EXTRACT FROM A LETTER SENT BY THE REVEREND BULL TO HIS BISHOP........
....It is the children I worry for and of course my dear wife,the lord knows the extent of the misery and fear we have all had to endure this six months passed.Since the day we first took residence our lives have turned into a living hell......
1863. Summertime, The new rectory at Borely is complete! The rev.Bull,his wife Mary and children James and Abigail take possession of their new home.
Moving in went well,the day was one of placing the few pieces of furniture about the house re-placing it to the satisfaction of Mary,preparing and eating food and exploring for the children.
And so to bed...
After the fuss of the day the little ones soon settled down to sleep,prayers had been said as a family tonight,this their first night in a new home and all.Back to the more familiar routine tomorrow.Unfortunately nothing would be 'familiar 'ever again for this poor unsuspecting group.Soon after the reverend and mrs Bull retired to their room. Blissful, contented sleep ensued quite easily such was the exhaustion borne of a very fulfilling day.
First came the cold,an icy chill that caused Mary to stir,remember this was summertime, and a particularly warm one at that, so Mary had only dressed the beds with thin cotton sheets and no blankets, expecting this to be the more comfortable option.The door burst open, in trotted Abigail holding a bed sheet around her, "mummy,James and I are so cold" she half yawned"could we please have some blankets?" Mary provided more covers for the chidrens beds, kissed both of them back to sleep and closed the door quietly after herself as she left the room.As she stood by the linen cupboard, looking for a quilt for her own bed, Mary noticed it was not at all cold out on the landing between the bedrooms but gave it no more thought,such was the rush she was in to get back to bed herself.
Mary stepped into her room but was startled by the sight that greeted her. Sitting bolt upright,eyes still firmly closed, but pointing at some unseen 'thing' was her husband, ghouts of iced breath seeping from thinned lips,he looked transfixed by whatever it was he saw.It was with a sad realisation that, as Mary moved closer to comfort him,she noticed that he had tears streaming down his face,no movement, no noise, but tears none the less.
Mary had to wake her husband,but did not want to startle him.As she lovingly wiped the tears from his cheeks, he gently awoke, just enough for her to settle him back into the bed properly, and to lay the quilt over him. It was a long time before Mary found any comforting sleep herself though.
With the morning came the recollections of the previous night.The icy cold was first on the agenda. All were puzzled by it, save the reverend,who was in turn puzzled by the descriptions given by his family as he himself had absolutely no memory of the incident. After James and Abigail had breakfasted and sought permission to go and play in the grounds,Mary enquired of her husband did he remember any of the previous nights occurrences? A somewhat vague answer about a dream of an incredibly sad looking girl was all he could muster.So the chores of the day started in earnest.
This was the pattern of life for the good reverend and his family for the next week or so.
A series of small though unexplainable incidents that occurred with regularity and were put down to tiredness,the New house or job or any number of reasons apart from what was actually happening in totality!
This all changed the night of the first sighting. Thing were about to get worse. much worse. with consequences that still reverberate around the village of Borley to this very day.....
