The Secrets of Whitelea

|Chapter Five|

Chapter Five

It was mid-afternoon when Bella finally made it up to Hamilton House. Elizabeth had spent the time explaining who Georgina Roux was and what had happened with her – essentially, Georgina cheated on Elizabeth with a guy and then laughed about it. But that had been last year – long before Bella had appeared and Elizabeth was apparently over her ex. Bella wasn't totally sure she believed her.

With a sigh, she lugged her suitcase from her car and up the front steps of the house. She tried to push the door open but it was locked. Bella stepped back and looked up at the windows. No sign of life. Why, oh, why, hadn't Bella forced Elizabeth to give her the keys to the place? Bella stepped forward and rang the doorbell and heard the following chimes echo through the entrance hall. Bella huffed in annoyance and was about to go back to her car and face the humiliation of returning to the cottage when the door opened. "Hi, can I-" The voice stopped. "Bella?" Bella frowned in confusion.

"Douglas? What are you doing here?" She asked. Douglas gave a sheepish grin.

"My cousin, remember?" He said.

"Oh. Right. Yeah."

"What are you doing here?" He looked down at her suitcase.

"Moving in."

"You're what-" Douglas stared at her, his mouth open.

"You heard me. Excuse me." Bella attempted to get past him. Douglas' shock turned into a smile.

"Only if you say the magic word." He teased.

"Abracadabra?" Bella said. Douglas raised his eyebrows. "Bibbidi-bobbidi-boo?"

"Jesus, were you never taught manners?"

"That's blasphemy, you know."

"Like you're Christian."

"You're right, I'm not. Now, excuse me, please." Douglas moved aside and Bella dragged her suitcase through the door.

Bella started the long climb up the staircase. The public – what few visitors they had – were only allowed to see the downstairs and one of the upstairs bedrooms. Luckily the bedroom that they used was one that no one had ever slept it – not to Bella's knowledge anyway.

Two flights of stairs later and she finally reached her bedroom. At least I'll get a good workout running up and down those stairs everyday, she thought.

Her room was at the top of the house. It was a reasonably large room. Square, with white walls. A window looked out onto the grounds below. She could see her sister's cottage from here. A window seat was below the window, three pillows were placed at one end, the one at the front was a light pink colour with the letter 'A' sewn onto it. Curtains in the same pale pink colour hung either side, the bottoms sweeping the carpeted floor. They were tied back by curtain ties of the same colour. A four-poster bed stood against the left wall, unmade and empty. White bedside cabinets stood either side of it, lamps with pink shades on top of both. Fairy lights were wound over the beams in the bed. A chest of drawers stood opposite the bed, the same design as the bedside cabinets. A pair of double doors were situated on the left of the chest of drawers, near the window, which opened to reveal a walk-in wardrobe. On the same wall as the door into the room, on Bella's left, was another door which led onto the ensuite bathroom.

Bella dumped her suitcase on her bed and plonked herself on the mattress beside it. There was a knock on her door and Douglas stuck his head round. "Did you need any help with anything?" Bella smiled.