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Post by PamA on May 7, 2008 12:33:32 GMT 1
Part Eleven
They stood, rooted to the spot, watching the cradle that seemed to be rocked by an invisible hand. Side to side it went, the movement gradually slowing down until it came to an abrupt stop. “There’s got to be a reasonable explanation,” George whispered, “something to do with the floorboards maybe?” “The floorboards?” Melody cried out,” Sometimes George, your logic defies explanation. The floorboards? What precisely do you think they’re doing? Moving from side to side? Floorboards with a life of their own that come alive after midnight, maybe?” “That’s enough Melody,” Julia said crossly, “We’re all on edge and we’re all hoping that there is some stupid reason for what we saw and..” She stopped talking and looked at Michelle. Tears were streaming down Michelle’s face. “What’s wrong, Michelle” she asked. Michelle took a deep breath. “Can’t you feel it?”She said, “Can’t you feel that sort of sadness in the air?” The women looked at each other and for a moment stood in total silence. “Yes,” Julia agreed, “I can feel it. It’s almost unbearable.” She wrapped her arms around herself, as if for comfort, and glanced quickly about the room. “It’s oppressive, it’s so tangible you can almost touch it,” she continued at last and the others nodded in agreement. “Come on,” George said, “Let’s get out of here. I don’t think I can bear being in this room much longer. It’s like all the pain and misery of that child’s short life is surrounding us. Let’s go.” A sudden loud bang made them jump and they turned to see what had caused the noise. The door to the nursery had slammed shut. Melody was the first to the door and pushed as hard as she could but the door wouldn’t open. “Archie!” She shouted banging on the door as hard as she could. “Archie! Help us! We’re trapped.” Julia pushed her to one side and tried the door handle, turning it as hard as she could, pulling and pushing to try and get the door to open. “It’s no good,” she finally said, “It won’t budge.” “What are we going to do?” Michelle asked, almost hysterical with fear, “I’ve got to get out of here.” George was standing by the window. “There’s a fire escape out here,” she said pulling back a rag of a curtain and looking outside. “Maybe we could climb out of the window, down the fire escape, and ring the doorbell. One of the guys would hear it, surely?” “Well, I wouldn’t be too sure about that!” Julia exclaimed, “They didn’t hear the baby crying or the noise of that crib rocking and the front door is further away.” She paused for a moment, and then a thought struck her. “Of course, there’s always Melody’s route, through the coal cellar.” “Oh no! You’re not getting me to go through there again. I’d rather stay here till morning and get let out by the boys!” Melody said indignantly. “And where do you propose we all sleep? All pile into the crib no doubt.” Julia said angrily. “Melody, we can’t possibly spend the night in here. Apart from the lack of anywhere to sleep, it’s absolutely freezing. I don’t know about the rest of you, but the thought of no sleep and hypothermia isn’t particularly appealing.” “What about if just one of us goes?” George suggested. “I mean, I’d be quite happy to take the route through the coal cellar and let you all out.” “No, it has to be two of us. You have no idea how many passages are hidden in this house. I don’t want you getting lost and having to send out a search party to find you George. I’ll come with you and Melody and Michelle can wait here.” “I’m not staying here.” Michelle said, “Supposing you can’t find your way through, or supposing you do but you still can’t open the door, and we’re stuck in here with this dreadful feeling of sadness. No, I’m coming with you.” “And, I’m certainly not staying here on my own. So it looks like we’re all going. I still think we should try the doorbell first though. Those passages are creepy.” Melody shuddered at the memory of her past ordeal. “O.k. We’ll try the doorbell first and if we get no response then,” Julia paused and took a deep breath, “it’s down the coal hole! Are we all agreed?” They all nodded in agreement. “You do realise, though,” George pointed out, “that the guys are going to find the whole thing a hoot. We’ll never hear the end of it from them.” They all smiled in concurrence, recognising the truth in George’s words. After all, the men had apparently heard nothing at all so would simply believe that their female companions had got themselves locked in a room after going on a wild goose chase. “Come on girls,” George continued, “We have a window to climb out of.” It took some effort to get the window open. It had been years since anyway had spent any time in this room and the window frame had bowed and rotted with neglect but after some desperate manoeuvring it finally gave way and flew open. “Who’s first?” Julia asked, slightly nervous at the idea of this means of exit. She’d looked out and seen the quite significant drop from window to fire escape and was wondering if it was such a good idea after all. “I’ll go,” Michelle said. She climbed up onto the narrow window sill and eased her legs through the opening until she was sitting balanced precariously on the very edge. Taking a deep breath she edged herself slowly forward. “Here goes!” She exclaimed and disappeared from their sight. They heard a slight clang as she made contact with the iron fire escape and then all was silent. “Julia rushed to the window. “Michelle! Are you alright?” “I’m fine Julia,” Michelle’s voice came back to them. “This fire escape is a bit rickety. It’s swaying around a bit, but I think it’s safe. I’m going to start on my way down. There’s not enough room for more than one person, so I’ll see you all at the bottom.” “Be careful,” Julia called back to her, “and don’t rush! Now who’s next?” Melody stepped forward. “I’ll go,” she said. Melody climbed on to the windowsill and copied Michelle’s movements exactly, with one exception. As she jumped down, she let out a cry of “Geronimo!” which caused George and Julia to laugh and released some of the tension that was building up in Julia. “You go next Julia. I’ll be right behind you.” George had sensed that Julia was less than keen at the idea of jumping out of the window and was concerned that if she was left till last, she wouldn’t jump at all. Tentatively Julia climbed on to the windowsill. She gave one last backward glance at her friend, closed her eyes and jumped. She landed a little awkwardly but was relieved to find she had done no obvious damage to herself. The fire escape was swaying slightly from her landing and from the movement of the two ahead of her. She looked up. George was sitting waiting to jump. “I’m going,” she called up to her and began the descent down the steps. She heard the soft clang of George landing and within seconds she could see the figure of George beginning the slow climb down the stairs. The fire escape swayed alarmingly, creaking and groaning as it did, and at times it seemed to be pulling itself away from the wall. Finally they all stood at the bottom, hugging each other in relief. “I thought it was going to collapse on us any minute!” Julia said, relieved to have got through the ordeal. “Right, let’s ring the bell first.” They made their way to the front door and rung the doorbell for several minutes. Nothing happened. No lights came on; no men appeared to let them in. “It’s as I thought,” Julia sighed, “They can’t hear us. Sorry girls, it looks like we’re for a trip down the coal hole!”
To be continued……………..
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Post by PamA on May 13, 2008 15:41:07 GMT 1
Part Twelve
There was a very good reason why the men had not responded to the doorbell or the sound of crying or anything else for that matter, the simple truth was that they were not in their rooms. Some time before the girls had waken and responded to the sound of a child crying, Archie had been disturbed by another noise altogether. He’d lain listening for some time, unable to decide whether he could really hear what he thought he’d heard or if it was simply a trick of the night. Houses, he knew, had noises all of their own, noises familiar to the owners but often alarming to visitors. In the end he had woken Joe who, at first, had been unable to confirm that Archie had indeed heard what he thought he’d heard. Joe was about to tell him that he was hearing things when he too suddenly became aware of the soft sound of music drifting in the night air. “Could be the girls playing some a trick on us?” he suggested but even as he voiced this idea he was aware that it was an unlikely explanation. In his heart he knew that if anyone was to play that type of joke, it was more likely to be Archie that would be the perpetrator. “I don’t think so,” Archie answered him; “I don’t think that Julia would agree to any of that kind of horseplay. I know for a fact that Melody didn’t have anything with her for playing music on and, anyway, it’s not exactly the kind of music that most of us would own, is it?” Joe agreed. He recognised the tune - Glen Miller playing `In the Mood’. He remembered his parents enjoying this type of music, music that had become popular with the invasion of American troops during the war years. It seemed to be getting louder until they no longer had to strain to hear it. “Where the hell is it coming from?” Archie asked. “I don’t know, but I think we need to find it and put a stop to it or we’ll never get any sleep tonight.” Joe was already putting on some clothes as he spoke and Archie quickly followed suit. “I don’t know if it’s such a good idea for you to come, you are meant to be resting.” Joe said with some concern. “That was quite a bump you got, you know.” Archie snorted. “If you think I’m staying here you’ve got another think coming. If this place is haunted, I would like to see what it is that’s haunting it. So, all respect to you mate, I’m coming.” A light tap at the bedroom door heralded a cry of “Come in!” from Joe. Jimmi appeared. “Do you hear that?” he asked and added, “Well, I guess you’d need to be deaf to not hear it.” “We’re about to go and find out where it’s coming from.” Joe found that he almost had to shout to make himself heard over the music which was growing ever louder. Nick appeared in the doorway. “This is ridiculous,” he held his hands over his ears as he spoke. “We have to do something.” “We’re just about to.” Archie called back. “Are the girls awake?” “They don’t appear to be,” Nick glanced back into the hallway in the direction of the girl’s bedroom doors. “If they are they haven’t come out of their rooms.” “I think we should leave them be.” Joe decided. “No sense in disturbing them if they’re managing to sleep through this. We’ll close our doors just in case the noise is simply confined to this side of the house.” “I don’t suppose anyone’s got a torch by any chance?” Joe asked. “Don’t want to put too many lights on, might disturb the ladies.” Nick and Archie shook their heads but Jimmi, with a sheepish grin, said, “As a matter of fact I do have one. Always prepared, that’s me. I’ll pop back and get it.” Within minutes Jimmi was back. The torch was not very large and not very bright, but enough light came from it for them to be able to make their way downstairs. “It seems to be coming from the sitting room.” Jimmi whispered. He tentatively opened the sitting room door and made his way slowly inside with the others following. Nick found the light switch, and soon the room was illuminated and they were able to see that there was nothing visible playing the music that was still as loud as ever. “Perhaps it’s coming from the dining room?” Archie suggested and they made their way through the door that led to the room where they had so recently eaten their evening meal. “Nothing,” Joe sighed. “Back to the sitting room, I think. I’m sure it was louder in there.” They turned and went back into the room from which they had just come. “I think it’s coming from behind that door.” Jimmi pointed at one of the many doors that led off the room. “I think you’re right.” Nick agreed and began to make his way over to the door that Jimmi had indicated. “Sorry, guys, I think you’re wrong. The noise is coming from that door.” Archie pointed to the door next to the dining room door. “Yes, I think so too.” Joe nodded in agreement. “No, it’s definitely this one.” Nick insisted but Joe and Archie were not to be budged. “Right,” Nick finally said, “I suggest that you two,” he pointed at Joe and Archie, “take that door, and me and Jimmi take this one.” “I’m not sure we should split up,” Joe said with some concern. “I mean what happens if we end up like Julia and Melody roaming hidden passages all night.” “We’ll be in twos, we’ll be fine,” Nick replied, “and you know what women are like – no sense of direction.” They laughed at Nick’s attempt to placate the situation. “Best not let you hear them say that.” Jimmi grinned. Archie voiced his concern that they only had one torch but there was little that could be done to address that situation and, finally, after wishing each other luck, they made their way to the door of their choice. Archie and Joe found themselves back in the hall. “How the hell….? That doesn’t make sense. How can we be back here?” Archie was totally confused by the fact that the door they had gone through appeared to be on the opposite side of the room to the one they had entered the sitting room by. “I have no idea. Let’s go back in.” Joe turned back to the door they had just come through and made his way back to the sitting room, except that is was no longer the sitting room but some kind of study. He gave a bewildered laugh and looked questioningly at Archie. “Please tell me I’m not going mad?” The words had barely escaped his lips when a door opposite them burst open and in came Nick and Jimmi. “This is crazy,” Nick said, “First we were in the kitchen and now we’re here, and how the heck did you two get here?” “Through the hall” Archie explained, “though don’t ask me how.” “Down the rabbit hole maybe!” Nick laughed, “You’ve got to admit it is a bit like Alice in Wonderland, curiouser and curiouser.” “What now?” Joe asked. “I can’t hear the music anymore so I suggest we make our way back to bed. Now, we just came through that door and that door came from the hall so that seems the most likely route back to bed.” They agreed although not without some slight concern. By now they were aware that there was, indeed, something strange about this house, about its doors and its seeming ability to move rooms from one place to another. “Come on,” Nick said, “Fingers crossed that we find the hall through there and nothing other than the hall.” He grinned as he made the comment and opened the door through which Joe and Archie had so recently come. One by one they went through, each holding their breath and wondering if they had made the right choice. It was Jimmi who finally stated the obvious. “Well, wherever we are, it’s most certainly not the hall. Guys I think we’ve found Julia and Melody’s secret passages and goodness only knows how long it will take us to find our way out!”
To be continued………………………..
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Post by PamA on May 26, 2008 18:08:37 GMT 1
Part Thirteen
The girls had lowered themselves carefully down into the coal cellar. The night was clear and the moon shed enough light for them to be able to see where they were going, but once inside they realised that they had forgotten to take into account that the passages would be in complete darkness. They debated whether it would be worth the effort of climbing back out but even as the thought crossed their minds, they knew that it would be incredibly difficult to achieve that. In the dim light of the coal cellar they looked at each other and in one accord burst out laughing. “I know it’s not very PC,” Julia said with a chuckle, “but we do look like refugees from the Black and White Minstrel show.” It was true. Their faces were liberally covered in coal dust and their eyes and teeth glowed white against the darkness of their skin. “Oh no!” Melody wailed. “Look at the state of your dressing gown, Julia. It’s filthy.” “Don’t worry Melody. It can’t be helped. We’re all pretty grubby.” Julia reassured her. “It’s not that.” Melody replied. “I won’t have anything to wear at this rate. At least you lot have got the clothes you came in.” Julia shook her head and sighed loudly. “Sometimes Melody I don’t believe you. Our clothes are the least of our worries at the moment. I’m more concerned about entering the passages without any torch or anything to see by.” “It might be a silly question,” George said with an air of puzzlement, “but how did you see your way through the passages before?” “That’s a good point, actually.” Julia replied. “It wasn’t exactly light but on the other hand it wasn’t completely dark.” “Julia’s right.” Melody said in agreement. “I could see where I was going. It was kind of like walking through a fog, you know, when you can just about see but not clearly.” “Okay. That’s good.” George sounded relieved as she spoke but added, “I think we should hold on to each other or something, so that we don’t get separated.” They all agreed that it would make sense to put a hand on the shoulder of the person in front and not to let go for any reason whatsoever. “Right, who’s going to lead?” Michelle asked. “Not me, and I’m not going last either.” After some deliberation, it was decided that Julia would lead mainly because she had already experienced the passages and it was hoped that she might have some recall of where the bookcase door was. It was hoped that between her and Melody they might soon find their way back into the house. George reluctantly volunteered to bring up the rear. It took some time to locate the passage out from the coal cellar, particularly as Melody kept changing her mind about the direction she had left the cellar from, but finally they came across the opening that led to the mysterious passages that spiralled throughout the house. “Right girls, here we go.” Julia said with an air of bravado that she wasn’t really feeling. “Hands on the shoulder of the person in front and remember, don’t let go!” They hadn’t advanced very far when they were drawn to a halt by a sudden loud shriek from Melody. “What is it?” Julia asked in alarm. “Have you seen something?” “I think I’ve broken a fingernail.” Melody said sounding distraught. “It’s taken me ages to grow them.” “Oh for goodness sake Melody, I thought something terrible had happened to you. Now let’s get on and not a peep from anyone unless it’s something serious.” Julia ordered and began once more to move into the passage. The girls edged forward slowly, looking around as they went. The visibility was poor but it was possible to make out the walls and floor. There was little else to see apart from cobwebs that liberally festooned the passage like Christmas decorations, and had to be brushed from faces and hair with one hand whilst holding on with the other hand to the person in front. The passage went on for some distance until it finally came to a T junction. They stopped, waiting for Julia and Melody to decide which path to take. Unfortunately the pair had totally different ideas of which direction to take but the decision was finally given to Melody who had, after all, arrived in the house by this very route. “I’m pretty sure I went to the right.” Melody assured them despite a shaking of the head by Julia. “Well, if that’s what you think……” Julia said and headed in the direction of Melody’s choice. They didn’t seem to go very far before finding another fork in the passage. “I don’t remember this,” Melody said puzzled. “I’m sure I went further before finding another junction.” “I did say we should have gone the other way.” Julia said smugly. “I think we should go back, retrace our steps and take the other path.” They all agreed and turned round to go back in the direction from which they had come. “We never walked this far,” Michelle said after they’d been walking for some time. “I think we’ve gone wrong somewhere.” “I think you’re right,” George agreed. “Though I don’t see how we could have gone wrong. I never saw any other exits when we walked this way just now.” “This house loses people. Isn’t that what Rose said. She wasn’t joking.” Michelle sighed. “Suppose we never find our way out? Suppose we’re all going to die down here!” Michelle began to sound slightly hysterical as she let her imagination run riot. “Oh for goodness sake Michelle, that’s not going to happen. We will eventually find a way out. I did. Melody did. So why shouldn’t we?” Julia was, in fact, feeling somewhat panicky herself but was not going to let the others see this and she certainly didn’t need Michelle adding to her own fears. “Now come on. I don’t intend to spend all night down here.” Julia strode on, quickening her pace, the others hurrying to keep up with her. “Right, I think we’re back where we started from.” Julia stopped the others almost piling in to her. “Um, are you sure Julia?” Michelle asked. “Only I don’t see any coal.” Melody pulled a face. “I think Michelle’s right Julia. This is definitely not the coal cellar.” “It’s some kind of room we’re in. I don’t think we’re in the passages anymore.” George looked around. “There’s no furniture but I’m sure it’s a room. Maybe there’s a light switch somewhere.” George let go of Michelle’s shoulder and began to feel her way around the walls. “Shhhh!” Michelle said suddenly. “I can hear something. Listen.” They all stood still, being as quiet as possible. Michelle was right, for somewhere in the distance they could hear the faint hum of voices. “What the …..?” Julia began to speak but was interrupted by George. “Girls I don’t want to worry you, but I think I’ve found a skeleton!”
To be continued………………………….
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Post by PamA on Jun 4, 2008 11:54:55 GMT 1
Part Fourteen
The boys had fared no better than their female counterparts and were now hopelessly lost in the rabbit warren of tunnels that threaded their way through the house. Furthermore, the mysterious music that had brought them to this dilemma could still be heard though always in the distance. No matter what decision they made as to direction to take, the music always seemed to be as distant as ever. Tempers were beginning to get frayed and arguments were rapidly breaking out. “I think we should try to retrace our steps.” Jimmi said, for what seemed to the others to be the hundredth time. “We’ve been trying to do that, in case you haven’t noticed, and all we’ve succeeded in doing is getting more and more lost.” Nick replied with an air of exasperation. “I think we need to keep going forward. At least that way we might find a different way out.” “Or we could all die down here! Starve to death or dehydrate or worse!” Archie screwed his face up as he spoke. If the others could have seen his face, they would have laughed at his look of complete disgust. “Oh for goodness sake Archie pull yourself together. Don’t you think that the ladies will notice we’re missing and get a search party together to look for us?” Joe was beginning to tire of the attitude of the others but was unwilling to admit his own fears. “They could be lost down here as well for all we know,” Jimmi added in an attempt at humour, “That would be a disaster wouldn’t it?” No-one laughed at his joke. “Sorry,” Jimmi apologised, “I guess that wasn’t very funny. I’m sure the girls are tucked up in their beds, snoring their heads off, with no idea that we’re lost in the bowels of the house.” “Do you realise,” Joe said, “the music’s stopped.” They all went silent, straining to hear any remnant of the music that had led them in confusing circles and, ultimately, to being completely disorientated with no idea which way to turn. “Actually,” Nick said thoughtfully, “we might be better off without it. I mean, all it’s done is lead us on some kind of wild goose chase. Maybe now we can put a bit of logic into operation and work out how the hell we get back to where we started.” “There’s a door here. Funny, I don’t remember noticing it just now. Did any of you spot it?” Jimmi asked, shining the weak beam of his torch at what appeared to be a small wooden door on the side of the passage. They all shook their heads, unable to believe that they could have failed to notice what could be a way out from the seemingly endless corridors that they had found themselves in. “Do we take it?” Nick asked, “Do we chance it? We could be worse off, you know, more lost them ever.” “We don’t really have much to lose, do we?” Joe stated. “It’s a door after all, may take us back into one of the rooms we came through. I vote we go for it.” The others agreed and, one by one, they made their way through the portal that Jimmi had spotted. The room they entered was no more than 6ft by 8ft in size and was dominated by iron bunk beds that stood against the wall furthest from the door. Other than that, the only furniture consisted of a small table, three fold up chairs and a glass fronted wall cupboard. The four men moved inside. Nick opened the cupboard door. “There’s tins of food in here,” he said, “pretty old by the looks of them.” He began to read out the labels. “Spam, corned beef, condensed milk. Strange diet,” he observed. He picked up a packet that appeared to be nothing but dust. “Loose tea,” he told them, “must have been here for years.” “I think we may find the answer in this,” Joe held up an exercise book that was lying on the table. “According to the cover, it’s the diary of Violet Carpenter, aged 14.” Jimmi moved closer to Joe and shone the dim light of the torch on to the pages of the book. “It appears, from Violet’s writing, that this is some kind of underground air raid shelter that her father constructed at the start of the Second World War. Pretty safe too, I would think. Not much danger of being hit by a bomb down here. I wonder why he built all the tunnels though.” Joe carried on reading. “Ah, I see,” he finally said, “He was worried about a German invasion, so the tunnels were to confuse the enemy and give his family a chance to escape.” “They’ve certainly confused us!” Nick commented. “What else does she have to say?” Joe flicked to the end of the book. “Well,” he said, “the last entries are dated June 1944. She says that her parents are going to London for the day apparently to attend a service at the Guard Chapel St James. They told her to stay in the shelter for safety but then it seems that a few days pass and they didn’t come back.” Joe began to read from the diary: “I don’t know what I should do. Mummy and Daddy told me not to leave the shelter but they did say they’d only be away for a day or two at the most and it’s now four days and I’m getting really scared. There’s no water left and I’m really thirsty and I think Tibby may be dying (cat maybe? Joe queried). I’m hungry too. All this food and no tin opener! I think Mummy must have taken it back to the kitchen by mistake. I know I’ve been told to stay here, but I think I’m going to have to be a bad girl, as Daddy would say, and do what I’m not meant to. I am sure Mummy and Daddy will understand why I’m not doing what they said so I’m going to go back to the house. Let’s hope I don’t get lost in Daddy’s tunnels – ha ha.” “That’s it,” Joe closed the book, “No more entries after that. Strange really, you think she would have made some more entries, particularly to note the end of the war.” “Fourteen year olds get bored easily, you know,” Archie observed. “Probably got interested in boys and forgot there was a war on!” Nick grinned. “You could be right but I know what Joe means. It does seem odd. Anyway, guys, I think we need to get back to finding our way out, what say you?” They all agreed. “I’ll take this with me,” Joe said waving the exercise book at them, “May even be able to track down Violet and return it to her.” Back in the passage outside the room they once again had to decide on a direction to take. “We go this way.” Jimmi said emphatically. “Don’t ask me how I know, I just do. It’s this way.” They set off in the direction that Jimmi had selected and for once didn’t question the decision. For some reason Jimmi’s confidence in his choice was having a positive effect on their little group. “You know what?” Jimmi asked with a grin, “You remember I joked about the girls being lost down here as well? Don’t laugh, but I can hear voices up ahead and, if I’m not very much mistaken, I think it’s the ladies. They appear to be lost down here too!”
To be continued………………………
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Post by PamA on Jun 11, 2008 17:30:29 GMT 1
Part Fifteen It was morning. They were all seated around the kitchen table enjoying a hearty cooked breakfast prepared for them by the housekeeper, Rose. Once they had all met up last night, they had decided that the best course of action was to leave phoning the police until the morning. The ladies had cleaned themselves up as best as they could while the men had made hot drinks. Melody was forced to borrow one of George’s changes of clothes and sat now in a long Indian cotton skirt, that barely reached her ankles, and a floaty blouse that did her no justice. Although they’d all attempted to get some sleep, their minds were too active and too full of questions to allow any real rest. They were sure in their minds that the skeleton the girls had discovered was that of Violet Carpenter, the poor girl left behind by her parents, although why the parents had not returned to their daughter had been a source of much speculation. It was Rose that had solved that particular mystery. Rose had lived in the area all her life and had known the Carpenter family when they owned the house. Rose, too had answered the puzzle of how Violet’s father had managed to construct the tunnels in such a short space of time. The house, she’d explained, had been built by Violet’s grandfather, Thomas Carpenter, and he had incorporated into the plans a vast cellar that extended beyond the boundaries of the house itself. Why nobody knew. The foundations of the house reached down into the cellar, and small entrances were made throughout these walls for access to the parts of the cellar that lay beyond them. When Thomas died in the 1930’s, he left the house to his three children but only Patrick, Violet’s father, took the option of living in it. The tunnels were merely a maze of interior walls constructed with the help of a local builder. As for the riddle of Violet being left at the house, Rose explained that no-one ever saw the girl. Rose’s mother had at one time been a cleaner for the Carpenter family and had told Rose that Violet’s face was covered with a disfiguring birth mark, the one commonly known as a `port wine stain’. “But why didn’t they come back?” Melody asked Rose, “What happened to them that they’d leave their daughter here all on her own?” “A bomb,” Rose explained. “The Guards chapel was destroyed by one of them doodlebug things, you know, one of them flying bombs. Everyone thought that the whole family had been wiped out when there didn’t seem to be any sign of Violet. The two other brothers didn’t want this place so they sold it and the Makepeace’s moved in. Truth be told they never really settled here and once they lost their little girl they moved closer to town. I think she just kept the place because of the memories. Tried renting it out once or twice but no-one ever stayed long, complained of music and noises and whatnot!” “You know,” George said, “I think it was Violet’s parents. I think they did everything they could to lead people to the remains of their daughter. They knew that the sound of a baby crying would get us ladies into action.” “And the sound of music playing would get us fellows investigating,” Nick added. “Much as I’d like to disagree with you, it does seem to make an odd kind of sense. I mean, it was really strange how we could get so lost in those tunnels and yet as soon as you ladies found her remains and we found the diary, all of a sudden Jimmi could lead us out with no problem.” Archie admitted somewhat reluctantly. “What will happen now?” Michelle asked. “Will there have to be any kind of investigation?” “I doubt it,” Joe answered her, “It’s pretty obvious it’s Violet and the bodies been there for 60 odd years, so I can’t see the police bothering to take it any further.” “Excuse me asking?” Rose looked at Joe as she spoke, “What makes you so sure it’s her? I mean if it’s a skeleton well, it could be anyone.” “Two things.” Joe explained, “For one thing there was the skeleton of a cat there too and we know from the diaries that she had a cat with her. And, secondly, she was wearing a necklace with her name on which, even for a mere GP, seems fairly conclusive.” “I wonder whose body it is in her grave.” Rose pondered. “Down in the churchyard there’s a grave with the names of the Patrick, Jean and Violet Carpenter and their date of death.” “I doubt we’ll ever know. But at least Violet can be laid to rest with her parents once whatever needs to be done is done.” Joe pushed his plate away. “That was a first rate breakfast Rose. We needed that. I guess we need to wait for the police to get here, they might want to take some statements from us, and then we can get back to civilisation and put all this behind us.” “And, don’t forget,” Julia added, “The Mill is going to be considerably better off. We spent the night in the haunted house, just as the will stipulated. You know,” Julia paused, “I wonder why Gladys wanted us to stay here. Do you think she had some idea of a mystery that needed solving and thought we were the ones who could do just that?” “Maybe,” Jimmi looked thoughtful, “Perhaps she’d experienced what we did but for some reason she and her husband never had the guts to follow it up like we did. Or maybe, they were left alone. Perhaps the Carpenters thought they had enough on their plates with a sick child to look after.” “Sounds like the police are here.” Michelle stood up. “I’ll go and let them in.” She began to make her way to the front door but hesitated in the kitchen doorway. “Let’s just hope I don’t get lost.” She said with a smile, and the others all responded with a hearty laugh. It took most of the morning to satisfy the police of the events of the night, even though some of what they described did cause an eyebrow or two to be raised. By lunchtime the police decided it was fine for them all to return to their homes and that it was unlikely there would be any further action taken. Michelle asked for assurance that Violet’s body would be interred with her parents and the detective who was dealing with them, felt confident that there would be no problem with this. They made their way to their respective transport. Melody pulled Joe to one side. “Joe,” she said, “that story you told us, the one about the pub and your friends, was that true?” Joe looked at her seriously. “Melody,” he said sternly, “you doubt my integrity. I can’t believe that you would question your mentor in such a way.” Melody looked suitably ashamed and Joe made his way to his car. He stopped suddenly, turned round and called, “Melody!” She turned back and looked at him. “A true story?” Joe said, and with a grin added, “Of course not. It was a story I heard on Radio Four! Had you all going though didn’t it?” And with a huge smile on his face he got into his car.
Epilogue
George and Ronnie were enjoying a glass of chilled Chablis. The first thing George had done on her return home was to relax in a bath, put on clean clothes and give Bracken the biggest hug Bracken had ever experienced in her short life. You’ll break her if you’re not careful,” Ronnie joked. “Missed her did you?” “You know, I’ve always known how precious she is,” George explained, “but hearing about the Makepeace’s daughter, Patricia, and poor little Violet, well, she seems even more precious. I can’t stop thinking about that poor girl wandering those tunnels, wondering when her parents were going to be back and finally, well you know…” Ronnie put a comforting arm around her and for a while they sat in companionable silence each lost in their own thoughts. “And you didn’t even get to see a ghost”, he said after some time and George looked up at him, a broad smile on her face. “Yes, that was a bit of a choker,” she agreed, “I would quite like to have seen one. Still, I guess we heard something that was a ghost or at least was supernatural and I didn’t even get to meet Nettie and she was by all accounts a bit odd.” “Nettie?” Ronnie queried, “Rose’s sister Nettie?” George nodded “Yes, that’s the one.” “Who met Nettie?” “Julia, Nick and Jimmi as far as I know.” George answered looking curiously at her husband. “What’s the problem?” “No problem,” Ronnie answered her, “Except that Nettie died in a car accident 10 years ago. Anyone who met her most certainly did see a ghost!” George’s eyes opened very wide indeed!!
The End
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