Marco - 8. Chapter 8

I headed home, trying to imagine what the inside of that house looked like. There was no doubt in my mind that there were no modern convinces. I stopped at the feed store to return the cutting pliers.

“Were you able to get onto the property?”

“Yes, the cutter removed the lock, but the gate was rusted closed. So I use the cutter to cut a hole in the gate so I could crawl through. Now I need a flashlight so that I can check out the interior of the house.”

“This is what you need. It will light up the whole room. They use this lantern on the ranches.”

I bought the lantern that Jake recommended. When I got home, I turned off all of the lights and turned the switch on the lantern to the on position., It worked. The lantern-lit the room as if I hadn’t turned the lights off. Now I wanted to go back and checked the interior of the house. Just as I was leaving, Mom called to tell me they were coming over and will arrive on Friday evening.

Now I had a decision to make, do I go and inspect the home alone and then again when Mom and Dad arrive. I would go alone.

With the lantern, I headed back out to the house. Crawling through the gate, I headed for the back door. Entering the room, I turned on the lantern. With the light, I saw what was on the shelf. There were jars of canned vegetables, primarily tomatoes, and corn. There were a few jars of what looked like jelly and fruit preserves. I wondered if any of it would be good to eat. The big surprise was the kitchen. It looked like I stepped out of history. There was an icebox, a wood stove, and a pump at the sink. The cupboards were made out of oak, and the floor, walls, and a kitchen table and chairs were also made from oak. There was a window over the sink, I removed the drape.

Now I was anxious to see the rest of the house. Leaving the kitchen, I was in a foyer. Facing the front door, there were doors on my right and left. When I opened the door on my right, it was a coat closet. There were remnants of two coats hanging on wooden pegs. Opening the door on my left led to a living room with a fireplace. Again the floor and walls were made of oak. A hanging oil lantern chandelier was in the middle of the room. A door at the far end of the room led to a dining room with six chairs and another chandelier over the table.

Walking back into the living room, there was a staircase leading to the second floor. A hallway ran across the front of the house. As I walked toward the end, I removed the drapes on the windows letting the light in. At the end of the hall, the was another hall at a right angle. Walking down that hall, there were doors on the left and right sides. I opened the first door, and it was a bedroom. Checking the other doors on the side of the hall, they were bedrooms. At the end of the hall was a door that was a stairway to the attic.

Mr, Wight, must have been an excellent carpenter. Everything was made out of oak, and wiping the walls with my hand. The finish was smooth and seemed to have a gleam when I showed the light on the spot I had wiped the dust away. I couldn’t wait to occupy this house. It had a homey feeling to it.

Each day until Mom and Dad showed up, I spent my time cleaning. Thursday, a contractor showed up at my office. He wanted to discuss when to start digging a trench for laying pipe to connect to the county sewage system. We agreed I would meet him at the property that evening at 5:30.

When I drove up, the gate had been removed. I parked my car in the Church’s parking lot. I walked up to the house and sat on the front porch waiting for the contractor. I saw his pickup coming. The house being built on the hill allowed me to see quite a distance. As his truck approached, I walked to where the gate would have been.

“Good evening, I saw you were coming, and I thought I would meet you here, and we can walk back to the house.”

He had a measuring device that he rolled along our walk to the house. “Does this house have a basement?”

“I don’t know. The house was built on stone, and you can see that.”

“We can install the meters on the side of the house, but if you plan on having water and electric in the house, you’ll need to have a basement or at least a crawl space.”