Ambush. Part 7

"It destroyed itself while trying to kill me."

"What does it all mean?" Kate said seriously. "I thought this stuff was supposed to stop when you got rid of the stone."

Kate and I walked back down the stairs. When we were crossing the fifth floor, we could hear water running somewhere in the distance.

"Did you leave the water on?" Kate asked.

"No," I answered. "I haven't been up here for weeks."

"Is Thomas or Wane around?"

"Maybe," I said shrugging. "But they usually don't come anywhere near the fifth floor when my father's not in the manor. I'm not even supposed to be up here."

We walked quietly across the big parlor on the fifth floor. The noise seemed to be coming from down the west wing. I led Kate to the end of the hall where there were two doors. I opened the first one and it was filled with old washing machines, stoves, and a huge iron boiler. I looked around, but the noise wasn't coming from there.

I closed the door and we walked to the last door in the wing. Both of us leaned our heads against the white painted wood door. I could faintly hear the water running behind it.

I reached out and knocked.

n.o.body answered.

"Open it," Kate whispered.

"What if someone's in there?" I whispered back.

"Isn't that what we're trying to find out?"

Kate reached out and turned the doork.n.o.b. It felt good letting her go ahead of me. It spoke volumes about what a believer I was in guys and girls both experiencing equal amounts of potential horror. I didn't want her for a second to think that I thought girls were less capable of going through strange doors and getting mauled first.

Kate opened the door slowly, and the sound of running water was loud and clear. There were no lights on in the room so I bravely stuck my hand in and flipped on the light switch. Nothing happened. Kate and I stepped in anyway.

It was a very large bathroom with two sinks, a toilet in the corner, and a large claw-foot tub near the far wall. There was also a large lounging area with a tiny couch and a fancy end table. I suppose the lounge area was designed for whoever was taking the bath to be able to sit and wait for their water to fill. Big, ornately framed mirrors hung on the walls, and there was a chandelier in the shape of a tree hanging from the ceiling. There was another door between two windows on the largest wall. We could clearly see that the faucet of one of the sinks was on and running. The sink basin was shallow and filled with water that was now flowing over the side of the sink onto the white tiled floor.

Like a really lame superhero that performed really mediocre tasks, I jumped into action, leaping across the floor and turning the water off. I then unplugged the sink so the water in the basin could drain down.

"Wow," Kate said. "Nice leap."

"I felt the moment called for it," I replied.

The two of us looked around. Something about the room made me uneasy; it was like looking at a face with no nose, something was off. There was n.o.body in the bathroom besides us, but it felt like more was here than met the eye. Light from the windows made the room bright enough to see, but filled the corners with shadows. Kate opened the door between the windows, but it was just an empty closet with bare shelves and a musty smell that was very familiar in the manor.

"So is this the beginning of a mystery?" I asked excitedly.

"Yeah," Kate replied. "The mystery of why Thomas forgot to turn off the water after washing his hands."

"That gives me goose b.u.mps," I said sarcastically while pretending to shiver. "But seriously, Thomas doesn't come up here."

"Then Wane," Kate suggested.

"Wane doesn't come up here."

"Maybe it was Scott."

"Scott doesn't wash his hands," I pointed out. "Besides he hardly ever even comes in the house."

"Maybe it's just a loose faucet," Kate said. "Sometimes the plumbing in old houses can do odd things. I'd have someone look at it. It could flood next time."

I looked down at the ground. Luckily we had caught the water in time to prevent any large amounts from building up on the floor. There was just a thin wet path that ran across the length of the bathroom.

"Well," Kate said, resigned. "I should probably go."

"Okay, then I'll leave you alone," I said, motioning to leave the bathroom.

"Don't be stupid," Kate said laughing. "I need to go home. You're grounded, and I have homework."

"Actually, I am grounded, but I also have homework," I said sadly.

We both turned around, and I flipped the light switch off. As we stepped back into the hall, something in my mind tumbled, and the thought I had been trying to think finally caught fire.

I knew what was wrong.

Chapter 11.

Wanna Know a Secret?

Every bit of my brain started to flash, letting me know I was onto something. I grabbed Kate's elbow.

"Wait a second," I whispered excitedly. "How can there be a closet door between two windows? There's no s.p.a.ce for the closet to go into."

"What?" Kate asked.

I turned around and walked back into the bathroom. I looked at the two windows and the single door between them. I opened the closet door and started inside. It was just a tall empty closet that seemed to jut out the side of the manor.

"That's not a big deal, Beck," Kate said. "They must have added the closet after they built the place."

"So it just sticks out the side of the manor?" I asked. "I've seen the outside of this place hundreds of times and I've never seen a closet sticking out of any part of the manor."

I ran to one of the windows and tried to get it open. Unfortunately, like so many of the windows in the manor, it was swollen shut from time and moisture, and it wouldn't budge. I pressed my face up against the gla.s.s, trying to see to the side where the back of the closet must be sticking out. I could see a large brick chimney running up the side of the manor. One of the many chimneys the manor had. I pulled back and shrugged.

"It's a chimney," I said. "They must have built the closet into part of an old chimney."

"Smart," Kate replied.

"Yeah, I guess," I agreed, still feeling as if something were off.

I went to the closet and opened it back up. It wasn't very big and there were five bare shelves with thick dust on them. As I was stepping away from the closet my right foot slipped just a bit. I looked down and saw traces of water that had come from the once-running sink. The water ran up to the front of the closet and stopped. I looked back at the sink and then over at the closet once more.

"What are you doing?" Kate asked.

"I'm not sure," I admitted. "How long do you think that sink was running?"

"Not that long," Kate replied. "We didn't hear it when we came up, and we weren't up here that long."

"Still," I said thinking. "Shouldn't there be more water on the floor?"

"Maybe," Kate answered.

"And look," I said, pointing. "The trail of the water runs right up to the closet and then just stops."

There were a lot of things I liked about Kate. She was beautiful, smart, and wickedly funny. Her face was one of my favorite things in the world to look at. I loved how she put me in my place, but still saw something about me worth liking. I loved how she talked, the way she stood, and every motion she made. All those things aside, however, my favorite trait she possessed was her ability to recognize when things were getting interesting and her willingness to jump headfirst into what lay ahead.

Before I could say anything else, Kate was on her knees looking closely at the floor near the closet. She ran her hand along the doorjamb.

"Anything?" I asked.

"Maybe," Kate said. "Turn the water back on."

I was great at taking orders I liked. I plugged the shallow sink and turned the water on. In less than a minute the basin was full and beginning to spill over the side and down onto the floor. Water slowly began to build and then seep across the tile floor toward the direction of the closet. When the water reached the base of the closet it disappeared.

"There's a crack," Kate said. "The water's just dripping down below the closet."

"It's built into an old chimney," I reminded her. "I mean, the whole house is leaky. It's probably just . . ."

"Look at this!" Kate interrupted as she reached into the closet and pressed her palms down against the floor. "It sort of moves."

"So it's poorly built," I reasoned, hoping it was more than that.

"Look," Kate said. "It's not actually connected to the front wall at all. There's a crack all the way around. Can you get the shelves out?"

I shut off the water and then reached over Kate's head and grabbed hold of one of the closet shelves. I wiggled it, and it popped up just a bit. I tilted the heavy shelf and pulled it out of the closet. Kate stood up and helped me lean the shelf against the toilet.

"Clear them all out," Kate said excitedly.

We lifted and worked out the other four shelves. Each shelf was about four feet deep and five feet wide. We stacked all five shelves next to the toilet and then stood back and looked at the empty closet. Kate and I pushed at each other, fighting to be the first person to step in. We both got into the closet and turned around a few times looking for a trapdoor or a false back. The ceiling of the closet was solid wood, and the floor was carpeted in a red felt-looking material.

"It's just a closet," I said, disappointed.

"I was hoping it led somewhere," Kate added.

I wasn't in the mood to give up that easily, so I took it upon myself to investigate further by jumping up and down. The entire closet rocked slightly. Kate steadied herself as I b.u.mped against the doorjamb that ran around the door. With my right hand I could feel a slight b.u.mp about chest high on the inside doorjamb.

"Kate," I whispered. "What's this?"

We both touched the small b.u.mp and then simultaneously pulled our hands back in surprise.

"Is that a b.u.t.ton?" Kate asked with excitement.

I looked up at the ceiling of the closet and then down to the floor.

"It's an elevator," I said reverently.

We both jumped out so that we could properly move around in excitement.

"Unbelievable," Kate cheered.

We closely examined the doorjamb on the outside of the closet but could find no b.u.t.ton of any kind. We stepped back into the closet a little more cautiously this time. We turned around and looked out into the bathroom. We let our eyes rest on the small b.u.t.ton on the inside of the closet. After a few moments of quiet reflection, Kate glanced up at me.

"Push it," she dared.

I wanted to. The only problem was that I had no idea what would happen when I did. There was only one single, worn, flat b.u.t.ton. There were no arrows or numbers letting you know where we might end up. It looked like we were standing in an elevator, but maybe it was just a trap and the b.u.t.ton would blow us up or cause the walls to close in and crush us. Besides, the manor was old; what if the b.u.t.ton caused some old cable to release us and we dropped hundreds of feet to a painful death?

"Are you going to push it?" Kate asked.

"Heck, yeah."

I had never been very good at critical thinking. I jammed my right finger into the b.u.t.ton. A metal gate dropped from the top of the door and almost sliced our toes off. I was going to yell for help but Kate pointed out that it was just a gate to keep us safe during the elevator ride.

"That's a good sign," Kate said. "Apparently whoever built this wanted the riders to be safe."

I grabbed hold of the metal screen and easily pulled it up a few inches. It was clear that we could open and close it as we pleased. I let go of it, and it snapped closed again.

"Well, we're not moving," I said needlessly.

"Maybe you have to push the b.u.t.ton twice," Kate suggested.

I reached out and did just that.

Once again I was acting out before I had properly thought things through.

Kate and I held onto each other and screamed as the elevator . . . did nothing. No drop, no movement, nothing.

Kate stopped screaming first.

Once I caught on that nothing had happened, we both looked at each other and laughed with embarra.s.sment. I let go of Kate, feeling relieved that I hadn't actually hopped into her arms like a frightened woman. I was a man, but I wasn't too proud to use the height and arms of someone else to keep me from harm.

"Push it again," Kate said one more time.

I pushed the b.u.t.ton a third time, then a fourth, and a fifth. Nothing happened. We looked for any other b.u.t.ton or sign, but there was nothing.

"Maybe it's just a cage," I said.