Lightning Strikes (Hudson 2)

Whether it was part of a dream or just my imagination, sometime during the night, I felt what seemed like a warm hand touch my cheek and brush my hair. I moaned and turned over and then realized what had happened. My eyes snapped open and slowly, my heart racing, I turned back, expecting someone to be standing there. It was very dark, of course, but I waited, my chest thumping.

"Is someone here?" I whispered loudly. I heard nothing but the wind scratching at my little window. Finally, I closed my eyes again and fell back to sleep, but later, I could have sworn I heard footsteps on the creaky wooden floor and my door open and close. I carried that impression with me to work in the morning.

"You promised me a lock on my door," I said to my Great-uncle Richard as soon as I began to bring out his and my Great-aunt's breakfast.

Great-uncle Richard glanced at his wife and then pulled himself up stiffly in his chair.

"One should greet someone properly before making demands," he declared.

"I'm sorry, but it's hard for me to be relaxed and sleep well without it," I said.

My Great-aunt Leonora's hand froze on the teacup handle as she waited for Great-uncle Richard's response. He cleared his throat and put down his cup.

"I'll see that it's taken care of today," he assured me.

"Thank you," I said and returned to the kitchen. Mrs. Chester and Mary Margaret worked in silence. Boggs came in and poured himself a cup of tea. He stood there sipping it and watching us, studying me mostly. I ignored him, but I gazed back at him once just to let him know he wasn't going to intimidate me. He was, of course, but I wouldn't let him know it.

Finally, he left. We finished serving breakfast and started to enjoy our own.

"Who keeps the cottage clean?" I blurted at the table in the kitchen.

Mrs. Chester looked at Mary Margaret and then at me. "Ya mean the cottage in the back?"

"Yes. Mr. Boggs made it clear that it's off limits to me, but someone must look after it," I said. "Do you, Mary Margaret?"

She shook her head but kept her eyes down as usual. I watched her nibble on her toast and jam like a mouse and sip her tea. Her hand seemed to tremble.

"Someone lives in it, I think," I said.

"Ya'r balmy," Mrs. Chester said. "No one lives there."

"Have you ever been in it?" I asked her.

"No."

"So how do you know no one lives in it?" I pursued. Suddenly, Mary Margaret rose, put her dishes in the sink and left the kitchen.

"Mrs. Chester?"

"What is it?" she snapped.

"So how do you know no one lives in it?"

"I don't know, but I never seen nobody and what difference does it make ta me? I ain't been asked to prepare fer another mouth, 'ave I?"

She rose and then paused to look down at me.

"Those who mind their own business do the best 'ere," she said. "So mind yer own business."

Afterward, as I was walking back to my room, I glanced out the windows of the office and saw Mr. Boggs talking to Mary Margaret. He looked like he was bawling her out for something. She kept shaking her head and then she walked away quickly. He stood there looking after her, and then, as if he could sense my eyes, turned and glared up at my window. It nailed my feet to the floor for a moment. I took a deep breath and continued on quickly.

I remained in my room for the remainder of the morning, completing some of my reading and studying my part for the school's arts presentation. Just before noon, a man arrived with the name Lock Doctor written across the front and the back of his shirt. He knocked on my door and advised me he had been asked to put in a lock.

"I don't usually come out on a Sunday," he remarked, "but someone wants this bad enough to pay time and a half. Never looked down on an extra bob or two," he said smiling.

Rather than look over his shoulder as he worked, I went out to the drawing room with my books. A little less than a half hour later, I heard him leave the house. I returned to my room and saw the lock had been installed, but where were the keys? As if he could hear my thoughts, Boggs appeared and held a pair of them out in his palm.

"He left these," he remarked.