Haunted by the Past by Simon R. Green

Author:Simon R. Green [Green, Simon R.]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Tags: Fiction, Fantasy, Urban, Mystery & Detective, Hard-Boiled, Action & Adventure
ISBN: 9781982192280
Google: 5SLvzgEACAAJ
Amazon: 1982192283
Publisher: Baen
Published: 2022-12-06T05:00:00+00:00

Time passed. Penny dozed off, and made low snoring and snuffling noises. The Hall made all the sounds you’d expect from an old house settling in the night. Creaks and groans, a clump of soot falling down the chimney, and a brief water hammer in the pipes downstairs. A gusting wind swept around the Hall, and out across the grounds. I still couldn’t hear any of the usual nocturnal birds or wildlife...as though they had more sense than to go anywhere near Glenbury Hall.

I concentrated, listening for the sound of a door unlocking and opening, followed by surreptitious footsteps on the landing or creeping down the stairs...but there was nothing. The Glenburys and their guests slumbered peacefully in their beds. The clearest thing I could hear was Penny’s slow breathing beside me, as familiar to me as my own. I nudged her in the side and she surfaced reluctantly, muttering slurred words from a dream language. She yawned and stretched, and looked at me reproachfully.

“I only closed my eyes for a moment. Is it time to go walkabout?”

“Not yet,” I said. “I was thinking...there’s something we should do first.”

Penny smiled at me dazzlingly. “Darling, have we got time? Shall I put my big hat back on? You know you like that.”

“I think we need to turn off the light,” I said.

Penny stared at me for a long moment. “Why?”

“It could be shining past the cracks in our door, and spilling out into the corridor,” I said steadily. “Letting the others know that we are still awake.”

“You have got to be kidding,” said Penny. “You really think anyone would notice that, from inside their rooms? We don’t all have alien-issued eyes.”

“If they have their lights off, ours could stand out in the dark,” I said. “It’s the first thing I’d look for.”

“Yes, but you are an experienced secret agent and extremely weird,” said Penny. She looked at me accusingly. “Did you wake me up because you were you worried I might freak out, if you just went ahead and did it?”

“You’re my partner,” I said. “I run all my decisions past you. It would only be for a while, to lure anyone who might be watching into a false sense of security.”

“You worry about the strangest things, Ishmael.”

“And I’m usually right.” I looked at her carefully. “Are you worried, that you might freak out in the dark?”

She snorted loudly. “The house isn’t getting to me that much.”

I wasn’t entirely sure I believed that. I could feel the tension in her. But she just shrugged quickly, and knuckled grumpily at her eyes.

“Oh, go ahead then. Get on with it then.”

There was no switch or pull cord near the bed. I swung my legs over the side and padded quickly over to the switch by the door. I turned the light off, and it was suddenly very dark. I could just make out a shimmer of moonlight past a crack in the drawn curtains, and I used that to find my way back to the bed.

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