Chapter 3
The Visitor, Part 1
Nancy Drew’s pain was still great although it had been over a year now since her husband Colin had passed away. The first year, all the other widows in town had told her, was the hardest. The first wedding anniversary alone, the first birthday, his & hers & the children’s, the anniversary of the death & the first Christmas without her beloved Colin had come & gone. It seemed to her that there could be no light at the end of the tunnel! She just kept asking herself -why Colin? Why had he been taken so young? Nothing made any sense anymore & there were no real answers to give either. There never are in such situations as this in life, are there? However her children were her strength. John, Colin & Nancy’s 19 year old son, had taken it all much better than she could have ever hoped, better than Jane their distraught daughter. John had supported them, stepped into his father’s boots & had taken on much of the associated responsibilities. It had made her feel proud.
Inside it had been so tough that at first he’d felt as if his throat had been cut every morning he awoke. It was like a terrible reoccurring nightmare. However instead of caving in he had decided not long after the funeral that he must lead by example & show his mother & sister that there could be a way forward for them all. Besides it’s what his father would have expected of him. So Jonny decided to return home after his “A” levels to help with the house. He had recently suggested that they redecorate. His mother had reluctantly agreed, for although a change would be good, it was equally as hard for her to let go of the past. He’d hoped that perhaps a change in colour would somehow lift the air of sadness, that still hung over Abbots House. Rather than hire decorators John took it on himself to undertake the job. He helped his father in the past & he had always excelled at such practical activities, even at a young age.
That spring he had started the work inside & by the summer he’d completed his mother’s bedroom, the living room & the adjoining dining room, before venturing outside to relay the small patio, which was situated below the morning room balcony. His mother often took breakfast there in the summer. More recently he had begun in the kitchen. The uneven wooden floor was in desperate need of attention. His primary objective had been to concentrate on the rooms that were the most frequently used, by his mother & the whole family together. These days their mother only really ventured out to the town on shopping trips, or to see her therapist who Miss Pucket, from the town council, had arranged for her once a week.
John’s good work had begun to pay dividends, for he could visibly see a change in both his mother & his sister. The mood of the whole house had become decidedly more upbeat of late.
John was a lot like his father in appearance & he also shared the same outgoing personality & was a very practical person. Therefore the work required to re-fit, sand & varnish the wooden floor was well within his capability, even though he lacked a little experience. He started at the kitchens exit to the cloak room, where he managed to salvage the original timber. He had begun on the Saturday morning & it was late evening by the time he had made the discovery.
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Written by T.R.Vinnicombe (aka Dr. Peter Hodgkins) ©2009 all rights reserved & none of the contents of this site can be copied or used in any way without the written consent of the author. Published online by MicroHotStar 2009.
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