Allison; Taking Control

Chapter 39

“Ah, pardon me,” Allison said, thinking quickly, “we seem to have gotten ourselves quite lost. Could you kindly tell us where we might find the kitchen?”

After several seconds during which the men and women looked quizzically at one another, a young man, who was sitting closest to the door, piped up.

“Other end of the corridor and down the stairs... but...”

“Thank you, my good man,” Allison said, cutting him off before he could ask anything that might prove troublesome. He and James retreated back down the corridor with haste leaving the servants in the room puzzled.

Sure enough, at the other end of the corridor, a bit further than the distance they had walked from the swinging door to the servants’ room, was a flight of heavy stone steps that wound around to the right, obscuring their destination. With a look at James , Allison put his index finger to his lips to indicate quiet and the two of them deftly went down, taking the steps one by one, careful not to let so much as a sing