Chapter 3 #4
I slowly got up from the chair. I felt fine.
Thirsty, I made my way to the kitchen and nabbed a bottle of water from the fridge.
My phone chirped with a notification. I swiped the screen, revealing a message from Caleb from hours ago.
Apparently, the man in Ireland who takes care of my grandfather’s affairs wanted to get in touch with me, and Caleb was passing along his contact information. I went back to the study.
At the desk, I set my water on a coaster that would have normally held my grandfather’s coffee or a glass of Johnny Walker.
I dialed the number Caleb sent me for the caretaker in Ireland.
Before I could even think about how late it must be in Ireland, there was a voice on the other end.
My brain was slightly foggy, and I forgot it was so late. What the hell time was it in Ireland?
“Hello?”
“Oh, my goodness, I am so sorry. My grandfather’s lawyer messaged me this number to call, and I wasn’t even thinking about the time difference.”
“Is dis Joslyn Lawson?” The deep voice on the other end asked.
“Yes, yes, it is.”
“It’s Ronan. Don’t fret about de time; I’m a bit of an early riser as luck would ’ave it.
I left a message wit Mr. Douglas ‘cause I know dat Ray left ye a key and dat in order to use dat key ye would have to visit Ireland. When ye grandfather visited, he would give me a ring so dat I could open de ’ouse and ave it cleaned before ’e arrived.
I wanted to offer me services for when ye decide to make de trip. ”
I was relieved that I hadn’t woken him but still embarrassed by my stupidity.
“I did receive a key, and I will be making a trip to Ireland soon. I sort of forgot about it. I will have to get in touch with Charlotte. She inherited the manor in Ireland, and she will want to come with me so she can go through the estate. I am certain she will want to assess everything—find out what she needs to do to keep things running smoothly and avoid falling into disrepair.”
“Well, now ye ’ave me number. So, after ye ’ave spoken wit ’er and make arrangements, call and I will ’ave groceries delivered and get de ’ouse ready.”
“Thank you so much for getting in touch. It’s wonderful news that when we visit, we just get in touch with you—so much better than someone we don’t know at all.
I will give you a call back when I finalize our plans.
It was nice to hear your voice. I would have had a difficult time navigating this, had I not known you were taking care of things.
I do believe my grandfather has a car there.
Would you happen to know what a taxi would cost from the airport to the house? ”
“Once ye inform me of ye travel details, I can make myself available to pick ye up and show ye around a bit, so ye at least know where to go to get a drink or buy supplies. I know it ’as been quite some time since ye ’ave been ’ere—twelve years, if memory serves.
Besides, I should be around to show ye de ’ouse. ”
“Yes, twelve years is a long time. Well then, I will call when I know more, and thank you again for all your help. Talk to you soon, Ronan.”
“I will be waiting to ’ear from ye, Joslyn.”
I ended the call and messaged Charlotte to see if she was awake.
My cousin wasn’t one to go to bed early.
Her reply came immediately. She definitely wanted to go to Ireland.
I knew she was excited to see the house and the grounds.
Neither of us had been there for quite a few years.
I did recall that the estate had an abundance of land—land that included the surrounding forest, the house, and grounds.
There were stables but, to my knowledge, no horses.
Grandpa would never have kept them there; he wasn’t around enough to care for them.
I texted her back that I would investigate flights and give her a call in the morning.
Setting my phone down, I leaned back in the chair.
I exhaled deeply as my eyes roamed the expansive room.
Droves of books lined endless shelves on dozens of bookcases that seemed to run along every wall in the large circular room.
An enormous hulk of a table sat on the left side of the staircases near a huge fireplace crafted from deep gray river rocks.
The table was a medieval, ancient piece of furniture that had five chairs on each side and one at each end.
They matched the table perfectly, just as massive and old; each chair had a high back and large arms. The seats were upholstered in green velvet.
As I was admiring the chairs, my eyes drifted, landing on the carved “stump” that I was examining earlier.
I had completely forgotten about it. I remember touching the carvings and then I woke up to my phone dinging.
Why was I just remembering that? Getting up from the chair, I crossed the room to where the dreadfully heavy thing sat on the floor.
It was still sitting atop the dismantled cardboard box.
Leaning down, I moved to push it off of the cardboard when something in my brain stopped me.
Returning to the desk, I grabbed my phone.
Working my way around the wood, I started snapping pictures of it.
There was something to this; I wasn’t sure what, but maybe I could find out.
I went back to the desk and started rummaging through the drawers.
Normal office stuff: paper clips, pens, notepads, stamps, a stapler, and other random supplies.
Stopping, I looked up at the loft area of the room.
There were rows of drawers that held a plethora of things related to cryptids.
This entire room was full of stuff. Something here had to tell me more about this thing.
He kept it in his office, so he had to be aware of what it was and the nature of its origins.
A few hours passed, and all of my searching had turned up hair samples, fossils, teeth, nails, castings of footprints, and at one point I think there may have been petrified poop.
My brain was getting tired, and I’d only conquered two rows.
There were still four more rows of cabinets left to scour.
Everything I came across was interesting—most of it was labeled.
That made a lot of the items more intriguing.
My phone was telling me it was after three in the morning.
I knew I had things I needed to deal with tomorrow—today, actually—but I also knew I wanted to spend more time here.
I wanted to explore more and absorb the drawers of information.
Touch the things he touched, learn the things he learned.
I wanted to feel closer to him. I wish he was here.
If he was here, then he could just tell me what this damned thing was.
Deciding to go to bed, I turned the light off and shut the door behind me.
I returned my water glass to the kitchen and reached into the fridge, grabbing a handful of grapes; eating them on the way to my room.
When I reached my room, I was out of grapes and feeling the drowsiness set in.
I quickly used the bathroom and climbed into my bed.
The next morning I felt well rested and full of energy.
I headed to the kitchen to brew a pot of coffee.
I was eager to get back in the study as soon as I could.
The coffee took forever and once it was done, I filled my cup and added cream and headed straight for the massive room in the center of the house.
I had a new obsession with this study and wanted to lose myself inside—and that is exactly what I did.
After that, my days blurred into coffee, searching, and that room.
I had managed to get in touch with my landlord and told him I would be there next week to move my things but was leaving the furniture.
He was happy to know that he was able to rent the apartment fully furnished, waiving last month’s rent as a thank you.
My mother came over, and we made dinner and watched an old movie together.
Mostly, I just spent time going through the collection that made up my grandfather’s study.
It made me feel close to him when I had no other way to.
I was wholeheartedly invested in this part of my grieving process.
Before I knew it, Friday had arrived, and Charlotte was pulling into the driveway with a small moving trailer in tow.
I ran out to the car when she pulled up. “So, bitch, when are we leaving for Ireland?”
“I just got here, give me a minute. Have you been checking on flights?”
“Yes, and I have a few different options. It all depends on when you want to leave.”
“Well, help me unload all this crap and get it into the house or garage.”
We set to work unloading her boxes, taking the majority of her things to her bedroom. The rest, we put in the garage until she could find some time to sort through it. Charlotte and I moved the furniture in her room around until she had everything situated the way she wanted.
After we finished unloading the trailer, we ordered pizza and collapsed onto the overstuffed living room sectional and waited for the food to arrive. When it finally did show up, we ate and talked about our impromptu trip.
“When is our flight?”
“Well, if we can make it to the airport by six, then we can be in Ireland by three in the afternoon, tomorrow.”
“Well, let’s get a move on; we need to pack.”
I finalized the transaction to purchase the tickets, and we ran up the stairs to pack. I pulled my suitcase out of the closet and put it on the bed. I dialed Ronan’s number and put the phone to my ear.
“Hello?”
“Hey Ronan. It’s Joslyn. We are going to be on a plane at eight tonight and should land around three in the afternoon tomorrow. I understand if you can’t make it to pick us up; it’s short notice.”
“Everything will be ready when ye arrive, and I will be at de airport to pick ye both up and bring ye back to de ’ouse.”
“Thank you so much. We will see you tomorrow.”
“I look forward to it.” I ended the call and flipped open my suitcase to start packing.