After a couple of minutes, she went back to her own bedroom.
‘Well?’ Richard asked.
‘She’s fine. She must have been crying in her sleep.’
‘I never heard a thing. You’re imagining it again.’
‘I heard her as plain as anything.’
‘Yeah, yeah. Hurry up and switch the light off.’
Louisa did as she was told but lay awake in the dark. She knew she was listening out for Daisy. Sure enough, the moment she dropped off to sleep, Daisy started crying again. She sighed and pulled back the covers.
‘Where are you going now?’ Richard snapped.
‘Daisy is upset. Can’t you hear her?’
‘I have an important meeting in the morning and waking me up every hour is going to ruin my concentration.’
‘But I can hear her!’ Daisy’s cries were getting louder by the second. ‘I’m going to her.’
Richard muttered under his breath as she raced intoDaisy’s room. But again she was asleep. She couldn’t understand it. Daisy very rarely cried during her sleep and twice in one night was unheard of. She went back to her bedroom, confused and disorientated.
‘I hope you’re not going to get up again,’ Richard growled. ‘Because if you do, don’t bother coming back to bed. Find a chair to sleep in.’
Louisa said nothing. It wouldn’t be worth the hassle she would receive. Richard was terrible if he’d been kept awake. She’d had the wrath of him on many occasions. Again, she lay in silence, waiting for a tiny peep out of Daisy, ready to jump up again.
Thankfully, she was quiet for the rest of the night. But the next morning Richard was in a foul mood.
‘What was going on last night?’ he questioned as soon as he woke up.
‘You mean with Daisy? I have no idea, but I bet she’ll be fine today, not even realising she’s interrupted us.’
‘Don’t try and put the blame on Daisy. She was fine and wasn’t screaming out. Hearing things isn’t doing any of us any favours.’
‘But I heard her.’
‘I didn’t.’
‘I’m not making it up. She was…’
‘She was asleep when you went into her room, both times.’
‘Yes, but?—’
‘You can’t be in our room tonight. I need my rest.’
‘I know that and?—’
He sighed. ‘Maybe you need to take a sleeping pill, to help you get through the night.’
‘No,’ she protested. ‘They make me feel like a zombie.’
‘They givemea good night’s rest.’
‘Well, perhaps I should go back to the doctors to get something milder.’
‘Perhaps you’ll do as you’re told for once and take the ones you have already.’
