The Girl in the Ghost house - Chapter 7

Chapter 7

“What happened?” Evelyn asked, sitting down on the small three legged stool next to the bathtub.

“It was a long time ago.” William picked Trevor up and patted him, “I got stuck in the ghost house. And I had only a few hours to get out. Just like you. And I figured out about the keys and the Man with the Music Box and that all I needed was the telephonoscope. But when I asked the Professor for it he wouldn’t give it to me.”

“Why?” Evelyn asked, “He seems like a nice old man.”

“Because he’s scared of the Thing with Black Wings.” William whispered and the dripping of the water into the tub echoed all around. “I tried to convince him but he just wouldn’t give it to me. So I made a different plan. But I ran out of time before I could finish it.”

“What was your plan?” Evelyn asked, her stomach feeling sick as she thought about the big, black grandfather clock in the hallway downstairs. She only had two more chimes left to get the key back.

“It doesn’t matter anymore.” William said sadly, “There’s no hope. We can never get our keys back.”

Trevor hung his little head sadly and covered his eyes with his tiny paws. Faucet sighed and his shoulders slumped. The water dripped into the bathtub and echoed around the dark room. And Evelyn thought about her mother and her father and how she would never be able to see them again. And then she looked past William, to the window in the wall. And she saw something outside and jumped up.

“Alright stop that! All of you!” And they all started a bit at her yelling, “We can’t just give up! We can’t let the Singing Lady win. We still have time! Two hours. Two hours to figure something out!”

“But it’s hopeless.” William whispered.

“There’s always hope.” Evelyn said walking to the window and pointing towards the night sky, “See that star? That’s the North Star. My parents would take me out stargazing and we would lie down on a blanket in a farm field and they would tell me all about the stories of the stars. That star was called Hope by people because if they ever got lost they could use it to find their way back home. They didn’t give up hope and kept trying. And we have to keep trying too!”

Faucet’s gears clicked and whirred. Trevor looked up and his whiskers twitched. And William turned around in the bathtub and looked away from Evelyn. She thought he was still sad and didn’t want to help.

“William, please.” She stepped closer, “If there is anyway–– what are you doing?”

William was busy winding a lever on the inside of the bathtub. The inside was covered in gears that were all turning and spinning. William looked sideways at Evelyn and smiled.

“Fine. I’ll help you. Here, can you turn that lever over there?” He pointed to a far away one in the corner. “And Faucet I need you to clear those boxes and the stool off the floor. Trevor, you know what to do.”

Trevor appeared below the bathtub and ran between the legs. The bathtubs legs were cared lion claws resting on round balls. And as Trevor passed each claw he pulled a pin out of them. And the round balls under the claws started to turn loosely.

"Alright Faucet we need to face out towards the door." William called as he kept cranking, a large pole rising above the tub. It had a propeller like a fan at its end. William grabbed a bag from inside the tub and threw it to Evelyn. "Here can you stick those on the blades?"

Evelyn opened the bag and the smell of flowers came out of it. She reached in and pulled out a golden hued toffee, "They're the same ones from the conservatory."

"Exactly." William grinned as Faucet pushed the tub around to face the door with its nose. "Faucet, you need to secure the door before Evelyn starts licking the toffees."

"I don't understand." Evelyn pulled out a handful of flower toffees as Faucet walked over to the door and leaned against it with his clockwork body.

"It's okay." William took one and licked it and stuck it to the blade of the fan. From outside there was a rustling sound as more moths arrived and clashed against the door. "Just trust me."

"Alright." Evelyn took the bag and started licking the candies and sticking them to the blades. There was more rustling behind the door an it strained. Faucets gears were clicking and turning more as he kept the door closed.

"Alright Trevor, get ready!" William yelled as he picked up an axe from inside the tub. Evelyn hasn't noticed it before. She also realized that she hasn't noticed the rope next to the wall before. Or the massive chandelier above them.

"Umm William." She said as she stuck the last candy on the blades, "What's your plan?"

William smiled and yelled, "Now Faucet!!!!"

Then several things happened at once. Faucet threw open the door as a wave of the glowing white moths burst in, swarming at the candy on the blades. The blades started to spin as the moths rushed against it going faster and faster. The spinning fan moved the gears in the tub round and round and this caused the round balls under the lion claws to spin fast too. But the tub wasn’t going anywhere. That was when William brought the axe down hard on the rope that caused the chandelier to fall. It smashed into the floor behind them, the wood under the chandelier broke and seesawed, pushing the  tub off. That was all it needed.

“Hold on!” William called as the tub shut forward.

The burst through the bathroom door, the moths still swarming around the blade and causing them to shoot forward faster. William grabbed Evelyn and leaned them both sideways. This caused the tub to start turning as they hit the hallway. He was trying to get it to turn towards the Singing lady’s door. The door that was still bursting with flame. But they weren’t turning far enough.

“We’re not going to make it!” William called as he pulled Evelyn down, “Put your head down!”

And then the tub smashed through the door. but it wasn’t the Singing Lady’s door. It smashed through the door that went up to the attic. They careened up the stairs and burst through the Attic door into the Professor’s study.The tub fell sideways and Evelyn tumbled out. William climbed up the tub and sat on it’s side. Trevor appeared, shaking and chittering very angerily at William.

“Now you’ve done it!” The Professor was angry and at first Evelyn thought he was angry at her, “You foolish boy, now the Thing with Black Wings can get up here much easier!”

“It could have come up here if it really wanted to anyway.” William snorted, “And even if it did get you, it would serve you right!”

Evelyn was shocked. She had never seen the Professor or William as angry before as they were toward each other. The Professor turned away and was busy tinker with a gear, but he was obviously so mad that he just snapped his screwdriver before he threw it to the side. William just sat and turned his back, folding his arms. Trevor tried to talk to him, but William didn’t respond at all. Evelyn sighed.

“Okay, i’m sorry you two are mad at each other. but please.” And she stood in between them, “I only have two hours left to get my key back
. And i really need both of your help.”

The boy William turned a bit but then looked away. The Professor was looking at his broken screwdriver but didn’t say anything.

“Please.” Evelyn said again.

“Alright, fine.” The Professor said, putting the screwdriver down, “But how am I supposed to help you? I can’t leave my chair.”

“Well, I was wondering if I could borrow your telephonoscope.” Evelyn said giving her biggest smile.

“Absolutely not.” The Professor said as he stroked his bog moustache. “It’s completely out of the question!”

“i told you.” William shook his head,.

“Please.” Evelyn tried again, “I know you are using it to try and protect yourself from the Thing with black Wings but I really need to use it. Isn’t there something else you could use to protect yourself?”

“No.” the Professor took a sip from his teacup. “There isn’t.”

“But what did you use before you had the telephonoscope?” Evelyn asked, “I mean, you couldn’t have always had it.”

The professor took a long sip, “Well, that’s true I guess.”

This caused William to look up as the Professor kept talking, “But I can’t use that tool anymore.”

“Why not?” Evelyn asked, feeling sure that there must be a way for her to get the telephonoscope.

“It’s broken.” The Professor said crossly.

“Then we can fix it.” Evelyn said looking to William for help.

“It’s not that simple.” The Professor said, “Its missing a very vital part and its been gone so very long...”

“What is the tool?” Evelyn asked.

From behind them they could hear the familiar clicking and whirring coming up the stairs. Evelyn turned and William turned and they both had the same idea at the same time. They both realized what tool the Professor had been talking about. The broken one. The one missing its part. The clockwork man walked up the stairs slowly and sighed as the professor answered them/

“It is Faucet.”

 

The Girl in the Ghost House - Chapter 6

Chapter 6

The house was quiet by the foot of the stairs except for the occasional creaking that came from the old wood. The cat that sat on the stairs looked lazily down towards the part of the wall covered in cracks, where Lacrymosa, the girl behind the painting, was standing staring up at a corner where the ceiling was flecked and stained.

“No, I really think it looks more like a butterfly. Or a moth.” She giggled sending more cracks along the wall, “I saw some once. When I was in the Conservatory. When William came and let them all free.”

The cat didn’t even seem to see the stain. It just kept licking its paw. Lacrymosa was about to say something to the cat about it when there was a flutter of wings in the air in front of her. A flutter of black wings. The cat hissed and disappeared.

“Oh, it’s you.” She smiled. “I was wondering when you’d come visit me again.”

The Girl in the Ghost House - Chapter 5

Chapter 5

The air inside of the conservatory was damp and warm and humid. The heavy glass door swung shut behind Evelyn as she stepped inside. The conservatory looked less like a greenhouse and more like a jungle, with a fogged up glass roof peaking out above the high tree tops.

Trevor stayed back by the door and scratched against it, squeaking at Evelyn in frustration. He wasn’t very happy that Evelyn refused to listen to his warnings. And she simply kept walking forward dragging Faucet with her. Trevor stamped his foot in frustration and gave a high pitched squeak before scurrying after Evelyn.

“Hello.” Evelyn stepped on a twig that snapped loudly. “Is anyone there?”

The bushes to her left began to move and Evelyn turned and backed away from them. She was a smart girl and knew there was nothing scary about moving bushes. They were just bushes after all. But what was in the bushes making them move? That could be something unexpectedly nasty. And so Evelyn backed away from the thing in the bushes.

The Girl in the Ghost House - Chapter 3

Chapter 3

There was a loud crash as the bronze hand smashed through the wood of the door and turned the handle from inside. The door opened and Trevor ran inside, followed by Faucet who had smoke coming from all sort of corners of his clockwork body. The telephonescope extended into the room and the old man’s voice cried out, “Run! Get out!”

“Fool!” And the Singing Lady glowed red with anger, “You will regret this!”

And she picked up a key from her bowl of keys and snapped it in half. From the hallway outside of the room Evelyn heard a loud crash. It woke her up and she ran towards the door. She grabbed Faucet’s hand and they ran out with Trevor leading the way.They’d just barely got past the door when it slammed shut and started glowing red. Evelyn couldn’t even get close to it because it was so hot.

The Girl in the Ghost House - Chapter 2

The Girl in the Ghost House

Chapter 2

“Excellent dive!” The old man yelled as he set the bow down and smacked his leg, “And good form as well.”

“What! You almost killed me!” Evelyn didn’t usually take a tone like that with her elders but she did have a point, the old gentleman had almost killed her.

“Ah, yes, well, I promise my aim will be much better next time!” He beamed at her, “Now then, do you fancy a cup of tea? Faucet?!”

From the other side of the room there was a loud clicking and whirring sound and as Evelyn shone her flashlight on the corner a metallic clockwork man walked out from between the trees. He bowed stiffly to the old gentleman.

“Ah, Faucet. Excellent. Be a chap and fetch my arrow.” The old man put a normal looking telescope down on the table beside him and Evelyn wondered if it was his telephonoscope. “Oh, and put the kettle on. The young lady and I would like some refreshments. See if we still have any of the thin, wafer mint cookies. There’s a good lad.”

The Girl in the Ghost House - Chapter 1

Chapter 1

Evelyn was not what most grown ups would call a well adjusted child. What they meant by that was that Evelyn was the type of little girl who did not care very much for television, who didn’t do with nonsense such as boogeymen, and whose very absolute favorite thing in the world was climbing out of her bed at night, opening her bedroom window, and escaping to explore the forgotten houses.

There was a row of them. They’d been built by a millionaire who had been sure that everyone would want a house on the land he owned. But then the city had put a graveyard up right next to his houses. And no one wanted to live next to a graveyard. Except for Evelyn’s parents. Because really, most grown ups would not call her parents well adjusted either.

Evelyn’s parents were not the type of grown ups who forbade her from playing in the abandoned houses. Instead, when they first moved in, Evelyn’s mother had gone one night to explore the houses herself. And then the next day Evelyn’s father had taken the screen off her window and built the steps that went down from her bedroom to the garden. And they had put up enough trees and bushes that she could run between without being seen. Because Evelyn’s parents thought it was a good thing for Evelyn to play and a good thing for her to explore. And because they had both already checked and knew that there was nothing dangerous in the abandoned houses.

And of course they were wrong.

It was on an ordinary night of exploration that Evelyn came to the yellow house with the number 23 on it. And that Evelyn walked up the creaking steps. And that Evelyn grabbed the old, rusted door knob and pulled the old door away on its squeaking hinges. She stepped into the house and the dust motes rose into the air.

Evelyn never left her room without her flashlight. She turned it on and shone a beam of light into the house. The house looked just like all the other abandoned houses looked inside. Except this one wasn’t empty. The old house was filled with old furniture. The walls weren’t bare. They had faded and peeling wallpaper on them. There were old paintings and pictures and a big chandelier that was covered in spider webs. Someone had lived in the old house. A long time ago.

Evelyn shone her flashlight around as she stepped inside and let the door close behind her. It didn’t swing shut like the other houses. It slammed and the slam echoed into the darkness above. She let her light fall on the door just in time to see the key in the door turn. Evelyn did not realize that the doors of the abandoned houses had keys. She pulled the key out of the door and placed it in her pocket. That was when Evelyn heard the singing.

It was coming from upstairs. Someone else was in the house.

At first Evelyn thought about her parents. They had taught her how to explore safely. They had also taught her that it was impossible to never speak to strangers, and instead the best way of speaking to a stranger was to come across as pleasant and well mannered while still avoiding danger. Evelyn could just leave. She could unlock the door and go back home.

But where was the fun in that.

The stairs creaked as she walked up to where the singing came from. One of the stairs was missing a slat and went down into the inky darkness below the stairs. And as she stepped over it, she felt her whole body get goosebumps. In fact, it was so cold she could see her breath fog in front of her. And then the next moment, as she stepped on the other side of the gap in the stairs, she was fine again. Evelyn knew that this was very odd. And so she stopped and thought about whether she should just go back down the stairs. Whether she was in any real danger.

And she decided that it must have just been a draft and that she was still fine. So Evelyn continued walking up the stairs. The top of the stairs ended in a very short hallway. On her left and on her right were doors. And ahead of her was a third door, this one outlined in blue light from underneath. The singing was coming from the blue lit door. Evelyn swallowed and wondered what kind of person came into abandoned houses at night and sang.

“Pssst.” A voice came from the door on her right and frightened her so much she dropped her flashlight.

Evelyn reached to pick it up and as she stood up the doorway opened up. The room was dark and inside Evelyn could hear a sort of wet, dripping sound. She shined her flashlight into the room. It was a bathroom. That would explain the dripping. There was a massive white tub with lion claw legs and thick copper handles. Above it a shower head came down and at the end of the shower nozzle another drop was forming at the tip, ready to splash down in the bathtub.

“Psst.” Came the voice again and this time she was sure it came from the big bathtub.

“Hello. Is someone there?” Evelyn asked training her light on the tub.

A boy peaked over the edge of the tub. His hair was dark and messy and his face was pale and his eyes were big and grey and almost scary if he didn’t look so scared of her. Evelyn knew that if someone was scared of you, you usually didn’t have to be scared of them. Usually.

“Hi there. My name is Evelyn.” She said as she introduced herself as her parents had taught her, “What’s your name?”

“William. But mother and Maryanne call me Willie.” The boy said still peering over the tub at Evelyn cautiously.

“And which do you prefer, William or Willie?” Evelyn asked, advancing slowly.

“William. Father says a g-growing boy ought not to be coddled.” He raised his head just a bit more as he spoke.

“Well, William. Are you here exploring too?” Evelyn said letting her flashlight’s yellow beam glide over the bathroom surface, “Funny place to sit though. In a bathtub.”

“I’m not exploring.” William said, looking around fearfully, “I’m just. I’m just taking a bath.”

“A bath? In the middle of the night? Here? Why?” Evelyn jumped out of the way as a large white rat scurried past her, “What is that!?”

“Oh, don’t mind Trevor.” The boy let a pale hand float out of the bathtub and scooped the rat up into his hand, “He’s just bringing me back the news of what’s happening in the rest of the house.”

“But.... but he’s a rat. I mean, it’s a rat.” Evelyn was not the sort of girl that put up with nonsense like talking animals.

“So. He’s also my best friend. And friends tell each other things, don’t they?” The boy William looked out of the tub at Evelyn standing in the doorway, “Anyway, Trevor’s the one who saw you come in and told me you were coming up the stairs.”

“Well, and why did Trevor care that I was coming up the stairs?” Evelyn had just about had enough of the boy who sat in a bathtub at all hours of the night in an abandoned house and talked to rats.

“He said you were going towards the Singing Lady’s room. And that you mustn’t.” William fixed his grave eyes on Evelyn. “You must not. You must never go in the Singing Lady’s room or you’ll never leave.”

And then the boy William slid silently beneath the rim of the bathtub. Trevor the Rat sat on the edge and nodded his small whiskered face as if agreeing with William. Evelyn didn’t much care for the way the rat seemed to think it knew everything. Trevor hopped down and scurried across the floor, stopping at the open door to look up at Evelyn and motion with his head. It seemed as if he wanted her to follow him. Trevor went forward a few steps and looked back. Evelyn stepped out of the bathroom and the door shut.

“So, where are you taking me, rat?” She looked down at it with distaste.

Trevor looked up at her and then continued scurrying back towards the stairs. Evelyn was about to step towards the rat when the song behind her suddenly grew louder. She turned slowly on the spot towards the door, the bright blue light coming from around the cracks in the doorjam. The song was getting louder and she felt almost like a hand was grabbing hold of her sweater and pulling her towards the door.

“SQUEAK!” Trevor ran back and tried to grab hold of her bootlace, dragging across the rug as Evelyn kept walking.

Evelyn took one slow step after another. She reached her hand out towards the doorknob. Trevor was getting frantic, running towards the stairs then back to her then back to the stairs. He tried to pull her back but she didn’t even notice him. She placed her hand on the doorknob and the metal was ice cold to the touch. The light around the door pulsed with anticipation. Evelyn was ready to open the door.

KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK!!!

She started as the door to her left shook. Someone was pounding from the otherside. Evelyn instinctively took a step back, looking at the door. The knocking started again and she trained her flashlight on the white, chipped wooden frame.

“Excuse me.” Came the voice of a very proper sounding old gentleman. “Pardon me young lady, but would you mind not shining your torch directly at me?”

Evelyn let the yellow pool of light slide down the door and quiver on the spot right in front of it. So that enough light would still be reaching the door. And that’s when she noticed it. Sticking out of the doorknob, right through the keyhole was a small metal pipe. She stepped forward and looked at it closer. It had a small piece of glass at the end.

“What do you think? Charming invention isn’t it? I do so love a good mechanism.” The disembodied voice kept talking, “I’m currently working on something that may enable me to walk around soon! I daresay, maybe even leave the house! Haha!”

“Who are you?” Evelyn said leaning forward towards the small metal pipe coming out of the doorknob, “Where are you?”

“Ah! Yes! Of course! What was I thinking? Where are my manners!” And here the voice stopped and the metal tube slid back into the keyhole as it said, “Please, if you wouldn’t mind unlocking my door?”

Evelyn was about to ask how she was supposed to unlock the door. When she realized. She had the key. Could the key from the downstairs door be the same one to unlock the upstairs door? She stepped forward, not noticing Trevor the rat scurrying back and forth shaking his head. She slid the key into the lock and turned it to the left. The bolt in the door slid solid and the key in her hand became cold.

She barely pulled the key out before the door creaked open. Evelyn swallowed. Inside dusty wooden stairs led upward into the darkness that was the attic. The small metal tube slid back into a slightly bigger section of tube. And that was when she figured it out.

“It’s like a miniature telescope!” And her flashlight gleamed off the brass pipes that led up into the darkness.

“Oh! Oh yes,” The voice said, and Evelyn could finally tell that it was coming from the telescope, “This is my telephonoscope. It lets me see and hear from all the way up here in the attic. Please, follow it up. I would very much like to meet you young lady.”

Evelyn looked back at the blue glowing door. And thought that she would just take a peak upstairs and meet the kind-sounding old gentleman in the attic before going to see what lay behind the blue lit door. The stairs creaked and Trevor was scurrying back and forth in anguish before placing his small paw over his eyes and shaking his head. Then he ran back to the bathroom to report what had happened to the boy William in the bath in frantic squeaks.

Meanwhile Evelyn was walking up the creaking stairs. The darkness was thicker and she began to wonder what the old gentleman was doing in the attic to begin with. Evelyn though that he must be William’s grandfather because they were both in the house in the middle of the night and they both seemed to be odd people. She hoped that the old gentleman wouldn’t be as fond of rats as his grandson.

The tube Evelyn was following was now as thick as the handle of her flashlight and she thought that the attic would have to be close. She took one more step, and for a moment, caught her breath. Because there weren’t anymore stairs and for a moment she thought she was falling, before she stumbled forward into the attic. At least she thought it was where the attic would be. But instead Evelyn was standing on grass. There were trees and their branches reached up and at the top she thought she could see stars shining through the branches and leaves.

“But, that’s impossible.” Evelyn crossed her arms, “I saw the house from the outside! It had a roof and a proper attic! This is all some kind of nonsense. Maybe even just a dream!”

A heavy chair on the other side of the glade/room turned with a creak and the old man faced her, “Oh no my dear, I’m afraid this is no dream.”

And then Evelyn saw what the old gentleman had in his hands. It was a massive bow made of bronze, with levers and gears at it’s base and small pulleys and winches at its top and bottom. The old gentleman pulled a solid golden arrow out of the couch and drew it back as far as he could, the gears spinning and the thread on the bow whirring as it ran through the pulleys. It made a loud click as the arrow war ready, the string humming with tension.

“What are you––?” Evelyn couldn’t finish her sentence before the old man let go and the bow shot out a shower of sparks from its gears as the arrow was release and shot forward like a bolt of pure gold. Evelyn just had enough time to dive out of the way as the arrow cut through the air where she had stood, quivering in the wooden paneling of the doorframe.