*****
The top of the main staircase ended in a single door. Beyond the door was an attic that took up the entire roof cavity with the exception of the tower. It was huge and filled with furniture, clothes, and other odds and ends from several decades. Uncle Matt and Aunt Rachel accompanied the six kids on their sojourn; Adam, Jesse, and Kimmy were helping, too. They had given Tyler, Sarah, and Benji each a small cube of colored post-its to tag the items they wanted to bring to their rooms.
Currently Sarah and Kimmy were going through an old trunk filled with fabrics that unfolded to reveal curtains and table clothes. Kimmy was using a pink and green silk table cloth as a toga and modeling for Sarah.
“Where did all this stuff come from?” Sarah called out to Aunt Rachel who was hidden by a mound of stacked boxes and dressers.
“The original founders of the Sanctuary and their descendants,” came Aunt Rachel’s muffled answer. “The stone part of the house was built in 1795 before Colorado was even a state. The rest were later additions as the family and work force here expanded. This is pretty much all the furniture and belongings of every family that’s lived here.”
“Did each generation just redecorate?”
“Probably more than once,” Aunt Rachel laughed. She came around the wooden blockade with an armful of curtains for Sarah’s inspection. “This place has always been severely isolated. Changing up the interior can be a good way to relieve the monotony, especially during winter.”
“I guess that makes sense,” Sarah said. Kimmy twirled around her, displaying a new wrapping of iridescent mustard yellow curtains. “I can’t imagine how some of these curtains looked hanging on the windows.” She gestured to Kimmy. “That’s the ugliest curtain I’ve ever seen.”
“I’m sure you’ll stumble across uglier.” Aunt Rachel bent to open a cardboard box seemingly filled with brass monkey figurines. “I never said they decorated with taste.”
Sarah laughed in agreement and sorted through more curtains. Benji had already found a ton of tchotchke’s and furniture he just had to have. Tyler found a nice desk, but he was only looking halfheartedly, decorating wasn’t his idea of a good time. Sarah, on the other hand, was having problems finding curtains long enough for her window.
Aunt Rachel brought a tape measure with her and Sarah handed her a pair of pretty pink silk drapes to measure. When she shook her head, Sarah dove back into the pile.
“We might have to get some specially made,” Aunt Rachel said.
“Is that what you did for Jessie’s room?”
“No, those curtains were something my mother bought back in the eighties. She redid that whole floor in black and white eighties-chic one winter.”
“Well there must be more curtains for those two rooms somewhere in here,” Sarah said slightly exasperated.
Kimmy was going behind her and putting the discarded curtains back into the chest when she gasped and squealed, wheeling towards Sarah and almost knocking her down. “Here!” she said thrusting some fabric into Sarah’s hands. “I found them! I found your curtains!”
Sarah held up the fabric as Aunt Sarah came over with her measuring tape. Jessie came around a group of chairs and table with a purple umbrella stand on top to see what the commotion was all about. “Those are neat,” she commented.
The drapes were rough silk in a light green color and had even lighter green embroidered leafy vines running up and down their length. They were long and heavy. “Like a jungle,” Kimmy said, excited by her find.
The little girl was right. They did remind Sarah of a sunny jungle scene. They also looked incredibly long. “These will work,” Aunt Rachel said in surprise. “And I think those sheer panels go with them.” She pointed to a bundle of thin white gauze-like material. Jessie was closest, so she grabbed the curtains and handed them to her mom to measure. “Yes, these go behind the silk ones.” She held them up together for Sarah’s inspection.
“Perfect!” Sarah said. Kimmy squealed again and Sarah gave her a hug. “You did a good job finding my curtains, Kimmy.” The little girl wiggled out of Sarah’s grasp and put her hands on her hips.
“See, I can help!” Kimmy called out towards the other side of the attic where the boys were. She stuck out her tongue in their direction even though they couldn’t see her. Sarah and Jessie both laughed.
“Of course you can,” Aunt Sarah said more seriously. “We never doubted you.”
Earlier, when Kimmy had asked to be included in the attic jaunt, Adam told her she was a pest and would get in everyone’s way. Kimmy objected strongly to this and promised Aunt Rachel and Uncle Matt she wouldn’t get in the way and she’d be really helpful. With her parents’ approval, Kimmy had secured her place in the search over Adam’s continued objections.
Kimmy dashed to the attic door, her arms full of the curtains. Sarah and Jessie decided to look for furniture while Aunt Rachel said she and Kimmy would go downstairs and put the curtains up in Sarah’s room.
As Sarah and her cousin walked through the cluttered attic they saw that Benji had gone mad with his post-its. His were neon yellow and they graced the oddest assortment of lamps, desks, chairs and dressers that Sarah had ever seen. She walked past side tables carved with pineapples, a display of Samurai swords in black lacquered sheaths, a tall iron lamp with a bright green shade, and what appeared to be a suit of armor. He’d apparently put his post-its on as much as possible as if this were a game to see who could claim the most stuff.
“I am not helping him move all that,” Jessie declared. Sarah nodded in agreement. She didn’t think all that junk would even fit in her little brother’s room.
Comparatively, Tyler claimed very few items in the attic. His blue sticky notes adorned a black lacquered dresser set that might have come from their grandmother’s modern phase. He’d also marked an industrial-looking silver metal desk and several Japanese-style lamps. When Sarah and Jessie found him, he and Adam were going through a box of assorted bed spreads.
“Did you find curtains yet?” Adam asked.
“Kimmy found them actually,” Sarah said with a smile. Adam groaned. “She and Aunt Rachel went ahead downstairs to hang them up.”
“She’ll be bragging about this for a week,” Adam complained. He grabbed another cardboard box from a nearby pile and tore it open with disgust.
“You shouldn’t have said anything in the first place,” Jessie scolded him. He grunted and ignored her, asking Tyler about a set of bookends shaped like Arabian towers.
“Sure,” Tyler gave the bookends his approval. He set them on a table and put a blue note on each of them. “There was a box on that glass table,” he said pointing to the left. “It had some junk you might like.”
Sarah and Jessie found the box and, upon opening, found it was full of tiny lamps. Sarah assumed they were meant to be desk lamps, being so small. She picked up a stained glass one decorated with images of roses and clover and tagged it with one of her orange post-its. Jessie found one designed to look like a beach umbrella and claimed it for her own room. Most of the lamps were rather plain and there were more than a few broken ones. At the bottom of the box, Sarah lifted out an old fashioned library lamp. It looked as if once might have graced the desk of Sherlock Holmes, but it was now spotted black with tarnish. The glass shade might have been blue or green, she couldn’t tell which and the rest was brass. It needed a good cleaning, but otherwise seemed intact.
“Hey, that’s mine!” Benji came up behind her. “Mine,” he repeated and reached over her shoulder to slap a yellow note on it.
“Don’t you think you’ve found enough?” Sarah asked.
“It’s a big room,” Benji said defiantly. “It takes a lot to fill it up. Besides, that was my last post-it.” Sarah turned around and saw that his hands were now empty. “Uncle Matt went to get Grandpa and David to start hauling the bigger stuff down. He said we should finish up and help with the moving.”
“Sarah hasn’t found any big items yet,” Jes
sie said. “The hunt for curtains took us a lot longer than we thought.”
“It’s alright,” Sarah said. “I can always hunt for baubles and things later. Let’s go ahead and see if we can find a desk or something for my room. I know what I’m looking for, so it shouldn’t take us long.” Jessie agreed and they left Benji with Tyler and Adam.
Sarah was right. It didn’t take her long to find something that she liked. She discovered a white plush fainting couch for the bedroom and a pretty black vanity table. She stumbled across two narrow oak tables that had vines carved up the legs and an inlaid lion’s head decorated the surface of each. Thinking to use them as a desk, she found two comfortable looking chairs upholstered in red and marked all four items as well as a few area rugs that caught her eye. By the time this was accomplished, the moving had begun in earnest.
It took nearly four hours to get everything moved and situated on the third floor. It was actually done much faster than Sarah originally thought. With everyone chipping in, the time went quickly. Benji’s room was the caused a lot difficulty because of the tiny door and also because he had so much stuff. Sarah thought his room now resembled the attic itself.
Benji’d found a huge oaken desk carved with stylized leaves and fruit. He traded in the room’s original chair for a big sofa and a rolling wooden desk chair. He also had them cart in several shelves in mismatching wood tones to display all of his newfound bric-a-brac. He seemed pleased with the result, though and was currently busy cleaning up model airplanes and cars which he wanted to hang from the ceiling with fishing line, an idea that Tyler had given him.
Tyler had opted to put old record sheaths on his walls in lieu of artwork. He tried hanging some from the ceiling, but hadn’t liked it and took those down. Uncle Matt had found him some putty-like sticky stuff that Tyler used to press the albums on his wall without poking holes in them. Jessie had really liked this idea and she and Adam helped him until one whole wall was hidden by album covers.
Aunt Rachel, Sylvie, and Kimmy helped Sarah with her room after the furniture was set up. She positioned the white chaise in front of her bookshelf and put the two narrow tables back to back in the center of the room with the gold chairs on each side to make a desk. She and Kimmy had been left to hang up paintings and framed photos before they both got tired and took a break on the balcony.
“The garden’s so pretty,” Kimmy said, leaning forward in the loveseat to rest her arms on the balcony rail.
“I think so, too.” Sarah agreed and mimicked Kimmy’s position, laying her head on her arms. She had a wonderful view of the garden, hedge maze, and the forest beyond. “Perfect,” Sarah declared. She was tired and sweaty, but happy to be sitting in the sunshine.
“It’s going to rain,” Kimmy told Sarah in a matter of fact voice.
Since Sarah had been at the Sanctuary she learned to trust Kimmy’s instincts when it came to nature. Kimmy predicted rain and sunshine with unfailing accuracy. She had become Sarah’s shadow in recent days and Sarah liked the golden haired girl’s company. She never ran out of things to say and often talked to the flowers in the garden and the animals in their pens. Sarah had once come upon her having a very intent conversation with a rabbit.
“How do you know?” Sarah asked, already knowing the answer.
“Just do,” came the predicted response. “It probably won’t start until late in the night, though.”
“Good,” Sarah sighed. “I like sitting out in the sunshine.”
“Me too.”
A few minutes later they were both called to dinner and Sarah said goodbye to her friend as she scampered off to her own house. Kimmy was ray of sunshine herself. She was energetic and happy. She treated Sarah as if they had always been friends, taking it for granted that Sarah would play her various games.
In the preceding days they’d thrown a tea party at the round table in the hedge maze, had a breath holding contest in the pool and played several games of croquet. Sarah didn’t mind. Jessie and Adam seemed wary of her and, of course, Tyler and Benji treated her as they always had. It was nice to be accepted without question even if it was by a precocious eight year old.
Dinner was a lazy affair. Everyone was tired from all of the activity and it had been Grandpa’s turn to cook. He’d laid out a selection of croissants and cold ham and cheese for sandwiches at the buffet. They lounged around in the parlor, eating off paper plates. It was the first informal dinner Sarah experienced at the Sanctuary. Up until today, they ate in the dining room at the long table with the silverware and plates carefully set. It was nice, but Sarah liked the casual element of eating in the parlor as well.
After they finished with the meal and disposed of their plates, Grandpa invited her to play a game of chess with him at the table by the window. He had a polished wooden chess board with tiny wooden pieces. Grandpa had begun teaching Sarah and Benji chess two days ago when they’d been stuck inside on a rainy day. Sarah already knew the basics and was actually getting fairly good at it. She hadn’t beaten Grandpa yet, but defeated Aunt Rachel yesterday when they played after dinner.
Benji declined to watch or wait for a turn to play. He said was going to finish putting things away in his room, but before he left the parlor he asked Aunt Rachel for some polish and a rag.
“I’d like some too,” Sarah chimed in. “I’ve got a few brass items that need a good cleaning.” Aunt Rachel nodded and said she’d hunt some up for them.
After Sarah’s game with Grandpa was over (he’d won), Aunt Rachel stopped her on the stairs with a few rags and two tins of polish. “Don’t forget to take some up to your brother,” she said handing Sarah the items. “Sleep well,” she added as Sarah started upstairs.
“Goodnight,” Sarah said. She braced for the inevitable hug and scurried upstairs with a wave after Aunt Rachel pulled back. She had yet to become comfortable with hugging.
When she knocked on Benji’s door, she got a muffled “enter” before ducking underneath the doorway. Benji had hung a giant feathered dream catcher above his headboard and model planes and cars were suspended haphazardly from his ceiling. He was sitting at his giant desk attaching fishing line to another airplane. “What do you want?” he asked uncharitably.
Sarah sighed. “I brought you the polish you asked for,” she said looking around the room. Sarah studied the room thoughtfully. “It’s actually pretty cool, even if it is little chaotic,” she commented.
“The chaos is the cool part,” Benji returned.
“I guess so,” Sarah agreed before handing over one can of polish and a rag to Benji. With mumbled thanks, he got back to his models and she wished him goodnight before going to her own room.
She replaced her tennis shoes in front of her doorway before heading to the bathroom. The hot baths had become a nightly ritual for her. Sometimes they helped her sleep, sometimes they didn’t, but they were always soothing. Perhaps if insomnia plagued her tonight, she could sit outside on her balcony and watch the stars. With this thought, she ran a hot a bath and hoped that tonight was one of the nights where it helped her to sleep.