Nine Steps to Sara (5 page)

“
Do you really like it up here all by yourself?
”

“
Yeah, it’s neat.  I can see
the whole backyard from here.”  Running to a padded window seat, he pressed his nose to the glass, breath steaming against the cold panes. 

Sara look
ed
out
,
expecting to see the neat rows of flowers she’d seen the night before, stunned to find the gardens
overrun and
choked with
weed
s.  It wasn’t quite the same vantage point as the view from her window, but it was hard to imagine the view right outside hers would be so well maintained and not the formal gardens behind the house. 

“Katie… how long have the gardens been run down like this?”

“For quite a long time, my Lady.  His Lordship wasn’t in residence most of the time and didn’t think it necessary to keep up.”

“Then they’re all like this?  Even outside my window?” Sara frowned.  How could that be?  Could it have been a trick of the moonlight?
What about the heady floral scent wafting in the window the night before?

“I’m afraid so. 
Mrs. Poole
could send for the old gardener if you like, I’m sure he’d be more than happy to take it on again,” Katie
offered
and Sara nodded absently, chalking it up to fatigue.

“I’ll talk to Mrs. Poole about it.  I guess there’s a lot of work to be done to get this place back up to fighting trim.  What do you say, Jack?  Ready to come down to breakfast and then do a bit of exploring?”

Jack gave a longing look to his pile of books.  “I’m not all that hungry.”

Sara looped her arm through his, leading him towards the door.  “Then you can keep me company while I eat
,
and maybe some nutrition will rub off on you through osmosis or something.”

“That really isn’t how osmosis works, Mom.”  How a boy his age had any idea what osmosis entailed was beyond her, but she took it as par for the course where Jack was involved. 

Katie had finished with the bed and waited by the door.  “Shall I show you to the morning room then?” 

“If that’s where we’ll find breakfast, then lead on.”  Making a mental map of the twists and turns it took to get down to the main level again, Sara was surprised by how bright the rooms were on the main floor, a sharp contrast to the mist shrouded gloom the night before.  It probably had to do with the early morning sunlight pouring through all the tall windows.  The cheery light brightened the heavily wood paneled rooms, but at the same time, showed every sign of age and wea
r.
 

The morning room boasted more yellow wallpaper with a faded green stripe.  A table that could easily seat ten was laid out with two place settings, a row of silver chafing dishes set on the adjoining sideboard. 

“Sure you’re not hungry?  It looks like they put on quite a spread,” Sara lifted the lid from the first tray which revealed a pan of fluffy scrambled eggs.  “How about I make you a plate and you can try a little of everything?”  Not taking no for an answer, she loaded them both up with eggs, sausage, bacon, toast, beans, fried potatoes, some kind of fish and fresh tomato slices.

“I can’t eat that,” Jack mumbled as she slid the plate in front of him.

“Sure you can.  Just taste everything, that’s all I ask.  You don’t have to eat anything you don’t like.”

“I can already tell I don’t like the fish… it’s looking at me.”

“Oh come on, where’s your sense of adventure?  You like fish, just try it.”  Truth be told, she wasn’t much of a fish eater either, but it was a new experience to be savored.  “I’ll do it with you, on the count of three…”  They each prepped a bite of the
fish;
Jack’s the smallest flake that would stay on the fork, while she counted down.  It was smoky and a little too salty, not bad, but definitely weird for breakfast.  While they made faces at each other across the table, Mrs. Poole bustled in.

“Is everything to your liking, my Lady?” she asked, a pucker of concern on her brow.

“Oh, it’s great, isn’t it
,
Jack?” Sara prompted and Jack muttered something noncommittal, his mouth already full of bacon.  “We’re not used to so much food so early in the morning, I’m afraid most of this is going to go to waste.”

“Don’t trouble yourself on that account, we can discuss the menu in greater detail when you’ve had time to settle in,” she waved it away.  “Was everything satisfactory with your night’s stay?”

Katie’s eyes flew wide from her perch by the door and Sara was quick to respond, not wanting the poor girl to think she would be blamed for the freezing temperature from her own stupidity. 

“Oh yes, definitely, I was very comfortable, thanks for asking.  Jack seems to like his room too and I’m pretty sure Joanie slept well considering she’s not up yet,” Sara chuckled. 

“Katie, go and take a tray up to Miss Wilson, I’ll see to their needs here,” Mrs. Poole instructed
,
and the girl gave a quick bob.

Sara flashed the maid a quick smile.  “
Tell you what, show up with a cup of coffee, strong and sweet and she’ll be your friend for life
.”

Katie barely had time to offer a shy smile in reply when Joanie shuffled in with a yawn, stealing a piece of toast from Sara’s plate before she plopped down in the chair next to her. 

Mrs. Poole
suffered a minor
fit of apoplexy at the brea
ch
in etiquette before she found her voice.  “I apologize, my Lady, we didn’t expect
Sir
Jack to be joining you for breakfast.  Shall I get you a plate, Miss Wilson?”

“No, I’m good with this,” Joanie replied around a mouthful of buttery toast.  “So, what’s on the agenda today?  Shopping?  Hey, squirt,” she winked at Jack who tried winking back, but ended up with more of a double blink.

Mrs. Poole looked almost physically ill as crumbs dropped directly on the tabletop, but Katie came to the rescue, slipping a tea saucer at her place setting which was better than nothing. 

“I don’t know, I thought we’d get a good look at the place in the daylight and then maybe take a ride into
the village
, what do you think?” Sara suggested
,
only to be contradicted by Mrs. Poole.

“
You’ve an appointment with Mr. Lowesley at half past ten
.”

“
Who’s that?
” Joanie asked, filching a piece of bacon and Sara scooted her plate a little closer, hoping that would appease Mrs. Poole’s sense of decorum. 

“
My lawyer
,” Sara recalled
.
  “I forgot about him, I made the appointment over a week ago, but that’s fine.  Do you think I could
borrow the keys to the car?  Oh, is that
our
car by the way or did you rent it?
”

“
That is you
r
car
indeed
, but that won’t be necessary, Lowesley will come to you.
”

“
Oh, I was looking forward to going in to
the village
;
we didn’t get to see much of it last night.
”  Not that there was much of a rush, she supposed, and it would give her more time to check out the house.

“
Yeah, is it always that foggy
after dark
?
”
Joanie
chimed in and Mrs. Poole nodded.

“We do see our share of it this time of year.”

“What am I going to do all day?” Jack asked, more pushing the food around on his plate than eating it anymore.  “Do I have to meet with the boring old lawyer too?”

“No, kiddo.  You’ve got the whole day to do whatever you want.”

“Is there a TV here?” he perked up at the idea until he caught Mrs. Poole’s shake of the head. 

“And I couldn’t find any wi-fi here either,” Joanie’s nose scrunched up in disapproval and Sara realized she’d completely forgotten to plug in her laptop to charge, it hadn’t occurred to her to make sure the house had internet.  Hopefully she could still check email on her phone. 

“So… no TV, no video games…” Jack looked like someone had run over a puppy right in front of him and Sara scooted out of her chair to wrap an arm around his shoulders. 

“
Why don’t you go play outside?
”

“
Play what?
” he blinked.

“
Just… play.  Go exploring; you saw those gardens out back
.”

“
With all due respect, I don’t think that’s such a good idea
,
my
L
ady
,” Mrs. Poole interceded.  “
The gardens are in a dreadful state, and could be quite dangerous
.”

That brought Sara up short.  “
Oh.  Well, you can go expl
oring inside then.”

“
Actually, the same is true for much of the house.  It’s been in a terrible state ever since
Sir Stephen
decided to live abroad.”

“
Tell you what, I’ll keep you company, squirt
,” Joanie volunteered.  “
I’ve got some games on my computer you haven’t seen before.
  I might even be able to beat you for once.”

“
Yeah?
” Jack brightened considerably.

“I’ve still got an hour or so until the lawyer gets here, we can spend it looking around the safe parts of the house.  Plus there’s that book project you were working on, I’m sure there’s enough to keep you busy this morning, a
nd then after lunch we’ll all go exploring
outside
together, that should be plenty safe
,” Sara added, mouthing a
thank you
to Joanie over the top of his head. 

“My L
ady…
” Mrs. Poole started to object, but Sara put her foot down.  It was their house after all.

“I’m sure it’ll be fine with us there; w
e’ll be careful, I promise
.  Now… who wants to check out the library with me?”

The tour of the main floor didn’t thrill Jack too much, Sara could tell, but she was interested in the incredible attention to detail in the craftsmanship of the manor house.  Sure it needed new wallpaper and paint, and most of the furnishings were faded and worn, but there was real potential to make it a stunning showplace if someone poured a little bit of sweat and elbow grease into it.  And money of course… but that shouldn’t be a problem; she’d have to clarify the size of the estate with the lawyer when he came.

“How come the last guy, what was his name… the previous Lord Darling, how come he decided not to live here?” Sara asked Mrs. Poole
,
who conducted them through the house at her insistence while Katie slipped upstairs to take care of the bedrooms.  Sara itched to get a look at the locked rooms Mrs. Poole deemed as ‘unsafe’, but decided not to make an issue of it for the moment.