Mrs.

Ramsey’s night

A year ago Mrs. Ramsey _________woke up_________ (wake up) at 1.30.am. At first she
didn’t know why she _________woke up_________ (wake up), but then she
_________heard________ (hear) a noise. It was a scratching sound. Mrs. Ramsey
________listened______ (listen) carefully, she _____has never heard______ (never, hear)
that sound before. While she ___was sitting_____ (sit) in her bed the noise
_______got_______ (get) louder. The old wondered where the sound was coming from.
Although she _______has been afraid _______ (be afraid), she decided to get out of bed. ‘I
_____think_______ (think) this is a cat, that _______is playing__________ (play) with my
dustbins. I _____will chase____ (chase) it away so I can sleep again.’, she thought. But then
the noise suddenly _____changed_______ (change). ‘This sounds like someone
_______were talking_______ (talk)’, she whispered to herself.

Mean while her dog Tim _____woke up_______ (wake up) as well. Tim ____woke___ (walk)
up to her bad and _________whimpered_____ (whimper) quietly. ‘Shush’, she said, ‘be quiet,
you _____are____ (be) such a baby!’. But really, she was scared herself, but she
_________wanted_______ (want) to be brave. Before she went to the back window to see
what was going on she _____had gone_______ (go) into the kitchen to get a rolling pin. Slowly
she ______tiptoed___________ (tiptoe) to the window. ‘You said that old bat ____isnt_____
(be not) home!’ ‘I _______known_____ (know) what I said, thanks for reminding me!’ ‘So what
_____are we doing_____ (we do) now?’ Mrs Ramsey’s heart ______was beating ____ (beat)
fast. Tim, her dog _______was hiding________ (hide) under the sofa and looked scared. ‘We
_____are robbing_____ (rob) her house, of course! That’s what we ____decided___ (decide)
to do three weeks ago and this is what we _______were doing_______ (do)’ Mrs. Ramsey
froze – what could she do?

‘Rob the house when she’s inside? ___Are______ (be) you crazy?!’ the other voice said. Mrs
Ramsey __________took_______ (take) a deep breath and said to herself ‘Okay, I need to do
something. ‘I _________tiptoe____________ (tiptoe) back into my bedroom and close my
eyes.. That is the safest thing to do’. While she _____was walking___ (walk) back to her room
there was a loud noise, rtshhhh. The old lady ______stoped______ (stop) for a second and
_______looked_________ (look) around, then she ran into her bedroom and closed the door.
As she ______lay________ (lie) in bed she thought: ‘Nobody __has ever broken_ (ever break)
into my house, and I ___have never been______ (never be) so scared in my entire life.’
The noise Mrs. Ramsey _______heard_______ (hear), had come from the door. Now she
could hear footsteps and whispering. ‘Where ____do you want______ (you want) to start?’ a
voice said. The other voice answered: ‘Of course we ____are starting_________ (start) in the
bedroom, we always do that, that’s where the old ladies keep all their gold!’ Mrs. Ramsey
thought: ‘That ______is______ (be) true, I also _______keep_______ (keep) my gold in the
bedroom. ‘Alright then, but you go first’. Slowly the footsteps ______were getting______ (get)
closer.

‘Hands up into the air, and don’t you move an inch’ ,a loud voice said, ‘You are under arrest!’
Mrs Ramsey _____opened_______ (open) her eyes and turned around in bed. A young police
officer ________walked________ (walk) up to her bed. ‘Are you okay?’ he asked. ‘Yes, thank
you, I _______had heard_____ (hear) noises and ______woke up_____ (wake up). When I
heard the two men speaking about breaking in I _____have decided / decided_____ (decide)
to go back to bed and _______pretend________ (pretend) to be asleep, it was too late to call
you. How did you know…I mean…why are you here now’, the lady asked. ‘One of your
neighbours ______woke up______ (wake up) from the noise as well, he saw two men at your
door and ________thought_____ (think) something was wrong, so he ____called____ (call)
us’ the officer said with a smile. ‘So you should thank your neighbour.’ Mrs Ramsey smiled and
answered ‘Yes, thank you I _____will thank_____ (thank) him tomorrow, but now I really need
some sleep.’

The next morning Mrs Ramsey _____had gone_______ (go) to her neighbour and
_______thanked______ (thank) him for calling the police. She was very happy that they
_______have realised______ (realise) what was going on. She was so thankful that she
wanted to repay them in some way. She offered to do some of their washing and ironing,
because she _______knew______ (know) her neighbours had very busy jobs. At first they
_____said______ (say) no, but then Mrs Ramsey really wanted to do something for them, so
they said okay. Since that day Mrs. Ramsey and her neighbour _____have been____ (be)
very good friends. They ____are meeting____ (meet) for tea and cake at least once a week
and _____are helping______ (help) each other. ‘I really like having more contact with the
neighbours. Now we also share work. Right now for instance I ____am ironing____(iron) their
clothes and they _____are cutting________ (cut) my trees.’