Nine Steps to Sara (30 page)

Not the only one interested in the works, Jack soon appeared at her side.  “Mom, Mrs. Poole says I can’t go outside while the workers are here, is that true?”

“Well, you don’t want to be underfoot, honey.  They’re all busy working, they might not see you.”

“I’d stay out of the way, I ju
st want to watch,” he insisted
as Will approached with his father, a rolled up paper in his hands.

“I’ll see to the lad, no worries on that score,” Talbot offered with a wink for Jack.

“You don’t have to do that,” Sara replied quickly, not wanting him to feel obligated.  “You have enough to worry about out here.”

“It’s no worry at all, dearie.  I’ll put him to work, that’ll keep him out of trouble.” 

“Are you sure?”

“I’ve years of experience keeping small boys out of trouble, never you fear,” he assured her and Sara
gave in
. 

“
Okay
then, you do everything Mr. Talbot asks you to do, alright Jack?  He’s the boss.”

“I prefer Captain,” Talbot grinned conspiratorially, “and you can be my first mate.”

“Aye, aye, Cap’n,” Jack saluted in delight. 

“Alright, be careful,” Sara called out, a little worried that Talbot might be biting off more than he could chew where Jack was concerned, but Will drew her aside with a reassuring smile. 

“He’ll be fine; Da can find no end of small, safe errands to keep him occupied, believe you me.”

“What have you got there?” Sara noticed the rolled paper for the first time. 

“Ah, here I have some sketches for your Ladyship to peruse,” he gave a little bow, unrolling the papers to reveal schematics for a gazebo.  “Da described what the old gazebo looked like, and I took the liberty of drawing it up for you, along with a couple of alternate designs if you decide you’d rather try something new.”

“Wow, you drew these?” she replied, flipping them open to see the next design.  “You
’
re pretty good at this.”

“You sound surprised,” he chuckled, and Sara realized how that must have sounded.

“Sorry, I’ve just never seen you at your chosen profession before.  I’m not surprised at all though, you’re very talented.”

“In more ways than you know,” he winked.  “Are you ready to find a few answers?” Will held up a circle of keys with a jingle. 

Recognizing them right away, Sara snatched them out of his hand before anyone else could see.  “Where did you get these?”

“I filched them off of Mrs. Poole while she was busy complaining about the workers tromping through her vegetable garden,” he grinned.  “Shall we do some exploring then?”

Sara looked back to Jack who stood next to Will’s father, holding onto his clipboard while Mrs. Poole looked on in disapproval from the French doors.  It was probably a
s
good a time as any to slip away unnoticed.  “Let’s go, and I know
right
where I want to start.”

The first floor of the mansion held several rooms that had been locked up tight since she’d gotten there, and Sara was dying to get inside and take a look.  After a few tries, she found the right key to an ornate set of double doors in the east wing.  The door swung wide to reveal a ballroom, empty but for a few scarred chairs by the opposite wall.  The reason for the locked door was readily apparent; the wood floor was blackened and pitted by fire
,
and the walls and ceiling were spoiled by soot and water damage. 

“I wonder what happened here?” Sara murmured, not daring to go more than a few feet into the room for fear of crashing through the floor. 

“I’ve no
idea;
I don’t remember hearing anything about a fire at the house before.  It must have happened a long time ago.”

“That’s kind of weird they wouldn’t have had it repaired though, isn’t it?”

“Maybe they weren’t too keen on holding any more balls after whatever happened?” Will shrugged.  “I think we should press on, this doesn’t look very safe.”

Agreeing, Sara led them to another locked door which proved to be a storage closet and the next room gave no clue to its function; completely bare of furniture or wall decorations.  Starting to lose hope they’d find anything of interest, she tried again, this time opening up to a parlor decorated in feminine tones
,
in perfect condition. 

“Why would she lock this room up?” Sara wondered aloud, stepping into the room.  There were two couches set before the fireplace, along with a pair of wing backed chairs set around a table by the bank of windows.  A feminine writing desk was tucked away in the corner next to the built in bookshelves that held a mixture of classic novels and knick knacks. 

“No idea, it looks perfectly sound.” Will shut the door behind them, turning a moment as if trying to orient himse
lf.  “If memory serves
, this is the parlor where the Lady of the house receive
d visitors.”

“
It’s nice,
” Sara observed.  The windows would offer a lovely view of the side gardens when they were in bloom, she imagined.   “I’ve kind of gotten used to using the study myself.  I don’t see why we couldn’t use the room for something though.” 

Will nodded, testing the floor in various spots with his weight and thumping on the walls.  “The wallpaper needs some repair and there’s a
fair
bit of water damage here, but it looks old, I’d say the leak has been seen to.  I can’t think why this one was shut up.”

“You know… I think I’m going to redo this room myself,” as soon as she said it, Sara knew it was a good idea.  “That way, when Jack is older, he can use the study and I’ll have this room.  Well… if I still live here, I guess.”  Would she still be living there when Jack was all grown up? 

“Why wouldn’t you?”

“Oh, you know.  Who wants their mom underfoot all the time?  I suppose some day I’ll move out when Jack takes over if he wants me to.”

“As if you’d be trampling each other underfoot in a house of this size,” he chuckled.  “I understand you might vacate the master suite to make room for Jack, but there’s space enough for you and… whoever you choose to spend your life with.”

It felt strange to talk about the future in such a context.  “You don’t think that’d be kinda weird?  Me and my… whatever, glomming onto Jack’s life?”

“It’s not glomming, Sara, it’s how it’s been done for centuries.  Of course we could always build you a dowager’s house on the estate if you prefer, or if you don’t get on with his bride.”

“His bride,” Sara laughed.  “You know, I think maybe we’re getting a little ahead of ourselves.  For now, I think I’ll focus on making this our home and we’ll see where the future leads us.”

“Excellent plan,” he nodded in approval.  “Shall I contact some workers for you to get started on the renovations then?”

“No, I’d like to do it, thanks.  I miss getting my hands dirty and stripping some wallpaper won’t kill me.  Actually
,
I hope your dad doesn’t mind my sticking my nose into the garden when he’s through with it, I miss having a garden of my own.”

“I think he’d be delighted,” Will replied earnestly.  “He’s always wanted someone to putter around in the garden with, and I’ve always been good at supplying cheap labor, but I’ve never had what you call a green thumb.” 

“Good, because I’ll need something to keep me busy, especially when Jack gets older,” she sighed, leaning against the desk.  If all else failed, she could always try going back to school.

“Do you fancy having an extra pair of hands to help out then, or are you set on doing it all on your own?”  Will sat beside her, picking up one of her slender hands and tracing the pads of her fingers with his.

“
I could use the company,” she grinned. 

“Brilliant, it’ll be our project then.  The first step in making this house your home.” 

“I like the sound of that.”  It was becoming easier and easier to see Will at her side in the house; not working for her, but truly with her.  She leaned closer as his eyes dropped to her lips, a flutter of anticipation settling in her belly
,
when the wooden pen holder rolled off the desk with a clatter, scattering pens all over the floor, breaking them apart at the sound.

“Hold that thought for a sec,” she smiled, bending down to retrieve it.  Reaching under the desk to pick up the last of the pens, her eye was drawn to a flash of white under the antique writing desk.  “Hang on a minute… there’s something under here,” she breathed, scooting deeper under the desk to get a better look.  “Hey, could you snap on the light for me?”

“What is it?” Will asked, turning on the light as asked
,
standing back so as not to block it.

“There’s something wedged under here… it’s a book,” Sara replied, tugging on it experimentally.   “It’s really stuck though, I’m not sure I can…” all at once it came free, sending her topping onto her backside with a soft whump. 

“It’s definitely a book.”  Will offered her a hand up, and she took it, retaking her seat against the desk. 

“It’s a diary from
1917
.  Oh my God
…
Will, do you know what this is?  This is Gemma Darling’s diary.”

“I wonder what it was doing under there?” Sara frowned, turning the slim leather bound book over in her hands.  If anything she would have expected to find it in her old room.  

“Gemma probably spent a lot of time in here, maybe she liked to keep secrets?” Will shrugged, leaning close to look over her shoulder at the elegant script.

“Do you think it would be wrong to read it?” Sara snapped it shut after an attack of conscience.  “I would hate it if anyone ever read my diary.”

“You keep a diary?”

“
I
t’s more like a journal, and it’s in my computer, but wouldn’t it bother you, the idea of someone else coming along and reading your innermost thoughts?”

“That’s where men and women differ.  We tend to keep them bottled up where they belong,” he grinned and Sara pushed at his shoulder playfully.

“I’m serious.  Maybe I should put it back where I found it?”

“Sara…” Will let out a long sigh.  “Gemma Darling has spent every waking moment trying to attract your attention since you set foot here.  I think maybe she wanted you to find it.”

“Do you really think so?”  The pens had fallen over for no particular reason… was Gemma leading them to the diary? 

“I do,” he nodded, kissing her temple.  “If it makes you feel better, I’ll even let you read it in private so fewer people are privy to her innermost female thoughts.”

“Maybe there’s a clue in here to what happened to her, and what danger she thinks Jack is in?  Maybe it even talks about what the number nine means?” her excitement grew, even as a part of her recognized that was too much to hope for. 

“Well then, I expect you have some reading to do,” Will smiled over her enthusiasm.  “Unless you wanted to do more exploring today?”

Already flipping through some of the pages, Sara shook her head.  “No, I think this is good for today, I want to take a look at this before dinner.”

“Right then, I’ll just be replacing these before Mrs. Poole’s any the wiser,” he took the keys and slipped them into his hand.  “I’ve a few things to see to if you’re going to be tied up.”

Sara nodded mutely, already engrossed by the words on the page.  The next time she looked up, she realized she was all alone in a darkened room.  The afternoon sun had dipped behind a thick cloud cover, leaving the light struggling to penetrate the leaded panes murky at best.  Deciding to hole up in her bedroom, she tucked the diary under her arm to curl up on one of the chairs in front of the fireplace.