Page 6 of From the Darkness

Several paces along the uncarpeted hallway, they turned another corner. Behind her, Bree heard a floorboard creak, and the skin on the back of her neck tingled.

Was Abner Sterling behind her—ready to attack? Stopping, she whirled—to confront a tall, gaunt man who stood glaring at her. His face was lined with vertical wrinkles, but he stood with shoulders squared. His clothing was scruffy—a dark wool jacket, a dirty shirt, blotched pants.

Feeling a sudden pressure against her side, Bree looked down to see that Dinah had also turned and was squeezed very close to her, her free arm clamped on the stuffed kitty. Obviously, she was alarmed by the newcomer.

The man ignored the child, his glittering gaze fixed on Bree.

“Who are you? And what are you doing here?” he demanded, his voice low and raspy.

The questions were starting to get tiresome, she thought. “Dinah’s new teacher,” she answered. “Who are you?”

“Graves.” He kept his gaze steady, his stance rigid.

“You work here?”

“I take care of some things, yeah,” was his cryptic reply.

Beside her, Dinah stirred.

Bree bent to the child. “Are you all right?” she questioned.

“I don’t want to stay here,” the little girl whispered.

“We won’t!”

The child made a small sound, her eyes going wide. Bree turned again, following her gaze—and discovered that Graves had vanished as quickly as he had appeared.

She took several steps down the hall, trying to figure out how he’d managed such a quick escape. Like the man outside in the driveway!

Only now they were inside. Which probably meant he’d stepped into one of the secret passages built into the house—passages that the London twins had discovered when they were kids.

She was just reaching for a curtain covering the wall, when Dinah’s fingers closed around the fabric of her slacks. “Don’t go look for him,” she begged. “He’s scary. Come see your room!”

Although Bree wanted to find out exactly how the man had disappeared so quickly, the child was more important.

“Okay,” she agreed and heard Dinah’s small sigh of relief.

The girl led her down another hallway that turned off to the right. Bree was thinking that perhaps she should have left a trail of breadcrumbs so she could find her way back downstairs when Dinah stopped in front of a closed door. “This was Miss Carpenter’s room. I guess you’re supposed to sleep here.”

“That sounds right.”

Bree turned the knob and pushed the door open, wincing as it creaked on worn hinges. Fumbling along the wall for the light switch, she found it and flipped the toggle, turning on an elaborate, old-fashioned metal and glass ceiling fixture.

The rest of the room looked as though it had been redecorated with a combination of new fabrics, gleaming white woodwork, and beautifully restored antiques. Under a flowered Oriental rug, the wood floor was newly refinished. And the small green and white checks on the bedspread matched the gracefully flowing draperies. The dresser and high chest were polished oak.

“It’s nice,” she murmured, then crossed the room and laid her suitcase on the double bed.

Dinah gave her a small smile. “I’m glad you like it.”

“Did Miss Carpenter like it?” Bree asked.

The girl considered the question. “She did at first; then she said it was spooky.”

“Oh.”

“I think that’s why she left. It didn’t have anything to do with me,” she added quickly.

“I didn’t think so,” Bree agreed, even as she digested the new information. Had Miss Carpenter made the decision to leave because she was afraid to stay at Ravencrest? Or had the Sterlings sent her packing?

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