When I was younger I lived in a large house on the Swiss/French border

A railway ran through the valley and I often lay in bed listening to the night trains scream past

My father was a diplomat and my mother was an actress whose filming commitments used to mean that we were often left on our own in our house

I say alone but we were looked after by Madam our aged housekeeper who was often to be found asleep in her room the victim of excess drinking

It was during one of these episodes when I first became aware of the secret of the leaves

At first I was terrified but after Andrew investigated I felt easier

It started when I was sitting on the lavatory having suffered a stomach upset which meant that I paid many visits to the pink room at the foot of the stairs

As it was the nearest to the forest this small room attracted its share of leaves during the autumn months and on that day I was not surprised to see a number of leaves on the black and white tiled floor

I had actually been asleep when I was awoken by the stomach cramps that has troubled me for a couple of days

Wearing only my cotton nightdress and holding my night candle I made my way to the pink room hoping that I would be relieved and would be able to return to my bed without further disturbance

The first thing that I thought I saw was a small face in light relief as I descended the stairs

This alarmed me but had vanished when I pulled my candle nearer to the wall which I noted was much damaged having not been fully repaired since the war

I considered this to be a trick of the light or a product of my fevered imagination

Nevertheless it had unnerved me enough that I had switched the electric light on even though this was known to disturb Madam

I suppose I wanted company even though I was not at my best

However the single bulb did not wake the housekeeper up and if anything the room became quieter and I imagined somewhat colder

After what seemed an age I rose and began to clean myself with a muslin cloth but almost immediately dropped it

It landed in the thickest pile of leaves and I had to suppress a giggle as my clumsiness had amused me

But my amusement was short lived as in the darkest part of the room I saw two minute eyes staring at me from beneath another pile of leaves

I can just remember thinking how the eyes resembled those of a crab before I screamed loudly and fainted

The next thing I can remember was Andrew carrying me up the staircase towards my bedroom and then I passed out again

The doctor called the next morning and noted that my condition was likely to have been caused by the shellfish that I had recently eaten

He placed me on a very plain diet supplemented by plenty of liquids because my system in his view had flushed itself out as my evacuations were becoming less and less

When the doctor had left I asked my dear brother to visit the pink room and to see if he could identify the source of my terror

This he did and reported that there was nothing to be found and that the eyes that I saw could have been a rats which had buried itself under the leaves in search of warmth and comfort

I asked after the face in the wall and he noted that the dampness near the foot of the stairs had caused the paint to bubble which might have the inspiration of what I witnessed

Daddy returned at around five having been alerted by Madam and I asked if I might be moved to the violet room on the top floor

He thought this to be a good idea and I soon made this pleasant but smaller room my bedroom

I never returned to my former bedroom or the pink room again and was more than interested to learn that some years after we sold the house the daughter of the new owner had reported strange happenings in the pink room and the staircase that were nearest to the forest

If I pass the house on the train I always look up at my former home and wonder what has troubled it so much over the counting of the years