The big black animal seemed quite friendly; and after brushing himself against the children’s legs he walked slowly from the room.
‘Oh, I don’t know,’ said Giles. ‘All black cats are alike to me. Let’s take a look around upstairs. Wait. Maybe I’d better close the cupboard again, first.’
As he went to fasten the door Giles noticed an old tinder-box and two stumps of candles on a shelf within.
Then the children went upstairs.
‘Be careful of the holes in the steps and the landings,’ said Giles, who was walking ahead. ‘Many of the boards are rotten. Tread lightly first before you trust your whole weight.’
The rooms upstairs they found pretty much like those below, only worse. There was more plaster fallen from the walls; and the holes in the roof had let the rain spoil the ceilings in many places. More dust, more cobwebs and more broken windows. Here, too, there was very little furniture. In the largest room, the one over the dining-hall, there was another fireplace and an old broken-down four-poster bed, leaning awry, with only two feet to stand on.
‘Now let’s go down into the cellar,’ said Giles.
‘Do you think that is necessary?’ asked Anne.
‘Quite,’ said her brother, ‘if we are going to explore the place properly. Come along.’
They found nothing very unusual in the cellar: shadows, a musty smell, barrels, more broken furniture, paint-pots, and an old lantern which they brought upstairs with them.