stop and blink. It was like being blinded by the sun and the hell of it was, that she wasn’t even aware she was doing it.
‘It’s lethal, isn’t it?’ Killian murmured, ‘that smile of hers.’
‘Your brother doesn’t stand a chance,’ Drew laughed in delight.
Ava headed toward the house. She could see the boards being prized from the lower windows and was eager to get another look inside, this time in bright daylight. Killian disappeared leaving her solely in the company of Drew whose entire attention was fixed on the house in front of him with an almost reverent focus.
They climbed the stone steps, bypassing the lion statues and rusted metal lamps, and headed toward the front entrance, which was wide open, with work crews wandering in and out, still carrying large planks of wood and metal scaffolding poles.
Once again, just as it did the first time, as she entered the house Ava felt that tiny shift, so faint she wondered if she were imagining it. But the air felt somehow heavier, like it was heavy with static electricity.
‘Can you feel that?’ she asked Drew.
‘Feel what?’ he murmured staring up at the huge staircase which split and curved up either side of the foyer to a second-floor balcony.
The was a loud, splintering sound behind them and the foyer was suddenly flooded with light.
‘Wow,’ Ava murmured looking up at the huge columns supporting the staircase.
Her gaze drifted slowly down to the floor and her eyes widened. There was a huge canvas rug with a delicate floral design at its center and around the edges. Beneath it was an incredibly complex tiled floor, decorated with geometric shapes.
‘This is perfect,’ Drew kneeled down to study the tile, ‘and mostly undamaged. You’re going to want to save this. Help me move this rug, will you?’
‘What do you think that is?’ Ava asked as she eyed a huge, circular, black tar like stain in the center of the rug.
‘I’m not sure,’ he glanced up toward the ceiling looking for any signs of a leak, ‘could be anything. Let’s move it out, I want a better look at the flooring.’
They each grabbed a corner of the rug and began to fold it over, dragging it to the edge of the foyer to be taken outside, but as Ava glanced back, she realized the stain was still in the same place. Whatever it was, had obviously gone through the rug and onto the floor where, instead of appearing black, it had an almost reddish, rust colored hue to it.
‘I wonder what it is?’ Drew frowned as he pulled out his phone and took several pictures, not only of the stain itself but the entire floor, including close ups of the patterned tiles. ‘It looks like dried blood.’
‘Very cheerful,’ Ava shook her head.
‘Maybe an injured animal got in,’ he mused, ‘or maybe something leaked from above. Anyway, whatever it is there’s a good chance once we identify it, we’ll be able to clean it and restore the original tiles. If you just wait here a moment, I’ll grab Killian and get him to pack some protective layers down, so they don’t get damaged with all the foot traffic moving through here.’
She nodded as he disappeared out the front door, dragging the old stained rug with him. She stood waiting patiently for him, staring absently at the peeling wallpaper, when a movement up on the second-floor balcony caught the corner of her eye.
She turned to look but couldn’t see anything. Losing interest, she was about to head back out to find Drew when she heard a quiet patter, almost like a bounce. She shifted over, moving closer to the stairs and through the banisters saw a small round object rolling slowly down the steps. She watched mesmerized as it hit the ground, bounced a couple of times and rolled across the tiles, stopping when it hit her boot.
Reaching down she picked it up and turned it over in her palm. It was the same brown leather baseball she’d left lying in the tall grass outside, she was sure of it. She lifted her fingers and traced the rough scarred letters burned into the skin of the ball. It had to be the same one. What were the chances of there being two identical balls? And what was it doing inside the house?
She heard another noise, like a shuffle from the balcony above and looked up. For a split second she could have sworn she saw… suddenly she felt a hand