Page 18 of The Silence of Hell

“Hey, this is whiskey,” Dan said, holding a bottle up.

“Yeah. Great-Uncle Ronald loved it. He died before I was born, but Aunt Aggie bought rare bottles when she discovered them.”

Dan carefully put it back and peered at me. “This is full of rare booze?”

“Literally, yes. From what I recall, the collection is worth a small fortune.”

“Don’t get your wine from down here!” Kelly ordered to the girls, who laughed. I glanced around and picked up a couple of bottles. “We’ll open these with pizza tonight. There are three crates of this wine. Come, I bet you missed a room,” I said to Dan, who’d been in here.

“Not that I know of,” Dan replied, frowning.

I winked and moved to a rack against the wall. I felt for the secret lock and pressed it. The rack sprang away from the wall.

“A hidden entrance!” Harriet squealed.

“Ravenberry is full of passageways and secret rooms,” I said, and they all looked excited. They peered inside and gaped. Steps had been carved out, and I hit the light switch. There was electricity here, I remembered that. I headed down, and they followed. The room I was searching for was over three hundred steps down. We were puffing a little when we hit the ground.

Their eyes widened as they stared at the immense cave we’d discovered. It was crammed with fine wine, rare spirits and kegs, crates of bottles, and so on.

“Holy shit,” Dan said, feeling faint.

“Yeah, you can drink what’s upstairs because for every bottle on display there, there’s a crate or keg down here,” I replied.

“Wow,” Emory gasped. “Are you going to sell this?”

“No. It’s part of the estate’s legacy. I might get it valued, but not until security has been updated. Remember your NDA, kids. To protect this, I will cheerfully ruin your life. I look at Ravenberry and the estate as something I’m guardian of. It’s not mine to chop up and sell off in pieces. My ancestors built this, and that has meaning,” I explained.

“I like that,” Kelly stated, and I smiled at him.

“Come on, those stairs are killers,” I replied.

By the time we reached the top, we were all huffing and puffing.

“If you’re looking for permanent staff, keep me in mind,” Emory said when we caught our breath.

“Are there other collections?” Dan asked.

I sighed. “Oh, hell yes. My family were hoarders.”

“I need a job here,” Emory begged, and I laughed.

We headed upstairs, and I locked the cellar door. I seriously needed security installing. There were several fortunes in Ravenberry, and shockingly, it had been left empty. It was a miracle it hadn’t been broken into and raided.

Unlocking all the doors on the ground floor took us until lunchtime, and I’d pre-ordered a range of sandwiches and snacks to be delivered. The students devoured them as we discussed our findings.

Most of the rooms had held dolls as feared, but the long ballroom had been crammed with toy cars. That was a nod to Uncle Ronald. I’d sighed and shaken my head. This was going to be a nightmare. Maybe hiring the kids permanently wouldn’t be amiss.

After lunch we headed upstairs and discovered the grand gallery rammed full of boxes. Confused, I opened one and exhaled. Nestled inside was a Fabergé egg. Looking around, I felt like giving up. This was too overwhelming.

“We can do this, Lavender. Although I got to admit, I feel like you look,” Dan said. The others nodded their heads.

“I didn’t know what to expect, but this wasn’t it,” Harriet agreed.

I snorted in amusement. “Okay, let’s get to work.” I shared the keys out again and soon we’d opened every door on this floor.

“Dolls!” Emory cried as she entered the last room. “Damn, I wouldn’t mind this as a bedroom.”

I walked to where Emory stood and smiled. “It is called the Peacock Room. It’s one of the most beautiful bedrooms in the house.”

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