Angel of the Battlefield by Ann Hood Read Free Book Online

Waterford crystal? The Woman in Pink had thrown around both of those things like they actually meant something to two twelve-year-olds.
    Or they could slide down the banister of the Grand Staircase, the way their mother had told them Great-Aunt Maisie had done. He thought again of that picture of her as a little girl. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t believe that the old woman he knew had ever been that girl.
What would she do if she were here right now?
he wondered. If that other Great-Aunt Maisie, the young one, could take his hand and slide down the banister with him? Or run from bedroom to bedroom and jump on all the beds?
That would be fun,
Felix thought, imagining the clouds of dust that would fly out of those untouched bedspreads. If he could meet that little girl, that long ago Maisie, he might feel differently about the poor old one stuck in that assisted living place. Wouldn’t it be something if The Treasure Chest could do something like that?
    From behind him, the dumbwaiter interrupted his thoughts by making a strange and frightening noise like it was moving. Felix held his breath. Why had he listened to Maisie? He knew better. Yes, there was definitely something in there, and it was definitely moving. Felix tried to run, but he felt like one of those marble statues that dotted the lawn.
    The door of the dumbwaiter flew open, and Felix screamed a loud and strangled scream.

The Letter
    â€œIt’s just me,” Maisie said, unfolding herself and climbing out of the dumbwaiter. “I called it back up and jumped in.”
    Felix still couldn’t find his voice, even as he watched his sister walk toward him, shaking her head in disgust.
    â€œI got bored waiting up there,” she said.
    Apparently, she wasn’t bored anymore. Her eyes shone in a way that Felix knew meant trouble.
    â€œWant to go and slide down the banister?” he finally managed to say. He imitated sliding with his hand, swooshing it through the air.
    Maisie laughed. “No way. We’re going straight to The Treasure Chest. Something exciting goes on in there, and we’re going to find out what it is.”
    Felix thought of that hidden stairway and the red velvet ropes that hung in the room’s doorway. Ropes were meant to keep people out.
    â€œMaybe we couldn’t go in because it’s dangerous,” Felix said, racing to catch up to his sister who was already heading for the Kitchen stairs.
    â€œLoose floorboards!” he called to her back. “Crumbling ceilings! That kind of thing.”
    Of course, she ignored him and ran up the stairs that led to the Dining Room.
    Felix had no choice. He ran up them, too. But when he reached the Dining Room, Maisie had already disappeared. The table set with its fancy china and silver looked creepy in the darkness. Quickly, Felix scurried out of there and into the Grand Ballroom, which was even creepier still. Earlier today, the marble had been all shiny and pretty, and the giant chandelier had sparkled. But now, as he walked across the floor, his footsteps echoed eerily, and the room had a distinct chill that made him think of ghosts.
    â€œHello?” Felix called. His voice echoed in the high-ceilinged, empty hallway. “Maisie?”
    Felix took tentative steps toward the Grand Staircase.
    â€œMaisie?”
    There was silence. And then her voice, far off and small. “Come on, slowpoke! I’m almost there.”
    Felix walked cautiously through the dark, passing room after room. The Ladies’ Drawing Room, the Cigar Room, the Gentlemen’s Waiting Room—each distorted and shadowy in the moonlight. His knees were trembling so much that they knocked into each other as he climbed the Grand Staircase. He paused at Great-Aunt Maisie’s picture hanging there and, in that instant, Felix could have sworn her eyes actually twinkled. He could have sworn the girl in the picture actually
smiled
at him. A shiver ran straight up