Shadow House by Michael Allegretto

Author:Michael Allegretto [Allegretto, Michael]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781784082994
Publisher: Head of Zeus Ltd
Published: 2013-12-03T16:08:00+00:00

33

THE TOWN WAS WAITING for them under gray skies. A chill mountain breeze swept down the valley, and the few tourists on the sidewalks hurried along from shop to shop with coats buttoned, collars up, and chins tucked down.

Nora steered the Mustang through town. She kept a wary eye out for Chief Fellows, although she had no idea what she’d do if she spotted him. Certainly not speed away. Whatever happened would be up to Fellows. Besides, what could he do so long as she broke no laws? Still, it was comforting to have Thomas there.

“There’s the house,” she said.

The cupola rose ominously above rooflines and treetops, staring over the town with blank windows. Thomas leaned forward, his expression grim.

“It looks…hateful,” he said. “Or maybe it’s because I know what happened there.”

“Maybe.”

They crossed Main and continued up the hill to Silver Street. Nora turned left and parked before the towering hedge that surrounded the grounds. When they climbed out, the chill air penetrated Nora’s clothes as quickly as if she had been doused with ice water. She put on her blazer, wishing she had brought a coat. She stood for a moment with her back to the hedge and looked out over the valley. It held the town like a crucible. The only sound was the hiss of the wind hastening down the steep mountain slopes and pushing through the pines.

“Ready?” Thomas said.

Nora crossed her arms and shivered, then turned to face the opening in the hedge. “I guess.”

“What’s wrong?”

“I don’t know. I just have a bad feeling about this place.”

“You don’t have to go in there. Why don’t you wait in the car while I—”

“No,” she said. “I’m all right. Besides, there’s something I want to see.”

She led Thomas through the gateway. When he got his first full view of the house, he whispered, “ Jesus.”

Nora understood his reaction. There was something hostile about the mansion. It seemed more like an entity than an edifice, belligerent, designed to repulse visitors, to warn them away.

She studied the structure for a moment, trying to pin down exactly what created such a sense of malevolence. Perhaps the mélange of architectural styles—not exactly strident, but not quite blending smoothly together. Or the front porch, which gaped like the maw of a gigantic beast. Or the painted windows. Certainly those.

Or that my sister died here.

She started toward the side of the house.

“Shouldn’t we ask first?” Thomas had spoken as quietly as if they were in a cemetery.

Nora turned and whispered, “If Karl sees us he’ll call the cops. Let’s just take a look, then leave.”

Thomas hesitated, scowling at the cavernous front porch. He nodded. “Okay.”

Nora led him across the lawn and around the corner of the building. She pointed to the top of the trellis. Vines hung down like strips of hide, withered and brown, dead.

“She fell from up there.”

Thomas’s eyes moved to the roofline, then down to the bushes and the lawn. “Is that where…they found her?”

Nora nodded, staring at the lawn, remembering the photographs that Sheriff Parmeter had shown her of Annie’s blanket-draped body.

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