Malevolent Hall 1666AD Read Free Page B

the photo back on the mantle, and wiped her eyes with the back of her hand.  She walked to it and picked up the book.  It was a first edition Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, a gift from her father for her birthday.  Putting her mug down and wiping off the dust, she opened it, and read the inscription inside.
    ‘To my darling Matilda
    Happy 11th birthday.
    May your world always be filled with magic.
    Lots of love and hugs.
    Daddy xxx’
    Closing the book and holding it to her heart Matilda’s lower lip juddered.  She missed her family so much and there wasn’t a day went by she didn’t think about them or that terrible day. Picking up her mug, and leaving the room, she walked across the foyer to the stairs.  Beyond the stairs, there were three more receptions rooms, including hers, and Teddy’s playroom.  The stairs going down to the basement were at that end too. Even as a child the basement scared her, so there was no way she was going down there yet.
    She put the book and mug on the hall table, flicked the switch, and waited for the upstairs landing light to come on.  As it illuminated the dusty, cobwebbed chandelier, she wandered up the stairs.  Her hand slid up the banister rail as each stair tread creaked underneath her feet, making her even more uneasy.
    Reaching the top, she looked over the bannister rail to the spacious foyer below and remembered.  Teddy used to spend hours playing with his toy cars across that parquet floor, or kicking his red ball into a goal made from two of the chairs.  Pushing off the bannister and continuing along the hallway, she passed a hall table on top of which was a pair of silver candlesticks, and some photographs in silver frames.  Lifting them one by one, and wiping the dust, she smiled at the images of her family.  As she continued she passed complete suits of armour standing to attention against the wall, and she gave a shiver.
    Her father had been an avid collector of anything medieval.  The Hall was full of antiques and artefacts, including swords and shields hanging all over the walls.  It was amazing really that they were all still here.  Thankfully, rumours of the demon creature and the Hall’s proximity of being out in the middle of nowhere kept the kids, thieves and the vandals away for the first few years.  Then it became forgotten with time.  Mike had removed the boards covering and protecting the windows the last time he and his team were here.
    Her family’s bedrooms, including hers were in the west wing and were all destroyed in the fire.  In a way, she was glad, as she knew she wouldn’t be able to handle seeing her old bedroom, or that of her brother’s.  This side of the Hall was the guest quarters.
    Certain it would be exactly as it was the day they died Matilda’s hand hovered on the latch to one of the rooms.  It was where her aunt and uncle were staying before they were murdered.  They had no other family; there was no one to come and claim their belongings.
    Gathering her nerve, Matilda lifted the latch and pushed it.  As the door opened with an ear-piercing squeal, she cringed at the noise and stepped inside, giving a shudder and quickly brushing away the cobwebs sticking to her face and covering her hair.  Apart from the webs and dust, the room was immaculate.  Walking to her aunt’s dressing table, her hand glided over the items.  Her make-up and perfume still sat as if waiting for her.  She picked up her aunt’s silver-backed hairbrush, and with tentative fingers, touched the dark strands of hair.  Tears stung her eyes as her mind flashed back.  She remembered sitting on the floor in the day lounge while her aunt brushed and plaited her hair for bed.  Her aunt loved Matilda’s long dark hair, and not yet having a child of her own, her Aunt May adored her, and she in turn remembered loving her aunt dearly.
    Her aunt and uncle moved into Malevolent Hall when Teddy was born. Her father was often away at a lecture