“Miss Ravenwood,” Mr. Gambit spoke while pulling a huge pile of papers out of the briefcase.
“Mr. Gambit, I apologize for being so late.” Gambit didn’t acknowledge her apology. He placed the stack of papers in front of him on the table and gestured with his plump round hand for Brenna to stand and pick them up. She reluctantly pushed her chair back, making a grinding sound on the wooden floor and picked up the papers and studied them. She couldn’t believe her eyes. The paper on top of the huge pile displayed what they were willing to pay for Brenna’s land; five hundred thousand big ones. Brenna’s mouth hung open. Why were they willing to pay so much?
“You’ll see that we have offered you a very generous sum, Miss Ravenwood,” Mr. Gambit said.
“Yes, v-very generous.” Brenna tried to quell the butterflies rising in her stomach.
“Now if you’ll just look at the next page and sign on the dotted line everything will be final,” Gambit ordered.
“Actually, I decided this morning that I was going to visit Oakwood before I make any final decisions.” Brenna’s voice was quiet and shaky. Hector stood and slammed both fists down on the table.
“What? You never mentioned this before! You can’t do this now!” he screamed.
Brenna gasped. “Mr. Hector, there is no need to be so childish. I want to see the place once before I make such a big decision. I just want to spend a week there…”
“One week? Are you crazy?” Hector pointed at Brenna. “I will call you in two days on this cell phone.” Hector slid a phone across to Brenna who had never owned a one before. “You will make your decision then. We cannot wait a week. I’ve got the bulldozers ready to clear the land. Do not disappoint me; you do not want to see me mad.”
Brenna thought he was probably right if he wasn’t mad right now, she didn’t want to know what he was like when he was angry.
“Very well, Hector I will give you my decision in two days,” Brenna said, handing the papers back to Mr. Gambit.
As she approached the door Hector hissed her name. “You’re wasting everybody’s time, you know. There’s nothing for you there. If you’re hoping for some sort of family connection, you’ll be disappointed.”
“I don’t think it’s unreasonable for me to have a look first.”
“You know the land is haunted.”
“What?”
“I’ve done research. Women were burned in those woods. Probably your ancestors. Do you think that’s going to be a nice atmosphere for you?”
The skin on her palms clammed up. Hector didn’t appear to be finished. “I’ve seen your shop. You’re into that mumbo jumbo stuff. You should know there’s nothing good for you waiting in Oakwoods.”
“Even if any of that is true, I’d still rather see for myself.”
“One more thing, Brenna, I always get my way.”
Brenna returned to her car, happy to leave the towering building behind, still hearing Hector’s scratchy voice rattling around in her head. If he was so convinced the land was haunted, why did he want it so bad? It could be an up and coming area. Maybe five hundred big ones was too cheap. More research was in order. Much more research.
Brenna sped along the highway, weaving her way through the traffic. She arrived home and pulled into her driveway. She grinned. Tiddles peered at her with his flat face pressed against an upstairs window. His wide yellow eyes were little moons that lovingly watched as Brenna moved to the front door. He dropped out of sight.
Brenna heard a crash against the door and slowly opened it, looking behind the door. A dazed Tiddles stared up at her. “Tiddles, not again,” Brenna said as she bent down and stroked him. He rolled over and showed her his fluffy stomach. She rubbed his tummy and he purred in return. Once she was sure he was satisfied, she headed to the kitchen. Her throat was dry from the nerve-wracking meeting. It felt like she had helped herself to a bucket of sand. Tiddles weaved between her feet as she headed to the fridge. Just as Brenna was about to open the fridge her phone rang. Tiddles meowed in protest as she pivoted away from the fridge and answered the phone instead. “Hello.”
A bouncy Maggie greeted her. “Hey, Bren, I’m dying to know what happened.”
“Well they offered me a huge amount of money,” Brenna teased Maggie, purposefully leaving out details.
“Bren! How huge?”
“Five hundred thousand smackeroos,” Brenna held the phone away from her head expecting an ecstatic scream but there was only silence. Maggie couldn’t shut her mouth all the way if she tried, so she must have been completely stunned.
“Mags? You there?”
“Yeah, I think so. What did you say?”
“I didn’t accept the money. Not yet anyway. I told them I was going on holiday for a week in Oakwoods, and I would make my decision when I got back. That dirtbag Hector told me I have two days to make my decision,” Brenna said.
“Well, I think you made the right decision. When do you leave?”
“First thing in the morning.”
“Stop by the shop in the morning before you go. I’m going to pack you a care package. I’ll leave it around back.”
“You’re the best.”
“I know. Have a good trip. Don’t worry about Tiddles or the shop. They’ll be fine with me,” Maggie said.
“Thank you, Maggie. I’ll see you in a few days.”
“Good luck, Brenna.”
Brenna placed the phone back on the hook and remembered about her dry throat. She opened the fridge and scanned the shelves, pulled out a bottle of orange juice, and a half-empty can of food for Tiddles. Tiddles squawked at the sight of it. She spooned the sloppy food into Tiddles’s bowl. Brenna screwed up her face as the smell of sardines invaded her nostrils.
“Yuck, Tiddles, how can you eat this stuff?” Brenna took her drink and went upstairs to pack.
Brenna set a small suitcase on her bed and stuffed it full of clothes. After packing her toiletry bag, she looked around the room. It felt like she was forgetting something. She looked in the wardrobe at her clothes which were mostly dark dresses. Then it hit her. Boots! One couldn’t go on a trip wearing only sandals. She reached up to grab her well-worn but favorite ankle boots and had to step forward to reach. Her foot hit something unexpected on the floor. She bent down and moved aside a pile of clothes that had fallen from hangars. The wooden box her grandmother had left her was nestled under the clothes. “Oh.” It struck her like a blow to the head. It was the same box. The one from her dream. She hadn’t been in the right headspace to go through her grandmother’s things when she died and had put the box in the bottom of the wardrobe. She ran her fingers over the carvings of the moon phases. What was going on? She sat cross-legged on the floor and sat to box on her legs.
It opened with a slight creak. A puff of nostalgia-scented air escaped the box. Musk, lavender, and rosemary brought her back to her grandmother’s kitchen. To a time when she was too short to reach the counter and had to stand on a stool. Whipping up creations that either tasted good or healed ailments.
Inside the box was full of dried herbs. Most of them were probably too old to be any use. Certainly not for cooking. Speaking of cooking, it was getting way too past dinner time for Brenna’s liking. Time for pizza. Pizza with lots of cheese. She closed the box and set the box down on the bed before heading downstairs to order said pizza.