Ravens Deep (one) (9 page)

             
“What precisely do you want to know?”

             
I made myself focus on his words rather than my feelings.  I slowly related brief details of the chain of events that had led me to Ravens Deep, and how I had found the book with the pages missing and my curious encounter with Samuel Dunklin.   

             
“Did you tell this Samuel Dunklin where you were staying?” Darius asked pointedly, interrupting me. I stared at him, taken back by a subtle change in his manner, even though his composure was unchanged, I sensed disapproval in his tone.

             
“Yes, why is that a problem?”

             
“You should not reveal any information about yourself or where you are staying,” he replied quickly. I watched him closely, feeling mystified and a little troubled by his words.

             
“Why? I have a legitimate reason for being here. Or is there something else?”  Darius did not speak. I thought for a moment, a suspicion hovering in my mind. “Did something bad happen here?”

             
“In these parts there is still a lot of superstition, people view strangers with suspicion.”  He said, evading my question. “There are many stories and legends that the locals still believe in.” I was confused by his words and wanted to delve into exactly what he meant by legends, but there was an underlying feeling emanating from him and words danced through my mind.

             
“Don’t ask. You don’t need to know this.”

             
Darius appeared somewhat distracted, and I mindful of this strange feeling, thought it unwise to continue with my earlier conversation. Perhaps he was a bit reclusive and didn’t’t want anybody around him -- even me.  My thoughts came back to his earlier words and how he had desired to see me again, but I was greatly irritated by his previous comment.

             
“What about you?”  I challenged.  “Maybe I shouldn’t tell you anything either,” I said giving him questioning look. Darius narrowed his eyes fractionally, but then there was a hint of a smile on his lips.

             
“You are very direct, Madeline,” he said amused, “but I am not superstitious, and you can tell me anything,” 

             
“Being direct is not a fault,” I said defensively. “I think if you have something to say then it should be said.  I don’t play games with people.” His eyes fixed firmly on mine.

             
“I can see that,” he replied, and I am not being critical, but it pays to be cautious.”

             
His words made sense, perhaps he was just being protective, after all a girl alone in a remote place should not advertise that fact.  But Samuel Dunklin hardly seemed to pose any threat to me. We sat quietly for a few minutes more and then I turned my attention back to the earlier conversation and mentioned that I had been to the church.  I described how shocked I had been at seeing my own name carved on a tomb.

             
“It really disturbed me,” I said. “Just seeing my own name written in stone was not an experience good for the soul.” I laughed attempting to make light of the subject matter, but I felt deep down that I shouldn’t’t be. Darius had sat in silence throughout my conversation, his composure unwavering.  Then I noticed a smile playing around the corners of his mouth before he decided to speak.

             
“Madeline Shaw was an occupant of this house at one time, it is not strange that she is buried in the local cemetery.” The impact of his words shocked me.

             
“You mean she actually lived here.  .  .  in Ravens Deep?”

             
“Yes,” he answered, watching me intently. “And you are as hauntingly beautiful as she was.” I stared at him, bewildered. Any other time I would have been ecstatic at the compliment, but instead I was truly alarmed. I felt sick in my stomach and my mind was in utter confusion when I spoke.

             
“What do you mean?  Madeline Shaw died in 1860.  How do you know what she looked like?” I could feel my voice wavering. 

             
“Madeline, you should not torment yourself,” Darius answered casually. “I have seen many old paintings, that is all I meant, but you do look like her.” The uneasiness slowly subsided as it gave way to understanding.

             
“You mean the girl in the white dress, the portrait?” I asked, remembering the portrait on the bedroom wall.

             
“There were many paintings of her,” he said simply.

             
“Do you suppose she is related to me?  It cannot be just a coincidence that I look like her, have her name, and now I too live at Ravens Deep?”  Darius was staring out across the moors, he seemed lost in thought.

             
“Just a coincidence,” he said at last. A sudden thought struck me.

             
“Did she die in this house?” Darius looked visibly shaken for a fleeting second, but just as quickly the look was gone, and he turned back to me.

             
“Maybe there is a connection. Is this important to you?”

             
“I am a more than a little curious,” I confessed, “and it would explain a couple of things that have happened in the house.”

             
“What has happened?” There was definite interest in his vivid eyes, but his look was unreadable as I told the story of the mouse and the pantry door. It sounded comical when I related it and seemed impossible that I had been so terrified, and how ridiculous I must have looked with my candlestick, but then with a shiver I told him of the presence I felt in the bedroom. 

             
“With today’s revelations, I have been wondering if the first Madeline Shaw still

inhabits
this house.”

             
“Do you think the presence will hurt you?” he asked, watching me closely. I thought for a moment.

             
“No I don't. I don’t think it will hurt me.  Maybe it’s more a fear of the unknown that scares me.”  I looked at him directly. “Is there a ghost?”  Darius turned towards me.

             
“Madeline, it will not harm you.  Now that you are here, I will be forever watchful for your safety.”  I refused to be put off that easily.

             
“But you do know something,” I began. He was a little bemused, but then he sighed.              “You are very perceptive and I don’t want you to be frightened. You should remember that most occurrences can be explained,” he remarked, but obviously had resigned himself to tell me something. His look was thoughtful.

             
“This house is much older than you think.  It was once the site of an ancient Roman building.  The main living area dates back some nine hundred years or so.  Other parts were added throughout the centuries.  It was also much bigger than what you see here today, a fire destroyed a great portion of it and only about half of the original structure remains. Ravens Deep has been in the same family for the last four hundred years.”

             
“The Chambers family,” I said excitedly.

             
“Yes,” he agreed, suddenly hesitant.  He continued cautiously so that I got the distinct impression he was choosing his words carefully. “Chambers was not always the name that is only a modern adaptation. The family name started out as Chamberlayne, and down through the centuries it got misspelled, in time it became Chambers. Madeline Shaw did die here, but so did many other people.  Ravens Deep has a long and colourful history.” I visibly shivered, not from Darius’s words, but because nightfall had come.  We were sitting wrapped in a shroud of darkness, and the stone bench on which we sat was slowly draining all the heat from my body.

             
“You are cold,” he said. “You should go into the house.” I stood up reluctantly, but having fallen under Darius’s charming influence, I did not want to leave him right now.

             
“Will you come in with me?” I boldly asked. He smiled at me.

             
“No, I have to go.” But then he added, “besides, your friend might not like you bringing strangers into the house.” I hesitated before answering, I had forgotten the lie that I had told him. He had not.

             
“What I told you yesterday,” I began, “was not entirely true.  There is no friend, I was just being cautious.” 

             
“Very wise of you,” he said, standing up, “but I suspected as much,” he concluded

cordially
. He stood very close to me now and was at least a foot taller, which meant that I had to look up to him, and now I could feel my heart racing.  There was chemistry, a connection between us. It was in the way he looked at me and I was sure he felt it too. Suddenly my hand was in his, and my instant reaction was to recoil. His touch was like ice! 

             
“You must come in,” I insisted. “You are freezing!”

             
“No,” he said quickly. He seemed momentarily agitated.  “No, I have just been sitting too long on a cold stone bench.”  It was as if he had read the words out of my mind, exactly my previous thoughts. But then his bewitching green gaze met my own, he took my hand again and I forgot how cold his skin felt, I was convinced that it was probably quite normal, it was mine that was on fire. The kiss was the merest of caresses on the back of my hand, it was like a cool breeze had danced seductively over my skin, and it took my breath away.  It was the simplest of gestures, but it was one of the most romantic moments in my life.  Without releasing me, he brushed a strand of hair gently away from my face with his other hand. 

             
“Sleep well Madeline,” he said before fixing me with a smouldering look that sent a shiver through my entire body, he released my hand and turned from me. Seizing the moment I had to ask.

             
“Darius, when will I see you again?”

             
“Nightfall tomorrow,” he replied simply, as he stepped back from me.  I turned and unlocked the door to Ravens Deep and then I looked back to him again.

             
He had gone.

There was no sound or
movement, he had completely disappeared into the darkness. I blinked in disbelief, how could be have vanished into thin air with no sound.  His departure confounded my understanding completely. But I did not linger on the doorstep.  I let myself into the dark house, turned on the lights and felt instantly warmer, although I was confused. 

             
How could he possibly see where he was going?

             
It was pitch black out there, and why had he said nightfall, I should have arranged to meet him in the morning, but maybe he had to work.  And it suddenly dawned on me that I still had no clue as to who he really was.  Why hadn’t I at least asked exactly where he lived or what job he did?  But all the mundane things seemed to fly from my mind when I was close to him. Questions I wanted to ask to were still unanswered, and where exactly did he go after leaving here?  There was no house through the woods, if there was, it was an invisible one.

             
I also doubted myself, my words and actions. Was I foolish inviting a complete stranger into the house? But when I was with him he didn’t feel like a stranger, he felt familiar as if I had known him for a long time, and I was perplexed by my lack of caution when I was around him. I put all my dubious actions down to the fact I was enchanted by him.  He made my heart race, my pulse quicken, and my attraction to him was so strong that it was quite disconcerting. In our brief encounters, he had woken feelings that lay dormant, and I would have never believed that anyone could have had that effect upon me.  I thought about that kiss and was in turmoil, wrestling with my thoughts and emotions, in my head replaying everything Darius had said.

             
I had such a strange longing, I wanted to be with him, and that didn’t feel normal, but there was a voice in my head and an underlying feeling that I couldn’t’t place, it nagged at me from the very depths of my being.

             
His skin had been chilled, and he had magically and mysteriously vanished.

             
Was I really imagining these things?  His words played on my mind.

             
“It will not harm you.” 
Not he, or she, but
it
. Implying that
it
was something

supernatural
.  What had he meant? He hadn’t really told me much at all, and he had smartly avoided my questions about ghosts, something I had not realized until now.  A sudden chilling thought entered my mind.

             
Was Darius, in fact a ghost?

Chapter Seven -
In the village -- Samuel’s Story