Lost Souls

41

Mr. Rusk held the diary as if it was the most priceless thing that he'd ever seen. Owing to decades in the damp cellar rooms, the writing had faded to almost an illegible scrawl, although certain words and phrases could just about be made out. He held it up to the light as he tried to read one of the pages.
​"Toby felt ill today. Mr. Galbraith and the new nurse forced him to take his medicine. It made him worse. I don't like the new nurse and neither do the others."

​"Wonder what medicine he was given?" Katie thought aloud.

​"Does it say what was wrong with the lad?" MacBlaine asked.

​Mr. Rusk shook his head. "I think it does, but the words have faded too much. I can't make out who the diary belongs to either. The name on the front page has been erased. It even looks like it's been deliberately scratched out by someone."

​"Scratched out!" Mrs. Rusk asked, as she took the diary from her husband, and gently rubbed her finger over the space he'd been talking about.

​"Could be innocent enough. Perhaps someone else had the book first?" Katie said doubtfully.

​"Maybe whoever wrote the entry took it from Toby when he became sick,"  Christopher suggested.

​"It doesn't really matter. We have some proof that the kids were down in these rooms, and that at least one of them was sick. The entry also tells us that Galbraith, and at least one other person were dishing out medicine to the children. What it doesn't tell us is what the illness was or what treatment Toby was receiving. That makes the diary interesting, but not good enough for us to call the police back in. We need to keep looking, and try and find something else to back this up with."

​"Surely dad, you can call your mate in London. Maybe he'll know someone who can treat the book with special chemicals, and then they'll be able to read it more clearly," Katie said enthusiastically, trying to persuade her dad to take the diary a stage further.

​"That's a good idea Katie," her dad smiled. "I'll give him a call later, after we've searched the rest of the cellar and the remaining rooms in the house. We still need to check out the gardens and the outbuildings as well."

​"It's going to take longer than a day sweetheart," Mrs. Rusk observed, as she checked the time on the kitchen clock.

​"Let's finish the house today and do the garden tomorrow. I'll phone Simon after tea. I know he's on later tonight."

​"Do you think Simon will be able to help us dad?" Katie asked hopefully.

​"He knows his job Katie, so if he can do anything to help us, then I'm sure he will."

​Katie smiled warmly at her father, and then grabbed Christopher by the arm. "Come on you lot," she said to her team. "Time to finish what we started."

​Jimmy rolled his eyes and sighed in frustration. "I'll stay here, and try to read the rest of the diary. I might be able to make out something your dad couldn't," he said strongly, not leaving any room for an argument. He hadn't liked the way she'd grabbed Christopher instead of him, and besides, he already knew more about the diary than the others did, but he wasn't going to tell his little secret to anyone just yet.


Before they separated, Mr. Rush suggested everyone take a new area, or even go over a room someone else had already searched. He thought different people might find something that had been overlooked earlier.

​Katie felt strongly that she should search at the top of the house, and soon she found herself along with Christopher and MacBlaine standing at the bottom of the stairs leading up to the large trapdoor that would allow them access to the attic. None of them rushed to climb, and take hold of the rusting handle that would enable them to enter the dark void beyond.