A New Estate - Crimson Peak

Chapter Nine

By the time night fell, half of the manor had been surrounded by scaffolding.

The workmen had wasted no time in getting to work, the hours had flown by and they were all set to start the repair work the next morning.

Father had thankfully sent a care package of food along with the workers, plenty to keep us sustained for a good few days. Eventually we would need to venture to the nearest town to stock up, but for now we could eat comfortably.

Gradually over the course of the day I had been introduced to each of the men, it seemed that it was a process they felt had to be done individually, which became a little tedious after the first four.

As they moved around outside or through the manor one would stop, introduce themselves and then carry on.

Out of all of them I found my favourite to be an older gentleman called Nathaniel, though he preferred to be called Nath by his peers.

Despite being at an age where most would choose to settle down in their exploits, Nath was too much of an independent go getter to stay in one place.

"Why should I wither in a dusty old chair when I still have so much energy?" He'd grunted.

His humour never failed to entertain me and it seemed that he took my delight in good nature, rather than taking offence to my laughter.

It had gotten late faster than the previous days, the workers came inside and began to take it in turns to wash up from the days activities. I took it upon myself to begin an evening meal for them, sure that they'd be hungry after getting the scaffolding put up so hastily.

Despite my protests Robert had insisted on helping me make the evening meal, before I had even opened my mouth to protest he had taken a sharp knife and began to slice the raw beef steaks Father had provided.

After cutting up some vegetables, we set the food into a large pot of broth and left the stew to gradually boil.

During the wait we joined the others who had gathered in a makeshift lounging room, it seemed that as we prepared the meal the others had taken chairs found in other rooms and set them up in one of the bigger rooms for an easier conversation and break area.

It just so happened that the room they had chosen was the parlour containing the piano I had grown particularly wary of, though I felt much more at ease in there with company.

We wasted time in getting to know each other better, laughing and joking about shared life stories. It was a strange experience for me, I had grown up separated from people deemed lower than myself but they all seemed so much happier than some of the names that were regarded as the higher tropes of society.

It was refreshing, they didn't abide by strict rules and etiquette that had to be followed, though breaking my habit to remain ladylike at all times was proving a difficult even as they cursed like sailors.

My father would have a heart attack should he have heard how they spoke around me.

Robert again joined me in the kitchen as I made dumplings to compliment our stew, which was boiling well and filling the room with a mouth-watering smell, only sparking my hunger up further.

It was a strange feeling after having no appetite over the previous days, I hadn't realised how little I had eaten in the near week of my stay. Although it made sense when my fear of being alone in the kitchen reared its ugly head.

As I roll the dumplings an unpleasant shiver chilled my blood and ran down my spine.

In a brief moment of panic my eyes flutter around the room, wholly expecting to see an unwelcome guest, yet I find nothing but Robert staring at me with a strange expression.

"Are you alright?" I asked, setting the new dumpling down on the tray to my right.

"Me? Yes, thank you."

"You just look a little distracted."

"I am fine," he smiled, turning away to give the stew a stir. "Though I should be asking you after that shudder."

"Merely someone walking over my grave," I smiled as reassuringly as I could manage.

A vaguely tense silence draped over us, though I suspected that it was more on my part than his.

 Something simply felt off, like there was something he wasn't telling me, but perhaps he was always carrying that kind of aura.

It wasn't as if I'd known him that long, not even a full day, so maybe he always had a pensive air to him even though he had seemed perfectly fine mere hours ago.

Robert cleared his throat and adjusted his stance a little, drawing my attention to him once again.

"Though I do have to ask," he looked at me and waited for me to give him an affirmative nod to continue. "It is true what they say about this place?"

"It depends," I replied with a quirk of my eyebrow. "What do they say?"

"Surely you've heard the rumours of this place."

"Of course, but there are many, I wish to know what you have heard personally."

"I'm referring to the Sharpe siblings being apparent murderers and swindlers."

"Ah yes, that."

"So it's true?"

"I'm afraid I can't say, I didn't follow the story," I answered with a brief glance towards him. "I was much more fascinated in that Jack the Ripper fellow."

"Yes, that was quite a bewilderingly terrifying case."

"It was, so suffice to say that aside from what Miss Cushing told," I stopped and frowned for a minute, "or is it Ms Sharpe?"

Robert let out a small laugh, "I don't believe it's either now, Mam, I think she married a doctor a few years past."

"Oh," I gave a short nod. "Well, good luck to her...but as I was saying, aside from what Edith told I can neither confirm nor deny anything as I wasn't here."

"You were never on Sir Sharpe's radar then?"

I glanced at Robert's cheeky smile and laughed, shaking my head and busying myself with putting the dumplings into the heated oven.

"While I heard rumours that he was a handsome man, I do believe I was perhaps a bit too young," I smiled at him good naturedly.

"I see, so what about the ghost stories?"

After setting the tea towel down on the side I sigh and fold my arms, looking at him.

"Ghost stories?"

My heart sped up in anticipation of his answer, whilst I felt dishonest feigning ignorance I didn't want to have to tell him of my encounters and have any of the workers think me a nutcase in need of an asylum due to spread words.

"Yes, surely you heard about the last group of scaffolders? They were scared away from this place mere months ago."

I took a tentative step forward, desperate to know more.

Father had told me that the previous workers had left but never given a reason beyond 'personal issues', he had never mentioned anything about the supernatural. He hadn't warned me of the potential strange occurrences that I could experience should I move in after his warning.

Maybe because he'd already bought the manor?

"Rober-"

"Hey, Bert! Where's the damn food?!"

I jumped as David's yell echoed through into the kitchen, cutting off my sentence and making me physically flinch.

Robert let out an aggravated sigh, probably because of the use of that hated name, and turned away from me to answer his supervisor after offering me a short apology.

The topic was forgotten as quickly as it had begun.