The Charmed Children of Rookskill Castle by Janet Fox

Author:Janet Fox
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Penguin Young Readers Group
Published: 2016-02-10T05:00:00+00:00

35

The Cave by the Sea

KAT WOKE TO the sound of the lock clicking open; it was barely dawn. She waited, stiff as a board, fearful, but no one entered. She heard then the slashing patter on the windows and a howling wind whistling through the cracks. A great storm must have blown in off the North Sea.

Her first thought went to the missing chatelaine. She swallowed hard. How could she protect her brother and sister without it?

And then she remembered the doctor. He would come. They’d be saved. But Kat would have to explain the lost chatelaine to Great-Aunt Margaret. Well, she’d take that responsibility, as long as they could all get away from this terrible haunted place.

She left her warm bed and went to the window, staring into the gray dawn. The weather alternated ice and rain, and Kat hugged herself and shivered as the wind found its way into the castle. The snow was all gone.

Kat washed and bundled into her uniform and opened her door. The passage was silent and dim. She might have roused Peter and Rob, but it was so early.

Find the doctor. Then, she hoped, find the chatelaine.

She slipped down the stairs, heading for the kitchen. She hoped she’d catch Cook readying breakfast. Readying things for the doctor.

The castle was dark and her footsteps echoed, even as she tiptoed. When she reached the kitchen it was cold: no cheery fire, no pleasant smells, silent as a tomb. She stood in the semidarkness and chewed her lip.

Kat went to the door to the kitchen courtyard and eased it open.

The wind blasted her backward, and she held the door to keep it from banging wide. It was the devil to close, and she had to put her shoulder to it. But before she shut it she saw the headlights of the Lady’s motorcar coming in through the back gate, the lights in the gray rain bouncing from wall to wall in the close kitchen yard. Kat watched until the car pulled to a stop inside the garage bay across the court.

The giant heaved himself out of the driver’s seat and closed the garage door behind. Kat started. He wore a long black oilcloth greatcoat.

She closed the door tight and leaned back against it, rubbing her forehead.

Wait, she thought. He must have gone to fetch the doctor. Brought him in by the front door. Yes, that had to be it. Hugo wasn’t the enemy, despite that coat.

And the doctor was here. They were saved! The thrill of knowing that soon they’d all be off and home filled her heart. She could stand up to any number of thumpings from the Nazis, just to be back at Great-Aunt Margaret’s again with her brother and sister and Mum. Her great-aunt would understand about the lost chatelaine, as long as they were all safe and together.

Kat would wake the others and let them know. They’d need to be ready to leave. Joy surged in her. Home. They were going home!

She ran back upstairs to Peter and Rob’s door.

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