The Others

Now, children, are you sitting comfortably?

Then I'll begin.

"This story started many thousands of years ago...

but it was all over in just 7 days.

All that long, long time ago, none of the things we can see now...

the sun, the moon, the stars, the earth, the animals and plants...

none existed. Only God existed...

and so only He could have created them.

And He did."

Mr. Simpson, what a character he was! I wonder whatever became of him?

I imagine he's dead, Like all the rest.

Those were the days...

Mr. Tuttle, your hair!

Good morning, ma'am. We've come about the...

Oh yes, of course.

Come in.

I wasn't expecting you so soon.

- You are...? - I'm Bertha Mills, ma'am...

...and this is Edmund Tuttle. - Pleased to meet you, ma'am.

- You must be the gardener. - Ay, that's right, the gardener...

and this young lady's called Lydia.

- Have you had experience in service? - Don't let that angel face fool you.

- She's older than she looks. - Can you iron?

What's the matter? Has the cat got your tongue?

Ah, she can't talk, ma'am. The poor little mite's a mute.

But she's a good little worker, I can promise you that.

All right.

All right. The other girl I had spoke too much anyway. Follow me.

Mrs. Mills, you and the Girl will sleep in the attic room upstairs...

- And you, Mr... - Tuttle, ma'am.

Tuttle. You can sleep in the shed, around the back.

As you can see, the housework has been rather neglected...

since the servants disappeared, almost a week ago.

You mean they just vanished?

Into thin air. No notice, nothing. They didn't even collect their wages.

- They... they just left us. - What a strange thing to do!

You'll find out sometimes this house is not exactly an ideal home.

Hence my advertisement in the paper for honest, hardworking people.

Nobody's more honest and hardworking than us.

- Isn't that right, Mr. Tuttle? - Ay, we're very honest.

And... very hardworking.

The kitchen.

I have breakfast at eight, the children at nine.

Lunch will be served at one and dinner at half past seven.

And the master, ma'am?

The master went off to war, a year and a half ago.

I had no news since the war ended.

- Which of you does the cooking? - I'm so sorry, ma'am.

Which of you does the cooking?

Have you all noticed what I am doing?

No door must be opened without the previous one being closed first.

It's vital that you remember this.

It's not as easy as it may seem.

There are 15 different keys for all of the 5O doors...

depending on which area of the house you're in at the time.

Mrs. Mills, tomorrow I'll leave a set of keys in your charge.

Yes, ma'am.

The music room. That old piano was already here when we moved in.

Please do not let the Children thump away on it.

It sets off my migraine.

Silence is something that we prize very highly in this house.

So we have no telephone, radio or anything that makes a racket.

We don't have electricity either.

The Germans kept cutting it off, so we learned to live without it.

- Let's continue. - Ma'am, there's really no need...

...to show us around the whole house. - Yes!

Yes, there is.

Because here, most of the time, you can hardly see your way.

It's hard to see if there is a table, a chair, a door, a sideboard...

or one of my children playing hide-and-seek.

What do you mean, ma'am?

Perhaps I should introduce you to the children.

Mr. Tuttle, see to the garden now. You'll find tools in the shed.

Yes, ma'am.

You two can start closing the curtains. All of them.

Come.

I'll wake them. You wait here.

Whatever you do, don't open the curtains.

Wakey-wakey!

Now, come on. Eyes closed, hands together.

Blessed be, at light of day, Jesus, to whom now I pray.

Blessed be the Virgin pure Whom I greet with faith so sure.

Jesus, Mary, Spotless Rose, Keep us till this day doth close.

They're still half-asleep.

What sweet little children!

Well? What do you say?

How do you do?

How do you do?

How do you do, children?

My name's Mrs. Mills, but you can call me Bertha if you like.

What are your names?

- Anne. - Nicholas.

Anne and Nicholas. What pretty names!

Are you going to be our new nanny?

- Yes, my dears. I'm your new nanny. - It's time for their breakfast.

Lydia, you go to the kitchen and close every shutter.

- The doctors couldn't find a cure. - For what?

Their condition.

The children have a very serious allergy to light.

They're photosensitive and mustn't be exposed to more light than this.

Or, in a matter of minutes, they'd break out in sores and blisters...

and begin to suffocate. It would eventually be fatal.

Good Heavens!

- I don't like this toast. - Why not?

It tastes funny. I liked it better before.

Well, that was because before, somebody else made it.

When are they coming back?

They won't be coming back, child.

Just like daddy.

Daddy is coming back, though.

Mrs. Mills, our father is fighting in a war in France, you know.

- It's the World War. - I know, but he's in France.

That's enough, chatterboxes. Finish up your breakfasts.

Are you going to leave us, too?

Of course not. Why should I leave you?

The others said they wouldn't. But they did. And then it happened.

Be quiet!

What do you mean, Anne? What happened?

Mummy went mad.

- Nothing happened. - Yes, it did.

- No, it didn't! - Yes, it did!

Be quiet!

What's going on?

I want to see those plates empty in less than a minute. Is that clear?

Mrs. Mills, would you come outside a moment, I'd like a word with you.

Yes, ma'am.

The postman usually comes every Wednesday...

but I've just checked the letter box and this week he hasn't.

- I'm afraid I don't follow, ma'am. - This letter should've been collected...

and delivered to the newspaper five days ago.

It's the advertisement. Since it wasn't published...

...how are you here? - Now I understand.

That's exactly what I was going to say when you opened the door to us.

The truth is that we just come by on the off-chance.

A big house like this always needs someone who knows the ropes.

You mean you've served in a house like this one before?

This may come as a surprise to you, but...

we, in fact, used to work here.

- Here? - It was a few years ago.

And if you don't mind my saying so, they were the best years of my life.

That's why we come by, because this house means a lot to us.

Perhaps I'd best show you our references, ma'am.

Don't bother, there's no need. So you know the house well?

Like the back of my hand.

If the walls haven't sprouted legs and moved in the meantime.

The only thing that moves here is the light.

But it changes everything.

It's rather difficult, to say the least.

One might almost say...

unbearable.

The only way of enduring it is by keeping a cool head.

- Yes, ma'am. - I don't like fantasies.

Strange ideas. Do you know what I mean?

- I think so, ma'am. - My children have strange ideas.

But you mustn't pay any attention to them. Children will be children.

Yes, of course, ma'am.

All right...

you can stay.

Thank you very much, ma'am.

It did happened.

"The Roman governor tried to make them change their minds afterwards...

"To make them change their minds", full stop.

- "Afterwards..." - "Afterwards...

he ordered them to be beaten. But Justus and Pastor, not afraid...

rejoiced and showed themselves willing to die for Christ.

When he saw this, the Roman governor was filled with rage...

and ordered their heads to be cut off."

What do you find so amusing?

Well...

- well, what? - Those children were really stupid.

- Why? - They said they believed...

in Jesus and then they got killed for it.

- And would you deny Christ? - Well, yes.

Inside I would have believed in him. But I wouldn't have told the Romans.

Is that what you think, too, Nicholas?

I see.

So you both Would have lied, to the point of denying Christ.

You'd have saved your heads from being chopped off, that's true...

...but what would've happened after? - When?

In the next life, after we die. Where would you have gone?

- Where, Nicholas? - To the children's limbo.

What is the children's limbo?

- One of the four Hells. - Which are...?

- Me! Me! - No, let him answer. Which are?

There's the hell where the damned go, then there's Purgatory...

and the Bosom of Abraham, where the Just go...

...and limbo where children go. - At the centre of the Earth.

Where it's very, very hot.

That's where children go who tell lies. But not for a few days, oh no.

No, they're damned, forever.

Think about it.

Try to imagine the end of Eternity.

Close your eyes, close your eyes and try to imagine it.

Forever...

Pain. Forever.

I'm getting dizzy.

Now do you understand why Justus and Pastor told the truth?

Right.

- Open your readers at lesson 6. - Can't we go and play?

You most certainly cannot. First you're going to read the lesson...