The Mystery of the Cornerstone

The Mystery of the Cornerstone

Copywrite 2018 Sandra Maggs

Published by Sandra Maggs at Smashwords

Smashwords Edition License Notes

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your enjoyment only, then please return to Smashwords.com or your favourite retailer and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

Chapter One

What’s your secret? Bess Hooper whispered as she stared at the old building. Stories of ghostly hauntings in the ruin had frightened her when she was younger, but now she was a teenager and slightly sceptical of village myths about anything. Tales which depicted the partially ruined old school were taller than the grass that grew between the scattered grey stone dotting the area. She knew it was dangerous. Bess wasn’t a stupid girl, but curiosity had overcome fear and the ruin stood before her almost daring her to explore it. Parental warnings about the decaying, dangerous, derelict seemed to have a wilful effect on Bess. Cautions stirred up the rebel inside her. She often wandered past the forbidden site and imagined another world that might have existed when the building was intact. She pictured the children from a much different era playing in the small yard beside the school and wanted to know the secrets hidden in amongst the remains.

Today an adventurous air suppressed by past fears fought its way out and as she stood at the edge of the forbidden area, prompted her to take a step forward. Breathing in the fresh scent of spring, Bess took another until the few single steps had taken her from the pathway into the long grass, and closer to the ruined building. Excited by the gloomy façade that she faced, Bess tread carefully as she picked her way through the broken stone and strayed further and further from the narrow path she had stuck to, well, as far back as her memory went. Around her only the sound of the birds and nature, both peaceful and relaxing. But spring’s aria was soon interrupted by somebody else.

Bess, Bess.

The words rang out chasing away the serenity. Instantly she knew who was calling her name. That voice belonged to a friend of hers, Eloise Wescott. Bess turned to see the girl running along the track towards her.

Bess, what are you doing? Eloise asked as she approached, slightly out of breath from running to catch up. You know it’s dangerous here. The walls could come down at any minute.

I know, I just wanted to see inside, that’s all, Bess explained. Haven’t you ever wanted to go in and just look around?

No, it looks all dirty and disgusting. There are probably about a million spiders in there, not to mention mice and perhaps even rats, Eloise said wrinkling her nose. My mum told me she was told by a lady in the hairdressers there were some bats nesting in there too. They could be vampires you know. I’d much rather stay right away from here than die from a nasty bite. Come on, let’s go.

Bess turned and followed her friend back to the path. Eloise Wescott, the girl with the colourful imagination who could turn the most boring tidbit into an interesting story. She had always told people if they closed their eyes and used their imaginations, their heads would be filled with amazement. They had been friends for as long as Bess could remember and although there were things about Eloise that annoyed her, Bess loved her like the sister she had always wished for and was kind of envious of the captivating tales her friend came up with. Bess couldn’t even begin to invent the sort of stories that Eloise told. The two girls walked together chatting about other things that didn’t include the intriguing ruins they had left behind, but Bess couldn’t get the old building out of her mind.

The worn dirt track ended where the woods met the street and Bess turned to get a last glimpse of the old stone wreckage. Something moved amongst the trees that framed the ruin and it caught her eye. She stopped to take a better look.

Come on, Eloise insisted grabbing Bess by the arm and dragging her around the corner. That spooky old place gives me the creeps. Stop looking at it.

Pulled away from the view, she had no other choice than to pay attention to Eloise. But I thought I saw something, Bess protested, feeling slightly angry that she couldn’t get another look. You’re so bossy. She told the truth and had said it many times before, but nothing would ever change her friend. It was pointless even saying anything.

Yes, I’m bossy, and you saw a pile of junk that has been neglected for decades and is highly dangerous, Eloise told her. I’m only being like this because you’re my friend. If it were anybody else, I wouldn’t care. But I don’t want you to get squished by falling rubble. Do you want to come to my place? We can hang out for a while and get your mind of that hideous wreck. I have some gossip to tell you about Mia’s brother.

Eloise had something on everyone and when she shared her gossip, her blue eyes lit up like neon. She was like a walking talking gossip magazine. Bess didn’t know how she found out the information, but she did.

Is it about him getting dragged off to counselling by his parents? Because you told me this morning. So unless there’s an update, I know everything there is to know, Bess reminded her.

Oh, I told you already. Come over anyway. We can start some gossip if you like, Eloise suggested.

As fun as that sounds, I’d better get home and help Mum with dinner. She’s been really busy at work lately and I also have some homework to do too, Bess explained smiling at her bossy friend. Although, there was a different reason for hurrying home that afternoon, but Bess didn’t want to risk upsetting Eloise again, so she kept it to herself.

Okay, suit yourself. Message me later.

I will, Bess promised and watched as Eloise crossed the road and disappeared around another corner.

Quickly turning she ran back to the narrow pathway and strained her eyes looking in amongst the trees to see if there was anything unusual near the old ruin. Maybe she had been mistaken or maybe it had something to do with the light seeping through the foliage, but Bess felt almost certain she had seen someone walking through the wooded area. For a split second, she resented Eloise, if she hadn’t come along at that moment, it might have been a different story. But Bess couldn’t be angry with her friend for too long and the feeling soon passed as she headed home.

Endless Hiccup, a small village in the English countryside, had been home for all her life. Their house had been the family home of her mother, but after Bess had arrived on the scene, her grandparents had moved out into a nearby cottage which was a lot smaller and more manageable for them. This had led to her parents providing her with an annoying younger brother she couldn’t possibly live without. Thomas or Tom as they all called him was two years younger to the day, so they shared the same birthday. Bess didn’t mind at all but pretended she did. It just seemed like the right thing for a fourteen-year-old girl to do. As she entered the house, the familiar buzz of the television reached her ears and her brother was sitting on the sofa gazing at the screen. Just to annoy him, she stood in front of the TV with her arms folded and stared at him waiting for a reaction.

Get out of the way of the television Bess, Tom bellowed and threw a cushion at his sister. Mum, I’m trying to watch tv and Bess is standing in the way just to annoy me.

Ducking to dodge the missile, Bess picked up the cushion and threw it back at the boy laughing. She headed upstairs to her room to avoid any further confrontation and sat on her bed. Lifting the screen on her laptop, she punched in the password. There was some research to do, but the problem was, where to start.

Quickly she changed out of her school uniform into skinny jeans and a top. Brushing her long brown hair, she took a quick look in the full-length mirror. Pulling her hair back from her face with her hands, she sucked in her cheeks and imagined what she would look like if she lost a stone. Not that she was fat of course, but like all teenage girls, image was important to Bess. Her best friend had sparkling blue eyes, but her own were a dull brown and she wondered if her mum would let her get some tinted contacts, she could just change them for a day. Picking up her mascara, she touched up her lashes and fluttered them a little. Maybe her own eyes weren’t so bad after all.

Returning to the laptop, she began her search. The ruined building she was so fixated with had once been a school and Bess had learned bits and pieces about it over the years in history classes, but she didn’t know much more. She typed the name of the village into the search engine and scanned the headings that appeared. Clicking on each one, Bess tried one after another, but there didn’t seem to be any information on the old building or the village for that matter, just lots of rubbish about hiccups and how to get rid