Ashdown Island

Chapter Ten

Ace and Cicely stood outside Ashdown manor.

The door was shut tight and the dark red window curtains drawn, the house seemed eerily dark and uninviting. Nothing moved, and the sun, despite its current high position in the sky, seemed to dim to a pale glow that set the cousins to a state of unease.

They stood there for a moment, both of them just looking at the house, remembering Kalila's words of warning. The leader of the village had not gone beyond the forest line with them, Oni had followed with her, wanting to catch a glimpse of the house she had heard of so many times in the stories she had grown up with.

But they had since gone back to the village, where Ace and Cicely would meet them again once the deed was done. Kalila had been solemn when she'd bid the two of them luck. "May God be with you," she had said. "May you free our island of this evil."

What if they couldn't do it?

They were playing with spirits, spirits that could very well kill them. Or trap them in the house. Or who knows what. They did not know what was about to happen. They did not know what they were dealing with. All they knew was that they couldn't back out now. Not after everything that had happened.

Why were they doing this again? To put Victoria's spirit to rest? To rid the house of the ghosts who had lived there for so many years? Were they doing it for the mainland? Were they trying to save any poor souls who would perhaps come to seek shelter within the walls of the ancient home in the future? Were they doing it for the islanders who lived in fear of this place?

Were they trying to prove something?

Cicely took a long, deep breath and reached for the ornate door handle.

The large door opened slowly, revealing the familiar staircase and candelabras that they had seen when they first entered the house. Carefully, Ace stepped in, looking around as if something were to jump out and grab him. The house was silent. Dark and dreary. There was a breath of a breeze that ran though his body and sent chills down his spine.

Cicely peeked around him, hands clutching the hem of the dress she wore. She looked up the staircase and half expected Victoria to appear at the top. But she didn't. It was of the house were abandoned, and they were the only souls left in it.

Ace wondered what would happen to the house after they had finished there. Obviously they couldn't let the mainland come and risk disturbing Victoria or Lord Ashdown's peace. If that were possible. He didn't know. But he didn't want to take any chances.

"Do you hear that?" Cicely whispered, looking up the staircase again.

Ace listened, and he could hear, very faintly, the sound of someone crying. Carefully, he grabbed one of the candles and went upstairs, Cicely close behind him. They kept as quiet as they could, creeping about like mice in the great house, least they wake the sleeping cat.

The crying became louder and closer, and soon they arrived at the very last room on the second floor. The door was carved with an apple tree, like so many things in this house were. Especially the doors. But this one was different. This one had an image of a little girl and boy collecting apples at the bottom of the tree. It suddenly dawned on them.

This was Victoria's old nursery.

This was where her father, Lord Thomas Jonathan Ashdown, had locked his daughter away in his madness, poisoning the tea he gave her and ending her presence in this world. This was the resting place of Victoria Elizabeth Ashdown. Where she had grown to adulthood and where she had died.

It was all behind this door.

Ace was the one who moved to open the door this time, before Cicely placed a hand atop his.