Chapter 9 - The Stranger at the Gate
"Hush, child, don't make a sound or they'll hear us," a deep, weathered voice whispered urgently in Clara's ear as the heavy hand slowly slid away from her mouth.
Clara whipped her head around, her eyes wide with terror as she stared up at an elderly man with silver hair and a deeply lined face standing in the shadows of the open French doors.
"Who are you?" Clara whispered back, clutching her storybooks like a shield against her chest.
"My name is Arthur, little one," the man replied, stepping into the moonlight filtering through the glass. "I was your mother's head gardener before they forced me out. I've been watching this house from the woods for years, waiting for someone to find the truth."
"Daddy is in the basement," Clara cried softly, fresh tears spilling over her lashes. "Elena and those bad men locked him away!"
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"I know, Clara, I saw everything on my binoculars," Arthur said grimly, pulling a heavy iron master key ring from his coat pocket. "And I know where Margaret hid the original security hard drives that will put Elena away for the rest of her natural life."
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