“Let me guess, it’s not for me.”
“How did you know I was going to say that?”
She was about to say something when she realized she was hunching her shoulders again. Taking a deep breath she stood up tall. Fake it until you make it. “I will look inside, Mr. Drayton, and then I will decide if it’s right for me.”
“Of course,” he said, looking surprisingly pleased. “I’ve got the key here somewhere. Ah, here it is. Follow me.”
She watched him cross the drawbridge. As shewent after him, she again was struck by the image of a boy clambering through the earthworks.
“I must warn you,” he said as he unlocked the front door, “You may not like what you find in here.”
The door swung open and he vanished inside. Natalie stood at the threshold for a moment, one foot poised. Something told her choosing to go in meant something big, though she couldn’t think what.
She walked through, pushing the thought aside. Of course it was something big, she might be living in the castle of her ancestors soon. How exciting was that?
The entrance hall was huge. “Built in the 1600s,” Drayton said, pointing up at the whitewashed ceiling. “The rest of the place is much older of course.”
“Of course. I don’t smell any damp or see any bugs.”
“No, I guess not. This way.”
They passed through a door on the far side of the room, emerging into a grassy courtyard that was surrounded by four tall walls.
“That section is derelict,” Drayton said, wavinghis hand. “Over here is the part you’d be living in. Okay with heights?”
He unlocked a door in the wall to their right. Inside was a narrow corridor with a staircase that led down out of sight. Drayton walked straight past it but Natalie paused. She was sure she’d heard something. It sounded like chains rattling.
“What’s down there?” she asked.
“Nothing,” Drayton replied without stopping. “This way.”
“I heard something coming from those stairs.”
“No you didn’t. This way.”
“I did.” She put a foot on the stairs, peering down into the gloom. There it was again, rattling chains. “There’s someone in here with us.”
She jumped when she felt a hand on her shoulder. She turned around to find Drayton pleading with her. “Nothing down there but a locked door. Come on.”
“Do you have the key?”
“No one does. It’s been locked for hundreds of years.”
“Hasn’t anyone ever tried to get inside?”
“Aye, and no one’s managed it. Sealed shut. The place is full of dead ends like that. Probably just abrick wall behind it anyway. This way, come on.” His eyes were wide, almost bulging. Was he afraid?
She listened for another moment but the sound was gone. Turning, she followed the agent up the next flight of stairs, stepping out into the most beautifully appointed living quarters. “Living room, kitchen through there. Bedroom. Bathroom down the hall.”
“I thought you said this place was damp and filled with creepy-crawlies.”
“Well, it’s all so old. That bed’s been here more than two hundred years, bound to be filled with spiders. And don’t get me started on the rats. I know, you hate it. I do too.”
“I love it, Mr. Drayton.”
“You…love it?” He again looked more pleased than shocked. “Really?”
She nodded and as she did so a blood curdling shriek echoed up the stairs toward them. The door to the bedroom slammed shut at the same moment. Mr. Drayton shook his head, already running, not looking back. “No, no, no!” he said, taking the stairs two at a time.
