Dark Storm by Sarah Singleton

Author:Sarah Singleton [Singleton, Sarah]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780857075581
Publisher: Simon & Schuster

21

Ellie stood outside the office, shifting nervously from foot to foot. The place looked decidedly Dickensian, despite the bright colour photographs in the window – pictures of kids in party hats, an old couple grinning over an anniversary, suited people brandishing an oversized cheque. The gloomy interior did not invite.

A sign above the big window announced this was the local office of the South Dorset Echo but still Ellie wondered if it were the right place, tucked away in one of the winding alleys leading from the High Street. Precious little holiday sunshine here.

At last, summoning her courage, she pushed the door open. A bell jangled as she stepped inside, and a smart little woman in her fifties stepped forward to the old-fashioned counter.

‘May I help you?’

‘Yes, I, uh, I’ve been told you have an archive of old newspapers here. I wondered if I might see them.’

One of the women at the town museum had suggested this to Ellie. She’d spent the morning continuing her research into the history of the Marine Theatre, and now, in her lunch hour, she was taking the opportunity to find out more.

‘We do indeed. You can find articles from the last ten years on our website. In the back room we’ve got papers going back fifty years. Is that any help to you?’

Ellie frowned. ‘Actually, I was hoping to go back further than that. The 1890s.’

‘Ah – well, you’d need to go to the library headquarters in Dorchester for that. They’ve got the newspapers stored on microfiche. Everything’s there – right back to 1820.’

The woman looked very pleased about this wealth of newspaper archives but Ellie’s heart sank. She’d been hoping for a quick and easy answer. No such luck.

‘What are you researching?’

‘Oh, I’m working on a project for the museum about the Marine Theatre.’

‘Really? Oh, that sounds marvellous! Do you have a minute? I’m sure our reporter would like to talk to you about it. Hold on a minute, will you?’ She made a call, relaying this information to the unseen reporter, then she said to Ellie, ‘He’ll be down in a minute. Take a seat, please.’

Some five minutes later the reporter appeared. Ellie saw him, through the doorway behind the counter, emerging from the bottom of a stairway. He was very young and looked decidedly bored. His expression lifted, however, when his eyes lit on Ellie.

‘Oh,’ he said, his voice surprised. ‘You’re the one researching the theatre?’

‘I’m not what you were expecting?’ Ellie said drily.

‘No, I mean, not at all.’

The receptionist glanced over, lifting her eyebrows. The reporter held out his hand.

‘I’m Nick Valler,’ he said. ‘How about a coffee? I could do with getting out of here for a bit.’ He glanced back at the receptionist, who gave him another wry look. ‘Back in ten,’ he said. Then, with a grin at Ellie, ‘Let’s go, shall we?’

They were sitting outside a café-gallery, in a courtyard where fuchsias grew in wooden tubs. Nick’s notebook and pen waited on the table. Ellie guessed he was about twenty-two, not so much older than herself.

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