The Bad Luck Lighthouse

by Nicki Thornton

  On the other side of the water Seth could now see a short, very narrow peninsula reaching towards them, with cliffs towering either side of what looked like a small harbour studded with low buildings.

  ‘So has Alfie been killing seabirds and leaving them on the beach?’ asked Seth, thinking of the catapult and the evil cackle.

  ‘Alfie and dead birds are the least of our worries, mate.’ Rendleton paused to turn, raising a hand to point to where dozens of seabirds screeched anxiously overhead in a vast sky. ‘I’m not an expert on the local wildlife, but I guess dead birds might have something to do with the biggest storm in years being on its way.’

  Seth could see now that Rendleton wasn’t really pointing at the birds, but at where the far-off sky was split dangerously in two. Directly above was cloud-less blue, but leering towards them from the distance was a menacing black.

  Seth gulped. He turned to see that Rendleton was already making his way further along the path at his rapid pace, and scampered after him.

  He wasn’t supposed to be travelling through teleports and getting himself a new job. The very last thing he needed was to be trapped, working in a totally unknown hotel, and with the most colossal of all storms on its way. However bad things had been at the Last Chance Hotel, this was a disaster. He was supposed to be practising magic. He had to get away, and fast.

  Right now, though, Seth had little choice but to follow, and tried not to dwell on his dark thoughts when he heard Rendleton ahead saying:

  ‘My worries are more that we’re all still here by morning.’

  5. Lucky If We Are Still Standing

  As they moved out the shelter of the clifftop rocks, Seth had his first sight of a cluster of white-painted buildings and the tall tower of Snakesmouth Lighthouse. It was almost cylindrical and painted in zingy orange stripes, the structure tapering upwards to huge windows from where a light would once have sent a piercing beam to warn ships of the rocks.

  ‘Makes an impression, doesn’t it?’ said Rendleton. ‘Though it’ll be lucky if we are still standing by the time that storm’s through with us.’ The manager rushed on past a two-storey building made of white stone about as old and weathered as the rocks it was nestled into. ‘That’s our Sunrise Wing. Originally it was home to two families. Had to be here all year round to keep the light going. Course it stopped being a working lighthouse years ago. Plenty of room for guests when it’s all converted.’

  Seth could see now that they truly were on an island, a small, pretty one with seabirds whirling and calling above banks of tough plants. Beautiful views surrounded them, the air fresh and exhilarating. He was torn between admiring his surroundings and not being able to take his eyes off the darkening sky. Only minutes ago it had been like a roof of blue, with only that telltale black line of a storm brewing in the distance. Already both the sea and sky were a dark grey that warned of an approaching battle. The sky, massed with clouds, didn’t just look darker – it looked closer.

  ‘It’s been deserted around eight years, after the last owner disappeared,’ said Rendleton, keeping up a sharp pace.

  ‘The people turning this into a hotel? Are they . . .’ there was no easy way to say, but Seth didn’t have a clue where that teleport had brought him. Did Pewter only investigate crime in the magical world? ‘This girl and her brother, are they a magical family?’

  ‘You don’t want to be worrying about dead sea-birds and magic,’ muttered Rendleton, weaving his way along a path by the Sunrise Wing and reaching a sheltered blue door at the rear. ‘But this is an unusual set-up, so you might fit right in with your strange questions. A pretty unlucky family, that’s about all I know. Here is your new home.’

  He led Seth straight down into a basement, bringing the smell of the outdoors, the sea and bracing air into a deserted kitchen. It wasn’t vast, but it was well-equipped, with a long stainless-steel table and an oven so huge it made Seth wonder just how many guests they were expecting. There was no smell of baking or signs of any food being prepared.

  ‘I – er, so tell me more about the job, the family I’m working for . . .’

  Rendleton carried on through the kitchen on his long legs, pausing only to point to an open door and inform Seth it led to the staff accommodation. Seth caught a glimpse of a vibrantly purple corridor before he followed Rendleton up three steps opposite. Seth stopped in his tracks.

  He’d emerged into an entrance hall papered in a soft lilac that looked shimmeringly beautiful, threaded with the faintest gold, picked out by sunlight streaming from a high window.

  There were further doors, one leading to a lounge of brightly coloured chairs. Seth could see a dining room and a closed door to what he guessed might be a bedroom. But what really drew his attention was a narrow staircase twisting steeply from the centre of the entrance lobby into the tower above. It was covered in the sort of carpet that made you just long to take off your shoes and wiggle your toes in. The whole place had the aroma of fresh paint and a new-carpet smell of rubber and wool. As Seth craned his neck upwards to the topmost windows, he saw the wallpaper was decorated with a flock of birds that looked as if they were soaring right out to the sky.

  ‘Wow!’

  ‘That is the first reaction of most people.’

  ‘This Mina Mintencress must really have a lot of money.’

  ‘Yep – seriously minted. The second reaction is saying she clearly has plenty to throw around. The third is usually a comment that this is a lot of money to inherit at sixteen, closely followed by a judgement that this is a mad project to take on and they are bound to fail. But they were making a grand job of it . . . until lately. And Mina’s got enough determination for a whole squad.’

  The sound of a door being thumped or kicked made both Seth and Rendleton look upwards, from where an angry voice yelled: ‘Open this door, Mina. You can’t keep me locked out for ever.’ There were two more thuds.

  ‘Just a shame she doesn’t always carry Lark along with some of her wilder decisions. A little trouble in paradise. I believe Lark and Mina may not yet have made up their differences, and the arrival of the blood-sucking lawyer doesn’t help.’

  ‘Differences?’ said Seth over another thud. It sounded as if a solid door had received a heavy kick.

  ‘Work lately hasn’t been going altogether well. Just so you know. The builders have walked out. This lawyer, Hari Brockler, arrived, and unfortunately decided to hang around and stick his nose in. Now he and Lark are trying to talk Mina into just ditching the whole project. Perhaps not a bad idea, before anyone dies. Be warned – this new job of yours might not last for long.’

  Seth barely had time to wonder why anyone might be in danger of dying before the door upstairs received another blow, but with less conviction than before. Seth winced nonetheless.

  What must be Lark’s voice cried shrilly: ‘Stop being so stubborn, Mina. You can’t lock yourself in your room for ever. We need to talk.’

  ‘I guess getting people to work on an island can be tricky. And getting guests,’ Seth muttered, thinking of the difficulties faced by his own hotel, buried in the middle of the endless Last Hope Forest. ‘Must be a difficult place to work if there are arguments like that. Is that why the builders left?’

  Rendleton was speeding on up the stairs, and seemed not to hear Seth’s question. ‘It would be great if there was some sort of lunch in the dining room at one. Or soon after? Dining room’s just next to the lounge, with a grand view of the sea. But then a grand view of the sea isn’t exactly in short supply hereabouts.’

  ‘Lunch? Isn’t there a chef to do that?’

  ‘Yeah, well, truth is, the cook left,’ called Rendleton, taking the stairs two at a time.

  ‘The builders, the cook and the kitchen boy all left? Because of the arguments?’

  Rendleton paused to look at Seth over the polished banister of the spiral staircase, his floppy blond hair falling over his face as his voice trailed down from above.

  ‘Well, yes, mate. They
all left. But not because of the arguments. They all left because of the ghosts.’

  6. The Village That Died

  Now Seth remembered. Pewter was investigating some sort of mean ghosts.

  He recalled the little the inspector had told him about the case: ‘This place is on a bare rock in the middle of the sea. Doesn’t even have a tennis court. But at least there are some dangerous ghosts to liven things up.’

  And all the staff and builders were scrambling to leave. Seth returned to the empty kitchen and looked around anxiously, half expecting something nasty to leap out at him.

  Where was Pewter? However angry the inspector might be for Seth sneaking after him and getting mixed up in his case, Seth needed to find him. He needed to get back to the Last Chance Hotel. Why had he been so rash as to follow Pewter?

  Seth ducked his head out of the back door. He didn’t at all like the look of that threatening sky. And what had happened to Nightshade? She loved exploring and making a pest of herself to any local wildlife, but she loathed storms. He could only hope she had slipped in, found the warmest place in the lighthouse and settled there for a snooze – she was pretty good at that – because right then there came an almighty crack of thunder, and Seth felt the first huge splash of rain fall on his face. The storm had arrived.

  Seth took stock. He’d lost his cat and Pewter was nowhere to be found. The biggest storm he’d ever seen was right on top of the ghost-infected lighthouse he was trapped in. He had a new job he didn’t even want and he was expected to produce lunch for an unspecified number of people. The basement kitchen was already dark enough to need the lights on and a series of waiting candles told him losing the electrics might be a regular problem. And he was pretty sure he had both mashed potato and seaweed in his hair. What was he going to do?

  He had no time to formulate anything that even looked like a plan before an untidy young woman practically tumbled into the room. She was trying to tuck her long brown hair under a ridiculous-looking white cap that was a little too small for the job. When her worried brown eyes focused on Seth, she nearly fell down the three steps into the kitchen.

  Seth moved forward quickly to catch her before she went sprawling. ‘I’m Seth – the new kitchen boy. Hope I didn’t startle you. Are you all right?’

  She was wearing a plain black dress with a small sprig of lavender pinned to the lapel. Her fingers twitched nervously as she still fiddled with her cap, pulling it down over her ears so it almost obscured her eyes. She smelled faintly of strawberries. ‘I-I’m Celeste Crackling. I’m-I’m the maid.’

  Seth breathed a sigh of relief. ‘Well, I’m glad you’re here! Rendleton said everyone would be wanting lunch. I guess it’s down to us.’

  He waited for her to tell him what he should be doing, but she didn’t move.

  ‘Is it OK if I explore the kitchen?’ He opened and shut some cupboard doors. ‘How many for lunch? Have we enough food to last the storm?’

  ‘Storm?’

  Celeste glanced nervously towards the back door and he decided not to add that Rendleton had said they’d be lucky if the lighthouse was still standing by morning.

  Seth now saw there were four doors leading from the kitchen. He already knew one led back outside and one to the staff rooms. Then there was the door at the top of the short flight of steps that led to the entrance hall, but there was another door alongside that one. He approached it, hoping to find a larder.

  Celeste practically screamed. ‘No, not that one!’ She recovered herself. ‘Sorry, everyone gets a bit jumpy when that one’s unlocked.’

  Seth stood for a moment, staring at the innocent-looking white door, his mind already full of ghosts and hauntings.

  ‘It leads to the Sunrise Wing,’ said Celeste. Thunder rumbled.

  ‘Rendleton pointed that out,’ said Seth. ‘Sunrise Wing is a nice name.’

  Celeste snorted. ‘Named after Lark Sunrise. She’s been far too pushy in this project if you ask me. You’d think it was her money bought this place, but she’s just a school friend of Mina’s who didn’t want to be left out. Lark said please could she take charge of the furnishings. Big mistake.’

  ‘So is that the bit that’s supposed to be haunted?’ said Seth, nodding his head at the door as he began to forage in the kitchen cupboards.

  Celeste tossed her head. ‘Yes. Oooh, the ghost of Soul Snakesmouth has returned to haunt us all. Of course Rendleton wasted no time filling you in about that nonsense.’

  ‘Soul Snakesmouth?’

  ‘The guy who owned this place. He lived alone here for years and there was some mystery about his death, so it was left empty. There are lots of stories. Jo, that girl who drives the boat from the mainland, won’t ever shut up about them. What are we having for lunch? I’m absolutely famished.’

  Seth poked his head through the door to the staff rooms as he passed, guessing that with so few staff there would be space for him if he failed to leave tonight. The purple walls of the corridor had jagged metal artworks along the walls.

  ‘Lark has a lively taste, doesn’t she?’

  ‘She just likes shopping, really.’

  Seth was happy to find bread in a cupboard and discover a well-stocked, enormous fridge and freezer. He seized basics like butter and cheese gratefully and set about gathering something that might pass as lunch.

  He hardly liked to take charge, but Celeste had slid out a chair at the long table, tucked in her feet – shod in a very delicate pair of pale-blue ballet pumps – laid her head on outstretched arms and closed her eyes. Within seconds she was breathing deeply, the thin skin on her eyelids fluttering. Was she going to sleep?

  ‘Rendleton said the previous owner disappeared,’ said Seth loudly, assembling more ingredients on the table.

  Celeste sniffed loudly and sat up, blinking. ‘Oh yes, well, Jo – the boat girl – always makes sure every-one knows that story. The village of Snakesmouth was a popular enough place – a pretty harbour nestled among the cliffs, that kind of thing. You’ll have seen it from the boat.’ She ducked as the thunder crashed again overhead.

  Seth remembered the small huddle of buildings he’d seen across the water from the clifftop.

  ‘But there was a terrible storm about eight years ago and a whole chunk of the coast fell away into the sea, leaving the village almost an island – you must have seen how narrow the peninsula is – supposedly shaped like a snake’s mouth. The whole place is unstable and practically cut off. Cursed, some said. Everyone had to move out. And that same night, Soul Snakesmouth disappeared and was never seen again. Well. That’s one of the stories. Sure you’ll have to listen to them all.’

  Seth wondered how the stories might explain the ghosts. And Pewter being here. He slid a wrapped ham and carving knife in front of Celeste, who dutifully cut several thin slices, before devouring them all.

  ‘Oh, I’m so hungry. Busy morning.’

  ‘Glad to see someone’s taking care of supplies.’

  ‘I suppose Rendleton organizes things – Jo comes almost daily from Merricove on her boat. Mostly to eat as much of our food as she can. And pocket what she thinks we don’t notice.’

  ‘Maybe you wouldn’t mind cutting some bread?’ Seth suggested. Surely she couldn’t be expecting him to do everything?

  Celeste opened her eyes fully and scrambled to her feet. Slowly she drew a loaf of bread towards her.

  ‘Erm – if you’re going to help it’s kind of usual to wash your hands first.’ Seth wondered how her boss let her get away with being quite so lazy.

  ‘Of course!’ She headed for the sink.

  ‘Tell me how you all ended up being here, turning this lighthouse into a hotel? Sounds a wild idea to me.’

  He thought he saw movement in the corner of the room. But when he focused his eyes and looked properly, there was nothing there.

  ‘Oh, now that is a great story. Mina’s is the most tragic and romantic tale. She went to this horrific lonely boarding school, just along the coast
from here. Her parents were always busy travelling abroad. If she couldn’t sleep, she’d watch the lighthouse shining across the water. Almost a sign that her parents were thinking of her from far away.’ Celeste sighed.

  Lightning illuminated the basement kitchen through the high-up windows and her face looked suddenly frozen in terror. The storm was almost right above them now.

  ‘We are in the highest building for miles around,’ she whispered, and she gripped Seth’s arm so tight it felt like she was cutting off the circulation. ‘If lightning strikes it’s going to hit us, isn’t it? That storm looks evil.’

  ‘This lighthouse has been here for years – this won’t be the first storm it’s been through,’ said Seth, disentangling her fingers. ‘Tell me more.’

  Celeste still looked fearful, but she went back to slicing bread and telling her story.

  ‘Her parents died in a car crash and she was desperate for something to take her mind off the awfulness. She’d inherited buckets of money. Lark said to travel the world and go to parties. But that would mean abandoning Alfie at school. Then she found this place was up for sale. The place that had been a comfort for all those years. It seemed like it was meant to be. So Mina decided to save it.’

  ‘And it was going well?’

  ‘Of course. I mean, turning this place into a hotel is a great idea, surely? Why can’t everybody see that? It’s a real fairy tale. Just a shame that as well as being responsible for some terrible furnishings, Lark is now sneaking around behind Mina’s back and plotting with that dreary lawyer, Brockler, who arrived and insisted on staying. His only purpose is to put a stop to all Mina’s brilliant fun. Sneaky double-crossers, the pair of them.’ Celeste waved the long bread knife dangerously.

  Lightning flashed again, this time accompanied by a fizzing sound, and the kitchen was plunged into a very sudden and very deep blackness.

  7. The Storm

  Seth quickly lit the candles dotted around the room, which sent shadows dancing across the walls, transforming the kitchen with flickering light. Just for a moment, shapes seemed to loom out at them as if something was moving in the darkness. From the corner of his eye, Seth thought he saw a flitting dark shape. It was gone in an instant, and he wasn’t at all sure he had seen anything. Maybe just a spider.