“Sure.”
Grandma and Irene each gave her five dollars, then headed for the parlor. Grandma stopped short at her rocking chair by the fireplace. “It’s still here.”
Irene smiled, then studied the walls. “Sarah…”
“What?” Grandma followed her gaze. “Oh… oh!” The walls were covered with photographs. She went to the nearest one. There were photos taken from the late 1800s. Ephraim, the son of Chase Adams, the town blacksmith, had taken to photography like a duck to water. Someone must have found his collection.
“Well, will you look at all of this,” Grandma said. “I can hardly believe it.”
Irene squinted at one photograph. “Is that Levi Stone?”
Grandma joined her and looked at it too. “Hey, it is, along with his whole family. Oh, Irene, this is bad. Very bad,” Grandma whispered. “People are going to recognize us, especially those that love this museum.” She looked over her shoulder at the girl sitting at the small desk near the staircase.
“Well, what do you suggest we do?” Irene whispered. “It’s not as if we can take all these photographs down and hide them.”
“No, but we can hide ourselves somehow.” Grandma looked around the room, then bent toward Irene’s ear. “We’re going to have to come up with some disguises.”
“What sort of disguises?” Irene scrunched up her face.
“I don’t know, but it’s going to have to be something. I bet we can find a place around here with wigs or different clothes or…”
“Let’s not panic,” Irene said, holding up a hand.
They continued looking at the photographs on the walls. Ephraim, before he left Clear Creek to go work at a newspaper in another city, had taken a lot of photographs. There were pictures of different families, lots of the Cookes, and even the town picnic. His family must have donated his collection to the town. She had no idea where he’d wound up in his later years, though she knew he’d married.
“What are we going to tell Doc and the others?” Grandma fretted.
“We’ll tell them the truth, of course,” Irene said. “Stay out of the museum. But they’re going to have to hide their identities as well. It’s bad enough we’ve gone and given everyone our names.”
“Yes, but there are plenty of people around here named after their ancestors, so that’s not a worry. But us looking likethisis.” She waved a hand at herself, then looked at the nearest photograph. “Hey, I look pretty good in this one.”
Irene followed her gaze. “So do I. Ephraim did take good photographs, didn’t he?”
“Yes. It was a shame he left town. Too bad he didn’t start a paper right here in Clear Creek.”
“For all we know, Grandma, maybe he did. Maybe he moved back to town after a spell,” Irene suggested.
“Yes, that might explain the number of photographs here. But either way, we still need to do something to disguise ourselves. If we’re going to putter around for a time, we need to make sure no one finds out who we really are.”
Grandma glanced at the young lady in the front hall. She smiled at them and gave a little wave. “At least we don’t have to worry about her,” she muttered under her breath.
Irene nodded. “Thank goodness for that. Let’s go check out the rest of the house.”
They spent a few more minutes in the parlor, looking at things Grandma and Doc owned when they lived there. Tears stung the backs of her eyes, and she was homesick for the Clear Creek she knew. But circumstances had brought them to this place in their lives, and there was nothing they could do about it. She didn’t regret anything. She just missed her friends from long ago.
“Should we visit the cemetery?” Irene whispered.
Grandma shook her head. “Oh no. I don’t want to. It’s too heart-wrenching. Let’s not.”
“I was just asking.”
They went out to the front hall, smiled at the girl, then headed for the kitchen. Grandma stood before the cookstove and smiled. “I love this stove,” she said in a soft voice. “Made plenty of pies with it.”
“Indeed you did,” Irene said, and patted her shoulder.
They examined everything, then moved on to the patient room. They continued to look around, then checked out thedining room and upstairs. It was all Grandma could do to hold it together, but she managed.
When they were done, they thanked the girl, each giving an extra donation, and left. Grandma wiped her eyes as soon as they were on the front porch.
