THAT WAS SOME HOME she had. Massive, in an architecture I'd assumed was confined to the south-eastern United States. Two-story place, with huge, two-story pillars and a house-wide front porch, the great lawn studded with giant trees.
And she lived there alone, excepting for the servants. She was no huddler, and I told her that.
"Dad owned a lot of property in this town," she said. "He was a great believer in the future of this town."
At the time I didn't understand what that had to do with her lack of huddling.
The guest house was small, but very comfortable, a place of three bedrooms and two baths and a square living room with a natural stone fireplace.
I had my first night of sleep on this planet, and slept very well. I woke to a cloudy morning, and the sound of someone knocking on
