Archie's Battleflat Adventures: The Harriman Mystery (13 page)

CHAPTER SIX

With the
lantern finally lit, the boys stood side by side at the bottom of
the steps, peering into the gloom around them. It was a mess. Even
in the darkness, they could see the vast amount of bottles and
barrels lying abandoned on the uneven dirt floor. Cobwebs covered
practically every inch of ceiling. With no windows, the cavernous
room had an eerie feel that made Archie shudder in
distaste.

“
At least we know now why the door was left open,” Edward
sighed, shaking off the cobwebs that covered his
fingers.

“
Because it’s a mess?”

“
Would you want to sort through this lot to find something to
steal?” Edward asked, nodding to the chaos around them.

Archie
shook his head, not looking forward to trying to find his way
through the mess without making a noise. “Do you see
him?”

Edward
sighed and shook his head. “If you think we are going to split up
to search for him, you can think again,” he warned, his tone as
dire as the look he threw Archie. “I could get lost in this lot,
and not be found for days.” He nodded toward the haphazard pile of
kegs stacked beside him. “Besides, I’m not looking for a dead man
in the dark.”

Archie
grinned, relieved that his friend was just as scared as he
was.

“
Left or right?” Archie asked.

“
Over there,” Edward said, nodding to a dark corner of the
cellar. Even from a few feet away, Archie could see the long
silhouette that stood out in stark contrast against the mess in the
rest of the cellars. Sitting horizontally in a room filled with
crooked stacks, it – he, was covered in a pale sheet.

Now that
they were there, it was even worse than Archie had thought it would
be. The sight of Mr Harriman lying there, cold and unmoving,
brought forth all of the horrible memories of the day of his
death.

“
Which hand?”

Shaking
off the horrifying memories, Archie glanced at his friend with a
frown. He had to recall the details, relieved to realise that it
was the hand closest to them. The hand on the other side was next
to the wall, which meant that if they wanted to check that hand’s
contents, they would have to literally climb over Mr Harriman’s
body to get to it.

“
The one closest to us,” Archie replied, shuffling forward
reluctantly.

“
We need to hurry up. Mr Malcolm, or your dad, could wake up
at any moment, then we’ll be done for,” Edward warned, inching
behind Archie reluctantly.

Taking a
deep breath, Archie squared his shoulders and shuffled across the
short distance. He approached the bed warily. He didn’t know quite
what he was expecting – Mr Harriman to sit up and shout ‘boo’
probably? If he did, Archie was certain he would expire on the spot
himself!

Edward
had hung back from approaching the body, clearly uneasy with the
prospect of getting close. Archie flicked his friend a stark look,
silently warning him to stay right where he was and not run
off.

With
hands that trembled, he eased the sheet back off the cold and
lifeless hand. He shuddered in revulsion at the gnarled and mottled
limb that lay on the makeshift bed. The fingers were as Archie had
last seen them; clenched tightly into a fist. Even in the darkness
he could see the tiny piece of white that was clasped between the
thumb and forefinger as they lay curled into the palm of the
hand.

“
Open his hand up and get it out,” Edward urged, nudging
Archie in the middle of the back a little too hard. Hard enough to
nudge Archie toward the body.

“
Don’t
do
that, Edward, what are you trying to do? Make me like him?”
Archie gasped, only then realising he had placed his hand on Mr
Harriman’s leg. With a shudder he wiped his hand down his trousers.
He scanned the jumble of mess around them, but could see nothing
they could use to prise the man’s hand open.

“
Oh, heavens,” Archie whispered with a gulp. Using the sheet
so he didn’t have to touch the bare hand with his fingers, Archie
prised the stiffened fingers open. One by one the quiet popping
echoed loudly in the still night air.

“
Eeww,” Edward shuddered, watching his friend in horrified
wonder. “Why are they making that noise?”

“
Bodies go stiff when they die,” Archie replied, bending down
to prise the small piece of parchment out of the hand without
tearing it. Talking about something mundane helped take his mind
off the fact that he was actually touching a dead body. “At least
that’s what Dad said when I asked him why the rabbit he had shot
was as stiff as a board. He said that a couple of days it goes limp
again, something called rigor mortis, apparently. It wears off
after a day or two.” He tried not to touch the hand, he really did,
but it was inevitable that the tips of his fingers would brush some
part of Mr Harriman’s cold and lifeless skin.

“
Lord, that’s awful.” Edward screwed up his face with a
shudder. “I know when I die, I am not going to get rigging mantis,
and that’s a fact.”

Archie
rolled his eyes, and turned to grin at his friend. “I don’t think
you get a choice.”

Suddenly, the paper released from the hand, but was
accompanied by a soft ping as something else fell to the floor with
it.

“
What was that?”

Archie
shook his head. “I have no idea. Did you see where it
went?”

Both
boys squatted down and began to search the grimy floor around
them.

“
There!” Edward cried softly, pointing to the small, round
object sitting against Archie’s boot.

Archie
bent to pick it up, squinting through the darkness to see what it
was.

“
What is it?”

“
I don’t know, but I think it is another clue. We need to get
home and take a look at these when we have better
light.”

“
Do you mean you don’t want to stop and take a better look at
him?” Edward asked, only half joking. He suddenly wished he had
kept his mouth shut, and eyed Archie warily.

“
Erm, no. I think I won’t, if you don’t mind,” Archie replied.
“I think we need to go home.”

“
Excellent idea,” Edward declared fervently, heaving a pent up
breath in relief. He had actually thought for a moment -. “Job
done,” Edward declared triumphantly.

“
Well, sort of. Now all we have to do is get out of the
tavern, and get back to my house without being caught.”

“
We can only hope that your dad hasn’t woken up and found out
that we aren’t there, or we have some serious explaining to
do.”

Archie
nodded, casting one last glance at Mr Harriman’s body. Carefully
replacing the sheet, he was on Edward’s heels as they dodged around
the debris and made their way toward the cellar steps. Within
minutes they had extinguished the lantern and placed it back where
they found it, easing open the tavern doorway to allow the cold
night air to slither over them.

Archie
smothered a grin as Edward took the lead and slowly opened the door
just a crack – enough to peer out into the darkness. After several
long moments, he opened the door wider, and beckoned for Archie to
follow as he disappeared outside.

Archie
was all too happy to follow his friend around the buildings and
scurry down the long wall that led back to his house. He was very
glad that Edward had enjoyed the experience tonight. It would mean
he was going to be a bit more willing to agree to go with Archie on
his next adventure and, having succeeded in their quest tonight,
Archie had no doubt they would have to go to Mr Harriman’s house.
All he could do was pray that Edward had to stay over for a second
night, and his dad didn’t manage to arrange a trap with the other
villagers.

First
though, they had to examine the clues they had uncovered tonight,
and decide what to do next. A tiny shiver of excitement surged
through him at the prospect of an adventure. If he was completely
honest, Archie had to admit that it was fantastic having his friend
along with him. Not only did it help to have someone to talk to
about it, but he wasn’t so frightened having another person with
him. It gave him the courage to do what he needed to do to help
capture Mr Harriman’s murderer. If only he knew what he needed to
do next, everything would be fine. Until then, two heads working on
the problem were definitely better than one. With Edward’s help,
they would be able to catch the murderer, and life in the small
village of Battleflat could return to normal.

Couldn’t
it?

Archie frowned. Now that he thought about it, would he
really
want
life
in Battleflat to return to boring? As he followed Edward back
toward the house, Archie mulled that thought over. He had to admit,
there was a small part of him that was thoroughly enjoying the
adventure. It was brilliant to be involved in an actual murder
hunt. Seeing the murder itself hadn’t been brilliant – far from it;
especially for Mr Harriman, but outwitting a grown up, especially
one who was a killer, made him feel inordinately pleased with
himself, and he couldn’t wait to take a look at the clues and
discuss what they meant.

Minutes
later they eased the door to Archie’s house closed behind them.
Archie held up a warning finger to Edward and tiptoed across the
room, opening the sitting room door enough to check that his dad
was still seated beside the table, snoring softly.

Heaving
a sigh of relief, he shot Edward a triumphant grin as he closed the
door firmly behind him. Easing the curtains open to allow a small
crack of moonlight to spill over the floor, both boys settled down
on the blankets to study their findings. Archie carefully placed
the small piece of folded parchment and what appeared to be a coin
on the floor between them. Silence settled between them as they
stared at the objects.

“
What do you think they are?”

Archie
shook his head. “I need more light to be able to see properly, but
I think it is a map of some sort, and a coin.”

“
It doesn’t look like any coin I have ever seen before. Of
course, I haven’t seen many, but it doesn’t look like a penny or
shilling. Do you think it is foreign?” Edward lifted the coin out
of Archie’s finger and tried to see the indentation on the coin’s
surface more clearly. Shaking his head reluctantly, he handed it
back to his friend.

“
It could be a guinea. I think they are brightly coloured like
this one, but I’m not sure. I don’t know ‘bout you,” Archie gasped
with a yawn, “but, I need to get some sleep.”

“
Amen to that.” Edward flopped down onto the makeshift bed
with a deep sigh and snuggled down into the pillow, glancing at his
friend who sat staring at him absently.

“
Tomorrow, we need to take a look at this and decide what we
are going to do.”

“
Do you think Mr Harriman was involved in forgery or
something?” Edward sighed sleepily, unwilling to succumb to the
tiredness that threatened to drag him relentlessly
downward.

“
I think he was definitely up to something, and that got him
murdered,” Archie whispered, his mind fogged with
weariness.

“
Tomorrow,” Edward promised.

“
Yes, tomorrow.”

The following morning Archie and Edward reluctantly made
their way to the sitting room for breakfast. Archie sleepily rubbed
at his eyes, wishing he could have at least another hour more. The
last two nights were beginning to catch up with him. Was he
actually
weaving on his
feet?

Mumbling
an apology, he valiantly tried to smother the huge yawn that
escaped anyway, and blinked his eyes wide as Edward sat beside him.
He could feel his dad’s careful scrutiny from the head of the
table, but refused to meet his eyes. Archie knew for certain that
his dad would know that he and Edward had been up to something and,
until he and Edward had a chance to decide what to do, neither of
them could risk anyone finding out what they had done, and what
they had found. Especially if they were going to go over to Mr
Harriman’s house tonight.

Archie
considered the prospect with a mixture of weary exhaustion and
anticipation at the thought of another adventure. He glanced
sideways at an equally sleepy Edward, unsurprised to find his
friend looking really dark around the eyes.

“
There you go, boys, eat up now,” Marjorie chirruped. If she
noticed the boys’ tiredness, she chose not to comment on it,
undoubtedly putting their tiredness down to them chattering away
into the night rather than sleeping. Which, if Archie was honest,
was true – to a point.

“
Unless your dad comes to the bakery to tell you he is back,
Edward, you need to come here after work,” Jack announced, pushing
away from the table. “Your dad said that they would be back today
if your aunt was feeling better but, until they return, you are to
stay with us.” He paused and looked pointedly at the two boys for
several moments, waiting until they both met his gaze.

“
Keep your eyes peeled, and let me know the instant you see
-,” he glanced furtively toward the kitchen Marjorie had
disappeared into, “-anyone, understand?”