The Room of Arches by Alice J Black

Author:Alice J Black [Black, Alice J]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: The Parliament House
Published: 2018-11-02T00:00:00+00:00

I had to get myself ready to face Christine’s house at night. I knew there wasn’t anything untoward going on in her home. Although the fact that even just entering the basement left me feeling like I’d passed through a wall of despair was bad enough. I knew the first step I needed to take was a cleansing. When I’d gone to Christine’s initially I had nothing there with me to be able to complete the process. I needed time to clear my mind from the bombardment of noise.

The trouble was, Christine had called the day after and asked if I could do it sooner rather than later—Wednesday actually— before she was due to host a dinner party. I knew it would make no difference. Her guests would be upstairs and they would have no idea there was something beneath them. But Christine knew and it was bothering her—a lot. The desperation in her voice was paramount. As much as I wanted to say that I was busy that night and rearrange a day, she wouldn’t take no for an answer. That meant I had to tell Olivia I couldn’t go to Amici’s as planned for our tea that night and that would mean telling her the truth. She was not going to like what I had to say.

I sighed, exhaling slowly, and rang the doorbell.

I heard the tramp of feet and then the door flung inward. I don’t know who she was expecting but her face lightened when she saw me. “Morning,” she greeted me. “You’re up early.”

I shrugged. “Just prepping for dinner.”

“Want to come in?”

“Sure.” I nodded and stepped past her. I caught the smell of coffee and grinned. “Is that a brew on the go?”

“You really can’t get enough of me, can you?”

“Nope.” I loped after her toward the kitchen. Set out much like mine, Olivia’s kitchen was light and airy. The back door had been replaced with one of those PVC ones and light streamed in through the window. I leaned against the wall—she didn’t have a table or chairs—and watched as she poured the coffee into cups, handing one across to me.

She took a sip as she leaned against the bench and then set her cup down. “So if you’re prepping for dinner, what are you doing here?”

Her question caught me off guard. “I wanted to see if you prefer mash or roast.”

“What?” Her brow furrowed.

“Potatoes.”

“Peyton, what is this really about?”

“Okay.” I took a deep breath. “I have to tell you something that you’re not going to like.”

Her free arm crossed her chest in a sign of defence and I knew that already she was getting her back up. If there was one thing Olivia hated it was lies. This is why it was so important to bring her up to speed now before she found out one way or another.

“Go on,” she spoke, her voice terse.

“You know the other week when those two women came into the office and you told me not to speak to them?”

“Yes.

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