The Hands of Time by Irina Shapiro Read Free Book Online Page A

would be locked.  The first floor held the dining room, library, drawing room, a very large hall , and Alec’s study, but I found no trace of the clock in any of them .  Discouraged , I made my way upstairs. 
    There were several bedrooms on this floor, including my own, but they didn’t look as if they ’ d been used recently.  The rooms looked like something in a hotel, beautiful, but impersonal.  There were no clothes or other personal objects to be seen lying around left by their owners , n o hair brushes on the dresser or bottles of perfume , n o dressing gown carelessly thrown across the bed.  The trunks at the foot of the bed were locked , but I highly doubted that a valuable clock would be there in any case.  The corner bedroom on the opposite side of the hall had obviously been a child’s room.  There was a wooden rocking horse and several other toys lying dusty and forgotten in the corner.  It must have been a boy’s room, since there were no dolls , just carved wooden animals and swords .  I wondered if this room belonged to Alec or Finn when they were younger, but I didn’t think so. 
    I walked up the spiral staircase to the third floor and continued my search with less hope.  There were only a few more rooms , and I doubted that the clock would possibly be in one of the servant s ’ chambers on the top floor .  The third floor held several bedrooms as well, but only two of them seemed to be occupied.  They obviously belonged to the brothers and I couldn ’ t imagine either one of them having a cupid clock in their room.  The bedrooms were masculine and sparse , with furniture made of dark wood and hangings and coverlets in somber colors.  There were a few personal items lying around, but not much was out of place since Betty had already cleaned the rooms that morning.  The rest of the rooms were empty and depressingly clock - less. 
    I felt a crushing disappointment as I went back down the stairs.  I hadn’t really expected to find the clock, but I ’ d hoped that I might.  There was nowhere else to search , and no other plan sprang to mind.  The idea of being stuck in this place for the rest of my days made me feel sick to my stomach , so I decided to seek out some company to distract myself from the wave of panic rising in my chest.  There was no one around upstairs, so I went down to the ground floor.  I hadn’t been there yet , and I walked carefully down the narro w staircase that led down to the kitchen. 
    The kitchen was a cavernous space built of gr a y stone with a low vaulted ceiling , and a scrubbed oak table in the middle.  Pots and pans of various sizes and polished to a shine , hung from the hooks screwed into the walls , and I felt my face break out in a sheen of sweat from the heat of the large wood-burning oven set into the wall.  Cook turned around at the sound of my footsteps and beamed a welcome.  She was of middle years, plump and gr a y-haired, with a few missing teeth and slanted blue eyes twinkling with good humor.  It was hard to guess at her age since she could have been anywhere between thirty-five and sixty.  These times were hard on women and they aged quickly , with no benefits of proper nutrition, medical care or beauty products.  I knew that Finn had assumed I was around twenty, when in fact I was twenty-six, two years older th a n him.  He told me that Alec was twenty-eight, but I ’ d initially thought that he was in his early thirties given the lines etched around his mouth and a few grey hairs silvering his temples. 
    “Y e must be Mistress Crane.  I am Cook, but ye would have figured that one out already,” she said with a deep laugh and invited me to sit down at the table.  “Would y e like a hot cross bun and a cup of ale, m e dear?   I just took ‘ em out of the oven.”  Truthfully, I would have killed for a cup of Starbucks non-fat latte, but I asked for tea instead.  I didn’t like ale and tried to avoid drinking it