She hurtled upstairs, not caring that pain shot through her foot with each step she took. Breathlessly, she stormed into Katie's bedroom to see both children looking bewilderedly up at her, fear written on both their faces. Thankfully though, Katie's window wasn't the one that had been smashed.

Jill forced a reassuring smile onto her strained features, then exited the room. Her heart was beating a wild rhythm against her rib cage, the blood thudding in her ears as she entered Gordon's room. Her hand shaking more than she'd ever imagined it could, she flicked on the light switch. Light flooded the room illuminating nothing amiss. A light headed feeling suddenly washed over her as the tiredness combined with the lack of oxygen getting to her brain due her rapid breathing. She lowered herself gingerly onto the edge of the bed and forced herself to slow her breathing down, knowing she'd be no good to Katie and Tom if she got herself into a state.

She lowered her head into her hands, and pressed the heels of her palms onto her closed eyes, focusing on that pressure and her slowing breathing. Once she felt the light-headedness had sufficiently passed, she raised her head and blinked a few times as her eyes came into focus. She raised herself up, still a bit shakily then winced as she put pressure on her foot. She was about to examine it when something caught her eye. She whipped around in time to see a shaped make contact with the bedroom window. Without thinking, she flung herself onto the floor. An explosion of glass shot everywhere. Shards flew every which way, cutting and slashing. They imbedded they imbedded themselves all over the room; in the carpet, in the bed, in Jill.


She opened her eyes after she was sure all the glass had fallen. What met her eyes first was the brick that had smashed the window, lying only centimetres from her head. She eased herself into a sitting position, being careful not to lean on any of the glass shards. The already excruciating pain intensified as she did so. It seemed to be concentrated on her side and her cheek. She looked down to see a rip in her nightdress, already staining crimson. She raised a hand and gently touched her cheek, and her fingers came away with the same red, wetness.

Another smash met her ears; the source of this one seemed to be downstairs. Her thoughts instantly returned to the children. She had to get them away from the window; it was only a matter of time before they got injured. She carefully but rapidly picked her way through the glass-strewn floor and into the hallway. She entered Katie's bedroom. They both looked even more scared than the last time she'd checked in them. Tom stood up and flung himself at her, sobbing as he did so. She crouched down to his level and enveloped him in a hug, all the while glancing between him, Katie and the window.

"Come on." She said, with as much brightness as she could force into her voice. "Let's go downstairs." She picked Tom up, held out her hand to Katie who eagerly grabbed it, and led them out the bedroom, hurrying them through the hall and down the stairs. She had to get them as far away from windows as she could, preferably in a room without windows. She knew though, that there were no such rooms in Gordon's house. She did have one idea though.

Once they'd reached the bottom of the stairs, she turned and was relieved to see a door. She opened it to reveal a cupboard under the stairway. It was a fairly large cupboard, big enough for two children once she'd moved a few things out of it anyway.

She did so then gently pushed them inside. "You'll be safe in here."

They looked up at her, complete rust written on their faces. Her heart ached to see this. She could only imagine what they'd been through, loosing their mother so young, and now being terrified. She was scared enough; it could only be so much worse for a child, having absolutely no idea what was happening.

"What about you, Jill" Katie asked, clinging onto her hand. "Will you be okay?"

She smiled down at her, then with as much conviction as she could muster said, "I'll be fine, don't worry." She wished she could believe that though as a smash met from upstairs, shortly followed by a heavy knock on the door.


Another knock resounded through the still house. Jill eased her hand from Katie's and closed the cupboard door, but left a gap to let some light through. "Stay quiet." she whispered to them as she moved away from the cupboard.

She didn't know what to do. Opening the front door defiantly wasn't an option, but she couldn't leave the children in the cupboard all night. She looked around widely, hoping for some inspiration. She didn't have to though, as the letterbox was opened up by whoever was standing outside. She held her breath and pressed her back against the wall, hoping she wouldn't be seen.

"Jill?" The person called.

On hearing this, she ran towards the door, recognising the voice. Hands shaking, she unlocked it and flung it open to see Gordon. Wary of the possibility that the person who had smashed the windows might still be outside, she grabbed him and pulled him in, shutting and locking the door behind him. Partial relief flooded through her, and she clung to his upper arms, her whole body trembling. She was no longer confident that her legs could hold her up.

"Jill?" He said again, confusion evident in his voice.

On hearing their father's voice, Tom and Katie burst out of the cupboard screaming "Daddy!" Gordon moved abruptly away from Jill and scooped his children up in his arms.

"What's going on Jill?" His questioning tone was tinged with anger. "Why were my children in the cupboard?"

Before Jill had chance to respond, Katie piped up. "It was horrible Daddy! Someone was smashing all the windows. Me and Tom were really scared!" The end of her sentence became marred as tears was again started to spill over her cheeks.

Tom nodded earnestly in agreement with his sister, on the verge of tears himself. "Look Daddy, Jill's been hurt." He removed a hand from its hold on Gordon's shirt to point at Jill's cheek.

"Jill, tell me what happened." He murmured, tightening his arms protectively around his children.

She swallowed, collecting her thoughts and then began to recount the evening, right from the breaking of the first window, up until Gordon's arrival. By the time she'd finished, the composure and strength she'd maintained all through the evening was in danger of breaking. She turned away from Katie and Tom, not wanting them to see her and upset them more.

Gordon placed his children on the bottom step of the stairs, moved over to Jill and placed a hand on her shoulder, gently turning her to face him. "Thank you." He whispered. She smiled in response, and then he continued. "How's about I'll phone the police, then I'll see to your cuts, eh?"

At the mention of police, her eyes widened in horror, she felt the blood drain from her face and her chest tighten. "No, no Gordon, don't do that!"

He frowned quizzically at her.

She went on hurriedly before he could say anything. "I mean they'll be long gone by now, they won't have left any evidence, so there's not much point is there?" She trailed off at the end, knowing how stupid she sounded.

Gordon's frown deepened and he turned away from her towards the telephone on the table by the door. "I'm phoning the police Jill."

She sighed and leant against the banister as he spoke to the officer on the other end of the phone. She was pretty sure that the people that had smashed the windows were the same ones that were sending her those letters; it would be a big coincidence if it was someone else. They had told her not to tell anyone, so if they found out they were being reported to the police, she hated to think what they'd do.

Gordon put down the phone. "They'll be here as soon as possible. They said not to touch anything."

She sank slowly down to sit on the carpet, drew her legs up to her chest, regardless of the pain it caused in her side. She wrapped her arms around her legs and rested her chin on top of them. She sighed, a deep, deep sigh, but in no way was it a defeated sigh.