Page 26 of Air Of Mystery
“Maybe,” I said. “Depends on what and where.”
She pulled a padded mailing envelope out from her basket. “Would you drop this off at Camilla’s shop,Lotions and Potions?”
“I never said I was going into Ames Crossing.”
“I had a hunch that you might be.” Brynn smiled. “Call it Witch’s intuition.”
My left eyebrow went up. “What, so you just were waltzing around the gardens, fussing with your flowers, and waiting for me to walk to my car so you could get me to play delivery driver for you?”
Brynn cocked her head to one side, her hazel eyes assessing me. She said nothing in response to my snark. Instead, she simply held the envelope out and waited.
I took the envelope. “Fine.” I sighed loudly. “I’ll drop it off for you.”
“Thanks, sweetie,” she said.
Her sugary tone had my shoulders hunching defensively. And I had the sneaking suspicion that I’d been played...or maybemaneuveredwould be a better description.
“Please do eat something today, Skye,” my sister suggested as I climbed in my car. “You’re always cranky when you forget to eat regular meals.”
Snatching my sunglasses from the dashboard, I jammed the glasses on my nose and started up the car.
“Be sure and say hello to Amanda for me,” Brynn said as she started back to her gardens.
Her casual parting comment had me jumping in reaction.How in the hell did she know I was planning to go see Amanda? I’d only thought about it myself a short time ago…
Putting my car in reverse, I checked my rearview to see where my sister was. She turned around, gave me a knowing smile, and then she winked.
“Spooky little Witch,” I muttered and backed out of the driveway.
The local library in Alton was a bust. I had hoped that the books I’d had transferred in from another branch might have more information about the history of the Henry Street house, but there was nothing.
The Genealogy and Local History Library was a tad better, Although I hit a roadblock when the receptionist recognized me, and clearly she wasnota fan of my show. I got a full-blown lecture that any filming or recording was not allowed within the library. I shut my mouth and waited out the speech.
Finally, a supervisor named Francis came out to see why one of her volunteers was having a meltdown. I was escorted back to a study desk and was able to begin my search. Francis personally helped me hunt through the real estate records forHenry Street. The older woman knew her history, and I was thankful for her assistance.
“Look here,” she said, passing me a heavy ledger filled with antique documents. “These are the original 1848 floor plans to the house.”
“May I make copies of these?” I asked.
“Of course.” She peered at me from over the rims of bright red reading glasses. “The machines are right over there.”
I took the ledger over to my worktable and began to carefully go through everything. A couple of minutes later I found a photo of the house when it was first built. The quality was poor, but someone had written on the back the date 1850; and from what I could make out of the old Victorian, it had once been painted in different colors. As the photo was obviously black and white, it was anybody’s guess what those would have been, but the trim had been done in different shades from what was there since I’d known of the house, certainly.
I made copies of everything, took photos with my cell phone as a back-up and kept digging. From my previous research I already was aware of the succession of families that had owned the property over the years. And they were unremarkable—from a paranormal point of view.
The most exciting thing to happen at the location was that it had once been used as a convalescent home for soldiers in the 1860s.
After spending three hours researching, I had to go and do the interview in East Alton. Gathering up my things, I headed out. At least I was meeting them in public at a local restaurant. That way, I could eat lunch and safely conduct the interview all at the same time.
I arrived a half hour early, ordered a sandwich and fries, and managed to eat my first meal of the day before the prospective client arrived.
It soon became clear that they were simply looking for attention. I knew I was in trouble when they proceeded to tell me howintelligentthey were, not to mention howwell readon the subject of hauntings...and how big of a fan they were of my show.
The food must have made me a bit mellow, because I found myself being uncharacteristically gentle with them. I soothed, I listened, and I didn’t promise them a thing. After paying for my meal, I wished them well, excused myself, and headed for my car to make the drive down the Great River Road to the village of Ames Crossing.
Fortunately for me Camilla’s shop,Lotions & Potions,was right down the street from Amanda’s library. Looking forward to doing more research and working with Amanda, I parked in the first open spot I found on the street, snagged the envelope, and walked down the sidewalk, enjoying the sunny day.
I’ll pop in, drop this off to Camilla and be on my way,I told myself.
