Free The Christmas Knot by Barbara Monajem Page B

the necklace. To the devil with her own problems. All her concentration must be on solving John’s.

CHAPTER SIX

    S omeone was muttering to Edwina, urging her to do something, but she couldn’t quite make out what the voice was saying. What? she asked. What do you want? She strained her ears, but the voice, strangely disembodied, sounded muffled as if at a distance. Was that a hand shaking her? Last chance , she thought the voice said. Not much time . She struggled, pushing the hand away.
    A shriek shattered the dream. Must I do everything myself? the voice cried, clearly now. Edwina sat up in bed, heart hammering as it had the night before. She shoved open the bed curtains and glanced about the dark room, then went to the casement and parted the curtains. Moonlight poured through the windows, giving enough light to show that she was alone. Just to be sure, she lit a taper and checked under her bed. Needless to say, there was no one.
    She left the curtains open and got back into bed, furious with herself. She was letting her imagination rule her, which was probably what had happened to the other governesses, too. Well, she would not allow herself to be bullied by her own mind.
    Somewhere below, the dog Felix howled.
    Raaasp! Clank, rasp!
    The hairs on the back of her neck stood up. What was that dreadful noise? Into the ensuing silence came a terrified shout—from outdoors?
    She got out of bed again. She would not act like a hysterical fool. That rasping was not made by a ghost—of that Edwina was one hundred per cent sure. The voice from outdoors was no apparition either. She crept to her window once more and peered out.
    Seeing nothing, she eased the casement open. In the moonlight, the knot garden was utterly still. From below came the sound of bolts being shot back and the creak of the front doors opening.
    “Samuel Teas, if you’re out there, show yourself,” Richard said. “I don’t want to shoot you by mistake.”
    The innkeeper sidled out from the shadow of one of the holly hedges surrounding the knot garden and doffed his hat to Richard.
    Joseph followed, pulling his forelock. “Oh, my God, sir, did you hear them chains?”
    “There she is, the ghost of the Grange.” His voice hushed and awestricken, Mr. Teas gazed up at the windows of the picture gallery.
    “It seems the ghost is as annoyed as I,” Richard said.
    “I tried to tell them not to come here, Sir Richard, but they wouldn’t listen,” said Mr. Teas.
    Richard raised his voice. “You others have thirty seconds to leave, or I shall unleash the dog on you. If you return, I shall shoot you, unless the ghost gets you first.”
    Several seconds ticked by in silence, and then two men stood up slowly from behind the bench in the knot garden, each gripping a spade. “That’s no ghost,” muttered one of them, scowling up at the windows. “It’s a female parading in her nightdress, mark my words.”
    The other one laughed uneasily. “Maybe, maybe not.” He put his spade over his shoulder and joined Joseph and Mr. Teas on the other side of the hedge.
    “And what about them chains?” Samuel Teas said. “You heard them. What have you got to say to that, eh?”
    “Anyone can make a noise at night,” said the first treasure seeker. He cursed and swung his shovel, hitting the bench with a clang.
    A ghastly shriek, far louder than what had woken Edwina, echoed through the house. She leapt back from the window, heart thudding against her breast. Felix howled and Mr. Teas cried out, “That’s her!”
    “I’m leaving, I’m leaving!” The first treasure seeker’s voice shook.
    “Let that be a warning to you,” Richard said. “She won’t let you near her treasure.”
    When Edwina peeked out the window again, the two intruders were running full-tilt toward the village, while Mr. Teas and Joseph took up the rear at a more decorous pace.
    She heard Richard call the hound indoors and bolt the front doors. Good heavens, she had never imagined