It truly was getting cold in this kitchen. Agnes decided she should light the fireplace. That is, when she could move again. She drank her cold tea. “And, it’s his ghost that haunts the place?”
As Clara nodded, the kitchen light flickered and went out. Clara, Candy, Maybelle, and Agnes sat in semi-darkness.
Candy jumped from Clara’s lap and, sounding like a herd of elephants, dashed off into the darkness. Lightning flashed into the room as the two women stared at each other.
“Candles.” Agnes said, scooting her chair away from the table. “Candles. Surely Mildred has candles stashed somewhere.”
Clara joined her. “Surely she does. I imagine electricity going off is a fairly regular occurrence way off up here on the mountain.”
“Aha!” Agnes said. “Success. The drawer under the cutlery tray is where they were hiding.”
With candles on tabletop and counter, the room looked cheerier.
“That’s better,” Agnes declared. “I’ll light the fireplace next.”
Picking up a candle, she carried it into the living room, Maybelle pressing close to her side. Clara, with her candle, trailed behind. It didn’t take long for Agnes to get a fire going on the wide hearth.
They hovered in front of the welcome warmth . “You know, with the firelight and the candlelight, it’s very nearly cozy in here,” Clara said.
Agnes held out her hands to the blaze. “At least it’s warmer. And, it’s cozy as long as we don’t look at the shadowy corners of this big room.”
Agnes jumped as a particularly loud clap of thunder rattled the windows. Maybelle jumped too and, ears back, took off like a streak. Agnes shook her head. “She’s afraid of storms. I imagine she’ll go hide under my bed until it’s over.”
“This is probably just like that night, years ago, when Lenora killed the man on the stairs,” Clara said, her voice quivering.
Agnes shook her head. Clara had always been easily spooked. “You mentioned that the story behind the murder was kind of romantic. So far, I’ve heard nothing of the kind. And, how do you know all this history, anyway, if Mildred knew nothing about it when she bought the house?”
“Mildred is a friendly, out-going kind of person and, when she was in town, she got to talking with a few people, storekeepers. When they found out she’d bought this place, they gladly filled her in on its past.” Her voice dropped to a whisper. “They told Mildred that when Lenora and her servants buried the poor soldier, the story is that she lost her wedding ring. So, now she’s supposed to be back hunting for it. And, the soldier? Well, he’s not too happy with the way he wound up, so he’s back too, although I’d think he’d rather be some place else than where he met his demise, don’t you?”
Agnes took a long breath. “It seems to me…”
She was interrupted by the sound of running feet. Maybelle dashed past her legs, Candy in close pursuit.
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