Fairytale Beginnings (5 page)

‘Very well. I’ll make sure you see everything, you did see most of it.’

‘Well let’s start with the kitchen.’

‘We can go over the drawbridge, it’s quicker.’

‘Why do you have a drawbridge?’ Milly asked as they headed over that way.

‘I have no idea.’

‘Did it ever have a moat?’

Cameron shook his head. ‘Not that I can tell.’

They thudded over the huge wooden door and Cameron pushed open a smaller door to the left of a tiny courtyard.

‘This was the old kitchen,’ Cameron said. There wasn’t a lot to identify it as a kitchen, since it was completely empty, but there was a large shallow arch mantelpiece over a fireplace at the end of the room which would have been used for cooking food. There was a spit rack and several hooks hanging off the top for pots and pans. The walls and the top of the fireplace were blackened with years of smoke. There were several shelves and hooks around the rooms for holding cooking utensils, all of which were now gone. She looked around at the stone bricks and the floor. This appeared to be a lot older even than some of the oldest rooms she had seen the day before. Her first thought had been that the banquet hall was the oldest room, built in the mid to late sixteenth century, but hugely renovated over the years. This kitchen, which wouldn’t have been privy to the modernisations over the centuries because it was beyond the realm of the lords and ladies that lived here, seemed to be pretty much as it had been when it was first built. Milly stared around her. She thought it might date back to the fourteenth century. She swallowed down the shock of this sudden unexpected discovery.

It was possible that Castle Heritage or their sister company, National Heritage, might take this place on after all. She’d seen it done before where they had helped to restore an old building to its former glory, but the recent modifications of this castle would probably be too much to remove. And how much would be left? Would it just be the kitchen and maybe a few other smaller rooms around it? She needed to ascertain how big the original building was. Maybe Cameron had some books or documents somewhere that might give her some clue. But finding this little undiscovered gem was even better than finding a secret passageway.

‘You ok?’ Cameron asked, obviously concerned by the way she was frozen in the middle of the room.

‘I can’t believe you didn’t show me this yesterday. This room is years older than some of the other parts of the castle. It’s something like this that could be the difference between Castle Heritage helping you or not.’

‘I’m sorry, I just assumed …’

‘It’s ok, but if I’m going to help you I need to know everything, even if you think it’s trivial, it’s probably not.’

He nodded, suitably chastised.

‘Um … here’s the larder.’

He pushed open the little door in the corner and they stepped out onto the top of the stairs that led down below the surface of the ground into a very small, cool, dark room with no windows. There was a large, wide wooden shelf running up one end of the room, fitted over a jutting out stone wall, a few hooks and a couple of smaller, thinner shelves, but nothing else at all. The room was notably cooler than the other rooms in the castle, which served its purpose of preserving the food.

‘I can’t see a secret passageway coming from the larder, there’s nothing in here.’ Cameron said.

‘But that’s the point of secret passageways, they’re not supposed to be obvious.’

She walked down the short flight of stairs and looked around, though she had to agree with Cameron that there didn’t appear to be anything that could turn out to be an entrance to a tunnel. She ran her hands along the walls, hoping one might be loose and be the much needed switch that she was looking for. Nothing happened. She pulled on the hooks hoping they might be switches too. Nothing.

‘Maybe it’s in the kitchen,’ Cameron offered, moving back out to the other room.

She slid her hand underneath the wooden shelf but just as she was ready to give up, her hand bumped across what felt like a bolt. She pulled the handle back towards her and something clicked, although what it was, she wasn’t exactly clear.

She tried to lift the wooden shelf up and to her surprise it came clean away from the wall underneath, revealing a set of stairs leading downwards and round a corner out of sight.

She squealed with delight and gave a tiny little dance before she regained her professional face.

‘Cameron, I’ve found it.’

She heard his footsteps come running and his eyes lit up when he appeared in the door of the room and saw the secret steps leading below the castle. Any sign of the grumpy man she’d come to know had suddenly vanished and in his place was a big kid who had just learned that Christmas had come early.

‘Are you kidding me?’ he said, running down the stairs from the kitchen.

She shook her head and quickly clambered over the wall. Cameron was already throwing his leg over to join her. She tentatively crept down the stone stairs and he followed.

They reached the bottom and as they rounded the corner, they could clearly see the caved in area of the tunnel ahead of them and the light from the hole that Milly had fallen down beyond that.

‘Careful,’ Cameron warned as she took a step down the passage. ‘If it’s caved in already, I doubt the rest of it is that secure.’

She hesitated. He had a point and there was nothing else down this tunnel worth investigating, no other routes or rooms led off it. But what an exciting find.

She turned back to him and smiled at the wondrous grin on his face. Sharing this little secret together, she felt an overwhelming urge to hug him. She liked Cameron like this, smiling and worry free, even if it was only for a few minutes. She wanted to do anything possible to keep that smile on his face.

‘You do know what this means, don’t you?’

He frowned and shook his head.

‘If there is one secret passageway from the castle, there are likely to be several more.’

His eyes widened. ‘Seriously?’

He went back up the steps and she followed him. When he reached the wall, he climbed over easily then turned and lifted her out as if it was the most natural thing in the world to have his hands round her waist.

She tried to ignore the feeling of his hot hands on her body. ‘Well, your castle is very unconventional, but there’s never normally just one. I wouldn’t be surprised if we find a tunnel that leads to the maze too, as that was quite popular in old houses with mazes.’

‘How will we find them, what do we look for?’

‘Bookshelves are a great place to start.’

‘You mean, like in those films with books that you pull out that act as a switch for a secret doorway, those things are real?’

She nodded. ‘I’ve seen several passageways like that, or fake book spines which cover a door handle.’

‘And should we be looking for light fittings that are handles and secret buttons inside the heads of statues?’

His eyes twinkled as he spoke, she loved the way he teased her.

‘Don’t rule anything out. I think we should split up, see what we can find.’

‘Ok, but no exploring any rooms or tunnels without the other person, we’ll let each other know if we find anything.’

She nodded and he ran off, obviously keen to find his own secret passageway. She smiled at his enthusiasm.

She walked out of the kitchen and into the hall that led to the banqueting room. She could see Cameron moving around in there, running his hands over the walls, so she decided to try the study and the library first, since both rooms had bookcases.

She headed upstairs and into the study. There was a large desk and several chairs around the room and a whole wall of bookcases along one side.

She carefully examined the books on the shelves for any that looked out of place or fake. It would take a while to try every single book in here, but she should be able to spot something that looked a little odd.

It was the third bookcase that caught her eye. It was set back from the others by about two centimetres. It wasn’t something that anyone would notice unless they were specifically looking for it. It didn’t mean that it was necessarily a secret doorway, but the faint scratches on the floor suggested that something was amiss.

She scanned her eyes over the books, trying to spot any that looked suspicious.

Many were various shades of red, green and brown but one at the top was a pale blue.

She couldn’t even reach it. Loath as she was to climb up onto this bookcase that was clearly hundreds of years old, the more she looked at the book, the more she was convinced it needed further investigation.

She climbed up onto the first shelf, and reached out for the book. It was stiff, stuck fast between the two books either side. She leaned up a bit more and tugged at the top of the book. It moved upwards and as it did so, the whole bookcase spun round, with Milly attached to it. A second later she was plunged into darkness as the bookcase clicked into place, now in a different room entirely.

Crap.

If she’d had any foresight she would have at least brought a torch with her. Feeling a bit panicky over what she couldn’t see in the darkness with her, she tugged on the book she was still holding in the hope that it would have the same effect but in reverse, taking her back to the study again, but though the book moved upwards, the bookshelf did not.

Her heart thumping a bit uneasily, she stepped down from the case and peered around. She could see nothing; she didn’t know if she was in a secret room or the entrance to a passageway.

She blinked in the darkness and could just make out a tiny slither of muted light from around the bookcase, which gave the room a slight grey tinge. She waited patiently for her eyes to become accustomed to the dark. Slowly she could pick out features. She was standing in a stone room about two or three metres wide. On the wall opposite the bookcase, she could just make out a wooden door. Something pale sat in the corner and she shuffled closer to it. Unease and fear spread quickly in her gut and erupted out of her throat in a terrifying bloodcurdling scream that echoed round the chamber.

She couldn’t take her eyes off what was clearly the skeleton of a child.

C
ameron heard
the scream just as he was investigating a suit of armour he’d never even looked twice at before.

It was a sound of pure fear and panic and it didn’t stop. He ran from the room and took the stairs two at a time. He hesitated at the top for a second as he tried to ascertain whether the scream and the accompanying thumps were coming from the study or the library, but the noise was so loud, he was left with no doubt.

He burst into the study and it was very obvious which shelf Milly had gone through as the bookshelf was no longer there. In its place was a blank wooden panel. The screams for help and thumps that were coming from the other side of it were also a big clue.

Milly had obviously gone through and got trapped but he was surprised that this would cause her to scream so much, since she was a feisty little thing that didn’t seem to get upset by anything.

He ran his hands over the wooden panel to see if there were any switches or buttons that would release her but he couldn’t find anything.

‘Milly!’ he shouted through the door, but he doubted she could hear him over her own screams. He raised his voice. ‘Milly!’

‘Get me out!’ she screamed.

‘How did you get in, was there a lever or button somewhere?’

‘Get me fucking out of here,’ she sobbed.

There was a time for reason and calm and this was not it. The only thing that was going to solve this problem was sheer brute force.

‘Stand back.’ The thumping and screaming stopped, but the whimpers and sobs did not. ‘Stand back, ok?’

He didn’t hear any arguments so he threw his whole body weight against the wooden panel. It cracked but didn’t move. He took a few steps back and ran forwards and threw himself against the wood again. This time it gave way. It spun on its axis, revealing a room beyond that was in complete darkness. He didn’t have time to investigate it as the next moment he was hit hard in the stomach by a tiny blonde figure.

He wrapped his arms round Milly and was stunned to feel her trembling all over. He held her tight against him.

‘What happened? Did you see another ghost?’

She was shaking so much, she couldn’t speak. He ran his hands down her back, stroking her soothingly.

Eventually she pulled away to look at him and he hated that she had tears in her eyes. He wanted to hold her forever and protect her from anything that might cause that look of anguish again.

‘You know you said you saw the ghost of a small boy up here in the study?’

He nodded, his hands still running up and down her back.

‘I think I’ve just found his body.’

His mouth went dry. ‘A corpse?’

She nodded. ‘His skeleton.’

Fuck.

‘I better take a look.’

Her fingers dug into his shirt. ‘Don’t go in there.’

‘If you’re right, we’ll need to call the police.’

She nodded and stepped back. Shit, he really didn’t want to go into a room with a corpse. He was likely to scream and cry like a girl too. But they couldn’t exactly leave it there.

Milly was watching him, waiting for him to be brave. He took a deep breath and squeezed through the gap.

Sure enough, propped up against the corner was a small skeleton. He felt sick. He shuffled closer, holding his breath against any smell of rotting flesh. In the light from the study, he could see something metallic on the elbow joint. As he moved closer he realised it was some kind of hinge or spring. There were similar metal joints and hinges on the shoulder, knees and ankles too. This wasn’t a real skeleton at all. He reached out to touch it to make sure and could clearly feel that the bones were made from plastic.

He grabbed it by the arm and carried it out.

Milly shrieked when she saw him carrying it, stepping back against the desk.

‘It’s not real.’

Her face fell with relief as he tentatively stepped forward to show it to her. ‘It’s not?’

‘It’s one of those models that doctors or science teachers have.’

She reached out to touch it and her face flamed red as she realised her mistake.

‘I’m so sorry, you must think I’m a right idiot.’

‘Not at all. It’s pitch black in there, what were you supposed to think?’

‘Well thank you for not taking the piss out of me for acting like a pathetic girl. You could have handled that very differently.’

He stared at her. ‘No I couldn’t. No man worth his salt would have taken the piss out of you when you were so terrified. It didn’t even cross my mind.’

‘Then you’re not like most of the men I know. My ex-boyfriend used to chase me round the flat with spiders because he knew I was scared of them. He thought it was hilarious, whilst I was sobbing and blubbing like a baby.’

‘Your ex-boyfriend sounds like an ass.’

She smiled and he was relieved to see it. ‘He really was.’

She eyed the skeleton in his hand and shuddered.

‘I’ll get rid of it.’

‘It’s ok. What was it doing in there?’

‘I don’t know. I have vague recollections of my parents throwing costumed parties, maybe he was part of a Halloween party.’

She sighed and pushed her hair off her face. ‘I’m not doing anything here to help dispel the bimbo image am I? And I bet Castle Heritage is very quickly going down in your opinion.’

‘You have nothing to prove to me, your credentials more than speak for themselves.’

‘I can get someone else up here, equally as qualified. They could be here by the end of next week. Professor Stone is very efficient, he’s a lot older too. He doesn’t wear pretty dresses or sparkly trainers, he’s probably much more up your street.’

Something twisted inside him at the thought of her going. He didn’t like the feeling that thought gave him, which was ridiculous, he barely knew her.

He shuffled closer to her, leaning round her to put the skeleton on the desk behind her. He returned his gaze to her face, to those intense sea blue eyes that seemed to have a hundred different tones to them, specks of green, turquoise and navy blue, intermingled with flecks of gold and grey. He was standing too close to her, much closer than would be deemed polite according to social etiquette. She hadn’t moved away either, she was just staring up at him. He tucked a stray blonde curl behind her ear.

‘I like having you here.’ He stepped back a tiny fraction. ‘In a professional capacity, of course.’

She smiled and the smile turned into a giggle, which made his heart leap. He couldn’t help but smile too.

‘Of course,’ she said.

‘And this Professor Stone sounds like a right bore. I happen to like your sparkly Converse.’

Her smile grew even bigger and it filled his heart to see it. ‘We’ll have to see if we can get you a pair.’

He laughed, loudly. ‘I’d like that.’

She stared at him for a moment, before looking away, smiling to herself. ‘Right, shall we investigate this passageway, now that it seems it’s permanently open?’

He looked over to the bookshelf and the wood that had splintered either side when he had thrown himself against it. It was never going to lock again.

‘We don’t have to do that today, if you’re still shaken up by the whole skeleton thing.’

‘Are you kidding? We’ve just found a secret passageway, aren’t you dying to know where it leads?’

‘Well, yes but … your happiness and wellbeing is far more important to me.’

She looked at him and something seemed to shift between them. Was it a mutual attraction? Did she like him too but was trying really hard not to? Every nerve ending seemed to be standing to attention with her proximity. He was aware of everything about her; the shape of her lips as she smiled, the length of her lashes, the heat he could feel from her body. The faint scent of his shower gel and his shampoo on her skin was still a killer. He wanted her, he couldn’t deny it.

He cleared his throat and stepped back away from her. This was bad, very bad.

She walked towards the bookshelf.

He watched her approach the threshold of the new secret room, take a deep breath and step inside into the darkness. He loved her brave, gutsy attitude. He followed her inside and walked straight into her bum as she was bent over, touching the floor. She nearly toppled onto her face, but he grabbed her by the hips to steady her.

Milly burst out laughing.

‘So you decided to throw professionalism to the wind.’

He frowned with confusion and suddenly realised how inappropriate their current position was. He quickly released her and stepped back.

‘There’s something buried here, in the cracks between these two stones,’ Milly said, as if he hadn’t just inadvertently tried to take her from behind.

He crouched down by her side to see and sure enough, something gold glinted from the cracks. He grabbed his pen knife which he habitually carried around with him and scraped away the soil from the sides.

‘It’s a coin,’ Milly said, excitedly, shuffling closer so their knees were touching.

A few chunks of moss and dirt came away from the crack and the gold coin came with them. He picked it up and wiped it on his jeans, then peered at it. It was about the size of a ten pence piece, but thicker, with some unusual markings on it.

‘It’s probably a prop, same as the skeleton,’ Cameron said, passing it to Milly. ‘Finders Keepers.’

But Milly shook her head and passed it back to him, which surprised him. ‘It’s yours. It might be worth something.’

‘I doubt it.’

‘It could help to pay for some repairs, and you never know, it might be part of a hidden haul of treasure.’

He laughed and stood up, pushing the coin into his pocket.

‘There is supposed to be some lost family treasure somewhere.’ He spotted the wooden door at the back of the room and walked over to it.

Milly followed him, examining the handle. ‘Really?’

‘So say the legends, but there’s also supposed to be a sea monster that frequents these parts called the Oogie that takes away and eats any unwanted guests. So if that’s the kind of truth the locals believe in, I hardly hold any faith in the legend of the Heartstone treasure.’

Milly turned the handle but the door didn’t give. ‘Are they a bit odd? The villagers? I’ve only met one of them, but …’

‘You don’t have to be polite, they’re all weird. Every time I go into the village, they all chant “Oogie” at me, as if they are summoning the monster to come and take me away. They literally stand outside their houses and chant “Oogie”, over and over again.’

‘And they’ve told you about the legend of the Heartstone Treasure?’

‘Those that speak to me have.’

‘What’s the legend?’

‘The Heartstones have always been filthy rich, but my mad uncle Boris seems to have been richer than most. He was the one that added all the turrets and flags. Well, it was said that he loved precious jewels. All of the remaining fortune not spent on silly turrets, was spent on big diamonds, rubies and sapphires. He had a chest filled with them that he used to get out at parties and dances so everyone could admire his wealth.’

‘Nice.’

‘Arrogant. Anyway he became obsessed with this chest, he’d carry it around everywhere with him, absolutely paranoid that someone would steal it from him. He was always hiding it in places and then changing his mind and hiding it somewhere else. Legend says that he loaded it into a boat one day, set sail from the cove below the castle and was never seen again.’

‘Interesting.’ Milly pulled the handle out and gave it a wiggle but still the door stayed resolute.

‘A load of bollocks, more like. The only evidence I can find that this chest ever existed is a portrait of mad old Boris in the pub with the chest of jewels by his side. It would not surprise me if Boris had the artist add the chest in whilst painting to make him look wealthier than he was. It seems that, either shortly after the renovations or even during them, Boris sold off several acres of his land to nearby farmers. I think the man was broke and he couldn’t even afford to pay for the turrets he so desperately wanted. He lived an extravagant life with big parties but they seemed to stop completely in his later years. He sacked a lot of his staff too. I don’t think he had enough money to pay for that life anymore.’

‘Or he didn’t want anyone around his precious jewels, so he stopped inviting people to the castle.’

‘He was a total ladies’ man, so my guess is if this chest did exist, one of the women he was with killed him for it, dumped the body over the cliffs and stole all the jewels herself. Wouldn’t be the first time a Heartstone man was screwed over by a beautiful woman, nor the last.’

Milly looked up at him but he concentrated his attention on the door. ‘There isn’t a keyhole, but it appears to be locked,’ he said.

‘Maybe it can only be opened from the other side.’

He looked back to the bookshelf. ‘That wouldn’t make sense if the bookshelf can only be opened from the study side.’

‘Unless someone breaks it open,’ Milly grinned up at him.

He smiled. ‘There must be a switch or something that will release it.’

Milly let out another laugh as she reached up and released a bolt at the very top of the door. ‘Or a bolt.’ She glanced down to the bottom and found another bolt there near the floor. ‘Sometimes these things are just not that technical.’

She tried the handle again and this time the door opened easily. In the limited light from the study, Cameron could just make out some stone steps curling away below them.

Milly turned to face him, her eyes alight with excitement.

‘Let me get my torch.’