Archie's Battleflat Adventures: The Harriman Mystery (12 page)

Jack
frowned at them. He knew they could be trusted, but was wary of
leaving them alone downstairs with a murderer on the loose. Still,
it would help if they were within calling distance if anything
untoward happened.

“
Alright,” Jack said with a sigh, wondering when the boys had
grown up so quickly. “Go and settle in the front room, but leave
the door open in case something happens.”

Archie
gasped and stared in dismay at his friend. With the door closed,
they could make the quick trip to tavern and back without anyone
being any the wiser. With the door open, it would be obvious that
they weren’t in the front room. The opening and closing of the
front door would undoubtedly get them caught, even if Archie’s dad
stayed upstairs on watch.

Gathering up their blankets and pillows, Edward and Archie
made their way downstairs and settled in the front room. Despite
his dad’s warning to leave the door open, Archie closed it while
they spread their blankets out on the floor. He could feel Edward
was bristling with questions, but motioned for him to remain quiet
- for the time being at least. If he was honest, he was frantically
thinking of a way they could get out of the house without being
seen by either the man keeping watch out back, or his dad who
appeared to have taken watch in order to protect his family and
home.

As it
was, events unfolded around them without warning, and handed them
the perfect opportunity to escape on their daring
adventure.

They had
no sooner settled on the blankets, quietly discussing what they
could do, when Archie’s dad tiptoed down the stairs. Archie lifted
his head. His gaze met and held his dad’s stern look, and he knew
without asking that the killer had moved toward the house again.
This time though, his dad was ready for him, and immediately lit a
spill, using the twisted paper to light several candles in the
sitting room, along with several more in the kitchen. The loud
cough his dad gave was most definitely masculine. Archie had never
heard a cough be threatening before and knew Edward was impressed
too, by the astonished lifting of his brows and respectful look he
threw at Archie’s father.

“
I’ll go and check upstairs,” Archie whispered, tugging Edward
behind him. Together they made their way to the shutters in
Archie’s bedroom. One glance was all it took to reassure themselves
that the man had once again taken to the protection of the shadows
beneath the old tree.

“
Let’s go and tell your dad,” Edward whispered after several
minutes, when it appeared that the man wasn’t going to move again
for a while yet.

“
He’s back under the tree,” Archie whispered when they were
downstairs.

“
Good, let’s leave him there. Go to bed, boys, I’ll stay and
keep watch down here,” Jack announced, settling down in one of the
chairs beside the table, and propping his booted feet on a second
chair.

Edward
and Archie glanced at each other, unsure whether to go back
upstairs and keep watch for a while so they could forewarn their
father of another impending visit, but decided against it. If they
had any chance of getting outside, they needed to be
downstairs.

Edward
yawned, wondering if they would get any sleep at all that night. He
glanced longingly at the rumpled comfort of the blankets and wished
he was back at home with his mum and dad. Although he worshipped
Archie, this was too mad, even for him. With a sigh, he followed
Archie’s lead and settled down on the blankets, fervently hoping
that this time he would be able to stay there long enough to fall
asleep. He suddenly wished he hadn’t woken Archie up earlier. With
a sigh, he snuggled down into the coarse cushion, and yawned
widely.

He must
have fallen asleep because, moments later, he was drawn out of
blissful oblivion by Archie shaking his shoulder.

“
Go ‘way, sleepin’,” Edward grumbled, pushing at Archie’s
persistent hands.

“
We’ve got to go,” Archie persisted. “Do you want to come with
me, or not?”

“
Not,” Edward replied, trying hard not to snap but feeling his
patience wear thin anyway.

“
Alright, I’ll go by myself,” Archie whispered, feeling guilty
for his friend’s tiredness. After all, Edward hadn’t asked for any
of this; he was merely a victim of circumstance.

It was
several moments later, when Edward felt a cold draught sweep across
his shoulders, that Archie’s words sank in. His eyes snapped open
and he stared through the open front door, directly at the gardens
at the front of Archie’s house. Sitting bolt upright, he gasped
when Archie made to leave.

“
Wait! I’m coming,” Edward whispered frantically, lunging to
his feet.

Archie
sighed, biting back his impatience. He paused for a moment,
listening for several minutes to his father’s deep, raspy snore
from the sitting room before standing back to let Edward out before
him.

“
Go over to the stone wall,” he ordered softly, closing the
door behind them. Unfortunately, by leaving this way, it wasn’t
possible to lock the door behind them. Archie could only hope that
the murderer wouldn’t try another way of getting into the house and
try the front door while they were gone. They could only hope that
this time, things would go according to plan and they could get to
the tavern without incident, or delay.

Easing
the door closed behind them Archie followed Edward, and together
they crouched behind the low wall. A quick glance was all that was
needed. Assured that the coast was clear, they crept along the low
wall that ran along the front of the row of six terraced houses. At
the end of the row they followed the wall, all the way around to
the main road that ran past the back of the houses and straight
through the village, past the tavern’s front door.

“
The hedge,” Edward gasped, glancing at his friend. “Let’s
stick to the hedge.” He nodded at the hedge that ran along the
road.

Although
it was too dark for Edward to see, Archie nodded and followed. His
heart was pounding with a mixture of nerves and excitement as they
cleared the edge of the hedge. From where they were crouched, they
could see the thatch of the tavern several feet away, but they had
a problem. To get there, they had to cross the road and would be
visible to anyone who was looking – including the murderer, who was
hopefully, still hiding further down the road.

“
What do we do now?” Edward gasped, crouching low and peering
over his shoulder at his friend.

Archie
studied the area around them.

“
We will have to go further down the road and around the back
of Mr Montague’s house,” Archie whispered, eyeing the assorted
buildings beside them It would take them several more minutes, but
as long as they stuck close to the back of the buildings, they
shouldn’t be seen. They could go around the back of Mr Montague’s
house and then come up at the back of the tavern.

“
It’s a long way,” Edward warned, wondering if this was such a
good idea after all. Behind Archie, the soft glow of the single
window that was Archie’s sitting room stood out in solitary
splendour, tempting Edward with its reassuring warmth, and the
promise of a bed.

“
Then let’s go, before Dad wakes up,” Archie said, shuffling
around his friend and heading toward the back of the
buildings.

It took
them longer than they had hoped because they had to stop several
times to avoid waking up Mr Montague’s hens, and Mrs Dalyrimple’s
pigs, but, eventually they found themselves at the rear of the
looming bulk of the tavern.

The
small, square windows of the two storey building looked cheery and
inviting in daylight. At night, they were dark and forbidding, like
watchful, beady eyes. Beside the back door, two trap doors sat
closed; trap doors that took them to the cellars.

“
We can’t go in there, it’s a barrel shoot. We can get down
into the cellars, but can’t get back out again,” Archie warned, as
they crept toward the white stone walls of the tavern. He followed
Edward’s prompting and crouched down, as close to the ground as he
could get without actually lying on the floor and shuffling along
on his stomach.

“
It’s the only way in,” Edward argued, feeling time pressing
in on them with each moment they were arguing. They were going to
get caught, he just knew it.

“
What if Mr Harriman’s body is at the bottom? I don’t want to
land on him, do you?” Archie knew he had won that particular
skirmish when Edward lapsed into silence, and studied the door
carefully.

“
There is a window open, up there,” Archie announced, pointing
to a small, second floor window.

“
That’s worse,” Edward scoffed. “That could be Annie’s
bedroom,” he snorted. “Do you really want to land on
her?”

Archie
pulled a horrid face and shuddered theatrically. “Gawd, shoot me
now,” he groaned, thinking of the rotund face of the very spoilt,
and very loud Annie Malcolm, the tavern owner’s
daughter.

Edward
snickered, his grin bright in the darkness.

“
Why not try the door?” Edward said, and slowly crept toward
the tavern door. Archie watched in amazement as he lifted the
latch, and the door swung silently inward.

“
After you,” Edward said, holding the door open to allow
Archie through. He couldn’t hide the smug grin that lit his face,
and bowed deeply as his friend tiptoed past. If he was honest, he
couldn’t believe it was going to be
that
simple, and was convinced that
any moment now, someone was going to appear before them. He could
only hope it wasn’t Mr Harriman.

Once
inside, Archie paused to allow his eyes to adjust to the darkness.
He gasped and staggered forward when Edward, equally blinded by the
darkness within the building, bumped into his back.

“
Sorry,” Edward grumbled, rubbing his chest.

“
Sshh.”

Archie
paused and frowned down at his feet, rocking his weight hesitantly
for several minutes. The floor felt different. He knew without
looking that he was standing on the trap doors. The thought of Mr
Harriman lying directly beneath was enough to shift him pretty
quickly and with a shudder he shuffled to one side, dragging Edward
with him.

“
The trap doors,” he whispered directly into Edward’s ear.
Kneeling down, he found the handles of the doors and tugged,
relieved and horrified in equal measure when one of them lifted.
Cold air immediately wafted around them.

“
That’s it.” Edward’s voice trembled with fear. Now that they
were staring down into the gaping void of the cellars that held Mr
Harriman’s body, their quest to check the dead man’s hand didn’t
seem such a good idea.

“
After you,” Archie whispered, his stomach tightening
nervously as he stared down into the bowels of hell. He didn’t want
to appear a wimp in front of his friend, and frantically wondered
how he could chicken out without showing his fear.

“
Nope. Not this time, Archie my boy. This time, I am
definitely following you.” Edward’s tone warned that he wasn’t
going to budge on that one, leaving Archie in a
quandary.

They
were so close to knowing for sure if Mr Harriman still held the
clue, that it was a shame to back out now, but down there, in the
chilly darkness, lay a dead body. A body that had been brutally
murdered. A body that had been there for two days. Archie felt his
stomach churn over and he wondered if he was going to be sick all
over the tavern floor. He began to tremble.

“
I need a light. I can’t see a thing down there. I don’t know
if there are steps, or another chute, or anything,” he gasped,
hoping the tavern had run out of candles and lanterns.

“
You can’t light that in here, someone watching outside will
know we are here,” Edward gasped.

“
But I can’t see!” Archie gasped, glaring at his
friend.

“
Use your hands!” Edward argued, waving his hands in front of
Archie’s face. “Do you feel steps?”

Archie
sighed, and glanced down at the dark pit below them. He was very
glad that Edward was with him and knew now that if he had been
alone, he would have gone home, with his quest in tatters at his
feet. Patting the ground around them, Archie found the first step,
leaning into the cold pit as far as he dared. Placing his booted
feet before him, he patted around with his feet in search of the
second step. As he began his descent, he glanced back at Edward,
nodding toward the lamp in his hand.

“
Bring that with you. We may not be able to light it up here,
but are definitely lighting it down here,” Archie ordered, his
voice trembling in fear and trepidation. The tavern around them was
deathly quiet. Unlike his own home, there was no soft snores of his
brothers, or grumbles from his father. No squeaking bedsprings, or
popping of wood on the fire. It felt as though the tavern had been
abandoned. It felt cold, and empty, as though it was waiting for
something – or someone. Archie shuddered and quickly closed that
thought off.

Closing
his eyes briefly, he glanced back, reassured to find Edward right
behind him, and began to shuffle down into the darkness.