Craven Manor(16)

Daniel tilted his head towards the forest behind himself. “You cleaned the cottage?”

“Yeah. This guy, Bran, he said he wanted it liveable. And we’re supposed to deliver food once a week, along with any other supplies he requests… like this.” Joel motioned towards the wheelbarrow. “No specifications about brands or colours or anything, and no way to contact him to ask, so we had to guess.”

Inside the barrow were the shears, a saw, a shovel, and the work gloves Daniel had requested the previous day. “They’re for me. And they look great. I’m not fussy.”

“Well, they’re top of the line. We don’t want to screw this guy, not when he’s paying our rent.”

“You got them here fast.” Daniel couldn’t stop a frown as he glanced from the barrow up to the house. It showed no more life than it had on the day he’d arrived. No lights in the windows. No twitching curtains. No signs of habitation. “I only requested them last night.”

“We got Bran’s letter under our door this morning. Along with additional payment. He sent more than the stuff is worth, so Dad wanted to make the delivery a priority.”

Daniel fished the gold coins out of his pocket. He glanced around, feeling slightly uncomfortable about discussing income with a stranger, but he was too curious to resist. “Does he pay you in these, too?”

“That’s it.” Joel rolled his shoulders again and scowled at the coins. “Weirdest thing I ever heard of. Like I said, if our business was doing any better, we wouldn’t have taken the job. There’s something really wrong about the whole thing.”

Uneasiness crawled through Daniel’s stomach like a fat, hungry insect. He tucked the coins back into his pocket and licked at dry lips.

Joel’s expression took on a hint of alarm. “Hey, sorry, please don’t repeat any of that to the owner. I didn’t mean to complain. We’re grateful for the work, really—”

“No, don’t worry, I get it. It… it’s weird. I’m still trying to get used to it myself.”

Joel was silent for a moment as his gaze moved from Daniel, to the gardens, to the house, and back to Daniel. “You’re staying here, right?”

“I…” Daniel shrugged. “I guess I am.”

“Man.” Joel ran a hand over his chin, his eyes still dancing over his surroundings. “I get the heebie-jeebies just visiting. I can’t imagine living here. Want me to bring you anything else? The letter didn’t say anything about running power to the cottage. Just said to make it liveable, and I didn’t want to presume. But I can bring in a generator and some whitegoods. A fridge and kettle and stuff.”

It was a serious temptation. Daniel didn’t technically need electrical appliances, but they would make his life a whole lot easier. On the other hand, Bran hadn’t given him a budget, and he didn’t want to wear his welcome thin by asking for luxury items.

Joel saw his expression and flashed him a tight smile. “It’s fine. I won’t bill him for them. His original payment will easily cover it.”

“If it’s not too much trouble—”

“Naw, not at all. I mean, getting the truck through the forest is always an adventure, but I’ve got to make weekly food deliveries anyway.” Joel laughed, and it held only a hint of discomfort. “I’ll drop off the generator next time I’m coming by. Fill it with fuel and plug your equipment in. It won’t power anything… this big,”—he waved towards the mansion towering over them, and his smile flickered for an instant before he reaffixed it—“but we’ve got a model that will power four or five appliances at once.”

I could have coffee without boiling water over the fire. Milk won’t perish overnight. And I could even have a fan for summer… Staying at Craven Manor long-term was starting to look much less problematic. “I’d really appreciate that. You said you drive a truck here. Did you come through the gate? I can barely squeeze through the gap on foot.”

“Nah, no gate, but the path’s hellishly overgrown.” Joel pointed behind himself, towards a section of garden Daniel hadn’t explored. “I can only get the truck to about fifty meters away then move everything in by hand.”

So Craven Manor does have a road leading to a different town, after all. Daniel tried to see the path Joel had taken, but the trees grew too closely together to make it out. A thought occurred, and he shot his companion a quick glance. “When Bran hired you, did he, uh, give you any specific instructions? Any rules?”

“He did. Don’t come between midnight and dawn, don’t invite anyone else to this place, and don’t enter the house.”

I was told to stay out of the tower, but Joel has been forbidden from the entire building. There’s something in the manor that Bran doesn’t want discovered. The unscratchable itch of curiosity returned.

Joel scuffed his boot across the ground again. “Um, anything else you want me to bring you?”

“No, this is great, thanks.” Daniel could take a hint. “You can head home. Thanks for dropping this off.”

“Absolutely.” Joel took a step back then stopped. He glanced from Daniel to the house and back, then made a grumbling noise in the back of his throat. He fished through his pockets and pulled out a pen and paper. “You’re here by yourself, right? If anything goes really bad—like, bad enough you need to get out in a hurry—you can call me. I keep this phone beside me all the time, even at night. I… I’m sure there’s nothing to worry about. But y’know. Just in case.”