The gust of wind rattled the small window in Aury’s room in reply. “We’re going with you,” Pat said. “We need to stay together.”
“Does everyone have shoes at least?” Aury picked up a pair of shoes by the door and handed them to Linda. “They might be a little big but it’s better than nothing.”
Linda tied the sneakers tightly and stood. Aury glanced around the room for anything else they might be able to use.
“I put some of your stuff in my bag,” Suzanne said. “Thought we might be able to use it later.”
Aury nodded and led the ragtag group through the mist toward the fork in the road.
Chapter 10
The rain had let up by the time they entered the clearing surrounding the manor house. Aury led the way, dragging her now-soaked suitcase full of food. Carla was close behind, her arm linked through Linda’s, a gesture of moral support.
Pat and Debbie carried the case of water between them, while Suzanne shifted her bag from one shoulder to the other.
“That’s where you want us to stay?” Linda asked in dismay.
“Well, there are no trees within falling distance of it,” Aury said.
“But it’s all boarded up,” Suzanne pointed out.
The ladies drew closer as a gust of wind tugged at their soggy clothing.
Aury passed the handle of her suitcase to Carla. “Wait here. I’ll check the other side.”
She took off at a slow jog. On the side of the house facing the cliff’s edge, a loose board hung from the doorframe. She cautiously climbed up the mostly rotten steps to the back porch. With both hands, she gripped the loose board and tugged.
Aury lost her balance when the board buckled with much less resistance than she expected. Her right foot slammed down hard as she tried to catch herself. The soft wood gave under the pressure, and her foot sank through the deck boards.
Cursing loudly, she managed to stay on her feet. After gently freeing her foot, she used the board she had pulled from the door to test the remaining wood to find a solid place to brace her feet.
With her left hand, she shook one of the remaining two boards crisscrossing the doorway. It didn’t give easily, so she created a lever with the loose board. After a few hard tugs, she was able to pry apart the barrier.
Now facing the door, she tried the doorknob, hoping for a little luck. When that didn’t work, she said a quick prayer for forgiveness before using the wood to smash the door’s glass pane, allowing her to reach inside.
“Are you okay?” someone called.
“Fine,” she yelled. “Give me another minute.”
Reaching her hand through the broken glass, she was able to unlock the bolt on the door. This time, turning the glass doorknob admitted her to the darkness inside.
Like most plantation houses, this was built to maximize air flow. Aury used the dim light to head for the door directly opposite the one she entered through, floorboards creaking under her feet. Unlocking the door, she threw it open to find her way blocked by three similar boards nailed across the frame.
The ladies were waiting for her at the foot of the porch steps. “Stand back,” Aury said.
Putting her hands on either side of the frame for leverage, Aury kicked out with her right foot at the lowest of the boards. It took four solid hits before the board finally surrendered, skittering down the steps. For the middle board, Aury retrieved the plank from the back door and used it to hammer against the obstruction. The years of weather and decay assisted her with the task and soon the doorway was clear.
“Watch your step for soft spots,” Aury cautioned as the women rushed up the steps, eager to be out of the wind and drizzle. Aury took the suitcase from Carla and helped the ladies inside.
“Let’s see what we can find,” Aury suggested. “Be careful though. Alan said it’s been boarded up for a while, so they haven’t done any maintenance. I don’t know what kind of shape it’s in.”
The ladies split up in groups of two and explored the house. Aury and Carla took the lower floor on the east side. The first room they entered was furnished to seat twelve comfortably at a feast. The long wooden table was complete with a candelabra in the center resting atop a quilted table runner. The thin layer of dust was the only telltale sign that dinner hadn’t been served in a long time.
A doorway off to their left exposed a kitchen, relatively small for the size of the house. The appliances were at least twenty years old but looked serviceable. Aury searched the pantry while Carla opened and closed cupboards.
“There’s some canned goods in here,” Aury said.
“I found some baking supplies but not sure how much extra protein has gotten into them.” Carla held up a bag of sugar, drilled through the sides where the bugs had burrowed.
“Pass,” Aury said. She turned the dial on the stovetop. A hiss escaped, but no flame. “If we can find some matches, we can heat some things up.”
Carla turned the faucet on. It sputtered and spit. She shut it off. “Oh well. Without a pump, I think we’re out of luck there.”
“Let’s go see what the others found.”
They all met in the parlor. Pat peered into the fireplace. “I’m not sure if we should trust this,” she said. “The flue seems to work, but who knows what’s built nests in the chimney.”
“We found a few beds but the quilts on them are covered with dust,” Linda said.
“Let’s try shaking them out,” Aury suggested. “Then at least we’ll have something to keep us warm. With all this rain, it’s getting chilly.”
A few minutes later, Linda and Debbie returned with their arms loaded with quilts. Suzanne grabbed some and the trio went to the front porch. Carla followed, carrying an old broom from the kitchen. The rain fell harder now, but the women turned their backs to the wind and set about cleaning the quilts.
While two ladies held up a quilt, Linda beat it with the flat part of the straw. Dust rose in a large puff cloud, causing all five women to cough.
Suzanne stepped away from the quilt, admiring it. “Do you see this beautiful pattern?”
Aury leaned out, trying to hold the quilt to get a better look. “It’s pretty, but I can’t make out the design from here.”
“Trade places with me,” Suzanne suggested.
Linda took the other corner, allowing Carla to also take in the whole quilt at once.
“Have you seen that pattern before?” Aury asked.
“Something about it is familiar, but I’m not sure. We’ll have to ask Pat,” Linda said.
The ladies went to work on the other quilts they had gathered until they were satisfied they had enough to keep them warm through the night.
Inside, Pat had a small fire going.
“I tested it with a small bundle of papers, and it seemed to be drawing fine. Figured we can start small and just watch it closely.”
“Where did you get the wood?” Carla asked.
“Off the parlor there’s a storage room. There’s some wood but looks like it’s been there a while. It’ll burn quickly.”
“Get out of your wet clothes—especially your shoes and socks,” Aury said to the small group of women. “Wrap up in the quilts while we try to dry out the clothes a little.”
“Check this out,” Debbie said, pulling over a wooden rack and placing it in front of the fire. “This will be perfect for hanging your clothes on.”
The women stripped down to their driest layer, draping their wet things on the rack. Then they crowded around the small fire, absorbing the heat.
Chapter 11
Anyone know any ghost stories?” Pat asked.
“We are not telling ghost stories,” Carla said.
“I know some dirty jokes,” offered Debbie.
“No doubt,” Pat said.
Linda got up and roamed over to the bookcase. “There’s got to be some good reading here.” She ran her finger along the spines. “Oh, look, an old photo album.”
She pulled it out, handing it to Suzanne.
She reached for another one. Settled in front of the fire, both ladies flipped through the pages.
“This picture was taken at the front entrance to Eastover. Must have been a while ago; the photo is black and white,” Suzanne said.
Aury leaned over her shoulder. She pointed to the small numbers written in the corner of the page. “Those must be Scott’s grandparents. They look so young.”
“Scott who?” Linda said.
“The owner. He said he stopped by and met you all.”
“Oh, him. He’s a cutie.” Debbie gave Aury a sidelong glance. “When did you meet him?”
“When he first showed up. It was late, and he was putting things away before the storm.”
“So that’s the real reason you stayed up so late quilting.” Debbie used her hands to make air quotes.
“And why you don’t get much done,” Pat added.
Aury smiled but didn’t bother to comment.
Suzanne flipped a few more pages. “Here’s where they were building the motel.”
“This album is even older,” Linda said. “Some of these pictures are easily from the late eighteen-hundreds. I’ll bet those are slave quarters.” She indicated a small cabin where a black couple stood arm in arm. Laundry hung on a clothesline to the right of the timber-clad building, only large enough for a single room.
“What’s that building?” Pat asked, pointing to a photo of the same couple standing in front of a stone structure.
Linda squinted at the small photo. “It’s a church of some sort, I would think. The woman is holding flowers. Maybe a wedding. I don’t remember seeing the building though. Aury, have you seen a church on your walks?”
“No. I would have remembered that.”
“I wonder where it was.” Linda moved nearer to the fire.
“Not so close,” Debbie said, pulling her back. “All we need is for you to catch something on fire.”
After entertaining themselves with the photo albums, the ladies began rummaging through the other books.
“This one looks like a diary,” Aury said. She brushed her fingers across the rough leather. It was dry and brittle, flaking away in spots. Carefully, she opened the book.
The women waited in silence.
“What has you so entranced, Aury?” Pat asked.
“What? Oh, this diary starts in 1846. It’s hard to make out some of the writing.”
“Read it out loud,” Carla said.
The ink of the flowering handwriting was faded in places.
“The date on the first page is December 1846.
“Father presented me with this gift that I may take note of happenings in our area of the Commonwealth of Virginia as I start my life as Missus James Townsend. I am not convinced that life in this wilderness shall be worth mentioning, but I do so for the sake of my father.”
Aury skipped a few pages that were stuck together. Maybe later she would be able to separate them, but she didn’t want to damage anything. She continued reading aloud.
“April 1847. Our goat has produced a kid. It is a luxury to have fresh milk every day. I should like to try my hand at making cheese. At our next opportunity, I will suggest a trip into town so I may converse with the shopkeeper’s wife as to the needed ingredients. How I wish I had paid more attention to the kitchen ladies in my mother’s house!
“Vegetables are popping up in the garden plot out back. The ground appears to be fertile, as do I. I hope to give James a son before Christmas this year. What a joy it will be to spend the holidays with a special gift. I have not ventured to tell James yet. I want to wait until there is no question.”
“I can’t believe that diary is just sitting here on a shelf. It should be in a museum,” Linda said.
“I wonder if Scott even knows it’s here,” Aury said.
The windows rattled as a gust of wind hit the house. Minutes later, the sound of heavy rainfall rose in a crescendo, then dropped slightly into a steady pounding.
“I don’t know about you all, but I’m tired,” Pat said, standing with a bone-cracking stretch.
The fire had died out, but Aury stirred the ashes to make sure nothing was left burning. Then she moved the heavy fire screen in front of the opening.
“I’m going to see if any of those beds are useable,” Pat said.
The other ladies agreed and soon had split off to the various bedrooms, still wrapped in their quilts.
Chapter 12
Aury rolled herself out of bed early. Carla was asleep in the twin bed on the other side of the room. Excited to get back to the diary, Aury padded down the stairs. She considered rekindling the fire but decided they should save their dry firewood in case they were there that evening. They might need it for light as well as heat.
Wrapping herself in the soft fabric of the worn quilt she had pulled from her bed, she settled near a window to read.
September 6, 1861
News reached us today that President Jefferson Davis has moved to Richmond. That is a mere day’s ride away!
James insisted that we remove some of our prized possessions from the household and sequester them in another place on the property. He is concerned that with the fighting sure to come, we are in danger of becoming overrun.
“Good morning.”
Aury was roused from her concentration when Debbie entered.
“Are you still reading that diary?”
“It’s fascinating. I’m already in the second volume.”
Debbie settled on the couch and tucked her feet under her. She was also draped in a bed quilt. “Okay, give me the cliff notes version.”
“Well, Mary Townsend had a rude awakening to country life. She got pregnant right away and had a little girl. That daughter died soon after birth, but then Mary had another girl, then three boys within four years.” Aury’s brow scrunched in concentration. “I think she had another baby who died, but then had another daughter who lived.”
“That’s depressing. I wouldn’t want to give birth that many times.”
“It was normal back then. The cool part is all the things she taught her kids. Mary educated her children herself. She had private tutors growing up, so she was well-educated. But she didn’t teach them just reading, writing, and arithmetic; she taught them how to run a farm. And she taught the girls right alongside the boys. Quite forward thinking for that time period.”
“What kind of farm was this?”
“At first they had a lot of lumber. They sold off lumbering rights to a timberman but kept the property. After the trees were cut, they turned some of it to crops.” Aury stood and stretched.
Carla and Linda entered the room together, each wrapped warmly in the patchwork quilts. Although the colors had faded over many washings, the patterns were still strikingly beautiful.
“I don’t suppose we have any coffee?” asked Linda.
“No such luck,” Aury said.
“A girl can dream though.”
Carla stared out the window. “Sounds like the rain has stopped at least. I wish we had some way to track the storm. Would be nice to know if it has passed and someone is coming to get us.”
“Hang in there. It’s not like they don’t know we’re here. I’m sure they’ll come soon,” Aury reassured her.
“They don’t know trees have blocked our cars in, though. They probably figured we left by now.”
“Somebody will miss us eventually.”
Aury joined Carla in front of the wavy panes of glass. “I think I’ll go for a walk and check out the damage. I need to move around and warm up.”
* * * * *
As Aury picked her way through the fallen debris, her mind fell back to the diary. She had always loved scavenger hunts growing up. Her grandmother created them for when Aury visited during the summer. Aury had to collect certain items around the house and yard to win the final prize. Sometimes it was nothing more than a book, but the prize wasn’t the best part anyway. It was about the search.
Aury admired the tenacit
y of Mary Townsend. She made a mental note to visit the library when she got back and see what else she could find about this area from that time period. An involuntary shudder ran through her. She couldn’t imagine raising five kids nowadays, let alone 160 years ago.
Her foot slipped off the fallen tree she was climbing over, sending her headfirst into the branches reaching toward the sky. Unable to get her footing, she fell deeper into the maze of limbs and leaves soaked from the storm.
Irritated, she resigned herself to her undignified position. She lay face down buried in the leaves, trying to decide the best way out.
“Find anything interesting?”
Aury started at the voice. She reached down to find something solid to push against so she could get up, but only managed to bury her arms deeper into the wreckage that was once a tree.
“Here. Let me help you. You’re tangled.”
Scott put an arm under each of Aury’s armpits and dragged her free.
“Now that’s embarrassing,” she said, wiping wet leaves and twigs from her arms and pants.
“Good thing you didn’t see me about thirty minutes ago when I was drowning in mud. I’m lucky I came out with my shoes on.”
Aury took in Scott’s mud-caked jeans and the dried smears across his face. She couldn’t help but laugh.
“What happened?” she asked.
“The roads are a mess. I was making my way back here when I discovered an unusually deep puddle.”
“Glad you survived. How are things looking in town?”
“There are trees down all over and no electricity in the area. The Red Cross has set up water stations throughout the county.”
Aury stopped smiling. She had no idea the storm had hit so hard.
“I had a feeling you’d still be out here. You don’t give the impression of being the type to quit,” Scott said.
“Not just me. Some of the other ladies are here.”
“Well, looks like you’ll be here a while longer, unless they’re up for a long hike. The dirt road from Route 610 to here is washed out as it crosses the creek. Caved in.” He gestured to the fallen tree. “And you can imagine how many more traps like this lay between here and there.”
Eastover Treasures Page 4