Fairytale Beginnings Read Online Free PDF

friendly?’ she whispered.
    He shrugged. ‘Mostly indifferent. They don’t seem to be too aware of me. I’ve spoken to the woman a few times. I know she hears me, but she never answers.’
    A cell door clanged behind them and Milly jumped.
    ‘Yeah, they do that a lot.’
    ‘It could be the wind,’ Milly suggested.
    ‘It could be. There does seem to be some kind of draught down here.’
    A low moan sounded in the darkness and they both strained their eyes to see if there was anyone there. If so, they stayed veiled in the darkness.
    A few bangs sounded in quick succession in the large chamber up ahead. Another draught of wind rushed towards them that held whispers and a sweet scent of flowers and then the Grey Lady appeared, gliding straight out of the cell in front of them and along the tunnel towards the main chamber.
    ‘Holy shit!’ Milly croaked.
    She took a tentative step to follow the lady. He had to hand it to Milly, although she was terrified, she had big balls.
    ‘Hello,’ she called out and the Grey Lady stopped, facing away from them. Milly took another step towards her. ‘I’m Milly, do you have a name?’
    The Grey Lady carried on walking but as she turned the corner and disappeared into the large chamber she turned her head and looked directly at them, her eyes were cold but curious. There was an air of anger about her, as if she was insulted by the intrusion. Cameron had never seen her engage with him before. She mainly ignored his presence but Milly had somehow piqued her curiosity. He had heard rumours from the villagers of the terrible moods of the ghost against those that had angered her. The last thing he wanted was for that anger to be turned on Milly.
    ‘Come on,’ Milly whispered, pulling him along in the Grey Lady’s wake. They stepped into the chamber but the room was in total darkness. ‘Are there lights down here?’
    He fumbled around on the wall and flicked the switch. One lone bulb lit up the far side of the room but it was enough that the light dimly filled the whole room. It was empty. The Grey Lady had gone.

    C ameron was trying to make a cup of tea with one hand. The other was wrapped tightly in Milly’s, she hadn’t managed to let go of him yet since they had left the dungeon. She was standing next to him, very quietly. Too quiet. Despite her bravado at the time, she’d been spooked by seeing the ghost. He wasn’t surprised, the first time he’d seen the Grey Lady, he’d been terrified himself.
    ‘You ok?’ he asked softly.
    She blinked and looked up at him and suddenly realised where she was, that she was still holding his hand.
    ‘God, sorry, I was miles away.’ She relinquished her hold and his hand felt cold without her.
    ‘Sit down a moment, it’s quite a shock. I couldn’t go down there for a week after I first saw her. Scared the crap out of me.’
    She smiled. ‘You’re just saying that to make me feel better. I’m sure a big, burly man like you never gets scared of anything.’
    ‘Oh I get scared all the time,’ he pushed her gently down onto the bench. ‘Don’t like snakes, creepy little buggers.’
    She half smiled. ‘That wasn’t a trick, was it? Something that you set up to … I don’t know … make the castle more appealing?’
    ‘No, I swear. I wouldn’t even know where to begin creating something that realistic. And I’m not sure ghosts would make the castle more appealing. It could mean that people would be too scared to come here.’
    ‘Good God no, people would flock here in their droves to see a real ghost. We could sell ghost tours, every weekend. We offer them rooms in the tower – the real, authentic rooms rather than rooms down here – people would love it. We could give them bed and breakfast too. We make up a few ghost stories associated with the place, like the history of the Grey Lady and how she died. People would lap it up.’
    He passed her a mug of tea and sat down opposite her. ‘We?’
    Her eyes widened