Witherstone by Danielle Arney

7/29/2019 Witherstone by Danielle Arney

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Danielle Arney lives close to an old railway

embankment. She has always loved exploring and

uncovering hidden treasures. This, in combination withher love of old houses and secrets inspired her to

follow her dream to write a book and have it published.


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Witherstone


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For all the girls, in alphabetical order: Alex, Ashaleigh,

Hattie, Maddie and Sabrina.

Enjoy it!


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D a n i e l l e A r n e y

Witherstone


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Copyright Danielle Arney

The right of Danielle Arney to be identified as author of this work

has been asserted by her in accordance with section 77 and 78 ofthe Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be

reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any

form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying,

recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of the

publishers.

Any person who commits any unauthorized act in relation to this

publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims

for damages.

A CIP catalogue record for this title is available from the BritishLibrary.

ISBN 9781849633086

www.austinmacauley.com

First Published (2013)

Austin & Macauley Publishers Ltd.

25 Canada Square

Canary WharfLondonE14 5LB

Printed & Bound in Great Britain


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Chapter 1

Aira stared blankly out of the car window. Distorted by

speed, the outside world became a confusing blur. She hadceased to notice however, lost in thoughts of happier timesbefore the crash, before her mother had died. Aira could not

understand why her mother had been taken from her andwith no one to blame for the accident she had resorted toblaming the only thing she couldWitherstone Manor. She

blamed the houses derelict grandeur for the effect that it

had on her parents; if it had not managed to captivate theinterest of her father and in turn enchanted her mother, thenLilias Thwaite would never have been driving home alone

along the deserted country road.

Sweetheart?

The sound of her fathers voice shook Aira from her

reverie and she turned her head slowly to look at him.It wont be long sweetheart, fifteen more minutes or so

and well be there.

Williams voice sounded unnaturally loud to Aira in therelative silence of the car and she shook her head as if to

clear her mind of the interruption.

Aira, did you hear what I said?Her eyes lingered a moment on her fathers face then

flickered back towards the window as she softly replied,

Yes, I heard you.William glanced quickly at his daughter, his eyes full of

sorrow and concern. He wished he could somehow makethings different for her, take away the hurt and pain that she


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was feeling, but he was powerless to do so. All he could do

was reassure her that things would get better, that in timeshe would feel at peace, but he wasnt sure that this was

possible. The sorrow he felt seemed only to deepen, withevery passing moment he missed his beautiful wife moreand more.

He glanced at Aira once again; noticing the familiarexpression of solemnity and marvelling at how similar her

features were to that of her mother, before turning his

attention back to the deserted country road.

In the distance a length of blue and white tape flutteredin the breeze, tracing a haunting pattern in the sky. Skid

marks scarred the black tarmac, standing out starkly likeopen wounds on undamaged skin. Up above two birds

circled each other; swooping and darting about theyappeared to be dancing in the sky. Aira watched rapturously

as the birds continued to fly, captivated by how gracefullythey moved in the air. As she followed the birds with hereyes she caught sight of the tape as it was whipped furiously

by a gust of wind. Her heart plummeted into her stomach asshe let out an audible gasp.

Im sorry Aira, she heard her father say and his voice

cracked as he added, this is the only way.... but he brokeoff as he heard her crying.

William slowed the car down as they approached thesite of the accident and spoke hesitantly, Aira, umm, I, uh,I brought flowers. Aira? He looked across to the passenger

seatshe had turned her head away from him but he couldsee her shoulders shaking and hear her muffled sobs.

Touching her arm gently he spoke again, Aira, do you wantto lay the flowers with me?

She remained silent as he pulled out across the trafficand stopped on the verge on the other side of the road. Ashe stepped out of the car William turned to look at his

daughter before heading towards the boot and removing a


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beautiful wreath from the car. He had chosen the planting

carefully, selecting lilies for his darling Lilias, as he couldnot think of a more beautiful way to remember her. The

wreath itself was stunning the pink and white lilies wereaccompanied by luscious green foliage and stood outmajestically yet somehow unobtrusively. It was as if the

lilies themselves had been grown naturally into thearrangement, to which they seemed so much to belong. It

was a fitting tribute to a woman whose love had so

encompassed all who surrounded her.

Aira watched William walk towards the tree and felt asudden, aching need to join him. The pain was so intense;she felt as though she had been stabbed in the heart and she

got out of the car and ran over to her father. She stood byhim for a moment, looking at the array of flowers that had

been placed by well-wishers around the base of the tree;tulips and posies, carnations and freesias of all varieties and

colours.Dad, can I...? she faltered, then spoke again, Can I...?

Aira didnt need to finish the question; William pressed the

flowers into her hand and stood still, tears silently fallingdown his face. He watched as she laid the flowers gentlyonto the floor before softly tracing the indents on the tree

with her fingertips, as if by healing its wounds she couldfinally begin to heal her own.

Ill never forget you Mum, I promise. I love you somuch, she whispered softly as she turned and walkedslowly away.

The road toward Witherstone Manor meandered lazily

and as they rounded another corner William found himselfdriving into a tree tunnel. Branches of beech, oak and ash

entwined to create a living, breathing covering across theroad that stretched ahead into the distance.

Light filtered through the canopy, creating an

amalgamation of green: lime, olive, forest, myrtle and pine.


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Though the canopy itself fluoresced, the light was unable to

penetrate through the dense foliage, casting a dark shadowacross the road ahead.

Aira looked to the left; the gnarled, twisted tree trunksthreaded together and she thought that if it were not for thesunlight filtering softly through the gaps in the branches the

forest would be rather foreboding.Through the trees Aira caught glimpses of grey stone in

the distance and saw flashes of light bouncing off what she

could only assume were windows. She wondered if it was

Witherstone Manor that she was glimpsing through the treesand found herself hoping that it was. Though the house heldpainful memories for her she was quite excited to finally be

arriving; she had long been fascinated by the past, by thestories of people long gone and of secrets forgotten, or, as

yet, undiscovered.The sun suddenly appeared, almost blinding Aira and

she realised that the branches of the trees no longer joinedup overhead. The abrupt ending of the tunnel of treesseemed to signify the end of the road, despite the fact that

the road itself seemed to carry on into the distance until itmet the line of the horizon.

The lack of trees puzzled Aira for a moment but her

confusion soon abated when William turned left onto asmall and somewhat dilapidated road. The tarmac was old

and had come away in places, making the ride particularlybumpy and uncomfortable.

Aira was glad of the comfortable seating in the car her

father had insisted upon buying; William had always lovedthe sleek lines and comfort of his BMW and when the

newer saloon model had been released he had feltcompelled to purchase one for himself. This had sparked a

furious argument between him and Lilias who had pointedout that as they had just bought a new house they couldhardly afford the expense of a new car. William, however,

maintained that the car was a necessity, claiming that the


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wear and tear on the old car was giving potential clients a

bad impression; he argued that the more successful heappeared to be the more likely he was to find well-paid,

high profile work. He had reminded his wife that althougharchitects were in great demand there was fiercecompetition for the best jobs and in the end it was this fact

that had changed Lilias mind.

The car turned smoothly round a corner and

Witherstone Manor loomed into view. Aira gasped,

completely awestruck, Its amazing isnt it? Williamcommented. I fell in love with it the first time I saw it sodid your mother. He smiled fondly, remembering the look

on Lilias face the first time he had brought her to thehouse.

Its.... wow! Aira was lost for words; the splendour ofthe place was such that it had rendered her speechless.

As they got closer William slowed down and pulled to astop outside a grand pair of wrought iron gates. The ironhad been intricately formed into a pattern that resembled

flowers on a vine; above the gates was a wrought ironarchway with a circle in the centre. Inside the circle was anornate S perched on top of an equally ornate W, the middle

of which had been shortened so the S did not sit above thelevel of the top of the W. Ivy had grown up across part of

the gates adding to both their charm and Arias feeling ofenchantment.

As William opened the gates Aira got her first full view

of the Manor and its grounds. There was a long avenueleading towards the house and it was lined with well-

established oriental beech trees. As they got nearer Airanoticed a large three-tiered stone fountain that seemed to

function as a roundabout.To the right of the Manor the forest stretched away into

the distance and to the left the entrance to the kitchen

gardens and orchards was just about visible. The grounds


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looked unkempt and had obviously not been attended to in a

very long time.William pulled up on the left hand side of the house and

parked the car. Aira undid her seatbelt and stepped outside,looking up at her new home. The grey stone building wasthree storeys tall and a stone parapet surrounded the roof,

which was made from some form of dark grey slate. Thestone itself was worn and ivy and lichen covered the walls

in some places, adding to, not detracting from, the charm of

the building.

On the ground and first floors large, twelve-paned sashwindows sat in wooden frames and although all of the panesof glass were in place many were cracked and would need

replacing. Aira looked upwards, noticing the smaller six-paned dormer windows on the top floor and she suddenly

remembered that these would have been the windows in theservants quarters.

William walked towards the Manor and Aira followedhim, stopping to admire the heavy oak door that was theentrance to the building. Intricately carved with flowers and

flowering vines, the door had a large cast iron knocker thatdepicted bluebells with the inscription marceolapis writtenunderneath.

Do you know what that means? William asked hisdaughter, nodding his head in the direction of the door.

Do I know what what means? she asked, lookinginquiringly back at him.

The inscription, underneath the bluebells, he replied.

Oh, so thats what they are, bluebells, she exclaimed,and no, I dont know what the inscription means.

Well, interestingly, its actually Witherstone, looselytranslated into LatinI looked into it when I got home, the

first time I came up here, he told her, smiling at the wayher face had lit up.

Wow, that ispretty cool actually, she replied, looking

back at the door and tracing her finger over the inscription.


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William came and stood next to her, taking a large brass

key from inside his jacket pocket. He looked towards thedoorknob, which, like the door, was decorated with flowers

and flowering vines and held the key out to Aira.Would you like to do the honours? he asked and she

looked at him, her eyes full of excitement.

Thanks Dad! she replied as she took the key and put itinto the lock. The lock was stiff and the key was difficult to

turn, but eventually she heard the lock click. Aira turned the

knob and glanced backwards, taking one last look at the

drive before pushing open the door and stepping inside.


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Chapter 2

The entrance hall was rather dark and dim: the bright

sunlight seemed unable to filter through the dusty windows,casting long shadows across the ancient wooden floor.

Airas eyes were immediately drawn to the grand oakstaircase; stretching toward the heavens, it filled the

cavernous space, seamlessly connecting the two floors and

enticing the onlooker to travel upwards.Magic, isnt it? William asked, as Aira jumped

involuntarilylost in her thoughts and the darkness of the

hall, she had quite forgotten that she was not alone.Hmm, it does sort of have a magical quality I suppose,

its like its leading us onwards, drawing us in.... She leftthe sentence unfinished, as if she were apprehensive to run

with the thought, unwilling to travel along with it.Id better show you around this floor then, before you

get spirited away! William chuckled, and seeing the

humour in the situation Aira laughed too.Yes, perhaps youd better!

Tearing her eyes away from the staircase, she lookedaround the entrance hall; the paper was peeling from the

wall in places and a thick layer of dust covered four doorsthat led to rooms as yet unexplored. Eager to discover the

rooms behind the doors, Aira glanced around looking for

her father. William stood in front of the nearest of two doorson the left hand side of the entrance hall. As Aira

approached he held open the door and ushered her inside.Welcome, he announced, to the lounge.


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Wow! gasped Aira. Its amazing. Her eyes settled

upon the large marble fireplace and she stared astounded atthe impressive gilt-framed mirror that hung above the

mantelpiece, surprised that it had remained intact after somany years. Three large sofas surrounded the fireplace anda battered piano sat in the far right corner of the room. An

elegant chandelier hung from the ceiling. Decorated withglittering crystals, it bounced light around the room,

creating interesting shapes on the walls and floor. The

pattern on the walls was indiscernible: eighty-four years of

sunlight had stripped the paper of its colours and if it werenot for the reflections from the crystals the walls wouldhave looked somewhat bland.

We wont need to do much in here, William said. Itlljust be a case of replacing some of the glass, re-staining the

floorboards, sprucing up the chairs and piano and maybe re-papering the walls.

Hmm, Aira replied.Well, shall we go through to the next room? William

asked, opening a door at the end of the lounge and stepping

into a similar room of smaller proportions. A moth-eatensofa sat against the far wall and Aira wondered who had saton it last, suddenly curious about the houses previous

owners. She opened her mouth to ask her father, but closedit again, deciding to look around the house and try to work

it out for herself.She noticed another door on the right hand side of the

room and crossed the floor towards it. When she reached it

she turned the brass handle and pushed the door, but itwould not open. Aira tried pulling the door towards her

instead, but still it would not budge. She studied thedoorknob, looking for a keyhole and though she found one

she could not locate a key, nor could she see anythingjammed inside the lock. Aira was so intent on her task thatshe did not hear her father approach and remained unaware

of his presence until he spoke.


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Very interesting that door. No key on either side as far

as I can tell, nothing obstructing the lock and yet I stillhavent been able to get the damn thing open.

Whats in the room? Aira asked.Well thats the curious thing, William replied. Ive no

idea. Theres another door to the room that leads off the

parlour, but its the same thingit just wont open.Isnt there anything you can do? she asked. Arent

there some plans or something that tell you how to get it

open, or if theres another way to get in?

Unfortunately not the plans I have show the twoentrances to the room, but sadly theyre not going to helpme to discover whats inside. Theyll give me its size, but

thats as good as its goingto get Im afraid. Im hoping thekeys going to turn up somewhere, but if it doesnt Ill have

to call in a locksmith.Why dont you call in a locksmith now? Aira asked,

disappointed that he had not already done so.To be honest sweetie, its rather low on my list of

priorities. Besides, itll be far more interesting to wait a bit,

to see if the key turns up. I rather like having a bit ofmystery about the place, it makes it more interestingaddscharm to the house!

Yep, youre right about that, Aira said, not the least bitdisappointed any longer, owing to the excitement of having

her very own mystery to solve. Interested to find out whatother secrets she could uncover, she walked back throughthe lounge and out into the entrance hall. She opened the far

door, which led into a small room furnished with two sofas,a lounge chair and a small mahogany table.

Two doors led off the room; the far door was locked,denying entry to the mysterious room behind. The door on

the right, however, was open and led into a large librarywith an impressive sash window. Each sash comprised ofsix panes of glass, three across and two up, giving a six

over six panel window, a classic style in Georgian times.


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The room was cavernous; a balcony dissected the wall,

creating a second floor and adding to the illusion of space.Bookcases lined every wall, full of antique books of varying

shapes and sizes. Rails ran around the room above theshelves upon which ladders were mounted and a smallsweeping staircase led up to the balcony. Aira ran up the

stairs two at a time, reaching the top and surveying the roombelow.

Its amazing, she called down to her father. There are

so many books to read. She knew she could while away

hours in this room, looking at all the books and choosingwhich ones to read but she would have to wait, she stillhad the rest of the house to explore.

Aira ran down the stairs, through the parlour and acrossthe hall, entering the near door on the right.

Come on Dad! she yelled.Im coming, William called back, entering the room

seconds after his daughter and looking around at the fadedwallpaper and the large mahogany table with its twenty-twochairsall of which would need repairing and re-covering.

Light flooded in through a large window and Aira imaginedthe family entertaining guests at the table, with servantsbringing in trays laden with food. With this in mind she

turned to her father and asked, Wheres the kitchen?Its through this door, William replied, opening it and

leading Aira through to the kitchen. She followed him inand was surprised to see that an oak table of similarproportions to that in the dining room sat in the middle of

the kitchen, with long wooden benches either side forseating. There were plenty of cupboards and work surfaces

and Aira was impressed by the enormous size of the roomand by the large range and double sink that were set against

the far wall. She wondered if they were working, supposingthat they must be if they did not function they would nothave been able to move in.


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I sorted the plumbing, heating and electrics before we

moved in, said William, as if he had known what Aira hadbeen thinking. I just need to get some bulbs for the

chandelier in the hall. They left the kitchen through asecond door, entering into a small reception room that wassparsely furnished and stepped out into the entrance hall.

Shall we? William asked, pointing towards the stairs.Yes please!

After you then, he said and they began to climb the

stairs. When she reached the top Aira turned to the left and

circled the first floor, counting twelve doors in total.There are ten bedrooms, William said. One en-suite,

seven without and those two rooms at the other end share a

bathroom.What about the twelfth door? Aira asked.

Aah, the middle door at this end. It leads to the stairs,her father replied. One set will take you up to the second

floor and the attics, the other down to the kitchen andpantry. They would have been the servants stairs itwouldnt do for the staff to be seen going about their

business! he joked and Aira laughed.I suppose not! she replied, then paused before asking,

which ones my room then?

I thought Id let you choose your own, William repliedand Aira smiled. It was the response she had been hoping

for and she sped off along the corridor to investigate therooms, beginning with the one to the left of the servantsstairs.

Hey! That ones mine, her father called.Im only looking, she called back, entering into a large

room with a huge double bed. An antique wardrobe stoodagainst one wall and a mirrored dresser against another.

Aira looked sadly at the furniture, knowing that her motherwould have loved it, would have loved the room. Chokingback tears she headed towards the bathroom it was the

same size as her bedroom had been in the old house, a room


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she had never considered to be small. A large claw-footed

bathtub stood against one wall, a double sink and a toiletagainst the other. She walked back into the bedroom to find

her father.Your bathrooms huge, she said.Hmm, it is rather, William replied. Go on you, go and

explore the other rooms, he urged. Aira walked back intothe corridor opening the door to the first room she came

across.

Most of the rooms were the same; each had a bed, either

double or single, a wardrobe and a small dressing table some even had armchairs or sofas. All of the rooms wereenormous and despite their furnishings looked relatively

empty. The two rooms that shared a bathroom wereidentical, each the mirror image of the other and the

bathroom itself was similar to that in her fathers room. Itcontained a double sink and a toilet, the only difference was

that the bathtub was a conventional one and as such did nothave clawed feet. Although Aira was impressed by all of therooms she did not feel any real affiliation with them and

could not imagine herself living in any one of them,something that caused her considerable discomfort. Heranxiousness must have shown on her face as her father

asked her, Are you okay sweetheart? You dont look toohappy.

Im alright, Aira replied. Its just, the rooms are reallynice and everything, but theyre... She faltered, not reallyknowing how to finish the sentence.

Theyre not what you expected, William offered.No, not exactly, I guess I was expecting something a

bit older, a room with character.If you want character, perhaps you should try a room

on the second floor. You dont have to sleep down here youknow!

Really?


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Yes, really, go on up and take a look up there, Ill

follow you in a moment.Aira opened the door and walked up the dusty stairs,

feeling the rough boards underfoot. When she reached thelanding she looked around it was much plainer up here:there was no wallpaper on the walls and the floorboards

were dull and looked worn. Obviously little care had beenpaid up here in the servants quarters. This did not bother

Aira, in fact it was quite the opposite; she found the lack of

detail rather charming and felt that this floor, more than any

other, had both atmosphere and character. There wassomething about this area of the house that drew her in andshe felt herself being pulled towards a door at the other end

of the corridor.William stood and smiled as he watched her approach

the room. When he and Lilias had walked around the houseshe had predicted that Aira would fall in love with this floor

of the house she had even ventured as far as to suggestthat her young daughter would love the bedroom at the farend of the corridor, though she had been unable to explain

why she thought this was. He walked toward the room andstood in the doorway, watching his daughter investigate thespace and observing the look of rapture on her face. His

heart ached with sadness as he thought of his wife and howmuch she had been looking forward to showing Aira around

the room.She looks so happy darling, he whispered softly to the

air. I wish you could see her.

Did you say something? Aira asked.Your mother thought youd like this room. What do

you think of it?Its fantastic, Dad. Im definitely going to have this

one. There was something about the room that intriguedher; she felt as though there was more to the room than metthe eye, perhaps more mysteries to be solved.


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The room itself was rather quaint; underneath the

window were two single beds, each with simple wroughtiron frames. A small chest of drawers sat in between them

and there was a large wardrobe by the wall to the left of thedoor. A small bookcase stood on the floor on the right handwall and there were several childrens books scattered on

the shelves, something that Aira found strange. Though sheknew that children had worked as servants in the early

1900s the time in which the house was last inhabited

she did not feel that this was the case here, although she

couldnt pinpoint why.Unable to contain her curiosity any longer she turned to

her father and asked, What were they like, Dad, the family

that lived here last?Family? There was no family, Aira Witherstone

Manor was an orphanage.

Witherstone by Danielle Arney

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