A suitable prize.”
“When are you going to do it?” Asked Kit, still sounding doubtful.
“No time like the present,” I said cheerfully, and I went back inside to fetch my trusty hammer.
Kit followed me. “You want me to come with you?”
“No need,” I told her. “I’m more than ready to take them both down myself.”
I walked over to the farmhouse at my leisure, for I wanted to check the place out thoroughly. The garden was a good size and partly walled. Given time and materials I thought we might be able to fence it in completely after which we could grow our own vegetables or even keep a few farm animals. There were three doors; one at the front and a back and side door. I considered that one of these could be bricked up completely and another made secure so it was only used as an emergency escape. The front door was strong and sturdy and should have been able to withstand all but the most ferocious of assaults. There were many windows, for it was a large house. They were of a medium size and would need to be blocked up before we could think about moving in. Either way, downstairs windows would present a weak point but then again I could testify from my time inside how important natural daylight was to a person’s morale. I approached the front door and tried the handle. It was not locked. Stepping inside cautiously I was immediately hit by the smell of mustiness and decaying vegetables. The ceilings were low with sturdy beams running across them and there was a fireplace in the kitchen, albeit blocked by a boiler which could soon be removed. There came the creaking of floorboards from beyond the kitchen and I knew it was not just the wind. I took the hammer and tapped it hard against the inner wall of the kitchen. The shuffling became louder and there came a harsh scratching at the door. I went over and pulled the door open, then jumped back. The revenant, an old woman, tumbled into the kitchen, and my hammer followed quickly behind her, slicing through the top of her head in a single fluid motion. I tapped against the wall again. This time there was no sound. I didn’t like this; Kit definitely said there were two of them. It was possible the husband might have made his own way out somehow but I had earlier circled the perimeter of the building and I didn’t see any open doors or windows. I proceeded carefully into the hallway. There were bloodied handprints and bloody smears on the walls. These would have to be painted over before we moved in. But as I studied the prints more closely I was convinced I saw more than one set, and there was a large pile of congealed blood on the floor. This surely meant there had been more than one person here, the biter and the bitten? My nerves were tense as piano strings. I hated being here in the enclosed spaces, would have preferred one hundred visible revenants to the single unseen one lurking somewhere in the house. I crept cautiously from room to room, trying to remember my original motive of reconnaissance. There were two sitting rooms, both containing a fireplace, a hallway and a side room with no fireplace that may once have been the scullery but now served as a sort of study. A large larder room led off from the kitchen. Of the second revenant there was no sign. I tapped against the hollow walls with the hammer once more. No sound. My eyes alighted upon the stairs. I proceeded cautiously upwards. I held my breath and proceeded from one room to the other. There were four bedrooms on this floor and also a bathroom. Two of the bedrooms contained fireplaces although both of these were blocked off and would require work to get started again. I opened the cupboard doors quickly and stepped back. No revenant stepped out. I regarded the beds wearily, dropped to my hands and knees and looked under. Nothing. I wondered if Kit was sure when she said there had been two revenants. Surely they would both have come running? This left just one more set of stairs leading up
“When are you going to do it?” Asked Kit, still sounding doubtful.
“No time like the present,” I said cheerfully, and I went back inside to fetch my trusty hammer.
Kit followed me. “You want me to come with you?”
“No need,” I told her. “I’m more than ready to take them both down myself.”
I walked over to the farmhouse at my leisure, for I wanted to check the place out thoroughly. The garden was a good size and partly walled. Given time and materials I thought we might be able to fence it in completely after which we could grow our own vegetables or even keep a few farm animals. There were three doors; one at the front and a back and side door. I considered that one of these could be bricked up completely and another made secure so it was only used as an emergency escape. The front door was strong and sturdy and should have been able to withstand all but the most ferocious of assaults. There were many windows, for it was a large house. They were of a medium size and would need to be blocked up before we could think about moving in. Either way, downstairs windows would present a weak point but then again I could testify from my time inside how important natural daylight was to a person’s morale. I approached the front door and tried the handle. It was not locked. Stepping inside cautiously I was immediately hit by the smell of mustiness and decaying vegetables. The ceilings were low with sturdy beams running across them and there was a fireplace in the kitchen, albeit blocked by a boiler which could soon be removed. There came the creaking of floorboards from beyond the kitchen and I knew it was not just the wind. I took the hammer and tapped it hard against the inner wall of the kitchen. The shuffling became louder and there came a harsh scratching at the door. I went over and pulled the door open, then jumped back. The revenant, an old woman, tumbled into the kitchen, and my hammer followed quickly behind her, slicing through the top of her head in a single fluid motion. I tapped against the wall again. This time there was no sound. I didn’t like this; Kit definitely said there were two of them. It was possible the husband might have made his own way out somehow but I had earlier circled the perimeter of the building and I didn’t see any open doors or windows. I proceeded carefully into the hallway. There were bloodied handprints and bloody smears on the walls. These would have to be painted over before we moved in. But as I studied the prints more closely I was convinced I saw more than one set, and there was a large pile of congealed blood on the floor. This surely meant there had been more than one person here, the biter and the bitten? My nerves were tense as piano strings. I hated being here in the enclosed spaces, would have preferred one hundred visible revenants to the single unseen one lurking somewhere in the house. I crept cautiously from room to room, trying to remember my original motive of reconnaissance. There were two sitting rooms, both containing a fireplace, a hallway and a side room with no fireplace that may once have been the scullery but now served as a sort of study. A large larder room led off from the kitchen. Of the second revenant there was no sign. I tapped against the hollow walls with the hammer once more. No sound. My eyes alighted upon the stairs. I proceeded cautiously upwards. I held my breath and proceeded from one room to the other. There were four bedrooms on this floor and also a bathroom. Two of the bedrooms contained fireplaces although both of these were blocked off and would require work to get started again. I opened the cupboard doors quickly and stepped back. No revenant stepped out. I regarded the beds wearily, dropped to my hands and knees and looked under. Nothing. I wondered if Kit was sure when she said there had been two revenants. Surely they would both have come running? This left just one more set of stairs leading up
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