TALES FROM MORTIFER HOUSE - Part Eight - How Dare You?

Eleanor embraced all three of the distraught girls as they stood on the doorstep. She was aware that the carriage driver was still there and was having a good gawp at the scene, clearly he was hoping to get some gossip to pass on.  Eleanor turned and sharply dismissed him and he glared and drove off at speed the wheels splashing water from the puddles that had formed.  

With the glowering sky threatening yet another downpour Eleanor tried to assess the situation, the last thing she wanted to do was scare the children.

Looking pointedly at Rebbeca Eleanor attempted to usher them inside. Alice clung to her skirts crying, Rebbeca hesitated and so did Grace. 

"What on earth has happened?" she asked when she had finally managed to get them through the door and into the hall. Again she was looking Rebbeca directly as she spoke.  The girl shook her head repeatedly and glanced nervously up the stairs. Words failed her. 

"Right." said Eleanor, taking charge of the situation, she managed to manoeuvre them all into the kitchen. "Warm milk for you two children and tea for us!" 

With Rebbeca seated at the table and the girls drinking their milk Eleanor tried again.  "What happened?" 

Rebbeca shook her head once more and glanced sideways at the children. 

"Grace, take Alice upstairs and get her ready for bed. In fact both of you get ready for bed. I know it is early but it's for the best" 

Grace hesitated, she looked fearful as she reluctantly took Alice's hand. "It will be absolutely fine Grace - I am here now." Eleanor thought for a moment and added "You can both sleep in my bed if it would help?" 

This was not something she liked to encourage, but under the circumstances. Grace nodded and led Alice out of the kitchen silently. 

With the children gone, Eleanor sat opposite Rebbeca once she had closed the kitchen door. She took both Rebbeca's  hands in hers noting that she was trembling. 

"What happened?" she repeated gently, waiting for a response. 

Tears spilled down the girls face, she looked terrified. She could barely get her words out. 

Eleanor sat in silence as Rebbeca recounted the tale exactly as it had happened. 

She had been playing with the children in the nursery and had gone down to run a bath for them. She was trying to distract them from the storm, especially Alice who was very fearful. 

Rebbeca paused,  Eleanor encouraged her to continue by squeezing her hands. 

"I...I  fear you will not believe me" she said in a whisper. 

"Please, just tell me. I need to know what has happened" begged Eleanor.

"The bath was ready, I called Alice... " she trailed off and shut her eyes. "I happened to look in the mirror and I could see this... this... HAND coming out of the water. It wasn't a normal hand, it was rotten and skeletal. Like something from the grave!" 

"I thought it was a trick of the light perhaps, my imagination maybe... but I turned to look and IT WAS STILL THERE...!" 

Eleanor felt anger boiling inside her she stood up to comfort Rebbeca who was sobbing. 

"It disappeared when I screamed but I am afraid I scared Alice and Grace terribly. Especially when I could not of course, tell them the real truth of what I had seen." 

Rebbeca looked at Eleanor confused "What did I see? What on earth is going on?"

Eleanor sat back down heavily and spread her hands on the table in front of her. "The truth is, I really don't know. There have been...disturbances, for some time. I've seen and heard things, I seem to be able to see peoples futures suddenly too."

Rebbeca looked startled and then scared. Eleanor saw her face and was quick to reassure her. " For some reason it does not, thankfully include those closest to me" 

Rebbeca looked relieved but then continued. "I cannot stay here Eleanor, and I would advise you most strongly to leave also. Whatever is here is clearly malevolent" She shivered as she spoke and looked over her shoulder fearfully.

"You cannot go tonight, where would you stay? It is too late to arrange accommodation and then there is the storm as well..." said Eleanor sadly.

 She really didn't want Rebbeca to go for many reasons but she could fully see why she didn't want to stay.  " We can move the camp bed down to my room and all stay in there together?" 

Rebbeca reluctantly agreed to stay. "I cannot remain after tonight, not least because Alexander is expecting me back and the journey home is quite arduous. I have already been gone from him too long and this was only ever intended to be a brief visit." 

Alexander had been the reason for Rebbeca moving from the hustle and bustle of Paris to the beautiful but somewhat lonelier countryside. He had been introduced to Rebbeca by a friend, it had been a chance encounter and she had not been impressed at first, but somehow he had won her heart and she had moved to be with him on his farm. They were not yet married and where this would cause consternation in Eastington, no one appeared to care a jot deep in the French countryside. She was without doubt so much happier, although she missed the convenience and liveliness of Paris very much. 

Together the women moved the camp bed down the stairs into the bedroom. Alice was excited and treated it like an adventure but Grace was quieter than usual. She followed her mother back down to the kitchen afterwards and shut the door. 

"Mama, I saw something" she said. Eleanor noticed she was pale and was trembling. 

 "In the bathroom?" she wondered if Grace had been at the bathroom door when Rebbeca had screamed.

Grace shook her head. "No, in the hallway, outside the bathroom" 

She paused briefly then carried on " It was a child. A little girl, she was there and then … she disappeared. She was crying, I mean, really sobbing, but she was … not real, not like Alice or any other child. She was … I mean, I could see the wall through her!"

Eleanor pressed her hands to her mouth, this was too much to bear, she could barely cope with the idea that her own nerves were shredded, but Rebbeca and the girls … her anger was growing.  "Did Alice see anything?" she asked, dreading the answer.

Grace once again shook her head. "No, she was just scared by Rebbeca's screaming. I didn't scream, I managed to stop myself." 

Eleanor folded her daughter into her arms, she was 14 but she was growing up fast. 

When Grace stopped shaking she let her go, but held her gently by her shoulders. 

"I know that Alice has seen things in the nursery, but I managed to pass it off as nightmares. I also know you have heard scratching up there and now you too have witnessed something. I am going to be completely honest with you Grace, I have no idea what is going on but I intend to get to the bottom of it. I promise."

Grace hugged her mother hard. Secretly she longed for her father to be back home too, she missed his presence and the smell of his pipe wafting through the house. 

If the truth be told, Eleanor was dreading being without adult company once Rebbeca was gone and even she would have admitted that Angus being home would have made her feel slightly better. 

Eleanor escorted Grace back upstairs and watched for a moment as Rebbeca read part of a story book to Alice as she cuddled her bear. The three of them sat on Eleanor's bed and Alice looked particularly small and vulnerable. Her eyes prickled with tears as she watched them and she turned and left the room closing the door behind her. She would protect her children at any cost, even if it meant laying down her own life. 

In the kitchen Eleanor set about washing the cups that they had had tea and milk in.

It was completely dark outside as she looked through the kitchen window and very still. The storm had finally died down. 

After she had tidied everything away she sat at the table with the tiny scrap of code and the photograph. Who was Elizabeth Arden? Maybe she would be mentioned in the journal somewhere, it was possible she was nothing to do with the intricate Mortifer web that needed unpicking. But then again, who knew? 

Through her thoughts she became aware of a dripping sound. At first she thought it was the tap dripping in the sink. The taps were old and rusty and tended to leak but the sink was bone dry.  The mould which seemed to be invading the whole house was present, but no water at all. Drip, drip, pause, drip drip drip. 

Eleanor lifted the lamp ceiling wards, checking the corners for water, first afraid that somehow the bath tap had been left on and had overflowed but there was nothing.  Suddenly her eye caught something in the far corner of the room by the door. Blood. It was blood. 

Blood was running down the wall and drip, dripping onto the floor and scrawled onto the wall in smeared bloody fingerprints was the word "MURDERER"

Shaking, Eleanor put the lamp down on the table. Her anger was raised to such a pitch now. She wanted to shout, but knew she could not for fear of upsetting the children and Rebbeca once more. 

 So with that in mind she hissed through gritted teeth,"HOW DARE YOU!!! How dare you upset my children and MY guest. You are long since gone, you have no part here now. I was going to help you and this is how you repay me?" 

The lamp extinguished in an instant plunging the room into virtual darkness and Eleanor felt something or someone breathe on her neck. It was icy cold, every hair on her body stood on end and then the presence was gone. 

With unsteady feet she made her way to the embers of the fire to light a spill and relight the lamp. 

The shadows in the room made Eleanor feel jumpy but the blood was gone along with the writing and she could not feel anything untoward. 

She wondered briefly about calling in at the church and seeing if someone would perhaps bless the house, but she didn't want anyone talking about them if word got out. Which it surely would. 

Eleanor made her way upstairs slowly, she could hear Rebbeca and Grace talking in low voices. Alice was fast asleep. 

She changed for bed behind her screen and climbed under the covers, with both the girls in her bed it was going to be a long night. The three of them exchanged small talk until Grace finally settled and although it was still early they all felt tired. 

That said, Eleanor lay awake long after the others were asleep and breathing rhythmically, almost in unison. When sleep finally caught up with her all she could see in her dreams was the steady drip. drip, drip of blood and the word murderer sprawled across the wall. 

Sarah Russell

2022