Chapter 10

Chapter 10

The house was two-story; that old Tudor style that everyone is still trying to reproduce in the States, but this was the real thing. The beams were real, and the plaster was an odd shade, as if cream had been rubbed over it. The walk from the road was not long, but was overgrown a bit with lilac and honeysuckle, with a small arch at the end to allow passage of visitors from the street. The drive wound around the end of the house and parked in the back, and the back door was the entrance everyone used.

The kitchen was surprisingly large, with a stone fireplace in the center of the wall facing the door, a Formica table with chairs at one end, the stove and sink, etc., at the other. There was plenty of counter space, and lots of windows to let in morning sun. There was a stairwell that rose above the kitchen table, and the doorway also led to the dining room on the other side of the fireplace. If you chose not to go up the stairs, there was a large sitting room facing the street, with a hallway off the front door, and a washroom also off the hall.

Upstairs were the bedrooms and bath. The bath was painfully old, but at least had a stand-up shower head and curtain wrapping round the tub. Of course, the water pressure left something to be desired, and the floor was cold even during August, the hottest month of the year. There was a small fire place in the master bedroom, the other side of which was in Violet’s room.

Violet’s window had a seat, with shutters that actually worked. She could open or shut them from inside if she just opened the window, which looked out over the garden in back. It truly was a dream, and she loved the room more than any she had ever seen. The wallpaper had the slightest scattered print of single violets; wild violets, not African or hot house. Some were solid purple or lavender, some were white or yellow, and others looked like johnny-jump-ups, with purple on top and yellow beards. She could almost smell them, they looked so real. Elaine had put down some beautiful deep purple rugs, very shaggy and soft, and a purple throw on the foot of the bed. The bedstead was brass, with white knobs, and there was a desk and chair opposite. The wardrobe was built into the wall, and the drawers had been lined with violet paper that had a scent that seemed to touch the entire room. Her Grandmother Reeves had obviously been helping Elaine, because her father really had no idea if she would or wouldn’t like any of this.

She was so grateful that Elaine had made the effort. It really made it easier to make the transition. Elaine had said they’d go shopping in a week or two for some bed linens of her own choosing, and Violet was excited. She loved to shop, and she knew her father had said ‘get whatever she wants’, and she and Elaine intended to do just that.

Violet had been spending the days in the garden and forest behind the house. She had walked down to the little town, which was less than half a mile from their drive, but there was very little to see. Otter and something Mary, she could never quite remember the name. So back to the forest she’d go, following various trails to old broken down homes that were abandoned, or rings of trees with the softest, most beautiful grass in the center. Sometimes when she’d find these rings of trees, she’d just lie down and watch clouds go by for a while. Time seemed to move differently there, but she was of the age that she had little concept of time anyway, so she barely noticed.