The first thing Lauren did was to open the windows. She was glad to see the screens were secure and without any holes. The gentle breeze coming through the screens was cooled by the shade of the trees on the cottage. In no time the closed-in smell that had permeated the interior was replaced with an earthen leafy odor that wasn’t at all unpleasant and a semi-sweet undertone of a flower that she couldn’t quite place.
Tackling the kitchen and bathroom turned out not to be such a big task and Lauren was through right about noon time. The one thing she was really dreading was to open the refrigerator, but someone must have cleaned it out because there wasn’t anything in it, although it was cold and the freezer looked as though it had recently been defrosted.
Lauren took her lunch out of a thermal lunch bag along with Abigail’s and sat at the table. “Abby, come on in here, it’s time for lunch.” Lauren waited to hear the normal ‘thud’ of the cat coming down from whatever high perch she had found to sleep on, but didn’t hear anything. That was unusual. There was one thing that Abigail never slept through, and that was her meal times.
“Abby!” Again she waited, and getting no response, Lauren started to get concerned.
Getting up from the table, she walked into the living room and started looking around. No cat. “Here kitty, you little brat. If you’re hiding and just waiting to pounce at me, you’ll get no treats tonight.” Certain Abigail was not in the living room, Lauren continued on to the bedrooms.
The small room in front contained so many containers, that it took a while to look all over and around them. Still no Abby.
“Okay, I give up. You win. Where are you?” Lauren was starting to become really frightened. Abby had never tried to hide from her before. She was an unusual cat, in that when Lauren called, she almost always came running, or at least meowed to let her know where she was. Had Abby somehow gotten out? Was there some hole in the flooring that she could have squeezed through?
Walking into the back bedroom, Lauren glanced around and saw nothing. But she did hear something. Loud purring. At first she couldn’t figure out where it was coming from, then realized it was coming from one of the shift robes. Opening the door, Lauren found Abigail crouched on top of the top shelf, purring loudly.
“Abby! How did you get in here? And why didn’t you say something when I called?” Abigail was unaffected by her roommate’s distress, she just purred louder. She then looked down and started to paw at the lock on the top drawer. This lock was ornate and resembled a butterfly.
“Come on down, you had me worried. I couldn’t imagine where you had gone.” Lauren grabbed Abby under her arms and cradled her to her chest. Abigail allowed the embrace for a moment then leaned back to try to swat at the lock again.
“Why are you being so silly? Yes, it’s very pretty and shiny, but it’s not a real butterfly. Come on, we’ll have lunch, then if you’re so insistent, we’ll find the key to open that lock.” Abigail wiggled through Lauren’s arms, dropped to the floor, then without so much as a backward glance, walked tail-high toward the kitchen.
“Great. You had me worried to death and you’re the one giving attitude?” Lauren shook her head and went back to the kitchen where they peacefully ate their lunches.
As promised, Lauren took her keys and went back to the shift robe. It took only a few tries before she found the correct small key that fit the lock. Inside the drawer were some pictures, a small box, a large bible and several manila envelopes.
Lauren grabbed it all and sat cross-legged on the bed, leaning against the headboard. There were five pictures; one was a tintype, two looked to be from the late 1800s and the last ones at different times in the 1900s. Each was of a single woman posed with a young teenage girl. Lauren stared intently; the girl from the latest picture looked so much like her when she was that age, it had to be a picture of her mother and grandmother. Placing all five pictures in front of her, Lauren compared them all. There was a definite family resemblance, even while the hair and dress styles were different. Lauren felt a kinship with them and felt a warm glow. Each woman had a welcoming smile on her face, as though they acknowledged Lauren being there. The girls’ smiles were more on the shy side, but friendly and open.
YOU ARE READING
An Inheritance
General FictionLauren heads to Louisiana to attend to her grandmother's 'estate' ... she had never met her and in fact, none of her relatives had even known she had still been alive all of those years ... as Lauren unravels her grandmother's past, she begins to un...
