The Tunnels of Tarcoola Read Online Free Page A

do. Didn’t you see the name above the door?’
    Kitty looked blank.
    â€˜When we went in that time?’ persisted Rosa. ‘The name’s carved above the front door.’
    She paused for effect. ‘The Haunted House!’

ON the way back to school, Kitty was the centre of attention. It seemed that many of the other inmates of the Sunset Home had been unwilling to talk about themselves, but only too eager to talk about Miss Gordon.
    â€˜What’s the deal with her?’ asked Anna. ‘My old lady kept saying things like “Airs and graces”, and calling her Lady Muck. But then the old lady next to her leaned over and said there was such a thing as charity, and kept calling your Miss Gordon “Poor thing”. What did she do?’
    â€˜I don’t know,’ said Kitty. ‘But what does bigamy mean?’
    â€˜Hear that?’ Scott elbowed Jason, obviously delighted to find something Kitty did not know. ‘She hasn’t heard of bigamy!’ Jason grinned uneasily.
    â€˜It’s when a person gets married twice,’ contributed Caitlin, looking up from the book she was reading as she walked along, steered by Anna.
    â€˜Only twice—?’ started Rosa.
    â€˜Yeah, yeah, we know your auntie’s been married seventeen million times,’ Scott interrupted. ‘But she was divorced in between, wasn’t she? Bigamy’s when you’re married to two people at the same time, and it’s breaking the law.’
    â€˜So Miss Gordon did that?’ said Rosa. ‘Why don’t they just get over it?’
    â€˜Anyway,’ said Kitty. ‘I don’t think she did it. I’m guessing it was kind of done to her. That’s why she’s still Miss Gordon, and not Mrs Wolf, or whatever the name is. But the best part is, she lived in the Haunted House!’
    â€˜Hey, maybe she’s the ghost?’ put in Jason.
    â€˜You can’t have a ghost who’s still alive,’ scoffed Rosa. ‘But maybe she murdered the other wife when she found out? What do you reckon?’
    â€˜Oooooooohhhh!’ Several boys saw this as a chance to practise their ghost impersonations.
    â€˜I’m not going back to that place, that’s for sure,’ shuddered Karen. ‘Those people smell.’
    â€˜Maybe she murdered her husband, and he’s the ghost?’ mused Rosa.
    â€˜She wouldn’t tell me when her birthday was,’ Kitty said. ‘She was really funny about it – as if it was some big secret.’
    â€˜Sounds like my auntie,’ said Rosa. ‘If you ask how old she is, she always says twenty-one. How dumb is that?’
    After school, Rosa said, ‘Do you want to come to my house? Or are you meeting Andrea?’
    â€˜Sorry,’ said Kitty. ‘I’m grounded.’
    She told Rosa about losing her shoes at the foot of the cliffs, but no more. It wasn’t so much because of the boys, though they would not be pleased if Rosa turned up wanting to explore the tunnels with them. It was more to do with Andrea. She didn’t get on with any of Kitty’s friends, so it could be awkward. Lately Kitty had found herself dividing her social life into Andrea days and Rosa days.
    â€˜Hey,’ suggested Rosa, ‘do you want to go past the Haunted House on the way home? It won’t make you late, if we hurry. I’ll show you the name above the door.’
    They crossed the road that led to the park and walked up the narrow lane. There was barbed wire along the fence and over the gate, which was closed with a huge rusty padlock; but there were gaps big enough for them to climb through. The house was just visible through the trees.
    They reached a path that meandered through the trees, then opened into a clear space. Cracked marble steps led up to a porch with elaborate pillars and the remnants of a beautiful tiled floor. Above, carved in stone and crumbling away in parts, you