Fallen Stones (19 page)

Where the roadway curved around to the front of the house Stephanie could see the blacktop road ended, giving way to an enormous circular-shaped pattern concrete driveway the likes of which she had only seen associated with luxurious mansions on television. The driveway wrapped around a large multi-tiered concrete fountain which stood at least ten feet high, with water flowing from the small top most bowl, down into lower bowls, each one getting larger with each tier until it finally ended in a large circular concrete pool perhaps twenty feet in diameter.

At the largest part of the circle, the driveway continued for another hundred feet or so where it fanned out to allow access to a massive four-bay, two-story garage attached to the left side of the original structure and which angled forward so the massive garage sat at about a forty-five degree angle to the main structure.

Between the house and the garage, a two story enclosed tinted glass breezeway served to connect the two. The structure was very modern looking with heavy brown metal framework holding the large glass panels in place. Stephanie could see sunshine coming through the glass indicating the back of the breezeway must also be constructed of glass. The sight was breathtaking.  

The garage was constructed of brick and wood, which very closely matched that of the original structure. Its roof was obviously of slate construction, which Stephanie understood to be one of the most expensive roofs available. She had heard they were known to last for at least fifty years. The windows of the two-story garage matched those of the original structure and she could only imagine what potential the second floor of the garage had to offer. She immediately had a vision of a combination writing/art studio for creation of her children's books. Since she did both the writing and the illustrating, it would probably suite her needs perfectly. The thought caught her by surprise. It was as if she knew it would be perfect somehow even without seeing the space. It was as though it was meant for her.

Attached to the right side of the main house was something they found surprising. Washburn had constructed a two-story addition to the original structure with a matching window scheme to blend in with the main building and garage. It was covered in stucco, which made an incredibly stunning first impression. Its roof sloped upward to connect just below the peaked roof of the main building and like the garage roof was constructed of slate. Stephanie assumed the roof on the original structure had likewise been redone in slate, but it was much too high for her to see from inside of the van.

She could only imagine how many square feet of living space the structure offered, but she had to assume it must be in the three to four thousand square feet range; and she had not yet seen the back of the property. If Washburn had built out the back as well, the property must be enormous in size. Near the front of the house, she could see Armstrong exiting his Cadillac and waving them to come forward.

"Holy crap!" Jason said, his mouth hanging slack-jawed in amazement.

Stephanie replied, "You can say that again."

Cindy and Jeremy were looking wide-eyed out at the incredible structure and were shouting simultaneously, "Is that our house, Mom? That can't be our house, can it? We're rich. Holy cow, Mom, we're rich! Just look at that house!" Sammy had gotten over his earlier unhappy feelings and was now eagerly joining in with his excited siblings. "We wich! We wich!" he shouted imitating his brother and sister to the best of his ability, and not understanding what he was saying.

Trying to calm the kids down Stephanie said, "No, kids, we are not rich by any means. But you are right that this certainly is a nice house and yes, it is ours. But we have to check it out and see what it's like first, so it is very important that you all to calm down and relax. Ok?"

Jeremy, who knew several kids at school who he considered to be rich kids, but whose houses didn't begin to compare in size or grandeur to the house he now saw, understood this was a very special house indeed, and despite what his stepmother had said, they had just suddenly struck it rich. But, he also understood by his parent's expressions, they were not comfortable with their newfound financial situation and were obviously under a lot of stress dealing with all of the potential change. Jeremy decided since he was the oldest, he should try to help keep the two younger children in control.

Putting on an air of nonchalant disinterest, he said to Cindy, "Mom's right, Cindy; it's not that big of a deal. It's just a house, that's all. Nothing to get all worked up about." Cindy looked at him at first as if he were crazy, then not surprisingly, followed his lead and began to play it cool as well. Jeremy looked knowingly at his dad in the rearview mirror and gave him a wink. Jason acknowledged the gesture by winking back. Stephanie was grateful for the way he managed to calm Cindy and then Sammy as well. Stephanie was often so surprised how one minute Jeremy would act like a little kid then a moment later, he could seem so mature.

"Well, we had better get up there. Armstrong is waiting," Jason said as he slowly pulled the van off the blacktop, onto the beautifully sculpted concrete driveway, which was formed in a herringbone brick pattern and then drove around to the front entrance of the building. He and Stephanie exited the van and walked around to retrieve Sammy from his car seat. Cindy and Jeremy already had the sliding door open and were standing on the reddish brown driveway staring up at the house. Both of them resembled first-time tourists in New York City gawking up into the air looking at skyscrapers.

Stephanie walked over still holding Sammy on her hip and in the crook of her right arm taking Jason's right hand in her left. Armstrong waved his arm in a somewhat theatrical semi-circular gesture indicating the property and said, "So what do you think so far?"

"I...I...I honestly don't know what to say..." Stephanie explained quite sincerely.

Jason interjected, "It makes one heck of a first impression."

"Truer words were never spoken," the lawyer agreed, "but to be perfectly honest with you, you haven't seen anything yet. If you think it looks amazing from the outside, just wait until you see the inside. It is quite spectacular."

"Oh my goodness," Stephanie said, suddenly overwhelmed. "I just can't believe...this is actually ours...it's just so...so... beautiful." Then she began to cry. She didn't want to but simply could not stop herself.

"No cwy Mommy. No cwy," Sammy said gently brushing his mother's cheek fearing something might be wrong with her.

She smiled, let out a loving chuckle and kissed little Sammy on the top of his head. "Don't worry, baby boy. Mommy's fine. It's just that I'm so very happy." Sammy understood happy. Sammy liked being happy. He never cried when he was happy, so he didn't really understand why his mommy was crying because she was happy. But he knew mommies were different from little boys. He could see by her smile she was all right and that was enough to make him happy.

"Well," the lawyer said to Stephanie and Jason, "time's a' wasting as they say. What say we take your lovely family inside and show them their new home?" He said this to make a specific point. He planned to continue deliberately making similar statements all during the tour to reinforce the idea the property was theirs and to make them feel comfortable with ownership. He needed them to move into the house as soon as possible because Washburn had ordered him to make sure that was exactly what they did. The last thing he wanted was to make Washburn angry. So, he had to do whatever he could to convince them to love the house and want to take up immediate residency. However, he had to be careful not to be too overt or pushy in his suggestions. Subliminal subtlety was what the ghost Washburn had determined was required and what the specter had demanded.

Armstrong understood the sooner they came to grips with the fact that the property was theirs, the sooner they would begin to form an emotional bond with it and it would truly become theirs and then, they in turn would become one with the property. Once that bond was solidified, it would be time for its eager spiritual inhabitants to do whatever it was they needed to do.

Armstrong walked to the front door, inserted the key and prepared to escort the family inside.

Chapter 10

 

Jason heard Stephanie's breath catch in her throat as soon as she walked through the door. Still holding her hand, he followed. The front door opened to a modest sized entry foyer at the base of a long wide set of stairs, leading up to the second floor.  Based on his wife's initial reaction, Jason had at first expected some type of grand and luxurious two-story entry hall but then recalling the structure had been a refurbished early twentieth century farmhouse, such a feature would not have been possible without completely changing the interior structure of the building itself. However, once he stepped through the door he understood why Stephanie had been caught by surprise.

The woodwork of the stairway leading upward was immaculate, having been completely restored to its original beauty and luster. An expensive looking carpet runner was meticulously installed down the center of the stairway leaving the restored wood stair treads exposed on the sides. Likewise, the entryway had an equally luxurious carpet, surrounded on two sides by the refinished oak flooring. As Jason stepped inside and turned to look at his wife he noticed, how the carpet continued down a long elegant hallway to the right of the stairs.

Stephanie had turned to face Jason and her back was to a wide entryway to what appeared to be an enormous living room. Stephanie must have backed toward the room because it was obvious she had not yet looked inside. At a quick glance, looking past Stephanie, Jason realized the room was probably double its original size because of the two-story addition they had noticed from outside, which Washburn had put on the right side of the house. Back when the building was originally constructed it was likely only ten or twelve feet deep, but now it appeared to be at least twenty-five feet in depth and was awash with bright light from its many windows.

"Wow!" Jason said surprised. "Look at the size of that living room!"

Stephanie turned as the group headed toward the room with Jason passing her to lead the way, when suddenly they both stopped dead in their tracks. "What the hell?" Jason said in a confused and slightly angry tone.

"Oh oh!" Cindy said from behind them

"Dad said a swear word," Jeremy chuckled.

Little Sammy unfortunately mimicked Jason's surprised expression as he often did in such situations, "Wat a heaw, wat a heaw."

"Quiet now, baby boy," Stephanie said to the baby as she tried to divert his attention.

Jason was unable to offer his customary apology for his unplanned outburst, and since Stephanie also had just seen what had shocked Jason so, she was simply speechless. It was not just because of the size and splendor of the room, but because of what they both saw across the room hanging over the hearth of a huge stone fireplace.

"Hey look," Jeremy said. "It's Mom and Dad in old peoples' clothes." Cindy stood with her mouth agape staring speechless.

What hung on the wall before them was an oil painting of a man and a woman in early nineteenth century formal attire. The portrait appeared to have been created to commemorate the couple's wedding as the woman was dressed in a long white gown while the man wore a suit complete with a top hat. The woman looked very much like Stephanie, enough to pass for her sister, and the man had dark brown hair and wire frame glasses similar to Jason's. He sported a substantial mustache while Jason was clean-shaven. Nonetheless, he looked quite a lot like Jason, again close enough to be a sibling. The man held a walking stick or cane of some sort in his hands with what appeared to be an ivory handle sculpted in the shape of a wolf's head.

Stephanie continued to stare in astonishment. The eyes of both of the subjects in the portrait seemed to stare out directly at them. It was one of those situations where no matter where one stood in the room, the eyes seemed to follow. The illusion gave Stephanie the creeps. A strange feeling welled deep in the pit of her stomach and for a moment, she actually felt as if she might become faint. Fortunately, she had not recalled anything of the dreams, which had plagued her the previous night or she most certainly might have collapsed.

"Wh...who...who are...those people?" Stephanie asked with a trembling voice, never taking her eyes from the portrait.

The lawyer replied looking somewhat confused, "Why, Stephanie...those are your great grandparents, Dwight and Marie Livingston. I'm terribly sorry...I just assumed you might have seen pictures of them sometime before."

"No....no...I...I...haven't," Stephanie stammered. "I never even knew their names. Livingston? That was their last name?"

"Yes. Dwight Charles Livingston and Marie Louise O'Hara Livingston. This portrait was created in honor of their wedding day."

Jason asked appearing perplexed, "I can understand why the woman, Marie might bear a family resemblance to Stephanie since she is her great-grandmother, but why in the world does Dwight look so much like me? I mean, he looks enough like me to be my own great-grandfather...that makes no sense at all."

"Could be purely coincidental," the lawyer suggested. "In fact, it probably is...that is, unless your ancestors also came from this area, Jason. Then anything might be possible. You see, when you start tracing back your family lineage, often strange things are discovered. For example, I have learned that I am related to the legendary chocolate manufacturer Milton Hershey seven different ways. Yet before researching my family tree, I had no idea we were even related."

"Are you suggesting Jason and I could be related?" Stephanie asked sounding quite upset. "I'm certain that isn't possible."

Armstrong realized he was beginning to upset Stephanie and said, "No, Stephanie, absolutely not. I am not suggesting any such thing. As I said, the similarity is likely just a coincidence." Then he said with an odd look in his eyes, "But even if you were to discover someday that the two of you were somehow distantly related it would have likely been so many generations in the past that it would be irrelevant by now."