Lost sight

Chapter 05 ~ Grand Old House

After much tumbling and tossing through less than ideal local roads, the small car arrived to the gates of the manor. It was clear nobody had cared for it in years if not decades. Nature has taken over growing happy and luscious around and beyond it. Trees and pines were tall and dark, with the unkempt hairiness of wild beasts checking whether you're foe or friend. The gates themselves were rusty, crumbling away under the weight of weather and nature. If it ever had a lock, it was long missing. The path leading to the house was barely visible under mud and weeds. 

All four of them look through the window in despair. Francis sighs and jumps out of the car, someone needs to open to get in there. Walking to the gate, he half wishes is stuck and impossible to open so they can turn around and leave. His car already took a batter for what it is, a tiny pillbox for short well paved and flat distances.

He checks the structure to make sure he's not getting a nasty cut or knocked by a broken piece falling on him.  He mumbles to himself "I hope my vaccines are up to date" as he pushes the broken metal door aside. Much to his surprise, it moves easily. Either someone opened before or the mechanisms are so broken they no longer keep the door in place. 

Francis looks up to the house, visible in the distance, sighs and returns to the car. He pats the steering wheel almost apologising to the car for another stretch of tumbling in the wild. He then restarts the motor and slowly drives past the gates. Much to everyone's relief, the gates don't fall off on them. 

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As the car approaches the building, they can see a van on a side with some people outside, hanging out, and two persons on a side sitting at the entrance with their bikes leaning on the wall.

- It seems we're the last... - Francis mumbles checking for somewhere to park his car. The house is atop of a soft slope that ends in the gravel road that lead them here. That is in a slope too, leading to the wider actually paved road connecting different places in the Scottish country to the tiny town of Forres. The paved road and a relatively nearby motorway were the only ones running on truly flat terrain. The rest was all ups and downs. As usual in Scotland.

Charlie is the first to get off the car, as he was very uncomfortable sitting in such a tiny space. He smiles pleased to see Daphne and Ernest, and starts walking towards them to greet them. Daphne stands up and Ernest does the same after a moment. They both look happy and smiling, Daphne is wearing a short kilt and long colourful stockings, walking boots and a dark long sleeved shirt with some local rock band on it. Her wavy locks bounce when she moves her head.

- You cut your hair... - Charlie says with a faint smile.

- I did yeah - she says violently shaking her head like a soaked dog trying to dry up.

- Nice... -

Daphne smiles even more, flattered. Charlie then turns his attention to Ernest who's been standing on the background with a polite smile.

- Hey Ed! How are you doing? -

- Hi! Good. And you -

They both shake hands and nod at each other, the two tall men with the short lady in between. They're friends but lately they rarely cross paths.

- I see you're very light... aren't you cold? - Charlie immediately laughs at his own words - I sound like an old granny -

Ernest and Daphne laugh as well, they themselves have heard Gran and their own mothers say similar things many times. And Ernest is not even in long sleeves.

- We're good, we have jackets - he says pointing at the lumps of cloth where they were sitting on at the entry steps.

- I brought some rain gear too - she says vaguely pointing with a thumb towards the bicycles, which have a basket on either end and side storage.

- Did you bike here? -

- We planned to, but these lads picked us up -

- They picked you up, I'm just baggage - says Ernest with a mischievous ring in the voice, giving her playful nudge.

Charlie turns around to see where the rest of the group is. The car is out of sight, probably parked in the more flatter areas behind the house.

- I think Fran was having troubles with the car... -

- It's like a pea, I'm surprised it survived all the way here... -

Charlie shrugs and turns to look at them.

- There are better roads now -

- I guess... I wouldn't know, we took the train -

Charlie nods again and muses something in agreement.

- Shall we? - he asks gesturing towards the doorway.

Ernest rushes to pick up the lumps and two empty Club Mate bottles.

- You drink those? - says Charlie mildly frowning as Ernest tries to place the stuff somewhere safe near the bikes.

- Yeah, they keep me awake... there wasn't much to choose from in the shop... -

- You should try real mate -

- I did. I don't like it -

Charlie chuckles and goes to the door to check if it's locked, with the other two behind him, trying to peer over his shoulder or arms.

The door opens after some fiddling with it. It was clearly unlocked and only time and dirt has kept still in its place. As he pushes the doors open, they finally see what was everyone raving about.

Despite de first impression of good shape, the façade looking reasonably clean and in one piece, the interiors show the effects of two decades of abandonment. Most of the foyer is roofless, the entire right side of the house is gone and only one set of stairs and the back rooms are still standing. There's debris and dirt everywhere, but the stairs seem to be in surprisingly good shape with no obvious gaps or broken pieces.

Slowly they walk around, aimlessly, trying to imagine how it looked like when it was in its prime time.

- I'm going to check the rooms at the back - says Daphne.

- I'll wait for the others - says Charlie pointing at the door.

Ernest looks at Charlie for a moment but turns around and follows Daphne.

As Charlie stands there, waiting for the group to come in, a chill breeze comes in from the pine trees nearby. Fresh and scented, a reminder that winter is closer than it seems.