Just Above a Whisper (13 page)

“I am well aware of the status of the Kingsley house, Miss Thackery,” Mr. Jenness began pompously but tempered his tone when he noticed Reese’s eyes. She was, for the most part, a willing worker. But he was learning that she had her limits. He was tempted to bring up the subject of her papers, but in truth the house had to be done. He had also learned that although Reese was a hard worker, she was just one woman.

“What about the stable and the outbuildings?” Reese asked. “Am I cleaning those as well?”

“No. I’ll have someone else see to that. Just come back before we close today,” Mr. Jenness commanded, amending the original order, “and give me a report on what you accomplished.”

Reese finally took the key, reminding herself she was supposed to be praying for this man and that he had retracted his original order.

“I’ll be going to Mrs. Greenlowe’s for dinner today,” she felt a need to tell him. “Is that a problem?”

He opened his mouth to tell her not to take much time, but his wife’s observation came back to him. He also wondered if she’d been fed enough over the years. Not even he could be so cruel.

“No,” he said shortly and turned to sit behind the desk, effectively putting an end to the conversation.

Reese didn’t linger. Sitting halfway down the green, the largest house in town awaited her. She knew she had not a moment to spare.

“You’re filthy,” Mrs. Greenlowe observed when noon rolled around and Reese stepped into her kitchen from the porch.

“What does he have you doing today?”

“I’ll tell you all about it during dinner, if you’ll allow me into the house looking like this.”

“Of course I will,” she returned, becoming all at once brisk.

“Get yourself in here.”

“I’m starving,” Reese said as she sat down, trying not to move too much.

“Well, go ahead and pray!” Mrs. Greenlowe said with excitement. “I’ve got to know where you’ve been.”

Reese had to control her laughter first. She had never met anyone like her landlady. She was unfailingly harsh to the unjust, but to the hard-working she was completely accepting.

“Heavenly Father,” Reese began. “Thank You for this wonderful food and for all of Mrs. Greenlowe’s hard work. Thank You for strong bodies and capable minds. You’ve blessed us this day, Lord. Amen.”

Food was being pushed in Reese’s direction when she said, “I’m at the Kingsley house.”

Mrs. Greenlowe actually gasped, “No one’s lived there for years!”

“That’s why I’m covered in webs and dust.”

“Why are you there?”

“I was told I had a week to clean it.”

“A week?” Mrs. Greenlowe nearly came out of her chair, but a look from Reese stopped her. “All right, I won’t start on that bank manager, but only because I want to know what it’s like in that house.”

Reese actually whispered, “It’s beautiful. I’ve never seen such high ceilings, and the main stairway,” Reese paused to smile, “is curved and open and wide. Even the portraits are still hanging on the walls.

“And in the dining room, the dish cupboards are built directly into the walls. That room is so spacious that it holds a table with ten chairs and still has room for the fireplace and fabric-covered chairs in three of the corners.”

“How many fireplaces did you see?”

“I counted six, but I just did a swift walk through the downstairs.”

“So you started upstairs?”

“Yes. I didn’t want to track that dirt through a clean house.”

“Good idea,” Mrs. Greenlowe complimented her. “What of the kitchen and buttery?”

“The kitchen is on the main level, and it’s large.

“And the buttery?”

“It’s below.”

“Three stories?” The older woman was astonished and stopped. “The property drops away to the barn and outbuildings on that side, doesn’t it?”

“Yes, and the buttery’s huge! Two rooms to work in, plus extra storage, and so many built-in shelves and cupboards …”

Just then Reese remembered she had no time to linger and tucked into her food. Mrs. Greenlowe opened her mouth to ask another question and knew it would have to wait. While Reese finished, Mrs. Greenlowe had an idea.

“You might get hungry and thirsty this afternoon.” Mrs. Greenlowe’s attempt to sound casual failed miserably. “I might need to bring you something.”

Reese’s shoulder shook with laughter as she said, “Don’t let Mr. Jenness see you.”

“How far did you get?” Mr. Jenness asked of Reese, and she wondered whether he talked to everyone as he talked to her: never a greeting, just demands and commands.

“Two rooms are completely clean. I’ve started on a third, and I think the rest is manageable. Are there certain rooms you want me to concentrate on in case I don’t get done?”

“No, if you’re not going to finish, let me know with enough time to hire more help. I’ll come after dinner tomorrow to check your progress.”

Reese nodded.

“Are the windows getting done?” he suddenly asked.

“I do them as I do each room.”

“Are you finding mice or other vermin?”

“No, nothing like that.”

“Very well. Keep the key with you and go directly there in the morning.”

Considering how stingy Mr. Jenness had been in the past, Reese took this as a compliment. She half-expected him to demand that she check in each morning. This was to her advantage. If she was up and around before the bank opened, she could get right to work.

“Who’s moving into the Kingsley house?” Cathy asked of Maddie, who’d stopped in after she finished her errands in town.

“I don’t know. I just learned that Reese is cleaning there.”

“Do you think Reese knows the details?”

Maddie looked as doubtful as she felt. She wasn’t privy to all the dealings in Reese’s life, but she somehow doubted that Mr. Jenness had confided anything.

“Probably not,” Cathy complained, looking put out. Her voice was that of a spoiled child, and Maddie smiled.

Cathy saw the look. “What?” she asked.

“You have the greatest source of information about 30 feet away, but you ask me, and I live outside of town.”

Cathy’s look was comical.

“I assumed you’d been to the store,” her aunt said.

“I came straight here today.”

The older woman was instantly on her feet.

“Come on, Maddie. We need to pay a visit to your uncle.”

“Reese?” Doc MacKay called as he stepped inside the front door of the Kingsley house. “Are you here?”

“Hey, Doc,” Reese called, poking her head around the door frame of a small room at the back of the house before dropping her cloth into a bucket and going into the wide downstairs hallway to meet him.

“How are you doing?” Doc MacKay questioned her, studying her face carefully.

“I’m doing well.” Reese smiled. “It’s a wonderful house.”

The doctor nodded in agreement, his head going back. He’d not been in here in years, but he remembered the layout well.

“Things look great,” he complimented Reese.

“Thank you. Do you think it’s to be sold?” she asked him.

“You don’t know?”

Reese’s mouth turned up at the corner. “Mr. Jenness doesn’t exactly confide in me.”

Doc smiled back at her.

“So who lived here?” Reese asked.

“George and Nettie Kingsley. George came to open a bank, and they ended up liking the area so much they built this house and stayed.”

“Did they move away or die?”

“Both are dead. Nettie probably more than ten years ago by now, and George about five years before her.”

“The family might be ready to sell,” Reese suggested.

“I don’t know,” the doctor said thoughtfully, but in his heart he was doubtful. The Kingsley family was a large one. He could see someone from that family coming here to live someday.

“Well, I’d better get back to work,” Reese finally observed.

“Okay,” Doc agreed with a gentle touch to her arm. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Sunday,” Reese said with a smile. “I can hardly wait.”

“What type of voice can God hear in prayer?” Douglas asked the group gathered on Sunday morning. “Does He simply wait in heaven to hear the prayers of any man? And before we look at the answer to that, let me remind you what prayer is. It’s agreeing with God. For those of you who would have said it’s talking to God, that’s not enough of the picture.