Helena almost screamed. The bird was huge and scary, all flapping wings with a sharp beak and claws. More scary still was the way it affected her, how it somehow seemed to speak to her.<em>Speak to her!</em>Oh this was madness... She shut the window with a bang, then shook the handle to make sure it was well and truly closed.<br/><br/>Hearth thumping, she went back into the room, feeling the hairs on her neck prickle as she turned her back to the window yet still forcing herself to do just that. She was glad to see at least the children had gotten under the covers. She removed the glass from the gas-lamp on the nightstand and used a match to light it, annoyed to see her hand shake, the flame flicker. The flame caught and she replaced the glass, then turned the valve to make it brighter, creating a warm strong glow that made her feel slightly better.<br/><br/>The governess sat down on the edge of James' bed and opened the book by the bookmark. She looked from James to Alice, "You remember what happened to Black Beauty last time...?" She always did this. It was a good training for the children's memory, taught them to summarize and repeat a tale. Now though, she mostly did it to distract them, get their mind on things other than that awful bird, their mother, that nurse, the mummy downstairs...