Chapter 15As the old Mercedes motored down Route 9 in the soft afternoon sunlight, Alex and Xander talked over the high points of their overnight at Cliffhanger. After dinner with the Bannisters, feeling strangely supported and, even more, understood, they had returned to the house and spent an hour in the darkened mansion exploring the rest of the bedrooms on the second floor. Although they turned lights on and off as they went, a surprising amount of ambient light came into the central hall through the huge pyramidal canopy of glass overhead, making it navigable—if spooky—as they moved from room to room along the second floor balcony.
Only their room—the Bencliffes’ bedroom—had been aired out and uncovered for occupancy; the other four bedrooms and bathrooms were all cloth-draped and di
