She saw nobody.
Cora walked to the foot of the stairway and started climbing. The others followed.
‘That kid might’ve come back while we were out front,’ Vivian whispered.
'Anybody here?' Finley shouted up the stairs.
‘Stop it!’
Helen giggled.
At the top of the stairs, they turned to the right and wandered along the narrow balcony. Abilene walked close to its railing. The top rail was constructed of split logs, stripped of bark and varnished. It was dirty, so she kept her hands off it as she gazed over the side, down at the support beams and registration desk and lobby and lounge, the fireplace at the far end.
There wasn’t much to see on the walled side of the balcony. Just three doors numbered 20, 22 and 24. Cora tried their knobs. All the doors were locked.
‘You’d think somebody would’ve busted into these rooms by now,’ she said, frowning at the last door.
'Tis passing strange,’ Abilene said.
‘Maybe Vermonters aren’t vandals,’ Vivian suggested.
‘They sure did a job on those totem poles down by the road,’ Abilene said. ‘Could be, though, that not many people know this lodge is up here.’
‘And those who do might be afraid of the place,’ Helen said. ‘If they live in the area, they know what happened here. They probably stay away, think it’s haunted or something.’
‘Get real,’ Cora told her.
‘Well, it’s possible.'
‘Sure didn’t stop our friendly Peeping Tom,’ Vivian said.
‘If this place was in California,’ Finley said, ‘it’d be a shambles. Every door’d be broken open. There’d be bums living here.’
Cora tried the knob again.
‘Why don’t you go out and fetch your trusty credit card?’ Finley said.
Helen giggled.
‘There isn’t even a transom for you to climb through,’ Abilene said.
Cora gave her a smirk. ‘We could always kick it open.’
‘Might piss off the ghosts,’ Finley said.
Vivian shook her head. ‘We’re not here to damage the place.’
‘Let’s keep looking around,’ Abilene said. ‘I’d be real surprised if all the guest rooms are locked. Some of them are bound to be open.’
‘Might as well find out.’
They returned to the top of the stairway. From there, a corridor led straight to the rear of the building. Its only light came from the windowed door at the far end. Except for the small area brightened by daylight, the length of the corridor was hidden in darkness.
Cora switched on her flashlight.
Abilene watched its beam slide along the floor, the walls. The hardwood floor looked clear. The walls seemed to have no doorways. But the light reached far enough to reveal openings on both sides of the corridor, about halfway down.
They started forward.
The floor creaked under their footsteps.
‘Is this spooky enough for you?’ Vivian asked.
‘Neat,’ Helen whispered.
‘Hot,’ Abilene said. The trapped, stuffy air wrapped her like an old blanket. She felt sweat popping from her skin, trickling down her face and neck, sliding between her breasts and down between her buttocks. It made her blouse cling. It made her panties stick to her rump. And it smelled heavy with the same sweetness of ancient wood that had bothered her in the lobby. There, the odor had been subtle. Here, it clogged her nostrils. She felt as if she were breathing mummy dust. ‘Can’t wait to get out of here,’ she muttered.
‘We’re having fun,’ Finley reminded her.
They halted at the intersection of the corridors. To the right and left, hallways led into total darkness.
Cora’s flashlight probed to the left. She followed its beam, and the others went after her.
They came to closed doors on each side of the hallway. Numbers 26 and 27. Cora tried the knobs, then went on, leading everyone deeper into the suffocating heat. They came to rooms 28 and 29. Neither door was open. Both were locked. The hallway beyond those doors stopped at a wall.
‘We’ll try the other way,’ Cora said.
They turned around, walked back to the center corridor, and crossed it into another tunnel of darkness.
This one’ll go on forever, Abilene thought.
This one ran parallel to the balcony, and had to be a third again as long as the hallway they’d just explored.
She was tempted to drop back and wait at the juncture where at least there was light at the end and the air was slightly better. But she didn’t want to be alone. And she wanted to be with the others in case they should happen to find something.
So she stayed with them.
She was sticky and dripping. Her clothes felt glued to her skin. She decided that Cora had been smart, after all, to come in wearing nothing but a T-shirt.
When they stopped at the first pair of doors, she lifted the front of her blouse and mopped her face.
The door on the right was numbered 20. Just as she had expected, it was a rear door to the first room on the balcony.
Cora found it locked. The door on the left, 21, also failed to open. She muttered, ‘Shit.’
‘Is anybody else dying?’ Abilene asked.
‘Pussy,’ Finley said.
‘Getting a lot of good footage?’
‘Bite me.’
‘I don’t think we’re gonna find any of these unlocked,’ Cora said, walking on. She stopped at the next set of doors, 22 and 23. She rattled their knobs.
‘Try knocking,’ Finley suggested.
‘Don’t,’ Vivian whispered.
Chuckling, Cora rapped on the door of room 23.
A low, husky voice said, ‘Who is it?’ The voice came from Finley.
‘Very cute,’ Vivian said. ‘You gals are a riot.’
Then from behind the door came a quick scratchy scurrying sound that sent cold prickles up Abilene’s spine.
Silence.
‘What was it?’ Helen whispered.
‘Let’s get out of here,’ Vivian said.
‘Probably just a rat,’ Finley said.
‘Oh, shit.’
‘It sounded awfully big,’ Helen said.
‘I told you not to knock on the door.’
‘Good thing it is locked,’ Abilene said.
‘You know,’ Finley said, ‘rats are like nuns. They never travel alone.’
‘Probably some right here in the hallway.’
‘Ouch! What was that?’
‘Piranha,’ Cora muttered, sounding disgusted. ‘You two oughta take your show on the road. Come on, let’s check the rest of the doors.’
‘Watch your step,’ Finley suggested.
