The Nowhere Room (Haunting Clarisse Series Book 6)

“This way, my boy. Let me show you something you could never imagine. A mystery locked up for one hundred years.” The old man with a cockney accent waved him forward. “Come on; come and see. There’s no time to waste.” The man wore the entertainer’s suit of a host and a distinctive black top hat. He twirled his hat around his fingers in a display of magic then raised his hands in the air.
“Ta-da! Did you like that? I have more tricks to show you,” he said with a melodic tone.
To say he stood out in this rough and ready outpost was an understatement. He didn’t belong here; that was for sure.
The little boy dodged rocks of assorted sizes—leftover diggings from the gold miners scattered over Ghost Gully in its heyday. Back then, Ghost Gully had been a bustling New South Wales town, bursting through the seams, overpopulated and under-resourced. They had all come here in the hope of the golden nugget—a get-rich-quick attitude that drove most miners to desperation. Why else would you bother going to this unforgiving part of the world unless you were a dreamer searching for a lucky break?
The little boy could hardly keep up with the man who had introduced himself as “The Finder.” And what exactly did The Finder do for you? Well, according to his own words, he found you secrets and mysteries—the exact thing that a boy with a curious mind would search for. But little boys could be naïve, not questioning the motives of such a person, only to become enchanted by their trickery and charm.
The old man pulled out a handkerchief and rolled it in the palms of his hands. “Voila! A white bird for you,” he said with a big smile.
The bird flapped its wings and flew away.
“And I have more tricks for you, if you come closer.”
The boy was the only son of Aldous Baron, the wealthiest man in town. A well-known eccentric with a fetish for hypnotherapy—but not as you and I know it. He was searching for the afterlife. Bold experiments turned into stories about ghosts and superstition. It was how the town had earned the name Ghost Gully—not its original name, but it might as well be.
It was common to spot a ghost or two floundering on the ridges of the gully at night, moaning and trying to attract your attention. A dead miner with a lantern crawling out of a shaft with a bandage wrapped around its head, bleeding from the ears. Or an innocent girl in a white dress, without a face, calling out your name. Oh yes, they named her the faceless girl, and it frightened the living daylights out of the miners at night. The faceless girl had become an attraction for drunks playing pranks on each other—do or dare—or an initiation.
Aldous Baron had made a fortune selling mining equipment and supplies to the many thousands of vagabonds that came to Ghost Gully in search of becoming rich by striking gold. And although he loved his son dearly, he was always too preoccupied to be with him. Working on his experiments day and night had led to him hiring a nanny to watch over his boy. He was one of the few who could afford a live-in carer. He had a butler, a gardener, and a personal driver—all the trappings of an affluent lifestyle.
The Finder leaped into a shaft that must have been around twenty feet deep and vanished in front of the boy.
The mine shaft had a vertical access passageway to an underground mine. The shaft allowed gold diggers to enter the mine and the ore to be hauled out using lifting technologies, such as poppet heads, whims, or windlasses.
“Over here, over here. See what I have for you. The most enchanting stones you will ever find, with gold so shiny it reflects like a diamond. Come and see. Come, my boy.” The Finder’s voice filled the air, as though coming from a megaphone. It carried an echo muffled from inside the shaft but loud enough for the boy to hear his calls clearly.
“My daddy always tells me not to play here. The mine shafts are dangerous, and you can’t see them. I could fall in.” He paused momentarily and looked around, knowing he had gone too far.
“Oh, your daddy is just being protective. I’m sure he played amongst the gold-digging himself when he was a boy like you. It’s fine, my dear boy. You don’t want to miss these magical stones, do you? Wait till I show you what it can do. Now that will be a treat.”
“It has magical powers?”
“Oh, it can do things unimaginable. This is not just anyone’s stone—it has a mind of its own.”
The boy was bemused by The Finder’s ability to draw him into a world of mystique. Like his father, he was inquisitive, always looking for discovery.
He stepped over brittle rocks and leftover rotting timbers from the original diggings to reach the shaft. Each footstep hit the sandy bottom, compressing it with his weight. He felt his legs slip as he struggled to grip his boot-style shoes properly.
A sudden glow emanated from the shaft. It was a brilliant, warm light that lit up the surroundings, too strong to be a lantern. The light encircled the shaft like a rain dance of pulsating streaks. The Finder was putting on a performance for him, just enough to lure him closer to the edge.
“Wow!” The boy was in awe over the display. “How did you do that?”
“Come closer and have a look, my boy. That was only a small example of what this magic stone can do. Do you want to see the rest? Peek over the side of the shaft to get a better look.”
“Oh yes, show me more.” The boy placed his feet on the edge of the shaft’s entrance and leaned forward just enough to get a better view below. Small rocks dislodged from underneath him and trickled into the shaft like a sand timer. He lost his balance but recovered his posture by gripping a small shrub.
“Oh, that was close …” The boy’s heart was beating excessively, and he could hear the elevated thumping in his chest. His sweat glands were in overdrive, making him perspire like a dripping tap.
“Come, my dear boy. Have a look over the edge. I’ve got an even better surprise for you!” The Finder used all his charm to encourage him to see into the shaft.
The pulsating strobe light with sharp contours of energy lifted into the sky. It bounced off the low-level clouds, leaving a silver trail behind. And even though it was irregular, it followed a repeated pattern, just enough to leave one mesmerized by the display.
The Finder growled like a wild animal, though the only beasts in those parts were stray wolves, and there were none to be found near the shaft.
“Come on, my boy, just a little more, and you can see the mystery inside!”
The boy took heed and placed one step forward while balancing like an anchor overlooking the shaft. But curiosity killed the cat, and while he peered into the blinding light, his feet were dislodged, and the soil underneath gave way.
He panicked furiously, kicking both feet like riding a bicycle in reverse to retain his balance. The branch he was holding split in half, and he no longer had anything to grip onto. But that only served to dislodge the ground further beneath him.
He became panic-stricken, fearing he would fall twenty feet down. And instinctively, his father’s words gripped his mind.