The Clockwork House

by Wendy Saunders

  ‘God, I’m really sorry,’ a female voice winced.

  Hope laughed as the enormous dog licked her face and shuddered with delight as she ran her hands over its fur.

  ‘It’s alright,’ Hope laughed again as she gave the dog a good-natured shove when it tried to crawl up into her lap where there was clearly no space thanks to her massive belly. ‘I was just sitting here feeling sorry for myself. He? She?’

  ‘She,’ Ava confirmed.

  ‘She,’ Hope nodded as she looked up properly for the first time and caught sight of the stunning dark-haired woman, ‘has cheered me up.’

  ‘Yeah,’ Ava smiled affectionately at her dog, ‘she’s good at that. She’s really maternal though, she loves pregnant women and babies. She’s very protective and extremely intelligent.’

  ‘I always wanted a dog,’ Hope sighed, ‘but my house is enough of a zoo these days.’

  ‘If she’s too much I can always leave her in the truck.’

  ‘She’s no trouble,’ Hope smiled. ‘Anyway, what can I do for you?’

  ‘Oh right,’ Ava wiped her palms on her jeans and held out her hand. ‘I’m Ava.’

  ‘Hope,’ she reached out and shook Ava’s hand.

  ‘I’ve recently found myself in possession of an old house and its not been inhabited for a very long time. I need someone to come and check it’s structurally sound so I can decide what to do with it. I was referred to you by my lawyer, um Mr Pearson.’

  ‘Oh Denny,’ she nodded, ‘he plays golf over on the mainland with my father in law. They think we don’t know what they’re really up to when they head over on ‘business’,’ she punctuated the air sarcastically with quoty fingers. ‘Anyway… sure, we can get someone out to look at your property for you.’ She started searching the cluttered desk for a notepad and pen.

  Suddenly the door opened, and Ava froze in surprise. The guy from the bar the night before casually strolled in. He barely nodded in her direction, giving her a polite distant smile as if he hadn’t been flirting with her barely twenty-four hours earlier.

  She watched with wide eyes as he leaned over Hope, rubbing her huge belly and dropping a kiss on her lips.

  ‘I thought you were heading home?’ he asked softly.

  ‘Yeah well,’ she replied a little sourly, ‘I’m pretty sure I’m wedged in this dumb chair.’

  Ava’s expression hardened as her gaze dipped to Hope’s left hand and sure enough there was a thin gold band on her finger. What an asshole, she thought to herself; how often had he cheated on his obviously pregnant wife?

  ‘Oh, I’m sorry,’ Hope apologized. ‘Ava, this is my husband Killian. Killian this is Ava.’

  ‘We’ve met,’ Ava replied flatly.

  ‘Have we?’ Killian frowned as he held out his hand.

  ‘Yes,’ she replied, ‘only you told me your name was Kelley.’

  ‘Oh,’ Killian chuckled, ‘what’s he done this time?’

  ‘Excuse me?’ she replied in confusion.

  ‘Kelley’s my idiot brother,’ Killian shook his head.

  ‘Oh,’ Ava’s eyes narrowed thoughtfully, ‘twins?’

  ‘Don’t even mention that word around here,’ Hope shook her head, ‘or you’ll be cursed. Killian and Kelley are twins, their dad and uncle are twins, these…’ she rubbed her belly are our second lot of twins. You want my advice stay well away from the Ryan gene pool or you’ll be up to your neck in your own miniature football team before you know what’s happened. Seriously, run now, save yourself.’

  Ava laughed genuinely.

  ‘Sorry,’ she apologized to Killian. ‘I met Kelley last night at Dusty’s Bar and Grill and he spent the whole time hitting on me. Then I walk in here this morning and saw you with your obviously very pregnant wife…’

  ‘Hold the phone,’ Hope interrupted, ‘back up there. Kelley was hitting on you?’

  ‘Yeah,’ Ava nodded, ‘although given the number of women hanging all over him practically fighting for his attention, I’m sure it’s second nature to him.’

  ‘Oh my God,’ Hope clapped her hands together in delight and giggled.

  ‘What?’

  ‘Kelley never flirts with anyone; in fact, I can’t even remember the last time I saw him actually interested in a woman.’

  ‘Oh please,’ Ava scoffed, ‘have you seen him? What am I saying; of course, you have. You’re married to the mirror image of him. Kelley has trouble written all over him.’

  ‘No,’ Hope shook her head in amusement. ‘You’d think that but if you actually get to know him, you’ll realize he’s genuinely oblivious to the attention.’

  ‘Uh-huh,’ Ava replied dryly, the disbelief written clearly on her face.

  ‘Anyway,’ Killian interrupted, ‘I’m sure you didn’t come here to discuss my brother, so what is it we can help you with Ava?’

  ‘Cortez,’ she added.

  ‘Cortez,’ he mused thoughtfully for a moment. ‘Hang on… Cortez… aren’t you the one who’s inherited the Lynch place?’

  ‘That’s right,’ Ava nodded, ‘how did you know?’

  ‘Phil,’ Killian replied in amusement.

  ‘Who’s Phil?’

  ‘Phillipa, Dennis Pearson’s assistant,’ he answered. ‘News travels pretty fast around here, but if Phil knows about it, it practically hits light speed.’

  ‘Oh.’

  ‘Oh my god,’ Hope whispered in horror, ‘you actually own the Lynch house? THE Lynch House?’

  ‘Uh, yeah,’ Ava frowned, ‘why?’

  Killian shot his wife a warning look which she completely ignored.

  ‘It’s only the most haunted house in the whole of New England.’

  ‘Haunted?’ one of Ava’s brows rose slowly.

  ‘That’s an exaggeration,’ Killian stared pointedly at his wife. ‘The fact is, the house comes with a history just like anywhere else, but you add into that the fact that it’s been uninhabited since the twenties and you got nearly ten decades of teenagers gossiping and making up stories to scare each other. Then those stories get told and embellished. It’s a load of bull.’

  ‘Tell that to Todd Hinton and Declan Tilman,’ Hope muttered.

  ‘An accident and a tragedy,’ Killian replied sharply as he stared at his wife.

  She stared back.

  ‘What’s going on?’ Ava frowned. ‘I feel like everyone’s talking in code. Is there something important I’m missing here?’

  ‘Look Ava,’ Killian turned his attention back to her, ‘like I said, the house has a history as much as any property its age. It’s a beautiful building, a gorgeous example of Victorian architecture that frankly it was a crime to allow it to deteriorate into the state it’s in now.’

  ‘Well I’m looking to change that,’ Ava replied. ‘As I was telling Hope just before you walked in, I’m looking for someone to come out and take a look at the house. I need to see if it’s structurally sound and if it’s worth saving.’

  ‘Buildings like that are always worth saving,’ Killian scratched the stubble at his chin thoughtfully, ‘but it won’t come cheap.’

  ‘You let me worry about that,’ Ava answered. ‘Can you take a look at it and tell me if it’s safe?’

  Hope let out a snort.

  ‘I mean safe enough to go inside without worrying if the ceiling is going to fall on my head,’ Ava clarified.

  ‘I have to admit,’ Killian’s lips curved into a slow grin, ‘ever since I was a kid I’ve wanted to see inside the place.’

  ‘Well now’s your chance Mr Ryan.’

  ‘Killian,’ he corrected. ‘Well alright then, why don’t we head out now and take a look?’

  ‘You’re not serious?’ Hope’s mouth fell open in shock. ‘You’re not actually going inside?’

  ‘It’s the only way to tell if its sound,’ Killian replied easily. ‘Don’t worry baby,’ he leaned over and kissed her reassuringly, ‘nothing’s going to happen.’

  ‘But…’

  ‘Trust me,’
he smiled.

  ‘Fine,’ she muttered sourly, ‘go right ahead, but if there is an angry ghost and you die, leaving me to raise five children by myself, I swear to God I’ll kill you.’

  Killian chuckled. ‘I’ll be back in a few hours.’

  ‘If you’re not, I’ll be sending your dad to look for your dead body,’ Hope called out as Killian and Ava stepped outside with Bailey in tow.

  ‘Is she serious?’

  ‘About what?’ Killian replied in amusement, ‘the ghost, or my dead body?’

  ‘Both.’

  He huffed out a laugh.

  ‘She probably is serious.’

  ‘Do you actually believe in ghosts?’ Ava asked curiously.

  ‘No,’ Killian replied as he stopped next to Ava’s shiny truck, ‘I don’t believe in ghosts, but then again I was always the more pragmatic kid. It was Kelley who was always staying up half the night under his bedclothes with a flashlight, scaring himself to death with comic books.’ He shook his head at the memory, a smile curving the corners of his mouth. ‘He loved Hellblazer… Nice truck by the way.’

  ‘Thanks,’ Ava beamed as she stroked the top of the doorframe.

  ‘You know, you look at that truck the way most women look at shoes.’

  ‘I’m not most women,’ she replied.

  ‘I’m beginning to see that,’ he mused quietly, after all it would take an exceptional woman to turn the head of his notoriously picky brother, if indeed that was what happened. Making a mental note to call his brother first chance he got he nodded toward the door. ‘Why don’t you head on up to the house? I’ll be right behind you.’

  Nodding Ava climbed back into her truck with her dog and pulled out of the small parking lot, heading back up toward the house.

  True to his word, by the time Ava pulled up in front of the rambling old Victorian property Killian’s rusty red pick-up pulled in right behind her and parked.

  ‘Hey.’

  Ava turned just in time to catch a bright yellow hard hat.

  ‘You’re going to need that,’ he nodded to the hat in her hands and watched as she put it on. ‘Probably best if you leave your dog out here just in case. I don’t want her to get hurt; if there’s loose debris on the ground it could injure her paws.’

  Ava nodded in agreement as Killian tilted his head back and took a long hard look at the huge building.

  ‘You’re lucky it was constructed with brick and stone. ‘If she’d been a timber structure, I doubt she’d have lasted this long… you’ve got some broken windowpanes on the second and third floors, it will have exposed the rooms to damage from the wind and rain coming in off the coast. It’s possible the upper floors have deteriorated but we won’t know for sure until we get inside. You got keys?’

  ‘Yes,’ Ava replied fishing in her pocket for the large bundle of keys the lawyer had given her, ‘but the entire lower floor is boarded up.’

  ‘Not a problem,’ he reached into the flatbed of his pick-up and rummaged through the tools until he came up with a crowbar.

  ‘Stay,’ Ava told Bailey, who didn’t look happy but found a patch of sun warmed grass and hunkered down, yawning with a stretch of her tongue and a slight whine before dropping her head on her paws and settling in for a nap.

  It took several attempts to find the right key for the padlock but finally the gate scraped open with a groan of protest. Killian was the first to head up the stone steps which still seemed to be perfectly stable and past two small stone lion heads mounted on the wall either side of the bottom step.

  By the time she reached Killian he’d already pried off one panel of rotting wood, propping it up against the curve of the rounded tower to the right and was working on the second panel. It finally gave with a loud splintering and cracked in two, showering the ground with chunks of wood.

  ‘Would you like to do the honors?’ he stepped back.

  Ava stared at the old double doors. They were rotten; even she could see they couldn’t be saved and that was fine. A doorway like this needed something brighter. Panels of stained glass which would catch the dying rays of the light reflecting off the ocean and throwing a myriad of colors across the foyer she imagined she would find on the other side.

  She fumbled through the keys for the right one and she slid it into the lock, imagining it turning smoothly as she opened the doors and let them romantically glide open, but it didn’t. It was wedged. No matter how hard she tried the lock refused to budge, as if the house was somehow trying to keep them out.

  ‘Hmm,’ Killian examined the lock, ‘it’s rusted through. It can’t be helped, we’ll have to break in. The doors are past saving anyway.’

  Ava nodded and stood back.

  There was sharp crack, and the lock gave, splintering off a huge strip of rotted wood.

  ‘Ready?’ he turned to her and grinned.

  ‘Yes,’ she replied placing her palm on one of the doors, her belly tensing with a mixture of excitement and nerves.

  Killian reached out and placed his palm on the other door and together they pushed them open. There was an almost audible rush of air, as if the house was taking its first breath in over a century.

  She lifted one foot and slowly crossed the threshold. As she stepped inside the house it was as if she’d crossed some secret gateway from one world to another. She swayed momentarily; the air pressure was different, heavier somehow, like the oppressive weight of an oncoming storm. Her ears buzzed slightly and for a second, she could’ve sworn she heard a whisper, barely more than a sibilant hiss.

  She shifted her weight to step further into the house when she felt Killian grab her upper arm gently and hold her in place.

  ‘Wait.’ She watched as he leaned down and lifted two heavy flashlights he’d placed beside the doorway. Switching one on, he handed it to her before lifting his own. ‘Better stay close to me just in case; I don’t want any of the flooring giving way under you.’

  She nodded and allowed him to step in first. Standing on the threshold while he checked, she studied the strange time capsule. If they were correct this place hadn’t changed in over a hundred years. Although it was a mess, it was a curious glimpse into the past that few were privileged to experience.

  They found themselves standing in the darkness of what appeared to be a large foyer, the beams of their flashlights highlighting a large staircase winding upward.

  There was a sudden, loud bang in the stillness. Somewhere in the house a door slammed causing Ava to flinch involuntarily and turn to Killian.

  ‘Don’t let anything Hope said spook you,’ he shook his head in amusement. ‘Some of the windows upstairs are either broken or missing panes, so as soon as we opened the front entrance it created a draft.’

  Ava nodded, it made sense. She lifted the beam of her flashlight a little higher and the light caught on the dust motes spinning in the air, displaced by their sudden intrusion. Directly above the staircase seemed to be a second-floor balcony draped with huge curtains of delicate spider webs which fluttered slightly, but it was still too dark to see beyond that.

  ‘We’ll be able to get a better sense of the place once all the boarded windows on the ground level are uncovered,’ Killian told her as she followed him to the left through a doorway and into what looked like a library. It was hard to tell; it was so dark she could only catch glimpses of her surroundings under the beams from their flashlights.

  She lost sight of Killian after a moment, though she could hear him moving around close to her. She let her beam of light sweep across the far wall revealing rows of bookcases. The glass doors hung open or simply hung off their hinges as if a small tornado had blown through the place, and the floor was littered with the carcasses of splayed books, pages torn, spines broken. It would all have to go of course, Ava mused to herself. Even the books still on the shelves were probably infested with silverfish.

  The drapes at the window had all but rotted away, nothing more than moth eaten shrouds hanging limply from either side of
the boarded window. Ava moved further into the room, the ground uneven from the debris, some of which seemed to crunch under her feet. She lifted her flashlight to the ceiling and saw large chunks of plaster had crumbled away revealing thin strips of lath.

  Something brushed against her leg and she dipped her beam of light down, but she couldn’t see anything. She took another small tentative step forward and heard the unmistakable grind of cracking glass under her sneaker. She glanced down again, and this time found a small framed photograph lying on the floor.

  Reaching down she grasped the edge of the frame and lifted it, tilting it slightly to allow the shards of loose broken glass to fall to the dusty floor. Once she was sure she wouldn’t cut her fingers on the glass she lifted the flashlight and shone it on the picture.

  In it was a rather austere looking woman perched on a chair, her back so straight it looked as if it were bolted in place. Her waist was tiny thanks to a tightly laced corset beneath her dress which had large puffy sleeves. Beside her with his hand chastely resting on her shoulder, stood a tall, smartly dressed man, with neatly parted hair, a curved moustache and a pocket watch on a chain, tucked into his waistcoat. The other side of the woman was a small boy of maybe six years. He too had neatly parted hair, a stiff white collar and short pants which stopped just above his knees.

  She felt Killian move closer, felt the solid presence of his body standing just behind her. The tiny hairs on the back of her neck and her arms rose, as if she were suddenly surrounded by static electricity, which prickled long her skin and buzzed in her ears. Somewhere in the room she heard a weird sound, not quite the tick of a clock, more like a clicking, whirring mechanism.

  ‘Do you hear that?’ she asked Killian as he stood silently behind her… Killian? She repeated when he didn’t answer.

  ‘Ava?’ Killian called out, the beam of his own flashlight hovering somewhere outside the entrance to the room.

  She spun around, her flashlight flickering across the darkened room, her heart beating a little faster. That was strange, she could’ve sworn he’d been standing behind her.