Chapter 5

He went to the kitchen and saw all the papers from the attic
on the kitchen table. She remembered that they were
letters. She picked one up and read that it began "My dear
Alice." She took another, it was another letter from George
to Alice. She put all the papers together. They were all
letters, all from George to Alice. There were 36 of them. She
stared at the dates. They were all from 1944 or 1945. Then
he found the next one and the one after the last one on
March 27, 1945. Then he read the dye. It was a love letter
from George Alice. "Alice must be Miss Spencer," thought
Emma. "And George must be her American boyfriend." She
finished reading the letter, but it didn't feel right. "I really
shouldn't read someone else's love letters," she said to
herself. she left them without reading any more. At seven
o'clock Charlie arrived. Charfier" Emusa ran to him and
hugged him Charlie put his bag down on a chair "It's been
terrible" Emma began Charlie didn't have time to sit down
"Not just the glaw and the window I told you about" she
continued "But I went back to the attic and Emosa told him
again about the cup and the window and then about the
books and papers in the loft. "I'll go and have a look" Charlie
said "There's nothing to see said Emma 7 put everything
back" Charlie locked on her "Charlie, you believe me, don't
you?" "Emma" Charlie began "old houses make noise, and
cups and windows break, but books and papers don't fly
around the rooms. I want to believe you, but. This was too
much for Emma. "You don't believe me, do you?" she cried.
"You think I'm crazy. "Elima started Charlie hall happened,
charlie shouted imm "Emma started Charlie agun -Come
back when you believe me," Emma said angrily Charlie
stood up and waited "Go away" Emma shouted. A few
minutes later, Emma took a tearful sip. I hate this house,"
she thought. I hate this house, this place. I'm going to have
to leave. Then she thought of Chutie "Oh, why did I get mad
at him? I have to talk to him about the baby" She made
herself a cup of tea and sat there for hours worrying and
crying After a while, she dried her eyes and looked around
the room, wondering what to do now. She started to make
some tea and then noticed George's letters to Alor. She
reread the first one and then decided to drive everyone
crazy. It was clear that George and Alice were very much in
love. Finally, Emma got to the last letter. She announced it
and then read it again. I got your letter this morning How
happy I am! You say you are afraid. I can understand that,
but I love you very much. I will be home soon Then we can
get married, you can have the baby and we can become a
happy family. I can't wait to be a husband and father. First,
let's get what for me With all my love, Jorge The papers
started flying around mom. Emma night a few post. She
tried to catch another one, but almost made it when she
reached for it. A book flew across the room into the wall,
then another Emma screamed and ran to a corner of the
reon. "My baby" she thought. "What will happen if a book
hits the baby? "The room suddenly got colder. Then
everything stopped moving Emma peste had her eyes wide
open, her stomach Nothing was moving Slowly, Emma put
her down hard and looked around. She looked at the papers
all over the e. They were letters. Then she went around the
room picking up the letters. She didn't know what to do.
She couldn't think. She left the books behind the door. She
closed the window She took the letters denen to the kitchen
put them on the table "No wind," she thought. The house
stayed that Emma felt red, and ready. She went into the
living room and sat down on one of the big schuin. She was
so tired that she wanted to sleep. Then it's not like that or
too deep, she thought. Emma woke up an hour or two later.
Emma woke up an hour or two later. She went into the
kitchen and saw all the papers from the loft on the kitchen
table. She realized they were letters. Somewhere it
occurred to her that they might be important. From
somewhere it occurred to him to think they might be
important. She picked one up and read She thought of
Charlie. She and Charlie were married unlike George and
Alice. And for George and Alice in 19 it was very different. In
1945, life was hard if you had a baby but weren't married.
"Poor Miss Spencer," she thought. "First, she found out she
was going to have a baby. Then George told her he wanted
her to get married. But then he died. How did Miss Spencer
feel when she heard that news?" Then Emma thought of
Charlie. "But was he mad at me?" She wondered. She
desperately needed to talk to him, but not now. Suddenly,
she felt tired again. It was only ten o'clock but she decided
to go to bed. Maybe things would seem better in the
morning. But that night things got much worse.