It took Liv, Fraser and Effie a while to cart all the boxes and random stuff from one bedroom to the one with the broken bed. It was especially tricky as Effie was excited to look in every box and ooh and ahh over the old artefacts they uncovered. Liv had spotted a small bedside lamp that she might bagsy later on, so she didn’t have to fumble about for the light switch in the dark.
‘I remember this teapot!’ exclaimed Effie. ‘Fraser, remember?’
‘No,’ said Fraser, taking it from her and putting it in the top of a box before carrying it out.
‘You do. We used to use it for tea parties in the garden with our teddies,’ said Effie.
‘Teddies?’ queried Liv with a grin.
Fraser’s lips made a flat line as he paused with the box in his arms. ‘They were Effie’s teddies,’ he said.
‘And yours!’ said Effie. ‘Remember you had Floppy Teddy and Pink Ted who you always said needed extra biscuits. I think Fraser used to eat them,’ she added with a wink for Liv’s benefit.
‘Pink Ted,’ said Liv. ‘Now I’m guessing here, but was that a pink teddy by any chance?’
‘It was very pink,’ said Effie. ‘It had a bow on its head too.’
Liv spluttered a laugh.
‘I won it at the village fair raffle,’ said Fraser sounding defensive.
Liv started to properly laugh and had to adjust her grip on her box.
‘You should take that into the other bedroom before you drop it,’ instructed Fraser looking vexed.
As Liv turned she caught sight of the little black dog darting past her and he had something in his mouth. Was that her sock?
Once all the stuff was out of the room it looked okay. There were no scary dead animals, no leaks or holes in the ceiling, the bed was sound and even had a little canopy above it, making it seem fancy. Liv bounced up and down on the bed a bit. ‘The bed works. Once we’ve hoovered and sorted out the cobwebs I think we should give this room to Aaron and Kacey,’ she said.
‘Because spiders are lucky?’ asked Effie pointing at a large one hanging from the canopy.
Liv shot out from underneath it. ‘Not exactly.’ Effie seemed puzzled. Liv didn’t want to have to spell it out. Instead she said, ‘That leaves leaky room or The Night of the Living Heads for Shanie.’
‘Difficult choice,’ said Fraser, deadpan.
Effie looked shocked. ‘You can’t make her sleep in the leaky room.’
‘He won’t,’ said Liv.
‘I might,’ muttered Fraser.
It took some time to clean the room properly but it did look good and smelled a lot fresher. Liv was coming out as Fraser was leaving the bathroom wearing yellow rubber gloves.
‘Marigolds? I’d never have guessed,’ she said.
‘I’m not cleaning toilets with my bare hands.’
‘Of course not but yellow marigolds. I’d have thought you’d have gone for pink to match your teddy,’ she said.
‘Do you think you could maybe forget that?’ he asked.
‘Nope. Sorry, that’s indelibly etched on my brain.’
‘Mind you don’t get another bump on the head then,’ he said with a grin as he went past.
Was Fraser Douglas actually starting to get playful?
Fraser went off for a shower before starting on dinner and Liv and Effie decided to show the reluctant guests to their rooms. None of them seemed that happy to have been left in the library while they got everything ready.
‘Hi, everyone, we have good news,’ said Liv.
‘The Wi-Fi is back on?’ asked Aaron hopefully.
‘Better than that. Your rooms have been cleaned, fresh bedding has been put on and they’re ready now,’ said Liv with a forced smile.
‘Here,’ said Shanie, offering her bag to Liv who just looked at it. Shanie waved it at Effie but when Effie went to take it Liv stopped her.
‘I think you can manage to carry that up a few stairs. Follow me,’ said Liv leading the way.
‘The service here is the worst,’ muttered Shanie.
‘The service here is blinking well excellent seeing as I don’t actually work here and it’s free,’ said Liv.
‘Do we not have to pay now?’ asked Shanie sounding cheered.
‘You need to pay for the room and the food. My service is free,’ said Liv.
Upstairs Effie opened the door to the best room with a bit of a ta-dah motion. ‘This is Aaron and Kacey’s room because it’s the nicest and has spi—’
‘Spice,’ shot in Liv, desperately trying to avoid Effie saying the word spiders.
‘Spice?’ Kacey was pulling a face.
‘It’s for good luck for a long and happy marriage. Very old ritual and ancient Scottish tradition,’ said Liv.
Effie looked more confused than usual.
Kacey walked inside and sniffed the air. ‘I can’t smell anything – only furniture polish.’
‘It’s a delicate scent,’ said Liv nodding sagely.
Aaron walked around the bed. ‘I can smell it. It’s nice.’
Liv breathed a sigh of relief.
Shanie cleared her throat and when Liv turned she beckoned her to one side. ‘I know they’re just married and all that,’ she said in hushed tones. ‘But why have they got the best room?’ Liv opened her mouth to answer but she continued. ‘I think I was clear when I said I have a lot of Insta followers and I’m an influencer.’
‘Sorry, I’m not that bothered because newlywed trumps whatever you are,’ said Liv and went on to the next room, leaving her looking stunned.
‘Shanie, this is your room.’ Effie did the honours by opening the door.
Shanie tentatively put a designer-clad foot inside. ‘Bloody hell. It’s basically indoor camping.’ She fixed Liv with an unblinking stare.
‘Do you like camping?’ ventured Liv.
‘I hate it with a passion.’
‘I had a feeling you were going to say that. Consider it an experience. Like being on reality TV. Big Brother’s Haunted Scottish Hotel,’ said Liv.
‘There must be better rooms than this,’ said Shanie.
‘Trust me there’s not.’ Liv pouted and then decided to tell her the truth. ‘Your choices are this one or there’s a leaky room, which is not actually leaking at the moment but only because the snow and ice must have stopped anything coming through.’ Liv didn’t want to think what was likely to happen once things started to melt. ‘Or there is a room with taxidermy deer heads and a colony of bats, or one with a broken bed and lots of boxes or one without a mattress.’
With a sniff Shanie said, ‘I suppose it’ll have to do.’
‘Here’s the key, but the lock’s a bit dodgy so mind you don’t get trapped in here forever,’ said Liv humming the tune to ‘Hotel California’ as she left the room and was pleased to see the slight look of alarm on Shanie’s face.
*
Effie was ushered back downstairs by Liv. Effie was having the best time. Getting her head around Daphne’s new name was going to be tricky, but she could tell her new friend preferred to be called Liv so she was really going to try. She’d been so busy she’d barely checked her phone and there had been too many people in the library to be able to get in the right spot for the signal. She pulled it from her pocket. No messages. Her heart felt a little sad but then she knew John was busy and in a different country, which meant the time difference didn’t help. She decided to go and have another root through the boxes they’d discovered earlier because along with a ton of memories there were also some useful bits she thought she could use to brighten the place up a little.
The hotel had been empty for such a long time and Effie had been so excited when Fraser had said he was going to open up the restaurant, but this was even better. The hotel had been her dad’s pride and joy. It had also been a huge pull on his time and something, at times, Effie had felt she had to compete with. But now she was feeling differently about it. Like it was a long-lost relative and they’d been reunited. She was going to make it her job to look after everyone. She liked caring for Dolly. How hard could a few more be?
Effie’s idea of going through the boxes had sent her back down memory lane. Each box was like a portal to another world. It was as if her childhood had been packed away with the lifetime of collected clutter. Effie pawed over long-forgotten treasures of moneyboxes, beaded purses and her much prized keyring collection. She’d bought one every time they went away and there had been quite a few family holidays as the collection bore witness to. She had been a traveller and maybe she could be again.
An old clock that had once stood on the mantelpiece in the dining room brought back a memory of her dad checking its accuracy to the speaking clock. A large hunting picture used to have pride of place in the entrance hall where the umbrella and coat stand also used to be kept. Reams of tartan bunting that came out for Burns Night along with forgotten Christmas decorations filled two more large boxes. It reminded her of how the hotel used to be and of happier times. Was she really thinking about leaving all this behind?