مسئله‌ی انتخاب

Chapter nine

A Matter of Choice

William telephoned Joan early on Friday morning.

“Hello.”

“Joan I must speak to you.”

“Why don’t you come to the office, William? It’s not open today so we’ll have time to talk.”

William hurried to the office and, after Joan unlocked the door for him, he sat down opposite her in front of the big desk.

“I need your help. It’s about Kathy and the strange happenings at Hampton house. Kathy’s never been like this before, but every time she goes near that house she seems to be a different person. I don’t believe in ghosts. Maybe the accident she had makes her see things. Kathy is special to me, but I’m afraid she’s not the Kathy I knew anymore.”

“I thought you might want to talk to me about that. Kathy told me once that her mother died when she was very small and she had never seen her grandmother. So, I went to the Old People’s Home and asked some old people who remembered Kathy’s grandmother. They told me that when she was young, she used to work for Lord Hampton. So maybe Kathy’s grandmother was the girl with the diamond heart.”

“Joan, I came to talk to you because I thought you were a logical person. It seems that I’ve made a mistake”.

“I believe that something happened to Kathy in that house, and if she’s really special to you, then you must believe it too!

If you can’t do that, then let her go. You have until the meeting tomorrow to decide.”

The next day was Saturday. Kathy walked slowly along the road to the offices of Helping Hand. She knew that the young people there were angry with her, especially William.

The room was full of young people talking or sitting quietly waiting for Joan to tell them where to go. William was in a corner of the room with his close friends around him. He turned his back to Kathy, but Joan hurried over to her.

“Hello Kathy. How are you today?”

“I feel much better, thank you.”

“Come over here to my desk. I have something to say to these young people and I want you beside me.”

Confused, Kathy followed Joan and sat down near her desk.

“Attention please! As you all know, we haven’t found a new office for Helping Hand yet, but we will finally find one. Sadly, I won’t be here to help you. I’m moving away from this town, but there are many good people here to take my place. Today you must vote for a new leader. I’ve chosen three people I think will do the job well. William Owen, Sally Brown and John Holt. If you all agree, then please write the name of the person you want as a leader on a piece of paper, then put your paper in the box on my desk.”

After everyone had voted, they returned to their jobs. Kathy’s job that day was to answer the telephone. When the office was quiet, Joan turned to Kathy.

“That old house we saw - Hampton House - it’s being pulled down today.”

“No!”

Kathy jumped up from the chair. She ran outside feeling that she had to visit the old house one more time.