Thief of Time - Occult

Even so, there was this essay by Richenda Higgs. Madam Frout fumbled for her glasses, which she was too vain to wear all the time and kept on a string around her neck, and looked at it again.

In its entirety, it read: A man with all bones came to talk to us he was not scarey at all, he had a big white hors. We pared the hors. He had a sighyve. He told us interesting things and to be careful when crosing the road.

Madam Frout handed the paper across the desk to Miss Susan, who looked at it gravely. She pulled out a red pencil, made a few little alterations, then handed it back.

'Well?' said Madam Frout.

'Yes, she's not very good at punctuation, I'm afraid. A good attempt at “scythe”, though.'

'Who... What's this about a big white horse in the classroom?' Madam Frout managed. Miss Susan looked at her pityingly and said,

'Madam, who could possibly bring a horse into a classroom? We're up two flights of stairs here.' Madam Frout was not going to be deterred this time. She held up another short essay.

Today we were talked at by Mr Slumph who he is a bogeyman but he is nice now. He tole us what to do abot the other kind. You can put the blanket ove your head but it is bettr if you put it ove the bogeymans head then he think he do not exist and he is vanishs. He tole us lots of stores abot people he jump out on and he said sins Miss is our teachr he think no bogeymen will be in our houses bcos one thing a bogey dos not like is Miss finding him.

'Bogeymen, Susan?' said Madam Frout.

'What imaginations children have,' said Miss Susan, with a straight face.

'Are you introducing young children to the occult?' said Madam Frout suspiciously. This sort of thing caused a lot of trouble with parents, she was well aware.

'Oh, yes.'

'What? Why?’

'So that it doesn't come as a shock,' said Miss Susan calmly.

'But Mrs Robertson told me that her Emma was going round the house looking for monsters in the cupboards! And up until now she's always been afraid of them!'

'Did she have a stick?' said Susan.

'She’d got her father's sword!'

'Good for her.’

***

The Thief of Time - p73-75