Maria is an 'only', used to being on her own and preferring conversations in her head than with other people who seldom understand Perhaps this is why she is aware of strange happenings and unexplained noises - a non-existent swing that creaks, and the yapping of a dog when there is only a cat in the Victorian house where she is on holiday with her parents Strangest of all is the sampler stitched by a girl called Harriet in 1865 Something odd happened to Harriet but what?