The Cottage

By Nikki Pannell

Kiley Thompson is a typical high school senior dealing with the stress of preparing for graduation and falling in love for the first time. Unlike most high school students, Kiley has a major problem ghosts. When her family buys a cottage in England, she finds herself in the middle of a murder mystery. Can she dig through the bitter rivalries, love affairs and betrayals of the past to find the truth, or will she be doomed to share the same fate as the ghosts who haunt her?

• Language: English
• Publisher: AuthorHouse
• Release date: Dec 14, 2010
• ISBN: 9781452096391

Nikki Pannell

Nikki Pannell lives in Mississippi and graduated from The University of Mississippi with a BA in History. She has always enjoyed writing short stories. She has taken multiple creative writing classes and this is her first novel. She has a very vivid imagination and is always thinking of new ideas and new characters to write about.

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© 2010Nikki Pannell. All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author.

First published by AuthorHouse 12/8/2010

ISBN: 978-1-4520-9639-1 (e)

ISBN: 978-1-4520-9638-4 (dj)

ISBN: 978-1-4520-9637-7 (sc)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2010917540

Printed in the United States of America

This book is printed on acid-free paper.

Certain stock imagery © Thinkstock.

Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any Web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

To my wonderful husband:

thank you for taking me to London,

where I was inspired

to write this book.

Contents

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14

1

I awoke abruptly from the dream with a gasp so deep it felt as if I had been underwater for ages. Only seconds before I had been far away in another world lost in my head; now I was sitting straight up in my bed, tangled in the sheets, wiping sweat from my forehead. Still breathing heavily, I stumbled into the bathroom to wash my face. I filled my cupped hands with cold water and pondered the recurring dream that had been haunting me for the past couple weeks. I splashed my face and reached for a hand towel to dry it when I noticed something in the mirror. There was a woman standing behind me. She was tall and pale, with remnants of dirt all over her face and clothes. I could tell her dress was blue, soft baby blue. Her necklace looked so familiar to me, but I couldn’t figure out why. I stayed focused on the necklace, examining every inch of it. It was on a long silver chain. It looked like some sort of old locket. I wasn’t frightened of her until she started moving toward me. Turning around swiftly, I let out a gasp before I could stop myself, but nothing was there. My confusion and the rapid beating of my heart left me frozen in place. I glanced around the bathroom before walking over to the shower and pulling the curtain aside. Nothing was there. You’re seeing things, I told myself as I closed the shower curtain. I wondered if I had been sleep-walking or if I was still dreaming. Or maybe I was just full-on hallucinating.

Looking at the clock on my nightstand, I knew that it would be pointless to go back to sleep since I would have to wake up in a short while anyway. I let out a groan at the thought of the family meeting my mother had planned for us this morning and the fact that it was time to get up already as I started the shower. The dream stayed on my mind while I dried myself off, tried to decide on an outfit for the day, and dried my hair. I couldn’t think of anything else. I ended up throwing on the first thing I saw hanging in the closet—my favorite pair of worn blue jeans and a green t-shirt.

The smell of fresh bacon made my stomach growl as I sprinted down to the kitchen. My mother told me and my younger sister, Kelly, the night before that she had some news for us. Any time my mother wants to hold a family meeting, she does it over breakfast. My curiosity was killing me as I plopped down in my chair at the kitchen table and started loading my plate with biscuits and gravy, bacon, and scrambled eggs.

So what’s this news you keep talking about? I asked my mother as she stood at the sink cleaning some dirty dishes.

I guess I have made you guys wait long enough, she said, turning around to face my sister and me. She had a giddy-looking grin on her face, which only added to the suspense of the situation.

Okay, so spill it! I said.

Your father and I have decided to buy a house in England! We are hoping to find a cottage in the country. Maybe even a little place in a small village. Or we might end up falling in love with the city and getting something in London, she said.

My mom and dad had talked about getting a vacation house for years, so I was excited that it was finally going to happen. My sister and I looked at each other, stunned by the news. A vacation house in England was always something my mother wanted to have because her family is English. She never told me much about her side of the family because she didn’t know much other than hearsay stories that had been passed down. My grandmother was raised in England and lived with her parents until she was eighteen. That is when she ran away with an American tourist, Joseph, my grandfather. The love affair was the biggest scandal to hit that area in years. I always wondered why it was considered a scandal. She had lived just outside the village of Amesbury in a cottage that had been in the family for a very long time from what I had been told. Apparently my great-grandparents were so angry with Elizabeth—my grandmother—that she never came back. That is the story my mother was told anyway. I never knew much of my grandmother. She had been in a hospital since I could remember and died when I was sixteen. My mother told me once that it was Alzheimer’s that kept her in the hospital, but I never really believed her. There was something about the look on her face whenever my grandmother was mentioned. The strange thing was that no one would tell me how she died. I overheard Mom and Dad talking one night about it, but all I could make out was my dad saying that Elizabeth had gone crazy. I never really felt comfortable asking my mom about it. It had always been a sensitive subject.

When did you and Dad decide to get a house? I asked my mother.

Well, we have been talking about it for years, as you both know, and we figured that now is as good a time as any. The four of us are going in a couple of weeks when the two of you are out of school for the summer, she said as she clasped her hands together with excitement.

Kelly and I were thrilled about the news and luckily, since it was Saturday, I didn’t have school to interrupt my newfound happiness over my English vacation. Ever since I was a little girl, my parents would tell me stories about haunted English cottages and kings and queens, and I had dreamed of going to England to have my own adventure. Since I had gotten a little older, I was more interested in my grandmother and why she fled so far away from home. I mean, I knew love conquered all and everything, but was my grandfather really worth losing her entire family over? It had always frustrated me that my parents wouldn’t tell me the real story about my grandmother. I would have asked my grandfather to tell me, but he passed away a couple months after my grandmother.

I drove over to my best friend’s house to tell him the good news. His name was Matt Livings, and we had been best friends since birth. Our mothers gave birth to us on the same day. They were even next door to each other in the hospital. Not to mention they were gossip buddies. As I turned down the street Matt lived on, I started to think about how much more fun I could have in England if he were coming along.

As soon as I rang the doorbell, Mrs. Livings greeted me with her usual smile and told me that Matt was in his room. Walking up the stairs, I couldn’t help but look at all the family pictures Mrs. Livings had hung on the wall. They had just as many pictures of me as my parents did. I guess that was only natural; I pretty much spent every waking moment with Matt. Mrs. Livings jokingly called me her adopted daughter.

You’ll never guess what my mom told me today! I said, almost plowing into him at his computer desk.

Hey, Kiley, I was wondering when you’d get here. What will I never guess? he asked.

Me, Kelly, Mom, and Dad are going on a vacation to England! They are going to look for a house to buy for us to have for vacations and stuff! I was practically bubbling with excitement as I told him. Can you believe it? This is my dream come true! I said as I grasped both of his shoulders and shook him.

Wow, that’s pretty awesome news, Kiley. Congratulations! he said as he reached to give me a hug. I know you have always dreamed of this.

Oh, speaking of dreams, I said as the smile on my face slowly disappeared, I had it again. I dropped my gaze from his face to the floor.

Again? he asked with a concerned look on his face.

Yep. This makes the fourth time, I confessed.

That is so weird. Explain to me what happens in the dream again, he said as he sat on a red beanbag chair in the corner of the room. I took a seat on the bed.

The dream is exactly the same every time. I am walking in the dark down what looks like a stone walkway. I am wearing a baby blue nightgown, and I don’t have shoes on. I can’t really make out where I am because it is so dark and raining. All I know is that I’m scared. I’m looking from side to side and most of all behind me. It’s as if someone or something is after me. I can hear howls in the distance and the moon is always full. I’m freezing and soaking wet and then, as if it appears out of nowhere, I’m standing in front of an enormous house. I look up at one of the windows on the top floor and see a woman standing there looking down at me. She is wearing a dress, or it may have been a nightgown, I can’t really tell. It’s always too dark for me to make out the color, but from the flashes I get from the lightning, it looks like a dark color. Then I start to walk toward the front door and grasp the doorknob slowly. The door sticks, so I put my body weight behind it and try to make it budge. When it opens, all I see is darkness. I step into the house and I don’t know what I see, but whatever it is, I always wake up scared to death at that exact moment.

Matt’s face looked like he was trying to suppress a laugh as I finished telling him the story of my recurring dream.

What’s so funny? I asked him as I put my hands on my hips, a little offended.

Nothing. I just think it’s a little weird that you, of all people, are having a nightmare and that it’s actually freaking you out, he said, shrugging his shoulders.

No one knew me better than Matt, especially since I was a tomboy growing up and he was my best friend. I had to admit that it really wasn’t like me at all to let something like this get to me. But this particular dream always seemed so real. It felt like it was actually happening. Not to mention the woman that I saw in the dream just before I woke up. She looked so familiar to me, almost as if we were related—sisters even. Something about her called to