The Secret of Crickley Hall Read Online Free PDF Page A

roit pas' me .
    Gabe appraised the visitor as he walked towards him. He was short and thin, his face weather-ruddied, cheeks and nose flushed with broken capillaries. The hood of his three-quarter coat was pushed back, but he wore a tweed flat cap, silver hair springing from the rim to brush the tops of his large and long-lobed ears.
    'Hey,' Gabe said in greeting, stretching out a hand, and the other man looked momentarily puzzled. Gabe corrected himself. 'Hello.'
    The old boy had a good firm grip, Gabe noted, and his proffered hand was hard with calluses, the knuckles gnarled and bony, evidence of long-time manual labour.
    'What's this about Chester?' Gabe asked, looking round at Eve.
    'He scooted out as soon as I opened the door,' she told him.
    'Won't've gone fer in this rain, missus.' It was gorn instead of 'gone'. 'Sorry, but I gave the missus bit of a shock when I looked through the window. Frightened the doggie, too. Shot past me when the door was opened.'
    'Percy was telling me he's Crickley Hall's gardener,' Eve said, eyebrows raised at Gabe.
    'Gardener and handyman, mister. I looks after Crickley Hall, even when nobody's livin' in the place. 'Specially then. I comes in coupla' times a week this time of year. Jus' enough to keep the house and garden in good order.'
    To Gabe, Percy appeared too ancient to be of much use either in the garden or in the house. But then he shouldn't underestimate country folk; this old-timer was probably as hardy as they come, despite his years. He felt himself being surveyed by blue eyes that were faded like washed denim and hoped that in his old jeans, leather boots and sweater, his hands and forearms grimy with dirt from the cellar (he wasn't aware of the smudge across his nose and cheek), he didn't disappoint as the new tenant of Crickley Hall.
    'You take care of the gen?' he asked and, on seeing the puzzlement return to Percy's face again, added: 'The generator, I mean.'
    'No, mister, but I looks after the boiler. Used to run the old furnace on coal an' wood, but now it's on the oil and 'lectric, so it's easy. Tanker comes out whenever it's runnin' low and stretches its feeder pipe over the bridge to the tank behind the house. Don't know 'bout the gen'rator though. Don't rightly unnerstand the blessed thing.'
    'Guess I can fix it myself,' Gabe said. The agent told me you get a lot of power cuts in these parts.'
    'Always somethin' interferin' with the lines, fallin' trees, lighnin' strikes. The gen'rator was installed 'bout fifteen years ago. Crickley Hall's owner got fed up with using candles an' oil lamps all the time, as well as eatin' cold dinners.' Percy gave a dry chuckle at the thought. 'Yer'll be needin' the gen'rator in good workin' order all right.'
    'Who is the owner of this place? The agent never said.'
    Eve was interested in the answer to Gabe's question too, wondering who would choose to live permanently in such a bleak mausoleum. Even though the big hall beyond the kitchen was imposing, there was still a cheerlessness about it.
    'Fellah by the name of Templeton. Bought Crickley Hall some twenny years ago. Never stayed long though, weren't happy here.'
    That came as no surprise to Eve.
    'Would you like some tea or coffee, Percy?' she asked.
    'Cuppa tea'll do me.' His smile revealed teeth that resembled a row of old crooked and weathered headstones.
    Gabe pulled out a chair from the kitchen table for the old gardener and invited him to sit down. Percy removed his cap as he ambled forward and took his seat. Although his silver hair was full over his ears and round the back of his neck, it was sparse over the top of his head.
    'Coffee for you, Gabe?' Eve had moved to the sink and was filling the plastic kettle they'd brought with them.
    'Yeah, please.' Gabe pulled out a chair for himself and carefully moved Cally's painting aside. He noticed his daughter had remained in the doorway.
    'She's a bonny miss,' observed Percy, giving a small wave of his fingers. She responded by