The Body at Auercliff (8 page)

Chapter Fourteen

“Did you hear that?”

“It was me,” I say with a sigh, turning back and seeing Nathan's silhouette just a few steps behind.

“No,” he continues, “there was definitely a noise!”

“It was me!” I say again, before pressing my foot against the loose floorboard again. Sure enough, the creaking sound can be heard again, and I press a few more times just to make my point. “See?”

He sniffs, but he doesn't say anything. It's kind of cool to realize how scared he is right now, and in some weird way
his
fear is making
mine
go away. Well, maybe not go away
entirely
, but I certainly feel a lot less afraid as I turn and make my way toward the next door, which someone long ago left half open. The desire to scare my brother is way stronger than the desire to run back to bed and hide under the covers.

“If we get caught,” Nathan whispers, “I'm going to tell Mum and Dad this was all your idea.”

“Whatever.”

“And I'll tell them you
made
me come!”

Sighing, I reach out and carefully push the next door open. The hinges creak, and after a moment I see an empty room with bluish moonlight streaming through the far window.

“This was probably someone's bedroom once,” I whisper.

“You don't know that.”

“But it's a good guess. I mean, there
were
servants, and they
did
live in this part of the house.” Stepping forward into the room, I look around and see that there's not much in here at all, other than a black metal wood-burning stove that I guess was once used to keep the place warm, plus a counter and a table by the window. After a moment, I spot some letters carved into the side of the table, and I head over to take a closer look.

“What is it?” Nathan asks cautiously.

“Here died the prisoner of Auercliff,” I read out loud. “Neglected and forgotten by all.”

“What does that mean?”

“Maybe it means there was someone kept prisoner here once,” I reply.

“Don't be silly.”

“Why's it silly?”

“People don't
really
get held prisoner in houses,” he says confidently. “That only happens in stories.”

“Are you sure about that?”

He nods, although I can see a hint of doubt in his eyes.

“It's so weird how parts of a house can be completely abandoned,” I continue, stepping over to the window and looking out at the lawn. “This could be such a cool -”

Suddenly I hear a loud bumping sound from somewhere else in the house, like metal hitting wood. My heart is racing as I spin around, and when I look at Nathan I immediately see that he heard the same thing.

“What was that?” he stammers. “Becky, I'm scared. Was it a ghost?”

“No,” I whisper, suddenly wanting to cut out all talk of freaky things. “It's probably just Aunt Emily, she probably got up and -”

I flinch as we hear the sound again, although this time it seems much closer, almost as if it's just outside the room. Maybe at the other end of the corridor.

Once the moment has passed, Nathan and I stand in complete silence. We're both watching the doorway, both waiting to see if anything appears.

“Go take a look,” he says finally, nudging my arm.

I shake my head.

“Becky!”

“You go!”

“No. You're older.”

Realizing that it really
should
be me, I take a deep breath while telling myself that there can't be anything too bad out in the corridor. Auercliff is simply an old, creaky house, and sometimes these types of houses make weird noises. I kind of wish I hadn't hyped up the idea of ghosts earlier, though, because now my own words are making me feel a little nervous.

“Are you scared?” Nathan whispers.

“Of course not. Why would I be?”

“Maybe it's the prisoner!”

Sighing, I realize that he's prone to taking things far too literally. “I don't think there's an
actual
prisoner,” I tell him. “At least, not anymore. That was probably carved into the table a long time ago.”

“Why are you scared, then?”

“I'm not scared!” I reply.

“So go take a look.”

Watching the dark doorway for a few seconds, I try to drum up the courage. Finally I take a step forward, although my legs feel weak and I'm starting to think I can hear something else out there. It's as if there's some kind of faint scratching sound coming from low down, maybe from the level of the skirting boards. Clearly Nathan hasn't heard it, however, because I
know
he'd have asked me by now.

I take a couple more steps forward and place a hand on the door-frame, just to steady myself, and then finally I peer around the edge.

The scratching sound stops at the exact moment I look along the dark corridor.

“Becky?” Nathan hisses. “What do you see?”

I pause for a few seconds, before stepping all the way out.

“Nothing,” I tell him, turning and looking the other way before glancing back at him. Suddenly I feel relieved, and much braver. In fact, I can't believe I was scared, even for a second. “There's nothing here.”

“Then what was -”

“I dunno,” I reply with a shrug. “Mice?” I even manage to crack a smile. “Come on, dumbass, what did you
think
it was? A ghost? The infamous, hideous prisoner of Auercliff?”

“You were scared too,” he says quietly.

“Hell no! I was just trying to freak
you
out.”

“Don't say rude words like that!”

“Mum does,” I point out.

“Yeah, but you still shouldn't,” he mutters under his breath.

“Come on.” Holding out a hand, I wait for him to join me in the corridor. Now that I've faced my fear and shown that there's nothing here, I feel braver than ever before in my life. “Don't be a scaredy-cat, Nathan, just come on! We've got loads more rooms to explore.”

“I don't want to,” he replies, coming over to join me. He peers skeptically both ways along the corridor, as if he thinks that somehow there
is
a ghost out here and I just haven't noticed it.

“You can go back to bed if you want,” I tell him.

“I'm going to!”

“Off you go, then.”

He hesitates, seemingly struck by a new wave of fear. “Can you walk me back?”

“No way. It's only along that way and down the stairs, I'm sure you can find your way.”

“But -”

“You're not a baby, Nathan,” I continue, really enjoying the fact that I feel so much braver. “You can choose. Either come with me, or go back through to the main part of the house by yourself.”

“Becky, please...”

“I'm not your nanny,” I add with a faint smile, before turning and making my way further along the corridor. Honestly, I don't even know what I was so scared of before. Auercliff is
just
an old house, and it's very babyish and immature for anyone to start thinking there are ghosts here. I'm more grown-up than that now.

“Becky, come back!” Nathan calls after me.

He sounds genuinely scared.

“Your choice,” I mutter, reaching the next turning and looking along yet another dark corridor. “If you
do
go back, though, don't tell anyone where I am. I'm just gonna keep -”

Suddenly I hear footsteps running away, and I turn just in time to see Nathan racing toward the stairs in the distance. A moment later I hear him clattering down to the ground floor, and I realize with a faint smile that he bolted and went back through to the main part of the house.

“Thanks for leaving me all alone, jackass,” I say with a sigh, before turning and making my way along the next corridor.

There are doors on either side, some of them shut and some of them open. I take a quick look behind each of them, but in truth I'm starting to get a little bored of finding so many empty, abandoned rooms. I guess I was hoping for something a little more exciting, maybe even something spooky, but by the time I get to yet another junction and look both ways, I'm already wondering whether I should just give up and turn back. After all, it's pretty cold in here and -

Suddenly hearing footsteps, I realize Nathan has caught up to me.

“Hey,” I mutter, turning to him. “Nice to -”

The footsteps stop immediately, and I find myself staring along a dark, empty corridor.

“Nathan?” I call out, looking at the various open doors. “What are you doing?”

Stepping over to the nearest door, I peer through and see another empty room. I check a couple more doors, before realizing that either I imagined the whole thing, or my dumb little brother is playing games with me. I honestly didn't think he was smart or brave enough to come sneaking up behind me, but I guess I shouldn't completely underestimate him.

“Okay,” I say finally, turning and heading back along toward the junction. “Do what you want. I'm too old to play dumb games.”

Taking the left turn, I make my way along yet another uneventful corridor, entertaining myself by glancing into empty room after empty room. At the far end, I find myself in what appears to be a dead-end, although after a moment I spot a door in the corner and I head over, only to find that it's locked. I try a couple more times, but clearly someone just forgot to leave this one open.

Wandering over to the window, I turn the latch and then slide the frame up. A gust of cool wind blows against me as I lean out and look along the side of the building. Sure enough, there's clearly a fairly large section behind the locked door, but I guess I'll have to wait until morning to explore properly. Then again, as I lean a little further out, I realize I can see an exterior door down below, leading off from one of the house's corners, which might offer another way into the section I can't access. I know it'd be crazy to go down there now, but my curiosity is piqued. I'm not tired, and I'm
already
pretty cold, and -

Suddenly I spot something moving in one of the other windows. My heart leaps a little as I look along and realize that the window is on the other side of the locked door. I tell myself it could have been a shadow, or maybe a reflection, but I can't help staring at the window and waiting a moment. All my bravery is suddenly feeling kind of delicate, and the fear is creeping back into my chest. Holding on tight to the window-frame, I lean out even further, craning my neck in an attempt to get a better view through the other window. Not quite managing to see anything, I lean further again, and then further still, balancing carefully in a desperate attempt to -

Slipping suddenly, I feel my body-weight tipping out through the window. At the same time, my hand slips from the frame and I topple forward, letting out a brief cry before I manage to grab the frame again.

Staring down, I see the gravel path several meters below. My heart is pounding and I'm short of breath as I realize that I just came
really
close to falling. Telling myself that I should be more careful, I adjust my grip on the frame, ready to pull myself in.

And that's when I feel the hand on my waist.

I freeze, holding my breath. Something's
definitely
touching my waist from behind, and I swear it feels like there are fingers holding me tight, trying to keep me from falling.

“Nathan?” I whisper, not quite daring to turn.

Still holding my breath, I wait, but I'm pretty sure my brother would have said something by now.

“Nathan, is that you?”

I wait.

Finally I take a slow, cautious breath, and then I exhale. The movement allows me to feel the hand better, and it definitely
is
a hand, holding my waist just above the hip. A moment later, the hand moves away entirely.

“Ha-ha, Nathan,” I mutter, pulling myself in and turning to him. “You're so -”

Except he's not there.

Staying completely still, I stare across the dark, empty room and see that there's no-one else nearby. There's no way he could have run out of sight, not in the fraction of a second it took me to turn around, but at the same time I can see that there's absolutely no sign of him at all.

“Very good,” I say cautiously, figuring that the last thing I want is for him to think he's spooked me. “I don't know where you're hiding, but I'm actually slightly impressed. Happy now?”

I wait.

Silence.

After a moment, I feel a faint breeze blowing in through the window, ruffling the hair on the back of my head. Turning, I slide the window down and lock it, before looking across the room again. I keep expecting to suddenly spot the perfect hiding place, so I can go and haul Nathan out, but there's genuinely no sign of him.

Heading to the door, I try the handle again, but it's still locked.