Chapter 14 #2
‘That doesn’t sound so bad,’ Arabella commented when he paused.
‘It wasn’t right up until he died. Arthur was twelve, and I was ten.’
‘I’m so sorry to hear that,’ Bella murmured, laying a hand on his arm.
‘It was a long time ago. In truth, I can’t even remember what he looked like.’
‘I take it you had to move out of the accommodation.’
Ben gave a humourless chuckle. ‘The eviction notice came within two weeks of his death. Basically, we were put out onto the streets. We lived for a time in a one-roomed flat while my mother worked as a sewing machinist – until her death eighteen months later. Consumption,’ he confirmed with a sigh.
‘Though I think it was exacerbated by the fibres from the fabrics getting into her lungs.’
Arabella didn’t speak, simply shook her head, squeezing his arm. More than anything, she wanted him to continue talking.
‘My father happened to be the younger brother of Viscount Lavenham,’ Benedict went on, ‘but despite an extensive number of begging letters detailing our plight, the pinchpenny never once offered my mother any help…’
‘So, what changed?’ Beatrix intervened from behind. ‘I mean, since your brother’s now the Viscount.’
‘Beatrix,’ Arabella admonished her sister. Ben shook his head with another chuckle – this time with genuine humour.
‘My uncle was married but remained childless. Arthur and I were his nearest relatives, which naturally made my brother his heir. Once we were alone in the world, he finally decided to take us in. Whether it was guilt, or the sudden realisation that he wasn’t getting any younger and Arthur may actually have to take up the mantle of Viscount, I never really found out.
I was packed off to a school in Tiverton, a few miles from here, while my brother remained at Lavenham with a succession of private tutors…
’ He paused, slowing his steps as they approached a high wall, covered with overgrown ivy.
‘I believe this is Castel-a-Mare,’ he murmured.
They continued walking until they came to a large metal gate that had undoubtedly once been very ornate. But was now no more than a few pieces of rust. Stopping, they stared through the gap, trying to look simply casually curious.
‘We need to get inside,’ Bella muttered in frustration. ‘We can’t see anything from here.’
From the bit they could see, the house was Italianate in style, like many of the villas around the Bay.
There was an overgrown pathway, likely leading up to the front door, currently out of sight.
Beatrix eyed the dark corridor of green with trepidation.
‘There could be snakes in there,’ she declared with a shudder.
‘Unlikely,’ Ben answered firmly, glancing up and down the road before pushing his shoulder against what was left of the gate to force it open.
‘I’ll stay here and keep watch,’ Beatrix declared, marching over to where the wall had crumbled, leaving a convenient brick seat.
Though she knew she should insist on Bea accompanying them, Bella couldn’t prevent a surge of pleasure at the thought of being completely alone with Benedict, even if it was in a house that smelled of rot and other nameless odours.
Swallowing, she followed him through the gap he’d made, lifting her skirts high to keep them out of the mud.
Though the day had been mostly cloudy, now it was early evening, the sun was finally poking through, flashing intermittently through the dense vegetation as they made their way carefully up the path.
‘Why the devil would anyone want to hold a meeting here?’ Bella whispered, intimidated by the silence.
‘Possibly because they are almost guaranteed not to be disturbed,’ answered Benedict, pushing back a bramble encroaching onto the path, ‘or perhaps, as Charlotte said, it’s the perfect place to be rid of someone no longer useful.’
Her mind abruptly overrun with images of dozens of bodies buried directly under their feet, Bella stared anxiously around her.
‘We won’t linger,’ Ben went on reassuringly, ‘just long enough to get an idea of the layout and ensure Rhys and I have a hiding place that’s unlikely to be discovered.’
‘What about Aunt Charlotte and my father?’ Arabella questioned him as they finally reached the front door.
‘I don’t think they’ll have a problem finding somewhere to secrete themselves,’ Benedict retorted, waving at the encompassing greenery.
‘Providing, of course, they can actually agree on a place to hide.’ Bella chortled as Ben shook his head in bemusement.
It hadn’t taken him long to get the measure of her father and aunt.
‘My hope is that tomorrow will lead us to at least some of the people behind all this,’ he added. ‘I simply can’t believe it’s one man…’
Seconds later, he put his shoulder against the door, which opened with a discordant squeal. ‘At least they’re not likely to take us by surprise,’ he commented with a wince, stepping through the gap.
The view of Castel-a-Mare from the road gave a completely misleading idea of the size of the house.
It had looked relatively small, but once inside, they realised it was actually enormous.
They spent twenty minutes going from empty room to empty room, while the sun began to set, casting ever longer shadows.
‘There doesn’t look to be anywhere to hide,’ Ben growled, well aware they were running out of light and time.
They went back towards the kitchen. It was the only room in the house that contained any furniture at all - a narrow, open-shelved dresser which had obviously been used to store crockery.
There were drawers in the lower section, but all proved empty.
‘Could you move it into the corner at an angle?’ Arabella quizzed. ‘There might be enough room for you and Rhys to stand behind.’
‘It will be tight,’ Ben muttered. ‘Can you help me push it aside?’
Arabella grasped one side of the dresser and dragged it. For a brief moment it refused to budge, then suddenly it slid along the stone floor, revealing a narrow door behind it.
They both stared at it in silence. It was so unexpected, though it ought not to have been since most large houses had at least one cellar.
‘Should we look?’ Bella asked, half afraid, half intrigued.
Ben gritted his teeth. The temptation to see what was down there burned in him, but the light was failing.
‘There’s no time,’ he declared after a second.
‘We’ll have to put the dresser back - we can’t risk the possibility that its move will be noticed if they’ve been here before.
’ Bella pursed her lips, then gave a sighing nod, and seconds later the piece was back in front of the door.
A few minutes later, they were stepping back into the tangle of greenery that had once been a garden.
Carefully, Ben pulled the front door back to its original position.
‘I think we have just enough time before the light is gone to walk right round the house,’ he decided.
‘Keep close to me, the path is not very clear.’
Bella did as she was told. In fact, she kept so close that she could feel the heat from his body, which did nothing at all to steady her nerves.
Within moments the way became something out of a Jules Verne novel.
She felt a momentary pang, wishing Samuel and Nicholas were not so far away.
Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea was Sam’s favourite.
Their father had obtained a signed copy from the author, and her brother took it everywhere with him.
Deep in thought, she did not immediately register when Benedict stopped.
‘What?’ she whispered a second later.
‘Can you hear something?’ he asked, frowning.
Bella remained still, listening carefully.
Seconds later, she shook her head. ‘All I can hear are some distant seagulls.’ Filled with unease in the escalating gloom, she looked round.
It felt, in truth, like she was in the middle of A Mysterious Island, another of Sam’s favourites.
She was just about to wave Benedict on when all of a sudden she looked down just in time to see a hand snake out of a grate next to her feet and seize hold of her foot.