‘Sleep?’ Isobel almost shrieked. ‘Sleep! I shall not sleep and if I do I shall be plagued with dreams of demons and evil blue eyes.’
‘Oh,’ Isik looked mortified and rose to his feet. ‘Mademoiselle, you must forgive me. I knew this conversation was not for your ears. Your mother is right. It is all superstitious nonsense and you must pay no heed. Come, let us talk of happy things and forget this talk of demons.’
‘Isobel,’ Alexandre leaned across and whispered loudly to her. ‘Do not worry. I am here and I would never let anything happen to my little sister.’
‘Thank you, Alexandre. But I must say, I would not even have to be in this terrible place if it were not for you.’ She turned away from him.
Alexandre sighed, but did not try to justify himself again. He did not have the energy. Instead, he looked across at his mother who he knew would have a sympathetic smile waiting for him.
Isobel’s outburst had brought a hasty conclusion to the meal and an awkward veil of silence hung in the smoky air.
‘Aah well,’ Harold said, breaking it. ‘It is late. We should probably retire. As your mother said, Isobel, things will look better in the morning.’
Everybody murmured their agreement. Throats were cleared and noises made about what a tiring day it had been and how they needed sleep if they were to be fresh the next day. Isik wished everybody a pleasant night and returned to the rest of his men.
Before long, Alexandre lay in his tent alongside Jacques and Freddie who had fallen asleep remarkably quickly. His thoughts were a jumble of whispered tales and soon he fell asleep to the rhythmic song of the cicadas, the low voices of the guards and the soft click of dice rolling on hard ground.
Chapter Seven
*
Morris deposited their bags on the large flagstones of the entrance hall.
‘I’ll leave you to it,’ he said and turned to Vasey-Smith. ‘Be back later to drive you to the station. Last train’s at ten past seven’
‘Thank you,’ said the solicitor who had offered to stay at Marchwood for a few hours until they’d settled in.
Morris looked over at Maddy. ‘My wife, Esther, she’ll call by tomorrow after lunch to see how you’re getting on, but in the meantime, she’s stocked the cupboards. Told me to tell you there’s a shepherd’s pie in the fridge. Just needs putting in the microwave to heat up.’
Maddy didn’t think she’d ever feel like eating again, she felt so strange and surreal.
Ben immediately zoomed off around the house to explore and Madison sat down in the lounge or ‘drawing room’ as Morris had called it. The shutters to the French windows were half-closed, angling shafts of sunlight across the walls. The house appeared as beautiful on the inside as on the outside, but Maddy felt somewhat dazed and small as she perched on the edge of the green velvet sofa.
Mr Vasey-Smith sat opposite her in a regal-looking armchair, still immaculately dressed, even after all that travelling. His dark suit was uncreased and he didn’t appear to be remotely tired. He sat comfortably in the armchair, exuding calmness and authority. Madison, in contrast, felt crumpled and exhausted.
Ben burst back into the lounge.
‘The kitchen’s massive, bigger than Trevor and Angie’s whole house and there’s a room at the back with a pool table and a darts board and a weird game where you have to throw hoops onto these hook things and there’s a tonne of bedrooms upstairs and they’re all massive. I don’t know which one to choose, but I’ll let you choose first, Mads, ‘cos you’re the eldest and …’
‘Oh my God, Ben,’ Maddy laughed. ‘Calm down, bro. It sounds amazing, but take it easy, you’re gonna explode in a minute.’
Ben’s cheeks coloured and Maddy felt bad for embarrassing him in front of the solicitor.
‘You’re right, Ben, it is exciting,’ Mr Vasey-Smith said, rescuing the situation. ‘And I think you’re quite right to want to explore everything straight away. The house is only the half of it. You own over one hundred acres of land here. There’s a lake, a chapel, some woodland, the deer park and a beautiful ornamental garden. There are even a couple of follies on the grounds.’
‘What’s a folly?’
‘I won’t spoil it for you. I’ll let you discover them for yourself. Much more fun that way.’
‘Okay,’ Ben said, his enthusiasm restored. ‘See you later, Mads. I’m going outside for a bit.’
‘Catch you later, shortie.’ Once Ben had left the room, Maddy’s feelings of insecurity returned, but Mr Vasey-Smith instantly put her at her ease.
‘Well, Madison, I know you’ll probably want explore at your leisure, but shall I just give you a quick tour so you can get your bearings?’
‘That would be great. Thank you.’ She stood up and followed him out of the drawing room.
Later that evening, after Mr Vasey-Smith had left for the station, Madison and Ben sat at the large scrubbed pine kitchen table and ate a supper of shepherd’s pie and salad. Ben inhaled his food while Maddy just moved hers around the plate.
‘You okay, Benny boy?’
‘Yeah, I love it here,’ he replied with his mouth full.
‘Good.’ At least she didn’t have to worry about him adjusting to country life. He seemed made for it.
‘Are you okay, Maddy? It’s just, you seem really quiet and you’re never usually quiet, not like this. At home you’re usually moody quiet, if you know what I mean. But here you’re like, a different sort of quiet. Aren’t you glad to be here?’
‘Oh, Ben, I am really glad we’re here, but I’m probably just tired. I’ll be back to normal in the morning. I’ll be ‘moody quiet’ for you then, okay?’
‘Okay.’
‘Now, once we’ve finished eating, you know what we’ve got to do don’t you?’
‘No, what?’
‘Choose our bedrooms.’
‘Yesss! Can we go now?’
‘Yeah, Ben, we can do whatever we like. Come on, you choose first.’
‘Really?’
‘Yep. Lead the way.’
They went up the wooden staircase which led to the upper floors and their nine bedrooms.
‘What we gonna do with all these rooms?’
‘Have lots of people to stay I suppose. Our friends could come. We could have big parties. Or we could sleep in a different room every night if we want.’
‘Yeah, cool,’ Ben’s eyes grew wide. ‘But I’d like this green room at the front for now. It’s got an awesome view across the fields and you can see the deer.’
‘Okay, it’s yours.’ Maddy walked out of the green room and along the landing, peering into a couple of the bedrooms. She opened one of the doors at the end and called to Ben. ‘I’m going to have this room at the back!’ It was all reds and golds with the most enormous bed she’d ever seen.
She immediately thought of the small, saggy single bed in her tiny room at the Johnsons. Not that she had ever minded having a tiny bedroom. She’d been happy to have any space to call her own, no matter how small. But this room, it was something else.
Ben followed her. ‘Cool room. Massive bed. What’s the view like?’
‘Dunno.’
She drew back the heavy velvet curtains and looked out onto a stone balcony, adorned with carved cherubs and angels. They pulled open the windows letting a rush of cool dusk air into the room, sweeping the curtains upwards and inwards. Stepping onto the wide stone balcony, Maddy gasped at the view, spread out like a faded painting before them.
It was a lavish ornamental garden. Its centrepiece, a rectangular lake in which the house was perfectly and dramatically reflected. Gravelled pathways surrounded the lake with low manicured hedges, bordered by huge grassy areas. To the right, stood a tall dark maze. Right at the end of the garden, a border of tall trees ran up to a pair of elaborate wrought iron gates painted in cobalt blue. Beyond that lay dense forest.
‘I think you picked the best room, Maddy,’ Ben breathed.
‘I think I did, Ben. I think I did
.’
The following day, Madison woke up around noon. She smiled at the fact there was no Angie and no Trevor telling her to shift her lazy backside out of bed. She was here and they weren‘t. After such a good night’s sleep, she felt energised and excited. She couldn’t wait to get up and explore. It would probably take weeks to get to know the place, but she wasn’t short on time. And Ben still had two weeks left of the summer holidays before he started school.
Back in London, Vasey-Smith had suggested a top private school not far from their village, but both Maddy and Ben had balked at the idea.
‘I ain’t going to no posh school.’
‘No one’s sending you anywhere you don’t want to go, Ben,’ Maddy reassured. ‘We’ve had enough of that in our lives. We’ll do it our way now, won’t we, mate?’
‘Thanks, Mads. Does that mean I don’t have to go to school at all? I could stay at home and help you with the house and that.’
‘Hmmm, nice try, Benny boy, but I think you have to go to school. We’ll find you a good one though, one you’ll like. And anyway, you like having a bunch of mates. You’d be bored out of your skull with just me to talk to.’
‘What about you then? What about your mates? You’re not going to school. Why am I going and you’re not?’
‘Cos I’m sixteen and you’re twelve, that’s why.’ God, I sound like Angie.
Maddy took a shower in the luxurious bathroom, threw on some jeans and a t shirt and peered around Ben’s bedroom door. His room was a mess already - stuff all over the floor, his bed unmade and his radio alarm clock still playing. Maddy went in and turned it off. She opened the curtains and stood there for a while looking out across the fields, taking it all in. Then she gave herself a shake and went to look for him.
An empty cereal bowl sat on the kitchen table next to an empty glass containing the dregs of some orange juice. Maddy returned to the hall and opened the door to the dining room. She reckoned the table could probably seat about twenty people. It was massive. The tall sash windows looked out onto a stepped terrace which led down to the ornamental garden.
Back through the kitchen, she tried another door - the games room. She saw Ben leaning over a full size snooker table, concentrating hard to pot a red. He looked up at his sister’s arrival.
‘Hey, Mads, you’ve been asleep for ages. Want a game of pool?’
‘Morning, Ben. Yeah, I’ll just grab some juice and then I’m coming to whoop your ass!’
‘In your dreams, Mads. I’m awesome at this game.’
‘We’ll see, little man.’
Ben was right, he was awesome and he thrashed his sister three-nil, before she surrendered.
‘Okay,’ I agree, you rule,’ she conceded.
‘Yesss!’
A loud chiming ring made her jump.
‘Oh my God! Oh my God.’
‘It’s just the doorbell, Mads.’
‘Yeah I know, but it’s loud. And who is it anyway?’
‘Probably that caretaker woman.’
‘Oh. Right. Okay.’ The doorbell chimed again.
‘Are we gonna answer it then?’
‘Yeah. Come with me, Ben?’
‘You scared?’
‘No, but come with me anyway.’
‘You’re scared,’ Ben chanted gleefully as they walked towards the front door.
Maddy lifted the heavy bolt, turned the key and pulled the door open.
A small slim woman in her fifties, with brownish grey bobbed hair stood at the bottom of the steps, looking up at them.
‘Afternoon, I’m Esther Foxton, Morris’ wife.’ She looked them up and down, an unimpressed look on her face, walked up the front steps and wiped her feet on the mat. ‘You’re young,’ she said to Madison.
Maddy didn’t respond. Esther walked past them, straight through to the kitchen. Maddy and Ben followed her looking at each other, eyebrows raised.
‘What would you like me to do for you then?’ Esther asked, without waiting for a reply. ‘I can come in for five days a week if you like, from nine till twelve. I’ll clean and do your washing, shopping and meals. How’s that sound? Let me know in advance if you don’t want me to come for any reason, I still get paid for those days anyway - Hamilton Blythe deal with all that. If you want anything extra, we can sort it out between us. Alright?’
She hadn’t paused for breath and she didn’t sound as if she was asking, she sounded like she was telling.
‘Yeah, that‘s ... fine,’ Maddy said.
‘Leave a list of any extra groceries you want. Leave your washing in the basket at the top of the stairs. Here’s our telephone number, I’ll put it on the fridge. Ring me if there’s an emergency or if you need Morris to drive you somewhere. He’ll take me laddo here to school of a morning when term starts and then, if he wants, he can start taking the bus. D’you want a cuppa tea?’ She started filling the kettle and got some mugs out of the cupboard.
‘No thanks,’ Maddy said.
Esther turned to look at Ben and waved a mug in front of him.
‘Umm, no thanks.’
‘Right, I’ll have a quick cuppa and then I’ll be off. Back tomorrow at nine, as agreed. I‘ve got my own set of keys so I’ll let myself in.’
‘She’s got a nerve,’ Maddy said, after Esther had gone. “I’ve got my own set of keys, so I’ll let myself in”.’ She mimicked her Gloucestershire accent. ‘Oh well, at least we won’t have to do any housework.’
‘She’s weird,’ Ben said.
‘Yeah, her and Morris. Both of them are weird.’
*
During the next week, Madison and Ben fell into a routine. Esther came to the house in the morning, so they spent those hours outside, wandering in the gardens, getting lost in the maze, exploring the woods and feeding the very tame deer. They even visited the small chapel where her ancestors had been buried.
Maddy asked Morris to take them to the nearest large town where she bought a couple of top-of-the-range mountain bikes. These made getting around the property a lot easier and a lot more fun.
They usually ate lunch together in the kitchen. Then, in the afternoons, they would do their own thing. Ben would be outside riding around on his bike and climbing trees in the forest, whilst Maddy explored the house.
She discovered a gorgeously cosy library, stacked floor to ceiling with books. Maddy would tuck herself into the corner of the deep cushioned window seat and start to read one of the dusty hardbacks. But she couldn’t concentrate. She was too excited for any book to hold her interest for long. The library led into a large, warm orangery with citrus trees, vines and all kinds of other greenery. The house just overflowed with beautiful and interesting places to sit and relax.
By Friday of that first week, Madison began to get a bit restless, unused to so much free time and so few people. She wandered the house from the attics to the cellars. She cycled, ran, played pool, darts, the hoopla game and started to feel as though it truly was her house, but she missed her friends. Ben, however, was completely absorbed in the house and grounds. He loved them and hadn’t been bored once. Maddy scrolled through the numbers in her new mobile phone and called Keisha.
‘Oh, my God, Mads!’ Keisha’s screech made Maddy smile. ‘We’re just walking home. I’m with Lois. I’ll put you on speaker phone. Lois, it’s Mads. Say hi to Mads.’
‘Hey, girl, how’s it going in your stately home?’
‘I miss my girls,’ Maddy said. ‘Why don’t you come up this weekend? In fact, why don’t you spread the word. I’m gonna have a party. Saturday night.’
‘Now that’s what I’m talking about!’ Lois shouted.
After Maddy turned her phone off, she felt her heart thump wildly. A party? She’d just said she was having a party. Knowing Keisha and Lois, they would invite half of Collingstone Comp. And the rest. She needed sounds, drink, food, something new to wear.
Madison ordered a taxi and went into town. She couldn’t wait until she was seventeen and able to drive he
rself around, it was such a hassle relying on Morris or having to wait around for taxis. She walked up and down the main street a few times, then checked out a couple of side streets until she came across the kind of place she wanted. It was a hip little record store with a few kids hanging around outside. She went in.
‘D’you know any good DJs who’d be free on Saturday night?’ she asked the guy behind the counter.
He laughed. ‘I know some really crap DJs who’d be free on Saturday night. But the good ones have pretty much all got gigs.’ He shook his head, walking off into the back room.
‘Wanker,’ Madison muttered.
‘’That bloke’s a dick. I wouldn’t worry about him.’ Maddy turned round to see a boy about her age, with longish blonde hair in a Rage Against The Machine t shirt and a record bag slung over his shoulder. ‘You looking for a DJ, yeah?’
‘Mmm.’
‘I can do it.’
‘You any good? What sort of tunes do you play?’
‘Whatever. I can mix it up, see who’s there and play what the crowd wants. I‘m good,’ he added.
Maddy thought for a second and decided to risk it. He was her best and only option.
‘What do you charge?’
The boy looked at her. ‘What can you pay?’
‘If you’re good, you’ll be happy.’
‘I’m good.’
‘My name’s Madison.’
‘Hey, Madison.’
‘Bring some friends if you like, more the merrier,’ she added.
‘Cool. I’m Travis. Where’s the party?’
‘Marchwood House, just outside town.’
‘Serious?’ His eyes widened and he scratched his shoulder.
‘That a problem?’
‘No, no. That’s wicked. I’ll come down about seven, get set up. You from London? Your accent’s sweet.’
‘Yeah, just moved here with my brother.’
‘Cool, Madison. Later.’
‘Oh, Travis, do you know where I can get hold of some refreshments for Saturday?’
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