Once inside, Wallace asked something of Gromit. Thinking back, I'm not sure how I should feel about what happened next. I mean, he asked Gromit something, and the dog actually understood him. This is weird, considering that I didn't. I mean, he asked him to hand something over. I didn't understand the word he used, but since Gromit gave him a flashlight, I assumed that's what he asked. I'm pretty sure I knew the word "flashlight" at the time, so it surprises me that I couldn't understand it then, but the dog could. Either Wallace spoke such a weird form of English that (literally) only a dog could understand him, or the dog was just smarter than me.
In any case, Wallace got his flashlight, and as it turned out he had more than one, so Rose and I could carry one for ourselves. I guess he was prepared in case his first one broke. I was the first to switch on my light, and whatever it was that the light caught, it freaked Wallace out.
"What's the matter?" I asked.
It took me a while, but I eventually realized he was just in agony because I was shining the light directly in his eyes.
"Sorry." I apologized as I turned away.
This time it was my turn to scream, as I saw a body in my light. But I calmed down as soon as I recognized what it was.
"Oh come off it!" Rose said, "It's just a statue!"
"I know that now." I snapped back, "But for a moment I thought we were caught."
"Really?" Rose joked, "How many policemen do you know that dress like angels?"
"Oh, rather interesting angel, I'll say." Wallace seemed to admire it quite a bit.
Personally, I didn't see the appeal to it. I mean, yes, it was a statue of an angel, who had its hands in front of its face, as though it were crying. Some would say it's the artist's way of saying that angels cry for all the evil in the world, but that's all I can say about it. If I wanted to see a statue of an angel, I'd go to church. But I was inside a haunted house, so I expected something a little more spectacular.
"Oy!" Rose started, "We can look at art later. How about we look around?"
I don't remember Wallace's exact words, but I could tell he agreed to do that. Albeit with some protest. So he walked away from the angel, telling Gromit to follow him. It was then that I noticed the dog was wearing a miner's helmet. One of those models that has a light at the top. When did someone put that on his head? Or did the dog do that himself? I shrugged. Suddenly, I heard a crack, so I turned to look. I didn't see anything or anyone. One of the reasons some people think their houses are haunted is the fact that they hear floorboards crack, and they're mistaking hearing footsteps. I assumed it was just one of those things, so I paid no further attention to it. What I did notice, was something weird about the statue. Earlier, its hands covered its face, but this time its hands were lower, so I could see its eyes. How did that happen?
"Oy! You comin'!" Rose called to me.
I shook my head. I thought I didn't have a good enough look at the statue, so I must've missed the fact that the face wasn't completely covered.
"Yes, I'm coming." I called back, and I followed.
Once I rejoined them, Rose asked: "What's the matter?"
"I think my fantasy is overloading." was my way at the time for saying that my imagination was playing tricks on me.
Rose smiled, but I'm not sure if that was because she thought I was being silly, or for some other reason.
"I wouldn't be so sure." Wallace said, "There may still be ghosts, even if you don't believe it."
"Hey look, there's another angel!" Rose pointed down the end of the hall.
Indeed there was an angel. Although this one seemed to be standing stiff, as if on guard.
Wallace seemed to agree, as he excitedly said: "Oh, let's see what he's guarding."
He went down the hall and through the door that was on the angel's left. Rose didn't say anything, but I knew she was thinking the same as I was. Whatever was beyond that door, it was as good a place as any to start looking. So we followed, as did Gromit.