Three: Penthurst Manor

"Are you sure you can find the place?" Dina hovered outside my door. She's recovered from her pills.

"Yes mom. Dad gave me the address and Louie will pick me up as soon as I land." I slid my laptop inside the bag back and I was set.

"Sweetie, do you have to go?" Dina put her hands on my shoulders, she looked worried. If Dina knew how to be worried that is.

I smiled at her, "It's alright mom. Dad's just gonna show me the house and once I convince him its the wrong one, I'll be back here right away." With her Dad's money, travelling wasn't a problem. In this case, my allowance.

"That project of his and his obsession has swallowed him." She sank down in a chair. Oh great, Dina's getting melodramatic now, "It cost us this marriage and it kept him away." Her eyes were actually tearing up, I so do not have time for this. "And now he's gotten you mixed up in it too."

I put my bag down and went to my mom, "He didn't get me mixed up. I wanted to be part of Dad's life, archeology is what he loves mom. I support him for choosing that. It doesn't mean I'll be following his footsteps." Yeah, like digging graves and finding bones. Ugh.

"It's still his fault! He filled your head with stories and mysteries since you were a little girl. Now he's chasing a dead man, why can't he find other things from ancient times? Why did it have to be a corpse?"

I almost rolled my eyes, almost. "Mom, there's no corpse. Baron Lucian lived long ago and no one knows where his body is. Dad thinks he found the Baron's house, but I am going to go there and prove to him that its all wrong." I squeezed Dina's arm, "I may even bring Dad here with me."

She didn't say anything after that. The doorbell rang and Oggy was on his heels. "Gotta go." I said and picked up my bag.

"At least tie Oggy, Kristania!"

I was almost at the door and remembered Oggy was out of his leash, I grabbed the nearest one by the door and cuffed the dog. He didn't mind.

"Let's go boy." He thumped his tail and we went towards the cab.

5 hours later

I landed safely, that's what I told my mom on the phone. She wanted to know if Louie was on time, I saw his head peeking against the mob and waved at him. I cut off Dina's hysterics and ended the call.

"How's your flight Krista?"

"Fine. Please take my bag, I'll hold Oggy."

Louie nodded. He was 5 years older than I am and had been tailing my dad since he got into archeology. He led us to a car waiting just by the exit. Oggy slid on the back seat but settled on the floor, he didn't like flying but he loved cars. I took the passenger seat.

"We should be at the house in an hour." He glanced back and patted Oggy, "You need anything before we go?"

"No. I'm good, thank you Louie."

He smiled. At 22, Louie can be posing for a magazine. With his blonde hair and deep blue eyes, taut chest and flat stomach, he could be landing big contracts from modelling agencies. His toothpaste commercial winning smile drove girls crazy. Yet here he is, chasing ancient remains with my Dad. And I have a feeling that he's half in love with me. Yikes!

I turned my attention on the road, we passed by a lot of farms mostly.There were houses that were huge and beautiful but appeared to be old, the road was well constructed and they had traffic lights working. When Dad described Winter Falls, I pictured the place to be provincial and untouched by modern technology.

"We'll have to go thru a dirt road after this."

"Why?"

"The house," he paused gripping the wheel tightly, "is located far from the main road. They didn't develop it since its private property and all. Plus, only one family lives there right now." Louie explained.

"I thought the house was empty."

"Penthurst Manor is empty, the family who's been watching over the place lives a mile away from the house itself."

"Penthurst Manor." I repeated, "As in the Penthurst Manor that Baron Lucian used to live?"

"Uh-huh. The one and only." Louie gave me another bright smile. Boy, I'd better ask what toothpaste he uses.

"How can Dad be so sure? There are no pictures of the manor ever recorded. Baron Lucian's story was based on a diary of a servant who lived there. Its as if the man never existed. You can't find him in any textbook." I started to explain.

"But," Louie raised a finger, "there had been documents found to support that the Baron did exist. That the Manor exists. We were able to trace his origins and ancestors. Patrick told you about that."

"I know." I sighed, "Ever since the story enticed him, Baron Lucian had been my bed time story since I was 9."

"Then shouldn't you be happy he found the Baron?"

"The Baron's house." I corrected him. I'm starting to feel irritated. Debate was never my strong pursuit.

"Well, yeah. Not the exact person but a clue about the person." He started turning towards the dirt road. The car bumped against ditches and I had to hold tight , "Would you believe this is the biggest clue ever found about him?"

I tried to concentrate on the road, but Louie was taking it smoothly. Hey, I'm not the driver here. I should be fine. "If the house is indeed his." I pointed out.

"We'll see." He gave me a smirk. As if he'd won already.

The road eased up a bit, no more ditches and rocks that sent us bouncing. The area was grassy and there were a lot of trees. Clearly no one passed by here a lot.

I strained against the glass and tried to make out any building, up ahead I saw what looked like a brick wall but couldn't really tell for certain. It looked rather old and in the state of crumbling away. So, dad found ruins. Hurray!

Louie pulled up in what looked like a drive way, I wasn't sure because the plants have overgrown and left little for us to pass thru. The car won't fit unless we clear up some of these vines. I pulled Oggy out of the car while Louie carried my bag and led the way.

I was glad I wore boots, the pathway was wet and slippery. I released Oggy from his leash so I won't drag him down in case I slip. After what seemed an eternity, Louie stopped and gave another panty dropping smiles.

"Welcome to Penthurst Manor." He said raising his hand towards the archway.

I followed his gaze and felt the world stop. Up there, about 8 feet high was a very old archway with letters that said 'Penthurst Manor'. But the 'e' and last letter 't' had fallen off making it 'P nthurs Manor'. But you get the idea.

"Is this...for real?" I gulped. "Is this how Dad found it?"

"The archway is real. And despite the missing letters you can tell what it says alright. But that's not how Patrick found the house. C'mon, I'll take you to him."

Louie pushed the rusted gate easily and stepped thru. My hair caught on some vines and I had to twist my body to pull it off, it was taking some time so I asked, "You mean to say he found the house. Not just a part of the house?" I tugged at the vine again. It seemed to have merged with my hair.

"You mean ruins?"

The vine finally snapped, leaving my hair sticky and smelling weird. "Yeah. Ruins."

"No. Its the full house...intact" He gave me his hand so I can see past him. "From every brick to the last nail."

I stood stiffly at the spot. The house, Penthurst Manor was standing in front of me. Complete from roof to floor. A huge staircase led towards the entrance. The marble looked rough with age and niche. What looked like white paint had turned yellow in some areas and grey on most. The brick wall I saw was indeed a wall, of what used to be wall , that served as the fence.

It was as if I stepped into another world. The house was beautiful, perfectly preserved. Other archeologists would kill for this find. And her Dad happened to be one to discover it.

My gaze surveyed the area, there seemed to be a carriage house at the west side and a fountain on the east side. I can't be so sure from this distance. Both appeared to be in good condition, as if someone had come and cleaned the house once on a while.

"Why is it clean in here but a total mess outside?" I asked Louie.

"The Kelly's don't use the front entrance, they paved a path out back and from there they do what needs to be done for the house."

The Kelly's must be the caretakers, and the only family left living in this area. I wondered how they looked like. Are they as old as the house? Or modern like us?

"Come. Patrick's waiting." He called Oggy and started for the stairs.

I followed slowly, feeling so enamoured of the surroundings. Its pretty. With the afternoon sun shining down on us, I could clearly see the flowers blooming and their leaves sparkling from the morning dew.

It wasn't until I reached the stairs that I felt something. I turned around and saw no one. I gazed up ahead where Louie waited, there was just him and Oggy. I wasn't sure what it was, it didn't feel like a touch or a whisper. But something came over me. It wasn't the wind or the silence of the place. Something happened and I can't put my finger on it. Creepy if you ask me.

"You okay?" Louie called.

"Yeah. Just admiring the bannister." I pretended to touch the marble bannister as if there's something interesting other than the mold and niche.

"If that caught your attention, better brace yourself once you see the inside."

Oh boy. Here goes nothing. I took a deep breath and climbed the stairs. As soon as I reached the top Louie held the double doors, opening them both at the same time.

The hinges creaked loudly, like the ones you hear in horror movies. Except this wasn't a horror movie, the house isn't even haunted. I hoped. Oggy barked and ran inside before I could pull his leash.

"Oggy! Come back." I started to run after him but I realised it was dark. I turned to Louie, "Can we get some lights here? Or do we need to find some candles like they used to?" I meant the aristocrats and their absence of electricity.

"We got lights." he said and fumbled on the walls. Light flooded the room immediately.

So there was electricity here. That could mean this wasn't the right house after all. Specially if the stories were true that the Baron lived in a time when candles and gas lamps ruled the world. I began to smile.

"Something funny?" Louie came up behind me.

"Sort of." I started looking around the interior, it looked old—ancient for my taste. The wall papers looked out of fashion, but it doesn't mean it was from the Baron's time. They would've turned to ashes by now. These looked like it had been plastered several years ago, not centuries ago. I wasn't sure about the furnitures though, you can always buy a mock up that looked exactly like antiques. And whoever sold the house probably did that to pose an authentic atmosphere.Everything would have to be catalogued by a professional. Then we'll know the truth.

From upstairs I heard footsteps. I looked up and saw my Dad, he had grown a beard and his hair was longer than the last time I saw him. Which was 6 months ago.

"Krista!" He ran down the wooden stairs and hugged me.

"Daddy." I hugged him back. He was a tall man, standing at 6'3" I had to tiptoe so I could kiss his cheeks. "You've grown a beard!"

Patrick smiled at me, he was still a handsome man at 50 years old. With only a few streaks of gray sticking out, he could still make heads turn wherever he went.

"I did. How do I look?" He made a gesture as if to tickle me with the 4 inch beard.

"You look different! But good." I pawed at his chin so he can't put his beard on me.

"I feel good. Think I'll keep it."

"That you do." I laughed.

"Louie my boy, thank you for taking care of my princess. Go upstairs and drop her things." He finally noticed Louie at the door. "And you," he pointed at my nose " how do you feel being at his house?"

"His? Who do you mean?" I tried to play dumb. I know dad likes to play the genius.

He raised his brows as if he can't believe what I was saying, "The Baron's house of course." He let out an exasperated breath at me.

I slumped my shoulders and pouted my lips' "C'mon dad, you can't really mean that. You're not sure this is the house."

"You saw the archway."

"I did." I put my serious face, "The previous owners could've built it years ago. They must've read found on the internet about the story and they wanted to get rid of the house."

"But why would they do that?" He peered down at me, "If its not the house?"

I raised my hands in surrender, "I dunno dad. It doesn't explain anything at all. The story, the Baron and the house... it all could've been just made up."

"It's not made up." Said a voice from behind me.

I turned around but couldn't make out his face. He stood at the dark corner of the entrance while we stood in full light.

"Who are you?" I asked.

He stepped forward so we can see his face. He was about 5"7' with a very pale face and thin body, his brown hair was combed with care. Probably about in his early twenties. He wore a suit of ocean blue with a white button on. I bet he took hours to get dressed. His arms were on his back, made me wonder what he was hiding there.

When he spoke I felt as if we were in a cave, and he was an echo. "I am Tristane Kelly. Caretaker of the Penthurst Manor." He made a slight bow. "At your service."

"Kelly," I repeated. Louie mentioned the family name.

"Tristane, glad you could make it." Patrick reached for his hand and Kelly shook it briefly. "I got here earlier, I left you a message to meet us directly and as you said the door was open." Then he turned back to me, "This is my daughter, Kristania."

"Nice to meet you Kristania." He took my hand but instead of shaking it, he pressed a light kiss behind my palm. Then gave me cold stare. Oookay...

"Krista. Just Krista is fine." I pulled my hand back, feeling really silly.

"As you wish Krista." He straightened his back and pulled out his glasses. "I assure you this is the right house. The house where Baron Lucian lived. Come," he gestured for us to follow him, "I'll show you."

Oh god. Now what?