“You mean the Carousel Theater?”
“Yes.”
Patty’s eyes lit up. “They do some really great plays there. I was even in a few when I was younger. They always put lots of kids in as extras so more family members will come to the shows. But really, that’s a lot of activities. I don’t even have time for any extra activities, between my job, my boyfriend and trying to finish my last semester of business classes online, I’m pretty maxed out.” Patty’s eyes turned back to the donations.
Katie left the kitchen and glided toward the thrift store bookshelves. Books weren’t good sellers. She wondered if it would be better to donate all the books to the local used bookstore and make even more room for the housewares. Those were their best-selling items. She’d also noticed a strange odor in the book area because some of them were damp.
After a few moments search, her hand lit on the book with Kyle London’s name on the cover. She slipped it from the shelf and leafed through it for a minute.
It does look interesting and if I’m going to be in a Mystery Book Club, I need to start reading mysteries, other than the one we will be studying.
She put the book in the big pocket on the front of her apron then made her way to the basement stairs. She unbolted the door, flipped on the light switch and made her way down grasping the railing tightly.
When she reached the bottom, she stepped onto the cold, cement floor. No one had ever thought about putting tile or rugs in the basement. It smelled musty, from the boxes of old books and furniture that were just lying pell-mell throughout the large room. When her aunts had been young, the basement was used to store their father’s wine collection. None of the wine still existed, but there were a few wine shelves along the back wall she thought might be worth some money. She’d wanted to move them upstairs, but they were too large and heavy for Patty and her to move. She wondered if this Gathe fellow had some strong helpers.
The idea of selling everything in the over-crowded space appealed to Katie. If it were empty, she could expand the store. Perhaps turn the area into a bargain basement for those items which hadn’t sold in sometime and needed to be reduced in price. Then the nicer items could be kept upstairs, perhaps on antique shelving, making the thrift store appear a bit classier.
Other than all the stuff piled around, the main problem was the stairwell. It wasn’t safe enough for customers
She located the boxes of vases quickly, picked up one and moved toward the stairs. Just then she heard a strange sound from behind.
“Meow.” Katie looked over her shoulder in surprise. “Princess, what are you doing down here?” Princess was the Tabby she’d gotten at the animal shelter. The cat usually spent most of the day lying in the sunshine in the upstairs bay window. It was almost unbelievable to see her standing on the frigid floor, seemingly happy.
“Meow.” The cat blinked several times.
Katie wasn’t sure what to do. If she started up the stairs with the box and Princess got under her feet, she might trip and fall. After a moment’s thought she called up the stairs. “Patty, can you come down here and get Princess. She must have followed me.”
Patty’s head popped into the open doorway. “Sure. I knew I’d end up helping you one way or another.”
Katie waited patiently. Patty basically skipped down the stairs and scooped up the cat. Her eyes glanced all around the room. “You weren’t kidding about this place being a menagerie. I thought the thrift store was packed, but this is something else. This is also a fire hazard. I’m available this weekend to help with a yard sale. I can get Todd to help, too. He doesn’t work on Saturdays. I think you can pick up a yard sale permit at the grocery.”
Katie carried the box up the stairs, Patty followed with Princess.
“I’ll get the permit tomorrow. I’m thinking of turning the downstairs into a bargain basement, if I can really get it cleared out.”
“That’s a super idea. We can put some of the cheaper junk down there and keep the nicer things in the main rooms. Maybe people will get the idea that this is a classy thrift store and start to donate nicer things. I think its time we consider a webpage, Facebook page and Twitter account. Believe me, when word gets out that we’re a quaint boutique like thrift, we’ll have way more customers.”
Patty pulled her cell phone out of her back pocket, sat down with Princess on her lap, content and purring, and called Gathe Denver.
Katie made several more trips up and down the stairs, carrying the boxes of vases, but she could hear the friendly conversation Patty seemed to be having with the Gathe person.
When she finished with the boxes, Katie checked to make sure Princess was still on Patty’s lap, then closed and bolted the basement door. Since the door was in the hallway, she had to make sure that no customers opened the door.
As she carried one box of vases into the back room and set it by the door for Patty to put into her car later, Katie warned, “until I get a better set of stairs built, we can’t even think about allowing people to go down there.”
“Gathe will know someone who can do that. He knows everyone in town.” Patty placed Princess on the floor and watched as the cat scurried out of the room. “Gathe said he’d be here this afternoon. He sounded very excited to see your home.”
Katie chewed on her lip slightly, a sign she was feeling unsure about her decision but determined to go ahead and get the basement cleared out. She couldn’t keep worrying about how she thought the aunts would feel. This was her mansion now.
“He’ll be disappointed. My aunts kept things for a long time but didn’t keep them in good repair. There aren’t many really quality pieces of furniture left, and most everything in the basement is junk.”
Patty pulled a laptop out of her bag, set it on the worktable and turned it on. “You know the old saying. One man’s junk is another man’s treasure. I’m sure we can sell most of the stuff at a yard sale, plus we can hand out flyers at the sale letting people know their donations are tax deductible and go to help the animal shelter.”
Katie agreed. “What are you doing now?” She glanced at the laptop’s screen.
“I’ll work on the flyer then I’m going to start a Facebook page so we can announce the yard sale. I’ve got about one hundred friends in town, who will get the message, and they can like our page and tell others about it. I’m excited.”
Katie’s eyebrows drew together. “I’m glad you know about these things. Since I just recently emerged from a cocoon, I doubt I’ll ever be able to handle computers. I’d like to know how Facepage works.”
Patty’s trill of laughter filled the room. “Facebook is not really hard to learn. They give classes at the high school in the evenings to teach you all about Facebook. It would be a good group for you to join, at least for a while.”
Katie gave a crooked smile. “I’ll look into that.” Her mind already made up that she would take the class. “I only wish someone would teach me how to drive, I can’t always rely on getting a taxicab and I’m basically going to be going to these groups every night of the week.”
Patty frowned. “I’d say my boyfriend could teach you, but he’s pretty busy right now too. When you call for the cab ask for Bill. He drives several of the older women in town around. I think you’ll like him.”
Katie’s shoulders sagged. Of course, Patty thought of her as an older woman, but she felt like a young adult, just set free.
Diary and Death Page 9