ASHLEY STEPPED OUT of the car and let herself look up at Red Rigg House. It wasn’t quite the first time she’d seen it in eighteen years – the house was visible from certain roads around Green Beck, and more than once she had even driven to the bottom of the driveway to pick up Malory for a party – but this was the first time she’d stood in its shadow since Dean Underwood had tried to burn it down. She let her eyes travel over it, taking it in. Look at it, she thought. Take it in. It’s just a normal house, after all.
Except that of course it wasn’t. Red Rigg House sprawled and loomed at the same time, a vast edifice of red brick and black lead, glittering with windows that caught the strange yellowish light of the day and ate it up. Reluctantly, she turned her gaze to the east wing and was surprised to find that it didn’t look all that different from how she remembered, despite the fact that a good portion of it had burned down. She remembered how Malory had told her that she wouldn’t recognise it, which made her frown – perhaps the interior was strikingly different. The outside of the east wing was a mirror to the west, except that the bricks were darker in colour, not as weathered, and the ivy that clung picturesquely around the windows of the west wing was absent.
‘Are you all right?’
Aidan appeared at her side, carrying her suitcase. He took her hand with his free one and squeezed it.
‘Sure. It’s just a house, right?’
‘Ashley’s stronger than you think.’ Her father strode up the path, crunching gravel under his big boots. ‘Come on, that’s enough faffing and introspection. Let’s get inside and get you set up.’
The big doors of the main entrance were propped open, and Malory’s team was streaming in and out, carrying boxes and tables. A man on a ladder was fixing a banner over the door that read: ‘Moon Market 2022: Red Rigg Welcomes You.’ Ashley’s father moved through them all like a swan through a crowd of ducks, gently pushing them aside with his sheer presence, and then he was gone into the dark beyond.
To stall going in a little longer, Ashley turned to her brother. ‘How’s Mum doing?’ One of her stipulations for attending this year’s Moon Market was that her mother wasn’t left alone – Ashley might have decided to face her fear of Red Rigg House, but her mother had made no such promise, and the thought of the child she had nearly lost going back to the place where she had narrowly escaped death … She was at home now, in bed, under the influence of a mild sedative. Before she had left that morning, Ashley had kissed her papery cheek. Her mother had turned over in bed away from her.
‘As well as can be expected,’ said Aidan quietly. ‘Dad said he’s going back as soon as we’re sorted and you have everything you need, but …’
‘He can’t stay,’ Ashley said, feeling her stomach grow tight. ‘She needs someone to be there to talk her down, and I need you here for the shows.’
‘I know! I know. Don’t worry. I’ll drag him out and squeeze him back into the car myself if I have to. He doesn’t have a room booked, so he can’t be here overnight anyway. I checked with Malory.’
‘Good. Thank you.’ She made herself look him in the eye. ‘Listen, Aidan, about before …’
‘It’s all forgotten.’
‘I’m sorry. I hate arguing with you, you big twat.’ That surprised a laugh out of him, and Ashley felt her spirits lift a little. ‘Are you sure we’re okay?’
‘Absolutely.’ He smiled at her in a knowing way. ‘Now. Is that enough procrastination? Can we go inside now?’
‘Fine.’ Ashley took a deep breath and one more look behind her, as though if she kept the outside world in mind, Red Rigg House couldn’t claim her. She wished the weather was better; the strained yellow storm light made everything look unreal. ‘Let’s do it.’
She expected, when she passed over the threshold, to drop down in a dead faint like a heroine in an old black-and-white movie, or at least to feel like someone had walked over her grave. But there was nothing. Dozens of people were milling around inside the grand foyer; someone at a desk in the far corner was checking in guests who had arrived early; more men and women were putting up the last of the signs and information boards; and Malory herself lingered by the stairs, talking to the girl, Penny, that Ashley had met the other day. Glad to see someone she knew, Ashley left Aidan to check them in and made her way to Malory, who looked pleased to see her.
‘Oh, thank God, Ashie. Not that I don’t have faith in you, but I was half expecting you to bottle it at the last minute.’
‘Charming.’ Ashley grinned. Being in the great echoing foyer with Malory reminded her of being a kid, and not all the memories were bad. ‘Aidan is checking us in right now. Can I get a look at the space we’re using for the shows?’
‘Of course you can! Come on, Penny, let’s show the “spirit oracle” where she’s going to be weaving her magic for the next few days.’
The three of them went up the great stairs together and turned right onto the west wing – to Ashley’s quiet relief – and walked down a wide hallway hung with old oil paintings. At the end of the hall was the ballroom, an impressively grand room with a high ceiling and tall, arched windows. There was a stage set up at the far end, with rows of chairs facing it.
‘This’ll be your main room,’ Ashley was saying. ‘Your three big shows will happen in here, and then we have you set up in the main hall with the biggest booth for the one-to-ones.’
Ashley looked around. It was a pleasant, bright space filled with light.
‘With the way the weather’s going, it’ll be dark by the time you do your first show,’ said Malory, as though she knew what her friend was thinking, ‘but there’s good lighting up here, don’t you worry. And we’ve set up lights in the garden too, which should look very pretty through the windows.’
‘That’s great,’ said Ashley. It felt surreal to be back. Even the smell of the place was the same. ‘What’s the internet connection like in here? We will need a decent setup, uh, for the Bluetooth …’ She stopped, looking at Penny, who was standing with her hands clasped behind her back, watching them both attentively.
‘Oh, don’t worry about Penny.’ Malory put her arm around the girl’s slim shoulders and gave her a squeeze. ‘She’s not going to be sharing any trade secrets, are you?’
The girl smiled and blushed.
‘Ah. Yeah. Well,’ Ashley tried to keep a neutral expression. It was unfair of Malory to ask her to take this child into her confidence, but her friend’s mood was so buoyant she didn’t want to make a fuss about it. ‘There’s a small room nearby?’
‘Yes! Here, look at this, it’s perfect.’ Malory strode over to the back wall at the corner of the stage and pressed her hand to a part of the wall, which was covered in a Mackintosh-inspired wallpaper. To Ashley’s surprise and Penny’s delight, a section of the wall swung away, wainscotting and all. ‘A hidden door! Isn’t it great? There are loads of these all over the house, God knows why.’
The room was a large broom closet that had clearly been tidied up for the occasion. There was a small table in there with a chair, and a lamp.
‘We’ve checked, and anyone speaking in there can’t be heard from outside. There’s no sign of the light under the door either. It’s the perfect little hidey hole for your brother.’
Ashley glanced at Penny again, but if the girl caught the significance of what she was hearing, she wasn’t letting it show on her face.
She’s just a kid, Ashley told herself. She’s not bloody David Wagner or the Daily Mirror, trying to catch you out.
‘Thanks, Malory, that’s perfect. The acoustics in here seem good too. About the …’
‘Ash?’ Her father leaned in through the door, his bald head catching the light from the windows. ‘I’m off now to keep an eye on your mother.’ He didn’t sound happy about it. Ashley left Penny and Malory by the hidden room and went to her father.
‘Thanks, Dad. Tell her there’s nothing to worry about, won’t you?’ Ashley wasn’t entirely sure that was true, but she did know it was what she had to say. ‘I’ll feel better if you’re there with her.’ She thought of the creepy parcel of meat with its unnerving message: Eat up, Ashley!
‘Indeed.’ Logan Whitelam pressed his lips together. ‘I’ve subscribed to some crafting channel for the weekend, so that should take her mind off things. Here.’ He scooped her into his arms and held her tightly for a long moment. Ashley, cocooned in his arms, felt an alarming surge of emotion. She didn’t want him to go at all; she wanted him to stay. As much as he trapped her, controlled and belittled her, she did always feel safe when her dad was around. How could he leave her there, in the very house where she had nearly died? ‘Think of me, won’t you,’ he said to the top of her head, ‘while you’re here having fun and I’m at home learning about quilting and bloody lino printing.’
She laughed into his chest, and he let her go.
‘I will, Dad.’
When he left, she quickly wiped at the corners of her eyes. Now that he was gone, she felt bereft.
Malory slipped an arm around Ashley’s elbow. ‘He’s right, Ashie. We’re going to have so much fun. It feels like I’ve been waiting for this weekend forever!’