Dust coated everything, and Amy wiped it off a jar. “This looks like jam or preserves.”
“Any date on it?” Faith asked.
Amy held it up to the light. “1960.”
So maybe Ed’s parents hadn’t known of the cellar’s existence.
Tess wandered over to the far wall where a desk sat and pulled open a drawer. Inside were a stack of papers and a book.
“Take a look,” Ed said.
The papers were building designs.
“They’re the extensions to the house,” Ed said. “When they put the bathroom inside and added a couple of bedrooms.”
The other book appeared to be a ledger with details of stock and feed in them. Next to the desk was an old trunk, and the other shelving contained tins, old toys, and other odds and ends that old houses collected.
“Let’s open the trunk,” Lara said.
“Not until I get there,” Georgie replied. “I’m on my way.”
“Geor-gie,” Lara complained.
Matt shrugged. “She’s hung up, La La. You’re going to have to wait.”
Brandon and Darcy carried the trunk upstairs, and the others followed. Tess walked along the shelving, studying what was there. Some of the stuff had a really old feel to it, the glass jars with more intricate mouldings, and the tin containers were the type which sold well in vintage shops. “This is really cool,” she said to Ed. “Do you think Lilian and Reginald built it?”
“I don’t know. It’s got to be pretty old if Charlotte was using it. Maybe there’re more details in her journals.”
Tess wanted to stay up all night reading them. They were a fascinating look into the life of a woman who was miserable living in such an isolated location. She’d been forced to marry again after the war because her husband had died, and she had a young baby to support.
Tess trailed her fingers over the cool, rough rock wall, and one wobbled under her fingers. The light bulb flickered and went out, plunging them into darkness, with only a glow coming from the stairs.
“We should have another bulb upstairs,” Ed said, taking her hand.
Tess was torn. Part of her wanted to examine every inch of this cellar and see what information the papers contained, what kind of history the bottles told, but the other part was just as interested in the trunk they’d carried upstairs.
In the laundry, Ed grabbed a spare bulb, and Tess flicked the light switch off so he could replace it.
“Ready,” Ed called.
She flicked the switch, but no light came from the cellar. Ed swore. “Must be the wiring.”
Disappointment filled her as Ed returned. “I’ll call someone tomorrow. Do you want to use the torch?”
In the kitchen behind her, the others sat around the table, discussing what they thought would be in the trunk. She could wait a night. She wanted to add her own theories. “Let’s join the others.”
“It’s pretty old,” Brandon was saying. “The top is a little rotted.”
“It’s got to be a treasure chest,” Lara said. “Maybe no one has been able to open it.”
Darcy chuckled. “I’m pretty sure someone would have opened it before now, pumpkin.”
She pouted. “Not if there was no key.”
“Could be it’s the signed confession of the mutineers,” Sam said. “Along with details of their gruesome exploits.” He winked at Lara.
“The other trunks had clothing in them,” Faith said.
