Page 79 of Escape for Christmas

‘Who wants to see the attics and meet the ghost?’ Tegan asked, moving down the corridor, but Agatha lingered by the next door.

‘That carving is beautiful,’ she said, pausing to admire the oak door. ‘It looks very old.’

Suzanne flattened her palm on the elaborately carved panel. ‘Was that rescued from a shipwreck too?’ she asked.

‘Yeah, theTitanic,’ Nico quipped and Amber giggled.

‘It was carved by a local carpenter in Victorian times, but the oak was from a table that was much older,’ Brody said, joining them by the door. Not only was he conscious of sounding grumpy, but also a bit pompous. Yet he was finding it increasingly difficult to ignore Nico’s sarcasm.

‘It’s gorgeous,’ Suzanne said. ‘Reminds me of one in a hotel we used to stay in when I was little …’

Brody saw her glance at Amber, who simply looked back at her with sadness in her eyes. Whatever might have happened the previous night, it seemed like they were putting it behind them.

‘You should see the carved panels in my room,’ Tegan commented. ‘Mind you, the wind howls under the gap in the door. I reckon that’s why Brody puts his guests in there, so they don’t outstay their welcome …’

Brody froze. That ‘my’ resonated like a clanging bell. Had people noticed? He glanced over to Sophie, but her expression was unreadable.

‘Shall we move on, darling?’ Tegan said hastily, realising too late what she’d said.

‘Yes, though it’s really very boring up there,’ Brody cautioned.

‘On the contrary,’ Nico replied with a grin, clearly having picked up on it, ‘it’swaymore interesting than I’d ever expected.’

‘Hey, Brody, have you got a full trainset up in the attics or something?’ Hugo asked jovially.

Everyone laughed, including Sophie and Tegan.

No, thought Brody, but it might be fun to lock an annoying Italian up there for a while. In the dark. ‘I wish,’ he said to Hugo, forcing a smile to his face.

Somehow everyone made it up the narrow staircase to the attics, whose rooms were accessed via a long corridor. Brody switched on the light, which only illuminated the cobwebs and dust up there.

‘This is the maid’s room,’ Tegan said, pushing open the door to the second room, with glee.

‘Allegedly,’ Brody muttered, desperate for the tour to be over.

The door opened into a room with a sloping roof. Brody flicked the switch, amazed to find that the single naked bulb hadn’t blown yet. It was piled high with junk: an old pram, chairs, tea chests from the days when people used such things for moving house. There was a child’s bike – not even his, but his Uncle Trevor’s – plus boxes full of dusty books, most of them his father’s. The James Herriots were his, of course.

It was like opening a portal onto his childhood, and hisparents’ childhoods. On a day that was meant to be special, he was painfully aware of the absence of his father, and felt bad that his mother was on her own. Instead he was leading a bunch of strangers around his home, and was worrying about Tegan and Sophie.

‘Wow!’ Una said, at the front of the group as they crowded into the small space by the doorway.

Amber stopped dead, pointing. ‘What’s that? On the top of that chest?’

Brody followed her gaze. All he could see was an old porcelain doll, which had been his grandmother’s, its dress now tattered and dusty.

‘The doll? It was my granny’s. Mum didn’t want to throw it away, but I find it – a bit creepy, if I’m honest, so I put it up here.’

‘The eyes follow you everywhere.’ Tegan shuddered.

‘Quite,’ said Agatha.

‘Dad gave me one like that,’ Amber said. ‘Not an old one. A reproduction, but exactly like that. She had a pink dress. I’ve still got her.’

‘And me.’ Suzanne exchanged a glance with her. ‘Only mine had a lilac dress. Mum said she was too valuable to play with, so I just plonked her on a chest of drawers. She’s in my spare room at home now.’

Brody was worried this hadn’t been a good idea, when Nico swore out loud and Tegan let out a piercing shriek. A bumping noise made almost everyone cry out in unison.

‘What the hell was that?’ Nico demanded.

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