Aunt Dimity Goes West by Nancy Atherton

Author:Nancy Atherton [Atherton, Nancy]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi, pdf
Tags: Suspense
ISBN: 9780786294541
Publisher: Penguin
Published: 2007-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

“I know that it’s been reopened, Mr. Pennyfeather.

Toby figured it out.”

You don’t seem disturbed by the knowledge.

“That’s probably because I’m not,” I admitted. “I’ll

keep the twins away from the danger zone and let

Danny Auerbach—the present owner—know about

it.The Lord Stuart is really his problem, not mine.”

I suppose it is. Forgive me for alarming you unnecessarily. My

big news seems to be old news.

A sense of anticlimax lingered in the air, but only

for a moment. It had suddenly dawned on me that

Cyril Pennyfeather might be able to answer a question

I’d been asking almost from the moment I’d arrived in

Colorado.

Why had Florence Auerbach and James Blackwell

abandoned the Aerie? I no longer believed that they’d

been chased off by a bully, but while I still held out

Aunt Dimity Goes West

219

hopes for the curse as the root cause, Cyril’s unanticipated appearance suggested another explanation for

their flight. Had they run as if they’d seen a ghost because . . . they’d seen a ghost?

“Mr. Pennyfeather,” I said, “have you tried to contact other people who’ve stayed at the Aerie?”

I have not. It would be a most imprudent thing to do. Not

everyone would welcome me as warmly as you have, Lori. Most

people would react like Miss Barrow’s cat if I revealed myself to

them in any way.

I accepted his answer philosophically. After all, I

still had the curse to fall back on.

“Well, it’s their loss,” I declared. “I think you’re a

perfect gentleman.”

Thank you, Lori. I’ve always felt that there’s no need to forget

one’s manners simply because one has lost one’s life.

In the interest of good manners, Mr. Pennyfeather, I must

point out that we are keeping Lori up rather later than we

should. Have you noticed the time, my dear?

I swung around to face the clock on the bedside

table and realized to my dismay that it was nearly half

past eleven.

“Whoops,” I said. “I’ve enjoyed meeting you, Mr.

Pennyfeather, but you’ll have to excuse me. If I know

Annelise—and I do—she and the twins will be back

from the ranch bright and early tomorrow morning,

and I don’t want to be groggy when they get here.”

I understand completely, Lori. Would you care to stay a while

longer, Miss Westwood? I was rather hoping you’d explain radar to me.

220

Nancy Atherton

It would be my pleasure, Mr. Pennyfeather, though I’ll

have to explain a great many other things first.

I smiled as I watched both sets of handwriting fade

from the page. Neither Cyril Pennyfeather nor Aunt

Dimity needed the journal to continue their conversation. I had a feeling that they’d communicate more

easily without it, which was just as well—Cyril had a

lot of catching up to do.

I left the blue journal on the chair, damped the fire,

and took Reginald to bed with me. My mind should

have been spinning like a top, but as my head hit the

pillow I felt nothing but a great sense of relief. My private demon seemed to be in full retreat, I had Cyril’s

reassurance that the Aerie was untainted by evil, and I

would never, for as long as I lived, have to break the

news to Toby that the queen of hocus-pocus—and her

cat—had been telling the truth.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.