Blood Moon — Jan Alexander

STRANGE HOUSE, STRANGE PEOPLE

"This is not an ordinary house," said Paul Langdon unnecessarily, but it seemed as though the inhabitants of Langdon's Purlieu could not rest content without impressing that fact upon the visitor. Jeannie had felt the aggressive grimness of the place even before the boat had landed. Now that she was in the house and had been introduced to the child Varda -- the strangest one of all -- she could understand why the servants seemed perpetually frightened. But she did not know how to respond to the maid who had cornered her.

"Please, miss!" the withered little woman had begged. "Leave this place! Leave before the blood moon rises over the sea!"