Lost Souls

29

Jimmy felt terrible. He'd been extremely confident, his plan to find evidence inside Galbraith Lodge had been the correct way forward, but now, as he stood paralysed with fear outside the master bedroom, he wasn't so sure. Perspiration covered his body, and the muscles around his shoulders, and at the base of his neck were so tight, he worried they might snap.

​The silence in the corridor grated on his nerves. All he could hear was the distant chiming of the grandfather clock downstairs and his own heart beating furiously against his chest.

​Swallowing hard, Jimmy reached out a tentative hand. He couldn't help but notice he was shaking terribly. "Come on son. Don't mess it up now," he whispered, as he started to grow angry with himself.

​The door handle felt cold to the touch. Jimmy turned it very slowly. Mrs. MacDonald had told him that Douglas Galbraith never locked his door owing to the fact he was served breakfast in bed every morning. All right for some, Jimmy had thought at the time.

​The door handle turned a fraction...and then stuck fast.
​"Crap!" Jimmy said, more loudly than he'd intended.

​He twisted harder. It was the same result. Why had Galbraith decided to lock the door tonight of all nights?

​Jimmy didn't know what to do. He'd guessed everything secret in the house would be contained somewhere in the master bedroom.

He'd planned to go in, tie up Galbraith, using the fact the man would still be half asleep when he assaulted him, search the premises and then escape once he'd found something, anything he could use to prove Galbraith was the man responsible for the deaths of the children at Dovecot Manor. Now, it looked like his plan was going to fail before it had started.

​A low growling sound reached his ears and with rising panic, Jimmy turned to face the noise. The corridor in both directions was long and at the furthest reaches shadows filled every gap. Despite peering into the low lighting, Jimmy couldn't quite see all the way. Daring to risk his torch, he flicked it on and quickly scanned both ends. His mouth dropped open, and his stomach lurched when his thin beam picked up two huge angry eyes staring back at him.

​Jimmy turned off the torch and quickly looked for an escape route. He'd noticed several doors on either side of the corridor as he'd made his way along it to the master bedroom. Praying, he hoped one of those would be open.

​The growling grew louder. It was a more throaty, deep growl. One that was meant to scare away whatever opposition it faced.

Jimmy would have broken the world's hundred meter sprint record if he'd had the room to try it. Instead he moved cautiously, without looking away from the direction he knew the dog would attack from, along the wall of the corridor, keeping his back pressed tightly against the cold brickwork, using his fingers like a giant spider searching for prey, he edged towards the nearest doorway.

​Major panic set in when the growling came from both ends of the corridor. Jimmy was trapped between two of the lodge guard dogs.

Mrs. MacDonald had sworn to him the dogs never entered the building, but he knew now that this had been a lie.

​His sweat covered hand reached the handle on a door, and he tried to open it. Miraculously, the oak door swung open, and he almost fell inside, his whole body sighing with relief.

​It was short lived however when the lights came on and he was momentarily blinded.
​"Welcome to my study Jimmy," a voice he recognised said. "I've been expecting you."