When Emily dropped them off at Ashley’s house, Ashley let Liz lean into her and helped her up the stairs to the bathroom, where she cleared her stomach in the toilet for a while before deciding she was safe to go to bed. “I’m going to be so sorry in the morning, but it was so much fun, Ash. Thanks for asking me.”
“Thanks for coming, Liz. Best fun I’ve had since asshole cheated on me.”
Liz stumbled off to bed then, and Ashley slept the sleep of the dead until Tootsie woke her much too early the next morning demanding to be taken out to relieve herself. The sound of her barking was like a fog horn held directly to her ears, but she obliged and took her outside, made a cup of coffee, drank it black, and hung her head wondering if the fun of the night before was really worth it.
When Liz practically crawled down the stairway an hour later, they managed to swallow down dry toast, and Liz said, “Today, I want to see every inch of this place starting with the attic. I love attics. Basements I hate, but attics are so cool.”
“That’s a plan. Let’s get dressed and do that. I’ve got before and after pictures for the areas I’ve finished so far too, so you can see how much it really did need work when I bought the place.”
“Oh, I want to see those, but Rex told me some horror stories. He was worried you’d taken on too much. But when he came to help with that last renovation job, he was very impressed with how far you’ve come along here too. You should be proud.”
Ashley blushed. But then she held her head up. “You know what? I am proud. I got knocked down by Brody, but I didn’t let him leave me down. I found the kind of house I’ve always dreamed of owning, and I’m making it mine, one room at a time. I don’t have the money to furnish it in period furnishing yet, but little by little, I’ll eventually get to that to. In the meantime, I’m growing G & J and working here. It feels good. So right.”
Liz patted her on the back. “You go, girl. You’ve got this.”
Except for an initial inspection to check for wiring, insulation, and possible leaks, Ashley hadn’t spent any time in the attic. It was empty except for an old trundle Singer sewing machine. She planned to move that into one of the guest rooms soon. In fact, she asked Liz if she’d help her move that down the stairs after they looked around.
With a full-sized window on each end and a bright day outside, the ladies had plenty of light. Liz walked every inch of the place pressing on various boards along the way.
“What are you looking for?” Ashley asked.
“Hiding places.”
“What?”
“If people have something to hide, they hide it in the walls or nooks and crannies of the attics or basements of their homes where they think no one will ever look. It’s like a treasure hunt.”
Suddenly, Ashley thought about what or who she’d found hidden in her wall downstairs. Liz was right. Priscilla had hidden Perry. Had she hidden anything else? Or maybe some owner after them?
“Look, look here,” Liz demanded as she pulled away a loose brick and uncovered a small, leather bound book.
Ashley hustled across the attic.
“It’s a diary or a journal,” Liz said.
“OMG, what a find. Is there anything else?” Ashley asked. Liz handed the journal to Ashley and reached into the opening where she had taken the journal from. In it she found a small piece of brown paper folded into a square. She opened it and found a lock of hair tied together with faded, pink ribbon.
“It looks like baby’s hair. That’s what I do with each of my kids, so I remember and they’ll know what color their hair was when they were babies. Hair color changes over time, you know.”
“It may be Priscilla Lucier’s baby girl’s hair,” Ashley said.
“Who’s that?”
“I did some research on the house. The realtor told me someone died here. When I researched, I found out a woman named Pricilla Lucier killed her husband, Perry, here. They’d had a baby together. That baby died before he did. The police didn’t put her in jail. They put her in the Concord State Hospital. You know, for the mentally ill. She died there.”
“Oh, that’s awful,” Liz said. “Does it creep you out knowing all this went on in your house?”
“Well, it was well before my time. I didn’t have anything to do with it. And they’re all dead now. So it’s water under the bridge, I guess.”
Liz made Twilight Zone sounds. “It’s a bit creepy to me. Maybe they’ll haunt you.”
“Oh stop it. Don’t be a jerk. This journal should make interesting reading, though. Thanks for finding it.”
“My pleasure. But I want to see the rest of this mansion. I’ve got to make it back to Vermont sometime today, or Rex and the kids may have the house burnt to the ground without me to wrestle them under control. So we don’t have time to read now. You’ll have to call me with the Cliff Notes’ version when you finish it.”
Ashley slipped the baby hair into the journal, secured it with the leather tie so that the hair wouldn’t slip out, and said, “Yeah, there’s lots more to see, and I’d like your ideas about what to do next.”
But really, she was then wishing Liz would go home, so she could plow through Priscilla’s journal and get her side of the story about the love between Perry and Priscilla.
Chapter Twenty-two
But that couldn’t happen right away because almost as soon as Liz pulled out of driveway, Perry appeared.
“Did you enjoy your visit?”
“Oh, it was the best. It was just what I needed. I haven’t had a ladies’ night out in so long. We danced all night. It was so much fun.”
“Priscilla used to like having ladies’ events too. I never understood it. Of course, she didn’t go out dancing. But she joined the church guild and a book club at the library. She said it was nice to spend time with women. It made no sense to me.”
She stood with her hands on her hips and stared. “Didn’t you enjoy spending time with men? At a men’s club or going out for drinks or playing cards, anything like that?”
“Actually, I had enough of men at work. Once I came home, that’s where I wanted to be. Once I met Priscilla, I knew she was the only one I wanted to be with. She was enough for me. Honesty, she was my everything.”
Yet, she had murdered him. Ashley wondered if Priscilla saw his attitude as endearing or suffocating. “That’s so sweet,” she said.
“I’m glad you feel that way,” he answered.
They prepared a simple dinner of chicken, a baked potato, which she showed him how to cheat on by cooking in the microwave, and a small tossed salad. He kept her company while she ate but couldn’t come along with her when she took Tootsie out for a run.
They relaxed in front of the television when she returned. He was fascinated by it and the vast selection of programming. He loved talking into the remote and saying things like “World War I movies” or “cowboy movies” and having choices appear for him to select from.
“Well, I’ve got work in the morning and need some rest. Last night took a lot out of me,” she said. “I’ll see you in the morning. Thank you for dinner, Perry, and your company.”