Betty nibbled on her thumb. “But Mary…what if I run into that creepy, horrible old man?” she asked in a fearful voice. “He has a gun.”
“Stay inside the hidden hallways,” Mary warned Betty. “Try and locate Matthew’s bedroom. I’m certain that’s where the phone could be.”
“What am I supposed to do if I find the bedroom and see that awful monster talking on the phone?”
“Wait until he leaves the bedroom and then call the sheriff,” Mary told Betty. “I don’t expect you to fight with Matthew. Stay clear of him, okay?”
“Oh,” Betty said and hugged Mary. “Be careful.”
“I will,” Mary promised and rushed off down a hallway located to her right. Betty hesitated and then hurried off to her left.
Mary wasn’t certain what secret room Matthew had stored Brenda in. All she knew was that if Sarah found Brenda before she did, Brenda would be in some deep trouble.
“Don’t kill her,” Mary begged as she slid to a stop and looked down a shorter hallway to her right. The hallway ended at a door. “So many hallways, so many doors…why, it could take all night to find Brenda.” Mary bit down on her lip and ran down to the door, carefully eased it open, and stepped into a room filled with empty wooden crates stacked up to the ceiling. “No good,” she said and hurried away and found another room. “Please,” she pleaded and entered a room that made her mouth drop open. “Oh my.”
Mary stepped into a wide room filled with piles and piles of jewelry sleeping on a dark burgundy rug under a dim lamp. She walked over to a pile and picked up a diamond necklace. “This doesn’t make any sense,” she said in a confused voice. “Surely Matthew or Cousin Brenda would have stolen this jewelry by now.”
Mary put down the diamond necklace and studied the room. “Why would two monsters leave this much jewelry untouched?” Feeling like a beautiful lost damsel trapped in a horror story, Mary carefully moved about the room, picking up a gold necklace, a watch, a pair of pearl earrings, and then returning back to the doorway. “Surely,” she insisted, “if this jewelry had been found…” Mary shook her head, stepped out of the room, and closed the door. “Why would they leave this room untouched?” she asked herself and rubbed her eyes.
And then the haze cleared in her mind. “Of course.” Mary hurried back to the main hallway and looked to her left and then to her right. “Matthew and Cousin Brenda knew Sarah was hiding inside the walls.”
Without wasting another second, Mary turned and ran. “I have to find Betty,” she said. “Matthew didn’t hide Cousin Brenda inside the walls.” Mary dashed back to the location she and Betty had departed from and then carefully began making her way down a long hallway, searching one closed door after another. “Oh, Betty, where are you?” she fretted, staring into a room filled with mounds of expensive plates, saucers, bowls, and glasses, all from different parts of the world. “Not this room.” Mary closed the door and turned around. “Oh!” she exclaimed.
Sarah held up a silent finger. “How did you escape?” she whispered. “Where is Betty? Does Matthew have her?”
Mary shook her head and took a second to calm her beating heart. “Betty is searching for Matthew,” she explained. “Matthew said he is going to make a call.” Mary looked into Sarah’s shadowy face, wishing the woman would remove the black hood covering her head. “Do you have any clue as to who Matthew might be trying to call?”
“His lady friend would be my guess,” Sarah replied. She took Mary’s hand and rushed her to the hallway hidden behind the main staircase and peered through two holes in the wall. “Empty,” she said, examining the front foyer.
“I believe there might be a telephone in Matthew’s bedroom. Can you take me there?” Mary asked.
“Of course.” Sarah moved away from the wall, looked around with angry eyes, and then dashed away. Mary drew in a deep breath and followed. Minutes later Sarah came to a stop, maneuvered down a shorter hallway, entered a bare room lined with a dusty green carpet that once held boxes of old books, and hurried over to the far wall.
“Quiet,” she whispered to Mary. Then she peered through two holes into a large, expansive bedroom—the largest bedroom in the mansion—her father’s bedroom—and searched for Matthew. “There he is,” she said and motioned for Mary.
Mary eased up to the wall, waited for Sarah to step back, and placed her eyes to the two holes. She spotted Matthew sitting in a fancy, plush, green and white sitting chair resting in front of a gorgeous fireplace. He was speaking into a telephone. “It’s time, my dear,” she heard him say. “No, I have not located the birth certificate, but I will by the time you arrive. I have a plan. All you need to do is bring the gasoline. I will burn the mansion from the inside out and be through with this mess.”
“Matthew is telling someone to bring gasoline to burn the mansion down with,” Mary whispered to Sarah.
“I assure you,” Matthew continued to speak, “I will manage my problems wisely and have the matter settled by the time you arrive.” Mary heard Matthew’s voice become annoyed. “I’m fully aware of the promises I made you, my dear, but you must do your part as well. When two people are in love, they must protect each other.” Mary stared into Matthew’s creepy face and saw anger flash through his eyes. “I’m aware that you do not want to risk becoming popular with the sheriff but—” Matthew stopped speaking, formed his left hand into a tight fist, and struck his lap. “Do as I say or else,” he snapped. “The hour is late and my patience is no more. It is time to flush out the rats and end this matter once and for all. Now do as I say or else… What do you mean no?” Matthew struck his lap again. “My dear, may I remind you that you have assisted me in maintaining my status in this crime? Do not force me to betray our trust.”
“Matthew is having trouble,” Mary whispered.
Sarah stepped up to the wall and took Mary’s place. She found Matthew sitting in a tense, annoyed, and angry position next to an antique lamp table holding a black telephone. “How dare you!” she heard Matthew exclaim in a furious voice. “How dare you threaten me in such a way! If you dare go speak with the sheriff, I will surely make certain that you end up in a miserable little cell filled with rats… Hello…hello…hello?” Matthew yelled into the phone. “Why, she hung up on me…that awful little…woman.”
Matthew slammed down the telephone and snatched up his silver cane. “What to do?” he asked himself in a worried voice. “I seem to be in deep water…I must get that birth certificate and leave this place. I must burn down the mansion myself and when the rats run out, I’ll hold them at gunpoint and retrieve the birth certificate and…leave no witnesses behind. Yes, that’s what I must do.”
“He’s going to try and burn us out,” Sarah whispered. She turned to Mary. “Hurry and find Betty. I’ll follow Matthew and stop him from burning down the mansion.”
“We need to call the sheriff,” Mary insisted.
“No,” Sarah replied in a furious voice. “Matthew claimed that Brenda killed my father, but I know he’s lying. He’s going to suffer for his crime. Once I’ve issued justice then you can call the sheriff.”
“You can’t kill him,” Mary begged.
“I’m not going to kill that monster,” Sarah promised. She looked deep into Mary’s eyes. “Mary, I want justice for my father. As his daughter it’s my duty to avenge his death. Now, I understand you mean well and inside of my heart I feel very grateful…but your father was not murdered…my father was.” Sarah fought back tears. “What would you be feeling at this very second if you were looking at the person who murdered your father…or mother…or husband?”
Mary had never considered walking in Sarah’s footsteps. She had never fully attempted to understand the deep pain and anger torturing Sarah’s heart. “I would want justice,” she admitted.
“And I’m going to issue justice to that horrible monster,” Sarah promised, taking Mary’s hand. “Mary, Matthew is falling apart. He’s an old man who is desperate to escape. But Brenda isn’t falling
apart. She has everything needed to come out the winner in all of this.”
“What do you mean?” Mary asked.
“It doesn’t matter who lives or who dies,” Sarah explained. “By law Brenda is the adopted daughter of Ralph McCane. My father, bless his sweet soul, possessed a loving heart, Mary. Even after he realized that Betty’s mother was my mother’s true sister, he still didn’t exclude Brenda from his will. Instead he added Betty and divided his fortune between the three of us.”
Mary rubbed her eyes. “How does that make Cousin Brenda the winner?” she asked, struggling to make sense of Sarah’s words.
“I have the only copy of my father’s will,” Sarah explained. “If Matthew dies…or if my father is found murdered…all of his money will go directly to her.”
“I’m still very confused.”
“I know you are,” Sarah sighed. She checked on Matthew and spotted him in the sitting chair rubbing his chin. “Brenda has been having a man come once a week,” she continued, “to help her.”
“Help her?”
Sarah nodded. “This man has been delivering forged papers and documents,” she explained. “Including a forged last will and testimony.”
“But you have the real will your father wrote out,” Mary pointed out.
Sarah looked down at her hands. “Mary…I…oh, the will my father sent me was nothing more than a letter,” she confessed in a miserable voice. “Father told me he hid his real will inside this mansion. I haven’t been able to locate it. I’m sorry I lied. I wanted to see how Betty would react when I mentioned my father’s will. I know it was horrible of me…I…had to see Betty’s eyes…I had to know the truth.”
“Betty is innocent.”
Sarah lifted her eyes. “I see innocence glowing in Betty’s eyes,” she agreed.
Mary folded her arms and looked at Sarah. “So…your father’s will…the real will…is hidden inside this mansion someplace and Brenda has been hiring someone to make fake papers and a fake will.”
“Matthew is aware of Brenda’s secret meetings,” Sarah told Mary. “That’s why he’s desperate to locate my father’s real birth certificate. If Matthew has my father’s real birth certificate, he can fight Brenda and retain power over my father’s money. And if that happens, he’ll be able to change anything he desires, including my father’s true will.” Sarah peered back out at Matthew. “Brenda saw Matthew push her mother down the stairs. That’s when she became frightened and began scheming up a plan of her own, a plan to destroy Matthew and take my father’s money. Matthew wants to kill Brenda, but he’s been waiting for her to complete her work.”
“What in the world for?” Mary asked.
Sarah focused back on Mary. “I don’t know,” she confessed. “Mary, I haven’t been able to watch Matthew and Brenda every second of every day. I had to look in on my father and take time to sleep…use the bathroom without being seen…eat.” Sarah shook her head. “This is a very large mansion and it’s rare when Brenda and Matthew are in the same room together. It takes time to travel from one location to the next and spy on them, gather information, try and make sense of what they are planning. Can you understand that?”
Mary could understand Sarah’s anger and frustration—her exhaustion and fatigue. “I’m sorry. I should realize by now the incredible task you have been undertaking all by yourself.”
“Don’t be sorry,” Sarah told her, “please, just go and find Betty. When you find Betty, locate Brenda—when you do, pretend that you’re on her side…make her really believe she’s pulled the wool down over your eyes.” Sarah looked back at Matthew. “Take Brenda into the main living room after you find her.”
“Why?” Mary asked.
“I have a plan,” Sarah promised. “I—” Before Sarah could finish her sentence her body froze. She lifted her hand up and covered her heart. “Oh my,” she said in a weak voice.
“What is it?” Mary begged.
“I suddenly feel…very…dizzy…” Sarah whispered and then, to Mary’s horror, she collapsed onto the floor.
“Sarah!” Mary cried. She dropped down to the floor and placed Sarah’s head onto her lap. “Sara …” Mary quickly checked to see if Sarah was breathing. “Don’t die on me,” she begged.
Sarah let out a painful moan, letting Mary know she was still alive. “Oh,” Mary whispered and looked around. As she did, she heard Matthew stand up, walk across the floor, open the bedroom door, and vanish. “Oh my,” she said in a desperate voice, “what am I going to do?”
As Mary stared down at Sarah’s unconscious face, the hidden door leading into the room she was hiding in slowly began to creep open. Mary tensed up and waited for Matthew to appear with his gun. Instead, Betty poked her sweet head into the room with scared eyes. When she spotted Mary holding Sarah’s head in her lap, she nearly fainted. “Oh dear, what happened?” she asked.
“Sarah collapsed. I think it’s her heart. Where have you been?”
“I…got lost,” Betty admitted in an ashamed voice. “So many hallways…so many rooms and doors…I tried to find Matthew, honest I did, Mary.”
“I know you did,” Mary assured Betty. “I’m very grateful you found me instead.” Mary nodded to the two holes in the wall. “Matthew’s bedroom is through that wall. There’s a telephone in his bedroom. You have to hurry to the telephone and call the sheriff.”
“How do I find my way out of this maze?” Betty asked Mary in a worried voice. “I can’t even find my elbow from my thumb, Mary. I’m so turned around…” Betty sighed. “Oh, what a horrible night this is, Mary.”
“Don’t give up on me yet,” Mary begged, “because two ugly monsters are still inside of this mansion. We still have to find Brenda and manage to trap Matthew before he burns the mansion down with us inside.”
“Burn the mansion down?” Betty asked. Then she fainted.
“No,” Mary begged and closed her eyes. “Oh, John, what a mess…”
Mary gently placed Sarah’s head down onto the floor and crawled over to Betty. “Betty …wake up,” she begged and softly began fanning Betty’s face. “You were so brave earlier…don’t faint on me now.”
Betty’s eyes fluttered and then slowly opened. “No, Mother, I’ve had enough milk before bed,” she mumbled.
“Oh, Betty, wake up,” Mary nearly cried. “I’m not your mother and we’re in some serious trouble.”
Betty looked up into Mary’s desperate face with confused eyes. “Mother?”
“No,” Mary told Betty, “I’m Mary.”
“Mary?” Betty asked. “Mary, what are you doing at my house at this time of night?”
Mary bowed her head. At least Betty was coming around. “We’re not at your house. We’re in Maine…trapped inside of Ralph McCane’s mansion.”
“Really…golly…” Betty mumbled and began to close her eyes.
“Forgive me,” Mary whispered and slapped Betty in the face.
Betty’s eyes jerked open as if someone had thrown a bucket of cold water onto her. “Hey…” she cried out. Her eyes locked on Mary. “Mary…you hit me?”
“I had to,” Mary apologized and began rubbing Betty’s cheek. “I need you awake. You fainted on me again.”
“I did?” Betty asked as her mind began to return back to the present. “Oh dear…the mansion.”
Mary nodded. “I’m afraid so, dear.” She helped Betty stand up. “Betty, there’s only a few rays of sunlight shining through the cloud of confusion covering my mind right now,” she confessed. “Matthew seems to be chasing his own agenda as does Cousin Brenda while pretending to stand on the same bridge.” Mary rubbed the bridge of her nose. “They’re both no good…well, maybe Cousin Brenda isn’t as evil as Matthew…maybe?”
“Poor Cousin Brenda,” Betty sighed and shook her head. “Oh well.” She bent down to the floor and carefully looked into Sarah’s face. “Cousin Brenda chose her path. As Mother always told me…you sleep in the bed you make.”
Mary sat down o
n her knees and pushed Sarah’s hair away from her face. “I think Sarah suffered an episode,” she explained. “Tonight has been too much for her.” Mary looked at Betty. “I’m going to find Brenda. You go for the telephone.”
“I’ll try,” Betty promised. “In the meantime, do we leave Sarah here?”
“I’m afraid so,” Mary said as she climbed to her feet. “Now listen to me,” she continued in an urgent voice, “I’m going to locate Brenda and try my best to make her believe we’re playing on her side of the ball park.”
“And then what will you do?” Betty asked.
“Have Brenda help me trap Matthew,” Mary explained. “I can’t go outside because of that awful dog, but Brenda can.” Mary rubbed her nervous hands together. “I don’t have my plan all figured out yet, but I will. Now we have to hurry.”
Betty stood up and hugged Mary. “Be careful,” she begged.
“I will,” Mary promised. She took Betty’s hand and walked her out of the hidden room and back out to the hallway. “Okay, here’s where we separate. Go find the telephone and call the local sheriff,” Mary told Betty. She began to dash away but then paused, looked back at the hidden room, and then looked at Betty. “Of course,” Mary said and ran back into the hidden room before Betty could ask why. A minute later Mary returned wearing Sarah’s black cloak. “How do I look?” she asked Betty.
“Very scary,” Betty confessed.
“Good.” Mary smiled and hurried away.
“Be careful,” Betty begged. She hesitated for several moments before gathering the courage to roam around the hidden hallways again.
As Betty wandered around, Mary made her way back to the hallway under the main staircase. She peered through the two holes in the wall, saw that the foyer was empty, and slipped out through a hidden door and silently crept into the living room. And there, sitting on the couch, with her hands and feet tied together, was Brenda.
Mary Had a Little Scare Page 12