began crunching furiously, an eyebrow raised questioningly.
    “I’ll call the twins,” Meli offered. She hadn’t thought of that. The boys must have been eavesdropping at the top of the stairs, as they appeared the instant they were called.
    Inviting the boys to sit on the sofa, PC Holster quickly washed down the other half of his biscuit with a mouthful of tea, before questioning them gently. They confirmed that Finn had definitely told them his name was Finn, they were both absolutely certain about that, but they couldn’t say for sure whether this was his first name or surname, he’d just introduced himself simply as Finn. The other thing they couldn’t agree on was what he looked like. Listening to them contradicting each other, he could have been anything from five foot to six foot seven, with blond or brown hair, which was either short or shoulder length and he was about eighteen or thirty, depending on which twin you believed. None of this added any credence to Finn’s existence, other than in the boys minds.
    Meli sat across the room, her fingers wringing together as she watched the twins anxiously answer the policeman’s questions. Were they still disturbed by her unforgivable treatment? She felt sick at the memory; it gnawed away at the lining of her guts like a starving rat. She hoped they didn’t split on her. She felt bad enough about it without having the Police accuse her of abuse. At the end of the interview, PC Holster slipped his notepad into his pocket with little enthusiasm, the crisp white page still unblemished. He didn’t give the impression that this was a very serious crime, worthy of more than the most cursory of inquiries; in fact he looked distinctly disappointed. He offered to arrange for someone to call, to give them advice about home security, then he was gone.
    Cal and Meli did their best to reassure the twins that they weren’t in any trouble, then Cal added a cautionary note. “We’re not saying that this Finn is necessarily a bad person. But there is something untoward going on. We don’t want you to meet him anymore, and if you see him in the distance, you are to come straight home and tell us. Is that clear?” Cal’s voice was unusually firm. The boys nodded.

    Meli lifted her head from the pillow, suddenly aware that she was alone in bed. “Cal?” she asked sleepily into the dark room.
    “Sssh,” came an urgent whisper from the direction of the door. “I can hear something.”
    “Its only the cows outside,” Meli groaned dismissively, allowing her heavy head to sink into the luxurious comfort of her pillow and the promise of a deep sleep.
    “There’s someone downstairs.”
    Instantly Meli jerked upright. Scrabbling along the bed, arm outstretched, she sought her dressing gown. Feeling the silky material, she dragged it towards her and then slipped it on. As quietly as she could she slid from the bed.
    Moving as one shadow, Meli’s fingers clutching handfuls of pyjama bottoms around Cal’s broad