A New Estate - Crimson Peak

Chapter Twenty Four

It was only a few days later that David passed, putting a damp mood upon us all.

Everyone was affected, despite how oddly vile he had become the longer the men worked on the manor his death still shook the others.

Father wasted no time in appointing Ben as the new supervisor of the overall work and set about the task of preparing a resting place for David.

George and Hille spent the rest of that particular day searching and found a place a couple of miles away to serve as his grave, choosing to bury him somewhere further afield from the manor.

The morning after the left on foot with two shovels and didn't return for almost eight hours, when they did eventually arrive back they were exhausted and covered in mud.

Whilst they then settled down for a nights rest, Ben, Nathaniel and Father set about the morbid task of wrapping David up in a worn bed sheet.

Outside, Jonathan and Alex prepared a cart for the morning, saving us time and resulting in us not having to get up even earlier than we already had to.

I used the moment hectic to step outside and clear my head, which felt over stuffed and tense after everything that had happened in such quick succession.

It seemed that keep busy was the best way to get by and make the hours whittle away, staying focused appeared to be helping the others but the silence everyone worked in was almost suffocating.

Every now and then there would be murmurs amongst a select few, but that mostly seemed to be about the next task for their current job.

Amongst the chaos, I came to notice that it seemed as if Robert was avoiding me.

There were times when he seemed to scoot around me or he'd abruptly leave a room that I had just entered.

A few times I witnessed him conversing with Father in a whisper, my father's expression one of thought and intrigue, sometimes accompanied with a glance in my direction that I wholly believe he didn't realise that I had noticed.

Opposite to her owner, China had taken to sticking vigilantly by my side as if scared that if she were to step away for a single moment that I would be horribly maimed.

Due to this protectiveness, she had escorted me as I stepped outside and went ahead on her own little scouting mission much like last time we had ventured out with Robert, only rather than steaming ahead she made sure to always keep me in her sights and would continuously glance back as if to make sure that I was still there.

I gave her a smile and made shooing gestures with my hands, attempting to tell her that it was fine if she went a little further without me. Each time she would trot a few feet further before stopping and looking back once again, her tail beginning to wag as she saw that I was still following behind her at my own pace.

As we casually strolled away from the manor, China a lot calmer this time than previous times, I took a moment to appreciate the great expanse around Allerdale Hall.

The vast area was so serene and peaceful, the trees much further afield looked inviting and I was ready to go and explore, just to get away from it all for a while.

All the occurrences around the manor were beginning to tire me by that point, being on edge and worrying about the next event and what it just may entail made my mind exhausted and my body numb.

Now with David's death, who at least three of us were adamant was due to the spectre of Lady Sharpe, it was likely to only get worse.

Fingers and scorned gazes would likely be thrown towards Robert in accusation, he was the most likely suspect after all.