Читать книгу Haunting at Remington House - Laura V. Keegan - Страница 39

Everyone filed through the double french doors to gather in the living room. Nellie followed with a tray of coffee, milk, and chocolate cake. “Mr. Gardner, I’ll pick up the dishes in a while, I need to get my nieces started in the attic. You said you wanted them to go through those old trunks in the back room, didn’t you?”

“That would be a good place to start. I think it’s mostly stuff from the previous owners. Blankets and household things. I’ll be up in a while to see if I want to keep any of it. I don’t want to store a lot of junk. Thanks, Nellie.”

To Cassie, Tom said, “I’m thinking about adding another bedroom in the attic so when you and Michael are here, you’ll have your own space. There’s plenty of room to have a master suite up there. But . . . no definite plans yet.”

“We’ll talk about it. I’m happy to stay on the second floor. The room we’re in is lovely. Talk about a view! I love this house!”

“Good, I’m relieved—it’s so different from Jamestown house, I didn’t know what you’d think.” Tom stirred cream into his coffee, then took a sip. “Listen, before everyone gets involved with other things this afternoon, we need to make plans for our Thanksgiving dinner. What do you think? Do you guys want a traditional dinner or something else? We need to decide so Nellie can plan the meal. She said she’d prefer to cook for us and spend the day here instead of being home.”

“You’re kidding. Why?” Cassie asked, taking a bite of cake, after carefully scraping the frosting off first.

“Said her house feels too empty without her husband. And she’s not getting along with her sister at the moment, so she has no plans. So what’s everyone think; what do you want to have for our dinner?”

Michael jumped in. “I vote turkey with all the fixings. Mashed potatoes, gravy—the regular fare. How about you, Lizzie?”

“Yay! And chocolate cake, too. This cake is yummy. Mommy, can we have it for Thanksgiving?”

“Yes on the traditional food. And chocolate cake for the kid!” Cassie said, laughing.

“Easy enough,” Tom said. “I’ll let Nellie know so she can plan the shopping list. Did I tell you Joe’s having dinner with us?”

“Doesn’t he have family he’d rather be with?” Cassie asked.

“No, no family at all. Besides, he’s becoming a good friend. I’m lucky I met him. Good sense of humor to boot! Great guy.”

“Sounds like it. Seems very grounded too. What about the Harrison family? When do we get to meet them?” asked Michael.

“Glad you asked. The Saturday night after Thanksgiving, we’re going to have a party here!” Tom said. “Cassie and Mary are going to plan it. Right?” Tom winked at the two women.

“Gee, Tom. Thanks for the advance notice. Not only do we have Thanksgiving to plan but a dinner party two days later, too?” Cassie got up and punched Tom in the arm. “Tom, what are you thinking?”

“We talked about this on the phone a few weeks ago.” Tom was not smiling. “Sorry, Sis. I thought you were up for it. Maybe we should postpone it.”

“Have you already invited them?”

“I have. But I’m sure they’d understand if we changed the date,” Tom said sullenly. He pictured an angry Vivian, all too eager to use her most condescending tone as she said, “Yes of course. I understand,” then slamming the phone in his ear.

“Not on your life. Mary and I can handle it. Not a problem, right Mary?” Cassie looked pleadingly at Mary.

Mary giggled, “Why not? I’m on school break. It’ll be fun. I have a friend whose mom has a catering business. What would you think of using her? It would make it a lot simpler. She’s really talented and has a great menu. Or she'll prepare almost anything you could want. Simple or fancy.”

“Sounds perfect. We’ll use her then. We better get on it right away. Anything else, Tom?” Cassie asked.

“What was that?” Tom jumped up and ran toward the staircase. “Someone just screamed! Did you guys hear that?” He yelled, “We’re coming,” taking the stairs two at a time. Michael followed closely behind.

Linda and Gwenn, both pale, their eyes wide with fear, met them on the stairs going the other way.

“What’s wrong?” Tom stopped in front of the sisters, blocking their way.

Panting, Nell rushed up from behind. “What happened, Linda?”

“We heard a woman scream. But there’s no one up here except us,” explained Linda.

Shaking her plump finger at them, Nellie scolded, “You girls and your imaginations. Shame on you. Look! It’s just the cat, for heaven’s sake.” Wiggins came tearing down the attic steps, a blur of fur as he whizzed by and disappeared into the study on the first floor. “Now, both of you apologize for your silliness and get back to work.” She rolled her eyes at Tom.

“Sorry,” they said in unison, both blushing.

“It’s okay, girls. Do you want me to look around the attic?” Tom asked.

“Well,” Linda said, “I would feel better if you did. I’m kind of nervous. We’re so far from everyone up there. I know we’re being silly, but . . . ”

Tom interrupted. “Don’t worry about it. I’ll do a quick check, make you feel more comfortable.” He walked to the end of the hallway, started climbing the stairs to the attic.

“I’ll go with you,” Michael said.

Cassie started to say something. Tom stopped her with a cold glare, was annoyed with the frosty look she gave him. He didn't want to listen to any of her ghostly theories. Not now.

Cassie took Lizzie’s hand. “Mary, come downstairs with Lizzie and me. We’ve got plans to make. And I want to show you the summer portfolio I’m working on. Lizzie can help us until her dad’s ready to take her for a walk.” She stomped down the stairs obviously making sure Tom knew she was annoyed.

Tom turned the doorknob of the first room, discovered it was locked. He jiggled the knob back and forth. “I don’t remember locking this. Michael, I have to get the keys. I’ll be right back. Go ahead and check the other rooms.”

Linda and Gwenn hung back a few steps as Michael went down the hallway looking into each open room. Most were filled with boxes, some half unpacked, but nothing seemed out of place.”I know it sounded like a scream to you girls, but honestly, in this setting, a cat howling could spook anyone. Old attic. Dim light.”

Linda wrung her hands. “Gwenn, you were as scared as I was. You heard it, too. Do you think it was the cat?” Gwenn didn’t answer her sister.

Tom returned with the skeleton keys dangling in his hand. After several tries he found the right one. “Hmm. Nothing much in here,” he said looking around the small room. "Besides, it was locked, so Wiggins couldn’t have been in here. God, it smells horrible. I’ll open the window and air it out. Better have you girls see what might be in these trunks. They reek. God! What a stench.” He covered his nose with his sleeve.

Tom glanced at the girls who obviously were not happy at the prospect of finding the source of the smell. “Never mind. I’ll bring Joe up here later. He and I can go though these.” He wrenched open the window, an old wooden-framed slider that hadn’t been opened in a long time. A gentle breeze was blowing; fresh air flowed into the closed quarters. “Better,” Tom said. “I’ll leave it open for a while.”

Tom followed Michael and the girls into a large room to their left, the room he eventually planned to make into a suite and office for Nate. “Looks like you unpacked some of these boxes. I guess I forgot to tell you not to get into the ones marked Elise. I wanted to go through them myself.”

“We didn’t open those. We’re working on the crates in the room down the hall,” Gwenn said defensively.

“Nell must have, then.” Tom slammed the door making everyone jump. “Sorry.” He handed the keys to Michael. “Would you finish looking around, Michael? I have a few things to take care of. Told John I’d call him at two o’clock. Almost forgot. Girls, if you’re nervous being up here, maybe you better see if Nell has something else she’d rather have you do.”

“No,” Gwenn said. “We’re fine. The cat was probably chasing a mouse or howling to hear himself howl. My cat does that sometimes. I think animals get lonely and like to hear their own voices. Come on, Linda.”

“I’ll look around a little, Tom. Go on and make your phone call,” Michael said.