Page 24 of A Fresh Start on Crumcarey
Luke wasn’t surprised. No one ever locked their homes on Crumcarey. There just wasn’t any need.
‘Want me to do the honours?’ he prompted when Maggie didn’t budge.
She just nodded, looking wide-eyed. Luke watched for a moment as Mr Harris put a gentle hand on her shoulder. Good. It’s exactly what he wanted to do… but right now, he was more use taking charge of the practical side of things.
Reaching for the doorknob, he pushed the door open and paused. There was no resulting crash… which had to be a good start. Still, he was having a hard time not swearing out loud at the sight that greeted his eyes.
Even though the storm damage was fairly bad inside the hallway, it wasn’t the missing roof or the fact that the entire place was alive with the sound of dripping water that had shocked him.
How had Maggie managed to live here so long in this state?!
Russell’s attempts at “modernising” were apparent everywhere he looked. Half-stripped walls and chunks of plasterboard with holes bashed in them were the least of his worries, though. It was the exposed electrical wiring and dangling dead ends everywhere that had him on high alert! The first thing they needed to do was to turn the power off… that’s if it hadn’t already tripped.
‘Do you know where the fuse board is?’ he said, as Maggie and Mr Harris appeared behind him.
‘Of course,’ she said in a quiet voice. ‘We’re old friends.’
‘Good,’ said Luke. ‘Let’s get the power turned off – just until we know what the water’s got into. We’ll have to get someone over to make sure it’s all safe.’
Maggie just nodded and pointed to the far end of the hallway. Sure enough, there was an ancient-looking fuse box sitting high on the shadowy wall. There was no way Luke was touching anything insidethatwith his bare hands – even if it should theoretically be safe.
‘Back in two secs.’
Dashing back outside, he grabbed the long piece of wood he’d been using to prod at the roof.
‘Got the torch with you?’ he said, hurrying back to the fuse box.
Maggie nodded. Grabbing it from her pocket, she flicked it on and angled the beam so that he could see what he was doing.
‘Perfect,’ said Luke, gingerly lifting the cover off the board. Then he let out a sigh of relief. Every single trip switch in there had already flipped over to theoffposition. ‘We’re good,’ he said. ‘For now, at least.’
Maggie nodded and then turned to lead the way through to the living room without saying a word.
Luke followed, only to find her standing stock-still, staring at a scene of devastation. The room was completely open to theelements. He glanced up at the sky through the bare bones of the roof beams and sighed.
Mr Harris let out a breath just behind him, and Luke turned and caught his eye. His uncle simply shrugged – though the look in his eyes clearly conveyed his own horror at the state of the place.
‘Well…’ said Luke, wanting to break the silence. Then he paused. He needed to choose his words carefully… he wanted to be as tactful as possible. After all, he didn’t want to be too negative about the place. Maggie had clearly worked her behind off just to keep it from crumbling. This was her home… even if it could barely be classed as a building right now! ‘There’s definitely a lot to do… but the walls will be nice and solid. These old stone places were built to last.’
‘Yeah… three hundred years ago,’ said Maggie in a small voice. ‘Maybe we’re coming to the end…?’
‘Don’t be soft, lass!’ said Mr Harris in a firm voice. ‘This place will be here when your children’s children’s children are having children.’
Maggie cracked a smile at that, and Luke sent a grateful wink in his uncle’s direction.
‘He’s right, Mags.’
‘I’m always right,’ said Mr Harris with a nod. ‘It looks bad with all the rainwater dripping in, but once we’ve got some covers back on the roof and everything’s dried out a bit, it’ll be fine. You’ll see.’
‘Is there anything you want to grab and bring with you?’ said Luke.
‘With me?’ said Maggie, sounding dazed.
‘To The Tallyaff,’ he said. ‘Isn’t Olive expecting you for work?’
Maggie blinked up at him in confusion for a moment, and Luke had to forcibly stop himself from reaching out and brushing a long strand of dark hair off her face.
‘Shit. Work!’ she said, seemingly coming to. ‘Gimmie a sec!’
