cookie. too."
She looked at the table. I hadn't cleared it vet. "I'll make some room for us. It will be our first
meal together." she said. smiling. "I'll tell you all
about Hearts and Flowers, too. The peaches," she
reminded me when I didn't move. She smiled and
nodded at the doorway.
Peaches and cream sounded like a dessert not a
meal. I thought, but I didn't want to b
e impolite, so I
went to the basement door. She poked her head out of
the kitchen.
"Oh. Jordan, the light switch is on your right." she said. "Be careful. My cousin Arnold fell down those stairs and broke his ankle when he was ten. He was always a careless person, and eventually he got hit by a car and died. It was so long ago. I can't remember the exact day, but I still have a letter Emma sent me. She wrote. 'Arnold was hit by a car and died.' That's all she wrote and the date, of course. Emma always puts the date on her letters so we can look at it when we want and know exactly when they were
sent."
She pulled back into the kitchen. and I searched
for the light switch. A single dangling weak bulb
seemed to struggle to throw enough of a glow down
the stairway. There were so many cobwebs along the
walls and rafters that it looked like spiders had woven
the wallpaper. I certainly wasn't happy about going
down the stairs. The steps felt like they were on the
verge of cracking as I descended. I was practically on
tiptoe to keep from placing all my weight down on
them.
The switch at the top of the stairway controlled
another dangling lightbulb below. Although weak, it
did clearly show me the shelves. They were filled
with jars of peaches, tomatoes and onions, as she had
said. Just as I plucked one off the shelf. I heard the sound of a girl laughing, Then I heard some muffled conversation and looked toward the left, where there
was another door.
Who was down here?