“Oh, Master Kane,” she greets, stepping away from the large stoves.
Master? Blegh.
“Hello, Patty. Is that for dinner?”
She nods. “Aye, I’ve got the stew for dinner. They’ve announced snow on the radio, and I thought you’d like it.”
Kane grins. “You know I like whatever you make, Patty. This is Sabrina, she’ll be staying with me until further notice.”
I don’t let the shiver run through me. I walk toward her. “Hello, Miss Patty. I’m Sabrina G… Winters. It’s very nice to meet your acquaintance.”
Brown eyes stare at me wide-eyed as if she can’t believe I chose to speak to her of my own volition. It makes me a bit sad. “Yes, ma’am. It’s very nice to meet you as well. Are you hungry? I’m just going to make a bit of eggs and toast, if you’d like. But I can make whatever you’d like. Won’t take me much time.”
I grin. “Eggs and toast would be lovely, Miss Patty, thank you. The boat here made me a bit nauseous.”
“Aye.”
There’s a noise from behind me and I realize it’s a phone ringing. “I’ll take that,” Kane says rather quickly and leaves. I follow after him and see he’s taken the call. It’s not just a regular phone. It’s a fucking landline. Shit. My brain works it out. If they’re using dinosaur methods of communication, that means my cell phone won’t work here. I blink and go back to Miss Patty. Surveying the kitchen again, I realize it’sallgas stoves. About four of them side by side.
“Miss Patty?”
“Yes?” she asks, shutting the refrigerator door closed with a basket of eggs.
“Kane said you all leave before sundown.”
“Aye,” she replies, cracking the eggs into a bowl.
“I sometimes need a bit of warm milk to sleep well throughout the night in new places. How does one turn on the range? I don’t see a microwave.”
She laughs out loud. “Oh, luveen, not much for electronics here, I’m afraid. The Ainsworths are a wee bit old-fashioned.”
In more ways than one, it seems.
“Here, let me whisk these and I’ll show you how to turn on the burners. Two birds, one stone.”
I nod. “Alright.”
I keep my eyes on Miss Patty, watching her every movement when a familiar feminine silhouette stands by the threshold. Raven watches from the shadows but doesn’t say anything. I blink at her, and she gives me a solemn nod. When the chef is done wicking the dozen eggs, she shows me which button to push behind the stove that allows for the gas to begin to travel through the pipes connected behind the stove that lead to the burners.All sixteen of them.
I turn, my eyes flicking to Raven’s, who slinks back until I can’t see her anymore. She’s just taken in all of the same information I did. I relax a bit more.
“Course, we haven’t had to use them here in quite some time. Mrs. Burton hasn’t hosted a party here in a while. So there's been no need,” she says, grabbing a spatula, and begins to mix the eggs and flip them.
“So then we’re alone here?” I ask.
Miss Patty looks over at me. “Other than myself, about three maids, and the house manager, Lincoln, you’ll be alone come nightfall.” She lowers her voice, grips my wrist, and pulls me down to her level, so close I can smell her breath. “Do be careful, Miss. Visitors tend to haveaccidentshere, and some… some never make it back home.”
My blood runs cold at her warning.
She lets go of me as soon as we hear Kane’s footsteps on the marble. “Ah, good. Breakfast. Sabrina?”
I turn to face him. “Yes?”
“Let’s eat quickly, shall we? There’s so much I want to show you.”
I smile and bob my head. “Sounds good.”
Duringhoursof being shown the most important parts of the manor—the drawing room, the library, the music room, the theater, etc…—like I’ve been trained, my eyes sweep every room for the entrances and exits, and I casually try to make sure every window is accessible. I now know too much history of this house and every person in every gilded portrait who lines its halls. I have to ask for a moment to refresh myself, to which Kane shows me to a bedroom on the second floor.
