Page 16 of The Magical Bed & Breakfast

“Just in case,” she said.

“Thanks.” Rory shoved them in his back pocket. Reaching out, he took her hand. He tugged, and she followed him around the wall. It was spider webby. She probably had the right idea, covering her hair, but whatever, he was ready to do this.

He scoped out the space with his flashlight and eased in, ducking. He had found this space as a teen, but he’d been shorter then. Cavernous and mysterious anddarkthen, now it struck him as cramped and stuffy.

Kate was plastered against his back as they inched their way inside. She gave the occasional squeal when a cobweb brushed her face, but Rory took the brunt of it. He slid on the gloves she’d given him to push the webs out of the way. About five feet in, the narrow tunnel opened up into a room. He hadn’t made it this far as a teen blundering about in the dark.

His flashlight illumined the space, revealing an antique writing desk. Seeing the piece of furniture, Kate apparently lost her fear, because she was all over it. Brushing decades of dust and grime off the desk, she began opening it up, sliding open drawers and running her hands over it in awe. “This is beautiful, and in remarkably good condition for being down here. We should bring it back up with us.”

Rory gave an absentminded nod. The desk was not what interested him.

Had everything that had happened to him as a teen been in his imagination? He closed his eyes and listened. No, the voices were still there, whispering softly in the background at the edge of his consciousness. Did Kate sense them? He opened his eyes and studied her, still marveling over the desk. Impatient, he asked her, “Do you hear that?”

Kate froze and listened. “I don’t know. Critters scurrying?”

Rory shook his head.Great, so it was just him.

Whispers.

Of the wind.

He shrugged. “Come on.” He motioned a come-with-me at Kate even as he sensed her reluctance to leave the desk. He knew she would rather take it upstairs immediately, but Rory didn’t want to miss this chance to explore. If they stopped now, there really was nothing from keeping Kate from closing up this space forever.

Maybe the possibility of more furniture would pull her along. They moved in silence out of the room and along a slightly wider stone corridor, not speaking—Rory, because he was listening intently, and Kate, likely because she was overwhelmed that all this connected to her inn. They traveled what must have been two hundred yards when they came upon another room, this one with stairs leading up.

“Where do those go?”

Rory thought and nodded. “I think we’re under Camellia Lane, the street behind your inn. That must go up into one of the houses.”

“Do you think the owners know?

“Possibly.” Rory gingerly walked up the stone steps and tried the door.

“Shouldn’t we knock?”

Rory glanced at Kate who was biting her lip. “You’re kidding, right? How scary would that be? Somebody knocking at your basement hide out.”

“Hey, you tried the door. How scary would it be if we just popped in?”

“Good point.” Rory nodded.

“Okay, so we should map the distance going back, and approach the owner of the house later. “If they don’t know this is here, they should.” Kate rubbed her arms in the chill air of the tunnel.

“Agreed.” They moved together as the corridor wound to the right. The further they moved through it, the cleaner the tunnel became.

“Someone maintains this.”

“Do you think they know it leads to my inn?”

Rory stopped and frowned, considering the distance they’d traveled and the camouflaged entrance to the inn’s basement. Not to mention that the desk had been undisturbed for who knows how long. “Not necessarily.” Suddenly, he knew where they were. And it was too much. Because he’d been trapped for endless hours in the inn, and if he had known, he could have gotten out. He could have beenhome.

“What? You look angry.”

“Not at you.”

“Then?”

“At myself. I know where we are. I can sense it. It’s here.” He tugged her along and pushed on a wooden slat. On a long screech, it swung wide.

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