[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
the duty of each succeeding generation to care for him, and to keep him a secret from all, even those they
loved. However, the bonds of matrimony permit no room for secrets, and one enterprising young Lady
Glamis grew weary of hearing these rumors and not knowing the truth behind them. One night, while her
husband was away, she held a dinner party, and conveyed an ingenious plan to her guests. They would
take towels and hang them from each window of the castle. They did. Then they went outside and circled
the castle, looking for the window with no towel, for this would be the secret room. And there it was,
high up on the third floor. A tiny window& with no towel. So Lady Glamis rushed into the castle, up the
stairs, down the hall, and threw open the door of the room nearest the secret one. Then she knocked
along the wall, listening for the hollow spot where a hidden door might be. She knocked once, took a
step, knocked again, took a step, knocked a third time& and something within knocked back."
Trsiel stepped onto the winding drive, and kept walking.
"Then what?" I said finally.
"Well, that's it. According to legend, before she could investigate further, her husband came home, found
out what she'd done, and gave her hell. Soon after that, she left him."
"I don't blame her. But it's still a lousy ending."
"You want me to do better?"
"Please."
He gave a deep sigh. "The things I'm asked to do on this mission. Okay, better ending coming up. So&
something within knocked back. Then, at a noise behind her, Lady Glamis turned to see her husband
there. In his hand was a rusted metal key. He grabbed her, but before she could cry out for help, the
secret door sprang open. A horrible moan came from within. Lady Glamis screamed then, screamed as
loud as she could, but Lord Glamis shoved her through the door, slammed it shut, and locked her
inside locked forever with the monster, there to serve him for all eternity."
I lifted a brow. "Serve him how?"
He looked at me, then sputtered a laugh. "Not like that! This is a G-rated ghost story, woman. Don't be
messing with it."
"A G-rated story? About taking some deformed baby and locking him up? And if it was true, and this
poor guy had been locked up in there for decades, and someone threw in a perfectly good woman, what
the hell do you think he'd do with her? Play Parcheesi?"
"You've corrupted my story."
"Believe me, it was corrupted long before I got hold of it."
As we rounded the corner, I looked up and stopped. Looming above us, embraced by threads of fog,
was Glamis Castle.
"Holy shit," I whispered. "You know, when I hear stories like that, about hidden rooms, I always think
they're obviously bullshit. How can you have a room and not know about it? But with a place like this&
? I bet you could have a dozen of them." I looked the castle over again. "It's supposed to be haunted?
Doesn't surprise me. Hell, I wouldn't mind hanging out here for a while. Is there a dungeon?"
"No, just a crypt."
"That'll do. But I don't see the Nix as the sightseeing type. She's after something here, but there's a hell of
a lot of here to search. Did Sullivan's vision give you any clues?"
"Just random snippets of various castle rooms."
"Like she was looking for something."
He nodded. "And I suspect she's come and gone."
"Meaning we're probably looking, not for the Nix, but for what drew her here. Could be a wild-goose
chase. But if the castle's haunted, then it's likely related to "
"Well, that's the thing. It isn't haunted."
"Huh?"
"One hundred percent spook-free."
I frowned. "Places this old are always haunted. Maybe not 'moaning specters and clanging chains'
haunted, but with real ghosts. The ones caught between dimensions and the ones who just like to soak up
a little spooky atmosphere."
"Normally that's true. But not here."
"Why not?"
Trsiel shook his head. "I have no idea. One of the ascendeds was assigned to investigate it last century,
but then something more important came up, and he was never sent back. Nothing bad ever happens
here. No unexplained murders. No demonic activity. No real reason to investigate further. If haunters
don't want to set up shop here, well, that's not a bad thing. We have enough trouble with them as it is."
"But something must make this place unpopular with ghosts. And maybe that something has to do with
the Nix's visit."
We slid into the castle through a side wall, emerging in a huge dining room with a table set for twelve and
portraits lining the paneled walls.
[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]