Chapter Fourteen

On Monday, Cleo departs with reassurances about Sonya’s support network and upcoming visits. Alone, Sonya begins documenting incidents, completes and launches Anna’s Practical Art site, and receives immediate praise. Trey texts requesting similar work for his firm, and they schedule a meeting. From the seawall, Sonya spots a watching shadow in a window but steadies herself, choosing resolve over fear.

Seeking companionship, Sonya visits rescuer Lucy Cabot and bonds instantly with a dachshund–Boston terrier mix, adopting him as Yoda. Returning to the manor, she acclimates Yoda, introduces him to key rooms, and resumes work. That night Yoda peacefully settles, but later wanders to candlelit piano music and engages with an unseen presence.

The next morning, small household “kindnesses” appear—beds made, items tidied—while doors close inexplicably. During a workout in the hidden passage, a bell rings, drawing Sonya and a wary, growling Yoda to the cold, closed-off Gold Room; she asserts ownership but retreats when the atmosphere turns hostile. In the kitchen, she finds chairs overturned, recognizes intimidation, and refuses to yield.

That night, Sonya dreams of the ornate mirror becoming a portal into her own bedroom in another era. She witnesses Marianne Poole laboring and delivering twins—Owen and Jane—then hemorrhaging fatally despite the midwives’ efforts. Hugh Poole arrives too late, devastated. Hester Dobbs enters, steals Marianne’s ring, and taunts Sonya, who realizes she is the ghost to them across the divide.

Sonya wakes shaken, with lingering scents of blood and wax, confirming the vision’s visceral reality. She concludes that some spirits are caretakers while others threaten, and that Hester’s theft entwines with the house’s curse. Holding Yoda close, Sonya reaffirms her determination to remain and face whatever the manor holds.