Posted on 2008-10-31

Blurb: After Tom spends the afternoon regaling his younger sisters, brother and cousin with tales of ghosts and witches, Fanny finds herself thrust into a secret passageway.

Fanny Price walked down the cold hallway darting glances behind her as well as up ahead. The preceding days had done nothing but continually pour rain down from the thick, dark gray clouds where originated the deep rumble and booming thunder that sometimes shook the house. The occasional lightning only added to the gloomy atmosphere. However, the rain and thunder diminished and disappeared overnight. Nevertheless, the day was no more cheerful than the days before it as it was every bit as dreary due to the fog that had settled in just before daybreak. It was so thick that no one could think of stepping outside even for a breath of fresh air for fear of being lost no more than two feet from the door.

Shivering, though not from the cold, Fanny quickened her step. Her Aunt Norris had sent her on an errand1 to the room her aunt was staying in due to the inclement weather to retrieve a volume of Shakespeare, namely her copy of Macbeth, which she desired to have read aloud to the family as they gathered for the evening in the drawing room. However, it was not the errand that set her heart beating and her eyes widening at every shadow, rather it was the stories her cousin Tom had told her and his sisters earlier. He had been very adamant that Mansfield was haunted, but that the ghost was very particular about where he haunted. It seemed it took a great deal of interest in the Library including the area surrounding it as well as certain parts of the attic. Trembling, she remembered Tom’s reply to his sisters’ declaration that they had never seen such a thing in all their lives. Tom had such a look of seriousness on his face when he declared that it only ever showed itself on one day every ten years and always upon All Hallows Eve. He smirked when he added that it had been ten years since he had seen it. Shivering again, Fanny again remembered the incredulous and slightly fearful expressions on Maria’s and Julia’s faces. While they rarely were close in feeling1 , Fanny felt this once that their sentiments were in complete agreement as she was not a little alarmed herself.

Walking hurriedly down the hall, she went to turn the corner when a hand covered her mouth. Panicking, she tried to scream, but the hand prevented her. Heart pounding, she inhaled deeply as she saw part of the wall open and was suddenly thrust into the hole before the part of the wall that had moved returned to its original location. Stunned and terrified, she laid still for a moment before jumping to her feet and pounding on the wall where the opening had been. Screaming for someone to let her out, she felt tears run down her cheeks.

She kept at it for what seemed like forever, but, as she grew tired, she noted that not a sound emanated from the other side of the wall. Curling up on the floor by the wall, she wrapped her arms around her knees and cried hard. Nobody would look for her, except for Edmund, she was sure and knew her Aunt Norris would only blame her disappearance on Fanny’s so-called laziness2 and keep Edmund in the drawing room.

Finally, as her tears abated, she remembered the brief glimpse she had of the little area she was now in and remembered it seemed to be some sort of passageway. Thinking that perhaps it might lead her to a way out, she cautiously stood while placing a hand on the wall to steady her. The little area was pitch black with not a trace of warmth and the wall felt more like some kind of stone than wood. Taking a tentative step forward, she found herself calming a little. She continued this slow pace for some time, one small step after another.

Heart pounding, she gasped when her next step found nothing underneath it. Grasping at the wall she backed up. Shaking, she took a cautious step forward, lowering her foot until it felt something hard beneath. Relieved that it was only a staircase, she shivered again as she realized that she could have easily fallen down it and broken her neck if she had hurried at all.

Slowly, she took step by step keeping her hand firmly on the wall.

Creak!

Jumping, Fanny gasped as the wood beneath her foot dipped slightly. She took another tentative step.

Creak!

Closing her eyes, she tried to calm herself. Once she did, she continued down the steps trying not to fear what she thought of as the imminent collapse of that rickety stairway.

Finally, she felt herself on solid ground again. Relieved that there were no more steps, she hurried her pace only to shriek as she felt something cling to her face and dress. Running blindly down the passageway she groped at the stuff sticking to her face. Only when she crashed into a wall did she stop. Dazed, she hardly noticed the sound of something hitting the floor on the other side.

Gasping for breath, she squinted as she attempted to wipe the sticky substance off her hands and onto her equally sticky dress. As she looked down at her hands in frustration, she noted a glimmer of light at the bottom of the wall about three feet in length. Feeling a glimmer of hope, she reached down and found she could slip her fingers into the tiny crack at the bottom. Crouching down she followed the edge to the furthest end and found a slight depression leading upward. Following it up, she kept her hands going up above her head until they felt something protruding out of the wall beside it. Hoping it might act like some kind of lever or doorknob, she pulled on it, but nothing happened. Using all her weight, she pulled down hard and felt it give a little. Sighing in relief, she felt she had finally found a way out.

Just as she was about to try again, she heard creaking from the stair case that kept coming closer. Terrified, she started yanking and tugging at the lever with all her strength until it finally gave and the door opened. Dashing out, she grabbed the door and slammed it shut behind her and immediately dodged some books that came flying out of the door to the passageway. Breathing heavily, she collapsed into a nearby chair as she heard the entrance click shut.

Shaking, she looked around the room and realized she was in the library and that the entrance was actually one of the bookcases. Oh, how she was going to get into trouble with Aunt Norris for being gone so long! Tears started to well in her eyes as she knew no one would believe what had happened.

While wiping the tears from her eyes, alarm struck her as the possibility occurred to her that the person who had thrown her into that passageway might still be running free throughout Mansfield. Then, as she realized where she was, her thoughts turned to Tom’s stories and with increasing terror she remembered the date: It was October 31st!

Eyes wide with fright, she stood intending to go and warn the others even if they did not believe her, but as she approached the door, she heard the sound of footsteps and the rattling of the handle. Pulling back, she stifled a scream as the door opened and revealed . . .

. . . and revealed her cousin Edmund looking a little taken aback at the sight of his distressed cousin’s tear stained face while the rest of her was covered in dust and spider webs.

“Why, Fanny, what happened to you?”

Tears pouring down her face, she threw herself into her cousin’s arms, “Oh Edmund! It was the ghost! It threw me into that secret passageway and I could not get out! Oh, what if it does it again and to someone else!” Her tears continued unabated as Edmund held her and stroked her hair trying to calm her.

“Now, now. There are no ghosts at Mansfield, in fact there are no such things. Everything will be all right.”

“But Tom told me about the ghost! And I was grabbed and thrown in the passageway!”

Just as Edmund was about to reassure her once again, a terrible crash came from behind the bookshelves and a loud moan emanated through the walls.

Frowning, Edmund pried Fanny’s hands from where they clutched the front of his jacket and pushed her behind him as he approached the entrance to the passageway.

Afraid for the one cousin she truly cared for1&4 , Fanny grabbed his arm, “No, Edmund, you cannot! What if it is the ghost?! It could hurt you!”

“Nonsense, Fanny! I will be perfectly safe, now just let go of my arm and I will check it out.”

In the face of such confidence, Fanny let go of his arm, but followed closely behind determined to be assured that Edmund would be safe no matter if it meant facing the ghost. She watched as he reached up and moved a book before pushing a small button that released the latch. Pulling the door open, he peered in and grimaced.

“Tom! What are you doing traipsing around this passageway? You know father had ordered it closed because it was unsafe! And pushing our cousin in here when she could have been hurt! How could you be so careless of her safety?”

Shocked, Fanny stood on her tiptoes and peaked over Edmund’s shoulder and gasped. There lying on the stone floor among the dust, spider webs and the remains of several steps from the staircase lay her cousin Tom rubbing a bump on his head. He looked up with an expression of mixed humiliation, aggravation, and stubbornness.

“It was nothing but a bit of fun, Ed. I would have preferred Maria or Julia, but they were too interested in re-trimming those bonnets of theirs. Besides I have been up and down these stairs a thousand times since father sent out that order and nothing like this ever happened. . . until now.”

Suddenly, a deep voice came from behind all three making them jump, “Well, now you know why I ordered this passageway closed. Edmund, Fanny come on out. Tom, you come out too. I need to have a few words with you.”

They stepped out and Tom stepped out last looking just a little chagrined this time.

Sir Thomas turned to Fanny, concern for her in his eyes, “Fanny, are you truly all right? Were you injured at all in . . in my son’s prank?” He spat those two words signifying his anger at his eldest son’s behavior.

Sniffling, she shook her head, “No, sir. I am all right.”

Patting her shoulder, he tried to smile reassuringly, “There, there. Now, go wash your face and put on a clean dress and come back to the drawing room where I will have some chocolate brought for you and some of the cookies I know you like.”

“But Aunt Norris wanted her book and . . .”

“Do not worry about your aunt’s book. I can either send a servant for it or she can get it herself. Now, go along.”

Sir Thomas noted that while she obeyed his command she still did so with certain amount of fright. Turning to his other son, “Edmund, I am sure you would not mind escorting your cousin to her room and then to the drawing room, would you not?”

“I do not mind at all.”

Breathing easier now that she knew she would not be going alone, she smiled as they started for the door. Just before they closed the door, they heard Sir Thomas admonishing his eldest, “Really, Tom. It is time you act your age. Terrifying your poor cousin so, especially when she has only been here a few months! How do you expect her to feel welcome . . .”

The door clicked shut, completely drowning out the rest of the reprimand.

Fanny and Edmund walked quietly together until they reached the spot where Tom had grabbed her and shoved her in the passageway. Noting her trembling, Edmund pulled her close and put his arm around her shoulders, “You know it was only Tom now do you not and not a ghost?”

“Yes, but . . .”

“But what . . .”

“What if there really is a ghost?”

Edmund’s lips quirked upward, “Really, Fanny? How can you believe that Mansfield is haunted? Did you not know that our Aunt Norris2&3 scared them all off years ago!”

References:
1) Austen, Jane. Mansfield Park. Chapter 2
2) Austen, Jane. Mansfield Park. Chapter 3 & 8
3) Austen, Jane. Mansfield Park. Chapter 1
4) Austen, Jane. Mansfield Park. Chapter 48

Author’s Note: A few changes were made particularly to the ages of the characters:

Fanny = 10 (Mansfield Park, Chapter 2)
Tom = 16
Edmund = 15
Maria = 14
Julia = 13