Page 45 of The Haunting of William Thorn

“Not kill,” Edward said, taking the journal and reading the line out loud. “To keep them occupied for a short while.”

“ I have left enough hemlock that the effects should not be disastrous. I have swapped out your mother’s tealeaf reserve this morning.

Do not drink it, my love. Make sure both your mother and father have drunk enough that by the time the effects begin, they are too incapacitated to stop you from leaving.

I will wait for you at the gatehouse. With haste and love, your Teddy . ”

“But I thought hemlock is fatal?” William asked, aware of the sour taste in his mouth.

“I’m no expert, but I think that it can be, depending on how much is ingested. At least it gives you a terrible stomach ache and what I think Edward was hoping for… temporary paralysis.”

“Where does a person even get such a poison?”

Edward lifted his eyes back to the garden, sweeping his hand out. “You grow it.”

It unsettled William more to know that his new house was a cultivating spot for deadly plants, more so than the idea of ghosts or ghouls. As he swept his eyes across the garden, he wondered what else lurked in the bushes and shrubs. Was there any place safe at Hanbury?

“Except they never left,” William added, trying to claw his mind away from these new anxieties. “Maybe you’re right, and Robert never read this message. He never got these instructions.”

A new, sickening thought hit him. If Robert didn’t get the warning about the tea, then what would’ve stopped him from drinking it?

From Robert’s journal entries, William knew supper was an important family moment for the Thomas family.

If Robert didn’t know the tea they drank every evening had been swapped for poison, then surely he’d drunk it too?

“The final question now is, what happened that night? What happened when Robert never met Teddy as planned? Did he wait, or did he leave alone? If Robert, and his parents, ingested the hemlock all of them would’ve been useless.”

“Unless there was somebody else?”

Edward swallowed hard, his skin taking on a sickly tone. “Exactly.”

After having an insight into Teddy’s mind through his writings, William didn’t imagine for a second that that was a possibility.

Teddy would never have left Robert. Perhaps, just maybe, he still hadn’t…

. “We both know the answer to one of your questions. Would you have left the one person in life that gave you purpose?”

“Never. Not unless I was made to,” Edward said, tone as dark as the sombre mode that overcame them both.

“And unless Robert’s journal explains what happened – which it won’t, considering he believes Teddy went to war and died there – then we have no other way to find out. Teddy’s story will still be lost.”

William found it hard to see Edward in such clear physical suffering. It wasn’t that he hurt himself, more than the emotions that riled through him were torturing his soul that he slumped forwards, head in hands and released a muffled swear.

Edward wrapped his arms around his waist, held on and rocked forwards.

Unable to stop himself, William reached over and offered his touch. He laid his hand on Edward’s shoulder, but that didn’t seem to draw him out of his mind. It was as if he didn’t feel it. He only looked up when William spoke.

“There is something we can do,” William said. “One more try… one more go at getting you answers.”

“At this point is it worth even continuing to try?”

I’d try anything to give you peace, William thought but decided to keep that to himself. “About your Ouija board, what did you end up doing to it?”

Edward looked up, brows creased. “Where are you going with this, Will?”

A shiver passed over his skin, noticed by Edward, whose brow creased in concern.

“I think we should give it another go. If we can’t find the answers in the living, then maybe the dead can offer some insight.”

William also had a question for the dead. And it was related to last night.

“That’s a big ask from me,” Edward said. “I wouldn’t want you to do anything that makes you uncomfortable.”

“Except you haven’t asked, and I’ve offered.”

“Only if you’re sure?”

William narrowed his eyes on Edward, offering a lighter moment of sarcasm. “I take it you never planned to destroy it even though I asked, am I right?”

Edward nibbled his lower lip, turning the cherry-red tone to a pale white beneath the pinch of teeth. “I was planning on it…”

“Liar.” William winked, which seemed to calm Edward down.

He stood from the chair, feigning an air of confidence while his insides screamed.

Dream or not, something about the happenings last night haunted him.

But more than anything, if he could offer Edward some peace about his family’s past, he’d do anything to give it.

This – he – was the distraction he’d been wanting.

“Time to commune with the dead,” William announced. “Let’s go bust some ghosts… or whatever.”

“Bust some ghosts?” Edward laughed. “Have you hit your head? Who is this William I’m speaking to?”

His comment single-handedly tilted William’s axis for a second. “Just a tortured soul wanting to help another. That’s all.”

Edward smiled wider at that, eyes flickering from William’s forced smile, to his eyes, and the back to his mouth, where his gaze stayed.

“One last try then, and if it doesn’t work, we pack it in.

I won’t hold up any more of your time. I’ll pack up and leave you to your life, and you can forget I ever walked into it. That’s a promise.”

Somehow, that wasn’t at all what William wanted to hear out of Edward’s mouth. In fact, he found himself lying again when he replied. “Then it’s a deal.”

Whereas his mind, the silent voice, the one only for him, screamed, let’s hope it works.