The Ghosts of Peppernell Manor Read Online Free PDF Page A

smiled at me. “I guess Evie has had you into Charleston already to visit some of the restoration shops around town. What did you think?”
    â€œI thought they were very professional and their work is beautiful. They’ll be great to work with,” I replied. “I hope when I’m done that you’re thrilled with your home.”
    She smiled again. “I’m sure we will be. Of course, if you need my help, you’re always welcome to whatever I have in my gallery.” I thanked her warmly. Evie had told me that Vivian ran a renowned antique gallery in Charleston. Though we hadn’t visited her store earlier, I felt sure I would be spending quite a bit of time in there, too. I remembered from my previous visit that Vivian was an art lover. She had worked at an art gallery at that time, so she must have decided that antiques were more to her liking.
    We all ate lunch together in the dining room, making it a more formal affair than breakfast had been. Lucy did remarkably well, only having to be reminded twice to use utensils. After lunch I took her upstairs for her nap; then I descended by myself into the basement to have a look at what projects might lie in wait for me down there.
    The cavernous basement was fascinating. I knew from my research about antebellum plantations that basements had several uses. The first thing I noticed when I walked down the old wooden staircase to the basement, after the expansive brick floor in an intricate herringbone pattern, was the huge fireplace in the center of the space. This, I had learned, would have been used to heat the basement in winter and to keep food warm before serving. In addition, food was actually cooked in the cellar before the kitchen dependency had been built. There were a variety of small rooms down there, each with its own historical use. One room had a thick wooden door with a large rusted lock that appeared to be unused now. I suspected, based on research I had done, that room had once been used to house spices, wine, and other valuables. There was another room containing rows of wooden shelves that I assumed had been used as a storeroom for roots, vegetables, and other foods requiring cool storage. As I wandered around, my footsteps echoing on the bricks, I also found an old plantation office, other storage spaces, and work rooms that had probably been used by house slaves. There were more modern items in those rooms now, but I could imagine what it had looked like in the mid-nineteenth century.
    I wrote as I walked, noting the spots in the basement that would probably need repair; there were many such areas that were cracked and peeling. When I was done in the basement, I went back up to my room to wake Lucy from her nap. Refreshed, she was now ready to hear my news about her new school. As I suspected, she greeted the announcement with a mixture of excitement and apprehension. She asked me lots of questions about where I would be during the school day and whether she would eat lunch there. She knew her little friends from Chicago were starting school soon and that she would be able to share stories with them when she saw them again. She also seemed a little frightened of going to school in a new place. Understandable, but maybe if I started while she was young I could instill in her a lifelong acceptance of change and a penchant for new experiences. No husband of hers was ever going to accuse her of being boring and staid when she grew up.
    I explained to her that I would drop her off every morning and go back to the manor to do my work, then I would pick her up later in the day so we could spend time together at Peppernell Manor. She happily agreed and we went downstairs in search of other playmates.
    We found Ruby in the kitchen. She was baking several different kinds of quick bread; she had banana, cherry, and blueberry breads all in the works. She asked Lucy if she’d like to help deliver the breads to the farm workers, and of