Rhénee Johnson: Emelda's Sapphire (Book One)

Chapter 3

Rhénee's eyes were really getting heavier and heavier with each passing hour. She knew she should have pulled over somewhere to sleep, but she wanted to reach Madison as soon as possible. But now she regretted not stopping by an inn a few kilometres away from Cottonwood. It was dangerous driving like this. She might even get into an accident and how would her family take it?

For a moment, Rhénee realised that it had been a long time since she came to Madison. Most of the time her parents had always exchanged seats when it was necessary. But now, Rhénee was all alone and Sophie was a cat and couldn't drive. How she wished for a moment that things would have been a bit different.

Anyway, it didn't matter. Rhénee had finally passed a poster which read, "Welcome to Madison." Her heart beat faster now. She was finally here. Her eyes lit up a little and she knew she still had enough energy to drive up to her grandmother's house.

After a few minutes, Rhénee reached a neighbourhood she had known so well. Even though it was dark, Rhénee could still see the houses. Nothing seemed to have changed at all. She reached at the end of the street and took a turn to another road. She drove on straight ahead until she finally saw it. The mansion.

There were a few mansions found in Madison, but Rhénee's late grandmother's, was exquisite. There was enough time to look at the white painted mansion, but now, Rhénee just wanted to go inside and sleep.

Sophie's green eyes shown in the the darkness of the car. The cat looked at Rhénee and saw the happiness all over her face.

They reached the black iron gate and on it was the big letter "J". The gate was obviously locked and Rhénee got out of the car. The keys to the gate were also together with the keys to the front door of the mansion.

Rhénee unlocked the gate without any difficulty. She swung it open and quickly got back in the car. Sophie meowed at her and Rhénee scratched behind Sophie's ear.

"Home sweet home, Sophie," said Rhénee as the cat purred.

Rhénee drove the car inside and she made sure she got out of the car to the close the gate again. She got back in and drove up to the mansion on the grey stoned path. The white fountain in front of the mansion was still there as she remembered it, but there was no water sprouting out of it.

Rhénee turned off the engine of the car and headlights blacked out. She came out of the car and Sophie also followed. When the cat got to the ground, she stretched and took a long look at the dark mansion.

Rhénee walked up to the front door. She slotted the key into the key hole and turned the key. The door clicked open and she grabbed the gold handle and swung it open. Inside was completely dark.

She stood at the door for a moment starring at the darkness. Sophie who was beside Rhénee, looked up at her waiting for her to make the first move.

"It's completely dark in here. Let's see if I could remember where the switch is."

Rhénee felt the wall beside the door frame and found the switch. She flipped it and the lights went on.

The first thing Rhénee looked at was the dark polished marble floor which shone brightly under the light like a precious stone and then to the white painted walls where the picture frames stood with colourful paintings in them.

"Oh, my. You see, Sophie. This place is still as beautiful as I remember."

Rhénee closed the door behind her and took farther steps into the mansion.  The white marble staircase led up to the rooms above. Some of the ornaments which were meant to be placed under some picture frames were no where to be seen. As far as Rhénee could remember, Emelda had always loved Chinese pottery. Rhénee thought that it must have been kept in the basement.