I make my way across the drawbridge that’s wide enough to fit cars, but there’s no room for parking on the other side, so I’m guessing it’s foot traffic only.What kind of parties did these people have that they needed this much space for their guests?The bridge creaks and groans as I cross it, like I’m the first person to do it in a long time. And, if the little I know is to be believed, I guess I am. Stepping out onto the ground on the other side, my eyes hungrily scan upward. Towering over me, like something out of a dark European fairytale, is a gothic masterpiece of a home.
Dark stone is covered in green ivy, accented by contrasting white trim around the window frames. Plenty of lead-lined dusty windows that must let in plenty of light when cleaned. Spires and turrets, crosses and gargoyles, dotted here and there in a mismatched masterpiece of engineering. Bay windows and doors jut out along the frontside of the building, and at the very top of the central turret, a balcony with wrought iron trim sits, allowing someone a bird’s eye view of all that is going on.I wonder if you can see the Summers’ place from up there.
My eyes drift back down again, and I move toward the house and up the steps to the front porch.Abandoned explorer rule #1: Always check the front door before you try more… creative ways of getting into the building.I try peering through one of the nearby windows, but the dirt and grime build-up is so bad I can see nothing but shadows. The front door is a large wooden structure with ornate door knockers, gargoyles holding the rings in their mouths, similar to one in that David Bowie movie,The Labyrinth. They’re so life-like I expect them to start talking. Hands almost shaking with excitement, I slowly reach out, grasping the handle and giving my best shot at getting it to turn. Locked! Well, I guess I hadn't really expected to be able to waltz right in.
Heading back down the steps, I make my way across the front of the building. Each and every window is either covered by grime or closed drapes on the inside. As I continue exploring around to the side, my eyes swing to the moat. It looks to be as deep as it is wide, and it continues toward the back of the mansion, so I follow its line. There are no entrances on this side, only more covered windows.How curious. Only one way in and one way out?The lawn in the back of the house is equally overgrown and long, and the garden beds that line it are barren and dry. The only thing that seems to be surviving and thriving is the climbing ivy. I stumble over the uneven ground and get too close to the moat where the edge crumbles slightly, tumbling into the bottom.Shit, that was close.My knee sends out a jolt of pain at the sudden jarring, but it fades quickly enough that I can’t convince myself to turn around.
Righting myself, I keep following its path, the moat opening out into a dried up lake with an island in the middle. The island has the same large weeping willows on it that the front of the house does, and there seems to be a building on it, but as I look around, I can’t find any way over there. Unlike the front, there isn't a bridge connecting it to this side. Must need a rowboat to get over. Or maybe you could swim if there was water; that would be fun on a hot summer day. I can just imagine it, races to see who could get to the island faster, splashing around for hours to beat the heat. Maybe a servant rowing across with a lunch basket. Picnic blankets spread out under the shade of the hanging willow branches and lazy afternoon naps. Scanning the shore on this side, I find a small dock and boat house further down from where I am. There’s an old row boat sunk into the mud over there, but it doesn't look sea-worthy at all.
Turning my back on the lake, I head back up to the mansion. There, large doors lead out to a large entertainment area with an empty pool that looks like something out of the Playboy mansion. Surrounded by lush overgrown tropical plants, there’s a large rock wall that looks to have a slide carved into it, and a possible cave. I’d have to get down into the empty pool to have a look, but I think I’ll leave it for another time. There’s so much to explore, and I haven’t even been inside the place yet.Abandoned explorer rule #2: Don’t go overboard on the first day.
Passing it by, I step under the large patio area which is covered by overgrown wisteria, with low hanging branches waiting to snatch at hair or exposed skin. The wooden floorboards are worn out and rotten in some spots, and the sunken hot tub is cracked and has leafy debris in it. There’s no patio furniture, just a large empty space. Once I move closer, I can peer through bi-fold doors, which must be capable of opening to allow the flow of people in and out, but again I’m thwarted by window coverings. A quick and frustrating rattle of the door handle gives me the same verdict as before: locked.
My heart sinks in disappointment, and I blow out a big breath. I’d been excited to explore it, not even considering that I wouldn't be able to get in.
Turning back around, my eye catches on the building on the little island.Maybe they weren't so attentive to that place?Abandoned explorer rule #3: Don’t give up!Walking back the way I came, I carefully step down into the empty lake. I was worried it was going to be muddy and slippery like it looks near the little dock, but the ground is hard and compact underneath my feet.
The ground slopes down as I move across the lake before sloping back up when I get closer to the little island. A sweet scent starts to tease the air, my eyes tracing the source of it back to a flowering creeper that’s hugging the little stone building. Once I reach the island, I somewhat clumsily climb up the slope, hurrying over to the lonely building the second I’m on solid, flat ground once more. Built with the same stone as the main house, this one looks like the equivalent of a pool house. Glass windows on three sides give the occupants a view of the mansion to one side and behind it. Unlike the big house, this one hasn't got anything covering the windows, but I can see that the room is empty and the door on the wall with no window is closed so I can't see beyond it. But there looks like there are more living space beyond that.
Disappointment flows through me once again as I pull a bottle of water out of my backpack and take a long sip. Just about to give up for the moment and sit down for a quick break, something catches my eye. On the back side of the building, at the other end of the island, is another bridge leading over the moat on the other side. This one only looks wide enough for one person at a time, maybe two. So I guess this little pool house was a way station of sorts, a place for people to chill and spend some time if they didn’t feel like continuing on to whatever attraction lies on the other side of this next bridge.
So I hurry around, dodging the longer of the grass and pushing willow branches out of the way. When I get to it, I can see that it looks like it’s quite rotten as well, but I’m left with no alternative this time. On this side of the island, the walls of the moat are steeper, more of a straight up and down rather than the slope I’d used to get here in the first place. Sure, I could probably get down without hurting myself, but I'm pretty sure I wouldn't be able to get back out on the other side. I would have to walk back around to the other side of the island, and the tired part of me that nearly stumbled when getting off the horses today doesn’t really love the sound of that extra effort right now.
Carefully, I step out onto the bridge that creaks and groans in dismay, but it holds my weight. Cautiously and quickly, I move across the fifteen-foot span, breathing a sigh of relief as I make it to the other side. Before I can even really understand what I’m seeing, I gasp, my heart beating faster. The estate must slope downward at the back of the property because this couldn't be seen from the front at all. Before me, dotted amongst more overgrown foliage, unkempt bushes, and large trees, looks to be a zoo. Large cages nestled amongst vegetation and more natural settings. Footpaths lead from cage to cage, overgrown grass disrupting their natural flow.
Goosebumps rise across my skin as I remember Nana had mentioned something about a menagerie, but it hadn't occurred to me that it would look like this. Josh had called it a zoo as well, but I’d just assumed the count had some kind of makeshift set up like I do at the Bostons’. This looks professional, and a thrill of excitement runs through me. Now,thisis interesting, and so in my ballpark.
Hurrying forward, I take a look in the first cage. It’s large enough to have been some kind of aviary, and there are double doors on the opposite side from where I am, lending more clues to it being that. There's a plaque on a sign near it, but it looks like whatever was on it has been ripped off. The smell of dusty grounds and overgrown plants overpowers any scent left behind from any long gone animals.
Skipping forward in my excitement, I try to calm myself down, needing to be careful as the paths are uneven and overgrown and I don't want to trip over anything.
The next enclosure I come to isn't actually a cage. There’s a waist-high fence with an empty plaque again, and then there's a bit of greenery before the ground dips away into another moat, separating the animal from the public. Wide enough for no animal to leap across and low enough that if they could swim they couldn’t leap up on to the other bank. It’s much like you would see in zoos nowadays, very progressive for one that's at least twenty years old.
I marvel at the sight and speculate what he might have had in there. Maybe big cats or a bear? Behind the enclosure is a rock wall with gates in it, probably to let the animals in and out like a normal zoo, so there must be enclosures and things behind it as well.
I continue to walk through the now empty zoo, and there looks to have been plenty of large animals in this private collection if the size of the enclosures are anything to go by. Maybe there’s a manifest somewhere that says what was in here. There must be ex-staff members who I could get information from. I’ll ask Dad if he knows anything when I go back to the house later.
A clattering of animal’s hooves have me jumping and hurrying forward. When I round the bend, a herd of deer are running away from me in the opposite direction, a buck with massive antlers leading the way. A huge smile spreads across my face.Wow, they must be leftovers from the zoo or escapees.I hurry after them, but they quickly disappear amongst the cages. I’ll leave them be; I don’t want the buck coming back and defending his territory.
The building to catch my attention next has me squealing a little in joy. A big frosted glass enclosure is in front of me, likely a butterfly house. A few of the glass panes are broken now, and when I walk through the front double doors, the sun beating down on the glass still lends some heat to the space, but it's missing the tell-tale humidity usually found in one of these. There are some misting pipes running over the roof and down the walls, and in the middle is another dried up lake surrounding a cute little gazebo sitting on an island. I can just imagine large carp living in the water, swimming under the little white wooden bridge that is now faded gray and missing a plank or two.
Exiting the glass house, I glance around, finding myself baffled.Is that a pool?!A frown crosses my brow, figuring there’s got to be some kind of clue I’m missing. Surely, he didn't have any aquatic animals.
There are some stands next to it that give it a little seating area and a platform on the other side, but that can’t be right, can it?
Puzzled, I walk over, past the stands and what looks like a little concession booth, and up to the edge of the pool. There’s a little sunken beach area that’s maybe a foot and half deep. I step down into that and walk the fifteen or so feet to look down into the pool, taking careful, measured steps so that I don’t go tumbling down the deep slope. I can’t even guess the depth, maybe forty feet, and when I crouch down I can see there are tunnels with gates over them over the otherside. They must lead to another pool somewhere else.
Brushing off my hands, I start to get up, but a shadow appears over me all of a sudden. Before I get a chance to turn and look, I feel a pair of hands on my back, giving me a shove. With my heart in my throat, I tumble over the edge and slide down the long slope, head first.
Chapter Ten
Harlow
Thank god it was sloped and not a straight up and down; otherwise, I would have gone head first into the tiled bottom. Wind rushes past, a thunderous sound in my ears as I slide, trying to find something to grab onto to stop my descent, but my fingernails can’t find purchase on anything. When I finally slide to a stop, my heart is beating a million miles an hour, and my exposed skin is scratched up.Oh, that’s likely going to hurt in the morning.
Thank god it hasn’t rained. Would just add insult to injury if I had to splash down into some soupy, muddy mess.Catching my breath, I scramble to my feet, turning around to see who did this, but all I can see is their shadow.
“Hey, help? What the fuck did you do that for?” I shout up at them, but the shadow backs up and disappears.Would the ice princess really follow me out here? She messed with my saddle, but stalking me over to the property, just waiting for the perfect chance for a second try to hurt me…I’m honestly not sure.
