of iron and glass swept down from the floor above. The marble floor, polished to perfection, gleamed … Except that wasn’t quite true. No, not polished to perfection. From the door to the stairs, two parallel tracks tarnished the marble.
Jake imagined his father being dragged from the ambulance and across the wet ground outside. Perhaps the muddy heels of his dad’s shoes had made those tracks. Jake followed them up the glass staircase and onto the landing. There the tracks skirted right and into the west wing of the house. In the thick pile carpet of the corridor they became furrows. It was as if Adam Harker had laid out a trail for his son to follow, like a man in a labyrinth dropping pebbles behind him.
Jake now entered a part of Green Gables he had never seen before. The corridor, decorated with crimson wallpaper, stretched out before him like a long, red throat. The walls were high and, above a rail four metres or so overhead, the faces of men stared down at him. Jake’s gaze skipped between the portraits. The costumes were Jacobean, Georgian, Victorian, Edwardian, but the men all possessed similar features. It was not hard to work out that these were ancestors of Dr Gordon Holmwood. Beneath each was a golden name plaque. Jake reached the last—a stern-looking character with a short beard and heavy-lidded eyes. His plaque read:
TIBERIUS HOLMWOOD
FIRST OF THE HOBARRON ELDERS, 1645
The tracks ended at the door beneath Tiberius’s portrait.
There was no swipe card device outside.
‘Open bloody Sesame,’ Jake growled.
He rattled and pushed at the handle. To his surprise, the door swung back to reveal a big, well-furnished bedroom.
That the door to Adam Harker’s cell should open so easily was not difficult to understand. Not when Jake saw the state of his father. He rushed to the bed and lifted Adam’s head from the pillow.
The man had been heavily drugged.
‘Dad? Can you hear me?’
Jake slapped his father’s face. He tried to pull Adam into a sitting position but the dead weight was too much for him. The man flopped back onto the bed. Then his eyes fluttered and Adam focused on his son.
‘Go,’ he said, his words slurred. ‘Don’t st-stay here. Dangerous. Can’t help me.’
‘I’ll bring the police.’
‘Told you. No pol-eeese. Wouldn’t believe you. Elders too powerful.’
Jake thought of Silas Jones being interviewed by Dr Holmwood and knew that his dad was right.
‘I can’t leave you here,’ he said.
‘Must. Go.’
‘Listen, Dad, I overheard Dr Holmwood and Aunt Joanna talking—they want to take me to a place called “Hobarron’s Hollow” … ’
Adam nodded. ‘The Demontide will start in the Hollow. The D-Door will open and demonkind will be s-set free.’
‘But what about the weapon you and Mum worked on? I’ve seen a blueprint—a diagram of a box with wires coming out of it.’
‘We created the weapon to f-fight the darkness. But it never worked. Never functioned. Wi-without the weapon, the Elders will need a sacrifice to stop the Demontide. They wi-will kill a child … ’
‘But there must be another way of stopping it.’
‘Muh-maybe. The answer is in the Hollow, Jake. Fr-frozen in Time.’
‘I don’t understand.’
Adam’s eyes glazed over. ‘Ab-ra-cad-abra … ’
‘Dad?’
Adam struggled to focus. ‘To understand you must find Tinsmouth. He—he lives inside the lion’s head now.’
Tinsmouth. The man who had murdered little Olivia Brown at the Hobarron Fete. Why would his father want him to seek out a man like that? Anyway, surely Tinsmouth was still locked up somewhere.
Loud, angry voices echoed from downstairs.
Jake tried again to lift his father. Adam pushed him away.
‘Go. Run. Stay—stay away from the Hollow. Only death waits for you there … ’
For a moment, Adam appeared to come out of his trance. He fixed Jake with a sad stare.
‘I love you, Jake. My son. My son … ’
His eyes rolled white and he fell back onto the
Jake imagined his father being dragged from the ambulance and across the wet ground outside. Perhaps the muddy heels of his dad’s shoes had made those tracks. Jake followed them up the glass staircase and onto the landing. There the tracks skirted right and into the west wing of the house. In the thick pile carpet of the corridor they became furrows. It was as if Adam Harker had laid out a trail for his son to follow, like a man in a labyrinth dropping pebbles behind him.
Jake now entered a part of Green Gables he had never seen before. The corridor, decorated with crimson wallpaper, stretched out before him like a long, red throat. The walls were high and, above a rail four metres or so overhead, the faces of men stared down at him. Jake’s gaze skipped between the portraits. The costumes were Jacobean, Georgian, Victorian, Edwardian, but the men all possessed similar features. It was not hard to work out that these were ancestors of Dr Gordon Holmwood. Beneath each was a golden name plaque. Jake reached the last—a stern-looking character with a short beard and heavy-lidded eyes. His plaque read:
TIBERIUS HOLMWOOD
FIRST OF THE HOBARRON ELDERS, 1645
The tracks ended at the door beneath Tiberius’s portrait.
There was no swipe card device outside.
‘Open bloody Sesame,’ Jake growled.
He rattled and pushed at the handle. To his surprise, the door swung back to reveal a big, well-furnished bedroom.
That the door to Adam Harker’s cell should open so easily was not difficult to understand. Not when Jake saw the state of his father. He rushed to the bed and lifted Adam’s head from the pillow.
The man had been heavily drugged.
‘Dad? Can you hear me?’
Jake slapped his father’s face. He tried to pull Adam into a sitting position but the dead weight was too much for him. The man flopped back onto the bed. Then his eyes fluttered and Adam focused on his son.
‘Go,’ he said, his words slurred. ‘Don’t st-stay here. Dangerous. Can’t help me.’
‘I’ll bring the police.’
‘Told you. No pol-eeese. Wouldn’t believe you. Elders too powerful.’
Jake thought of Silas Jones being interviewed by Dr Holmwood and knew that his dad was right.
‘I can’t leave you here,’ he said.
‘Must. Go.’
‘Listen, Dad, I overheard Dr Holmwood and Aunt Joanna talking—they want to take me to a place called “Hobarron’s Hollow” … ’
Adam nodded. ‘The Demontide will start in the Hollow. The D-Door will open and demonkind will be s-set free.’
‘But what about the weapon you and Mum worked on? I’ve seen a blueprint—a diagram of a box with wires coming out of it.’
‘We created the weapon to f-fight the darkness. But it never worked. Never functioned. Wi-without the weapon, the Elders will need a sacrifice to stop the Demontide. They wi-will kill a child … ’
‘But there must be another way of stopping it.’
‘Muh-maybe. The answer is in the Hollow, Jake. Fr-frozen in Time.’
‘I don’t understand.’
Adam’s eyes glazed over. ‘Ab-ra-cad-abra … ’
‘Dad?’
Adam struggled to focus. ‘To understand you must find Tinsmouth. He—he lives inside the lion’s head now.’
Tinsmouth. The man who had murdered little Olivia Brown at the Hobarron Fete. Why would his father want him to seek out a man like that? Anyway, surely Tinsmouth was still locked up somewhere.
Loud, angry voices echoed from downstairs.
Jake tried again to lift his father. Adam pushed him away.
‘Go. Run. Stay—stay away from the Hollow. Only death waits for you there … ’
For a moment, Adam appeared to come out of his trance. He fixed Jake with a sad stare.
‘I love you, Jake. My son. My son … ’
His eyes rolled white and he fell back onto the
Similar Books
