The museum inventory

An original fiction passage set in the nineteenth century.

“The upper gallery complains after dark,” Mr Saye said as he handed Miriam the key. “Old boards and shrinking frames. Timber only.” He smiled at her doubtful expression. “Finish drawer fourteen, then lock the door behind you.”

His footsteps descended the stone staircase and diminished into the hall below. Miriam returned to the long table. At first, she welcomed the exactness of her work: each specimen had its square of paper, each name its appointed line. Her pen travelled steadily down the page.

The first click came from the far end of the gallery. It was a small, dry sound, like a fingernail touching glass. Miriam raised her head. The cases stood in two orderly rows, their dark contents fixed beneath the lamps. She listened until the silence made her feel foolish, then bent again to the inventory.

Click.

This time she held the pen above the paper. Nothing followed. She lowered the nib and wrote another word. Before the ink had dried, the sound answered. Miriam told herself that the building was settling, just as Mr Saye had said. Nevertheless, she began to write more quickly, as though the neat black lines might build a fence around her.

A drawer moved in the cabinet beside the wall. It opened no farther than the width of a coin, but Miriam saw it. She crossed the gallery, pushed it shut and placed a brass paperweight against its handle. As she stepped back, a cart thundered along the street outside. The windows quivered; labels fluttered inside the cases; the paperweight rolled across the boards and touched her shoe.

Miriam laughed, although the sound was thin and brief. The cart had explained everything. She gathered her papers, extinguished the nearest lamp and hurried into the stairwell. When she had locked the gallery door, she remained with her hand upon the key, listening as the cart’s wheels faded into the distance.

From the other side of the door came one small, dry click.

Analyse how the writer uses language and structure to present Miriam’s changing response to the sounds. In your answer, consider how far the ending supports her fear that she is not alone. Support your answer with references to the passage.