‘I had a feeling you were going to say that. Consider it an experience. Like being on reality TV.Big Brother’s Haunted Scottish Hotel,’ said Liv.
‘There must be better rooms than this,’ said Shanie.
‘Trust me there’s not.’ Liv pouted and then decided to tell her the truth. ‘Your choices are this one or there’s a leaky room, which is not actually leaking at the moment but only because the snow and ice must have stopped anything coming through.’ Liv didn’t want to think what was likely to happen once things started to melt. ‘Or there is a room with taxidermy deer heads and a colony of bats, or one with a broken bed and lots of boxes or one without a mattress.’
With a sniff Shanie said, ‘I suppose it’ll have to do.’
‘Here’s the key, but the lock’s a bit dodgy so mind you don’t get trapped in here forever,’ said Liv humming the tune to ‘Hotel California’ as she left the room and was pleased to see the slight look of alarm on Shanie’s face.
*
Effie was ushered back downstairs by Liv. Effie was having the best time. Getting her head around Daphne’s new name was going to be tricky, but she could tell her new friend preferred to be called Liv so she was really going to try. She’d been so busy she’d barely checked her phone and there had been too many people in the library to be able to get in the right spot for the signal. She pulled it from her pocket. No messages. Her heart felt a little sad but then she knew John was busy and in a different country, which meant the time difference didn’t help. She decided to go and have another root through the boxes they’d discovered earlier because along with a ton of memories there were also some useful bits she thought she could use to brighten the place up a little.
The hotel had been empty for such a long time and Effie had been so excited when Fraser had said he was going to open up the restaurant, but this was even better. The hotel had been her dad’s pride and joy. It had also been a huge pull on his time and something, at times, Effie had felt she had to compete with. But now she was feeling differently about it. Like it was a long-lost relative and they’d been reunited. She was going to make it her job to look after everyone. She liked caring for Dolly. How hard could a few more be?
Effie’s idea of going through the boxes had sent her back down memory lane. Each box was like a portal to another world. It was as if her childhood had been packed away with the lifetime of collected clutter. Effie pawed over long-forgotten treasures of moneyboxes, beaded purses and her much prized keyring collection. She’d bought one every time they went away and there had been quite a few family holidays as the collection bore witness to. She had been a traveller and maybe she could be again.
An old clock that had once stood on the mantelpiece in the dining room brought back a memory of her dad checking its accuracy to the speaking clock. A large hunting picture used to have pride of place in the entrance hall where the umbrella and coat stand also used to be kept. Reams of tartan bunting that came out for Burns Night along with forgotten Christmas decorations filled two more large boxes. It reminded her of how the hotel used to be and of happier times. Was she really thinking about leaving all this behind?
14
Liv wasn’t sure why she was creeping about but it was probably because she wanted to get her hands on the old bedside lamp she’d seen when they’d been moving the boxes and feared that if she asked for it one of the others would decide they were more deserving than her. She also wondered if there was anything that might uncover a bit more about the mysterious Fraser. She crept into the room now full of boxes. It was getting dark and she knew she’d trip over something if she started moving around so she put the light on. That was better.
But there were so many boxes, she had no idea which one the lamp was in. This was getting more and more like the story of Aladdin and that made her chuckle to herself. The chuckle seemed to echo in the room. Or was there someone or something else in there? Liv’s skin prickled. This place gave her the creeps, but it was something she had to get over. She steeled herself and inched forwards. Her heart started to thump and it annoyed her. What was she scared of? A picture of Janet the witch loomed unhelpfully into her mind.
‘There’s nobody here. You’re imagining it,’ she whispered in an attempt to refocus. ‘Janet doesn’t exist.’
There was a brief pause before a reedy voice whispered, ‘Yes she does.’
‘Shitting hell!’ shouted Liv, turning around and promptly tripping over a large box and landing with a thud.
‘What’s going on?’ said Effie popping up from the other side of the bed looking startled.
‘Effie! You’ll be the death of me.’
‘What are you doing?’ asked Effie, craning her neck.
‘I’m just looking for a um…’ Something in the box she’d tripped over caught Liv’s eye. ‘This lamp,’ she said holding it aloft like a prize trophy.
‘You made me jump,’ complained Effie, hauling a box into her arms and making her way around all the detritus.
‘Me? What were you doing sitting in here in the dark?’Who voluntarily did that?thought Liv.
‘I like the dark; it’s comforting. I was looking for some decorations and I’ve found them.’ Effie stepped over Liv like she were another box.
‘Great. The fact you almost gave me heart failure is okay then.’ Liv got to her feet and followed Effie out of the room, but not before she gave it a cursory check and put the light out.
Liv took the lamp back to her room and popped it on the bedside cabinet. She’d sort it out later.
Downstairs Fraser was in a huddle with Dolly and they both stopped talking when she approached – not off-putting at all. She poked a stray piece of hair behind her ear. ‘What do you need me to do now?’ she asked.
‘I like her,’ said Dolly as if Liv wasn’t there. ‘She has a good work ethic.’
Fraser seemed doubtful. ‘There’s not much else to do when you’re snowed in.’
‘I could be outside making snowmen. We don’t see snow like this my way.’
Effie popped her head above the large box she was sorting through. ‘I’d be up for making snowmen,’ she said.
