Eldritch Manor by Kim Thompson Read Free Book Online Page A

that it had two heads, one at either end, which snapped at each other with jagged teeth! Finally one clamped onto the neck of the other. The lizard formed a hoop and rolled away out of sight. Willa turned back to Miss Trang.
    â€œDon’t you own a cat?” she asked. The table erupted into guffaws and squeals of laughter. The bird squawked. Even Miss Trang smiled.
    â€œThe answer to that is no.”
    Which was all very well, but when Willa arrived for work the next morning there was a dead little bird waiting for her on the doorstep, looking for all the world like a cat’s welcome gift.

Chapter Five
    In the ordinary everyday, one question at a time
    W illa returned to work, doing the same chores plus new ones, since she now had to clean and tidy the entire house. She didn’t mind in the least. The extra pay of a real full -time job made her parents very proud. The mood at home became much more relaxed, which was great. No more talk about “money worries.”
    Willa’s days at the boarding house changed from quiet to boisterous. Everyone could now go about as they pleased while Willa was there. They bickered in the parlour, pestered Baz for tea and biscuits, and generally got underfoot as Willa was trying to clean. Robert awkwardly clip-clopped through the too-small rooms, knocking things over with his tail. Being so restricted in space made him extremely cross and argumentative, though he was always civil to Willa. And Horace was very kind to her too. He was usually in his human form, although once in a while she’d chance upon him as a lion, curled up on the carpet for a nap, and taking up the entire room. Mab occasionally flitted by her, glittering and giggly. Tengu grinned when he saw Willa and did his best to talk her into a friendly arm wrestle or some other contest of strength. She always declined, though, fearing that she might win. Baz was friendly enough, even though Willa always felt she was snickering at her.
    Belle, however, was another story entirely. She rolled through the house, pushed by Baz or wheeling herself, with nothing but a scowl and a hrrmph for Willa, who had no idea what she’d done to incur the old lady’s wrath. Belle seemed to blame her for some ancient injustice. Maybe she just didn’t like kids. Or maybe she hated everyone from the “outside.” Whatever the reason, the mermaid was always in a foul mood and Willa tried to stay out of her way.
    The old folks spent their days sniping at each other, not always good-naturedly, while the bird clucked disapprovingly in the corner. Squabbles quieted immediately whenever Miss Trang emerged from her office, gliding quiet and mysterious through the house, but resumed as soon as she was out of earshot.
    Despite all distractions, Willa spent her days diligently focussed on her work. The cleaning of the upstairs bedrooms was no small job, as the old folk were all packrats and had been accumulating possessions for hundreds of years. The dark and dusty rooms were full, floor-to-ceiling full, of weird odds and ends. Horace’s room was crowded with a huge collection of bird feathers, mounted and framed, or simply stuck into jars, vases, books. His books too were overwhelming, tottering stacks of them everywhere. Some had pages so faded they were totally illegible, while others were in languages Horace admitted he had no knowledge of. And yet he refused to let Willa dispose of any of them, even the ones which were entirely missing their pages, eaten out by bugs or some other long-gone pest.
    â€œWhat if they fell into the wrong hands?” He’d throw his hands up in despair at the thought.
    â€œWhatever hands they fell into would just throw them in the trash!” countered Willa, but Horace just smiled.
    Robert didn’t keep so many things, but his room had its own challenges. To accomodate his height, a hole had been broken in the ceiling so that his room opened into the attic, which was