The Beast at the Door

by Althea Blue

  Chapter Ten

  Intending to confront Ada, Patience was halfway over the wall before she thought about Ada’s possible reaction. She’d been so angry when Patience had broken her word, but was it the broken promise that had hurt her or fear of her deception being discovered? Patience wasn’t sure how best to approach the subject, but she would have to tell Ada what she thought or she would spend her whole life wondering. And she wasn’t sure what kind of life it could be.

  At least with Ada she felt safe, and it was more than the food and the roof over her head. She’d never felt particularly safe in her own home, always having to watch every word, every gesture, to make sure she wasn’t disappointing her parents or defying their expectations. But with Ada it was different. She could say what was in her heart. She wasn’t willing to let that feeling go so soon after finding it.

  Realizing she’d been sitting on the wall for far too long, and knowing that if Ada saw her there was a possibility that she’d lock the house up to keep her out, Patience quickly let herself down into the garden and strode to the back door. It was unlocked and she opened the latch and stepped inside before she could second-guess herself.

  Ada was in the kitchen, kneading dough for bread. At the sound of the door opening she spun around and raised the rolling pin that sat next to her hand. When she saw that it was Patience, her mouth dropped open and Patience swore there was a momentary gleam of happiness in her eye before her brain caught her up. “Get out!” Ada insisted.

  Patience stood her ground. “I will not,” she responded calmly. “Not until you listen to me.”

  “You have to go or the beast will eat you. He will!”

  Shaking her head, Patience took a step into the kitchen, towards Ada. “I know,” she said softly.

  Ada’s eyes widened. “Know what?” she murmured.

  “I know that your beast is only a toy. It is like the cat I saw upstairs. I presume it has a key to wind it and it performs certain actions, but it is not a real beast.” Patience stated, in a calm and measured voice.

  “Oh…no...but...” Ada blanched and her knees started to shake visibly.

  Patience hurried across the space that remained between them and got a chair under Ada just as she sank down. Patience turned and filled a glass of water from the sort-of pump she’d seen the first night, when Ada had filled the bath. She tested the water to make sure it was the cold and not the hot she was spilling into the glass and knelt beside Ada, lifting the glass to the girl’s mouth. Ada’s hand came up to hold the glass but she avoided touching Patience and Patience drew her hand back, confident that Ada had hold of it.

  Ada sipped slowly, and a bit of color came back into her cheeks. Once she no longer looked in danger of toppling over, Patience stood and retreated a few steps to give Ada some room.

  “Oh.” The girl said again, once she had finished the water, as she turned around and looked for somewhere to put the glass. She was just a bit too far away to reach the worktable, so Patience took it from her and set it beside the forgotten dough.

  Patience opened her mouth to say something reassuring but both girls’ attentions were captured by the sound of tinkling glass coming from the front of the house. Patience hurried out into the hall, sensing Ada right behind her. They stopped short when they saw three large men coming through the front door, having unbolted it by reaching through the now broken window that was set into its upper part. Patience didn’t know what to do. She stared at the men in confusion, then looked over her shoulder at Ada. She was fairly sure they shouldn’t be here.

  Ada was backing away, looking frightened. She didn’t seem to know what to do either and Patience suddenly needed to do something.

  “You had better turn around and walk back out that door right now or the beast will eat you,” she said. Even to herself her voice sounded shaky and uncertain and she tried to steady it. “He will tear you limb from limb.”

  The man in front leered at her. “Where is he then? I don’t think he cares that we’re here. Do you?” he asked his companions, who guffawed and walked toward the girls.

  Ada disappeared back into the kitchen and Patience felt a moment of disappointment, thinking that the brunette had fled. Ada was back in a moment though, brandishing the rolling pin. “Get out of my house!” she demanded.

  Good for her, Patience thought. But the girl’s bravado didn’t seem to make any difference. The three men continued walking slowly towards them. They backed away until they reached the wall. One of the men grabbed Patience’s wrists and held them together, and although she struggled as hard as she could, he barely seemed to notice. The third man grabbed the rolling pin as it flew toward his head, and tore it from Ada’s grasp. He grabbed her by both arms and she kicked him in the shin.

  “Ye brat! I’ll fix ye,” he spat, striking Ada across the face. She didn’t cry out but Patience could see her go pale again.

  “Not now,” the first man insisted, keeping his voice quiet. “If the beast hasn’t heard us yet, he will if you beat the girl and she screams.”

  Patience felt rather like screaming herself but knew it would do no good. No one from outside would hear her and it would confirm to the men that the beast was not going to do anything. She bit her lip hard and continued struggling with her captor.

  The lead man entered the kitchen and called out, “Bring them in here.” Patience and Ada were drugged through the kitchen and tossed into the open door of the pantry. Patience fell, striking her knee hard as she heard the key turn on the outside. They were locked in.

  “Ada, we need light.” Patience thought there were probably candles stored somewhere in the room, but she had no idea where and no hope of finding them without light. Ada was still standing by the back shelves, but Patience couldn't see what she was doing. “Ada!” she insisted.

  She could vaguely make out movement and a few moments later the sound of a match being struck was followed by a faint glow. Ada used the match’s light to find a box of candles and lit one, then passed it to Patience, and lit a second for herself. Now comfortably bright, Patience looked around the room and confirmed that there was only the one door leading to the kitchen. She pushed at it, but the lock was strong and it didn’t give. “Now what?” she asked.

  Ada looked terrified. Her fighting spirit seemed to have fled once they were trapped. “I don’t know. We have to get them out. I don’t know what to do,” she said, then stopped, listening.

  Patience was silent while she waited for Ada to continue. Instead, the girl moved beside Patience, standing at the door and pressing her ear against it. Patience followed her lead and they could just hear the men’s voices coming from the kitchen.

  “I’m ‘ungry.” One of them complained. “Why don’ we get ‘em girls to make us somefink to eat?”

  “Keep quiet,” another said. “There’s probably food in here, find yourself something but shh. We don’t want the creature to know we’re here.”

  The girls heard the sound of rummaging and a triumphant exclamation. They could only hear chewing for a while, and then one spoke again, clearly with his mouth full. “so wot’s the plan agan?”

  “Idiot,” the leader hissed. “How many times do I have to tell you? We wait until night, until we’re sure the creature’s asleep. Then we find its den or room or whatever and kill it. Then we get this nice big house all to ourselves. Simple.”

  “But wot about ‘em?”

  “I’m sure we can find some use for those girls, don’t you think?” he responded. “They were right pretty.”

  Patience stepped back from the door in horror. She didn’t want to hear anything further. Ada stayed pressed against it, but there didn’t seem to be any more conversation.

  “What do we do?” Patience hissed, her stomach turning flip flops inside her.

  Ada was silent, her hand pressed to her mouth, although whether to keep from screaming or throwing up Patience wasn’t sure. In truth, she was half-tempted to do both of those things.

 
; “We need to get them out. What can we do?” Patience repeated. “Can you actually make the creature kill someone?”

  Shaking her head firmly, Ada finally looked at her. “No. No, he can’t do anything like that. You saw. he can only do those few things. Walk a bit, roar and turn his head around. That’s all. I never thought to make him do more.”

  Patience swallowed past the lump in her throat. “We can’t just stay here. I don’t suppose you have a key to this door on you?”

  “No, I never lock the inside doors of the rooms I use. The keys just stay in the locks usually. But I can get us out of here.”

  Patience looked around for another door she’d missed, but there wasn’t one. “How?”

  Ada walked to one of the shelves on the side walls, one that held sacks of apples and flour and other foodstuffs. She started removing the sacks carefully and placing them out of the way. Patience was still confused but started to help her. When the shelves were clear, Ada tugged at them, then tugged harder. The shelves moved a few inches away from the wall. She pulled again and Patience lent her whole strength as well. Between them they managed to swing the rack far enough from the wall that they could get behind. Ada squeezed in and opened a small door set about waist-high. Patience tried to determine where it went, but just saw a small space and darkness going up. “It’s a dumbwaiter.” Ada explained. “The dining room is on the first floor, and the kitchen staff sent the food into the room next to it so they wouldn’t have to carry heavy serving trays up and down stairs. Father extended it up to the second floor, to the workshop. He got parts and liquids and things up that way.”

  Patience decided Ada’s father was a very sensible man. “But, will it take us? We weigh rather more than serving platters do. And it looks terribly small.”

  Ada smiled a little, “I used to ride in it when I was a little younger. I pulled myself up and down to surprise my father. It would take my weight fine. And I know how to pull the ropes to get me up. I don’t think we’d both fit, but if I go up first, I can send the platform down and pull you up after. At least we won’t be trapped in here. Then we can sneak out of the house, maybe.”

  “We can’t just run away, trust me. It’s not at all fun. Especially if you aren’t prepared for it. Do you know anyone nearby who will help you?” Patience queried.

  Ada frowned. “No one knows I’m here, except one person. And I don’t think he could do anything.”

  “Then we have to stay and do it ourselves,” Patience resolved. “Let us get upstairs and see if we can find anything in that workshop to help us. There must be something.” She helped Ada squeeze herself into the small opening. She was crouched on the platform with her knees nearly up to her ears, but she did fit. And her arms were free to pull up on the rope that was hanging in the corner. It took only a few moments until Ada pulled herself out of sight.

  Patience walked back over to the door to see if she could hear anything else, but the men had either gone to sleep or were sitting in silence. She wished there was a way she could block the door to stop them seeing inside, so the men wouldn’t know they had escaped. She tried to tug the shelf that they had moved to unblock the dumbwaiter and got it partway across the doorframe. She piled the sacks of food back on the shelves. It wouldn't entirely block the view from the kitchen, but it would make it harder for the men. They’d have to empty a shelf or two at least to see that the girls weren’t hiding somewhere. Satisfied she returned to the little door just as the platform slid into place.

  Praying to God to get them out of this safely, Patience folded herself up as compactly as she could in order to fit in the small space. She couldn’t crouch like Ada, who was several inches shorter than she, but had to sit on the platform with her knees and neck touching and her skirts tucked in wherever there was room. It wasn’t the least bit comfortable, and she was almost as relieved to exit into the workshop from the dumbwaiter as she was to be far from those nasty men.

  She looked around and found Ada, who had stepped back to give Patience room to unfold herself. Her face showed the strain from the effort to pull both girls up two flights, but she had developed a resolved expression and waved her hands around the room in a welcoming gesture. “Let’s see what we have to work with, shall we?”

  Chapter Eleven

  Patience spun slowly in a circle trying to take in the myriad of tools, toys and liquids on the counters around her. Her eyes lit on the cat, drawn to its familiarity, and dismissed it as being unhelpful. No man was going to be frightened by a cat, real or otherwise. She shrugged and looked at Ada. “I don’t know what most of this is, much less what we can do with it.” Her ignorance galled her, but she hadn’t had more than a few minutes in the room before Ada removed her, and Ada must know the contents intimately.

  Ada looked like she was concentrating as she circled the room, looking at the objects and shaking her head as she decided against them. The first thing she stopped at was a stack of black metal boxes, the size of small loaves of bread. Ada fiddled with the top one for a moment and a very quiet lion’s roar emerged from the side.

  Patience asked “can that be made louder?”

  Ada nodded and pushed a lever, restoring the box to a higher volume, “I put it on its quietest setting so they wouldn’t hear it. But it’s the same sort of thing that makes the beast roar. There’s the lion, and also bats rustling, an owl hooting and some sort of eerie howling that I still haven’t figured out. Father made recordings of all of the creatures and placed them in these boxes. They run on clockwork, like a music box, but sound very realistic and they’re recorded at intervals, so there's a random time between sounds and there are variations. If we wind them up fully they will run for more than an hour before shutting down.”

  “That’s fantastic. We can hide them in different rooms and the noises will seem to come out of nowhere. That will worry the men at least. Maybe scare them senseless. A lion roaring somewhere in the same house as me would certainly scare me. But I think we need something that will actually do some damage too, in case they are too stupid to get scared.” Patience grinned and Ada responded with a lovely smile.

  Ada patted the head of a stone dog, pulling it toward her. Then she set some sort of gear on the base behind it going and stepped back very quickly. The dog didn’t do anything until Ada screwed up a ball of paper and tossed it in that direction. When it was about 6 inches away the dog suddenly flew into motion and snapped at it, biting the edge of the ball, which got stuck on a stone tooth. Reaching gingerly around the side, careful to let no part of her actually get in front of the statue, she halted the motion of the gear.

  Ada said, “Father made this to keep nosy servants out of here, so they wouldn’t know what he was working on. All it took was a single bite out of one young houseboy and none of the servants would come near this room again.”

  Patience stared at the dog, which once again looked completely motionless and was indistinguishable from regular stone. “How does it know where someone is?” she asked, keeping well away from the piece, even though Ada seemed to have turned it off.

  Ada shrugged. “I haven’t the foggiest idea. Father said something about sensing motion, but I never got around to asking him how it worked. Wish we had a dozen more of them though. This is the only one. It can’t bite deeply enough to really injure someone, but it can certainly hurt and frighten them.” She shook her head. “It should go somewhere they are definitely going to try to get into. It won’t do anything unless someone is right in front of it.” She took a few steps to her right. “Now, see this little bird in the cage?”

  The cage was about two feet high and the bird no bigger than six or seven inches tall. Patience doubted it could do any harm to anyone, but she nodded at Ada.

  “This creature makes the most appalling shriek when you attach a filament to the cage and it’s broken. See, you put one end here, and stick the other end to a wall, low down so no one sees it.”

  She pulled a thin, translucent thread out of a small bo
x sitting beside the cage and touched the end to Patience’s hand to show how it was sticky. “It has to be taut, so when someone breaks the filament by stepping on it or into it, that sets the bird off. I’ve never heard anything so loud and annoying in my life. Father had this idea about keeping thieves out of houses, or scaring them off before they entered. I thought about using this before I came up with the beast to keep people away. I don’t think it would have been as effective over a period of time as the beast though.” She nodded in satisfaction. “At least, it worked until now,” she muttered, looking at Patience, and then staring down at the floor as if she could see the men waiting down there.

  Patience wandered over to the counter full of liquids and chemicals. “Can we do anything with these? Blow something up maybe?”

  “Blowing things up is easy,” Ada commented. “But then we’d have a blown-up house and still not be able to live in it. How would that help?”

  Although disappointed that her idea wasn't useful, Patience focused on Ada’s use of the word “we”, and that thrilled her suddenly. Would Ada let her stay, if all this was successful? She hoped it wasn’t just a slip of the tongue.

  “Oh, but wait.” Ada pulled a couple of jars close to her, and mixed their contents. Patience waited for something to happen, but the mixture just looked like a different color of liquid. Ada carried the jar over to a grey box, opened up a little funnel and poured the liquid in. “If we take this down and add some coals from the fire, it will spit out a foggy substance. It looks very creepy and otherworldly, and spreads out much more than steam would. And also, if it touches your skin it will sting. Badly enough that you need to wash it off with soap, just water won’t clear it away. I think enough of it might cause a burn, but I’ve not tested it.”