The Haunting of Marlstone Hall (The Ghosts of Rose Radcliffe Book 2) by Amy Cross

Author:Amy Cross [Cross, Amy]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Blackwych Books Ltd
Published: 2024-10-25T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Sixteen

“Hey there, Rose,” Rebecca said as she stepped into the conservatory and saw the young girl sitting at the piano. “Was that you I just heard playing?”

“I don't really know how to play,” Rose replied, looking down at the keys. “I was just being silly.”

“No, it sounded good,” Rebecca continued, making her way over to the piano. “There's no need to be shy. Is your mother around?”

Rose shook her head.

“Did she go out after dinner?”

“No, she just goes into the other side of the house usually.”

“She does, huh?”

Stopping next to the piano, she looked down at the girl. “Do you know why?”

“No,” Rose replied. “She only started recently. She used to say that the cold side of the house was too horrible for anyone to ever want to go into, even the parts that are sometimes opened up for tourists. But lately she goes in there a lot and sometimes she's gone for hours and hours. I went to try to find her once but I couldn't work out where she was. Even in the cold side, there was no sign of her but I'm sure she was around somewhere. She had to be.”

“And she leaves you all alone out here?”

“I don't mind, though. I don't mind being by myself. I prefer that to when I think there might be people around, and also I know that Mummy won't -”

Stopping suddenly, she seemed too scared to say more.

“You know that she won't do what?” Rebecca asked.

“Did you really not see them last night?” Rose continued. “When you found me in the room, I mean.”

“You were in there by yourself.”

She waited for a reply, but once again Rose seemed to be on the verge of saying something important.

“Weren't you?” Rebecca added. “Tell me something, Rose. When I came into the room, did you think you were talking to someone?”

“I don't know,” she said, sounding increasingly shy.

“I think you do know,” Rebecca told her. “It's okay, I won't make fun of you. I'd just really like to know.”

“They're scared,” she replied.

“Who are?”

“The children. They're like me. They're about my age, but they're scared. They've been in the house for a long time, since before I was even born, since before even Mummy was born. They're scared that something bad might happen if Mummy finds them.”

“Is your mother looking for them?”

“She and the man were,” she continued. “Mummy told the man all about the ghosts here, including the nurse too, and the man told her she was being silly.”

“Are you talking about Martin Delaney?”

“They argued a lot but the man said he could prove it so he went to look around, a bit like you're doing. And then when he came out the next morning he looked really scared, and he talked to Mummy for a long time in the library, but... I wasn't supposed to listen.”

“And did you listen?”

“I'm not normally naughty,” Rose insisted.

“No-one said that you are,” Rebecca replied, and now she could see tears in the girl's eyes. Reaching out, she put a hand on her shoulder, hoping to offer at least a little reassurance.

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