by Kevin McLeod
Chapter 3
Everyone, including Jake, gathered in the hall of the mansion. The suitcases and bags were lying in a bundle just inside the door. Granddad picked up the one he had asked for and moved it to the side. The hall was bigger than most houses with a magnificent staircase rising from the centre that split in two directions half way up. The walls were lined with expensive looking artwork, and in line with the bottom of the staircase, against each bannister, stood two suits of knight’s armour. Complete with shields and swords. There were several doors on either side, all hiding rooms just waiting to be explored. The wooden floorboards were darkly polished, and the biggest rug you could imagine sat at the foot of the stairs. On the rug a large dragon was elegantly woven in dark red, standing next to a deep green forest. The dragon looked less elegant as Jake ran to the rug and rolled around on his back.
The children all laughed, and Charlotte went to get him off the rug which, of course, meant she was next in line for a face licking.
‘Get off me you silly dog,' she shouted while laughing, trying to put Jake down without hurting him.
‘Let the tour begin,' Granddad said, ushering everyone to gather round. Although the others had seen the house many times, they enjoyed hearing Granddad talk about it.
‘We shall as always, work our way door to door on this floor, first making our way down the left-hand side then up the right-hand side. We will leave the basement till last as the best things are always left till last.' As he said this, he looked at George and winked.
‘What’s in the basement?’ asked George.
‘All in good time my lad,’ Granddad replied with a smile.
The rooms down the left-hand side started with a huge library that had bookshelves from floor to ceiling packed with more books than George had ever seen. There were several tables with chairs placed around them, and two large armchairs by an even larger fireplace. On either side of the fireplace stood stone statues that Granddad explained were gryphons; mythical beasts of times long forgotten rather like the Cove’s own dragons.
‘Where did you get them?’ asked George.
‘I believe this pair came from Egypt. A remarkable find in an old market if I remember correctly’.
‘There are other works throughout the house that I hope you will find equally impressive,’ Granddad continued, looking out one of the windows. He seemed to go into a dream for a moment then returned to move the tour on.
‘Onwards now, onwards, we have lots to see,' Granddad said, leading the giggling children out of the room. Jake barked and ran around Granddad as if to show his approval.
The next room was Granddad's study, not a very impressive or interesting room for children, but to Granddad it was the best room in the house. The large oak desk was covered entirely with maps, books and drawings which he claimed were in perfect order but looked nothing of the sort. There were more bookshelves behind the desk and a fireplace with no statues but another round rug. This rug showed a great bear rearing up as if ready to fight. There was also a globe, but when George looked closely, he realised that the place names were not recognisable, and the shapes of the continents looked different.
‘Where’s this globe from?’ he asked, with a puzzled look on his face.
‘Ah now, this globe is of a world that once was and is no more apart from in the minds of few and memories of fewer,’ Granddad said.
‘What?’ George asked.
Granddad chose not to answer and instead just tapped his finger twice against his nose then winked. The tour moved on.
‘You’ll get used to that,’ whispered Charlotte to George as she walked passed him, flashing a smile that made him go red.
The next room was more like it for the children, the games room. A pool table, a table tennis table, and a TV with a DVD player and lots of DVD’s to watch.
‘You see Peter; your old Granddad has finally replaced the video recorder.’
‘Well it was about time, no one has tapes anymore,’ Peter said with a laugh.
There were no statues or rugs in this room, but there was a magnificent painting that took up almost all the wall above the fireplace. In the picture, three knights battled a large ogre on the side of a river, with a burning village in the background.
‘You do have a lot of odd statues and pictures around.’ George said almost to himself.
‘You may find that you grow to appreciate them more and more as the holiday goes on,’ Granddad said from behind George. They both stared at the painting for a few seconds more before moving on.
The tour continued through the rooms on the ground floor. The biggest kitchen George had seen was followed by a large dining room and a living room with comfy sofas and beanbags that were so out of place with the rest of the house. The final room on the ground floor took them back towards the front door. In this room, there was a wall for coats and hats, with shoes all over the floor. On the far wall, several television screens were showing different views outside the house. All the screens had little green lights below them letting everyone know that everything was ok in that sector. The security system seemed a little over the top for such a small village as Campbell's Cove. The last screen showed a dark tunnel.
‘Where’s that?’ George asked.
‘That is where we will go to last.’ Granddad replied.
They were each asked to grab a piece of luggage and anything else that needed to come to the bedrooms as the tour moved upstairs. They went up the stairs and turned left where they split in two. This took them on to a smaller flight of stairs, and then a corridor which ran all around the top floor and back down the stairs at the other side. The first room would be Peter's as this was the room he always used when he stayed here. They quickly dropped in his bags and moved on to the next room which would be George's. It was much the same as Peter's with a single bed and a writing desk with two chairs at it. There was also an armchair next to the large window. Above the writing desk was another painting; this time of a knight who seemed to be looking off into the distance while drawing his sword as if an enemy was approaching. The way the painting was hanging it looked as though the knight was staring directly at the bed.
The next two rooms were spare rooms, one of which was locked. Then a large bathroom with a ceramic dragon in the tiles. Granddad's room was next, but they didn't go in there. Then one more spare room, and what Granddad referred to as a reading room. This was a smaller version of the Library with more sofas and chairs for comfort while reading. A large eagle was painted into the ceiling in stunning detail, its wings wide as it soared over them all.
Granddad led them back down the stairs at the other side leaving just one place to visit.
‘Now we go to the basement!’ exclaimed Granddad with pride in his voice.
Jake barked, and the other children smiled, and a buzz went between them.
‘You’re going to love this George,' said James as the group headed off towards the basement.
‘What makes it so good?’ asked George.
‘You’re about to see something you will not believe,’ Peter said, building the suspense.
As they got to the bottom of the stairs, Granddad led the group right and stopped halfway along what looked like a solid wall with an ornate light fitting attached to it. Granddad pulled the light fitting down, and a hidden door opened under the stairs.
‘Wow, cool,' George said, looking very impressed.
‘Ha-ha, that always gets people the first time,' Granddad laughed. ‘But wait till you see what's down here,' he said, picking up the suitcase Peter's dad had looked out for him.
‘I’m going to need this,’ he said with a satisfied look on his face.
Jake barked and ran off through the doorway that had appeared in front of them.
Just as the children were entering the basement, a very different group entered the mouth of the biggest cave in Campbell's Cove. They used no torches or lights of any sort, though they walked easily in the dark, moving
freely and with speed. Deeper and deeper into the caves they went finding passageways and openings that would not be visible to anybody else. Finally, they came to a solid looking wall and stopped. The Master withdrew a large staff from inside their long black robe and tapped twice on the wall, muttering something quietly as they did. A small spark of orange light appeared next to the staff and slowly spread across the rock wall. The light formed the shape of a door, then with a loud grumbling noise the door shifted backwards and sideways revealing a huge cavern.
Inside the door two ogres stood guard, both moving instantly with bowed heads as the Master approached. Even these large beasts were terrified of the Master. They dared not look up until the group passed and the door was shut. Below them, the cavern floor was a hive of activity with trolls and goblins and other unspeakable creatures working feverishly. As the group's presence became known a hush descended on the floor and the work stopped. The head troll came to greet the group and bowed low in front of them.
‘Greetings, it is good to see you. As you can see, we have been making progress. We are working hard for you Master.' Graff spoke with a rough tone and his lips smacked at the end of every sentence. His tongue flicked out his mouth as he spoke.
‘When do you expect it to be finished?’ The Master asked, not hiding the disdain in their voice.
‘Three more nights and we will be ready Master.’
‘Excellent work Graff. I trust we have not encountered any problems?’
The slight hesitation from Graff, before answering, gave him away.
‘Graff?’ the Master said a question thick in their voice.
‘We did have a slight problem with some humans almost discovering this place. They were exploring the caves. Don't worry though Tolldruck got them before they saw anything.' Graff began to smile; his lips cracked, and wrinkles appeared all over his face.
With a flash of movement the Master reached out and grabbed Graff by the throat, lifting his grotesque form off of the ground with ease. Warts and spots popped and burst under the grip.
‘If someone comes looking for them, and it brings them here Tolldruck will have a troll for dinner. Do I make myself clear?' The Master tightened their grip on his green slimy neck, and crushed the breath from the troll, only letting go when Graff was ready to pass out.
‘Do not disappoint me again Graff. Once this phase is finished come and let me know. We have much planning to do.’
Without another word the group turned and walked back the way they had come. Although if you looked closely you would see that no feet were touching the ground.