A New Estate - Crimson Peak

Chapter Eight

A few days had past since the incident in the kitchen.

Thankfully, aside from a few peculiar noises around the house, nothing as prominent as the kitchen incident occurred again.

Over the days I had busied myself with tidying up more bedrooms and preparing for the workmen's arrival, it was a thankful distraction that kept my mind occupied and stopped my thoughts straying to previous events.

Time slipped by quickly as I worked to keep myself distracted and before I knew it the men had shown up to continue their stalled work on the rest of the roof before eventually moving on to patching up the rest of the manor.

The sound of wheels rattling down the bumpy path is what alerted me to their arrival early in the morning, I had barely settled myself with a drink at the time but the sound of something other than bumps and groans from the house caused my heart to race and I had to immediately detect the source of the sound.

Gathering up my shawl, I hastily made my way outside and looked down the long trail leading up to the manor.

I shivered and wrapped my arms around myself, the thin material of the shawl doing little to protect me from the bitter wind.

The large doors behind me slammed open and closed as the wind managed to catch them, the sound seeming to echo loudly in the background of the still empty feeling house.

Several carriages and wagons rattled their way down the red road, most of the contents looking close to falling off.

How they had made it this far without losing everything was a mystery.

The sudden arrival of other life felt so surreal, watching the line of carriages pull up and come to a stop felt like some kind of strange dream.

Once the two carriages came to a stand still, the workmen eagerly jumped out and began to unpack materials and tools without hesitation.

I hardly had a chance to greet any of them.

I watched in mild bemusement as they passed by, carrying all kinds of equipment on their shoulders. Men of all shapes and sizes walk past, offering me either a nod or a grunt in greeting before stepping past and going around to the back of the manor.

Another more portly looking man approached me, a friendly smile putting me at ease as he came to a stop.

"Mornin'," he grinned cheerily, extending a gloved hand to me. "I'm David, I'm the supervisor for this project."

I returned his smile and took his hand, shaking it delicately which only seemed to make him laugh.

"The arm won't break, my girl."

I couldn't help but to laugh with him, his humour and laughter being contagious, especially after spending so many days alone.

"So, me and the boys are just going to set up, is there anywhere to keep the supplies?"

"Oh, yes," I nodded, turning towards the left side of the manor. "There's a small brick fixture over there, I'm not sure what's in it but I'm sure you can use that for storage."

David smiled and thanked me, barking an order for the men to move the things to the allocated storage area.

A light grunt and a scuffle sounded behind him, the tink of a chain lead being fiddled with followed soon after.

"Sir?" A soft yet gravely voice spoke. "Where do I put the dog?"

David rolled his eyes and turned to look over his shoulder, leaning a little to my right I attempted to see behind him as well.