Eldritch Manor Read Online Free PDF

what she was doing and listen, transfixed, until it faded away to silence. It was hard to believe that such haunting music could come from that cranky old dame.
    In all this time she didn’t catch even a glimpse of the cat that she knew had to be there. There were white cat hairs on the sofa, one cupboard in the kitchen was full of cat food tins, and occasionally she could swear she heard, or felt, a deep thrumming purr coming from somewhere upstairs. Yet Miss Trang had insisted that they had no cat. Why would she want to keep it a secret? Her mind reeled with this and other questions.... Why was there a padlock on the doll’s house in the parlour? Why did the brownie leave? How did a bunch of old people come to be living in a house with a magic brownie? Nothing made any sense. Willa was desperate to know the full story of the house, but she wasn’t about to pry or break any of the rules, because she sure didn’t like it when Miss Trang got angry. No, she was determined to stay on the woman’s good side from now on. Of course there was no rule against keeping her eyes and ears open, and that’s what she did.

    One grey and dreary day Willa was mopping the second floor hallway. One wall was lined with large windows looking out onto the back garden, and as she wrung out her mop Willa stared out at the view. She could just make out the stable, a crumbling, ivy-covered stone building at the back of the rather large property. The rest of the yard was an overgrown mess of vines, shrubs, huge oak trees, and rose bushes gone wild, so it was hard to see what else might be back there. She was just trying to picture how it might have looked in days gone by when she heard a soft tapping sound behind her.
    The hallway was empty. The sound came again. She moved quietly down the hall until she reached the library door. Tap, tap. She looked up. A slender branch poked out from the top of the tall door, sporting three droopy yellow leaves. The leaves were tapping gently against the door. One of them detached and fell to the floor at her feet. She picked it up. It was dry and cracked in her hands. Willa had carefully brought all the other plants back to life, and now she desperately wanted to water this poor thing. She wasn’t allowed to enter the library, but Miss Trang had gone out to buy the groceries, and it would only take a moment....
    She refilled her watering can downstairs in the kitchen (since Belle was in the bathroom, as usual) and returned to the library door. She pushed it open. It was dark, there was nobody in sight, and she could see the plant in the corner right beside the door. Carefully keeping her feet planted in the hallway, she leaned in and poured water into the pot, which began to make the strangest gurgling sounds.
    â€œHello, Willa.” She jumped. Horace was peering around the edge of a high, wing-backed chair by the window. “Come in.”
    Willa shook her head. “I’m not supposed to be in here. Miss Trang said. I just noticed the plant was dying....”
    Horace raised an amused eyebrow. “It’s quite all right. Come in. I’ll take the blame if Miss Trang catches you. Besides, the hibiscus has already invited you in.” He gestured to the plant. “Does it look like it’s dying?”
    She took a step into the room and looked the plant up and down. It was perfectly green, healthy, and bushy. It was sending runners out all over the room. They trailed across the tops of the bookshelves and down the sides. One little vine was even draped over Horace’s chair.
    â€œBut ... the leaves that were sticking out of the door were dead.”
    Horace laughed and shook a finger at the plant. “Playing tricks on our new friend!” He turned back to Willa. “I think it was just curious to meet you.”
    â€œCurious? How could it be curious?”
    â€œCome over here. Have a seat.”
    She gingerly walked over to join him. She sat in one of