Tales From The Wyrd Museum 1: The Woven Path Read Online Free PDF Page B

about to follow his brother inside, a faint trickle of laughter floated down into the courtyard from somewhere high above.
    The boy threw his head back but saw no one. ‘It was one of those nutcases,’ he muttered to himself.
    On New Year's Day, Neil finally decided to explore the museum. Josh had been listless all morning, having dreamed about their mother, and kept asking questions about her. Thankfully, it was a Sunday and Mr Chapman was there to deal with his son's confusion, albeit rather clumsily and with much shaking of the head, because he didn't fully understand either. Josh was too young to grasp that she had made a new life for herself and that they would probably never see her again. Yet his continual harping on the subject, combined with his father's inept and faltering explanations, made Neil irritable. Leaving Josh drawing a picture of her, with Brian looking glumly on, Neil left the flat and wandered into the Wyrd Museum.
    The first of the large rooms now smelled strongly of floor polish and the cabinets sparkled in testament to the diligent labour of the new caretaker.
    Above each doorway was a large brass plaque denoting what was housed in each particular room. Neil spent some minutes in 'The Fossil Room’ but was too eager to roam throughout the rest of the building to take much interest in individual exhibits.
    It was a peculiar sensation, knowing he had the entire place to himself. According to what his father and Miss Ursula had told him, the three sisters hardly ever left the third floor, so he was not afraid of bumping into one of them. Through room after room he went, a lone figure intruding upon the unending solitude which lay heavily over the whole museum.
    In his mind, Neil likened his slow exploration to an insect crossing the surface of a deep, dank pond. Before him all was calm and still but his progress caused rippling swirls of disturbance that eased only when he had left and the timeless peace gradually returned.
    It was a perfect place for thinking and after nearly an hour of this idle meandering, his thoughts soon drifted back to Josh's preoccupation with their mother. He wished she'd been able to put up with his father for a little while longer; if he hadn't driven her to distraction she wouldn't have sought refuge in evening classes and would never have met that man. Sorrowfully, the boy wondered what she was doing now and found that he missed her far more in this strange, eccentric environment than in their house in Ealing.
    Unexpectedly, Neil discovered the door that opened into the main hallway, and this reminder of that first day jolted him from his preoccupied thoughts.
    The suit of armour was now reassembled and leaned, once more, against the wooden panelling. Idly studying the rusting figure, he wisely refrained from giving it even a tentative prod and gave his attention instead to the staircase.
    With one hand on the bannister, Neil craned his neck to see the first-floor landing and began to climb.
    It was obvious that his father's industry had not yet extended to the upper floors. The brass plaques above the doors were dull and unburnished, the floors had not been waxed and layers of dust had settled upon the cabinets.
    The museum was much larger than he had ever imagined; perhaps it was the layout of the galleries and rooms which tricked him, for there was always another door to pass through and unless he looked out of the windows, he had no idea whereabouts in the building he was.
    Several rooms were boxed within others and had no windows at all, relying on the electric light for their illumination, and were in total darkness when Neil came upon them. They were often filled with shadow that no amount of light bulbs could disperse and the hairs on the back of his neck prickled when he walked amongst the exhibits there.
    One of these windowless rooms was called ‘The Egyptian Suite’, and when Neil found the light switch he discovered that it contained three large sarcophagi,