A cane

Don and Kristi were visiting a nearby town known for its train station, beautiful view from a mountain and European looking twisting streets. Kristi still can see in her mind gliders jumping down from the top of the mountain and fly in the air like big colorful birds before gliding was banned. Too many accidents, they said. For lunch they looked at the menu outside of English restaurant and decided on a little Chinese place, where they could get hot tea, because it was a cold and windy October day. After the pleasant lunch in a warm restaurant they decided to visit two mansions on a crest of a hill. The town was built mostly with the money of coal barons. First mansion was closed. It was under construction. Second mansion was built for a son. It had a turret. The tourists entered and walked on soft carpets. They turned down a bar with a large assortments of wines. “We don't drink.” “Wine would warm and cheer you up.” “Thank you. We are O.K.” There was a large sitting room on the left side connected with a dining room. The table could seat twenty four people. At the end of the hallway they received a list with a description of the study on the right side. They walked inside, looked around, notice a fireplace stuffed with a crumpled aluminum foil. “What a poor imitation of a fire,” she thought. It was not a pleasant, inviting room. They sat on the chairs, read written description and were waiting for the guide to show up. There were bookshelves and a large desk. On the chair behind the desk hung plain, wooden cane. “Something what I just could use,” she thought, because after all walking her leg bothered her. It even popped into her head to nick the cane. She got up from the chair and walked on adjacent balcony with, what did the guide say, Italian tiles. Then she returned to the room. She decided she didn't like the room at all. There was uneasy atmosphere. Something bad had happened here, she could feel – and it was the worst. “Lets go”, she said to Don. “The guide will not show.” They walked to the second floor with several bedrooms. It was a part of guided tour. The guide didn't say much about the owner of the mansion. Was he emotionally disturbed? Was he married? Did they have children? Soon they left the big house with a tight, unpleasant feeling like somebody was looking at their backs. For a while they were at a train station, visited a model train museum, and a gift shop. Then they left the town. They even didn't stop in the park or to look at the river. After returning home she had to think about gloomy , unpleasant room in the mansion. Then she put it out of her mind. Next Saturday when she went thorough the broom closet looking for a vacuum cleaner, she noticed the wooden cane hanging on the peg on the wall. “May I have this cane, Don? It looks like the cane I wanted to nick from that mansion.” “Yes, you may, but I haven't see this cane here before.” Copyright (c) Marie Neumann 2011