Hidden (Marchwood Vampire Series #1) (22 page)

In the
absolute black of the tunnel his breathing sounded thunderous and
he tried to think of things to stop the fear creeping in. He
pictured Leonora’s face, the scornful look she reserved just for
him, her lustrous hair, her ... He struck the match and the blessed
light flickered and wavered in his shaking fingers. He lit the wick
and breathed a sigh of relief. It was not a pleasant experience to
be alone and underground in complete darkness, especially with
tales of demons haunting his mind.

Alexandre was almost certain the deep shaft back at the camp
would be easily accessible, for he knew now that it was
millstones
which blocked
the entrances. But this time he would be on the right side to roll
them out of the way and ascend the shaft by rope.

Yet again he
found his way blocked by another of the massive stones. He wheeled
it aside and walked through. His new candle was instantly
extinguished by a breath of wind but it did not matter, for a small
glimmer of daylight swam around him, filtering down from above. He
smiled triumphantly, not quite believing where he was.

He had done
it! He was here! The familiar rope hung in front of him and he
hauled himself up, hand-over-hand, back into the morning light, to
the sweet fresh air and to his waiting parents, who were
furious.

*

‘
Is everybody talking about me again?’

All heads
turned towards the sound of his voice.

‘
Alexandre?’ Leonora saw him first. He was bare-chested,
dishevelled, wet and grimy, but his smile was so broad it hurt his
face.

‘
Oh Alexandre!’ his mother cried and ran to throw her arms
around him. ‘You scared us all to death,’ she sobbed into his
chest.

‘
But … But, how did you get back here?’ Isik asked. ‘You left
your horse behind with me. Surely you did not come here through the
underground caves?’

‘
But that is exactly how I came here.’ Alexandre enjoyed
looking at their confused faces. ‘I have been to the lost
city.’

After making
his apologies for worrying everybody, having a much-needed wash and
pouring himself a hot cup of coffee, Alexandre sat down with the
rest of the camp to tell them of his early morning adventure. He
was questioned and cross-examined by his family and friends until
he felt dizzy. He was shouted at, cried over, reprimanded, kissed
and congratulated.

Eventually,
when all was forgiven and the enormity of the discovery had been
realised, it was time to get excited and, in gleeful moods,
everybody prepared for the exploration of the lost ancient
underground city of the legends.

*

Tools and
supplies were lowered into the shaft, followed by Alexandre, Papa,
Maman, Harold and Victoria. Isik had insisted that he and two of
his guards accompany them. This time they all carried lanterns,
illuminating everything much more clearly. Alexandre proudly led
the way towards the great hall he had encountered earlier.

‘
Incredible,’ Papa said as he saw the great millstone that had
been rolled aside. ‘I believe the hole in the centre could be a spy
hole, or perhaps a rod went in there to roll the stone more easily.
Tell us where you saw the steps to the lower level,
Alexandre.’

‘
There were many places with stairs leading down. I must have
seen at least half a dozen sets of stairs. I know there are some in
the corner of the great hall.’

‘
Look!’ Victoria pointed to a large room off one of the
tunnels. ‘Are those stone troughs? Yes, look at those rock-built
stalls. I do believe these were stables.’

They crowded
into the room. Alexandre was amazed to see rough-hewn stables with
columns. Victoria addressed everybody.

‘
I have to say, this is the most exciting day of my career. I
think we will be here for many, many months to come. It is an
absolute treasure trove of history.’

As Alexandre
led the others along the low-ceilinged corridors, he revelled in
his new-found status of discoverer and leader. Their excited voices
bounced off the rock walls, echoing strangely. Whispers were
multiplied and exclamations of surprise reverberated in his ears.
Here and there, ventilation shafts threw down narrow beams of
light. Soon they reached the great hall and they stood in a rare
moment of silence, staring around at the vast decorative space.

‘
A barrel-vaulted ceiling!’ Harold exclaimed.

‘
Frescoes!’ Papa said. ‘Come and look at these. They are
depicting some kind of sacrificial scene. Quite
incredible.’

‘
Quite disturbing,’ added Maman.

‘
Disturbing, but beautifully depicted,’ Victoria added. ‘They
were artists.’

‘
How old would you say this place is?’ Alexandre
asked.

‘
It is too early to tell,’ his father replied. ‘But my best
guess, at this stage, is that we’re looking at over one thousand
years old ... perhaps eighth century or maybe even
older.’

‘
Unbelievable,’ Alexandre said.

‘
My only concern is the state of the place,’ his father
continued.

‘
Why?’ Alexandre asked. ‘It looks to be in a good state of
repair, considering its age. I mean it is dirty and dusty, but not
too bad at all.’

‘
But that is exactly my point. It is in excellent repair and
it should not be so.’

‘
Come and look at this,’ Maman called from the other end of
the hall. ‘I believe this is a stone altar.’ She ran her hands
along the rectangular rock as they walked across to join
her.

‘
Of course,’ Harold said. ‘This is a
church!
’

‘
It is a strange church that would have these types of
paintings on the walls,’ Isik said. ‘I personally do not like this
place at all. It does not feel good. It does not feel good at
all.’

Chapter
Thirteen

*

Madison heard
the far-away sounds of metal banging on metal. Morris must be doing
some manual work in the grounds. She picked a bit more of the
crumbling mortar away from the brick wall. It felt sticky. Maddy
looked at her fingers and tentatively sniffed them … alcohol. The
mortar in between the bricks must have been dislodged during the
party when those idiots smashed their bottles down here. She shone
the torch on the floor and, sure enough, a few triangular fragments
of glass glittered at her.

Maddy slid her slim fingers into the gap in the brickwork and
the tips of her fingers stroked smooth shiny metal. But she
couldn’t reach far enough in, to determine what it actually was.
She tried to slip her fingers behind the brick to prise it out of
the wall, but she couldn’t get enough leverage and it wouldn’t
budge. She’d have to dislodge some more of the mortar. How
annoying. She just wanted to get a sledgehammer and knock the whole
thing down ...
Yes! That could
work.

She ran up the
stairs, out of the back door and across to Morris’ shed where she
scanned inside until her eyes rested on what she wanted – a large
sledgehammer. A pick axe lay next to it; she’d take that too. She
also grabbed a hammer and a chisel. The tools were deceptively
heavy and Maddy half carried, half dragged them outside and back
down into the cellar.

She heaved up
the sledgehammer first and it took all her strength to hit the wall
where the mortar had dislodged. The first hit didn’t seem to have
any effect, so she tried again. It wasn’t as easy as she thought it
would be. She tried the pick axe and aimed it at the gap. It lodged
itself in the small space, splintering more of the mortar away and
she angled it downwards and pulled hard. The brick scraped out and
thunked down onto the stone floor.

Maddy dropped
the pick axe and wiped her cheek on her shoulder. She shone the
torch into the hole and saw the metal object. She reached her hand
into the darkness and touched it. It was cold metal, round with
raised ridges on it. Curved, like a ball … like a … like a door
knob. It was a door knob! There was a door behind the wall.

Maddy heaved
the sledge hammer up again and whacked the bricks above the gap.
After about eight or nine hits, a large section of wall collapsed
backwards. Dust flew everywhere. Madison coughed and choked. Her
eyes itched and her arm and shoulder muscles burned, but she didn’t
stop. After about five or six minutes of relentless bashing, she
had cleared a door-space hole in the wall.

She stood for
a few seconds to get her breath and wait for the dust to clear.
When she held the torch up, she saw an intricately carved brass
door knob which gleamed like new, apart from a light sprinkling of
brick dust. The door knob belonged to a small, solid-looking metal
door.

She twisted
the door knob … locked. There was a keyhole. Maybe the key she
needed hung on the bunch in the utility room.

She raced up the stone steps, two at a time, poured herself a
large glass of water and gulped it down. She grabbed the keys off
the brass hook and ran back down the steps. The door had a black
metal lock with quite a large keyhole. She tried all the
appropriate keys in turn but none of them came close to opening
it.
Damn!
What
could be behind that door? Something so secret it was locked away
and then bricked up? And where on earth was the key?

She picked up
the sledgehammer and heaved it against the edge of the door. A loud
metallic clang reverberated around the cellar, but the door wasn’t
even dented. Maddy’s body juddered from the impact. She threw the
hammer down in disgust and plodded upstairs into the kitchen.

‘
State of you,’ Esther said, looking at her dust-covered
employer.

‘
Nice to see you too,’ Maddy replied. Then she had a
thought.

‘
Are there any other keys anywhere?’

‘
Keys for what?’

‘
I don’t know. Keys. Like that bunch of keys in the utility
room. Are there any other keys anywhere else that belong to the
house?’

‘
Far as I know, that’s all the keys there are. Now, I’m going
to do you and Ben a chicken casserole for the weekend, so if you
wouldn’t mind moving away from the kitchen table. I’ve just cleaned
it and you’re contaminating everything with your grubby
fingers.’

Maddy looked
down at the dirty marks she’d left on the kitchen table. She huffed
loudly, put her hands down by her sides and went back into the
cellar. As she tramped down the steps, she heard Esther muttering
to herself about cellars and dirt and children.

The small
metal door had been set into a stone wall, the same type of wall as
all the others in the cellar and, indeed, in the whole house. The
false brick wall must have been built later, to cover up the door.
She supposed she could knock the rest of the brick wall down and
then try knocking down the stone wall, but if it was anything like
the other walls in the house, it would be too thick and strong. She
rattled the door knob again, in frustration.

Madison began
to clear away the bricks that had fallen in front of the door,
throwing them into the space between the two walls. Maybe she could
get a locksmith in? They’d be able to open it, surely. Yeah, that’s
what she’d do.

The soonest a
locksmith could come out to the house was four thirty that
afternoon. Maddy rang around several firms, but that was the best
she could get. She’d just have to be patient. She had a shower and
washed her hair, sticking all her filthy clothes in the basket with
a pang of guilt at the dismissive way she’d talked to Esther. But
then Esther was no better; she was always so rude. She just brought
out the worst in Madison. The woman was a nightmare.

Maddy
remembered Ben was supposed to be going to the cinema with friends
after school, so she wouldn’t be able to show him the secret door.
She’d have to wait until later. Maybe the door would be open by the
time he got home and then they could see what lay behind it,
together.

The locksmith
was half an hour late. He drove up to the house in a small red van
with a picture of a large brass key emblazoned on its side. A tall
middle-aged man in a blue boiler suit unfolded himself from the
tiny vehicle. His receding grey hair was styled into a DA and he
had a matching grey luxuriant moustache.

‘
Sorry I’m late, love.’ He spoke in the local Gloucestershire
accent. ‘It’s been one of those days, you know?’

‘
S’okay. Come in.’ Maddy gestured for him to follow
her.

‘
Nice place you got here. Couldn’t trouble you for a cuppa
could I? I’m gasping and they ran out of milk at the last
place.’

‘
Yep, no problem. I’ll show you the door first, and then I’ll
come back up and make some tea.’

‘
Blimey,’ said the locksmith, as he followed Maddy down into
the cellar. ‘You gonna murder me and hide my body in the basement?
This is a bit spooky down here innit?’

‘
The light’s broken, so it’s a bit dark. But I’ll leave you my
torch while I make your tea, if that’s okay.’

‘
You from London are you?’

‘
Yeah.’ She shone the torch at the hole in the wall. ‘There’s
the door. It’s got a keyhole, but no key. Can you open
it?’

‘
Interesting.’ He studied it. ‘Give us your torch then. I’ll
see what I can do. Might need a couple of biscuits to go with that
cuppa though,’ he chuckled. ‘Milk, no sugar thanks.’