After his female parent ‘s decease Joseph Hooper moved to Consume to care for his deceasing male parent. It took rather some clip to set up old Hooper ‘s personal businesss. These were left in confusion and Joseph felt uneasy managing the gear of decease. For the clip being the house was kept as it was, until he could make up one’s mind which furniture to acquire rid of, which of his ain to convey. It was six old ages since the decease of Ellen, his married woman. Their lone kid. Edmund, had her ways of non trouble oneselfing to explicate, of doing secrets, the same hardness and cool manner of looking.

Young Edmund takes his clip to research Warings. The Red Room has his particular involvement. It contains his gramps ‘s aggregation of stuffed moths – some of them truly rare – and tonss of ( unread ) books. One moonlit dark Edmund commits a out act: he opens the show window of the largest moth in the battalion and touches it. It is a symbolic public presentation, used by the author to show that Edmund Hooper commands certain destructive powers. For the whole moth, already dead for old ages, instantly disintegrates and collapses into a soft, amorphous pile of dark dust.

Mrs Helena Kingshaw and Charles arrive at Warings. There is already a Mrs Boland for the cleansing and some cookery.

Edmund hates the thought that there will ever be person about the house to detect him. He decides to non to give anything of himself off, the other male child can be evaded, or warned off.

The afternoon they arrive he locks himself off in his room. He watches them, leaning the mirror. He refuses to come down, abashing his male parent. He drops a ball of Plasticine wrapped in a piece of paper stating: ”I DO N’T WANT YOU TO COME HERE. ”

Their first meeting is a head-on statement, stoping in Kingshaw holding a shed blooding nose as he is non used to this kind of ill will at all. He supposes he can make some sort of armistice with Hooper. But Hooper has won the firs unit of ammunition and he is determined to maintain Kingshaw off-balance. He makes it absolutely clear that Kingshaw in unwanted: ”You still need n’t believe you ‘re wanted here. This is n’t your topographic point. ”

Hooper grasps each chance to mortify his new comrade.

He shows him about in the house, running, so this red-haired metropolis male child ca n’t maintain up with him. He finds out Kingshaw is afraid of moths and toughs him into touching one. He tells him that Grandfather Hooper died in Kingshaw ‘s bed, merely to do him afraid. He locks him in one of the sheds.

Researching the locality of Warings Kingshaw is all of a sudden attacked by a crow. It ‘s non merely a bird ‘s manoeuvring to trail the male child off ; these are fierce, violent charges over and over once more to ache Kingshaw. Of class Hooper watches the scene from his window and that flushing he goes out to happen a stuffed crow in one of the lofts. He mutely slinks into Kingshaw ‘s room and puts it beside the kiping male child ‘s pillow. But out of the blue, Kingshaw reacts with self-denial. He understands that Hooper is non used to being a bully, he is merely learning. But unlike the usual toughs at school he is unpredictable, clever, imaginative, baleful.

He finds an fresh room with tonss of closets and shortss, where dolls and playthings are stored. Hooper does n’t look to be cognizant of the room. So Kingshaw works at that place softly on his Ag carton theoretical account of a chaotic garrison. You can establish a marble from its top and it will turn over down all the manner.

Then, after Hooper challenges him in the Red Room to touch the moths and after being locked up once more in a caducous, Kingshaw decides to run off from it all.

He prepares the expedition really good: he hides a satchel, rope, lucifers and his penknife in the ”secret room ” and delaies for his chance.

In the distance is Hang Wood, a topographic point where even Hooper daring n’t travel.

When his female parent announces she will be off for a whole twenty-four hours, in London with Joseph Hooper, he knows the clip has come. He knows Mrs Boland goes place at four each twenty-four hours and she will anticipate him to be out, playing someplace.

He sets out at the interruption of morning and reaches the wood unobserved. Bing afraid at foremost he gets to wish the ambiance. He likes the odor, and the sense of being wholly hidden. The sounds of the birds, the air current in the trees, all forest sounds are non at all dismaying. They give him the same welcome feelings as in his school.

Then he notices the sound of interrupting branchlets: Hooper has followed him after all! Kingshaw it non angry, he merely feels a dull sense of inevitableness. His fortune had non held, it has wholly been an semblance of freedom. To Kingshaw ‘s surprise the functions are easy reversed! Hooper is afraid in the dark, becomes wholly terrified in a electrical storm, he cries out for his ma in his dreams, he ca n’t even eviscerate a fish! Had Kingshaw been a revengeful kind of individual, this would hold been his opportunity. But his feeling of victory are merely ephemeral.

Hooper drops into a little river and bashes his caput against a big rock. Kingshaw draws him on the bank. And so they are found, and Hooper puts the incrimination on Kingshaw wholly. Again Kingshaw is shocked: he has saved Hooper drowning!

He eventually realises Hooper is bad and that there is no flight.

His attitude towards his female parent alterations, he often talks back now. Helena is so abashed, as she and Joseph Hooper acquire to wish each other more every twenty-four hours. She tucks him in his bed and promises to state him an exciting spot of good intelligence tomorrow. Kingshaw senses some awful new secrets. If they get married he will ne’er lose Hooper at all.

It ‘s worse. Joseph Hooper announces that following term, after the summer holidays he will non travel back to his old school. Alternatively he will be traveling off to school with… Hooper! He is asleep with fright. In his room he starts to whisper and intone: ”I will kill you, Hooper… ”

A twenty-four hours before the nuptials Mr Hooper takes ”his new household ” out on a trip. Kingshaw climbs a tall ruin. Hooper, though afraid, follows him. He slips and falls down 30 feeth. Kingshaw thinks he is dead and he is convinced it has happened because he wished Hooper dead. But Hooper has merely broken a leg and is hospitalised a few yearss. Helena Kingshaw spends most of her clip at his bedside.

Then Kingshaw finds a new friend: Fielding, a sort, open-minded small town male child.

But every bit shortly as Hooper is back place once more he steals Fielding off from him. It is clear that Helena has besides betrayed him by shuting ranks with both Hoopers. Kingshaw takes another walk to Hang Wood. The following twenty-four hours he is found, drowned, on the same topographic point where Hooper struck his caput against a rock.