Page 71 of Kate and Clara's Curious Cornish Craft Shop
‘I’m here!’ he suddenly calls, and I turn around at the bottom of the stairs to try to place his voice.
‘In here,’ Jack says, opening a small door under the stairs and wheeling himself out.
‘What are you doing under there?’ I ask. ‘Guess what I’ve found upstairs – a room where someone definitely did oil painting! There are splashes of paint all over the floor.’
‘Great,’ Jack says, still holding the door of the cupboard open. ‘That definitely backs up what I’ve found too. Look!’
I hurry over to the under-stairs cupboard and look at what he’s pointing at. On the back of the wooden door are a number of carved doodles where someone has deliberately defaced the wood with a knife.
The one that Jack is pointing to very clearly spells outMAGGIE.
‘It can’t just be a coincidence, can it?’ I ask breathlessly. ‘Are we simply looking for proof that isn’t really there?’
‘I don’t think so. If you go into the cupboard there are even more doodles – some of them quite arty – and we know Maggie liked her art.’
I look at Jack. ‘So they did live here … Clara, Maggie and Arty, in this very house.’
‘Did someone call?’ A voice comes from the open front door and we see Jackson popping his head in.
‘Er, no, I don’t think so,’ I say, hurriedly moving towards him as Jack closes the door behind us.
‘I’m sure I distinctly heard my name called in a women’s voice,’ he says, looking at me. ‘You called “Jack” a couple of times, didn’t you?’
‘Oh! Oh that, yes, I did …’
‘She sometimes calls me “Jack”,’ Jack says, swiftly pulling up next to me. ‘It’s like a pet name.’ He takes hold of my hand. ‘And I call her …’ He pauses, and I see a wicked glint appear in his eye. ‘Gertrude,’ he says, looking lovingly up at me. ‘Don’t I, Gerty?’
‘Yes,’ I say, staring back at him, not quite as fondly. ‘Yes, you do.’
‘Ah … I see,’ Jackson says, seeming slightly bewildered. ‘So, what did you think of the house then?’
‘It’s very nice,’ I say, ‘But I’m not sure it’s for us after all, is it,Trevor?’
Jack shakes his head. ‘No, Gerty here can be a bit superstitious, and she’s not getting the right vibes about this house, are you, Gert?’
I shake my head.
‘Or the previous owners,’ Jack continues. ‘Do you know much about the previous occupants, Jackson?’
Jackson shakes his head. ‘No, I’m afraid I don’t. It’s such a shame you don’t like the house. It’s been on the market for a bit and we’ve been instructed to put it up for auction if it doesn’t sell by the end of the summer. Someone could get a real bargain if that happens. It’s a lovely place and in very good structural order for its age. A quick lick of paint and some new fixtures and fittings and it would make someone a beautiful home.’
‘I’m sure it would,’ I agree, looking around me. ‘Well, we don’t want to take up any more of your time, do we, Trevor?’
Jack shakes his head. ‘No, thanks for letting us have a nose around, Jackson. Good luck with finding a buyer.’
‘Thank you,’ Jackson says, holding the door open for us. ‘And good luck to you with …’ He looks at Jack as he pushes himself outside. ‘Well, with everything really.’
Jack stares at him. ‘Luck doesn’t come into it, Jackson. Tenacity, perseverance, and dogged determination to be as normal as possible is what gets me through the day, andthatwill never change.’
Twenty-four
‘So, what do we do now?’ Jack says, as we make our way back down the hill into town.
‘That’s no clearer than it was before Trevor and Gerty visited the house,’ I reply. ‘Thanks for that name by the way.’
‘You’re very welcome! We do know a little more though. Someone called Maggie and someone who painted lived there, and the house provided both the easel and the sewing machine to us. Could it be anyone other than Clara and Arty?’
‘I guess. It would be a huge coincidence if it wasn’t them.’
