2 comments/ 8185 views/ 3 favorites Dolce Giardino By: thornapple By Philip Johnson Prologue Dolce Giardino. It means sweet garden in Italian, and that was the name of their estate, and an apt description. The year was nineteen twenty six, and Charles and Kathryn Philips lived on that estate, and in that new grand and sturdy looking brick home. Charles and Kathryn loved the somewhat isolated location. They really weren't that far from town, maybe seven miles more or less, and besides, they had a fancy new Cadillac and a driver. Life was good for them. Oh, he had to go off on business ventures from time to time, but then he'd be back, and he and his bride would enjoy their home and often walk the grounds. Then it seemed that almost over night he discovered that he enjoyed being naked around the house on occasion, and even the housekeeper would see him, or the old cook would see him and quietly turn away. Though totally out of character for either of them, Kathryn didn't mind her husband's new oddity at all. In fact, much to his surprise in the beginning, sometimes she would join him. On those occasions when they walked the grounds naked, it never failed to cause the gardener to stop and star at them from the safety of a bush. She was quite attractive in her own way. Long of leg and hair, and lithe and flowing in her movements. She was a pretty melody for the eyes, and she had a bearing that could only come from being raised in a moneyed home. It was Charles' money that urged her wealthy father to introduce his daughter to her now husband. Charles was lean and wiry, and much stronger than anybody might guess he could be. Clear blue eyes and a quick smile were his trademarks. But it was Charles money and potential for great success that made her father embrace Charles so early on. The Philips had many acquaintances and friends of a sort, but only a few really close friends, so the walking around naked that they so enjoyed didn't cause any problems or consternation at all as far as they knew. That is until one day when they undressed while on the patio, and went for a long walk toward the back of the estate and lost track of the time. Henry and Mildred Potter, their expected guests were punctual, and the maid showed them to the patio just as she had been instructed to do. That patio, where unfortunately the naked couple had left their clothes. The maid disappeared to fetch them refreshments as the guests noticed the garments piled on a chair. It was then that Kathryn and Charles, the naked wanderers, casually walked out into the open. They enjoyed their meandering walk back as they made their way toward the patio as their stunned guests watched them. The Potters, who were to spend a few days at the estate, really didn't have any place to look except at their feet or at the naked duo. They could have turned away, but for some reason that option never occurred to them. Then Kathryn noticed they were in full view of their guests and on display, and with their garments on the chair next to Henry. She was flustered and attempted to cover herself with her hands, which of course was futile, and had Charles attempted to cover himself with his hand, he was afraid it might have appeared that he was playing with himself. They had no choice but to walk up to their guests and beg forgiveness as they quickly dressed amid mumbled attempts at explaining how they lost track of time, and apologized repeatedly for their very unlikely actions. Mere nakedness in the open was so out of place for the moral standards and expectations of that period, and to be seen by others was a sinful tragedy of the first order. Things like that happened at Dolce Giardino on more than one occasion, but the Philips never wavered in their pursuit of their simple and, to them at least, their harmless pleasures. Charles enjoyed his work and he loved his wife dearly, and would do anything for her. They lost a few friends because of their determination to reject clothing on occasion, but the ones that learned to accept Charles and Kathryn's eccentricities enjoyed some grand days at the estate. One couple even adopted their penchant for nudity. No inappropriate displays of affection though. Oh no, that would have been in very poor taste. They never gave much thought to those two conflicting ideas. Holding hands was the extent of their demonstration of their love for each other in public, and that only in the privacy of their huge backyard, and only around their very dearest friends. Dolce Giardino was a gift from Kathryn's father, and he expected many grand children in the coming years, but he wouldn't get what he wanted and expected. In fact, that home would be the last significant thing he would be able to do for his daughter and son. Chapter One It was two thousand six, and Dell and Carrie Philips looked at the tall grand brick home. "My god Dell, Dolce Giardino is huge." "It's much larger than I had pictured in my mind, but isn't it stately and impressive." "I guess, but it could stand some work." "I expected that. In fact it's in much better condition than I ever expected." "So this home was in your family how far back?" "It was built in...I think nineteen twenty five or six. Not long before the stock market crash. Kathryn and Charles Philips, my ancestors, lived in it for less than two years." "They were murdered right?" "Right." "Not in the house I hope." "I believe the story is they were found quite naked and quite dead in the backyard someplace." "How gruesome. And you said they never learned who killed them." "They never did. Then the house was sold for, well cents on the dollar, and after that there's a long gap where I don't know much about the house. We'll find out more when we get all of the papers of course. Anyway, so now it's ours." "Forgive me if I don't jump up and down with joy honey." He smiled and said, "I understand, and no we will not do any of the restoration work ourselves. Before we even move in I'm having it painted inside, some significant updating of the wiring and plumbing, and they'll sandblast the brick to bring back the rich color." "When can we at least go through it?" "A couple of weeks. Eager to see it?" "I'm not sure eager is the word I'd use. Let's go with curious instead." "When I look at it, I think personality, grace and of course grandeur." "Well I hope so, because we're stuck with it now." "Oh, and we're adding a garage and leaving the carriage house as it is, because I want to preserve what I can. We'll be very twentieth century honey." "That's nice, but this is the twenty first century." He smiled and said, "Then we'll just have to catch up won't we." She kissed his cheek and said, "I can see in your eyes just how thrilled you are to own this and have it back in the family again." "I really am. Are you sure you won't go with me to see Aunt Mary?" "I'm sure. If she can remember anything about this old place, you take notes okay?" "Of course honey." Aunt Mary was the only relative old enough to remember the old home, and she had actually spent some time living there as she recovered from a fever and some complications, all from an undiagnosed ailment. Aunt Mary now lived in an assisted living community, and she certainly hadn't lowered her standard of living. No, her new apartment, though small, and especially so by her standards, but she had many amenities, and all the comforts that could be provided for her. "Good morning Aunt Mary," Dell said as he spotted her in the public area of her adopted home. She squinted and studied him for some seconds, and he smiled and gave her all the time she needed. Then she smiled and said, "My word, it's you Dell, come sit next to me honey." He kissed her cheek and handed her a small box of chocolates. "I'm told you're not to have a lot of these, but I smuggled them in just for you," he lied. True, her sugar consumption was monitored, but he had cleared those few chocolates with the nurse. "You're a darling and thank you. My, I haven't seen you in so long, how are you?" "I am well thank you." "And Carrie?" "She too is well and thanks for asking. She sends her love and apologies for not being able to come with me." "That's sweet of her. Okay, so something brings you here and for you to bribe me with sweets," and she smiled as she sampled her selection from the fancy little gold foil box. "You always could see through me love. Okay first of all, to be fair to myself, I'm so glad to see you again, and that alone is worth the hundred mile drive." "Liar," she said and almost laughed. "I want to see how well you can dust off your past and share some memories with me." "That will be a challenge for me, but okay, test me." "Do you remember Dolce Giardino?" "I'm older than the first sin, but I'm not senile just yet. Of course I remember that grand old place, what about it?" "We just bought it." She smiled and leaned forward as she said, "How wonderful, but whatever for, for heaven's sake?" "It went on the market and I just didn't want to see it go into some uncaring hands yet again. I felt it needed to come back to the family." "If you need help with the costs, just say so. I know just maintaining all of that will be horrendously expensive." "Thank you Auntie, but I think we'll be okay." "Well if it's still in your hands when I die, I'll put something in my will for the old place whether or not you approve." "You're a force to be reckoned with and you always have been." "Okay so what do you want to know? Let' see what I can remember." "Anything you can think of that might be interesting or helpful. Let's start with Kathryn and Charles, what do you remember about them?' "Well Charles was tall and wiry and he had penetrating blue eyes. He was devoted to Kathryn, and of course she felt the same for him. He was quite successful in business, or he was until he died. Both of them were very caring and..." and then she smiled and said, "Well I was going to say proper, but they did have their own way of living." "Now you're going to tease me with that aren't you." "Let's come back to that. She was quite pretty and happy and outgoing, and she always had a long row of planters about waist high that she would fill with all sorts of flowers. It was her version of a garden, made that way by the gardener, because she didn't want to get down on her knees. She saw that as being not at all lady like." "So did they entertain a lot?" "Not a lot as I remember it. They would occasionally have guests stay a night or two, or one of their local friends might spend an evening with them, but on the whole, they were fairly private. Of course on occasion, they would have to entertain for business reasons, but that was infrequent." Chapter Two A young smiling aide in her pressed mint green and white uniform served them tea. She moved a small table close to them, and then served the tea and vanilla tea biscuits, and Aunt Mary thanked her before telling Dell, "I do love how they spoil me. I have tea and these biscuits every afternoon." "You deserve to be spoiled. Your memory amazes me Auntie, please keep going." "Well I remember their nineteen twenty six Cadillac three fourteen. Oh, what a grand vehicle that was. It was a sedan with a big engine and it seated seven. Even a full one piece windshield, and that was a pretty big thing back then. By the standards of the day that Cadillac was very comfortable, and so much fun to travel in. If I'm not mistaken, their gardener was also their driver. Oh my, I think Elmer was his name. Now I wonder why that that has stayed in my aging mind." "This is wonderful, but let me know if I'm being insensitive and tiring you out." "I'm fine, but thank you." She tasted her tea and then said, "There was a large carriage house, but with the Cadillac that wasn't used for much more than a place for the Cadillac and storage." "That's still there and won't require a lot of effort to preserve it." "Send me pictures periodically." "You can count on that." "Okay Dell, I'll let you in on their intimate secret. Kate and Charles developed a certain attachment to wandering the estate sans clothes." "No, really? Back then, that would have been seen as scandalous and dangerously sinful." "True, but sometimes more went on behind the scenes in those days than the history books would like you to believe. On the surface everybody, including Charles and Kate, were quite proper. But in the privacy of their home or the grounds behind the house, they would sometimes stroll quite naked." "Now tell me the truth, did you watch Charles parade the grounds in the buff?" She smiled and said, "Well of course I did, and I got quite an education." "I'm sure." "Kate was a blond from head to toe too," and she showed him a devilish smile. "Auntie you do surprise me." "I was considered pretty progressive in my day." "I'm sure." "Be sure to look through the attic. I was never up there, but I seem to remember hearing something about little places where they could hide things. What they would hide and why I have no idea, and maybe they never did. Subsequent owners have probably found and disposed of everything, but there's always a chance you'll find something to help you with the history of the house." "Fascinating. So tell me what you can about them being murdered." "Oh, such a tragedy. My heart is still heavy from that. Her father never recovered from that, and he had to go to his grave not knowing who the guilty person was. They said it was a crime of opportunity, because Charles and Kathryn were killed with a shovel. Beat to death with a common shovel, what a horrible way to die." "And they never even determined why they were murdered?" "Never. In todays world of course, they would have likely solved it. It was my thought that Elmer did it and I say that simply because Elmer had access to the gardening tools." "And the reason?" "That's a problem. Kate mentioned once that she thought Elmer and their housekeeper were having an affair, but what that would have to do with anything is speculation at best, especially with it happening so many years ago." "So they would go to the back and just to be alone and to walk the grounds naked." "Oh yes, and they were naked when their bodies were discovered. Elmer may have lived in the loft of the carriage house for a time, but I'm not certain of that. He was a poor but very proud and proper man." Aunt Mary sipped her tea and selected another biscuit and said, "If you could ever locate them, they...oh shoot, what was their name. I'm talking about one of the owners of Dolce Giardino toward the end of the depression. Give me a minute to think about that and tell me why you and Carrie have no children." "Well as you remember I'm sure, I had that terrible accident and I almost died." "I do remember that. Your mother, rest her soul, aged ten years from that mess." "Well not to embarrass you, but, though quite functional, I'm not able to produce the..." "You're riding an empty wagon." He laughed and said, "Oh Auntie I've missed your quick mind." She smiled at her own little attempt to shock him and nibbled on her biscuit. "Canter, that was their name. I believe they were Jewish, or that's how I remember it anyway, not that it matters. Now his first name. It starts with a J, I'm sure. I may not get that into my mind for you, but I'll work on it and e-mail you if I'm successful." He smiled and said, "You're the only ninety plus year old I know that uses a computer." "Mostly for playing cards and using e-mail though. You know, if I were to die tomorrow, I'd leave feeling much better just knowing the estate is back in the family." "Why do you suppose that's important to you?" "I don't know, and I guess I'm not going to fret about that. It is as it is, but don't worry, I have no plans to check out just yet." "I'm sure you don't." "As I sit here I have to say that I'm surprised that you, as young as you are, would put so much importance and money into that old place. That's what old people do." "I don't understand it either, but like you just said, I'm not going to fret about it." She smiled and accepted that answer. "That's not to say I won't put a swimming pool in the back some day." "Good for you. Water is good for the soul. To touch it or to watch it is therapeutic." "Fire and water. So opposite of each other, and both can be deadly, entrancing and hypnotic, and as you just said, soothing and good for the soul. Okay Auntie, I'm going to leave because you're just too polite to tell me to get out of here." She smiled and said, "Don't wait so long to come back okay?" "I promise Auntie." Going home a little later, Dell had to smile. Even if he didn't learn a lot from Aunt Mary, he thoroughly enjoyed their brief visit, and he intended to keep his promise to her about going to see her again, but without waiting so long to do that. Chapter Three Dell shared with Carrie what Aunt Mary had told him, and he did indeed have notes to help keep him accurate. The restoration of Dolce Giardino was in full swing over the next weeks, but just before the end of the third week, the two of them went out to the old home and went exploring. They had to step around a few things because the electrician and the plumber were deep into their projects, and painter's cloths covered what furniture there was along with the old aged hardwood floors, and holes in the floor were in evidence from the crew installing air conditioning as well. They stood in the archway to the kitchen and he asked her, "Well, what do you think?" "I think it's too big, but it is very nice, and more modern than I expected." "They said it had been updated a few years ago." "And to think you bought this place without touring it." "Well I did hire somebody to give it a thorough inspection. I knew that what we didn't like or couldn't live with, we could change as long as the home was solid." "Well that is true." "Plus I did have a drawing of the floor plan." "Which you didn't study very much." He smiled and said, "You got me with that one." They moved on and Carrie stopped and said, "I do love that grand staircase. So beautiful and in such wonderful condition." "It's a jewel in the crown." "It really is, and that stained glass window above the front door. Wonderful. I'm not even a big fan of old, but I'm going to like it here." They went upstairs and explored a little, and then took the narrower and steeper steps up into the attic. "It sure is dusty and gloomy up here," Carrie said as she stood in the center and looked around. "What a huge and almost empty space." "Junk all around the perimeter that we can poke through at some point." "And we can look for those little secret hiding spots." "That I doubt exist." "Well I do too, but it's fun to think about that." "I'll have the electrician put some lights up here for us." "There's an old painting over there," and she walked over and picked it up. She blew off the loose dust and said, "It's in pretty good shape. Do you suppose this could be Kathryn?" "It certainly could be. She looks like she could be about the right age, and they would have had the money to retain an artist for her." "But photography wasn't all that new by then." "No, but a lot of people still preferred paintings so they would have color, or just because, I'm sure, it was something of a status symbol." Carrie looked out through the dirty and dusty window and said, "Nice window. Or it could be if it wasn't filthy. It might let a lot of light in." "Well, have you seen enough until we move in?" "Sure. Two more weeks right?" "Right. Thanks to you, the movers are lined up so all we have to deal with are our personal things, and disconnect our computers and that sort of thing.' Dolce Giardino "And I think we can handle that." They went home, and that evening over dinner with their best friends Sharon and Mike Armstrong, they talked a little about the house and the about what little Dell had learned from his Aunt Mary. Mike put his napkin next to his plate and said, "We remember you saying your relatives were murdered, so that happened in the backyard." "Right." "I'd love to have their old Cadillac now, because I'm sure it would be worth quite a bit. Besides, I really like looking at those old cars. "I'll have to do some research on nineteen twenty six Cadillacs one of these days." "So do we get the guided tour after you've moved?" "Now what do you think." Mike smiled and said, "Let's go back to them wandering around naked." "You perv," Sharon said as she poked his shoulder. "Well I'm curious. That was big time stuff back then. Hell, that's really wild by todays standards for that matter." "Well Auntie told me that we might be surprised by what went on back then. They were just very secretive about it according to her." "Yeah, now people post naked pictures of themselves on the internet and brag about their exploits." "I didn't know that," Dell said as he tried to hold a straight face. "Bull," Sharon told him, and then smiled at Carrie. Carrie told them, "Well eighty or whatever years later, and I can tell you that I still wouldn't wander around outdoors with nothing on." "Me either," Sharon added. Mike was thinking about the murders, and a moment later he said, "Charles was murdered first." "Why do you say that?" Sharon asked him. "Between him and Kathryn, he would have been the most difficult to control, so he had to die, or at least be subdued...knocked unconscious. Then he could have caught tall and thin Kathryn and dispatched her, and then gone back and finished Charles." "God, that gives me the creeps and that was a very long time ago." "I agree," Dell said and then added, "Well hell, what was I thinking, I'll go down to the library and look up the article about their death. I can copy that and I'll have more information about their death, and I imagine I'll have some family names or whatever." "True." Chapter Four Dell and Carrie finally moved in, and the move went well enough, but they still had days of little projects to see to before they could actually sit down and say the project was done. The maid's quarters were converted to into an impressive office area for both of them, and their suite was at the top of the grand staircase and to the right a dozen feet. Between the door to their suite and the stairs was a beautiful open area, with the oak stairway bannister going up and curving in both directions. To the left of the staircase was the first guest suite. Across from that was a second suite and in addition to that was a smaller guest room with a more modest bathroom. Straight across the balcony was an open sitting area with old and pristine sofas chairs and tables. "It will take us months if not years to really furnish this whole house," Carrie said as she looked around. "Months at least, because we can't figure out just what we want." "But there's no real hurry either, because we have what we need to be comfortable." "I brought down that portrait of Kathryn and put it in the office." She smiled and asked him, "What for?" "I like it, and it's like that portrait is a connection to...I don't know, my ancestors maybe." "Well at least you have the...what term did Aunt Mary use? Oh, the penetrating blue eyes." "I have penetrating blue eyes?" "Well they're blue and I've decided they can be penetrating too." "Oh, well wonderful, I take after Charles, and thank you. By the way, I hung that painting you like over the fireplace." "I noticed. So what do you think of it?" "So so." "Is that the best rating you can give it?" "I'm afraid that's it." "What would you rather see up there?" "I once saw a stunning painting of a nude that..." "No." He smiled and said, "It was a nude guy with a big dong, does that help?" She smiled and said, "That helps, but still no. Be careful or you'll be an embarrassment to your ancestors. They may be watching over us you know." "I'm sure. Well wait, if Kate and Charles could run around naked, I should be able to have a reclining nude on the office wall at least." "You have Kathryn to stare at and she's attractive so that's enough." "But she isn't naked." "You poor thing. You wouldn't want to see your relatives naked anyway." "Maybe I would. You're taking the fun out of this." The old oak front door had an old fashion doorbell right in the middle of the door. It was all brass and with an old green shade patina. To ring it, one twisted the knob in either direction, and that's what happened. The ching ching sound echoed around the entryway, and Dell looked at Carrie before going to the door. "May I help you?" Dell asked the nicely dressed man at the door. "I'm sorry to bother you, but my name is Kenneth Cantor. James Cantor, my father, used to own this old place and I've noticed as I've driven past that it was sold." "Cantor. That name sounds...oh, my aunt mentioned that name." "Yes, Dad and Mom lived here many years ago. I'm in a slight hurry, but the reason I stopped is, we have a number of old items that were in the attic that..." "I'd like to buy them from you," Dell said too eagerly. "Oh no, I'll give them to you. I doubt there is any great value to any of it, but perhaps you'll enjoy looking through some of the things." "We'd love to have whatever you're willing to part with." He smiled and said, "I'm willing to part with all of it actually. If you're going to be here Saturday, I'll have my son drop them off." "Thank you very much. This home was in my family back when it was first built." "Oh, then all the more reason for you to have those things." "Thank you very much Mr. Cantor." "My pleasure. Have a nice day," and smiling, he did a crisp about face, and with quick steps he returned to his car. Dell went back to Carrie and shared his news with her, and they talked about what might be in that little collection until he went to their office. Friday evening, Dell came dragging in from work and Carrie was in the kitchen in her duster making iced tea. "Hi hon, I just got here myself. Care for a glass of tea?" "I'll pass but thanks. I'm going to change and look at some of the things we've accumulated about this old place." "Okay." Half an hour later, Dell appeared and said, "I didn't learn much from that, except this house spent a fair amount of time empty." I'm not all that surprised. It's huge and it's going to be expensive to keep up with, and a whole lot to keep clean." "Well we have it now, so for now at least, I'm going to stop digging into all of that." The subject of housecleaning was on Carrie's mind more than Dell would have guessed, because within days she told Dell over dinner, "I hired a maid today." He held his fork halfway to his mouth as he looked over at her and showing the thinnest of smiles he said, "Um...okay, tell me more," and he set his fork on his plate. "Her name is Ula and..." "Ula?" "Yes, her parents were...Slavic did she say? Yes, or at least I think so." "Oh, but she speaks English." "Yes silly, she was born here." "Okay, sorry I interrupted." "She's forty nine and has very nice letters of recommendation." "How did you come to find her, or her find you?" "Patricia Stockworth told me about her." "Pudgy Patty?" "Dell now stop that, she's nice." "Okay sorry, she is nice. So is Ula ugly," he asked almost laughing at his own lame comment. Carrie couldn't help but laugh that time, and then struggled to say, "No, Ula is not ugly. She's even attractive in her own way." "That's nice. You say maid, but what will her duties be?" "About whatever we ask of her she said. She's a pretty good cook I was told, but most importantly to me, she'll clean this monster of a house. The main living area twice a week, and of course keep the rest dusted and tended to as needed." "Is she full time?" "Oh god no, of course not. Just those two days a week." "Did you hear that? Our bank account just breathed a sigh of relief." "Oh stop, I'm sure you'll approve of her." Chapter Five Mike and Sharon finally got their tour of Dolce Giardino after they went out for an early Saturday dinner. As they stood on the large patio back at the estate and sipping a nice port wine, Mike asked, "So where do you think they found your relatives?" "My god Mike," Sharon said, "That's a gruesome question." "Honey, that happened three quarters of a century ago." "I know, but still..." Dell smiled and said, "Well to answer your question, I can't answer your question. But...but as I stand here and try to picture that happening, and assuming Elmer was the guilty one, I'd say somewhere between here and the carriage house. I say that because I'm assuming that Kathryn and Charles were strolling the estate in the buff, and as I see it, they would pass close by the carriage house where Elmer, it has been said, lived for a time, or off and on." "I can see what your saying Sherlock, what else can you conger up?" "The motive puzzles me. Did he benefit financially by their death? Maybe, but I have trouble believing that. Say he was in their will for a few bucks. He'd be out of a job too so he'd win, but also lose. Then there is the possibility that he had the hots for Kate and he wanted Charles out of the way. Killing Charles certainly wouldn't charm her into his arms so that doesn't fit. "The idea that Elmer diddling the maid doesn't fit, because where's the connection? What does one have to do with the other." "Right, unless Charles or Kathryn told them that no more diddling or both of them would be fired." "Run away rage?" Mike asked. "A thin idea I know, but that was one of the thoughts at the time according to my aunt." "Or, maybe Elmer objected to Kathryn and Charles being naked in broad daylight." "Considering the morals of that time, a good thought, but again, he'd be out of a job as would the maid, and I'm sure neither of them had other skills." "That's right too. Impossible to solve after all these years." "Sad, but true." Carrie interrupted their sleuthing saying, "Oh honey, that guy's son dropped off all of the stuff for us, and I put it in the study." "Great." Mike and Sharon left just before nine o'clock, so the pile of remnants of past occupants of Dolce Giardino would have to wait until Saturday some time. But before they could go to bed, Carrie said, "Oh look, the picture you hung over the mantle is all crooked. One of your hooks must not have held." Dell pulled the picture out, and looking behind it he said, "That's weird, both of the hooks are fine and yet...well no big deal," and he straightened it and they went to bed. As they lay next to each other and after they had shared a good night kiss, Carrie asked him, "Could we hang Kathryn's picture somewhere else in the office? It's really too big for where it is now." "Sure, "I'll hang it near my desk." "Why?" "It's a big wall and I like the picture, and it needs to be hanging somewhere and not stuffed in an attic." "Well you'll be the one to look at it the most, so that's fine with me." Carrie was up well ahead of Dell, so she'd had her first cup of coffee by the time he joined her in the kitchen. "Morning hon," he said and kissed her lightly. "Good morning." "I heard the phone while I was showering, was it important?" "Only to me. Linda called and is going to be in town for two or three days, so I invited her to stay with us." "Linda as in from your nursing school days?" "Yes, you met her last year." "Okay, I have her pictured in my mind now. "She's teaching now, and is in town to visit the nursing school here." "Checking the competition?" "No, of course not, the two schools are partnering to some degree is all." "Oh. Well I'm sure you two will have a great time visiting the past." "I'm sure we will, but you won't be neglected completely." "That saves me from practicing my pout. So she'll be here when?" "Tomorrow afternoon." "That gives us time to look at the stuff in the study and to dig into the attic in the morning." "Good idea." They spent an hour glancing through the boxes of what appeared to be junk and trash, but they stayed with their task and sorted more than read or focused on. In a short time they had a generous collection of old journals and papers, a couple of newspapers that had been used for padding and different small objects. They knew it would take them hours to inspect just what they were saving, but there was no real hurry to get into that project. They were going nowhere, and the secrets Dolce Giardino held could wait. "Ready for the attic hon?" Dell asked her. "Sure, that shouldn't take us a long time." "Probably not. While we're at it, we can pile up the junk and I'll hire somebody to haul it out." At the bottom of the steep and narrow stairs to the attic at the end of the hallway, Dell stopped and turned to Carrie. "What's wrong Dell?" He smiled and said, "Nothing, except...you showered right?" "Of course I showered." "Clean clothes right?" She knew he was up to something so she slowly said, "Yes, that's right." He reached for her blouse and undid the first button as she watched him, and he said, "We'll leave our clothes here, and then after we shower again we can..." "Now aren't you clever. Dell, I'd feel very funny digging through the attic naked." "I'd feel pretty happy if you would." "Is that right. So you're going to work naked too." "Of course." "Are you sure you have work on your mind?" "Again, of course. We wouldn't want to make love on that dirty board floor." "Yuck, no we wouldn't. But honey, you know me, I don't even leave the bedroom without putting a duster or robe or something on." "I do know, but we're talking attic honey. Very safe and very private. Unless we confess to somebody, it will forever be our secret." Her smile continued as she told him, "Okay we'll do it your way, but then it's straight to our bathroom for a hot shower." It didn't take them long to amass a pile to be discarded, and collect a lot of dust all over them, but they found a few odd things like an old wall mount light fixture that might be salvageable, and a box of old brass light switch covers, but most things were broken stained or was incomplete. Many things must have been saved because of sentimental reasons, and once stored, forgotten about. Toward the end of their mission Carrie said, "Oh no." He went over to her quickly and asked, "What's wrong honey?" "Look," and she pointed at another portrait of Kathryn. "Oh, very nice, I like that a lot." "That figures, she's naked. Dell we can't have both portraits in the office." "Why not?" "They're too big." "Oh, okay, I'll...well I'll figure something out, but I don't want anything to happen to either of them." "Okay. Of course I know you'll hang this one near your desk and the other one will probably end up in a closet somewhere." "What else is in that mess?" He pulled naked Kathryn out and saw another portrait. "Well now we know what Charles looked like." "That must be a mate to the one that hangs in the office now." "It must be because they're the same size and framed alike. Oh, I know, we'll hang those two on that long wall in the study." "No, that wall would look so overwhelmed." "Okay then...okay, Charles in the study and Kathryn over the fireplace." "Really?" Sure. They obviously had an interest in things Italian, and I'm sure the portrait frames were selected to go along with the architecture of the house." "I suppose you're right, and besides you're not impressed with what's over the fireplace now." "I've never been impressed with that painting." "Okay. You are so spoiled, but at least you didn't want to hang naked Kathryn over the fireplace." "Damn right I do, but I didn't think you'd go along with that." "Well of course not. I'm sure that was meant for their bedroom...or a closet." He pulled his eyes away from their discovery and put his hands on Carrie's breasts. She smiled and looked down as she said, "Now look, you've put attic dirt and dust on me." "Let me get that off," and he moved his hands over her breasts as she pulled her shoulders forward and stepped back. "You must have been thinking and planning that." "Well...yes actually, you're right." "I think we're done here for today because for some reason I feel totally filthy and in desperate need of a shower." "Let me get my portrait and I'll follow you down." As Carrie started down the stairs she said, "Most men your age, or at least those interested in porn, would go online, but you have to be different. Rather than photos, you're turned on by a eighty year old painting." "But of my relative." "Pervert, your young and naked relative." "But I'm not lusting for her." "She's very dead, so that's a good thing." Chapter Six After showering and getting dressed, Carrie said, "I still can't believe you talked me into working naked in the attic." "I'm a little surprised that you allowed that to happen." "I am too, and especially so now that I think about that more." "Want to go naked outdoors," he asked as he watched her expression. She was smiling as she told him, "My god Dell, you know better than that." With Kathryn's portrait in hand, they went to the living room and stopped. "Dell, I saw you straighten that picture, and now look at it." He smiled and kissed her cheek and then told her, "See, that picture doesn't like it there either." "Just take it down and hang up your dead relative." "You're a cold woman," and then to stay on her good side he kissed her and reached for the painting over the fireplace. "Well maybe this will solve the problem of tilting pictures." He set that aside and hung Kathryn's portrait in its place. "There, now that looks like it belongs there." "Nice, a painting of a long dead woman that we never knew. Okay, if you're happy with that, then fine. The frame does look nice though." Linda arrived just after two, and Dell joined the two women for an hour of listening more than talking. Then at the first chance of a graceful withdrawal, he went to the office, smiled at naked Kathryn, and then took care of some work that he had carried home Friday night. As they prepared for bed Saturday night, Dell asked Carrie, "How is your visit going with Linda?" "Great. We had a lot of catching up to do. Oh, and when I showed her the guest suite after she arrived, she was very impressed and went on about how nice it is." "Good. Did you give her a tour?" "No, I thought we could do that in the morning." "When is she leaving?" "Eager to get rid of her?" "Not at all, just curious." She smiled and just said, "After lunch." When Carrie woke in the morning, she saw Dell sitting on the side of the bed, so she asked him, "Are you okay?" "Morning hon, yes I'm fine. I was having a strange dream and I was trying to recall it." "Like a nightmare?" "No, nothing stressful or anxiety producing, just...well that's it, even as I sit here I'm losing the details." He stretched, yawned and the putting both hands to his scalp, he scratched and rubbed his head before he went to the bathroom. He helped Carrie make the bed and then she slipped on her robe and went out to make coffee while he showered, dressed and went out. Dell was sitting at the table when Linda appeared and Dell got her a cup of coffee as she sat down. "Linda, you look very nice. That's a beautiful gown." Dolce Giardino "Oh thank you. Actually it's like a robe." "Did you sleep well?" "I really did, but...was it windy during the night?" I was awake once or twice, and I don't remember hearing any wind, why?" "Well like you, I woke during the night, and the moonlight was coming in through that big window, and I thought I saw the sheer curtains moving like maybe the windows are old and they were being moved by infiltrating air." "I'll have to check and make sure there's no problem with that window." "It must have been a very pretty night, but I didn't care enough to get up." He smiled and said, "Same here. I was warm and comfortable so why spoil that." She smiled and told him, "Exactly," and she picked up her cup as Carrie joined them. "It looks like it's going to be a beautiful day. The sun coming through the windows feels so warm and nice. Oh, and Dell, did you notice? The portrait over the fireplace is hanging perfectly." He smiled and said, "See, the house was rejecting that other picture." "Oh I'm just sure that's it." Linda put her cup down and asked, "What kind of air freshener do you use Carrie?" "I don't use one why?" "I told Dell about me waking up during the night and the sheer curtains moving, and I noticed the nicest subtle aroma. Sort of a lavender and yet different. Very soft." "Sounds nice, but I don't even use anything special in the laundry." "Must be something outside that's blooming." "That could be it." Dell stood up and said, "Honey, while you two talk and tour the grounds, I'm going to run to the market and get the few things we need. I'll be back within an hour I'm sure." "Okay honey and thank you." Taking a fresh cup of coffee with him, he made the five mile drive to Kroger's and went in, picking up a cart along the way. As soon as he was nicely away from the entrance a woman appeared next to him and she said, "Are you the one that moved into the old brick mansion?" He smiled and said, "Well it's well short of a mansion, but it is big, and you're right. I'm Dell Philips." "It's nice to meet you Dell, I'm Joyce Harper." "Hi, now how did you know I belong to that old house?" She smiled and said, "I cheated. You pulled out as I was coming down the road, and we both just happened to be coming here." He leaned over his cart, and with his right foot propped on it like a brass rail in a bar, he said, "So you are you one of our neighbors?" "Only after a fashion, I live about a mile down from you. My great grandfather was a gardener at your place many years ago." "You're great grandfather? Could his name have been Elmer?" She stared at him and then asked, "How did you know that?" "I heard about an Elmer that was the gardener when I was looking into something else." That wasn't quite accurate, but it was close enough to the truth for him. She smiled and looked down almost bashfully before she said, "Our family has a long but very humble history in this area. For example, I was told once that Elmer lived in a one room...well the family called it a cabin." "Was he married?" "When he was quite young, but she died during childbirth. She and the baby died." "That's very sad." "He raised two children in that humble place, and fortunately, they went on to do fairly well for themselves. Elmer was murdered in nineteen...I can't remember now." "He was murdered?" "Yes, he was hit in the head with something and he died the next day. "Now I'm curious to hear more. We'll have to connect and share tales of the past one day soon." "I'd like that. Nice to meet you Dell." "You too Joyce," and sharing one more smile she was gone. When Dell got home he put the few groceries away, and then found Carrie and Linda standing on the patio talking. He also found Linda's curves, because the late morning sun was cutting through her gown or whatever it was she called it. No detail, but her silhouette was obvious, and especially so when she would shift her weight to her other leg, or point toward something and pull the diaphanous material close to her backside. Dell decided he'd just stand there and watch rather than join them. Then he'd confess to Carrie later as he tried to hide his smile. "You know," Linda said after they had walked around outside, "Whatever that fragrance was last night, it's gone now." "And the curtain moved you said?" "Yes. Just very slightly, or at least while I was awake." "Well at least you said you slept well." "And I did." Dell visited with Linda a little more, but she wasn't a mile down the road before he told Carrie about seeing through Linda's bright colored robe. Her hand went to her mouth, but then when she took it away she was smiling and he added, "It looked like she was naked." "My god Dell, she was naked under that thing." "Oh shit." "I know, because as we walked around, she commented on being a little chilly, and then she told me why that was. So you saw...god, if she knew." "Well I couldn't make out detail, but I saw enough to keep me staring." "Shame on you," but she couldn't shake off her smile. Chapter Seven Carrie didn't work on Mondays, so that was Ula's first day as their new maid, but Dell would have to wait to meet her because he was gone before she arrived, and she was gone before he got home. Carrie told him their first day with their new maid had gone very well, and if that was any indication of how it would be, having her was going to be wonderful. "So, Dell said through a smile, "So not so ugly Ula saw my undies." Carrie asked him, "Are you sure you're an executive? A high powered business man?" "I am, and in fact I'll have you know I chaired the monthly mandatory meeting of middle managers, madam." Carrie laughed and then asked him, "Was I supposed to take that seriously?" "Of course." "I don't think I can. Okay, now I have something serious to say, and don't you dare laugh. I think we have a ghost, or ghosts." He slipped his arm behind her and said, "You're right, this is serious, and not only am I not going to laugh, I agree with you, but tell me more." "It's just the accumulation of odd little events. Not one of them any big issue at all, and maybe every one of them can be explained, but...like the picture over the fire place being crooked." "Right." "And that business with Linda, the moving curtain and the fragrance. There's nothing up there that could possibly explain those things." "Here's one from last night while I was working in the office, and you were in bed reading. As you know, I sometimes tip back in my chair and close my eyes." She smiled and said, "Yes, and I accuse you of napping." "But I never do. If I'm working on...well any document, a speech or whatever, I may stop and think every so often and digest what I have and where I'm trying to go. Anyway, when I'm leaning back like that with eyes closed, I'll get the sensation of very slowly and smoothly turning to my left. I'm not moving at all of course, and I'm sure that you would experience something similar. I think it has something to do with the middle ear. Okay so for me I always feel like I'm turning to the left first. Always to the left, and then slowly to the right. It's always like that. Well last night, as I just described, my mind told me I was turning to the left and I just went on with my eyes closed and mentally working on my mess. Then I realized I had stopped turning. Now this is where it get's weird honey. I opened my eyes and I really had turned, and I was looking straight at naked Kathryn. That's something like a sixty or seventy degree turn." After Dell said here's where it gets weird, Carrie barely blinked or breathed, but then said, "Now that one really gets my attention. Did that happen again?" "No. If you go in there later, just tip back and close your eyes and see if you even get the sensation of turning. You may not experience anything, I don't know. Maybe my middle ear is a little screwed up." "So maybe you should put Kathryn's other portrait back up...not in place of the other one, but in addition to it." "You wouldn't mind?" "Well probably not as a permanent thing, but I'd be curious to see what, if anything, happens. "And with Linda having her curious experiences, that tells us that it isn't just you and me and that maybe we're going nuts." "Honey here's one more thing to add to all of this. Linda confided in me that she was enjoying wandering around outdoors with very little on. I asked her if that was something she enjoyed often, and her response was she never had and would have never considered doing anything like that before." "Oh damn." "Oh damn is right. Okay so what do you think of this idea? Ask Sharon and Mike to spend a night here with us. After we tell them our story of course, and if they aren't spooked by the idea, maybe they'll stay here and experience something and...well I don't know where any of this might take us. It just may be that we'll end up with nothing more than a little collection of oddities and a resident ghost." "An attractive naked ghost maybe, but what about Charles? Wouldn't he be here too?" "Maybe he is. Maybe he's the one that moved the picture because he wanted a painting of her over the mantle." "That could be true. I can't believe we're calmly sitting here talking about ghosts in our house. Oh, and why don't I get the urge to go naked, or nearly so?" "Honey, all we can do is trade questions, because we have no answers." Then when Dell got home Friday, Carrie said, "Honey, Ula was still here when I got home and told me that twice now when she was dusting upstairs, she has felt something brush across her arm." "She what? I'll bet she freaked." "Apparently not, but she was concerned enough to wait and talk to me. I suggested air currents, but I didn't expect her to buy that and she didn't. She said she'd be here Monday morning though, so I guess she'll stick with us, at least for now. If I tell her we have a ghost, she might never come back." "It sounds to me like she's already thinking in that direction. Call Sharon because we need to go talk to them." "I've already done that and we're to be at their place by seven." By seven thirty both Mike and Sharon were all but staring at Dell and Carrie. "You're really serious about this ghost thing then," Mike said. Dell said, "Serious enough to risk making fools of ourselves as we sit here." "Well I for one am blown away. I'm not saying I'm buying all of this, but damn, you two do present a lot of circumstantial evidence. So, we'll come spend a night with you two. Hey, that's not a problem at all, so we can get past that much anyway." Carrie asked him, "So what would you do if, say for example you experienced a fragrance like flowers? Or your curtain moved?" "With the curtain thing I'd be searching for air infiltration, but the fragrance thing I don't know. Sign us up for tomorrow night." Chapter Eight The first thing Mike did after they arrived at Carrie and Dell's, was to go to their office and study the nude portrait of Kathryn. "Very nice, too bad she's a little old for me." Dell laughed and said, "Well for sure she's just a little too old for you." "She was pretty nice looking, but I'm still trying to imagine her or any woman enjoying strolling the grounds bare assed." "Me too." "And your chair just turned on its own and you ended up looking right at her." "Amazing as that sounds, that's right." "Damn, that alone carries a lot of weight for your ghost story." Carrie and Sharon stayed in the living room, and as Sharon looked at Kathryn's portrait over the mantle she said, "She's attractive enough. But naked in the backyard? Amazing." "I know." "While we're on the subject, I want to pull a little trick on the guys if you don't mind." "I don't, and I can't imagine they would." "Let's walk out to the patio so we can talk about fear of being overheard." They barely had time for Sharon to explain her plan before the men joined them with four bottles of beer, and they settled in the padded wicker chairs. Mike tapped his bottle against Dell's and said, "To good times and solving mysteries." The foursome talked and sipped beer until Mike said, "Assuming there is such a thing as ghosts, I wonder how all of that works. I mean, why is it that whenever anybody dies, they don't all become ghosts, so we end up with them appearing all over the place?" "Good question, but I had a thought about that the other day. I'm sure I'm clear off base, but here's one concept that seems plausible to me. Multiple realities." "What?" "Okay, let me explain it with an analogy. For us in our reality, we occupy space and we have the concept of time. But very often, those that have been critically injured and been clinically dead, but the revived, say where they went and there was no concept of time. Time did not exist." "That isn't possible." "I don't know that because it's past my comprehension. Okay so here's my analogy. Say I have transmitters. Two or three, or however many doesn't matter. We only have one reality, so our receiver gets a signal from one transmitter only, so that's all we know. That is the extent of reality for us. But there are many other signals all around us, and even through us. Those other signals aren't even aware that we exist. Other realities could occupy the same space that we're occupying at this very moment." Mike picked up Dell's beer and put in on his table out of Dell's reach and said, "Yes, okay and..." Dell ignored what Mike had just done and said, "So just maybe, under certain circumstances, out of the many that die an occasional one will become aware of the other realities, or just the reality they just left. Since they know of the other reality, they move back and forth between them freely and easily. No concept of time, no barriers to changing realities. An existence that we can't even grasp. We see them as we know them, or knew them. We're aware of Kathryn, but only as she looked around the time of her death, so that's how she might appear to us if we were to see her." "Oh boy, your mind does take some interesting trips." "I'll take my beer now. At least we know you'll never travel trans realities." "Nope, Delta or nothing." Dell just smiled and tipped his bottle up and drained it, and gave up on his improbable ideas. "So what came of the things that were delivered to you by that kid?" Carrie said, "Well, we learned that round steak in nineteen twenty six cost thirty five cents a pound and a rib roast was thirty nine cent's a pound, and that's about as helpful as anything else we found. Fun to read about, but no help with what's going on around here." Then she added, "Oh, I forgot, I did learn that Emmy was the name of the maid that Elmer was supposedly having an affair with." "Three cents more a pound than round steak for a rib roast? That sounds like science fiction right there." "Oh Dell, did you tell Aunt Mary about Kathryn's ghost?" "I did, in my last e-mail to her, why?" "You'll have to read her response, but I think you lit a fire under her, and at her age that might not be good." "Good or bad response?" "She's just excited that it just might be Kathryn's spirit we're experiencing." "I'll be sure to read it later and send her something to slow her down." The last thing that Sharon said before they called it a night was, "If I see Kathryn, I hope I don't scream and scare her." "There's no reason to fear her." "But I don't even believe in ghosts, or rather I never have in the past." Chapter Nine Dell and Carrie made it a point to be up ahead of Mike and Sharon, and he looked at her and smiled. "That's a very sexy gown you're wearing love." Smiling she looked down and asked, him, "Do you really think so?" "Oh yes, I think so." Carrie just managed to say, "Thank you, I wonder if our guests had any experiences last night," and Mike and Sharon appeared. "Okay," Sharon said as Carrie poured their coffee. "Okay, we believe Kathryn or somebody is living with you two." Carrie was anything but casual as she hurriedly gave them their coffee and standing close to Dell, said, "Quick, tell us what happened." "I can't believe I'm saying this, but I felt her presence. I didn't see her or hear her, but I was just sure she was standing there watching us." "I have to say that I'm a believer now too," Mike added. "I say that because no matter where I am, in a motel, at home, here or wherever, I put my glasses on the corner of the dresser where I can find them if I get up during the night. My glasses were moved to the middle of that dresser and folded. I never fold my glasses." Carrie wasn't even aware she was standing there with her hand over her mouth. Even more surprising was the fact that he watched Sharon from the moment she entered the kitchen until she sat down next to him, and didn't even realize that she too was wearing a long gossamer gown with a tempting long V neckline. Dell wasn't aware that he was staring at Sharon's chest as he said, "Okay, so now what do we do? We can't communicate with Kathryn or Charles and we don't even know why they're making their presence known to us." "They must want us to know something, or want us to do something, otherwise what would be the point of all of this? If they wanted us out of here, they certainly could have been doing what they could to scare us, but instead it's almost like they're moving slowly so we aren't frightened." Sharon smiled at Dell and then said, "Well I certainly wasn't frightened. And another thing. I brought two gowns, this red one Dell is staring at," and she smiled as he quickly diverted his eyes, "And a white one. This red one was moved to cover the white one." "I wonder if red was her favorite color, because my friend Linda's morning wear was red too. Certainly that could be a coincidence, but then again, maybe not." Dell smiled guiltily at Sharon and said, "Or maybe red is Charles' favorite color." "Carrie, you look fantastic this morning," Mike told her while boldly almost staring at her. "Thank you Mike." Then looking at Sharon for a brief second she added, "Let's take a morning walk around the back garden area." Dell looked at Carrie and they shared a quick smile and then he said, "Yes, by all means, let's walk the grounds all the way around the back and then we'll have more coffee on the patio." "Let me just step out onto the patio and make sure it's as warm as they said it would be." Dell couldn't believe what his wife was up to, and he was certain she knew exactly what she was doing and what would happen. Even though they had an excellent view of the patio through the large windows, she left the door open and stepped out into the sunshine and stood there with her legs slightly apart. "Sharon, come see if it's going to be warm enough for you too." Dell said nothing, but he glanced at Mike, and he was too busy staring at Carrie to even notice that Sharon's gown was almost transparent, but Carrie's white one was even more revealing. Finding his voice at last, Mike said, "Oh shit Dell, do you think we should tell them what's happening?" Smiling Dell stared at both women saying, "No, I think we should wait until they tell us to join them, and then we'll just follow them on our walk. We can tell them our secret later, if that's okay with you." "Oh I'm good with this if you are." With the women leading the way, the foursome wandered toward the back of the three acre estate and would make a long loop that would bring them around behind the carriage house. As they walked, Carrie said, "I thought Dell was going to stare a hole through your gown." "My god Carrie, I feel so naked. I can feel the air on me as though I really am."