With his mug of coffee in his hand, Tom stood beside him at the railing. “Amazing view,” he said. It was breathtaking. The house was built on a point of land, and from this perspective you could see the ocean to the north and east.
“I’d like to take a look around.”
“Sure. I’ll grab our coats. It’s freezing out. Wait here,” Joe said.
Pulling their collars up against the stiff, cold wind, they walked down the steep porch stairs. A patio extended beyond the end of the house and along the east side. Beech trees surrounded the house to the north. Flower gardens, overrun with dead growth, went almost to the edge of the cliff. There was a long path though the middle of the gardens that led to beach access stairs built into the side of the cliff. The beach lay some thirty feet below.
Joe and Tom hurried down the narrow walkway to the cliff’s edge. The view was spectacular. Squinting against the bright sun, they gazed far out across the ocean and both would swear, with the sky so clear, they could see the Isles of Westmoor, at least seven miles out.
“Awesome isn’t it?” Joe asked.
“Absolutely spectacular. I’ve missed the ocean. It’s magnificent. Untamed nature. There’s such a feel of power unleashed with the waves crashing against the rocks. Makes me feel insignificant. Yet, even with all the chaotic wildness of the surf, it makes me feel tranquil.”
“You’re right. It’s mesmerizing,” They stood in silence, each lost in his private thoughts.
A gust of cold Atlantic air whistling through the trees interrupted the silence. They decided to finish touring the grounds so they could get back to the shelter of the house. Following another path that led along the east side of the house, they came to a landscaped area thickly planted with withered, berry-covered viburnum bushes and wind-dried flowers. It was easy to imagine how lush and beautiful the garden must be in the warmer months.
The ground sloped gradually uphill as they got closer to the front of the house. The front of the house was only about three feet above ground level, whereas the back porch of the house was about ten feet above ground. Joe explained that since the ground was composed of granite, most houses along the ocean were built according to the rock formation. Many of the homes, like this one, were built into, rather than on, the granite.
Tom had his first view of the house in daylight. It was a splendid home. The three-story house had been newly painted pale gray with charcoal-gray shutters and trim around the windows and white doors. The floor of the veranda was painted dark gray, the porch railings white. The house had a serene and comfortable look about it. All along the veranda, sheepberry bushes grew to shelter the south side of the house from the summer heat.
Joe and Tom ventured to the west side. Like the north, it was planted with beech trees. Beyond them was the white pine forest. Wanting to see the house from a more distant vantage point, they walked down the gravel driveway for about a quarter of a mile and turned to look back.
“It’s a great place, really well-constructed. A credit to the architect and contractor,” Joe said to a smiling Tom. “Yes, sir, this is a fine house. It’s been well cared for, for the most part. So many of these old coastal homes have been let go. Such a shame. Although I see a lot of properties are being bought up and renovated.”
“Glad to know things are looking up around here.” Tom began walking toward the house.
“I better get to work while the weather’s holding,” Joe said. “Think I’ll start by doing some testing on the electrical connections at the back of the house. Go from there.”
“I don’t know much about wiring, but I’d be glad to help,” Tom offered.
“Naw. Not now. I’m sure you have things to take care of. If I find something though, I’ll hunt you down,” Joe replied, walking away.
Chapter 7
Tom watched Joe disappear around the side of the house. Joe's quite an interesting fellow. I’m glad our paths crossed. Tom returned to the kitchen, his mind full of plans for the rest of the morning. His cell phone was upstairs, so he decided to put off making any calls for a while. He decided to make a list of everything he needed to get done. It was too easy to become distracted watching the ocean and forget everything else.
Rummaging around the drawers, he found a spiral notebook and a pen, poured himself another cup of coffee and sat down at the kitchen table. Outside the window, in the branches of one of the beech trees, a movement caught his eye. High on a limb was a black kitten, its tiny mouth open, its unheard sounds of distress clearly imagined. Opening the window, the mews were piercing. Tom ran out the back door and down the stairs to find Joe.
“Hey, Joe, I need your ladder. There’s a kitten stuck in a tree!” he hollered. Joe was in fact high up on a ladder, checking for faulty electrical connections at the back of the house. He clambered down, collapsed the sliding ladder to a manageable size and followed Tom around to the side of the house.
“The kitten’s halfway up the tree outside the kitchen window. It’s in a panic, doesn’t know how to get down.” The men braced the ladder, raising it to just below the limb where the kitten clung to the branch, yowling louder than seemed possible for such a tiny creature. Tom slowly ascended the ladder. Never having been that high on a ladder, he recognized how unstable it felt as it wobbled back and forth with every step. He hoped Joe was backing him up. He risked a quick look downward. Nope, Joe wasn’t holding the ladder.
Apparently savvy to the desperate look on Tom’s face, Joe quickly put his hands on the ladder sides for good measure.
He thinks I’m a wuss. Tom reached for the kitten, tucked it under his arm, and descended the ladder as fast as he dared. “Thanks, Joe. Rescue accomplished. Let’s take this little guy in the house.”
In the kitchen, the kitten scrambled out of Tom’s grip and scurried to hide under the table. Tom found a bowl, poured some milk into in, and lured the kitten from its hiding place. “I need to fatten you up.” As he drank, Tom petted his scrawny back. “Joe, more coffee before you go back to work?”
“Sure, don’t mind if I do. Take the chill out of my bones. Sit down, I'll get it.” Joe poured them both coffee. “I found that the main wire into the house had some breaks. Might be the reason the power was fluctuating last night. Wind was blowing the wires around. I’ll take care of it before I look any further.” Joe sipped his coffee, then continued, “Surprisingly, most of the old wiring into the house has been replaced. There’s a good chance that the interior wiring was replaced at the same time. You’ll be lucky if that’s the case. Like I said before, the previous owners, the Lindemans, did quite a bit of work on this place over the years. You may get lucky—might not be a lot wrong. I’ll finish checking all the outside connections, and then you can show me where you had the trouble last night. Might be a few bad switches, maybe even loose bulbs.”
Tom picked up the kitten, setting it in the center of the rag rug in front of the fireplace. The kitten took a quick bath, then curled into a little ball and closed its eyes. “Looks like I have my first houseguest. Kind of hope he sticks around. I could use the company,” Tom said. The men sat sipping their coffee. “I think I’m ready to nose around upstairs. Come on. Let’s take a quick look around. Then you can get back to the wiring.”
“Sure.” Joe followed Tom through the house to the front entryway and up the stairs to the second floor. At the top was a long hallway that ran the full length of the house. Joe, already familiar with the layout, took the lead. “The master bedroom’s this way, down the hall to the right,” Joe said. He opened the double doors into the room and stood aside. The smell of fresh paint and lemon oil wafted out into the hall. The suite was tastefully decorated. There was a fireplace built into the middle of the west wall. It was faced with chocolate-brown, polished marble swirled with black veins. The hearth was black marble. On the right side of the fireplace a door led to a large walk-in closet. Centered against the southern wall was a king-size, four-poster bed with nightstands on either side. A large walnut bureau