The Wells Brothers: Luke (4 page)

“Are we talking raptors and such?”

“No, dear, you know - orphaned lambs
brought up and unable to be released with the flocks because they’re so
humanised, cows, rescue animals.  Donkeys, things like that.  Animals that
perhaps the RSPCA need a good home for.”

“Dogs and cats?”

“Well, of course we need a couple of
cats around, and a dog or two.”

“Can’t have a mansion without some
pets,” Mikki agreed.

“And the mansion is big enough
that those with allergies won’t necessarily have to mix with the animals, hence
the swimming and such.”

Mikki looked at her.  “And what is
the ‘and such’?”

“Thought you’d never ask!  I’ve
had some ideas.”  Hopping off the back of the SUV, Elspeth grabbed Mikki’s
shirt sleeve and tugged.  “Come with me.”

The ground was uneven in parts,
the old driveway overgrown in areas, bare dirt in others, but it was easy to
follow around the mansion.

“Now, I’m not having this driveway
going all the way around so close to the house like it is,” Elspeth confided as
they strode along.  “I want gardens either side of the mansion with a wide
pathway going through it.  The driveway will be further back from the house
with another wide pathway leading to the steps.  Of course we’ll need to get a
ramp put in for wheelchair access, not to mention a lift to the second and
third floor.”

Mikki glanced back at the steps
leading up onto the wide veranda.  “Plenty of room for a ramp.”

“Which is good, because I want a
gradual incline, not a small, steep one.”

“Thinking of the person pushing
the chair?  You are so thoughtful.”

“Cheeky.”  Elspeth gave Mikki a
dig in the ribs with her rather sharp elbow.  “It also makes good business
sense.  The easier we make it for everyone and cater to most needs, the better
for business.”

“Compassion and finance going
hand-in-hand, I like it.”  Mikki grinned.  “Who said it couldn’t be done had
never met you.”

“Well, sweetie, one doesn’t like
to boast.”  Elspeth smoothed down her skirt.  “But what the heck, am I good or
what?”

Laughing, they continued around
the corner of the house to walk down the side which seemed to stretch forever. 
On the far left side was the remains of some kind of garden.  There was an
abundance of dead bushes, weeds high enough to choke a horse, and if she peered
closely enough, the remains of a rusting fence which had mostly fallen to the ground.

“Wow, they fenced in their
gardens?”

“Possibly.  I haven’t done a lot
of research on how the grounds actually looked, just seen a few old photos. 
I’m leaving that up to Luke to research and show me the original photos or
plans, as well as his plans to re-do, re-fashion and alter them as he thinks.”

To be fair, Luke was the man for
the job.  He had a flair for giving clients exactly what they wanted, and Mikki
knew from Izzy, who was married to Luke’s cousin, Jason, that Luke offered
alternative ideas if the need arose which his clients often accepted.  His
services weren’t highly desired for no reason.

“Now, on the left here somewhere,
I want something like an orangerie and-”

“A what?” Mikki queried.

“An orangerie, only not for
oranges.”

Mikki stared at her.  “Oranges?”

“An orangerie, dear,” Elspeth
explained patiently, “is a building mostly of glass which was generally attached
to the outside of the house where oranges were grown.  I want a couple of buildings
similar, one for outdoor teas, the other for painting.”

“Glass houses, then?”

“Kind of.  I discussed the idea
with Harris Wells and he’s researching it.”

“Sounds way too complicated,”
Mikki replied.  “Just bung a couple up wherever and Bob’s your uncle.”

“And Fanny won’t be your aunt
because good lighting is imperative for painting or sculpturing or whatever we
choose to do in there.”  Elspeth paused, tapping her bottom lip thoughtfully. 
“Maybe I should add a couple more, have one for painting, one for sculpturing,
maybe another for-”

Mikki winked.  “Maybe one with
solid walls so you can’t see the nude models.”

“This is an expensive holiday
resort in a mansion where we are trying to recreate the Victorian era without
the Hellfire Club, dear.”

“But maybe elements of the
Hellfire Club would add some pizzazz,” Mikki said cheerfully.  “Just think of
it - the hunt, the hounds baying, the maiden fleeing in the night knowing that
if she’s caught by those dastardly Club members her honour will be besmirched,
her virginity taken, and she’ll be dragged down to the depths of their secret
caves to be initiated into their orgies.”

Elspeth raised both eyebrows. 
“Did the Hellfire Club have orgies?”

“Hell if I know, but they weren’t
top-notch blokes, that’s for sure.”

“You volunteering to be that
maiden?” a voice drawled from right behind her.

Startled, Mikki jumped before
swinging around to face Luke’s smirk.  “I wouldn’t flee, I’d kick their arses
and make them cry for their mummies.”

“No doubt,” he agreed, standing
there in his easy slouch, thumbs hooked into the pockets of his jeans.  “But
was the Hellfire Club in the Victorian times?  Or the Edwardian times?”

“I’m impressed you even know about
the Club, much less the eras.”

“Of course I know about the
club.”  Leaning forward confidingly, he winked.  “I’m all for an orgy with
young maidens.”

“You’re sick.  You know that,
right?”

“I could be one of the huntsmen,
hunting you down to besmirch your honour and take your-”

A loud cough startled them both,
making Luke blink and Mikki’s cheeks go bright red as she realised Elspeth was
standing right there behind them, her arms folded, one eyebrow raised, one neatly
shod foot tapping the ground.

Straightening, Luke cleared his
throat.  “Yes, I do think a couple of buildings similar to orangeries would be
great for teas and art.  Where were you thinking of having them, Elspeth?”

“At the back of the mansion,” she
replied a touch dryly, her gaze flicking from Luke to Mikki and back to Luke
again.

“You wouldn’t want as many as
you’re thinking, it’ll detract from the elegant simplicity which is what you
want to maintain.  Right?”

“Of course.”

“And your art classes won’t be
going all day, so simply utilise a couple of orangeries or whatever you and Dad
choose with different times for activities.”

“Luke, you are a font of
information.”

Mikki rolled her eyes.

He walked past her, giving a
subtle nudge of his elbow as he did so, his quick glance down at her wicked. 
“Hear that, Red?  Font of knowledge.”

“Font of something, that’s for
sure,” she replied.

He fell into step beside Elspeth. 
“Gardens in-between to separate them and give privacy?”

“Now I hadn’t thought that far.”  Elspeth
hooked her arm through his as she led him in their original direction.  “Do you
think it would make the areas look too small?”

Falling naturally into the talk of
landscaping ideas, they started discussing some ideas, leaving a relieved Mikki
to trail along behind them.

Had to give the man credit, he
recovered fast.  One minute talking abut hunting her down and taking her - good
God, had he really been about to say
virginity
?  That thought had her a
little hot and bothered.  No idea why, because that little fact had gone awhile
ago.  Not that she slept around, but she’d been intimate with one boyfriend when
it looked like it was a serious relationship, only to be heartbroken when he’d
suddenly declared he’d found someone else and left her.  She hadn’t seen that
coming, had happily given him her virginity, learned some really intriguing
things about sex, had stars in her eyes, was as happy as a lark, then it had
all dropped out from under her.  A lot of tears, a couple of bouts of swearing
with her sisters, and then she’d simply dated a few blokes since without
intimacy.  Man, she wasn’t going down that road again unless she was certain it
was a serious, committed relationship on
both
sides.

But hells bells, the thought of
Luke hunting her down and doing anything intimate with her made her a little
quivery.  Just had to be her over-active imagination because he’d never made
her do more than admire his body in the past, it wasn’t even like they were
fast friends.  They knew each other through Izzy and usually exchanged a
cheerful, sardonic, or wary greeting depending on the situation and mood at the
time.   He’d certainly never looked at her with anything even vaguely
resembling lust or, for that matter, interest.

Yep, over-active imagination. 
Maybe she should stop reading those romances while at the mansion, dig out a
couple of thriller or horror books instead.  Just to be on the safe side.  It
wouldn’t do to get anything quivery around Luke Wells.  One, he’d probably
laugh his very fine arse off, and two, she’d just die of embarrassment if he
did - and then she’d come back to life and kill him.  Slowly.

Pushing the thought aside, Mikki
meandered along behind Luke and Elspeth, enjoying the feel of the spring
sunshine on her skin.  Birds flew through the air and chirped from the trees. 
Not even a breeze stirred the air, but it was such pleasant weather it didn’t
matter.

Elspeth was talking about her
planned projects, including an area to play croquet, a tennis court, and a
cricket area.  Most of the sports she wanted to include on the grounds dated
back a lot of years, so it wasn’t as though she was introducing modern sports. 
Leave it to Elspeth to think of ways to incorporate activities that could be
absorbed into the atmosphere, keeping the old world charm while occupying the
guests who were well away from city lights.

Afternoon teas, painting,
sculpting, horse riding, gig rides, tennis, cricket, picnics, moonlight rides,
plays performed by the guests themselves, balls with full costume which guests
could hire if they didn’t bring their own costumes, activities for the younger
children that incorporated games played back in Victorian times.

Elspeth had it all planned, and
knowing her golden touch it would all come together successfully.

Genuinely pleased and proud of
Elspeth, Mikki couldn’t wait to see the transformation, but most of all she
couldn’t wait for the ghost tours.  Her aunt had declared that she’d heard the
mansion and/or the grounds were haunted, as most mansions would be from the old
days, and if she could discover the ghost and the haunted area then ghost tours
were also on the list.  Apparently somewhere on the grounds was an old chapel
complete with the family graveyard.  Now there was some ghost fodder to start
with, and the ones to find the ghost and haunted area were none other than
Elspeth and Mikki.

She glanced up at the mansion, at
the empty windows like bleak eyes looking out of the façade of decayed
gentility.  Tonight, armed with a couple of torches, she and Aunt Elspeth were
on the hunt.

Chapter 2

Lying on the tiles, Dog looked
hopefully from Luke drying himself in the bath tub to the closed door.

“You chose to follow me in here,”
Luke informed him.  “You’ve only yourself to blame.”

Heaving a sigh, Dog laid his chin
on his paws.

A chill wind whistled through from
somewhere, making goose-bumps run up Luke’s arms.  Rubbing himself briskly with
the towel, he glanced around, trying to pin-point the source but unable to
discover it.

The bathroom was gloomy but thank
God the electricity was running in this part of the house.  For the life of
him, he couldn’t figure out why power would run in the servants’ quarters and
not the rest of the mansion.  Something he’d have to ask Elspeth.

Slinging the towel over the rail
on the wall, he made a grab for it when the rail tilted, but miraculously it
held.  Shaking his head, Luke grabbed his jocks from the bathroom bench and
slid them on, followed by jeans, an old t-shirt and a flannel shirt which he
left hanging open.  Rolling the sleeves up to below the elbows, he slid his
feet into thongs, grabbed his toilet bag and opened the door, casting one last
glance around the bathroom.

Cracked black and white tiles
lined halfway up the walls, a dull green paint stretching from there to the
ceiling, the tub was deep, and the shower was one of those on a long high pipe
with a rounded part at the top from which hung the shower head.  No shower
curtain.

Elspeth had informed him that back
in the day the shower was meant only for men as women were deemed not to have a
strong enough constitution and were relegated to the bath.  Apparently the
shower was used by women only once it was established they were robust enough
to handle it.

Bloody weird time.

Luke liked the thought of a woman
in the shower, all that long, red hair plastered against a curvy body and -
wait. 
What?
  He blinked.  Red hair?  Where had red hair come from?  He frowned as
he walked out into the corridor, then it cleared as he nodded.  The paintings
on the wall, one of them had probably featured a red-headed woman.  Yeah, that
was it.  Man, women in those days had it rough.  Imagine wearing all that lacy
underwear and petticoats and stockings and shit in summer?  Especially the
servants who had to work in the sweltering heat and -
ugh
.  He
shuddered.  No nightly baths there, it was only once a week, right?  On a Saturday
night ready for Sunday.  It was a case of wash under the arms, face and private
areas and that was it.

“Man,” he muttered, “they must
have stunk.”

“Who must have stunk?”  Mikki
appeared in the doorway of the bedroom she was sharing with Elspeth.

“The men and women who worked here
back in the day.”  From the doorway, Luke tossed his toilet bag through the
air, not even bothering to watch as it bounced on his stretcher.  “Imagine
working in the heat, getting all sweaty and dirty, then having to make do with
a slop and slap?”

“Guess no one noticed the smell.” 
She shrugged.  “Everyone would have smelled the same.”

“So much for the romanticized idea
of Victorian times.”  He fixed his damp hair by simply combing it back from his
forehead with the fingers of both hands.

“You think that’s bad?”  Holding a
book in one hand, she moved out into the hall.  “Back in the 1700s, I think it
was - you know, when the high wigs were worn and those bustles that stuck out
sideways?”

“I’m getting the picture.  Low
necklines on the women’s gowns?  Beauty spot on the cheek or corner of the
mouth?”

“My, so you did take some notice
in history class.”

Dog was gazing adoringly up at
Mikki, completely blocking Luke’s path, so Luke simply stepped over him to fall
in beside her.  “Not a complete moron as you can see.”

“Emphasis on the word ‘complete’?”

He gave her pony tail a tug.

“I did notice that you zeroed in
on low necklines and beauty spots.”

“Just get on with the history
lesson, Professor Tart-Tongue.”

Walking beside him, Mikki resumed,
“Apparently they stank so much by the time they needed baths that they used to
douse themselves in perfume.”

“No deodorant back then.”

“I read that sometimes the wigs
had mice and cockroaches in them.”

“How utterly delightful.”  Luke
stood aside to let her precede him into the kitchen.  “Makes me so glad we live
in an era of daily showers and a never-ending supply of deodorant.”

Elspeth looked up from where she
stood at the stove stirring a big pot of what smelled like stew.  “Amen to
that.”

Moving across the room, Luke
picked up the dog food bowl.  Dog looked from him to Mikki then down at the
food bowl in Luke’s hand, clearly torn between his crush on the curvy redhead
and his love of food.  Luke gave the bowl a waggle and Dog deserted Mikki for
his first love.

With a grin, Luke gave his head a
brisk rub before peeling a can of dog food open and tipping the contents into
the food bowl.  No sooner had he placed it onto the floor than Dog fell on it,
hoovering up the food as though he hadn’t been fed all day.

“Poor bugger,” Mikki commented
sympathetically.  “He’s so hungry.”

“Yeah,” Luke agreed, deadpan.  “He
hasn’t eaten since that hamburger he had at lunch time.”

“Six hours is a long time for a
dog.”

“He also had a couple of biscuits
that Elspeth fed him at afternoon tea.”

“He looked so sad.”  Elspeth made
cooing noises at Dog, who immediately bounded over to sit adoringly at her
feet.  And look hopefully at the stew pot.  “Oh, does baby want some stew?”

Dog practically fainted with joy,
his tail thumping madly on the floor.

There was no doubt in Luke’s mind
that Dog was going to be spoiled rotten by the women.

“Just sit down, sweetie.” Elspeth
nodded towards the table.  “I’ll bring some bowls over in a minute.”

Not quite sure what to do with
himself, Luke sat on one side of the table before a set of spoon, knife and fork
and a hot mug of Milo.  The head of the table and right opposite him was set
the same.  He snuck a look over to see that the stove, which he’d thought was a
wood burner, was actually a big old gas stove.

Mikki stood beside Elspeth holding
a bowl which her aunt took, filled with stew and handed back to Mikki.  Without
a word, Mikki brought it over and set it before him before repeating it with
the other two bowls.

Luke took an appreciative sniff of
the hot stew.  Man, it smelled bloody beaut.  He looked it over.  Filled with
meat, veggies, and delicious liquid, it would go down a treat on this cool
night.

“Smells yum.”  Poking it around
with the spoon, he watched the steam swirl up.

“One thing I can do is make a mean
stew.”  Elspeth retrieved Dog’s food bowl, spooned some stew into it and set it
on the table.  “Gotta cool it first, boy, or you’ll burn your tongue.”

“You’re spoiling him,” Luke said mildly.

Sitting opposite, Mikki took one of
the small bread rolls from the plate in the middle of the table and cut it
open.  “If you’ve got a problem with that, it’s going to be an on-going fight
all week.”

“I can live with it.” Luke jerked
a thumb at Dog.  “He can certainly live with it.”

Elspeth sat at the head of the table.

“By the way,” Luke said, “how come
there’s electricity in this part of the house and not the rest?  I mean, why
the servants’ quarters only?  And how come there is electricity?  Did you have
it put on?”

“Yes, I had it put back on.” 
Elspeth buttered a small bread roll.  “The last owner was apparently a bit of
an eccentric.  He was determined to save money by being economical.  He slept
in one of the servant’s rooms and only had electricity in this section of the
house.  Apparently he never ventured much into the rest of the house.”

“What about his family?” Mikki asked
curiously.

“He was the last child in the
family and never married.”

Luke watched Mikki take a thoughtful
bite of the bread roll, those lush lips closing around the doughy bread.

“Some say he was a few ‘roos short
in the top paddock,” Elspeth continued.  “I think maybe he was just sad and
lost.”

What makes you say that?” Luke
queried.

Elspeth slipped Dog’s bowl down to
him.  “He was alone in a big house, he sequestered himself to these spartan
quarters.  I reckon he was a man in mourning.”

Luke’s eyebrows shot upwards. 
“Mourning?”

“Sadness.  Grieving.”

“I know what it means, but why was
he in mourning?  Did someone die?”  A thought struck Luke.  “A lost love?”

Cripes, that sounded romantic.  No
chance Mikki would miss it, not when her eyes brightened.

“Ohh, so romantic,” she cooed.  “A
lost love!”

“Can it, sister.”  He spooned up
stew, took a mouthful. 
Damned delicious
.  “Okay, Elspeth, what was this
man mourning?”

“There’re a few stories.”  She
waggled her spoon around.  “His mother shot his father in a jealous rage when
she found out he was cheating on her.  His sister ran away with the butler-”

“I like that one,” Mikki interrupted. 
“Marrying beneath her station, what a scandal!”

“Just a minute.”  Luke buttered
another bread roll.  “How old was the owner of this house when he died?”

“Ninety six,” Elspeth replied. 
“And that was twenty years ago.”

“So he was born around the early
1900s.”  Mikki nodded.  “That’d make sense.”

“When one of the care aids who
came out here to help him bath arrived one day, she found him dead at the
bottom of the staircase.”  Elspeth scooped up stew on her spoon.  “It’s said he
was holding a photo of his family.”

“If he had a sister,” Luke felt compelled
to point out, “why didn’t she inherit this place?”

“Killed in the Second World War.”

“Geez.”

“Old family, they lived through a
fair bit.”

Mikki took a sip of Milo.  “What were the other stories?”

“That his father fell down the
stairs and broke his neck, and the local doctor of the time hid the fact that
he had a bullet hole in his heart.”

“Cripes, do these stories get any
less grisly?” Luke queried.

“Why?” Mikki returned.  “Worried
one of the ghosts will come into your room tonight?”

“There’re no such things as
ghosts.”  The bread roll half to his mouth, he paused, scrutinizing both
women.  “Wait a minute…”

Calmly, they looked back at him.

“You think this place has ghosts?”
He was astounded.  But then he shouldn’t be, knowing that Mikki and her
eccentric Aunt had been on a couple of ghost hunts in the past, not to mention
the fact they loved horror movies.  “You think,” he repeated slowly, “that this
place has ghosts?”

“So they say,” Elspeth replied.

“Who’s ‘they’?”

“The word.”  Mikki tapped the side
of her nose.

“The what?”

“Word.”  She rolled her eyes. 
“Most old places have legends.  This has been a derelict mansion for some
years.  It was rented out a couple of times but no one stayed for long, the
word
is that the place is haunted.”

“The renters said it was haunted?”

“Well-”

“Of course not.”  Elspeth scooped
up more stew.

“So much for your
word
.” 
Luke smirked at Mikki.

“Now, sweetie,” Elspeth said. 
“Not many people want others to think they’re nutty enough to believe in
ghosts.  Of course they would deny it.”

“Or maybe it’s just because this
place isn’t haunted.  It’s old, it’s bound to have stories surrounding it,
especially if the owner was a recluse.  An old mansion half an hour from the
nearest town, a recluse found dead at the bottom of the staircase-”

“Don’t you think it odd that he
didn’t go into the rest of the house but was found at the bottom of the
staircase dead?” Mikki interjected.

“How do you know for sure that he
didn’t go into the rest of the house?  Maybe he walked through it every day but
couldn’t be bothered with the upkeep.  Maybe he simply couldn’t afford it, have
you ever thought of that?”  When she opened her mouth, Luke added, “It’s not
unheard of for families to leave old mansions because they simply cannot afford
the upkeep.  The family coffers have dwindled, the mansions have gotten old,
the money just isn’t there anymore.”

She pursed her lips thoughtfully.

Elspeth paused.  “You do have a
point, Luke.”

Satisfied, he dipped the bread
roll into the stew before taking a big bite.  Yep, these two ditzy females
hadn’t thought along the lines of commonsense. Sometimes they just needed a man
to make them think
inside
the box.  A little rationality, that was all.

“I’m sure your idea has merit.” 
Elspeth smiled serenely.

“Oh yeah,” Mikki agreed dryly. 
“Lots of merit.”

Now that the girls had seen sense,
Luke figured he could cut them some slack.  “Of course I understand that town
gossip can be entertaining.  It’s all fun and larks until the sun goes down.”

“Sun’s not down yet,” Mikki said. 
“And wow, no fun or larks.”

Always a smart mouth.  He shot her
a look.

“I’m sorry.”  She smiled sweetly. 
“Do continue, Professor.”

“Now, dear.”  Elspeth tapped the
table lightly.  “Everyone is entitled to their own opinion.  Change of
subject.  Luke, tomorrow we’re driving into town to talk to the antique and art
restorer and organise a time for him and his assistant to come out and have a
look at things.  While there, we’re going to pick up a few things.  Do you want
to come?”

Seeing as how he’d intended to do
some shopping in town while researching the property in the library, Luke asked
cautiously, “What’s your time frame?”

“Man of business,” Mikki muttered,
drowning her words in Milo.