THE NIGHT I SPOKE TO A GHOSTLY GIRL

OUR most famous resident ghost at the Tower is Anne Boleyn. She has been spotted many times near the Queen’s House and the Chapel of St Peter ad Vincula on the anniversary of her death. I remember when my wife and I first arrived and were living in a flat on Tower Green. I woke early one morning and felt compelled to look out of our bedroom window, to see a shadow moving along the path to the Chapel. Was it her? I don’t know. It was certainly someone or something. On another morning, perfectly still, I had just let Merlina out of her night-box when the door behind me suddenly slammed shut. I nearly leapt out of my skin. The door has never banged like that before or since. Another story? One evening, I was shepherding the ravens to bed when I noticed a small girl sitting on the bench by their enclosure, watching me closely. Aged about ten, she had mousey-brown hair and was wearing modern clothes. Since the Tower had shut, she wasn’t likely to be some stranded visitor and I didn’t recognise her as one of the residents’ children. I’ve often felt a bit uncomfortable in this part of the Tower, but I try not to dwell on that fact. Unsure what to say, I asked politely if she could move, because the ravens would be unwilling to enter the enclosure if she didn’t. She looked up at me and smiled slightly, but said nothing. Anyway, I thought I’d deal with the ravens first, so I unlocked Munin and Jubilee’s enclosure, which takes just a moment. When I turned back, the girl had disappeared. It would have been impossible for her to have walked past me without my noticing, but she was gone. Vanished. I was so unnerved I went to look for her, searching the entire Inner Ward, an area enclosed by a massive wall and 13 towers. I found nothing, and to this day, no one knows anything about that little girl.