“You mentioned something about a box in the tunnel,” Nonie began.
Greta was cautious. “Yes.”
“Was it really empty?” Nonie asked.
Greta paused. “No.”
“What was in it?”
“Just old stuff.” Greta was uncomfortable by Nonie’s questioning.
“What sort of old stuff?” she continued.
“I don’t know, I couldn’t really see. It was too dark there to work out what it was,” Greta bluffed and prayed for Max to save her from certain doom.
“Willow told me it was filled with gold,” Nonie smirked.
“Did she?” Greta felt her face redden.
“Lots of gold.”
“Right.”
“She was right, wasn’t she, Greta?”
“Ah! There you are! How are you feeling, Nonie? You are looking better than you did. Have you put some antiseptic cream on those wounds?” Max breezed down the stairs. Greta heaved an inward sigh of relief. She turned away and faced the wall, her hand to her head. She swallowed and regained her composure.
“Yes, Nonie is doing well, aren’t you?” Greta walked towards Max and linked arms with him. She smiled triumphantly at him.
“I think we’ve all had enough for one day, don’t you? Come on, let’s get back to your parents’ house. Jeanne has invited us all for supper. Isn’t that nice?”
“One of my specialities, chicken curry and basmati rice!” Jeanne chirped as she helped Charles down the flight of winding stairs from the second floor. “The carpets are divine, darling! Go and see for yourself!” Jeanne urged Greta towards the stairs. “We’ll take Nonie back to the house in our car!”
“Thanks mummy. We’ll follow on shortly!” Greta called out. In a hushed whisper she stared at Max. “You saved me from certain trouble!”
Max frowned and took hold of her shoulders.
“What do you mean? Your mother’s curries aren’t that bad, are they?”
Greta shook her head.
“No, silly. Nonie was starting to pry about the…” she lowered her voice even more. “… You know, the treasure,” she spoke out of the side of her mouth.
“She is like a terrier with a bone, isn’t she; she just won’t let go!” Max was annoyed. “This business with the mirror. She says it was because of this Barnabas thing. I think she has a screw loose. She clearly dropped the thing and fell onto some glass and cut herself.”
“She is convinced she can’t leave here until Barnabas leaves Greenacres,” Greta said.
“I think it’s a load of twaddle. Sorry, darling, but I still think she is a fake! Any way, what do you think of this?” Max opened the door to the top bedroom and Greta walked in with her mouth gaping. “Slip your shoes off!” Max warned.
“Oh, it is beautiful! It’s really beautiful. What a difference! The carpet goes so well with the décor. I love it, I really adore it!”
Greta walked into the bedroom. Her feet almost disappeared into the softness and depth of the biscuit-coloured pile. It had been beautifully fitted and the smell of newness filled the air.
“They have even vacuumed the fluff off the surface,” Greta waltzed around the room and held her arms out straight in front of her. “I am impressed with how professional and sumptuous this is!” she cooed.
“I thought you’d like it, only the best for you, my sweet.” Max took hold of her hands and drew her towards him. He tenderly kissed her on the lips. “You know we have to christen every room when it’s finished, don’t you?”
Greta smiled and held Max close to her.
“Of course and I can’t wait!”
Their noses touched as they gazed into each other’s eyes.
“Happy?” Max gently asked.
“You bet!” was the reply.
“Come on, have a look at the tiles in the ensuite. They look great too.” She walked into the room and gasped in horror.
Max pushed Greta to one side. He stopped in the doorway.
“Shit! What the hell has happened here?” he exclaimed.
The newly tiled walls and floor were completely daubed in large, red spidery writing. Greta shuddered and held on to Max for all she was worth. Max was shocked as he read out what was spelt in front of him.
“Be careful.”
Greta closed her eyes and opened them again in hope she was dreaming. Max leant against the door. He held his hand to his head.
“But I don’t understand. How could this have happened? When could this have been done? We’ve been here all the time. Your parents didn’t say anything about it…”
“Oh Max, this is horrible. Who is doing this to us? Why are they doing this?”
“I don’t know, darling. But I don’t like what I see.” Max stared at the wall. He turned to Greta. “Not a word to your parents. We don’t want to worry them any more. This is starting to get very serious!” He thought for a moment then decided not to say anything.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Leo was asleep when his mobile phone vibrated from underneath his pillow. It was a text from Ardi. He focussed on the message. It read, are you awake? He tapped the screen on his phone to reply.
I am now.
The phone vibrated a few seconds later. I’m at the cottage
Leo responded. Take care!
Bleep.
xxx
Leo placed his phone back under his pillow and closed his eyes. He tried not to visualise what Ardi’s plan was and how she would execute it.
“What did you say to him?” a familiar voice gently asked Ardi. Ardi turned over in the bed and held on to the masculine frame that was lying beside her.
“I told him I was at the cottage,” she replied, and draped her leg over his body.
“There’s a good girl. It’s all going to plan.”
Ardi sighed.
“Yees, Marcus. Eet is all going to plan!”
Marcus Mowbrie swiftly turned Ardi on to her back and kissed her firmly on the mouth.
“That is bloody fantastic news. Now, where were we?”
They continued to kiss until Ardi pushed Marcus away from her.
“Enough! It is time! I need to go!” she announced and rose from the bed. She quickly dressed as Mowbrie watched her.
“Shame. I was just enjoying our little… liaison,” he replied.
“I know. But you can ‘ave more of me lateer.” She zipped her leather jacket up to her neck. “Thees task is not complete.”
“I like your sense of determination,” he smiled.
“And I like the thought of staying in thees country,” was the response.
“Ring me,” Mowbrie insisted.
“If I can, I weel.” Ardi bent over the bed and hovered above Mowbrie’s face. Her nose was above his forehead. He lunged towards her. Ardi swiftly moved away and wagged her finger at him.
“Uha.” she shook her head. “Later.”
Mowbrie looked like a spoilt schoolboy and pouted in disappointment.
“You give me money; enough for a house; I get you the gold!” She flounced out of the bedroom and closed the door behind her.
“You are such a tease! Good luck!” he called after her. But there was no response.
Ardi’s motorcycle rider was patiently waiting for her outside. She ran towards him and with a thumb held in the air, he started the engine and they rode off in the darkness.
“Do you think the writing will be easy to clean off the walls?” Greta asked Max. They were sitting in the car in the driveway of Greta’s parents’ house.
“Yes, I’m sure it will. Look, don’t let this upset you. I will get to the bottom of this. I am damn sure no-one is going to stop us living at Greenacres, be they alive or dead. Someone’s head will roll for this.”
“I hoped you’d say that.” Greta squeezed Max’s thigh. “What’s the plan?”
Max thought for a moment. “We need to get Nonie over to Greenacres tomorrow. Get her to raise this Barnabas character to try and strike up a deal with h
im. All this has got to be over the gold. It’s the only thing I can think of that is keeping him there. If we tell her say to him we’ll leave it where it is, then maybe he will leave us alone. We can then fill in the passage, cap the top of the well and put an end to it. What do you think?”
“I think that’s the best option. Perhaps, as you say, he might then leave us alone. What about Willow and Evie?”
“I shouldn’t worry about them; they aren’t sinister spirits, are they? I think I could live with a couple of female ghosts in the cottage.”
“Sounds kinky!” Greta felt a little easier after their discussion.
“Hmm.” Max was thoughtful. Greta slapped his arm.
“Don’t even go there!” she warned. “Come on, I can smell the curry from here!”
“Jeez, I bet it’s potent as you like!” Max laughed.
“Course it will be! It is mummy’s speciality! An age old recipe handed down from the Raj!”
Chapter Twenty-Five
Greta shook Max awake.
“Come on. Time to get up.”
“Hmm? Oh, hi darling, I was just having this fantastic dream about two female ghosts… but I can’t tell you what they were doing to me!” Max turned over with a smile on his face.
“Yeah right, that is definitely in your dreams!” Greta replied and placed a cup of tea on the bedside cabinet.
“No, seriously, it was, well… quite real.”
“Really?” Greta stood in the doorway with a puzzled expression on her face.
“No, silly, I’m joking!” Max waited for the expected response.
“Breakfast is ready.” Greta chose to ignore Max and returned downstairs.
After showering, Max joined the breakfast table with acknowledgements from all who were sat around it. Greta stared at Max in an odd fashion. Her face was thunderous. She got up from the table and walked around to where Max was sitting.
“What is that?” She pointed at him.
“What?” Max looked surprised.
“That!” Greta pointed to a large mark on his neck. She made an indentation in his skin with her finger, causing the blemish to temporarily pale.
“I can’t see from here,” he proffered.
“Well I can see it from here!” Greta stomped back to her chair.
“Everything all right, darling?” Jeanne looked up from the daily newspaper she was skimming through.
“Yes,” snapped Greta and noisily clanked her cereal spoon against her teeth. As she did so, she realised what she had done and the response she would endure.
“Greta!” Jeanne howled in despair. “Please! Not like the father!”
“Sorry mummy. A situation caused it.” Greta glared at Max, who sat looking baffled at his angry wife.
The breakfast was eaten in silence. Nonie broke the silence.
“Are we still on for today?” She cautiously looked around the table.
“Yes,” Max replied. “D day. I need to be over at Greenacres to let the fitters in again this morning. They’re going to get the first floor bedrooms completed today so if you can be over to the cottage this afternoon, we can get the job done.”
“Sounds intriguing, Maxim.” Jeanne smiled.
“Yes, it probably will be, Jeanne. But hopefully with positive results.”
“Good luck.” Jeanne began to collect the crockery from the table, shifting Charles and his newspaper to one side as she busied herself with the washing up.
Greta was still sulking over what appeared to be a love bite on Max’s neck.
“Would you be able to take me over to Greenacres, Greta?” Nonie asked. “And I need to go back home today. I have some longstanding appointments coming up over the next few days.”
“Hurrah! Thank god for that!” Charles mumbled from behind his newspaper.
Jeanne looked embarrassed and cluttered the crockery in an attempt to stifle Charles and his outburst. She made a point of coughing and clearing her throat.
“Oh dear, must have a tickle!” she chattered and dug her elbow into Charles’s ribs as she walked past him.
“Ergh!” Charles croaked and looked at Jeanne in distaste. He flicked the pages of his paper and continued to read.
“Yes, that’s absolutely fine, Nonie. I’ll collect you when the fitters are finished.” She chose to ignore her parents.
Greta was relieved that at last Nonie was going home. She had been staying with the family for the past few days and Greta could see her parents, particularly Charles, were beginning to tire of her presence. Max’s patience was also waning. Greta prayed that Nonie could finally rid them of Barnabas from the cottage. “I will go upstairs and pack my belongings,” Nonie rose from the table. “Thank you, Jeanne, for another lovely breakfast. I will truly miss them when I go home. You have made me so welcome in your lovely home.”
Jeanne smiled with gritted teeth as she could see Charles was about to make another of his comments.
Greta and Max were outside getting ready to leave for Greenacres. Max was packing a few tools in the boot of the car.
“If we go over to meet the fitters this morning, then you can come back and collect Nonie. Make sure she is ready to leave here on time.”
“She will be. She is packing her bag as we speak,” Greta replied.
“Hand me that bucket of stuff, will you?” Max spoke without turning around.
“Just think, we will soon be living at Greenacres,” Greta thought aloud.
“Yep. It will only be a matter of a few more days of staying with your parents.”
“It will be blissful!” Greta dreamed.
“Especially if it is spook-free!” Max closed the boot of the car. “Okay, let’s make tracks.”
They drove from the house to Greenacres. It was an overcast day with a cloud-filled sky. The Island looked particularly remote as the mainland was hidden in the grey and gloom of sea mist. A lone foghorn blared in the distance in the Solent. As they reached the driveway, they could see the fitters had already arrived and were unpacking their vans.
“Good morning guys. I’ll just open up for you,” Max called across the yard as he drove in and parked the car.
“Morning, boss; Mrs Berkley,” the fitters chimed in unison.
“Happy chaps, aren’t they?” Greta found it a refreshing change to see amiable workmen that didn’t grunt and groan all the time. She found the chore of tea making not so laborious as it was when the builders were working at Greenacres.
“So far,” Max cautiously replied.
He walked across the garden and opened the back door to the kitchen.
“Let’s hope we don’t have any more… surprises… oh shit!”
“What?” Greta ran over to where Max was stood.
“Look!” Max pointed to the floor. “We have a flood!”
“I don’t believe it!” Greta shook her head in despair.
Max rolled up his trouser legs, took off his shoes and sloshed through a puddle of water. He looked around in the kitchen. Nothing was immediately obvious until he noticed the sink and the cascading water. He felt a sense of relief, as it was nothing more than an accident. The cold tap was running steadily. He turned it off and pulled the plug from the sink. The water dispersed rapidly.
“It’s not the end of the world, darling, just a tap running. It hasn’t been like it for long. The floor should soon dry out. We must have left it on last night.” He sounded upbeat.
“And I was ready for another onslaught from the unknown.” Greta breathed a sigh of relief.
The fitters filtered in and began to lay the carpets in the main bedrooms. Max and Greta climbed the second winding staircase, armed with cleaning products to clean the walls of the ensuite bathroom from the vandalised scrawl. They reached the door to find the light was switched on inside the room.
“I thought I’d turned the light off yesterday.” Max tried to think back to his actions.
“It is easy to forget. Being a windowless room and the anxiety we were put through y
esterday,” Greta reassured him and walked into the room. She gave a gasp.
“Bloody hell!”
“What?” Max joined her.
Together they stared at the walls.
“Has someone been in here?” Greta whispered.
“I don’t know, but that is really odd.” Max walked over to the walls and touched them.
There were no signs of the red writing on any of the walls in the room. All the walls were clean and sparkling.
“I’m not complaining.” Max rubbed his chin. “But how could this happen? Do you think we have a guardian cleaning ghost to add to our collection?”
“It’s one of life’s little mysteries,” Greta smiled. “Never to be solved.”
“Well at least they have saved us some time, we can be getting on with other things.”
“Like moving a few bits and pieces in,” Greta suggested.
“Yes, why not. There are some things in the car if you want to start bringing them in.”
“Ooh, this is fabulous news!” Greta enthused. “It seems like we are starting to move in!”
“That’s the plan,” Max picked up the cleaning goods and headed for the stairs. “I think we will concentrate on clearing up that water in the kitchen and back porch and I will have a look at the wall around the well, too.”
Throughout the day the fitters carried on stalwartly with their job of carpet fitting, making a tremendous job. The transformation again was immense and Greenacres began to resemble a family home. Greta and Max mopped the water from the kitchen and concentrated on hanging curtain rails, curtains and tiebacks in the upper rooms. A wooden blind was easily installed in the bathroom. The fitters completed their work just after lunchtime. Greta and Max were delighted.
“Thank you so much, guys; you have done a cracking job. We will certainly recommend you to our family and friends,” Max announced as he shook hands.
“Lovely place this is, boss. We hope you will enjoy living here. Bet you will!”
They drove off in their respective vans and disappeared up the track in a trail of dust.
“It’s getting close to half past three. Time you were thinking about collecting Nonie,” Max reminded Greta, who was wandering around the cottage, clutching her sides and staring at the new carpets.
Dream Cottage Page 17