The Lost Valley

Chapter 9-1

Chapter 9

Tom opened his suitcase and began putting away his clothes. The spacious bedroom, with its wide casement windows overlooking the garden, was far grander than the one next door. When he chose it he’d expected an argument, but Harry took the smaller room without a murmur. It wasn’t like him to defer like that. It made Tom suspicious.

On opening a drawer for his socks, he found the previous occupant had left something behind; a woman’s slip, cream silk with satin ribbon shoulder straps. He ran the smooth fabric through his fingers. Whose was it? Emma’s? The charming image of her standing in nothing but her petticoat was burned into his brain. He had little experience with the opposite s*x, having gone straight from a boys’ boarding school to the wilds of Binburra, but recently he’d become fascinated by girls in a way he didn’t quite understand.

Back home, people viewed the eccentric, reclusive Isabelle Buchanan and her grandsons with a mixture of curiosity and apprehension. Although she lived a simple life, it was rumoured the Colonel had left Nana a fortune when he died. It was also rumoured that she was a witch, a godless woman who made healing potions from native herbs and mushrooms. A woman who talked to animals, and kept devils as pets. A woman who’d buried the Colonel somewhere out in the wilderness, in unhallowed ground, with neither priest nor prayer to help him on his final journey.

This horrified the god-fearing, church-going people of Hills End. The lure of two handsome young heirs wasn’t enough. Local girls were encouraged to steer clear of them, although farmers’ wives secretly came to Binburra with sick dogs or lambs, and children brought orphaned and injured wildlife. Nana was a gifted healer.

However, few visitors ever stayed for long, and none of them were like Emma. The prospect of living in the same house as a real life girl was tantalising, especially such a pretty one. When he closed his eyes she appeared before him; glossy auburn curls, the smooth curve of her forehead, the heart-shaped face and full lips. How would it feel to kiss her?

Tom finished unpacking and went downstairs to the kitchen. He was starving and it was way past lunchtime. Apart from a few wizened apples, there wasn’t much to eat. Emma had probably cleared out the pantry. Whatever did she mean to do with all that food?

He tossed an apple in the air and caught it. Time to find Nana, go shopping and stock up that kitchen.