The Cave Read Free Page B

strange shadows dancing up to the ceiling. It was very quiet for a boarding house. There was no sound of conversation, not even any sound of the servants going about their duties.
    ‘Are there other guests?’ he asked.
    Mrs Galy appeared not to hear him.
    She stopped in front of a high wooden desk at the foot of the stairs. Freddie could smell the beeswax polish. The wood gleamed in the light from an oil lamp that sat on the counter top. She took a large, brass key from the row of hooks on the wall.
    ‘This way,’ she said.
    Freddie followed her up the tiled staircase to a room on the second floor. Mrs Galy turned the key in the lock, pushed open the door and stood back for Freddie to walk in first.
    He glanced around. It was plain, but pleasant
and clean. Two tall windows, floor to ceiling, filled one side of the room. An old-fashioned bed with a brass bedstead stood against the left-hand wall. Beside it was a wooden bedside table. On the opposite side of the room, a gilt-framed mirror hung on the wall above a heavy chest of drawers. On the top sat a large white china bowl and matching jug.
    ‘I could do with a bath,’ he said, ‘if that’s not too much trouble. To warm up.’
    Mrs Galy nodded. ‘At the end of the landing,’ she said. ‘I will send up the maid with hot water and something for your head, yes?’
    ‘My head?’
    ‘You are hurt,’ she said, pointing to the mirror. ‘See?’
    Freddie peered into the looking-glass and saw the trickles of dry blood and the patchwork of tiny cuts. He had not realised quite what a sight he looked.
    ‘I hit my head when the car crashed,’ he said.
    Mrs Galy made to leave.
    ‘Actually, there is one more thing,’ Freddie added. ‘I need to send word to my friends. They are in Quillan. I was due to meet them tonight. Is there a telegraph office? Or do you have a telephone, perhaps?’
    ‘In the next town, yes. Not here.’

    Freddie’s heart sank.
    ‘But if you care to write a message,’ she said, pointing at the desk in the corner of the room, ‘I will send a boy in the morning.’
    ‘Thank you.’
    Mrs Galy nodded. ‘If you leave your clothes outside the door, I will see they are washed and dried for the morning. I will find something of my husband’s for you to wear.’
    Freddie smiled his thanks. ‘That is most kind.’
    Mrs Galy placed the key on the table. ‘The dining room is at the foot of the stairs to the right. Dinner is served at six o’clock.’
    Freddie stood still, listening to the sound of her shoes getting fainter and fainter in the corridor. Then he crossed to the desk. He wrote a brief message for his friends, put the note in an envelope, wrote the address of the boarding house where they were staying and sealed it.
    That done, Freddie stripped off to his undergarments. He took the clean towel from the end of the bed and went in search of the bath.

Chapter Seven
    As the clock struck six o’clock, Freddie locked his door, put the key in his pocket and went down to dinner. He felt much better. The cuts on his head were not as bad as he had feared and the borrowed clothes were a good fit.
    Freddie left the letter for his friends on the counter top, then went to the dining room. He paused in the doorway for a moment and looked around. It was a good-sized room. A heavy oak sideboard filled one wall. Like his bedroom upstairs, there were two tall windows overlooking the square. The glass was covered by heavy velvet curtains that hung on gold rings. There were three sturdy square tables in the dining room, each laid for four. Each was set with white tablecloths, a knife, fork and spoon at each place, and a glass.
    Several pairs of eyes turned to look at him. At one table sat two middle-aged women. They looked like one another and Freddie guessed they were sisters. They were talking in low voices and looking at a guidebook. Three men
were sitting at the table in the middle of the room. At the table in the far corner, a young couple were gazing