The Christmas Ghost by Black Katherine

Author:Black, Katherine
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Best Book Editions
Published: 2024-10-28T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 27

Charleston Manor’s atmosphere cracked with mounting tension. It was four days until Christmas, and something about the estate felt uneasy. The search team had moved elsewhere and things had returned to normal.

The new pigs arrived that morning and while it wasn’t illegal to buy pigs after September, it wasn’t common practice. In the summer, Ned had bought ten young female gilts and two male shoats to introduce new bloodlines and increase his drove. When Pike had enquired on Lilian’s behalf, Ned agreed to sell the five young female pigs and the one unrelated male. He’d overbought, allowing for some infant mortality, but whether down to his excellent husbandry or luck, all the sows had survived their first six months. Letting them go, would decrease Ned’s maintenance and feed costs, and when the boar reached breeding maturity, he’d borrow him on loan for stud, a win-win.

It was an exciting day and they all needed a release from the ongoing stress. Six plump squealing young animals charged out of the trailer, their hooves clattering on the frozen ground as they were herded into the barn until after the winter. Then they’d be introduced to their new habitat in a cordoned-off part of the woods in the spring. Sarah and Pike looked pleased with them and planned how to integrate them into the estate’s farm operations. ‘Strong stock. They’ll do well here,’ Sarah said, health-checking the pigs again after their journey. Coda sniffed them and kept a motherly eye on them at Sarah’s side.

Anna stood aside and watched as the animals settled into their pen at the back of the main barn. It was viciously cold outside, and Luke, still missing from home, was never far from her thoughts. Inside, the heated barn was warm. It would be the ideal place for a runaway kid to hide out. The pigs had plenty of straw to keep their bodies insulated. Watching them rooting around made Anna feel things would be okay and stability would settle over the village again soon. They needed caring for and were something tangible and good in a world spinning out of control.

But it wasn’t just the farm causing a distraction. Some things were going on that could be dismissed at first. She’d find a light left on, or an open door that should have been closed. The disturbances, getting more regular and harder to ignore, frightened her.

The distinct thud of footsteps had echoed from the drawing room that morning. The sound was unmistakable later as the same person walked down the corridor outside her office. She’d called out, expecting one of the staff to answer. Maybe it was George visiting again, but when she poked her head out of her door, as usual, nobody was there. She ran into the drawing room the third time it happened but the room was empty. It wasn’t just that it was vacant, it felt undisturbed.

The drapes hung still, the furniture in place, but something was off. The air felt wrong. She

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