Chapter 15

Rory left for work on Monday morning and Nina wandered around the house. It was time to fully acquaint herself with the place she now called home. Time to inspect the rooms and learn the intricacies and vagaries of each space. Of course, she had been in all of the rooms, but this was going to be a proper, diligent inspection.

Some rooms had cupboards and recesses, which would be thoroughly searched. Every corner had to be viewed. Nina would be familiar with every inch of her house by the time she finished. Would she be looking out for any areas that were cold or gave her the shivers? Yes she would.

Standing in the kitchen, hands on hips, Nina surveyed the area. This room was the most familiar as they spent a lot of time there. The layout was good. Cupboards and drawers around two walls, an island in the middle. A dining table and chairs at the end of the room, stood in front of the French windows which led to the garden.

Moving to the hall, her feet tapped across the tiles. The symmetrical pattern, in blue, beige and tan gave a sense of the place from the moment one entered. It was older, but dignified somehow. The area had been swept almost daily. Nina loved the wide space and the colourful floor.

The staircase turned a corner halfway up and then led up to the first floor. Starting in the master bedroom, which had a small en suite bathroom, Nina peered in cupboards and wardrobes, straightening clothes, and wandered into the bathroom. Scanning the room from floor to ceiling, the only thought was that the cobwebs needed removing.

A larger, family, bathroom sat at the other end of the house and there were three further bedrooms. The smallest had been filled with bags and boxes, brought with them from their previous home. A determined effort would see that cleared by the end of the week. Nina headed there and had a quick rummage. A lot of the stuff could be thrown out or given away to charity. Good, nothing like a decluttering.

The next bedroom had a bed, a chest of drawers and a wardrobe. The walls were a pale pink. An insipid colour for such a light room. That would be banished at some stage, but Nina was doing the downstairs décor first. Peering out of the window, the back garden lay below. That would be a job for Rory.

The last bedroom was a good size. A guest room for the moment, but hopefully, in the future, it would make an ideal child's room. It was next door to the master bedroom, so handy for night time feeds. Nina smiled as she imagined how it would look with a small bed and a box of toys. Definitely a mural on one of the walls.

The larger bathroom was reasonable. It had been updated recently and there was nothing that needed urgent attention. Back down the stairs, Nina stuck her head around the door of the study. This was where she came to work. Of an evening Rory would use it if he had anything pressing to do related to his job. The walls of the room were wood panelled. Built in book shelves, fairly empty at the moment, stood against another wall. The table that stood in it now, had come from their previous place. It looked rather insubstantial in the room. At some point a proper, dark wood, desk would have to be purchased.

The lounge was a stunning room. The colour on the walls had given it a regal appearance. It was more formal than the rest of the house, but Nina thought it needed to honour the age of the place. One room that said Victorian. The sofas were modern and luxurious but the rich, heavy curtains and the solid occasional tables gave it a certain gravitas.

To complete the tour, Nina returned to the first floor. A hook opened the loft hatch and the stairs were pulled down. This was a place that she had not been. Hesitating as her foot hit the first rung, she then began to climb. The dark, the spiders, the unknown, lay ahead. Rory had explained where the light switch was and she exhaled on finding it.

The bare bulb hanging from the rafters, illuminated the whole space. Four chairs occupied one corner, looking as if they had just been used for some sort of meeting. A few of their boxes had already been stowed and there was little else to be found. There were cobwebs everywhere, so Nina didn't venture to the edges which were thick with them.

Going up the stairs, into the black space, had made her nervous, but that was a normal reaction to the dark and spiders. Well, it was for her. Once up there, with the light on, it was not scary at all. Nowhere in the house had she felt a negative vibe. No chill down the spine. No goose bumps.

Back on the landing, Nina smiled and then skipped down the stairs. The last area had been viewed and the house was now hers. It was Rory's, too, of course, but a relationship had been formed between her and her home. There was nothing that could scare or threaten. Making herself a cup of tea, she sat at the table and felt warm, safe, and relaxed.

At the weekend Nina had said to Rory that there were no bad vibes in their home. What should have been said, was that there were no vibes. As sceptical as she was about attributing feelings to inanimate objects, she wanted to, somehow, make friends with the place. Rory would laugh at her if he knew.

The whole ghost story thing was ridiculous, but it didn't hurt to make a reassuring tour of the house. When Rory came home, Nina was in the kitchen stirring the contents of a large pan.

"Is that what I think it is?" Rory hurried to look.

"Yep, paella."

"I love that."

"I know. That's why I'm making it."

"What have you been up to today?"

A snort of laughter from Nina, before her confession. "I've been getting to know the house. I've even been up in the attic with the spiders. And I got out alive. I feel that we, the house and I, are now fully acquainted and are friends."

"That's very nice, I think. Should I be jealous."

"No, not at all. It's purely platonic."

"This has something to do with that Len thing doesn't it."

"It does make you think. I decided to make sure it was on our side, just in case."

"Very wise."