Page 6 of A Lesson in Propriety (Merriweather Academy for Young Ladies #1)
Six
“Everything all right in there?” Annaliese called through the door a few moments later, her question sending a wave of relief through Drusilla, as she had no idea how to proceed with a mother who’d now come down with a bad case of the hiccups, brought about by all the weeping.
“Of course it’s ... hick ... not all right,” Irma called back before Drusilla could answer. “Your sister ... hick ... has just told me about her academy ... hick ... idea, a notion that ... hick ... surely has your poor father ... hick ... turning over in his grave.”
“Perhaps Father would approve of Drusilla’s idea, as it does have the potential of being financially viable and he always was intrigued with ways to make money,” Annaliese stated, earning a scandalized look from Irma, one she couldn’t see since the door was still shut.
“Your father would be appalled to learn ... hick ... that Drusilla wants to ... hick ... use our good Merriweather name for some ridiculous business ... hick ... venture she’s come up with that has something to do with turning the castle into a ... hick ... academy.”
It really came as no surprise when Annaliese, obviously having realized their mother was in an unreasonable frame of mind yet again, called out that she’d fetch some water to help with the hiccups, leaving Drusilla alone again with a still-hiccupping and, need she add, difficult mother in the process.
A strained silence settled over them, broken only by intermittent hiccups until the door to the hack opened and Annaliese thrust a cup of water she’d undoubtedly fetched from one of the other hacks into Irma’s hand. As Irma set about drinking it, frowning as she did so, which suggested the water was not to her liking, Annaliese turned to Drusilla.
“Thought you should know that Gus and the other hack drivers, along with the wagon drivers, have gotten everything unloaded. None of them are willing to take our belongings into the castle, though, because Gus just had to remind everyone that it’s haunted. That means everyone is now anxious to get on their way, but they want to leave together, as they believe there’s safety in numbers against ghosts.”
Annaliese turned to Irma, who’d just finished her glass of water and was thankfully no longer hiccupping. “I truly understand, Mother, why you’re reluctant to give up the safety of this hack, as we have no idea what we’ll be facing once we go inside the castle. Nevertheless, as Drusilla has undoubtedly already told you, we don’t have anywhere else to go. We also don’t have funds to waste on paying hack drivers more than the fare they originally quoted us, but I’m afraid, if you don’t get out of this hack soon, that’s exactly what we’re going to be forced to do.”
Irma opened her mouth, closed it, opened it again, then after looking quite like a fish out of water for another few seconds, wrinkled her nose. “I don’t think they’ll charge us more if I simply stay here while the two of you do an initial inspection of the castle, making certain there aren’t any bats, rats, or ghosts wandering about.”
Knowing there was a very good chance they’d encounter at least one of those three obstacles, and also knowing there was absolutely no way they could rid the castle of any of those things before the sun went down, Drusilla settled for simply sending her mother a nod before she stepped out of the hack and shut the door.
After telling Gus that he’d hopefully be able to get on his way within the next ten minutes, Drusilla set her sights on the castle and headed up the drive, Annaliese and Seraphina joining her.
“I don’t think there’s any possibility we can inspect the entire castle for concerning creatures within ten minutes,” Annaliese said as she settled Pippin more comfortably on her shoulder and Wiggles and Fidget, Pippin’s siblings, began scurrying up the drive, chirping up a storm.
“I’m sure we can’t, but Mother doesn’t exactly seem to be in a reasonable frame of mind, something that has eluded her ever since Sanford disappeared with our money,” Drusilla said. “I’m hoping we’ll be pleasantly surprised and find that the castle has been very well maintained even though it doesn’t seem as if any of the staff is still here, except maybe the groundskeeper, since no one has come out to greet us.”
With that, Drusilla began climbing the limestone steps, stopping in front of a door that looked rather battered, as if it had taken quite the beating over the years.
She gave the door knocker a few raps on the off chance someone was inside, then withdrew the heavy set of keys Aunt Ottilie had given her from her reticle when she heard not a single footstep from the other side of the door. After eyeing the lock, she chose a skeleton key, inserted it into the lock, and smiled when a distinctive click sounded.
Her smile disappeared in a flash, though, when a spine-tingling creaking noise rang out the moment she began pushing the door open. The hair on the nape of her neck then stood at attention when she stepped into the entranceway and took note of the cobwebs hanging about, ones that drifted from the ceiling and down a long hallway, wafting over an honest-to-goodness cannon pointing her way.
Directly behind the cannon was what seemed to be an entire army of medieval suits of armor, each one standing perfectly erect and complete with helmet, breastplates, and full leg armor, and holding lances, clubs, and even a few threatening-looking maces.
“And this isn’t creepy at all,” Seraphina muttered. “And not that I want to embrace a pessimistic attitude, but being confronted with a cannon pointing at us, and one that has an entire cauldron of cannon balls stashed beside it, is not what I’d consider a welcoming touch.”
“I’m sure the cannon is just for show,” Drusilla said.
“Let’s hope we don’t personally discover otherwise,” Seraphina said, earning a nod from Annaliese as she sidled closer to Drusilla.
“I don’t think being confronted with a scene that would do justice to any haunted house is that pleasant surprise you were hoping for, Drusilla,” Annaliese whispered.
“Too right it’s not,” Drusilla agreed before she squared her shoulders. “However, as long as the cannon doesn’t suddenly start blasting cannonballs our way, and none of those suits of armor start moving around, or any ghosts drift through the cobwebs, I think we’ll be fine, so ... shall we continue on?”
“Since I don’t think any of us want to sleep outside tonight amongst the ravens and bats, I don’t believe we have a choice except to continue on,” Seraphina pointed out.
“That’s the spirit.”
Seraphina batted aside a cobweb that had attached itself to the hood of her cloak. “Shall we walk toward our certain doom together instead of doing this single file?”
“Single file might allow at least one of us to escape if something tries to ambush us,” Annaliese said as Wiggles and Fidget slunk up to join them, the ferrets taking one look at the suits of armor displayed in the hallway before they exchanged a few chirps, then turned and bolted toward the front door.
“Think that’s a sign there’s something terrifying waiting for us at the end of the hallway?” Seraphina asked.
“Since I’ve never seen them do that before, probably,” Annaliese admitted.
“Perhaps we should arm ourselves with a few of the lances just to be on the safe side,” Seraphina said, striding over to some armor and tugging a lance free, wobbling around a bit before she used both hands to hold out what seemed to be a very heavy object to Drusilla.
Drusilla frowned. “Do you honestly believe my sister and I have the slightest idea how to wield a lance, or worse yet, a mace?”
“An excellent question, and one that suggests it would be more dangerous to arm you and Annaliese, so I’ll be responsible for our defense if we encounter any trouble.”
“You know how to use a lance?” Annaliese asked.
Seraphina smiled. “I told you, I acquired some unusual skills in Switzerland.” She took a second to look over the lance, tested the weight, seemed to settle for holding it exactly in the middle, then nodded down the hallway. “I’ll lead the way.”
Walking behind Seraphina, who was now pointing the lance in front of her and holding it in what appeared to be a practiced grip, Drusilla soon found herself moving out of the hallway and into a very large room, one that had a long, rough-hewn table in it that could have easily accommodated a hundred guests.
“Does anyone else hear that tinkling sound?” Annaliese whispered.
Seraphina stopped in her tracks and tilted her head. “It sounds like bells.”
“Think the ghosts are doing that?” Annaliese asked right as the tinkling grew louder and was then joined by what sounded exactly like hooves rushing over the hard floor.
“It’s not ghosts—it’s goats!” Seraphina yelled, no longer bothering to keep her voice lowered as what appeared to be an entire herd of goats came clambering into the room, the bells hanging from their necks making a horrible racket, that racket joined by the sound of a honking noise that was being emitted from a goose that had just waddled into the room, moving as fast as its webbed feet would allow.
Before Drusilla had a chance to wonder why goats and a goose would be in the castle in the first place, the goat leading the group set its sights on her, changed direction, and charged her way.