Wyndham Hall

by Midge Cline

  ****

  “How hysteria prone is Pippa?” Nigel asked as they fought to get the cot out of the cramped closet.

  “I would not have said she was.” Dexter said. “She is a major skeptic, I am not even sure she believes in a god, although, she makes a lot of jokes about believing in ghosts. She believes in money and social status. Her father is a major player in the land of the nobles, he wanted her to be an aide in an econ class, but she decided to rebel a bit and requested to be assigned to me instead. She is a good kid, a bit snobby, slightly skewed view on life, but a good kid. And I have never known her to be hysterical about anything.”

  “British nobility training at not showing emotion or reaction to anything beneath her?” Nigel offered.

  “Yeah, Remember Nolan Vanderhousen? 2nd year?” Nigel nodded, he remembered, “Yeah.” Dex said. “Same kind of thing.”

  Nolan Vanderhousen had been a University classmate, the son of an Earl, glittering bloodline, ties to some royals somewhere. He was renowned among his classmates for his snobbish rudeness, his treatment of all those around him as lesser beings. He fell hard from his perch when he was caught cheating on an exam. Of course, his father had paid off the right people to get it off his record, but the Dean insisted he transfer to another school.

  “She seems to have better manners than old Nolan ever did.” Nigel pointed out.

  “Yes, she does, but her father does not. I think she will be okay, University has taught her that few people care about her family money or political ties. I am convinced she is trying very hard to break centuries of a bad cycle.”

  “You said she is a skeptic?” Nigel asked.

  “Well, she was, before tonight, morning will tell us if that has changed.” Dexter said as they carried the cot up the stairwell to Binne’s room. Where they found her putting Pippa’s belongings in to an empty drawer.

  “We already grabbed the bedding,” Binne told them as she waved to the spot she wanted the cot placed. “Pippa is getting to know the guards.” She nodded her head toward the window seat, where Pippa was buried beneath the warm furry bodies of Huey, Dewey and Stan, a comforted smile on her face.

  “Okay, you both need to get some sleep” Nigel said as he stifled a yawn.

  ****

  When the sun found them the next morning, Pippa was sleeping soundly on the cot near the inglenook, Stan curled protectively on her feet, he joined Binne on the bed as soon as he sensed she was awake. Binne stretched and yawned as she doled out the required belly rubs and ear scratches. She dressed quickly into a pair of loose fitting yoga pants and tank top, tied a sweatshirt to her waist and ran down the hall to the bathroom, her beast guards at her heels. Her morning ritual complete she contemplated waking Pippa, but then decided to just let her sleep.

  Binne entered the bright kitchen and inhaled the strong and inviting scent of strong coffee. She poured herself a mug with ample cream and sat beside her father at the table.

  “Mum still sleeping?” She asked with surprise.

  “No, she is showing Dex the garden, where is your roommate?” He told her as he pretended he did not see her steal a piece of buttered toast from his plate.

  “She is still asleep, it took her awhile to get settled. I thought I would leave her be until Uncle needs her.” She watched the dogs race in and out of the house through the open back door. They truly loved mornings, they would be hyper and happy for at least an hour before they began their next 12-hour nap.

  “How did you sleep?” He asked her.

  “Actually, I slept well. The guard mutts keep the ghosts at bay.” She laughed, as she watched the dogs play and bounce in the garden beyond the window.

  “Good, how are you doing? Seriously, how are you?” Her Dad had always spoken to her as an equal, never like a child.

  “I am hoping to fit in some Tai Chi practice this morning before the rain comes, and before the house fills up with people. It has been a couple of days since I was able to fit it in, and I am feeling it deep in my soul.” She laughed.

  “That sounds like heaven, do you mind if I join you? I could use it.” He asked with eagerness.

  “I would love the company.” She hugged her father and he ran to his room to change his clothes.

  Dexter and Gwynn found the two of them on the lawn overlooking the pond, neither said a word before joining in. The slow, methodical movements of the meditation providing the relaxing start to the day the entire family needed.

  They returned to the house in time to find Pippa standing at the coffee machine, full mug in hand, exhaustion on her small, tanned face.

  “Good morning, did you sleep well?” Gwynn asked as she picked some fruit from the ever-present bowl on the counter.

  “Better once I bunked in with Binne.” She smiled. “Although, I felt an odd heaviness on my legs most of the night.” She said, then pressed her brows together as Binne began laughing.

  “That was Stan, he felt your legs needed extra protection and decided to make a nice comfy bed out of them. It was nice for me, first night I have been allowed to move my legs in the night for years.” Her laugh was contagious and soon the entire room had joined in. Stan came into the kitchen for a treat and then wandered over to his dog bed for his customary mid-morning nap.

  “Dex, I will take you and Pippa to the tower once Tate gets here with the crew, they are planning to start the much-needed demo before we can start the renovations today. I want you to see it before they start, but I gave Tate the only key. I keep it locked tight, it is in a pretty dangerous shape and I do not want anyone wandering in there and getting hurt.” Nigel said.

  “What do we know about the towers history?” Dexter asked. They filled him in on its use as a jail, and about the hangings and executions in the yard, and the terrifying portrait.

  “We have found a reference to it in the archives as far back as 1585, but I am pretty sure it was here before then, as it would have been standard for the building in the middle of the 14th century when the main Hall was built.” Gwynn added.

  “Colt and I found what appears to be the remains of an old rock wall, we are planning to follow it this afternoon and see where it goes.” Binne said.

  “Let me give you one of the small maps we made of the estate, you can maybe mark it out, so we can reference it later.” Nigel left the room and came back quickly with a map in a plastic protective sleeve. “Add anything else of interest you find on here too, the map is to scale of the entire estate, so just mark it and make full references on the back.”

  “Yeah! A map quest!” Binne laughed as she loaded her backpack with the map, pens, compass, water bottles, and snacks. Her Godfather slipped a pocket knife and small hand towel into the bag as well. “Colt is coming with Mr. Brooks, so they should be here rather soon, I need to change my clothes and put on some hiking boots.” She stole a piece of sliced apple from the plate in front of her mother and raced upstairs.

  Gwynn left the room and came back with a telescopic umbrella and slipped it in the back pack as well. “I can only find one of these at the moment, but it looks like we might get some rain this afternoon.” She explained as Nigel and Dexter laughed at her.

  “What are you and Bonnie planning for the day?” Nigel asked his wife after placing a loving kiss on her forehead.

  “We will be working on her bakery orders for tomorrow, and then running her deliveries. When we get back we will be trying to make some sense of that vegetable garden.” She said. “We are going to hit up the farmers market for some fresh veg and make a nice salad to go with the pizza you two are going to pick up for dinner.”

  “Yes ma’am.” Dexter smiled broadly. “Two large anchovy pizzas with extra pickles, got it.”

  “I was pregnant, jackass. I do not eat that crap anymore.” She laughed as she smacked his arm with playful cheer. “And you had better get more than two, with all the people we are feeding.”

  ****

  “The estate is bigger than I thought.” Colt said as he loo
ked at the map. “I always thought this part,” he pointed out a section on the map with a small brook running through it. “Was part of the National Parkland. I think the whole village thinks that. Everybody fishes down there.”

  “Which means Mom and Dad will insist on cleaning it up, placing bins and benches. So people can use it comfortably.” She sighed, “And they will probably want to clear some places for camp sites, so local vegetation can be protected, and the villagers can still use the area.”

  “I think the parish would help with all of that, as it benefits the village.” Colt suggested as they walked. Binne would occasionally stop and make marks on her father’s map.

  “So, there are stones here, that seem to indicate there was a building here once.” Binne pointed to the various placements of stones and what appeared to have once been a chimney. She pulled a tape measure from her bag and had Colt help her take the measurements, which she noted on the back of the map.

  “You will find a lot of these. And I think there is still an old Cob house, or at least what is left of it, on the other side of that hill.” He told her. “You are pretty good at this, have you mapped an estate before?”

  “Not an estate, but when we were in Africa we helped to map an entire village that had fallen to ruins and was taken over by the jungle. There were probably 30 of us, so it was a bit easier than doing it with just two people. This could be my weekend adventure for the next couple of months,” She laughed. “But it is fun, so I don’t mind so much.”

  Colt smiled, he tried to hide his jealousy of her adventures. She had been to more places than he had even read about. They measured and notated for about an hour before Binne decided they had enough information about the ruins and were able to move on. She took pictures of plants, trees, rocks, stone ruins and decayed wooden remnants of old fences. He watched with interest and learned a lot about the process while he told her what he knew of the area. They had just entered a small glen when the sky opened, and torrents of cold hard rain dropped upon them with fierceness.

  “We need to get to shelter!” Colt yelled over the raging sounds of the sudden storm.

  They ran through the rain toward the dense of trees, where they found an old shed, Colt had to rip thick overgrown vegetation to get near the door to break the lock with a rock to get inside.

  “I hope we don’t get into trouble for breaking in.” He said once inside, shaking the water from his jacket and hair.

  “I think we are okay, I have an in with the owners,” She laughed as she pulled her electric torch from her bag.

  The shed was old, but sturdy. The thick walls made of carefully placed stones and a heavy thatch roof kept the rain out. The smell of rot and dirt made her nostrils itch. She pulled her cell from the inside pocket of her jacket and sighed when she saw that she had no service. She sent a text message to her dad who she knew would receive it as soon as the storm passed, and service had been restored.

  “We might as well make ourselves comfortable, we could be here a bit.” Colt said as he pulled a small picnic blanket out of his bag and placed it on the floor for them to sit on. Binne searched the small shack with her light and found several broken hatchets, axes and shovels hanging on the farthest wall, rolls of wire fencing, metal buckets of rusted nails and a long dusty shelf, stacked upon which stood an old kerosene lantern and a can of fluid. She used a rag to clean off the lantern, filled it with whatever remained of the fuel and lit the lantern, light flooded the small space and they turned off their torches.

  Gwynn had provided small bags of nuts and raisins, Bonnie had sent along sandwiches and cans of soda, along with bottles of water. They ate silently as they listened to the storm rage beyond the shed walls.

  Binne felt stiff sitting on the floor and decided to stand and stretch. Her eye caught a slight glimmer from beneath a rotted, hole ridden floor board. With care and curiosity, she gently pried the board aside and reached her hand into the dark space. Pulling back a small metal box.

  “Colt! Look what I found!” She showed him the small tarnished silver box. They sat again on the blanket and pried open the lid. Binne could not hold in her gasp as the ring was revealed. A large ring, made for a man, silver, with an enormous red gemstone in its center, strange markings were carved into the silver band.

  “It is beautiful!” She whispered as she pulled the ring from the box. The room swam, spun and upended itself as Binne felt herself being thrust into the past.

  The shed faded away and was replaced with the site of the Hall, new, fresh and clean before her. Two men stood, facing each other, swords drawn, anger on their faces.

  The taller man, wearing dusty grey tunic and black tights, spoke, his words disjointed, foreign to her. The shorter man, in dark green tunic and matching tights, responded with obvious anger. With sudden and swift movements, the men clashed swords, the sound screaming in Binne’s mind. The taller man’s sword contacted the shorter man’s side, blood poured from him as he crumpled to the ground, the taller man moved to stand above the other, who thrust his own sword into the abdomen of the taller man. Both men lay fallen in the dirt, their blood pouring out as they died. A frightened male servant rushing to their side as the vision began to fade.

  The shed re-appeared before her eyes, and Colt sat in front of her, concern heavy on his young face.

  “Binne? Are you okay? You are shaking!” Colt pulled her against his chest and ran a calming hand over her hair.

  Binne told him what she saw, despite her fear that he would think she had lost her mind.

  He listened intently. Nodding, asking questions, forming his own conclusions.

  “We need to get back to the Hall and tell your Uncle, but I think you just saw the duel between John Wyndham and Lord Keith Douglas. It happened right in front of the Hall in the late 1400’s, and according to legend they both died.” He took the ring from her trembling fingers and rolled it around looking at it carefully. “I think this is the Douglas Crest, it is on the painting of him at the library, it was on his shield. He died at the Hall, but I wonder how his ring ended up hidden in here?” He pointed out the engraved sword and arrow crossed over the shape of a bear on the sides of the ring.

  She handed him the box, loathe to touch the ring again.

  “There was a footman there, do you think he took it?” She asked.

  He secured it inside the box and tucked the box into his bag, then he pulled her back against his chest to wait out the storm.

  “Could be, we may never know.” He said softly.

  ****

  “It is really coming down out there!” Bonnie Brooks said as she pulled the bread rolls from the oven. “I hope the kids found some shelter.”

  “I am sure they did, Binne has an emergency tarp in the bottom of her bag, if they couldn’t find shelter, they would be able to make it quick enough.”

  “Wow, you sure have trained her to be prepared.” Bonnie laughed. “I am not sure Colt could build a campfire, without supervision.”

  Bonnie walked over to the laptop she had set up in a corner of the kitchen, after a few moments she called Bonnie over.

  “They found shelter, according to the satellite map linked to her phone’s GPS, they are here.” She pointed to the screen. A satellite image of the estates terrain showed a small green dot over a dark shadow. “It could be a cave, but that shape looks a bit rectangular to me, so most likely a small shed or hut of some kind.”

  “Ok, that is impressive.” Bonnie whistled. “But if you can find them with the phone why haven’t they called?”

  “Well it could be that they are not getting a regular phone service signal because of the storm, but the sat is for emergencies only and really only works for location. Binne would have sent a text to her dad letting us know they are safe. It will come through as soon as the signal gets out -- but the downside is that the battery on her phone may not last long enough for that to happen. I don’t know if she took her portable charger with her or not, it is not like she was plannin
g to leave the property. I mean we make her carry some standard stuff for a day hike, rope and food and her phone, the tarp and a towel, that kind of thing, but I didn’t think of the charger, so I cannot say whether she did or not.”

  “A towel?” Bonnie asked.

  “Yes, never go anywhere without a towel.” Gwynn smiled.

  ****

  Binne and Colt had used the towel to dry their hair and to sop up some of the excess water on their clothing, it now hung from the shed rafters in a feeble attempt to dry.

  “I think it is beginning to let up.” Colt told her as he looked out the doorway. “Shall we pack up?”

  Binne looked past him to the rain, now falling softly. “Yes, I think that would be a good plan.” She fished her cell phone out of her jacket pocket and smiled. “We have a bar and a half of service, and Dad got my text, he responded already.” She showed him the phone screen. Stay safe, stay dry, Loves to you both. “Texting uses less battery than calling, so I will let him know we will be heading back soon.” She had begun to type when they heard the engine, a glance outside found Nigel and Tate pulling up to the shed in the estate jeep. They gathered their things quickly and raced between the raindrops to join their fathers.

  “Satellite GPS?” She asked as she kissed her father’s cheek.

  “Yup.” He answered, “and two paranoid moms will get you rescued every time.”

  “Not to mention, two well behaved Dads who know how to keep those mom’s happy, by trekking out in the storm.” Tate laughed.

  “To be honest, you didn’t have to, the storm was beginning to let up and we were dry and safe in the shed.” Binne said, “But, we are glad that you did.”

  ****

  Dr. Seriah Jayna Browning pulled her mini into the drive at Wyndham Hall. Nigel Morgan was at her door before she could even turn the engine off.

  “Ser! Welcome!” He said as he opened her car door and helped her gather her suitcases and equipment. “Gwynn will be so pleased to see you.”