Digging Up The Dirt

An’gel nodded. “Yes, I’m afraid Hamish neglected the house and the grounds terribly. He became so odd over the years, wouldn’t have much to do with anybody.”

“Except Mrs. Danvers, of course.” Dickce grimaced.

“Who are you talking about?” An’gel asked. “I thought the housekeeper’s name was Turnipseed.”

“It is,” Dickce replied. “I was referring to the spooky housekeeper in Rebecca. Mrs. Turnipseed has always reminded me of her.”

“Who’s Rebecca?” Benjy asked, obviously confused.

“Rebecca is a novel by Daphne du Maurier,” Dickce explained. “A wonderful book, and the housekeeper in it, Mrs. Danvers, is truly menacing.” She shivered. “In the movie she’s really scary.”

“Played by a wonderful actress named Judith Anderson,” An’gel added. “We have it on DVD if you’re interested.”

Benjy nodded. “I like old movies, but I probably should read the book first.”

“I’ll lend it to you,” Dickce said. “It’s one of my favorites.”

“Hadley is expecting us,” An’gel said. “We’d better get going. Why don’t you come with us, Benjy, and bring Peanut and Endora. They can explore the grounds with us.”

“Are you sure it would be okay with the owner?” Benjy asked. “He might not want these two running around.”

“Nonsense.” Dickce stood. “Hadley always loved animals, and I’m sure he’ll love these two rascals.”

“Awesome,” Benjy said. “I’d really like to see his house.”

“It’s gorgeous,” Dickce said as she, Benjy, and the two animals followed An’gel out the back door to the garage. “At least, it used to be. There’s no telling what kind of condition Hadley’s brother let it get into.”

“We’ll soon see,” An’gel said as she backed the car out of the garage.

Eight minutes later the car topped a rise in the driveway to Ashton Hall, and An’gel stopped the car to allow them all to look down toward the house.

Dickce pointed to the side of the redbrick, three-story structure. “There’s one of the trees that went down. Oh, I hate that, it’s one of the old oaks. Must have been as old as the house, if not older.”

“Hamish abandoned the gardens,” An’gel said. “Look at the overgrown mess. Hadley has made some progress, but it’s going to take months to get the grounds back in shape for the pilgrimage.” She put the car in gear and drove them down the rise to the front of the house.

Hadley came out of the front door before they were all out of the car. Peanut bounded up to Hadley and woofed at him, tail wagging.

“Hello there, handsome.” Hadley smiled and rubbed the dog’s head. “You’re a pleasant surprise.” He greeted the humans, with kisses on the cheek for the sisters and a handshake for Benjy. He held up his fingers to allow Endora, perched on Benjy’s shoulder, to have a sniff. To his obvious pleasure, she rubbed her head against his hand.

“You have quite a job on your hands,” Dickce said.

Hadley offered them a wry grin. “Yes, my brother really let things go, as you can see. My plan is to restore the gardens to basically what they were in my mother’s time. Do you remember what they looked like then?”

An’gel nodded. “Yes, your mother had the most incredible green thumb. She could get anything to grow.”

“Our mother was always jealous of her.” Dickce giggled. “She loved to garden but she didn’t have the knack Mrs. Partridge did.”

“Mother loved her garden, I think, even more than she loved her family.” Hadley smiled. “I’ve found pictures from that period, but I confess I don’t know the names of all the plants. I’m sure you can help me identify them.”

“We’d be glad to,” Dickce said. “An’gel is the real expert, though. I mostly do what she tells me when she needs help with weeding or planting.”

Benjy startled them all by yelling, “Peanut, you come back here!” Benjy turned to their host. “If you’ll excuse me sir, I’d better go after him. He might try to dig up something.”

“By all means.” Hadley laughed. “Though I doubt he can do much damage.”

Benjy nodded, then took off after the dog who had headed toward the side of the house where the massive oak had fallen. Endora clung to his shoulder.

“Come on in.” Hadley turned and gestured toward the front door. “It’s a bit damp and chilly out here. After we’ve looked at the pictures, perhaps we can come out and have a look at the grounds.”

“Sounds good to me.” Dickce climbed the few steps to the small porch and walked through the open door, followed by An’gel and Hadley.

When their host had shut the door behind him, Dickce asked, “Is Mrs. Turnipseed still the housekeeper?”

Hadley shook his head. “No, she retired when Hamish died. He left her a nice pension.” He grinned. “She never liked me, and the feeling was mutual. She always reminded me of that ghoulish woman in Rebecca.”

Dickce and An’gel laughed, then Dickce explained, “That’s what I said before we came over.”

Hadley chuckled. “Well, great minds and all that. Come, let’s go into the parlor. I’ve got a fire going in there. The new housekeeper I hired will bring us hot coffee in a few minutes. I hope that’s fine, or I could ask her to make hot tea.”