Mystery and Suspense at the Cavendish Mansion

by Volpiceli, Waldon; Cristina Rodrigues Gomes, Ana;

  - What you are looking for is in the first drawer!!!!

  Elizabeth couldn’t understand, she was scared, she wanted to leave the room but the door was locked. She tried to unlock it, looked for the key on top of the dressing table, tried to open the door, but it wouldn’t open. She felt a presence in the room, behind her, she turned around suddenly and...she woke up.

  -Damn, what an awful dream, she said.

  She laid down again. She remembered the voice. The first drawer. Elizabeth ran to the first drawer of the dressing table and, found the rifle.

  - How did it get here, it was in the third drawer, on the bottom, I remember, or maybe I messed with it and put it here?

  In the meantime, she heard a knock on the main door.

  - I wonder if it’s Fisto.

  Elizabeth ran to the door, descending the stairs, opened it and... it was the lawyer Adolfo Perez.

  - Hey girl.

  - You? How can I help you?

  - Sorry for coming now, Elizabeth, it’s because you must sign these papers. It’s part of the inheritance process procedure. Fazem parte da tramitação do processo de herança. A bureaucracy for you to inherit everything.

  - Of course, I will sign, have you got a pen?

  - Here. Sign on top of my briefcase.

  When Elizabeth was about to sign the papers, without reading them, she heard a voice.

  - DON’T SIGN!!!!

  Elizabeth got frightened.

  - Did you hear that? Elizabeth asked the lawyer.

  - Hear, what? He said.

  - Nothing, my silliness.

  - Then you can sign, said the lawyer.

  Elizabeth was about to sign, when:

  - I can’t, not now, I am busy.

  - But it’s easy, just sign, said the lawyer.

  - I need to organize the things here, I am sorry, I will sign when I am calmer.

  - But I’ve come from far away, my car is there, outside.

  - I know it, sorry, I can’t now.

  - That’s fine, said the lawyer Adolfo Perez. I will come back later.

  Elizabeth locked the main door, looked through the window and saw the lawyer driving off in his car. She went to lock all the other doors in the mansion. She went back at the room, where she was initially, picked up the rifle, put it near her, locked the door and laid down.

  -Where did I get myself into, she said?

  She fell asleep.

  3 o’clock in the morning. She woke up. It was very windy outside; the sky was partially covered. She looked at the dark view through her window, seeing the forest in the distance, when she noticed a movement, someone walking in the distance.

  - Is that Fisto? She said.

  - FISTO, IS THAT YOU? Shouted Elizabeth, opening the window. But the passer-by didn’t answer, he was quite far.

  Having the riffle, Elizabeth felt safer to go outside to check who it was. But she didn’t know if the riffle was loaded or not. She sat on the bed’s edge. She was facing the dressing table. She stood up for a second, picked up the bullet box. There were 7 bullets in it. She tried to open the rifle, unhitching it, but she couldn’t. Was it loaded or not? She didn’t know and she wouldn’t shoot to check if it was. Still, she decided to leave the mansion. She put back the bullet box, picked up the rifle and went down the stairs. She opened the door, went down the main stairs. It was dark, pitch black.

  - FISTO, ARE YOU THERE? She shouted again.

  Suddenly, she felt something on her back. A rock throw. It was strong. Her back started to burn with pain. Her dress was made of a thin fabric, it didn’t protect her much. She looked behind trying to see who threw the rock. She couldn’t see anyone.

  - Who’s there, I will shoot, said Elizabeth grabbing the riffle, firmly.

  She couldn’t see anything. She went back in the house, locked the door, went up the stairs, but she slipped, her shin touched the stairs edge and the rifle fell.

  - Damn, I got hurt, she said.

  She returned downstairs, hobbling, picked up the rifle and went up the stairs limping. She went back to the room she was in, went to the window, couldn’t see anything, went back, sat on the bed’s edge, rubbing the spot where she got hurt to see if the pain will diminish.

  - I know, she said. Maybe Fisto’s phone is working.

  She picked up her phone, called Fisto’s number and... someone answered.

  - Fisto, are you ok? Said Elizabeth.

  No one answered, but Elizabeth noticed there was someone on the other side, because she could hear imperceptible sounds in the background.

  - Answer, somebody?

  The call got disconnected. Elizabeth tried again, but no one answered this time. She turned it off. She left the room, still limping, less than before, but limping. She went to check all the windows and doors, making sure they were well locked, she entered the room again, managed to lock the door, she left the light on, it was weak, and went to sleep with the rifle beside the large bed.

  She woke up. There was something rolling around on top of the house, like a noise of rocks rolling down. She stood up, grabbed the rifle and went to see through the room’s window, but, frightened, she only stood on the corner of the window. All dark, pitch black. She tried to see something, she got with her face near the window, and...crash...a rock touched the glass, but out of reflex, she pulled her face back, falling on her back, but not letting the riffle fall. Angry, she shouted:

  -STOPPPPPP!!!!

  She grabbed the riffle, placed it where the glass broke, and...bang... shoot, she fell on her bag, letting the rifle fell beside her. She stood up, went to see outside. Nothing. She went to the dressing table, to get more bullets, she opened the third drawer and...

  -Where’s the bullet box? She asks.

  She searched the drawer nervously. Nothing. She remembered the voice that indicated her the rifle was in the first drawer. She opened it, searching for the bullets and nothing. She opened the second drawer, looked everywhere.

  - It can’t be possible, must be a joke. I wonder if there’s more bullets in this rifle. I don’t know how it works.

  She decided not to shoot, wasting the bullets, unless she had to. Scared, she went to the window, carefully this time, observing outside. Hard to see anything, very dark, the night was scary. The sky was relatively clean. You could see the stars. Elizabeth found herself observing them. Over the forest, they were brighter. This view relaxed her.

  - I am going to sleep, who knows I might have another dream telling me where the bullet box, for this rifle, is, she told herself.

  Elizabeth laid down and quickly fell asleep, but she didn’t dream. She woke up, with the room shining like the sun, she looked at her phone.

  - Oh, my God, it’s 1 o’clock.

  She stood up, she fell asleep with her clothes on, her suitcase was on the floor near the bed, she opened it, she picked up a black skirt and a fine fabric shirt, white, with long sleeves, with a pocket on the front and two on the sides, she changed her clothes there without having a bath, she put on a pair of black trainers, with white socks, went straight to the bathroom, washed her face, looked at herself in the mirror, she got scared, looked at the room’s window and...

  - Hey, it’s not broken anymore, but it broke so near to my face, with a rock throw.

  She went near, she touched, with her right hand, the side of the window that was meant to be broken. It was steady. She searched the room to find the rock, she didn’t.

  - Did I have a dream about all this?

  She unlocked the door, went downstairs to the kitchen, holding the rifle. She opened the press, the food was still there, she put the rifle on the table, grabbed a bag of rice, the traditional 5 kg bag, opened it, grabbed a pot from the under the sink press, a mug from the other press, the inbuilt one, where the plates and cups were. She put some oil in the pot, turned on the hob (electric hob), placed the pot on the fire, looked for garlic to season the rice, but couldn’t find it, she put the rice into a plastic dish that she found und
er the sink, washed the rice and, with a big spoon she put some rice in the pot where the oil was already boiling. After she put some water into the dish and then in the pot. She waited for a while, went to the living room and was walking around when she remembered she left the riffle on the table.

  - It can’t be possible to disappear.

  She ran to the kitchen and... the rifle was there, as normal. She picked it up. She went to have a look at the rice, searched for salt, but there wasn’t any left. She stared, through the window above the sink, a large window, outside there were trees in the distance. She said:

  - Fisto, where are you?

  She remembered they came by car. She went running outside, holding the rifle, opened the living room doors that lead to the outside stairs and saw the car in the distance.

  - It’s still there, that means he must be around, he couldn’t have walked to the city.

  She went back to the kitchen, the rice was nearly ready, she added more water, she let it simmer a bit more and noticed the rice was ready. She turned off the hob, she took some rice out, with the big spoon, she put it on a porcelain plate, decorated with green tree leaves. Wanting to eat, she noticed there were no spoons, nor forks, anywhere. She ate with the big spoon. That’s all she had. She imagined Fisto without any food. She thought about his suitcase.

  -Wait a minute, his suitcase is here, in the living room.

  She left the food on the table and ran, she found the suitcase. She opened it, there were regular clothes, she saw the pills in a corner, but didn’t want to touch them, she remembered he got angry and imagined if he’d be back he wouldn’t like her to have touched his pills. She left them there. She found some texts. It was written that Calçoene was known for its megalithic observatory, many times referred to it as “The Amazonian Stonehenge”. She read on the pamphlet:

  Calçoene is limited at north and east by the Atlantic Ocean, on south by Amapa and Pracuuba counties, and at west by Oiapoque and Serra do Navio counties. Calçoene is situated at 272 km from the Amapa’s estate capital, Macapá. The county consists of 23% of the 2.369.400 hectares, of The State Forest of Amapá, a unity of sustainable preservation use, established in 2006.

  - It must be the rain forest outside, there, thought Elizabeth.

  She kept reading:

  A great megalithic rock circle, known as “The Amazonian Stonehenge” or The Archeological Park of Solstice, is situated in the Amapa state, Brazil, near the city of Calçoene. It’s made of 127 blocks of granite, each one of these are 4 meters tall, standing in a circle, measuring more than 30 meters in diameter, standing on a hill. The archaeologists believe that this place was built by indigenous people, as a venue for astronomy events and ceremonies, probably a combination of these. The megalithic place’s function is unknown, the same as other places’ function, like Stonehenge, a much older place located in Wiltshire, England.

  - If Fisto brought these handbooks must be because he wanted to visit this location, I wonder if he’s there, but where is it?

  Elizabeth kept on reading:

  Although the rocks themselves weren’t submitted to a radiocarbon 14 dating method, ceramic traces found at the location, that underwent dating indicated that the location was already used between 500 and 2000 years ago. The origin of these granite blocks is uncertain. In some megalithic locations, like Stonehenge, Wiltshire, England, the blocks were moved to their place from a certain distance. The archaeologists are still unsure if the Amazonian Stonehenge follows this pattern. During summer solstice (summer in the southern hemisphere, winter in the northern hemisphere) on 21st of December, the shortest day of the year in the northern hemisphere, one of the blocks’ shadow disappears when the sun is right on top of it. The rocks seem to have been placed on the right angle in order for the shadow to be small all day long. Is this block’s alignment during the summer solstice, the reason, for archaeologists to believe that this place served as an astronomical observatory. Archaeologists believe that the place was built by a sophisticated indigenous community. One of the rocks’ feature is a circular sculpted cavity. During the solstice, in December, the sun shines directly into this cavity for a long period supporting the idea that the Amazonian Stonehenge served as an astronomical location. The granite rocks that compose the formation are rough and coarse, in other words, they were not sculpted.

  -I’m sure he is there, said Elizabeth.

  By searching more into the bag, she noticed there was a map between the pamphlets, that lead to the place. On the map, it was written Cavendish Mansion.

  - It’s this place, said Elizabeth, ironically.

  By looking at the map she noticed that the ranch wasn’t too far. The road that passes near there, it’s the same one from the front of the ranch. She thought of going by car, but she didn’t know how to drive, she looked for the car keys, but she couldn’t find them, she believed Fisto had them.

  -If he went to this place why, he didn’t use the car, and why he didn’t tell me anything, I wonder if he was mad at me for messing with his pills and decided to walk there? I only have this lead, I am going there, far or not, it’s still afternoon, I might be back before the night fall, she said.

  Elizabeth left, holding the rifle, leaving the rest of the rice on the plate, in the kitchen. She picked up the pamphlet, opened it to see the map, opened the main door that leads to the road, she brought her mobile phone, locked the door, went down the stairs and departed.

  The road is a dirt road, the more Elizabeth walked, the more she entered the forest. On the side of the road there were trees, high bushes, which frightened her. The sky was clear, there were a few clouds, but it was hot. The road trees gave her shade which enabled her to walk faster. The map showed that the archaeological place was near the road, but even after walking a few kilometres, nothing. She wore a long black skirt that started to get dirty on the bottom strip. The trainers she wore helped her walked faster. The heat made her sweat.

  - I need a bath, since I arrived, I had none, she talked to herself.

  She kept walking until she realised the sun was setting down.

  - Oh, my God, the night is near and I will be here alone.

  She turned around, but when she did it, she bumped into an Indian on the side of the road. She got scared, she stroked the rifle but didn’t aim to shoot the Indian. He was a common Amazonian Indian, only using a loincloth, without any feathers on his head, he too had a rifle. with a firm voice, he says:

  - Are you lost?

  Somehow frightened, Elizabeth answers:

  - No, I wanted to go to an archaeological place, but I am going back.

  - Are you from the Cavendish Ranch, aren’t you? Asked the Indian.

  - Yes, how do you know?

  -It’s the only place near here, with folk. The place must be restless, they found gold there.

  -What do you mean? Asked, Elizabeth.

  - Yes, after the owner died, they found a mine. Oh, well, I have to get going, beware of the jaguars, they hunt at night, said the Indian.

  He crossed the dirt road, and entered the forest. Elizabeth walked, looking where the Indian was going, sped up, and held her riffle better.

  - Gold? I can’t believe it, he must be mistaken.

  The sun was setting faster, the night was coming. Elizabeth walked faster, but she was already tired, she started to slow down. Her legs started to throb, her shin wound started to hurt, it had stopped, but now was hurting again, although less intense, but strong enough to make her walk slower. The night was falling, everything was getting darker, the trees and bushes that weren’t scary during the day, they were frightening at night. Even worst, there was no illumination. No car passed through the place. The night was nearer, everything was darker. Elizabeth picked her phone and used a flashlight app, to see better. She kept walking fearing that something was going to come out of the bushes, but everything was going well. She started to slowly leave behind road that she was on and she was getting on one with clean sides, and shorter bushe
s.

  - I am nearly there, she said.

  From afar she saw the mansion’s lights. She had left them on. She pepped up, started to walk faster, although her legs were throbbing even more. As she got near the mansion she saw a bulky shape moving, in one of the bedrooms.

  - Damn, what could that be? A ghost or, worse, a thief.

  Elizabeth stopped. She stood there observing for a while, she put her mobile phone in her pocket, the rifle pipe in her left hand while she placed her right hand’s finger on the trigger. She feared entering, but decided to go. The gun gave her courage. She went slowly observing the window where she saw the bulk, now without seeing anything, only the room’s light on. She went up the front stairs, tried to open the front door, it was open.

  - But I left it locked, I am sure about it, she said, whispering.

  She went in. The living room’s light was on, although weak, because the generator wasn’t very potent, but that was no news for her in that house. She went up the stairs, slowly, step by step, always looking left on top of the stairs, because it was on this side the room where she saw the bulky shape. She went up, up, up and... she tripped, falling forwards, almost letting the gun go off. The stumble didn’t make much noise, she quickly stood up, she had on the dirty black dress, she was near the stairs’ top, on the hallway that lead to the bedrooms. She tried to have a better look, lifting her head up when...

  - Hey, girl..

  Elizabeth got scared.

  - Don’t shoot, it’s me.