Weeping Willows

Treasure Hunt

Chapter 8

Later that afternoon Elizabeth gazed around the second floor of her house with a sense of accomplishment. It was finally clean, and the place was looking more like a home and less like an abandoned building. She had even started on the 'what I need' list, the top entry being curtains. While the artist in her loved all the natural light the place had to offer, the woman in her begged for a bit of privacy. Even though she was surrounded by trees she still felt a little exposed. Dusting off her pants and grabbing a broom she decided to take her first peek at the attic. She had no doubt it would be littered with cobwebs probably worse than the lower floor had been. At least she could say the local pest control had done their job well. Not a critter had been in sight since they had come out, well at least not a live one.

Grabbing the long-handled hook, she reached up and opened the attic door. At first it seemed a bit stuck probably from disuse, so Elizabeth placed both hands on the pole and yanked with everything she had. The door swung down with a loud bang dropping years of dust in its wake. She stood there in shock looking at her once pristine wood floor clean no more. Waving the dust in the air out of her face she admitted she probably should have opened it before doing all the work she had that afternoon. 'Oh well,' she thought to herself, 'they say you learn something new every day. Guess that was today's lesson'. Reaching back up she hooked the ladder dropping it down slowly, so she didn't hurt herself. She did not want to become the latest town gossip for giving herself a concussion with an attic ladder. Once the ladder was unfolded and firmly on the floor, she looked the thing over for possible splinters or weak steps. It seemed to be in good shape even though it was coated in years of filth. With a shrug of her shoulders she began to climb up thankful it held her just fine. Armed with her broom and a small flashlight in her back pocket she headed up into the darkness.

Flicking on her tiny light she shone it about the rather enormous room around her. Every surface was coated with dust and webbing. It was the first time Elizabeth got the vibe of a haunted house from her home. In awe she walked a few steps in not wanting to fall out the hole in the floor as her weak beam pierced through the darkness uncovering a hidden trove. The rather cavernous place was filled to the brim with antiques from bygone times. Her excitement mounted with each new thing the beam touched making her want to uncover it all that minute. There were toys and a rocker, shelves of books lined a wall, and old steamer trunks had been stacked along another. Her fingers twitched to start uncovering it all as her eyes sparkled in amazement. She felt like an honest to god treasure hunter that had just hit the mother lode. She gasped in glee when her flashlight landed on an easel leaning in a corner and she couldn't help herself from skirting around until she was able to reach it.

Her fingers traced along the solid oak frame admiring the craftsmanship in the piece. She wondered who the artist had been in the family as she cracked open the tray on the front. Old brushes and glass pots lined the inside and you could still make out the smell of oil from the paints it once held. Her hands danced among the array of supplies taking care not to cut herself on the knives. Pulling her hand back she closed the lid moving her light to the boxes next to her.

Opening the closest one to her she found it full of art supplies that had been packed away with care. Lifting the box, she moved it across the attic closer to the door before setting it down. Looking at the box and then the door she realized it was too big for her to try and cart down the ladder by herself. She was going to either have to find someone to help her or end up piecing it out into smaller containers in order to get it all down. Breathing out a heavy sigh she resigned herself to figuring it out later as she still wanted to poke about the room. Going back over to the easel she moved that too over to her box of treasures for easier access when she was able to remove them.