Chapter 8 #2
Cameron frowned. ‘I’m not sure.’ His eyebrows met, making him look serious.
‘Maybe I’m the same – I’d do almost anything for a slice of cake, or maybe that stew you made last night.
’ He flushed. ‘Ask me again when I’ve tried the maple cookies.
’ He gave her a shy smile. ‘I’m not used to people cooking for me.
Unless you count my gran, but she works so hard at the café I don’t let her do it that much. ’
‘My mum was an amazing cook, was yours?’ she asked and immediately regretted it when his smile dimmed.
‘My mother wasn’t around. She left Pop when I was barely walking. Wasn’t interested in staying in touch. Aside from when she wanted money. Then she’d call and spin a tale about how desperate she was and he’d send it.’ His voice was brittle. ‘He never really got over loving her.’
‘That—’ Izzi cleared her throat. ‘I’m sorry…’ She wished she could ask more. But Cameron had that look on his face – the one he got when he mentioned his ex-partner, Sophie. It was clearly a touchy subject and she understood about those.
She glanced around and was surprised to see they were now standing in the kitchen.
She’d been so focused on Cameron she’d barely noticed she’d followed him into a new room.
There was no beautiful oven here, just multiple work surfaces, rust-coloured autumn leaves scattered across the tiled floor and a huge empty fireplace which would look incredible when lit.
Perhaps they could fill it with pillar candles?
She heard a sudden scratching sound and her stomach knotted.
‘What was that?’ she whispered, stepping closer to him.
‘Do you think this place really is haunted?’
Cameron flashed a smile. ‘That’s more likely the sound of nature running riot.
Squirrels probably. I think they’re nesting in the chimneys,’ he whispered, probably so Cupcake didn’t overhear.
‘The door to the basement is there.’ He led her to the opposite end of the kitchen to a large oval wooden door.
Then he gripped the metal handle and had to heave and tug, his arms flexing, before it finally budged.
‘I’ll need to replace this,’ he said, sounding out of breath.
‘And maybe remove it entirely if we’re going to let people down there.
I’ll ask Josh, but I don’t think he’ll mind. Changing it is in the plans I drew up.’
He turned and tugged a torch from his pocket and shone it onto the passageway just inside the opening.
‘There are five stairs leading down. They’re solid stone so perfectly safe, just watch your footing,’ he advised, turning to offer Izzi his hand — obviously thinking better of it because he dropped it again.
She was disappointed, but it made sense.
Izzi glanced over her shoulder. ‘Is Cupcake coming?’
‘I think he’s found something more interesting.
Don’t worry, if we scream, he’ll come running.
’ He gave Izzi a genuine smile that made her stomach flip.
‘I can get someone to rig up lighting for this bit. We’ll have to make sure people can see the steps,’ he said as he trotted down and waited at the bottom.
She noticed there was a metal handrail on the wall so used it to guide herself down.
When she joined him, he shone the torch onto his face, illuminating his sharp cheekbones.
‘It’s quite spooky,’ he whispered.
‘It really is.’ Izzi stayed close as Cameron guided her into the basement.
It had curved ceilings and thick stone walls with multiple windows set into it.
They were rectangular shaped and tiny but let in a small amount of light.
‘We could fill this room with candles and carved pumpkins,’ she suggested, stepping away so she could explore.
The room wasn’t huge, but there were a few darker corners where they could put skeletons and pumpkins. ‘We could play music or source some spooky sounds.’ She smiled, warming to the idea. Now she’d grown used to the space, it wasn’t frightening; in fact, it had a nice warm feeling.
‘I wondered about setting up a game of apple dooking,’ Cameron said.
‘What’s that?’
‘It’s a traditional Halloween game, you float apples in a large basin – I’m thinking we could use a large tin basin on a pedestal or something similar – and players will have to scoop them out using just a fork or even their teeth.’ She saw his eyes flash in the darkness.
‘Apple bobbing!’ She nodded. ‘I used to do that with Mum.’ Her mother had loved Halloween, and they’d celebrated together every year.
‘It’s the same game, I think. I used to play it when I visited Maud.’ At the mention of his past, his voice grew less animated.
‘It’s a good idea – it’ll work for kids and adults,’ Izzi said, going to look out of one of the windows as a door slammed somewhere in the castle, making her flinch.
‘Do you think that was a ghost?’ she asked as her body stiffened and the hair stood up on the back of her neck.
‘Can we get out of here now?’ She tried to disguise the wobble in her voice.
‘Of course,’ Cameron said, taking a step towards her. ‘There’s nothing to worry about. I was joking about the ghosts.’ His voice was soothing, which Izzi appreciated, but she still wanted to leave.
‘Why don’t we go upstairs to the kitchen, have that picnic?’
‘Sure,’ Cameron said. ‘I think we’ve got an idea about what we’ve got to work with.
We can write some notes back at the house and make a list of what we need Flora to source.
I’ve already taken measurements of the rooms for the estimate I did for Josh.
It shouldn’t take too long to set everything up.
I can get someone to hang lights throughout the castle beforehand, and we’ll hire or borrow a generator to power everything. ’
‘Once we dress it up, it’ll probably be more cosy than scary,’ Izzi said, thinking about the candles, pumpkins and sweet treats she was going to bake.
She overtook him when she reached the stairs – but the passageway was much darker than it had been a few minutes ago, so she paused.
As Izzi’s eyes adjusted, she realised why.
The door leading to the kitchen was shut.
‘That must be the door we heard slam,’ she said as she heard a scratching sound outside.
‘Is that a ghost?’ she squeaked, half joking.
She wasn’t easily alarmed, but the sounds were spooky.
‘No, it’s Cupcake,’ Cameron said as the dog barked.
He came up behind Izzi, and goosebumps prickled across her skin – although they had little to do with fear.
‘There’s a small wind tunnel on the first floor because some of the windows aren’t properly sealed.
I should have realised this might happen.
’ He moved ahead and Izzi followed, trying not to scrape her clothes on the walls.
They were dusty, so she’d have to clean them for the tour.
Cameron grabbed the metal door handle and twisted, then he pushed. When the door didn’t move, he tried again, more forcefully.