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As it happened, I didn’t feel the need to put any on now—I was definitely in for the night. But I was starting to feel hungry. I’d had a scrambled egg for breakfast that morning which was hours ago by now. And besides here at my Grandma’s house, it was getting on towards evening. A glance out my bedroom window showed the sun was beginning to set—it was time for supper.
“Time to eat,” I said to Sebastian, who had been amusing himself by sniffing all around my new bedroom. “The question is, what are we going to eat?”
The house had been lying empty for five years—was there anything in the cupboards or the pantry that was still eatable? There was only one way to find out.
“Come on,” I said to my cat and we left the bedroom and trooped downstairs again.
As it turned out, there wasn’t much at all left in the cupboards or in the pantry, which was on the other side of the breakfast table. I did find the door to the basement, however—it was located at the end of the pantry—a narrow, wooden door with an antique brass knob.
But when I turned the knob and looked in, I saw a steep set of wooden steps that stretched down into the darkness. I flipped the switch on the wall…but nothing happened.
For a moment, I was torn. I had distinct memories of my Grandma making the most amazing vegetable soup and canning it and storing it, along with lots of other vegetables and fruit, down in the basement. But on the other hand, it was getting dark outside and I was alone in the house.
It wasn’t like I thought the basement was haunted—I didn’t get any spooky vibes from it. But what if I fell down the stairs and twisted my ankle? I didn’t know what the emergency services were like in this place or even if there were emergency services. I needed to be careful.
“I don’t think so,” I said to Sebastian, who was hovering around the open doorway, sniffing the cool basement air skeptically. “Maybe tomorrow—not today.”
He mewed in agreement and I shut the door firmly. But that still left the question—what were we going to eat for dinner?
On a far back shelf of the pantry, I found a dusty can of Campbell’s tomato soup and a single can of tuna packed in oil. Well, that would have to do, I decided. Tomato soup had been my favorite when I was a kid and I still liked it from time to time. As for Sebastian, he would be getting a treat since he usually ate dry cat food.
I looked around in the cupboards until I found a pot, a plate, and a bowl—noting as I did, that I had all but one of the spices I needed to make Grandma’s apple pie. The cinnamon jar was empty but everything else was there and when I opened the jars to sniff them, they still smelled good.
“I’ll have to find a place to buy food, tomorrow,” I told Sebastian, as I used the old-fashioned hand-crank can opener to get into the soup and the tuna. “I doubt Amazon delivers down here.”
As I spoke, my eyes fell on the calendar from Goodman Kreeches Grocery and Co-op again. Maybe it was within walking distance? I hoped so—I doubted there were any Ubers or busses around here either.
Once the soup was hot, I served both Sebastian and myself. He dug into the tuna eagerly as I spooned up my soup. I’d had to make it with water instead of milk, since the fridge was bare, but it still tasted like childhood and nostalgia.
For dessert, I had the single golden apple I’d been able to pick from my Grandma’s tree before the Orc had come roaring up to scare the pee out of me. As I bit into the crisp, juicy fruit, I wondered idly what his name was. Did Orcs have names like humans? They did in World of Warcraft, but that was a fantasy game and this was real life…right?
To be honest, I still wasn’t sure. Maybe I had slipped and fallen and hit my head and my mind was making all this up. It certainly did seem like a dream come true to have inherited a magic house that seemed to know what I liked and needed. Though I wished it had provided me with food as well as clothes, so I wouldn’t have to go find a grocery store. I hated shopping in person—especially in a new place.
Still, I shouldn’t be greedy, I lectured myself. Tomorrow I would get things sorted out and buy as many groceries as I could afford—and carry, since I didn’t have a car. Tonight, maybe I should show the house some love, since it had been so kind to me.
After supper I washed up and then spent some time dusting all the surfaces. And let me tell you, there was a lot to dust. In the process, I found an area I hadn’t seen earlier. Leading off the downstairs bathroom was the laundry room with an old-fashioned top loading washer and an ancient looking dryer. I wondered if they still worked and hoped that they did. I didn’t have enough money to replace any appliances right now!
When everything was finally finished, the whole house looked cozier and cleaner. I thought about trying to light the firewood that was laid in the downstairs fireplace—it would be really nice to sit by the flickering flames on a chilly Autumn night. But then I had an even better idea—I wanted a bubble bath.
Luckily, the water got nice and hot. I wondered who had been paying the utility bills all this time? I would have to find out so I could keep up with it and the water and power didn’t get shut off.
I soaked for a good long time while Sebastian wandered around the bathroom sniffing, and then decided to go to bed.
On my way out of the bathroom, I saw something I had missed earlier. The hallway, instead of going straight down and ending in the library and my bedroom, had somehow grown another corner.
Curiously, I went around the corner and found yet another door with another antique brass knob.
This door seemed different somehow, though. It was dead black for one thing—all except the red X painted right in the middle of it. I got an uneasy feeling just looking at it—it was the first time I had felt less than comfortable in my new home.
Still, nothing bad had happened yet, so I dared to touch the knob. The minute my hand made contact with the brass, I felt a jolt of something I can only describe as unease go through me. I seemed to see a flash of something—a face?—but it was there and gone so quickly I wasn’t sure if I had imagined it or not.
“What the hell?” I muttered yanking my hand back. “What is this thing, anyway?”
Stealing myself for another jolt, I tried again. But when I tried to turn the knob, I found the door was locked.
“I’m sure this wasn’t here before,” I muttered, as I jiggled the knob. “Where does it lead?”
Or who does it lead to?
