“That’s it,” I warned. “I’m coming to find you, and I’m armed!”
Grabbing an umbrella from the stand by the front door, I started racing from room to room, opening doors at random and jumping in, umbrella overhead to hit whoever it was who had broken into my home.
I found a library, a dining room, another reception room, three bathrooms, a games room, Uncle Gregory’s famous home cinema, but no sign of whoever it was who was mocking me.
But then I came across a locked door. I rattled the handle, but the door didn’t budge.
“Libby...”
Pressing my ear against the door, I could have sworn someone whispered my name from inside the locked room.
“I’m coming to get you!” I threatened, kicking at the door before I went to find the key.
I was sure I’d spotted some bunches of keys hanging up in a cupboard under the stairs. When I opened the door to the tiny cupboard, the good news was I was right. There were plenty of keys there.
But that was the problem. There were hundreds of keys! And none of them was labelled, so I didn’t have a clue what each of them unlocked.
There was only one thing I could do: try each of them individually and hope that whoever was hiding in the locked room didn’t sneak out by whatever way they’d crept in.
Which of course didn’t answer the question of how they got in in the first place, but I guess we’d figure that out together. Just as soon as I’d found the right key...
First, I detoured to the kitchen to get a better weapon than an umbrella. Looking at the knife block, I was tempted to take one, but I knew in my heart I was way too squeamish to use a knife on anyone. By the time I worked up the courage to try and stab someone, they’d have had plenty of time to run away.
In the end, I grabbed a rolling pin before going back to the locked door. It wasn’t quite a baseball bat, but it was the next best thing and I felt slightly braver for having it. It seemed pretty solid as I hefted it in my hands. Yes, I reckoned I’d do some damage to my intruder if I hit them with it.
My hands trembled as I fitted one key after another into the lock, but I couldn’t tell whether it was from fear or anger. At last, there was a satisfying click and the door was open.
Heart pounding, I lifted the rolling pin high before suddenly pushing the door open and jumping into the room.
“Got you!”
No, I hadn’t. The room was deserted. What’s more, there wasn’t even a window for someone to escape through.
Instead, I was in what looked like a study. There was a very large desk to one side of the room with what looked like a stuffed bear head hanging on the wall above it. There were cabinets lining the walls with glass doors to show off the titles of the countless books along the shelves.
I crept along the side of one wall and suddenly leapt out behind the desk, sure that whoever was taunting would be hiding behind it.
“Raar!”
Nope. Not a soul to be seen.
I stood by the desk, not sure of what to do next. Maybe I’d imagined it all. Perhaps the stress of finding out about an uncle and moving into the middle of nowhere had unhinged me and I was hallucinating.
As I wondered what I should do next, I heard a strange shuffling noise.
Looking around, I saw a door I hadn’t noticed before. Someone was pushing a note underneath!
“That’s it. I’ve got you now.”
I stormed over, yanked the door open, rolling pin at the ready...
...to find myself facing a deserted cupboard. There was absolutely no one in it. There simply hadn’t been the time for someone to hide, even if there was somewhere for them to go, which there wasn’t. There were shelves piled high with stationery, so much so that there shouldn’t have been any space for someone to squeeze in there.
Yet there was a note on the floor which said otherwise.
Maybe I’m going crazy...
Picking up the note, I saw my name scribbled on the outside. Slowly, my mind in a whirl, I went and sat down at the chair behind the desk before opening up the note.
My darling niece Libby,
By now you should have realized that this is a very special place. I debated whether I should warn you about what you might find, but I decided that either you wouldn’t believe me or I’d scare you away. Please forgive me for my little omission.
The most important thing is that you’re here now, and I hope with all my heart that you’ll choose to stay. Rose is a wonderful housekeeper who’s been like a mother to me. I know she’ll look after you as well as she’s looked after me.
This house was never meant to be lived in by just one person. It is my dream that you will find someone to love and bring up the next generation of Fortunes right here in our ancestral home.
I’m sure you still have so many questions, and I wish I could be there to answer them in person. You may be wondering why I never came to see you after your father died. For reasons that will become clear, I couldn’t leave Lashire Bluff, and although I tried many a time to write you a letter, I could never think of the right words. Now it’s too late.
The longer you stay here, the more you will see and hear things which defy science. This is a very special place, both this house and the town as a whole. We do things a little differently here and it may take you a while to adjust.
But – and I cannot emphasize enough how important this is –
