Hidden (Marchwood Vampire Series #1) (12 page)

‘
Forgive me, Madam,’ Isik continued. ‘But this is more than
local opposition. This is pure fear.’

‘
Fear of what?’ Freddie interrupted. ‘Do tell us, the suspense
is too much.’

‘
Very well. It will sound a little far-fetched to you, but the
people here take it very seriously.’ Isik paused and looked around
at everybody before continuing. ‘It is said the city was built by
beings that were … not human.’

‘
Gosh!’ exclaimed Freddie. ‘You mean beings from the
stars?’

‘
It is said the city was governed by ancient gods - demons. A
city built on fear and death. That if it is uncovered again, it
will bring down the wrath of these evil creatures on all our heads
and death and destruction will follow.’

‘
Oh! Oh!’ Isobel clapped her hands over her ears. ‘I do not
wish to hear any more. Maman, I do not wish to be here. I want to
return home. This place is cursed and it is not worth taking the
risk ...’

‘
Isobel,’ her mother pulled her close and kissed her cheek.
‘It is just superstition. Whenever we go to another country to
begin a dig, there are always stories surrounding the site. It is
normal and nothing to be at all worried about. Now, we are all
tired. It is late and things feel strange. We will feel refreshed
and happy again after a good night’s sleep.’

‘
Sleep?’ Isobel almost shrieked. ‘Sleep! I shall not sleep and
if I do I shall be plagued with dreams of demons and evil blue
eyes.’

‘
Oh,’ Isik looked mortified and rose to his feet.
‘Mademoiselle, you must forgive me. I knew this conversation was
not for your ears. Your mother is right. It is all superstitious
nonsense and you must pay no heed. Come, let us talk of happy
things and forget this talk of demons.’

‘
Isobel,’ Alexandre leaned across and whispered loudly to her.
‘Do not worry. I am here and I would never let anything happen to
my little sister.’

‘
Thank you, Alexandre. But I must say, I would not even have
to be in this terrible place if it were not for you.’ She turned
away from him.

Alexandre
sighed, but did not try to justify himself again. He did not have
the energy. Instead, he looked across at his mother who he knew
would have a sympathetic smile waiting for him.

Isobel’s
outburst had brought a hasty conclusion to the meal and an awkward
veil of silence hung in the smoky air.

‘
Aah well,’ Harold said, breaking it. ‘It is late. We should
probably retire. As your mother said, Isobel, things will look
better in the morning.’

Everybody
murmured their agreement. Throats were cleared and noises made
about what a tiring day it had been and how they needed sleep if
they were to be fresh the next day. Isik wished everybody a
pleasant night and returned to the rest of his men.

Before long,
Alexandre lay in his tent alongside Jacques and Freddie who had
fallen asleep remarkably quickly. His thoughts were a jumble of
whispered tales and soon he fell asleep to the rhythmic song of the
cicadas, the low voices of the guards and the soft click of dice
rolling on hard ground.

Chapter
Seven

*

Morris
deposited their bags on the large flagstones of the entrance
hall.

‘
I’ll leave you to it,’ he said and turned to Vasey-Smith. ‘Be
back later to drive you to the station. Last train’s at ten past
seven’

‘
Thank you,’ said the solicitor who had offered to stay at
Marchwood for a few hours until they’d settled in.

Morris looked
over at Maddy. ‘My wife, Esther, she’ll call by tomorrow after
lunch to see how you’re getting on, but in the meantime, she’s
stocked the cupboards. Told me to tell you there’s a shepherd’s pie
in the fridge. Just needs putting in the microwave to heat up.’

Maddy didn’t
think she’d ever feel like eating again, she felt so strange and
surreal.

Ben
immediately zoomed off around the house to explore and Madison sat
down in the lounge or ‘drawing room’ as Morris had called it. The
shutters to the French windows were half-closed, angling shafts of
sunlight across the walls. The house appeared as beautiful on the
inside as on the outside, but Maddy felt somewhat dazed and small
as she perched on the edge of the green velvet sofa.

Mr Vasey-Smith
sat opposite her in a regal-looking armchair, still immaculately
dressed, even after all that travelling. His dark suit was
uncreased and he didn’t appear to be remotely tired. He sat
comfortably in the armchair, exuding calmness and authority.
Madison, in contrast, felt crumpled and exhausted.  

Ben burst back
into the lounge.

‘
The kitchen’s massive, bigger than Trevor and Angie’s whole
house and there’s a room at the back with a pool table and a darts
board and a weird game where you have to throw hoops onto these
hook things and there’s a tonne of bedrooms upstairs and they’re
all massive. I don’t know which one to choose, but I’ll let you
choose first, Mads, ‘cos you’re the eldest and …’

‘
Oh my God, Ben,’ Maddy laughed. ‘Calm down, bro. It sounds
amazing, but take it easy, you’re gonna explode in a
minute.’

Ben’s cheeks
coloured and Maddy felt bad for embarrassing him in front of the
solicitor.

‘
You’re right, Ben, it
is
exciting,’ Mr Vasey-Smith said, rescuing the
situation. ‘And I think you’re quite right to want to explore
everything straight away. The house is only the half of it. You own
over one hundred acres of land here. There’s a lake, a chapel, some
woodland, the deer park and a beautiful ornamental garden. There
are even a couple of follies on the grounds.’

‘
What’s a folly?’

‘
I won’t spoil it for you. I’ll let you discover them for
yourself. Much more fun that way.’

‘
Okay,’ Ben said, his enthusiasm restored. ‘See you later,
Mads. I’m going outside for a bit.’

‘
Catch you later, shortie.’ Once Ben had left the room,
Maddy’s feelings of insecurity returned, but Mr Vasey-Smith
instantly put her at her ease.

‘
Well, Madison, I know you’ll probably want explore at your
leisure, but shall I just give you a quick tour so you can get your
bearings?’

‘
That would be great. Thank you.’ She stood up and followed
him out of the drawing room.

Later that
evening, after Mr Vasey-Smith had left for the station, Madison and
Ben sat at the large scrubbed pine kitchen table and ate a supper
of shepherd’s pie and salad. Ben inhaled his food while Maddy just
moved hers around the plate.

‘
You okay, Benny boy?’

‘
Yeah, I love it here,’ he replied with his mouth
full.

‘
Good.’ At least she didn’t have to worry about him adjusting
to country life. He seemed made for it.

‘
Are
you
okay, Maddy? It’s just, you seem really quiet and you’re
never usually quiet, not like this. At home you’re usually moody
quiet, if you know what I mean. But here you’re like, a different
sort of quiet. Aren’t you glad to be here?’

‘
Oh, Ben, I am really glad we’re here, but I’m probably just
tired. I’ll be back to normal in the morning. I’ll be
‘
moody
quiet’ for
you then, okay?’

‘
Okay.’

‘
Now, once we’ve finished eating, you know what we’ve got to
do don’t you?’

‘
No, what?’

‘
Choose our bedrooms.’

‘
Yesss! Can we go now?’

‘
Yeah, Ben, we can do whatever we like. Come on, you choose
first.’

‘
Really?’

‘
Yep. Lead the way.’

They went up
the wooden staircase which led to the upper floors and their nine
bedrooms.

‘
What we gonna do with all these rooms?’

‘
Have lots of people to stay I suppose. Our friends could
come. We could have big parties. Or we could sleep in a different
room every night if we want.’

‘
Yeah, cool,’ Ben’s eyes grew wide. ‘But I’d like this green
room at the front for now. It’s got an awesome view across the
fields and you can see the deer.’

‘
Okay, it’s yours.’ Maddy walked out of the green room and
along the landing, peering into a couple of the bedrooms. She
opened one of the doors at the end and called to Ben. ‘I’m going to
have this room at the back!’ It was all reds and golds with the
most enormous bed she’d ever seen.

She
immediately thought of the small, saggy single bed in her tiny room
at the Johnsons. Not that she had ever minded having a tiny
bedroom. She’d been happy to have any space to call her own, no
matter how small. But this room, it was something else.

Ben followed
her. ‘Cool room. Massive bed. What’s the view like?’

‘
Dunno.’

She drew back
the heavy velvet curtains and looked out onto a stone balcony,
adorned with carved cherubs and angels. They pulled open the
windows letting a rush of cool dusk air into the room, sweeping the
curtains upwards and inwards. Stepping onto the wide stone balcony,
Maddy gasped at the view, spread out like a faded painting before
them.

It was a
lavish ornamental garden. Its centrepiece, a rectangular lake in
which the house was perfectly and dramatically reflected. Gravelled
pathways surrounded the lake with low manicured hedges, bordered by
huge grassy areas. To the right, stood a tall dark maze. Right at
the end of the garden, a border of tall trees ran up to a pair of
elaborate wrought iron gates painted in cobalt blue. Beyond that
lay dense forest.

‘
I think you picked the best room, Maddy,’ Ben
breathed.

‘
I think I did, Ben. I think I did.’

The following
day, Madison woke up around noon. She smiled at the fact there was
no Angie and no Trevor telling her to shift her lazy backside out
of bed. She was here and they weren‘t. After such a good night’s
sleep, she felt energised and excited. She couldn’t wait to get up
and explore. It would probably take weeks to get to know the place,
but she wasn’t short on time. And Ben still had two weeks left of
the summer holidays before he started school.

Back in
London, Vasey-Smith had suggested a top private school not far from
their village, but both Maddy and Ben had balked at the idea.

‘
I ain’t going to no posh school.’

‘
No one’s sending you anywhere you don’t want to go, Ben,’
Maddy reassured. ‘We’ve had enough of that in our lives. We’ll do
it our way now, won’t we, mate?’

‘
Thanks, Mads. Does that mean I don’t have to go to school at
all? I could stay at home and help you with the house and
that.’

‘
Hmmm, nice try, Benny boy, but I think you have to go to
school. We’ll find you a good one though, one you’ll like. And
anyway, you like having a bunch of mates. You’d be bored out of
your skull with just me to talk to.’

‘
What about you then? What about your mates? You’re not going
to school. Why am I going and you’re not?’

‘
Cos I’m sixteen and you’re twelve, that’s why.’
God, I sound like Angie
.

Maddy took a
shower in the luxurious bathroom, threw on some jeans and a t shirt
and peered around Ben’s bedroom door. His room was a mess already -
stuff all over the floor, his bed unmade and his radio alarm clock
still playing. Maddy went in and turned it off. She opened the
curtains and stood there for a while looking out across the fields,
taking it all in. Then she gave herself a shake and went to look
for him.

An empty
cereal bowl sat on the kitchen table next to an empty glass
containing the dregs of some orange juice. Maddy returned to the
hall and opened the door to the dining room. She reckoned the table
could probably seat about twenty people. It was massive. The tall
sash windows looked out onto a stepped terrace which led down to
the ornamental garden.

Back through
the kitchen, she tried another door - the games room. She saw Ben
leaning over a full size snooker table, concentrating hard to pot a
red. He looked up at his sister’s arrival.

‘
Hey, Mads, you’ve been asleep for ages. Want a game of
pool?’

‘
Morning, Ben. Yeah, I’ll just grab some juice and then I’m
coming to whoop your ass!’

‘
In your dreams, Mads. I’m awesome at this game.’

‘
We’ll see, little man.’

Ben was right, he
was
awesome and he thrashed his sister three-nil,
before she surrendered.

‘
Okay,’ I agree, you rule,’ she conceded.

‘
Yesss!’

A loud chiming
ring made her jump.

‘
Oh my God! Oh my God.’

‘
It’s just the doorbell, Mads.’

‘
Yeah I know, but it’s loud. And who is it anyway?’

‘
Probably that caretaker woman.’

‘
Oh. Right. Okay.’ The doorbell chimed again.

‘
Are we gonna answer it then?’

‘
Yeah. Come with me, Ben?’

‘
You scared?’

‘
No, but come with me anyway.’

‘
You’re scared,’ Ben chanted gleefully as they walked towards
the front door.