The Body at Auercliff Read online

  “I'd get about thirty pence if my husband died,” she adds with a sigh. “I guess Aunt Emily played the marriage game a little better.”

  As she heads back into the kitchen and starts telling Dad all the things he's done wrong with the salad, I turn and see that Aunt Emily is still over by the far corner, looking up at the house's windows. I can't help thinking that she was about to tell me something interesting before Mum interrupted, and I'm not entirely sure that Emily really is crazy. I think she just sees the world in a different way, probably because she's seen and experienced so many different things here at Auercliff. Most of all, I feel sorry for her, and I can't imagine what it must be like to live alone in such a huge house.

  Then again, I don't think she truly is alone. Looking up at the dark windows, I can't shake the feeling that there's someone or something else here. Someone who keeps Emily company at night.

  Chapter Thirteen

  “Did you hear that?”

  Rolling onto my back, I open my eyes and see Nathan standing next to my bed, staring down at me.

  “What?” I stammer, still half-asleep.

  “Did you hear it?” he asks, with a hint of fear in his voice. He turns and looks across the dark bedroom, toward the door.

  “I was asleep,” I tell him. “You should be too. Mum won't like it if -”

  “Someone's moving about,” he continues. “In the other part of the house.”

  “What are you talking about?”

  “It's not Mum and Dad, and it's not Aunt Emily.” He turns to me again. “It's someone else!”

  “Go back to sleep,” I reply, rolling away and closing my eyes.

  Suddenly he pulls the duvet away.

  “Hey!” I hiss, trying to grab it back. Too late, I sit up and glare at him. “I'm trying to sleep!”

  “Maybe it's a burglar,” he whispers.

  “There's no burglar here,” I reply. “Just give me my duvet back.”

  “I'll prove it,” he continues. “Come and listen. If you don't hear it, I'll do you chores for a whole month! You said you believe in ghosts, didn't you?”

  ***

  “Lean closer,” he says a few minutes later, as we stand in front of a scrappy white door at the end of a long, dark corridor. “You'll hear it.”

  Sighing, I lean closer to the door, although I pull away slightly when I feel my ear brushing against the cold wood.

  “What am I supposed to hear?” I ask cautiously.

  “Just wait.”

  Sighing again, I wait for a moment, but there's absolutely nothing to hear.

  “You just imagined it,” I tell him. “There's -”

  Before I can finish, I hear a faint shuffling sound from the other side of the door. It's over almost before it really begins, but my eyes widen as I realize that there's definitely something or someone through there. Immediately, my thoughts turn back to when Aunt Emily was being weird earlier, and when she said there was someone she wanted me to meet.

  “It's not Mum and Dad,” Nathan says with fear in his voice, “and it's not Aunt Emily. I checked, and they're all in bed, and there's no supposed to be anyone else here.”

  I take a deep breath, trying not to panic. “Then it's -”

  Suddenly I hear the sound again, and this time it lasts a few seconds longer until silence falls once again.

  “It's a ghost, isn't it?” Nathan asks. “It has to be!”

  I hesitate for a moment, before reaching out and cautiously turning the door handle. When I try to pull the door open, however, I find that it's locked.

  “That's the western wing of the house,” Nathan reminds me. “Mum said Aunt Emily keeps it shut up, remember? She never goes through there.”

  “I know, but -”

  “Maybe this is why she never goes through,” he suggests. “Maybe that's the part where the ghosts are.”

  “Ghosts wouldn't be stopped by a locked door,” I point out.

  “You don't know that.”

  “Ghosts go through doors, dummies.”

  “You don't know that, Becky.”

  I try the door again, but there's no way I'm suddenly going to find a way through. Stepping back a few paces, I realize I can hear the shuffling sound again. I want to believe that it's just a bird or some other kind of animal through there, but I can't even bring myself to make that suggestion. I know deep down that it's not true.

  “Should we tell Mum and Dad?” Nathan asks.

  “Sure,” I reply, “go wake Mum up and tell her you heard a scary noise. I'm sure she'll be really happy and grateful.”

  He pauses, before turning to head toward Mum and Dad's room.

  “That was a joke,” I add, grabbing his arm to keep him close. At the same time, the shuffling sound returns for a few seconds. I wait until it's gone again, and then I turn to Nathan. “There's another way through to that part of the house.”

  “No there isn't!”

  I nod. “It might be locked, but shouldn't we at least try?”

  He shakes his head.

  “Well, I'm going to,” I continue, turning and heading toward the top of the stairs.

  “Becky, wait!” he hisses, hurrying after me.

  “You don't have to come,” I tell him, already making my way down to the hallway. “I'll tell you what I find. If I find anything at all.”

  “But -”

  “You're the one who woke me up, remember? Or was that only fun when you thought we couldn't actually get through to take a proper look?”

  “Becky, wait!”

  “And keep quiet!” I add. “We're not allowed to wake anyone up.”

  When I reach the hallway, I walk quickly through to the reception room and then to the study, and finally I get to the pantry and hurry to the door in the far corner, which I remember Mum mentioning was another way into the shuttered and abandoned part of the house. Grabbing the handle and giving it a turn, I don't expect for one moment that it'll be unlocked, but to my surprise the door swings open, almost hitting me in the face.

  Stopping, I feel cold air reaching through from the darkness ahead, as I contemplate the idea of going through to the house's empty, uninhabited western wing. Suddenly this idea doesn't seem so enticing, and I reach out to shut the door again.

  “Are we going in there?” Nathan asks.

  Turning, I realize he's right behind me. I'd kind of assumed he stayed upstairs like a little scaredy-cat, but apparently he decided to come with me after all. There's no way I can back down now.

  “Of course,” I tell him.

  “Are you scared?”

  I shake my head. “Are you?”

  He hesitates, before shaking his head. He's a liar, but I'm not going to say anything about it. I guess we're both lying right now.

  Turning, I look through to the darkness and then I take a step forward. The air is so cold now, I actually feel like I should go back and grab my jacket, but to be honest I think I'd end up chickening out of the whole thing. Instead, I keep going until I find myself in a cold, dark room with a flight of wooden steps leading upstairs. I remember Mum saying something about this part of the house having been used by servants in the past, and it certainly seems like things are more basic and less fancy here. Whereas the bannister in the main hallway is smooth and intricately carved, the bannister here is just a long stretch of wood.

  “Do you hear anything?” Nathan asks.

  “Pull the door shut,” I tell him.

  “What if we get locked in?”

  “We won't, but we can't let anyone see that we came through. Pull the door shut.”

  Heading over to the stairs, I look up, but all I see is pitch darkness. After a moment, I hear Nathan carefully shutting the door.

  “I don't hear a thing anymore,” I whisper.

  “I'm cold.”

  “Me too.” I pause for a few seconds, before placing a hand on the cold bannister and starting to make my way up the stairs.

  “Becky, no!” Nathan hisses.

&n
bsp; “You don't have to come with me,” I point out.

  “But what happens if something's up there?”

  I turn to him and force a smile. “Then you can have all my stuff when I'm gone.”

  Seeing the fear in his eyes, I can't help feeling as if I have to keep going, if only to scare my little brother senseless. As I make my way up the stairs, however, the air seems to be getting colder and colder, and I'm very aware of myself slowly rising into darkness. By the time I get to the turning, I can't see anything ahead at all, although when I look over my shoulder I can just about make out Nathan's silhouette as he cautiously follows a few paces behind. This part of Auercliff is so different and bare, it's like being in a different house entirely.

  “It's really cold,” he complains.

  “So?”

  I start making my way up the next flight of steps, with one hand held out in case I accidentally reach a door. After a moment, however, I get to the top step and see a window at the far end of a dark, unlit corridor. Stopping for a moment, I realize that this part of the house seems absolutely quiet, almost as if the entire rest of the world has vanished and this is all that's left. Looking at the window, I can see trees outside, swaying in a gentle breeze, but I don't hear the wind. A moment later, however, there's a faint creaking sound as Nathan reaches the top step and pauses just behind me.

  “I don't like it,” he whispers.

  “Welcome to Auercliff,” I reply.

  To be honest, if I was alone, I'd definitely turn around right now and go back downstairs, and come back to explore in the morning. Instead, not wanting to look scared in front of my little brother, I hold my hands out and step forward into the darkness.

  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?”