Blue Moon (Book One in The Blue Crystal Trilogy) (14 page)

“There’s nothing in there,”
said Theo, reading my mind, “just a bare, empty room at the top and
another smaller chamber on the floor beneath.”

Once again, I detected a quick
glance between them, so brief, I almost missed it. A mere flicker
of the eyelids and a slight look askance. But it was there. And it
was enough to arouse my suspicions. There was something they
weren’t telling me, and I wanted to know what it was.

“Come on,” said Joseph, “I want
to show you my new project.”

There was nothing more I could
do, so I followed Joseph around the outer wall of Hartswell Hall,
Theo walking behind me. Almost like being escorted away, I thought,
as if they’re guiding me in a different direction. It was only
later that I realised Theo had never answered my question about the
strange symbols hewn into the stonework.

“Look, Emily, what do you make
of this?” asked Joseph as we came to a small clearing, containing a
low circular stone wall, covered in moss, encompassing a circle of
grass, with the base of a statue at its centre.

“This was where the old
carriages used to turn around, rather like a Victorian roundabout.
The statue in the middle was once a fountain. It must have looked
amazing with the water cascading down, as horses and carriages
drove around it. I’m going to get it all working again. And this
pathway here,” he pointed to a small, overgrown path leading into
the undergrowth, “is an ancient walk-way to the village church. I’m
going to open it up again.”

“It’s all so impressive,” I
said, “I can’t believe how much you’ve done.”

“Come and see the rest of the
grounds,” said Joseph, excitedly. We followed him around the side
of the hall until, once again, we were standing at the front
entrance, with the gravel beneath our feet.

For the next half hour, he
showed us the gardens, revealing pathways cleared and statues
cleaned; the lake dredged and parkland reinstated; floral borders
and wonderful topiary shapes created; vistas and terraces
reclaimed: and the kitchen gardens, planted with every kind of
succulent fresh produce you could imagine.

My gardening knowledge was next
to zero and I didn’t know the first thing about trees and plants,
but I knew a beautiful garden when I saw it. Hartswell Hall grounds
were truly magical. It seemed as if spring had suddenly burst upon
the forgotten gardens and Joseph had brought the overgrown grounds
back to life, creating order amidst the chaos in an incredibly
short amount of time.

“You must have had an army of
gardeners to achieve all this, Joseph. Where are they all?” I asked
him, puzzled, seeing no staff at all as we walked round the
grounds.

“Sunday is their day off,” he
explained. “They need to have one day of rest from my tyrannical
rule.”

“Why don't you show Emily your
Rose Garden?” suggested Theo, and Joseph led us towards an archway,
specially created in the neatly clipped privet hedge. As we stepped
through, I exclaimed in amazement as a sea of roses met my gaze.
There were pinks, reds, yellows, oranges and whites, in every shade
imaginable, and the scent was intoxicating.

“Joseph, this is beautiful,” I
said, taking in the sight before me.

He took out a pair of secateurs
and cut off a stunning red rose. “For you Emily. A red rose. Symbol
of youth and beauty.”

“Why, thank you,” I said,
blushing at his sudden and unexpected gesture.

“It’s my own hybrid,” he said.
“It’s called Eternal Youth.”

I put the rose to my nostrils
and inhaled its sweet scent. “It smells divine. Thank you.”

“Have we done now?” asked Theo
sharply, and I had to smile at the jealousy in his tone. “It’s time
we went back.”

“One more thing,” said Joseph.
“I want to show you my secret garden.”

He led us to an old red brick
wall, about two and a half metres high, partially hidden by a
tangle of ivy climbing its surface. The bits of wall that could be
seen revealed weathered, mottled bricks, with discoloured lime
mortar coming away in chunks. Joseph pulled back a large piece of
overhanging ivy, to reveal a wooden door, decorated with carvings.
Joseph took a large, ornate key from his pocket and, with some
effort, unlocked the door and pushed it open. We stepped inside to
discover a wild, mysterious world waiting to be discovered. Trees,
shrubs and bushes competed with one another for space, an overgrown
pathway disappeared into the wilderness, and the crumbling stone
arches of a forgotten folly rose through the confusion of
greenery.

“I’ve only just found the key,”
explained Joseph, “that’s why nothing’s been done here yet.”

“This is amazing. Can we go
exploring?” I asked.

“Of course,” beamed Joseph.
“Why don’t we follow the old pathway and see how far it goes into
the undergrowth.”

“Don’t you think we should be
getting back?” said Theo, “It’s getting late.”

“There’s plenty of time,” said
Joseph, starting down the pathway. Reluctantly, Theo followed,
holding back branches to make it easier for me to follow.

We’d gone no more than twenty
metres or so along the pathway when Joseph turned to us and said,
“Sorry folks, I’ve left the key in the lock. It’s the only one and
I don’t want to lose it. I’d better go back and get it.”

“I’ll go,” I offered, “I’m
closest to the door. I won’t be a minute.”

I retraced my steps along the
overgrown woodland path and retrieved the key. I tried to push the
old door shut, but it caught on the uneven ground and refused to
budge. I gave it a sharp shove, trying to force it, and as I did, I
heard a muffled noise above me. Looking up, I saw the wall over the
door lintel move precariously, tilting for a moment before
falling.

I had no time to think or
shout. I saw the wall coming towards me and in the same split
second, I was aware of Theo scooping me into his arms and carrying
me out of danger. I heard the bricks crash to the ground, causing
dust, mortar and soil to billow up in a cloud and for a brief
moment all was still. Then I heard Theo saying urgently, “Emily,
are you okay? Are you hurt?” He held me in his arms, and I could
feel his heart beating against my shoulder.

“No, I’m fine,” I said in a
shocked voice. “What happened?”

“The wall over the door frame
gave way,” said Joseph, picking his way through the broken bricks
and examining the large hole that had appeared above the door. “The
movement of us opening and closing the door, combined with the
dried out mortar, must have weakened the wall and caused it to
collapse.”

He looked at me. “Emily, I’m
sorry. I would never, ever have placed you in danger. You know
that, don’t you?”

“Of course, Joseph,” I answered
shakily. “It was an accident. You weren’t to know the wall was
about to fall.”

“No, you weren’t, were you
Joseph?” Theo spoke with an edge to his voice, and again I caught a
look between them.

“I swear it, Theo, I didn’t
know the wall was unsafe. Why would I want to hurt Emily?”

“Why indeed?” said Theo coldly.
“Come on Emily, let’s get back to the house. Are you okay to walk?”
He still held me in his arms and seemed reluctant to put me
down.

“Theo, I had a near miss, but
I’m fine,” I assured him. “Please put me down.”

He carefully placed me on the
pathway and although my legs were a little wobbly, I felt okay to
walk. It was only as I stepped over the broken bricks that I
realised how close to injury I’d come. If Theo had not acted so
quickly, I would have sustained a serious head wound and could even
have been killed.

I turned, and saw Joseph,
picking the red rose he’d given me, bruised and broken, out of the
rubble.

“Joseph,” I said gently, “I’m
okay. It’s not your fault.”

He looked up and smiled
weakly.

Theo firmly took my hand and
led me over the broken bricks, through the old doorframe, now
surrounded by a ragged edge of bricks.

“Come on, we’re going back to
the hall and I’m getting you a sweet tea or a brandy. I don’t want
you going into delayed shock.” He looked straight ahead and I
puzzled that his reaction seemed more of anger than concern, once
he knew I was unhurt.

“Theo, don’t walk so quickly.
I’m okay. That’s all the matters. Thanks to you, the wall didn’t
even touch me.”

He turned and looked at me
briefly. “Sorry, Emily. It’s my job to keep you safe and I nearly
failed.”

“What do you mean, it’s your
job? You’re not responsible for me. And I’d like to know how you
managed to move so quickly. One minute you were over by Joseph, a
good twenty metres or so down the pathway, the next you were saving
me from a falling wall. How did you do it?”

“I wasn’t that far away,” he
answered. “Memory plays funny tricks when accidents happen.”

Maybe he was right, I wasn’t
sure. I was starting to feel a little weak and was glad when the
hall came into view.

“Where’s Joseph?” I asked,
looking back.

“Sorting out the wall if he’s
got anything about him,” said Theo angrily, pushing open the great
oak front door.

As I looked back, a movement in
the bushes caught my eye. A dark figure stood looking at us from
some distance away, in the same direction as the secret garden. It
was Aquila, the chauffeur. I could just make out his features: the
hooked nose, the cruel, curling lips and the heavy, dark eyes. I
only looked at him for a brief second, but his expression was so
malevolent it made my blood run cold.

“Come on Emily,” called Theo,
causing me to turn.

I looked back once again, but
Aquila had gone and although I strained my eyes, I couldn’t see
him. It seemed improbable, but I couldn’t help thinking that maybe
he’d had something to do with the falling wall. Perhaps Joseph had
been in on the arrangement, purposefully leaving the key in the
lock? It seemed implausible and I couldn’t believe Joseph would
want to harm me. He seemed genuinely to like me. Aquila, on the
other hand, plainly disliked me. But there again, disliking someone
was a long way from trying to kill them. And what was his motive?
He hardly knew me. And how did Theo manage to move so quickly? He
was twenty metres down the pathway, and couldn’t even see the
door.

I recalled Theo’s words that it
was his job to keep me safe and shook my head in disbelief. This
was all too ridiculous to contemplate. I was letting my imagination
run away with me. And yet, deep down, I knew that something wasn’t
right.

Perhaps I should have left at
that point, walked away and never looked back. My instincts were
telling me to run, to get as far away from Hartswell Hall and this
strange family as fast as I could.

But I didn’t.

I followed Theo into house and
in doing so, closed my escape route forever.

13
. Face on a Necklace I

Theo led me to a small room
adjacent to the reception desk. It was a warm, welcoming room, with
a bar and large square sofas positioned around low black glass
coffee tables, where guests could enjoy a pre or post dinner drink
or a morning coffee. I sat on one of the sofas and Theo plumped up
the cushions behind my back. My legs were feeling pretty shaky now
the adrenalin had stopped pumping round my system and I felt glad
to be sitting.

“Wait here,” he commanded, “I’m
going to get some sweet tea organised.”

He heard him speaking to
someone in reception, then he was back, sitting next to me and
holding my hand.

“Pantera’ s seeing to it,” he
said. “You look very pale. You’re not feeling faint are you?”

“No, I’m fine. It was just a
shock, that’s all.”

I sat back amidst the huge
cushions and forced myself to breathe slowly.

A couple of minutes later,
Pantera walked in, bearing the same silver tray I’d seen
previously. It contained one white teacup and saucer, with a small
white teapot, a milk jug and sugar bowl. She looked at me with
contempt, not a shred of concern in her dark eyes, and put the tray
down on the coffee table with such force, the china rattled.

“Thanks, Pantera,” said Theo,
and she scowled back him.

“Anything else?” she said in
deep, husky tones, barely moving her lips.

“No, that’s all. Thank
you.”

She left us, darting one last
malevolent look at me that made me feel even more insecure and
shaky.

Theo poured the tea, adding
milk and three generous spoonfuls of sugar. I wondered whether I
dared drink it, or whether Pantera had added a generous touch of
poison. It was clear the servants here had no respect for me and
were making it quite clear I was unwelcome. Well, tough. They were
the servants. I was the guest. It wasn’t up to them who Theo
brought into the house. They needed to know their place, I
reasoned.

I sipped the tea and looked at
Theo, whose eyes hadn’t left my face. He looked white-faced and
drained.

I smiled at him. “I’m okay.
Please don’t worry. Thanks to you, not a single hair on my head was
touched.” I put my hand on his arm, trying to reassure him. He
seemed close to tears.

“If something happened to you,
I would never forgive myself. Never,” he said, with force.

He leaned forward and kissed me
gently on the lips. Near miss or not, I wasn’t so traumatised, I
couldn’t react to the touch of his lips. I’d been waiting all day
for this. It didn’t last long and it wasn’t what you’d call a
romantic kiss. But it was electric. My stomach turned somersaults
and I felt a surge of energy pulse across my body. I felt weak and
energised at the same time, if that was possible.

I opened my eyes wide, trying
to understand the emotions that were stirring within me, feeling
the faint imprint of his lips on mine, as if I’d been seared by hot
metal. His deep blue eyes gazed into mine and I was lost,
hypnotised by the intensity of the occasion, the strangeness of the
day and my dice with death. Something unspoken had just passed
between us and I knew there was no going back. Every fibre of my
being needed this boy. I had never felt this way before, and was
never more sure of anything in my life. He smiled at me and I knew
that as long as I was with Theo I would be safe. He would never let
anything happen to me.