by Nell Dixon
“Ha! Caught you! I knew you were up to something!”
Fae started at the unexpected sound of Izzy’s voice and almost lost her grip on the candlestick. Intent on avoiding becoming incarcerated inside the thick stone walls of the castle, she’d failed to hear the bedroom door open behind her.
Izzy faced her, hands on hips and indignation personified in fluffy bunny slippers and Pooh Bear pyjamas.
“You frightened me half to death. I’ve found the secret passage, the one that was in my book.” Fae struggled to explain, her heart thumping in a mix of fear and excitement.
“Only because you were snooping. If you had bothered to ask Rod he would probably have told you about the passage.”
“I don’t think so. According to my book, no one living knows where the passage is or, more importantly, where it leads. It’s as much a myth as the Green Lady. This could be mega.”
Izzy glared at her. “Honestly, Fae, I suppose next you’ll be telling me that you’ve done Rod a favour by poking around his home uninvited?”
“I might have. There could be treasure or jewels or anything down here. I’m going to see where it leads.” Fae stepped inside the tunnel before Izzy could stop her.
The corridor was a tight squeeze. She moved along it as fast as she dared, hoping the candles wouldn’t go out and leave her in darkness. Behind her, she heard Izzy calling her name and then arguing with someone.
The stonework of the castle walls brushed her shoulders as she eased her way along the passage. The corridor curved in front of her so she could only see a few feet ahead.
“Fae!” Flash’s voice reverberated off the walls.
“I’m okay,” she called back to reassure him. She suspected he would have followed her but his shoulders would be too burly to fit the narrow passageway.
At last she reached the end. She hadn’t enough room to manoeuvre the candles to see where an exit might be, but under her fingers she could feel a smooth wooden surface.
Her heart leapt as she realised she must be at the upper storey of the library. She slid her hand over the wood, feeling for some hidden mechanism like the one under the tapestry.
Flash’s voice sounded faint and she couldn’t quite work out what he’d said.
“Go to the library!” she called back as loudly as she could, her breath making the candlelight jump up and down. “Oh, come on,” she muttered, continuing to feel for any sort of catch.
Her fingertip connected with what at first felt like a small knothole. “Yes!” Triumphant with her discovery, she pressed on the small depression in the wood.
The panel slid to the side, and Fae stepped out onto the upper balcony that ran around the top of the library. Her hand trembled as she set the candlestick down on a small side table.
The faint light from the tiny flames did little to alleviate the vast and empty darkness of the room. Fae brushed her shoulders to remove tiny fragments of dust and cobwebs from her pyjamas. She wished she could see the time on the dial of the big brass clock. It had to be getting close to midnight.
She hesitated for a moment, wondering if she should run back to the tower to get the camera and Flash. It would ruin everything if Izzy had gone to fetch Rhodri. The door to the library clicked open and she leaned over the balcony hoping to see Flash.
“I’ve got the camera.” He shone the torch in his hand up towards her.
“Get up here, quickly!”
“Izzy’s gone to get Rhodri. You are so busted, Fae.” The light moved and she guessed he had headed towards the stairs.
“Then you had better show up soon, Lady Ysabelle,” Fae muttered as she picked up the candlestick and moved to meet Flash.
Chapter Five
“You frightened me! I heard Izzy call your name and by the time I got down the stairs, she said you’d disappeared down that passage.” Flash had a look on his face that Fae had never seen before. Angry, upset, and relieved all at once. “I don’t know if I should kiss you or shake you.”
His gaze locked with hers and her heart gave a squeeze of contrition. ”I’m sorry, I just didn’t think. I was so excited at finding the passage and I knew Izzy would stop me from exploring it.” She reached out to take hold of his hand, intent on convincing him of her sincerity.
“I know.”
The quiet acceptance in his voice stung her more than any rebuke would have. “Flash, I—”
“It’s almost midnight. We need to get into position.” He handed her the camera and moved across the landing to peer through the carved wooden balustrade.
Fae blinked and followed him, camera in one hand and candlestick in the other.
“Put out the candles. You’ll need this in night vision or you might not get anything,” Flash instructed.
She knelt on the floor at his side. Her fingers shook as she undid the lens cap. He extinguished the candles with one swift breath. Fae struggled to refocus in the inky darkness.
“Hurry, we’ve only got a few minutes.” His cheek brushed against hers as he helped her set the camera in position. His stubble prickled against the soft skin of her face and his hard male body pressed against her as he fixed the tripod.
Fae sucked in a deep breath and focused the camera on the library clock. All her senses on red alert. She hoped she had the right spot and that the Green Lady would do something to make her film worthwhile.
The library door swung open as the clock sounded the first chime.
“Oh no, it’s Izzy.” Her sister was clearly illuminated by the light from the lantern she held.
“Fae! I know you’re in here. Where are you?”
Rhodri’s dog appeared at her sister’s side. Flash tensed next to Fae, the bunched muscles of his thigh brushing against hers at the picture Izzy and her canine companion made in the dim light.
“Concentrate on the camera,” he urged.
The clock continued to chime the hour as Izzy walked further into the library, lifting the lantern higher as she scoured the ground floor for Fae’s hiding place.
“I can’t see anything.” Fae moved the camera focus, looking for some sign of paranormal activity.
Izzy was almost out of her sight at the far end of the library. The last of the chimes died away and Fae stiffened as a cool breeze ruffled her hair. As quickly as she could, she forced her shaking fingers to readjust the camera focus.
“Fae, where are you?” Izzy’s voice echoed from the furthest bookshelves.
****
Izzy wished her sister would stop fooling around. She might as well come out and show herself. She walked further into the library, certain she’d seen a glimmer of light at the far end.
Her pulse raced as she edged forward. Tiny fragments of lights darted around her like fireflies. Puzzled, she tried to focus on them to see what they were. Fang had left her side, leaving her alone in the darkness. A cold breeze tugged at her hair, and she thought she heard someone call her name.
A woman stood at the end of the shelves wearing a long, flowing gown with wide sleeves. As Izzy approached, the woman smiled and then everything went black.
****
Instead of following Izzy, Rhodri’s dog remained in the centre of the room. At Izzy’s call, he sat down, threw back his head, and howled.
Fae grasped Flash’s sleeve with her free hand. “I can’t see Izzy,” she whispered, unnerved by the dog’s unusual behaviour.
Flash edged forward, nearer to the balustrade. The breeze in the library had become stronger, sending icy shivers down her spine as it whistled around her ears.
“Something’s happening!”
As he spoke, Fae moved closer to Flash. Her fingers froze as she struggled with the buttons on the camera.
“Where? What?”
“Fae!” Izzy screamed and there was a loud crash from the far corner of the room that sounded like the lantern falling to the floor.
Another light appeared in the doorway as Rhodri ran into the room.
“Izzy! Where are you?” His voice
was rough with anxiety and concern.
Fae watched as he froze on the spot next to Fang, his eyes apparently fixed on something annoyingly out of her sight.
“Izzy!” He rushed to where she had last seen her sister.
The breeze stopped the moment he moved.
Flash grabbed her arm and hauled her to her feet. “Come on, we have to get downstairs.”
She struggled to keep up with Flash on the stairs and to continue filming, just in case there was something there. Her heart bumped with concern for her sister. What had happened to Izzy?
“Rhodri, where are you?” Flash called. Without the candlestick, they had no light to guide them and no moonlight penetrated the narrow windows.
Fae spotted the glimmer of Rhodri’s lantern even as he called out to them. “Over here. Izzy’s fainted.”
Fae was glad of Flash’s arm around her waist as they made their way across the room. Faint swirls of greenish-white mist curled around their legs as they walked, disappearing as soon as she tried to focus the camera on them.
“Be careful. There’s a lot of broken glass,” Rhodri cautioned as they drew near. He knelt on the floor with Izzy’s head on his lap. Her lantern lay in bits all around them. Fang had joined them and sat to one side, his large liquid brown eyes fixed on his master.
Fae switched off the camera. Izzy’s face was white, but her eyelids fluttered as she began to come round.
“What happened?” Flash carefully cleared a path through the debris, kicking the fragments of twisted metal and shards of glass to one side with the toe of his boot.
Rhodri smoothed a lock of hair back from Izzy’s brow, his dark gaze intent on her face.
“I heard your sister call my name when I was outside. I wasn’t sure where she was or what was happening, but as I came into the castle I saw that the library door was open and came in here to look for her.”
Izzy groaned and opened her eyes, but made no move to lift her head from Rhodri’s lap.
“But then what?” Fae hid the camera behind her back as Rhodri turned to look at her, his eyes as black as ever. Fae shivered.
“I ran in here, heard Fang howl, and then Izzy screamed.” He paused for a moment, as if unsure of his words. “I thought I saw someone over here, by the bookshelves. At first I thought it was Izzy beckoning to me. It looked like her but the clothes were wrong. Then the lantern must have crashed to the floor when Izzy fainted. I hurried in the direction of the noise and found her lying here.”
Guilt settled in Fae’s stomach like a lead weight. This was all her fault. “I couldn’t see anything.”
The expression on Rhodri’s face said everything to Fae. She suspected he knew she had been hidden on the balcony putting her film before her sister’s well-being.
Izzy struggled to sit up while Rhodri continued to support her, steadying her against him when she swayed.
“That was so weird.” Izzy’s voice was groggy.
“Take your time,” Rhodri urged. “You may have hurt yourself when you fell. This floor isn’t very forgiving.”
Izzy rubbed her shoulder. “I guess I’ll have some nice bruises soon.” She looked around, her gaze settling on Fae.
Heat scorched across Fae’s face at the reproach in her sister’s eyes. She shuffled her feet and tried to keep the camera out of sight.
“Where did you go? You disappeared down the secret passage and into here. You had to get your film, didn’t you?”
Fae moved the camera from behind her back as three pairs of eyes turned to look at her. “I didn’t know all this was going to happen. Why did you faint? What did you see?”
Rhodri helped Izzy to her feet, keeping his arm protectively around her waist. “We should finish this conversation in the kitchen. It’s cold in here and Izzy has had a nasty fall.” He steered Izzy along the path that Flash had cleared through the lantern debris.
Flash picked up the remaining lantern and followed them. Fae trailed miserably in their wake.
Once back in the kitchen, Rhodri settled Izzy onto a chair before crossing to the range to coax the fire inside back to life. Fang settled at Izzy’s feet as if he were used to her being in the castle kitchen.
Fae slumped onto a seat opposite her sister. She rested the camera on the tabletop, half expecting Rhodri to snatch it up and pull out the tape. Flash removed his sweater and draped it around Izzy’s shoulders.
“What did you see, Iz? I thought I caught a glimpse of someone or something moving near you, but then you moved out of our line of sight.” Flash said.
Rhodri returned from the range to place four steaming mugs of tea on the table. He stroked Izzy’s hair with a tender hand as he took a seat next to her. Fae noticed her sister’s expression soften at his touch.
“I looked around the library for Fae, but it was dark and I couldn’t see in the corners. I thought I heard someone call my name so I walked down to the far end. Fang followed me so far and then stopped.”
“I wondered where he’d gone. He must have heard you a few minutes before I did.” Rhodri took one of her hands in his as if to reassure her.
Fae felt sick with guilt. Why hadn’t she called down to Izzy when she’d seen her sister enter the library? She’d behaved so selfishly. It was a wonder any of them were still speaking to her.
“It was cold and there was a draught. The clock started chiming midnight and I was scared. Something must have scared Fang too, because he started to howl. I carried on, walking the rest of the way on my own.” Izzy stopped and took a sip of her tea.
“And?” Flash urged in a gentle voice.
“I don’t know exactly. There was someone there, or at least I think there was. Something startled me, and the next thing I remember is waking up on the floor.”
“The legend says the true heir and his bride see the Green Lady.” Fae spoke without thinking.
“You think Izzy and I saw the Green Lady?” Rhodri stared at her.
Fae shuffled defensively in her seat. “You said you saw a figure beckon to you and you thought it was Izzy. Izzy saw someone, or thought she did. Flash and I both felt that strange breeze, and Fang certainly behaved oddly.”
“And I expect you captured all of this on film.” Rhodri’s voice was bitter as he nodded his head in the direction of the camera.
Fae automatically placed a protective hand on it. “I don’t know if we managed to film anything. We were using night vision infra-red mode.”
“While your sister lay on the floor unconscious.” His lip curled in distaste.
Fae flinched. It sounded so callous and awful when he put it like that. She hadn’t known what would happen or that Izzy had fainted until the crash from the lantern breaking. After that, she and Flash had moved straight away.
She had carried on filming though, her conscience reminded her. She’d filmed even though Rhodri had asked her not to. Was she so determined to achieve her career goals that she’d turned into some nasty, dishonest, uncaring monster? Even if she told herself her motives had been good?
The library clock struck one, a single golden note that seemed to hover in the air. Fae tensed, wondering if something else was about to happen. Silence followed the dying of the clock chime, only broken by the logs crackling in the fireplace.
Fang lifted his head from Izzy’s feet as if he, too, were listening. In the distance, Fae thought she heard faint, girlish laughter.
“Don’t you want to catch your ghost?” Rhodri asked her.
The kitchen lights flickered and suddenly the room was filled with light.
“The power’s back on.” He crossed the room and opened the door to the portrait gallery, flipping the light switch.
“There you go, Fae. You can go and see what you’ve managed to capture on film now.” He held the door open for her.
She could see from the tense line of his shoulders and the rigid shape of his jaw what he thought of her. She moved her hand across the camera. Part of her wanted to hand the tape over, but the other more
stubborn part urged her to see what she’d filmed.
Before she could change her mind, she snatched the camera from the table and hurried from the room and her sister’s reproachful gaze.
Chapter Six
Fae walked quickly past the wall of portraits. They no longer appeared as frightening now that the lights were back on. She clutched her camera, gripping the handle so hard the plastic dug into her palm.
The door to the kitchen banged shut behind her. She imagined it was Rhodri venting his feelings on the ancient woodwork. Fae halted at the foot of the tower stairwell.