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‘Yeah, well, I changed my mind.’
‘Why?’
Because if it’s important to you, it’s important to me.
‘I just did,’ he said.
Clara pushed her hand into the pocket of her shorts, bit her lip and narrowed her eyes. River remembered that expression, which usually preceded one of Clara’s wilder ideas.
‘What is it?’ he asked.
She said nothing for a few moments and then pulled something from her pocket. ‘Guess what I’ve got.’
‘I have no idea.’
‘Now don’t freak out,’ she said, which had always been one of her more disconcerting phrases, ‘but I’ve got hold of this.’ She unfurled her fingers to reveal a key with a long brass barrel and elaborate curlicued head.
‘Is that…?’
‘Yep. It was hanging in the store cupboard, behind a load of tins and boxes. I knew there must be a key to the third floor somewhere because Glenda, the cleaner, is allowed up there occasionally.’
‘Can’t Glenda tell you all about it?’
‘Afraid not. She’s totally tight-lipped, as if she’s signed the Official Secrets Act or something.’
‘Does your mum know you’ve got the key?’
‘No, and I’d like it to stay that way, please.’
River sighed. ‘I’m not going to tell on you, Clara, but is it a good idea to break into Audrey’s suite of rooms?’
‘Break in is rather a loaded phrase, don’t you think? I’m not so much breaking in as having a quick look to try and solve a mystery and I thought, seeing as you’re interested now, that you might like to come with me.’ She got to her feet and brushed grass from her backside. ‘No one will ever know, and you’ll be back in Australia soon anyway.’ She walked a few steps before looking back. ‘Are you coming?’
River sat for a moment, deliberating what to do. On the one hand, his father would be furious if he ever found out, but on the other, it was just like the old days when he and Clara would go off in search of adventures.
And he really did want to know what was on the mysterious third floor.
19
CLARA
The key turned smoothly in the lock and the door swung open. Behind it lay a narrow wooden staircase leading up into darkness.
‘These must have been the backstairs for the servants,’ said Clara, her heart pounding.
‘I guess so,’ said River, peering over her shoulder, his breath hot on her neck. ‘Are you quite sure about this, Clara?’
‘Yes, absolutely,’ she replied, though she wasn’t sure at all. Who knew what lay above their heads? ‘You don’t have to come if you don’t want to.’
She waited for his reply, praying that he wouldn’t back out. Having him here made her feel braver but, whatever his decision, it was too late to turn back. She would go alone, if she had to.
River groaned quietly. ‘I’m not going to let you go up there on your own, am I?’ He glanced back at the grand staircase that led from the hall. Someone was walking upstairs, their feet a dull thud on the carpet. ‘Just get a move on before someone sees us.’
Clara stepped through the door, waited for River to follow, and closed it behind them. She couldn’t see him in the darkness but she could hear him gently breathing and sense his body close to hers as the footsteps outside got closer.
The sound of River’s breathing stopped, and Clara held her breath too. How could she explain the two of them being alone together in the dark? A secret rendezvous, perhaps, so they could kiss each other senseless in private? She swallowed, aware of the heat coming from River’s body. This had been a terrible, terrible idea. Geoffrey would be furious and her mother would kill her.
She only started to relax when the footsteps receded, and she blinked when River turned on the torch on his mobile phone.
