Murder in the Haunted Castle
Missed the story so far? Catch up here: Chapter One Chapter Two Chapter Three Chapter Four Chapter Five Chapter Six Chapter Seven Chapter Eight Chapter Nine Chapter Ten Chapter Eleven Chapter Twelve Chapter Thirteen Chapter Fourteen Chapter Fifteen Chapter Sixteen Chapter Seventeen Chapter Eighteen Chapter Nineteen Chapter Twenty Chapter Twenty-one Chapter Twenty-two Chapter Twenty-three Chapter Twenty-four Chapter Twenty-five Chapter Twenty-six Chapter Twenty-seven Chapter Twenty-eight Chapter Twenty-nine Chapter Thirty Chapter Thirty-one Chapter Thirty-two Chapter Thirty-three Chapter Thirty-four
Kim clung to the wooden fence as she watched the butler smash his fist into James’ face. She screamed his name, but she was powerless to help. Running from the butler had worn her out, the cold had sapped her energy. She had no fight left.
Now this man was going to drag her off the edge of the cliff, throw her over and let her plummet to her death. And then he would do the same with James.
And Maddie! Would he do the same with her?
A sudden hot fire grew within Kim’s chest as she thought of her daughter. No, she wouldn’t let this monster harm her daughter at all. The fire inside her gave Kim added strength to stand up. She bunched her hands into fists.
The butler saw her, his eyes widening as he realised she was regathering herself, getting ready to fight again.
And he started laughing.
“Stop that!” Kim screamed, and lunged for him.
The butler swatted her away like she was a fly. Kim fell in the soft snow and lay there, helpless.
It was no good. She was too weak, and she had no fight left in her.
The butler picked her up like she was a rag doll and hauled her to the edge of the cliff.
“Hey, you!”
The sudden yell distracted the butler. Kim was hanging from his grip like an empty sack, and she couldn’t see who had shouted.
“Leave my mother alone, you creep!”
Maddie! No, please Maddie, go back inside the castle, don’t try and fight him, or he will kill you too!
The butler dropped Kim on her back into the snow. Kim struggled to sit up as he turned his back on her. Whatever happened next, she could not let this man harm her daughter. Maybe while he was distracted, Kim could attack him, use the element of surprise. She might not be strong enough to drag him over the edge of the cliff, but if she could leap on top of him, maybe she could throw both of them off.
At least then Maddie would be safe, and James was there to look after her.
Kim climbed into a crouching position. Leaping onto the butler’s back in all this snow was going to be difficult. Without the benefit of hard ground beneath her to launch herself from, Kim didn’t think she would have enough power. But she had to try.
Summoning every last reserve of her rapidly diminishing strength and energy, Kim leapt at the butler, her hands out reaching for his neck. Somehow she managed to land on his back and wrapped her legs around his waist and her arms around his throat.
And she squeezed tight.
It was then she saw her daughter.
Maddie was wearing a suit of armour and waving a sword. She was clumsy and slow in the armour, but she was drawing closer. The visor was up on the helmet and Kim could see her daughter’s beautiful eyes, currently wide with terror. Maddie stumbled and the visor clanged shut.
With a roar, the butler pulled Kim off his back like she was an old, threadbare cape, and threw her on the ground.
Kim gasped at the shock of the freezing snow against her skin.
Maddie, in the suit of armour, collided with the wooden fence.
She swung the sword at the butler.
The swinging sword missed him completely, but the momentum from the sword caused Maddie to overbalance and she fell over.
The butler had stepped back out of the way of the sword, right at the edge of the snow covered cliff. He stared at Kim, his eyes narrow with rage.
The overhang of snow on which he was standing suddenly gave way, and the butler disappeared in a cloud of white.
Kim heard him yell once, and then he was gone.
The suit of armour sat up and pushed its visor up.
“Where is he?” Maddie said.
Kim started laughing, but the laughter very quickly turned into tears.
“Mum? Where is he?”
“It’s alright,” Kim gasped. “It’s all going to be alright now.”
James groaned and Kim crawled over to where he was lying in the snow. His nose was swollen and the skin around his eyes was covered in a dark purple bruise.
His eyes fluttered open, and Kim breathed a sigh of relief.
“It’s okay, don’t move for the moment,” she said.
“Did anyone get the number?” James said, groggily.
“What number?” Kim replied, suddenly anxious that the blows to his head might have done some damage to his brain.
“The number of the truck that hit me,” James said, and closed his eyes. “Ignore me, I’m just trying to be funny, that's all.”
Kim placed a gentle hand on his shoulder. “How do you feel?”
“Like I got hit by a truck.” He opened his eyes. “Hey, wait a minute. Are you alright? Where’s that butler? Is he still here?”
“Shh, we’re all fine,” Kim said. “Maddie rescued me.”
“Yeah, I put on a suit of armour and had a sword fight with him,” Maddie said.
“That’s nice,” James said, his eyes closing again. “Hang on!” He snapped his eyes open again. “You had a sword fight with him? In a suit of armour? Help me up, I have to see this.”
Kim helped James up into a sitting position. He regarded Maddie sat in the snow in her suit of armour for a few moments and then burst out laughing.
Kim and Maddie both started laughing too.
See you on Wednesday for Chapter Thirty-six.
Cheers,
Ken
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