Troubletwisters Read Online Free PDF

it, stretched and twisted into a pair of question marks.
    ‘I’ve prepared rooms for you on the second floor,’ Grandma X said as she led them up the creaking steps. The stairwell was as wide across as most rooms, and continued into the shadows far above.
    ‘I’m sorry it’s come to this,’ Susan said, walking one step behind her. ‘I hope we won’t be staying long and —’
    ‘Think nothing of it,’ interrupted Grandma X. ‘You are my daughter-in-law, and the troubletwisters are my grandchildren. Blood is thicker than water. Our blood, especially.’
    ‘Yes, I’d like to talk to you about that.’ Susan shot a swift glance at the twins. ‘Later.’
    ‘Don’t fret, my dear.’ Grandma X stopped at the first turn on the stairs and looked down at her guests. They stopped expectantly beneath her. The dim light cast deep shadows in her lined face. ‘Prudence is my middle name.’
    ‘What’s prudence ?’ asked Jack.
    ‘It means being careful ,’ said Susan.
    ‘And it really was my middle name,’ said Grandma X with a faint smile. ‘Once upon a time.’
    ‘What does the X stand for?’ asked Jaide.
    Instead of answering, their grandmother continued up the stairs.
    Susan put a finger to her lips. Jack nudged his sister, and she nudged him back. They didn’t need to put into words what they were thinking, which was that the longer they were in their grandmother’s company, the odder she seemed. Her house was odd, too. It wasn’t just the mystery of the blue door. Everywhere Jaide and Jack looked, strange details caught their eyes, like the compass wallpaper featuring letters other than N, W, S and E – they weren’t even English letters – and banisters that looked less carved than grown into long spirals. There were more paintings and, on the first-floor landing, the occasional old, silver-tinted photo of a person from ancient times. Some of them had little brass nameplates on the bottoms of the frames. Jack peered closely, wondering if they were related to Grandma X, and therefore to him.
    Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa. Ursula Southeil. Lorenzo Ghiberti. Helena Drebbel .
    None of the names rang a bell.
    ‘I’ve put you in here, Susan,’ said Grandma X. She opened the door to show a narrow, L-shaped room with windows down the long wall that overlooked the old, empty house next door. There was a single bed tucked into one corner and a heavy wardrobe looming next to it.
    ‘Thank you,’ said Susan. She was unable to hide a small sigh in her voice. The twins knew she was thinking of her old bedroom, the one that she had shared with their father. A shiver of memory ran through Jack, of white eyes and bulging animal faces, but he suppressed it. There was nothing here to be frightened of, he told himself. It was just . . . odd. Different. Not home.
    Grandma X swivelled on her heel and indicated the door opposite Susan’s room.
    ‘This will be yours, troubletwisters.’
    Jaide and Jack pushed the door open. It was very heavy, and creaked. The first thing both of them saw was a golden chandelier suspended from a dome in the ceiling. It had four points like a ceiling fan, and hung almost as low as Grandma X’s silver hair.
    The chandelier’s metallic angles caught and reflected the light streaming through the high windows that faced the front of the house. Strange gleams and shadows flitted across the two four-poster beds, which had curiously patterned brocade curtains. These were drawn back and tied at the posts, but when let loose would make the beds like perfect little tents inside the room.
    There were matching wooden chests beside the beds, and another solid wardrobe tucked into the opposite corner. The floor was bare, polished board, like everywhere else they’d seen in the house, but there was a thick blue rug to fill the space between the beds. It had a gold, four-pointed pattern woven into it, a compass symbol very much like the one on the ceiling that rose directly above it, and on the