Clopwyck River - revised version

Chapter Twenty-eight

"What the hell is that?"
​Ciara turns the door handle, and smiles when it opens with a click. "It's a door."
​"I can see that, Ciara. Where does it go?"
​"I can't believe you don't remember any of this. We were down here one day, playing over there, and Ben and Leo suddenly burst through this door." She shakes her head, smiling to herself. "Leo's face, honestly, he was so pleased with himself, and Ben was jumping behind him, so eager to see us, but looking over his shoulder, worried he was going to get into trouble. Come on."
​She pulls a tiny torch out from her pocket, and turns it on, stepping through the door into the darkness. I peep my head around the doorway, but can't see anything beyond the beam of light from Ciara's torch. I pull away and look at Ciara as she waits for me, a hand on her hip.
​"Now what's wrong?" she snaps.
​"Is this a good idea? I mean, seriously, where does it go?"
​"Where do you think it goes? To the vicarage. You know, where Ben and Leo live? Where we'll find...."
​"Ben's journal." I finish. "Isn't that like breaking in?"
​"Hardly. It's more like strolling down your hallway."
​"What if Dan or Leo sees us?"
​"Dan has an arrangement with the hospital; he's been staying in the visitor's room most nights so he won't even be there. And don't tell me the thought of running into Leo in his boxers doesn't fill you with excitement."
​I glare at her, and turn my torch on. "Fine. Let's go."
​I take a deep breath and walk alongside Ciara, each of our footsteps accompanied by a faint, drip, drip, drip of water from deep within the tunnel. I'm thankful for our torches which give off just enough light so we can avoid walking through damp cobwebs that zigzag the crumbling walls. Cobwebs and creepy crawlies that I'm seriously trying not to think about right now. Every fifteen steps or so, there are wrought iron sconces attached to the glistening bricks, a history of melted candle wax dripping from each one.
​"Ciara?"
​"Demi?"
​"What is this tunnel? I mean, what was it used for?" I ask.
​"I know you've not been here long, but I refuse to believe nobody has told you about Lizzy and Ruth Sutton."
​"The witches?"
​"Uh-huh. This was the tunnel that the priest and his wife used to hide the baby. Your cellar back there was part of an old ice house or something, before your house was built on top of it. They would use this tunnel to get from the vicarage to look after that baby, and keep it secret from everyone."
​I look at Ciara, expecting her to erupt into laughter, but her mouth is set in a grave line as she walks ahead, pulling spider's webs out of her way like she's pulling back a curtain.
​"No way."
​She shrugs her shoulders. "Whatever. Don't believe me if it makes you feel better. It has to be. That's the only thing we could think of." She hops over the lifeless body of a very decayed, very smelly rat, and I have to admit I'm impressed that she doesn't display any signs of being squeamish, which I would expect from a princess like her. "God, it's been a lifetime since I was down here."
​"I can't believe you used to come down here alone. You must have been tiny," I say.
​"Not just me, remember? You as well. We used to spend hours running up and down these tunnels. It's amazing what kids get up to when their parents leave them to their own devices. Obviously we stopped using it when you...when you left."
​I still can't get my head around the fact that I lived here before. The idea that I was once friends with Ciara just seems so farfetched I'm not sure I really believe it. I wonder what Ruby would make of me taking this secret journey with her arch nemesis. Perhaps I'll wait and see how this all turns out before I tell her.
​Just as the smell of damp is starting to make me dizzy, I see a wooden door a few meters in front of us. Ciara picks up her pace, and I do the same, both of us tiptoeing around the muddy puddles scattered across the floor.
Ciara puts her hand on the door and it creaks open with a shriek, making me jump so much that I drop my phone. She glares at me as I bend to retrieve it, before it gets submerged in a puddle. She pushes the door all the way open and we emerge into another tunnel, one that's a few meters long with another door at the end.
"That's it. That's the door into the vicarage."
Ciara hurries forward and puts both hands on the door, pressing her ear against the wood like she's listening for a heartbeat. I look over my shoulder hoping to see Andrew hurrying out of the darkness in his pyjamas, as Ciara moves her hands up and down each side of the knotted door. She frowns as she pushes on different sections of the wood.
"It's here somewhere, I know it....." There's a clunk as the door inches open with a gasp of air, and she turns to me. "Now follow me, but be silent. We're about to go into the vicarage. Turn your phone off, we only need one light." I stare at her, clutching my phone to my chest. "Don't be such a scaredy-cat; I said turn it off."
I switch it off and reluctantly stick it in my back pocket. Ciara waves me over to her and I walk over, getting as close as I can.
"Right, this leads through to the cupboard under the stairs. There's a few bits in there, vacuum, ironing board, but there's enough room for us to get through, okay?" I nod. "Ben's journal will be in one of two places. Either in his room, or in the study."
"Why does he keep his journal in the study?"
"He moved it when I found it last time and I kind of followed him. He might have moved it back for all I know. Either way we're going to have to split up."
"What?! No! No way, Ciara. We should stick together."
"Demi, it's very sweet that you have a crush on me but we'll be much faster, and make less noise if we split up."
"Fine. Can I turn my light back on then?"
She shakes her head. "You're going to go into the study. There'll be a lamp on in the hallway and you can turn a lamp on once you're in there. I'm going upstairs. I know my way around so I won't need my light on either. I'm going to turn it off once we're in the cupboard. Please don't tell me you're scared of the dark and you'll start groping me or something?"
I glare at her. "Let's just get this done so we can get out of here."
"Agreed. Ready?"
I nod, and she steps through the doorway, her light jiggling around inside the tiny cupboard. I follow her through, being careful not to impale myself on any of the domestic appliances that are stuffed inside the space.
"Shut the door." She whispers, and I push the door until I feel it close with a click.
Ciara puts her hand on the door handle in front of her, I'm guessing the one that will lead us into the house. She holds her torch up.
"Ready?"
​I nod and she clicks it off, plunging us into squid ink darkness. My heart travels up my neck, strangling me in panic in the few seconds it takes between the light going off and Ciara opening the door, allowing an orange glow of light to trickle through the door.
​She steps out of the cupboard, her blonde hair swinging across her shoulders as she looks around the hallway before she emerges fully, beckoning me out as she heads to the bottom of the stairs. She was right; there's a lamp on in the hallway giving us plenty of light so we can see where we're going.
​Ciara points to a closed door, and I nod as I make my way to the study. I see her waving her arm in the corner of my eye, and I look around as I reach the door. She mouths good luck, then tiptoes up the stairs.
​I open the door to the study, and sneak in, closing it behind me. The room is bathed in darkness and I wait a few seconds for my eyes to get used to the lack of light, then I make out the shape of a lamp.
​I click it on and t gives off just the amount of light I need to see that every wall of the room is covered in bookshelves, stuffed to the brim with books of all shapes and sizes.
​I think I'm going to need more than luck to find Ben's journal in here.