“Sounds good,” Kim said. “When could you start?”
“Immediately,” George said. “In fact, to get it done by the first of September we’ll have to start tomorrow.”
“We’ve done a lot of work for your father,” Mark said. “We could run this job just like we’ve done the others. We’ll bill you for time and materials plus profit.”
“I want to do it,” Kim said with newfound resolve. “Your enthusiasm has overcome any of my reservations. What do we have to do to get started?”
“We’ll start right away on a verbal agreement,” Mark said. “We’ll draw up contracts that can be signed later.”
“Fine,” Kim said. She stuck out her hand and shook hands with both men.
“We’ll have to stay for a while to get measurements,” Mark said.
“Be my guest,” Kim said. “As for the contents of the house, they can be stored up at the garage of the main house. The garage is open.”
“What about the gate?” George asked.
“If you are starting right away, let’s leave it unlocked,” Kim said.
While the men were busy with their tape measures, Kim wandered outside. From fifty feet away she looked at the house and acknowledged that it was indeed darling. Immediately she began to think about the fun of decorating it and debated with herself what colors to paint the bedrooms. Such details excited her about the project, but the excitement immediately conjured up Elizabeth’s name. All at once Kim found herself wondering how Elizabeth had felt when she first saw the house and when she first moved into it. She wondered if Elizabeth had been equally as excited.
Returning back inside, Kim told Mark and George that she would be up in the main house if they needed her.
“We have plenty to keep us busy for the moment,” Mark said. “But I’ll have to talk with you tomorrow. Could you give me your phone number?”
Kim gave both her apartment and work numbers. Then she left the old house, climbed in her car, and drove up to the castle. Thinking about Elizabeth had stimulated her to spend a little time looking through the old papers.
Kim opened the front door and left it slightly ajar in case Mark or George came looking for her. Inside she debated between the attic and the wine cellar. Remembering the seventeenth-century bill of lading she’d found on Saturday in the wine cellar, she decided to return there.
Striding through the great room and traversing the dining room, Kim pulled open the heavy oak door. As she started down the granite steps she became aware that the door had closed with a dull thud behind her.
Kim stopped. She had the sudden realization that it was far different being alone in the huge old house than it had been with Edward. She heard distant creaks and groans as the house adjusted to the heat of the day. Turning around, Kim looked up at the door with the irrational fear that it had somehow locked, trapping her in the basement.
“You’re being ridiculous,” Kim said out loud. Yet she couldn’t shake the concern about the door. Finally she mounted the stairs. She leaned against the door, and as she expected, it opened. She let it close again.
Chiding herself for her overly active imagination, Kim descended and strode into the depths of the wine cellar. She hummed a favorite tune, but her equanimity was a façade. Despite efforts to the contrary, she was still spooked by the surroundings. The massive house seemed to make the air heavy and breathing difficult. And as she’d already noticed, it was far from silent.
Kim forced herself to ignore her discomfiture. Still humming the same song, she entered the cell where she’d found the seventeenth-century bill of lading. On Saturday she’d searched through the drawer where she’d found the document, but now she began to search through the rest of the file cabinet.
It didn’t take her long to grasp how difficult searching through the Stewart papers was to be. She was dealing with one file cabinet out of literally scores. Each drawer was completely full, and she painstakingly had to go through document by document. Many of the papers were entirely written by hand and some were difficult to decipher. On others it was impossible to find a date. To make things worse, the light from the torchlike sconces was far from adequate. Kim resolved that on future forays to the wine, cellar she’d bring additional lighting.