Down a Dark Hall Read Online Free PDF Page B

people what they want and things like that, but that’s all the talking I’m supposed
     to do.”
    “Oh,” Kit said awkwardly. “Well, I didn’t mean to get you in trouble.”
    “I know that, miss, but this job means a lot to me. Full-time work isn’t easy to find in a place like Blackwood Village. So
     maybe it’s best you take your breakfast and go eat it in the dining room, all right?”
    “Okay,” Kit said. “Sure.”
    She pushed open the kitchen door and went through into the room beyond. The door swung closed behind her, shutting off the
     everyday world of the kitchen area, and immediately the dark beauty of the Blackwood dining room surrounded her. The room’s floor-level windows were shielded from the outside by tall shrubbery. The light that did
     slip through between the leaves was dim and diffused. The round table glowed gently with polish and the crystal chandelier
     hung silent and pale above it.
    The room was so empty, so devoid of movement or sound, that Kit hurried through it without being tempted to sit down and went
     out once again into the entrance hall.
    The door to the office stood open now. Madame was just inside, talking to a slight, red-haired girl.
    She turned as Kit came opposite the doorway and said, “Here is one of our students now. Kathryn, come here, dear. I want you
     to meet Sandra Mason.”
    “Hello,” Kit said, pleased to see another girl finally.
    “Hi.” The bright-haired girl smiled shyly. She had a narrow, elfin face and an up-tilted nose that was sprinkled with freckles.
    “Sandra came by bus as far as the village,” Madame Duret explained, “and Professor Farley met her there and drove her the
     rest of the way to Blackwood. Would you show her upstairs, Kathryn? Her room will be 211, the corner room at the end of the
     hall.”
    “I’ll be glad to,” Kit said, suddenly feeling ridiculous with her hands full of toast. She glanced about for a place to deposit
     it, saw none, and decided to make the best of the situation. “Would you like some breakfast?”
    “No, thank you,” the girl said seriously. “I ate in the village.”
    A few moments later, as they left Madame behind and mounted the stairs, the redhead added, “I didn’t really.”
    “Didn’t really what?” Kit asked.
    “I bought some coffee and a doughnut at a deli, but I couldn’t eat them. I guess I was too excited. I mean, I’ve never been
     away to school before.”
    “Neither have I,” Kit told her. “I got here yesterday, and I wasn’t exactly prepared for what it would be like.”
    “The house waiting at the end of the drive—when I saw it from the car I couldn’t believe it—”
    “If you think that was something,” Kit said, “wait until you see the bedrooms.”
    Room 211 was identical to Kit’s, except that it was a corner room with one window facing the driveway. It was done in greens
     and golds instead of red, but the ornate furnishings, the plush carpet, and the heavy draperies were the same.
    Kit could see on Sandra’s face the same amazement that she herself had experienced the day before. “It’s so—​different!” the girl exclaimed. “I guess I should have realized from the brochure, but somehow it just didn’t come across as . . .
     as quite like this.”
    “Totally,” Kit agreed. “It’s like living in a palace. I was the only one sleeping in this dorm wing last night, and I kept
     having funny dreams. I hope nightmares don’t come with the bedrooms as built-in accessories.”
    “I hope not too. I’m not exactly the world’s soundest sleeper.” The girl smiled nervously. “By the way, I go by ‘Sandy.’ No
     one calls me ‘Sandra’ except Madame Duret.”
    “And I’m never ‘Kathryn,’” Kit said. “I’m ‘Kit.’ Do you know what’s funny? The morning’s almost over and I haven’t seen anybody
     but you. Don’t you think the other students should be here by now?”
    “Someone’s here,” Sandy said. “I can hear a car in