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Chapter Seven

“The Seance”

Majestic Mary sat down heavily on her bed and wondered if Roxann could bring up a mug of tea. She usually had one in the afternoon, but with all of the confusion after what had happened to Agent Winter, she had forgotten about it until that moment. The house seemed sadder and more mysterious than ever, but that was not about to stop Mary from having her cup of tea. Lady Ellingham had said to continue their stay as normal. Mary was just following orders. She walked out of her room and down the stairs into the entrance hall. Nyx was on the landing, wrapped up tightly in a blanket.

“Hullo,” Nyx said. 

Mary nodded regally as she continued down the stairs.

“Aren’t you worried?” Nyx called after her.

Mary turned around. “Worried about what?”

Nyx raised her eyebrows. “Aren’t you worried about a murderer roaming about-”

“No.” Mary spoke almost before Nyx had finished. “Are you?”

“A little,” Nyx admitted. “In all honesty, Kitten’s ghost scares me more.”

“I’ll see you at dinner,” Mary said.

“Sure thing,” replied Nyx.

Mary continued into the dining hall and through the small door that Roxann came through when she served meals, reasoning that she would probably find the kitchen through there. She walked down a steep, narrow staircase and arrived in what appeared to be the basement. There were three doors. Mary could hear Barnaby shouting from behind the left door. That must be where Pygmy and Queen are, thought Mary. While Win’s body was being escorted downstairs, Mary had spotted the two of them being pulled away by Barnaby, who had been muttering something about “punishment”. Poor dears. They shouldn’t have been sneaking about like that. The door directly across from the stairway was locked, but the one to the right wasn’t. Mary opened it up to reveal the kitchen. Simply put, the place was a mess. Dirty pots and pans were everywhere, and there were dried globs of food on the floor. Mary thought she saw a rat. She wrinkled her nose, but carried on stoically, stepping carefully to make sure she didn’t tread on any food or rodents. Mary had a routine, and she was sticking to it. 

“Roxann?” she called out. Nobody answered. Ah, well. I’ll make the tea myself.

Mary had filled the last clean kettle with water and had put it on the stove to boil when Roxann appeared from behind a door. Frost covered the plateau of the head, and an icicle hung from her arm. She broke it off, tossed it into the sink, and wiped her hands on her soiled apron, quietly sobbing the entire time. Mary wasn’t sure what to say. Did she pretend that nothing had happened, or did she try to comfort Roxann? What would Miss Manners do?

“Hello, Roxann,” said Mary. Roxann jumped.

“Oh, hello,” she breathed. “What are you doing down here?”

“I’m making myself a cup of tea.” Mary had decided to go the kind-and-unintrusive route. “Do you know where I could find teabags?”

“They’re in that drawer,” Roxann sniffled, pointing. Mary opened the drawer and found several teabags, along with a whisk and a coffee-stained cookbook entitled Meals for Those in a Hurry.

The girl and the robot stood quietly together as the water boiled. After what felt like ages, the piercing whistle of the kettle filled the room. Mary found a mug, filled it up, and plopped the teabag in.

“Thank you, Roxann,” Mary said quietly. “I’ll be going now.”

“If you’re headed to your room,” Roxann said, “there’s a quicker way up. Follow me.”

Mary did just that. Roxann led her through yet another door and into a small, poorly lit spiral staircase.

“This used to be the servants’ staircase,” Roxann explained as they began scaling the stairs together. “Barnaby hated seeing maids use the main stairway, so he had this one built for us.”

“Barnaby hated seeing maids?”

“Oh, not the Barnaby you know — Lady Ellingham’s father, the late Lord Ellingham. My twin Barnaby doesn’t deserve to be named after that wonderful man, that horrible, contrary-”

Mary decided to interrupt before Roxann got too worked up. “So you knew Flora’s father?”

“Only a little. I had just been built and booted up when the accident happened,” Roxann said, tearing up again.

“Oh,” said Mary uncomfortably. It seemed as if no subject were safe.

“I wasn’t built to be a maid, you know.” Roxann began to sob again. “I was just a prototype. And after the Sardine Incident-”

“Look, here we are,” Mary interrupted, pointing at a plaque that read “Second Floor”. “I’m going to go to my room now. Thank you for the help.”

“The pleasure’s all mine,” Roxann wailed. Mary pushed the door open and walked out into the hallway. The door, which was disguised as a painting of an elephant on the other side, swung shut. Mary wasn’t entirely sure where she was at first. She looked down the hallway. There was nothing she recognized. She decided to go left — if she followed one of the walls, she would eventually reach her and Spirit’s room.

“A-are you l-l-lost?” Luminescence was leaning out of a doorway just across from the hidden door.

“Yes,” Mary admitted. “Do you know the way to my room?”

“No,” said Luminescence, “b-but there’s s-s-something much m-more interesting g-g-going on. Come in! We’re going to t-t-t-talk to Kitten’s g-ghost.”

The room had barely been touched since Kitten’s murder. The curtains were still drawn, the beds were unmade, and a patch of dust was in the corner where Darkling was sitting. She had been one of the last guests to arrive — she had been riding her skateboard through the hallways when Quill had found her and dragged her along. The group was small: the only guests there were Quill, who was sitting quietly on the bed, Lumi, who was arranging candles, Mary, who was drinking something out of a mug, Spirit, who was looking around with a nervous look on their face, and herself. Darkling ran through the guest list in her head. Kitten: dead. PygmyOwl and QueenOfWolves: missing. Nyx: absent. Agent Winter… What about Agent Winter? She would inquire about her later; for now, she was much more interested in the seance.

“Should we wait for Nyx?” Lumi wondered aloud. “She did suggest this, after all.”

“No,” Quill said almost immediately. “I want to hear what Kitten has to say.”

“Ditto,” piped up Spirit.

Mary said something about Miss Manners under her breath.

“Let’s go ahead,” said Darkling, trying to sound disinterested. “It’s nearly time for dinner, and I’d like to get this over with.”

“That settles it, then,” said Quill with surprising force. “Majority rule.”

“Alright,” said Luminescence, picking up a small but thick book, probably from the library. The cover was adorned with a picture of a man and a woman in old-fashioned clothes with their arms linked. The woman was illustrated with a thick black outline; the man’s outline was a shiny silver. From Beyond the Grave: An Elementary Course in Conducting a Seance was printed above this illustration in bold letters. She read for a few moments and set the book gently down onto the floor. On the floor sat a small wooden box with a pendulum. Below the pendulum were two circles marked “Yes” and “No”. The candles surrounded this box like lonely travelers around a campfire.

“Everybody must join hands,” Lumi ordered. Her dry, husky voice gave Darkling chills. But she didn’t believe in these sorts of things. She had a hard time believing that she was here in the first place, and yet she found herself holding Spirit’s warm hand. 

“We all shall now silently wish for Kitten to make herself known,” Lumi said. The wind was still howling outside, and the house creaked as the CBers all wished for Kitten to appear and tell them what she did — or didn’t — know. 

Are you there, Kitten? It’s me, Darkling. If you’re out there, and I know you’re not, please don’t show yourself. Just stay hidden away.

There was a ticking noise. Darkling opened her eyes. The pendulum was now swaying back and forth. There was a quiet collective gasp.

Lumi smiled weakly. “We have now successfully contacted Kitten,” she breathed. 

Where did her stutter go? Darkling wondered to herself.

The guests all leaned in, hoping to catch a glimpse of Kitten, hoping to hear a whisper of her voice.

“Kitten,” mumbled Lumi, savoring every word. “Do you know who the murderer is?”

The pendulum kept swaying. Faster and faster it went until it stopped on “Yes”. 

“Is the murderer in this room?” Lumi asked.

The pendulum began to sway again. Faster and faster it went, until it was nearly a blur, Darkling thought that the box might shatter into a million pieces–

The door opened. The pendulum stopped. The flames in the candles fizzled and disappeared. Light flooded into the room. The guests groaned.

“Dinner’s been waiting for ten minutes,” said Magnus, as calmly as ever. “You are going to eat, aren’t you?”

Thank you all for the kind comments so far! This is actually my first ski lodge, so to see people so invested and excited really makes my day. I'm not Rainbow Riot, but keep guessing, everyone; you're bound to find me out eventually!

Name: Niki

Pronouns: her/she 

Age: 12

Itemized list of things you’re bringing: Laptop, many oversized hoodies and sweatshirts, leggings, jeans, sketchpad, mechanical pencils, the pigeon, favorite book (Harry Potter and the Scorcerer's Stone)

Personality (described in five words or less): Sarcastic, Cold, Realistic, Lazy, Funny

Any special needs? If so, specify: Allergic to eggs

Chapter Eight

“The Fugitives”

“Well?” said Magnus after a moment of uncomfortable silence. “Aren’t you coming?”

“Um — yes,” said Majestic Mary, and stood up. Everyone else followed her example and got slowly to their feet. Lumi hid From Beyond the Grave under the bedsheets as the group headed out of the door and into the well-lit corridor. There was an unspoken truce between the guests. They would not tell any of this to anyone, not even Magnus.

“Contacting Kitten’s ghost, were you?” Magnus asked, not unkindly.

“Yes,” Mary blurted out. Quill and Lumi gave her shocked and upset looks.

Magnus smiled. “Don’t you worry. We’re nervous about all this too. Lady Ellingham just doesn’t want to seem afraid in front of you.” He turned back to look at the group. Darkling and Spirit were nowhere to be seen. 

“Hullo?” Magnus called.

“Just a moment,” Darkling called. Spirit had stopped at the doorway to the bedroom to examine a tall and ornate wooden wardrobe, and they were holding Darkling up. Darkling wasn’t quite sure what was so special about this wardrobe, but she knew that she wanted to leave the bedroom as quickly as possible. Spirit nodded their head almost imperceptibly and walked out into the hallway, Darkling following close behind. 

The group, now all together, walked in silence for a few minutes that felt like hours.

“Where did you get that pendulum from?” Magnus asked, just as Darkling thought that the silence would kill her.

“Nyx gave it to me,” Lumi said. “The seance was her idea. She said she found it in a broom cupboard.”

“I see.” There were several more minutes of oppressive silence. Soon, the group was back in the familiar embrace of the entrance hall. Into the dining hall they marched single file. Nyx was already there, standing next to her chair and tapping her foot impatiently. Roxann walked out with tomato soup and dinner rolls, and with much sniffling and wiping of her eyes on her apron, the robot served dinner. Magnus excused himself and left through the hall8’s large oak doors as the CBers began to eat quietly.

Does the weather ever change? Darkling wondered as she stirred her soup with her silver spoon. Through the tall windows, she could see the tall grasses rustling in the wind, and the lake eating away at the shore, wave by tiny wave. Everything was exactly as it was yesterday, and everything would be exactly the same tomorrow as well. How many days have we been here? Darkling was sure she didn’t know. You don’t really count time here in days, she thought lazily as she lifted the spoon to her mouth. You count it in… chapters. Yes, more like chapters.

“How was the seance?” Nyx asked Lumi.

“A m-mixed bag.” Lumi was stuttering again. “We managed t-t-to c-contact Kitten, b-but w-w-we were interrupted b-before she could t-tell us who the m-m-m-murderer is.”

Spirit shifted uncomfortably in their seat.

“That’s too bad,” Nyx said. “Maybe you can try again later.”

“M-m-maybe,” Lumi thought aloud. “Wh-where were y-you?”

“Oh, it’s stupid,” Nyx said, waving a hand. “I got lost and couldn’t find my way to your room.”

There was that silence again. It seemed almost unavoidable at this point. Everyone seemed shaken and mistrustful of anyone else. Ellingham Manor was like a set of Russian nesting dolls. There was a mystery inside of a mystery inside of a mystery. The Week of Wonder and Whimsy had turned into the Week of Wonder and Worry. The CBers pondered their situation silently as they ate. Mary was wondering about what had happened to poor Lord Ellingham, and what the “Sardine Incident” was. Lumi was wondering about Agent Winter. Would her ghost now haunt the Manor, too? Spirit was wondering about how to tell their fellow guests what they knew. Nyx was wondering if the murderer would be caught soon. Quill was wondering why Lady Ellingham lived alone. Darkling wondered if Agent Winter was even dead. All of these questions were their own little mysteries, which in turn made an enormous and seemingly unknowable mystery. It was this great mystery that now hung over the guests like a heavy down comforter on a hot summer night.

The servants’ door burst open. Mary jumped and fell out of her chair, spilling tomato soup everywhere. Nyx stood up, shoulders back, as if ready to fight. Lumi screamed.

“It’s only us,” QueenOfWolves sighed.

“Yes,” PygmyOwl added. “Have no fear, fellow guests. It is only us.”

Queen rolled her eyes. “I just said that.”

“And there’s no reason why it should not be said twice. Some things bear repeating.”

“We don’t have time for this.” Queen walked over to the table and grabbed seven or eight dinner rolls off of their fine china dish.

“Where have you been?” Nyx asked, raising her eyebrows.

“Where are you going?” Darkling asked.

“D-d-did you hear about th-the seance?” Lumi asked eagerly.

“Barnaby locked us up in the wine cellar, we escaped and are going into hiding, and no,” Queen said, stuffing the rolls into her pants pockets. She handed a few to Pygmy, who put one into her mouth and the rest into her pants pockets.

“How?” asked Quill.

“Where?” asked Mary, who had sat down in her seat again.

“It w-was chilling,” Lumi said gleefully.

“There’s a lot of tunnels down in the basement,” Pygmy explained, swallowing her roll. “All we had to do was break the barrels Barnaby tied us to, find our way through the maze of tunnels, and sneak past Barnaby, who was ironing his tailcoat. After that, it was easy. There was an unlocked door, so we just walked through it, and right across from us was the staircase to here. We plan on hiding in a cupboard. We’ll tell you which one later. Don’t tell anyone where we are.”

“Impressive,” said Nyx, raising her eyebrows. 

Suddenly, there was the sound of footsteps. Roxann, Barnaby, Magnus, and Lady Ellingham’s voices could all be heard talking in hushed tones. Roxann was, unsurprisingly, crying. Barnaby sounded angry. Magnus was just as calm as ever, and Lady Ellingham sounded nervous.

“We need to go,” Queen breathed.

“Just off the kitchen there’s a servants’ staircase. You can take it to any of the Manor’s six floors. The kitchen’s to the right as you head down the basement staircase,” Nyx said.

“Thanks,” said Pygmy in an unusual show of brevity. The two CBers ran through the servants’ door again and closed it just as the big oak doors opened and Magnus, cradling Lady Ellingham in his arms, stepped through, followed by Roxann and Barnaby.

“I’m afraid I have some bad news,” Lady Ellingham said in a wavering voice. “The carriage is in a bad state after the accident on your first night here. It’ll have to be repaired before it can take you all home. I’m not sure how long this will take, so I humbly ask for your patience. Thank you,” she said miserably. Behind her, Roxann and Barnaby had plastered on enormous and obviously fake smiles.

The guests sat in silence as Roxann took away the empty bowls. Barnaby picked up the considerably lighter dish of dinner rolls.

“You all ate a lot,” he muttered to himself as he took the plate through the servants’ door. Darkling watched him leave and wondered where Pygmy and Queen were now.

The guests all followed Magnus to their bedrooms. Most of the guests were simply worried, but Spirit seemed very disturbed. They muttered to themselves all the way to their bedroom. Darkling and Nyx headed to their own bedroom and silently got ready for bed. The two roommates got into their beds and fell into dreamless sleep almost instantly. 

Late that night, a small piece of paper, folded over many times and labeled “READ ME”, was pushed under the door. The piece of paper waited unassumingly by the door, waiting for Nyx and Darkling to wake up and read its contents. It would keep its secrets, scrawled in black pen, to itself until the morning, when Nyx would pick it up, open it, and read:

Lady Ellingham and her servants are not to be trusted. Avoid them as much as you possibly can, don’t tell them anything, and keep a close eye on your possessions.