SHEILA.....Since it was still early afternoon,we agreed that we might as well make a start and at the very least move some of the smaller items down to the main floor of the barn. We probably couldn't move the heavy things, anyway, by ourselves and would have to enlist the help of the boys. I expect they would be dying of curiosity and would be only too glad to come and see what sort of pickle their sisters had got themselves into. Well, just let them wait a bit. They would be so surprised to see our place and wouldn't believe that we had been so lucky. The house was not that far from the barn and we decided to take the things we could carry right over.
     The first things we moved over to the house were the four trunks. A quick peek inside them, revealed linens, china and what looked like clothing of some sort. No doubt they would be very interesting when we got the chance to have a good look. I thought it a little odd that some of the things had been left, stored in the loft, since at a glance, they seemed to be things that people would take when they moved. We deposited them in the livingroom until we could determine where they belonged. The hat stand that I had thought would go nicely in the front hall, did , in fact, fit perfectly, just inside the door to one side. There were several wicker fern stands that seemd quite at home in front of the windows in the dining and living rooms. The dining chairs came next and we discovered that the table had been disassembled and the pieces were not too much to manage. A small bag of wooden pegs tied to one of the legs, solved the problem of how the whole thing went together again and we were sure that we would be able to reassenmble it all.
     Behind the table top, we found a lovely carved screen with four panels of etched and frosted glass. It reminded me of the ones in movies where the femme fatale of stage plays, goes to disrobe and flings her petticoats and stockings over the top, to the amusement of whichever beau is waiting for her. I couldn't imagine either of us using it for that and we chuckled at the thought. Though it had probably been used in one of the bedrooms, we thought it might be better in the livingroom, where we could use it to hide our television and stereo equipment. Those things would be a bit of an eyesore amongst the furniture that we had found here.
     The next things to be moved were the small benches that went with the dressing tables. The one that went with the pretty little table that Jill liked went straight to her room and the other to the third bedroom. We managed with a bit of effort to bring the tables as well. I thought that I would prefer to bring out the Jenny Lind bed and Gran's dressing table for my room, though there was an armoire that I rather admired, and since Jill found another that matched her table, I ear-marked it for my room. The four poster bed was handsome, but we agreed that it might be better in the spare room, and it was beyond our capabilities anyway. It and the armoires would have to wait for the boys to help with. What looked like area rugs were rolled into one corner of the barn loft, but we left those for later. I didn't particularly like carpeting, and thought the hardwood floors, in my room at least, did not need covering. I might feel a little differently come winter, and would appreciate having a rug underfoot on cold floors.
     Under a dust sheet, we found a couple of comfy looking chairs, with lovely carved wooden arms and back tops. I had a chair of Mom's at home, that, while it would not match these two, would be a nice compliment. There was a matching sofa, but that would have to wait as well. We lugged the chairs over , one at a time, and putting them down in front of the fireplace in the livingroom, collapsed into them for a rest and listened to the sounds of our new home. I got up to open one of the windows, thinking that it would probably be stuck closed, but to my surprise, the pulleys, ropes and weights all worked and the window went up smoothly and stopped where I wanted it. We could hear bird songs and the faint scent of flowers came floating into the room. There were no screens with them, but that could wait.
     With our feet up on one of the trunks, we had a little break. I wondered what had happened to that cat that Jill had seen. She hadn't mentioned it since we had first gone up to look at the bedrooms, and I wondered if maybe the furniture moving had scared him away. It seemed a shame, since this was obviously his home and I hoped that he would return and maybe even be friends with our four. I was disappointed that I had not seen him, but if Jill said there was a cat, then there was a cat. I didn't want to go back to the Bed- and -Breakfast in Greyleith, but since we had not intended to spend the day, and had been in such a hurry to get out to Fiddler's Green, we had not thought to pack a lunch, and after all the excitment and moving the furniture, I realized that I was fairly starving. We could go back and call the boys and see if they would be able to come the next day and help us with the heavier things left in the barn loft.

JILL.....At Sheila's suggestion, we started to move things in stages from the loft of the barn to the ground floor and then into the house. In the loft we'd discovered all sorts of interesting things including trunks that contained among other things, clothing. In the city, I supposed they could be sorted and sold as vintage clothing, and they did indeed look old. Not really costume stuff but really, they looked as if they were everyday things that people would have worn while tending to the regular work-a-day routine. Women's things mostly it appeared, but there were also some men's breeches and long socks and white shirts. Time to explore that later. We really wanted to get on to the moving of things , so rolled up our sleeves, and started with the awkward items.
     The carved screens with panels of glass were the most fragile, and I marvelled that they were still all in one piece; not even a crack. We stood them in the living room for the time being, not sure where they would end up, but not wanting to leave them up in the loft a moment longer than necessary.
     The dressing table that had hidden the key went into my room, and Sheila spied one that she particularily liked. We seemed to agree on the placement of most things, and really, I began to think that where we ended up putting them was probably the places that they had been originally. Everything seemed to fit easily. I decided to have one of the carpets on my bedroom floor as it made it seem cosier and the cats would like it. And that's when Annie appeared. I didn't even think twice about her gender or name. Suddenly it was all as it should be. This had been the cat's room or at least one she'd shared with her human. Annie once again was perched on the window sill. She just sat there, watching as I adjusted the dresser and mirror and tried to imagine where the carpet would go beside the bed that would eventually be there. I had decided to use my own bed. It was brass with a flowered head rail, and one of which I had grown fond, it being my first purchase after the separation from my husband. Besides, I wanted something familiar in my new room. It would arrive later when we moved our personal things from our respective homes.
     I stopped what I was doing and looked over at Annie. She cocked her head to one side as if listening for something and I almost called out to Sheila to test my theory. But no, that would all reveal itself ,I was sure. She straightened up, then jumped down and padded lightly across the floor and rubbed up against my legs. I could only feel a slight movement of air,and raised one leg to rub it against the other, the way you might if an insect had landed . Annie was not at all perturbed and she just twirled around for another turn or two and then wandered over to the door, glancing back once before heading toward the stairs. Sheila was at the bottom step on the verge of coming up to ask for help in moving chairs in but paused when she saw me. Annie walked lightly right past her without stopping and through the hall into the living room.
     I followed her down and together Sheila and I heaved the chairs into place near where the trunks were resting, and we slumped down in them and put our feet up. We sighed in unison and then laughed. Sheila got up to open a window, and Annie appeared in the doorway and headed for the open window. She easily jumped onto the sill and perched there, looking out. I watched her for a few moments and looked at Sheila but she seemed completely unaware, commenting only on the country smells wafting into the room, and birdsong, like music to our ears. Bliss.
     And hunger!!It was well past lunch, but until now we'd not missed it. The only thing to do, it seemed, was to lock up and head back to the B and B. We could get an evening meal there or in Greyleith and gather our thoughts and make plans for the next move. It would need to involve Chris and Greg and might or might not be accomplished the next day. In any case, we would come in on Sunday to do anything that we could, and moving the big stuff would have to wait . It had waited in the loft this long. A little while longer couldn't hurt.

SHEILA.....While we were eating breakfast the next morning the lady who runs the B and B asked us how we had made out at Fiddler's Green. Jill and I sort of glanced at each other before answering for we remembered that she had told us that strange things went on there. "We found it OK. The road in is a little overgrown." I said cautiously.
     "I expect the place will need a lot of fixing up." she said. "There are lots of folk about town that would be glad to help. Just let us know when you need help."      "Thanks" Jill and I said together. "We will." We both knew we wouldn't need help. "Our brothers are coming up this afternoon to help with some stuff." Jill told her.
     "Well, it's been empty for a long time." the lady said. "It'll probably need a lot of repairs. New windows and doors, and probably a new roof as well. There's a lumber yard just the other side of town that you can get all sorts of building supplies from."      She was being very helpful and, while we appreciated it and knew from our childhood that small town people looked out for each other, we also knew that there was nothing in the world like small town curiosity and the need to know everyone's business. We gave our thanks and said we would be sure to look up the yard, after all, we really would need a few things, and went back to our room. We had called the boys when we got back last evening, and they were chomping at the bit to come up and help. We figured we could get out to the house and clear a bit of the road in before they got there, and then we could drive right in and not have to leave the cars at the gate.
     We hurried out and made a stop at that lumber yard to pick up a couple of small saws, a hatchet,clippers and a wheel barrow. This time,we drove right to the gates in no time at all, and parking the car, got out and stood and stared. The Fiddler's Green sign was still shiny bright and new looking and the road in was still overgrown,.......... but ....... the falling down gate was straight and secure. The stone pillars on either side were whole and upright and the gate was solidly fastened in place!!!!! We looked at each other in amazement. Talk about strange things happening here!!! Unlocking the gate, and looking about, we could see no sign that anyone but ourselves had been here. There was no immediate solution, except to "have faith", and after examining the pillars and finding no sign of any recent work being done, we decided to leave it at that and accept our great luck.
     We got to work and chopped and clipped and carted for what seemed like hours. By unspoken agreement, we were putting off going to the house because we both knew that once there, we would not get back to the drive again. There were too many interesting things in that loft, not to mention those trunks, and we would certainly be side tracked. Round about noon, we got to the last of the drive and we practically threw the barrow and tools into the barn and instead of going to the house to get cleaned up, headed back to bring in the car. As we were about to get in, we heard another car approaching and thinking that it might just be the boys, we waited. Sure enough, they arrived in a cloud of dust and piled out. The girls were with them and they all looked a little frazzled.
     "Gees" Greg said. "You sure picked a place a long way out of town!!!!"
     "What do you mean?" I asked. "It only takes about ten minutes to get here from Greyleith. Did you miss the turn just after town? We did the first time and got a bit lost."
     "I don't think we missed a turn. Your directions were pretty clear, but it sure is a long drive from town. Took us almost an hour."
     Jill and I looked at each other. "Well, never mind about it. You're here now. We just got the drive cleared of all the underbrush so we can drive right in. Wait till you see it."
     We all got into our respective cars and Jill and led the way and parked outside the barn with Greg right behind us. We stood looking at the house and I could see Greg and Chris and the girls looking about curiously.
     "Well, I guess it looks Ok. "Chris allowed. "What's it like inside? Need much fixing up?"      "You'll need to paint it or put on some siding." his wife said.
     "It's pretty good inside." Jill told him."We want to leave the boards as they are. We think that just putting up colored shutters will make it look better. We might paint the verandah, but we like the silvered look."
     It didn't go over well, but since it was our house we didn't care. We took them on a tour through and after, they allowed that it looked a lot better inside than out. We took them to the barn and between the lot of us got the rest of the furniture in and into its proper places. They awed and oohed over the things we had found there and wondered if the owners had meant it to all go with the house and we said yes they had. At some point I dragged those trunks behind the carved screen in the living room and had not mentioned them since. For some reason that I could not understand I didn't want anybody going through them before Jill and I had had a chance to see them ourselves. It made no sense, but then a lot of the things that had happened didn't and we were learning to take things as they came to us.
     It had been a long a tiring day, and by the end we were glad to sit and rest on the verandah with a drink and some sandwiches and salads, that Marl had been thoughtful enough to pack. Chris in particular was impressed with the gardens, the stream and the fountain, and Greg made a quick tour on his own through the woods, and was curiously quiet when he came back. Just tired, maybe, but I wondered if something had happened there. I thought of asking him and then decided not to. If there was anything, he would say so eventually.
     We ended the day by dicussing the plans to bring out the things we meant to use from home and whether or not we would get new appliances, and the need for setting up some sort of yard sale. I hate them and said I was just going to let the Salvation Army come and get anything I wasn't bringing. We talked about when we would move in , and decided to have a good look at our finances and see how possible it would be to leave jobs, or what the travel time would be in case we couldn't manage that. Chris and Greg and the girls left for home and Jill and I sat on our verandah and enjoyed the evening before heading back to the B and B.

JILL.....We both felt slightly guilty about refusing all offers of help from Margaret, the owner of the B and B. We knew that we would ask for help if, and when, we needed it, and that the townsfolk would be obliging enough. If everyone was so curious about the house at Fiddler's Green, then why hadn't they checked it out themselves? We all know that a vacant house is an open invitation these days, but nothing seemed even to have been touched there.
     On arriving to do the necessary work to clear the drive, we discovered the gate way tidied up and repaired. Well, so much for nothing having been touched! It seemed a bit of a mystery, but could be put down to the usual good natured help from a neighbour who probably knew that the property had been sold and two women would be the new inhabitants. And of course everyone knew how helpless women were!! Huh!
     Sheila seemed intrigued with the work on the gate posts, but I was more interested in just getting the vegetation cleared away and a reasonable driveway made ready for Chris and Greg. They arrived with Deb and Marlene, their wives, and to-gether we all discussed how they seemed to have gotten side-tracked on their way here. How, I'm not quite sure, as Sheila is notorious for making long and completly clear directions to ANYWHERE. Aw well, they would at least find their way back home without a problem.
     As the afternoon wore on and things got moved from loft to house and into the various rooms, we gradually slowed down, and started to explore on our own. We were all interested in different aspects of the house and property, and everyone felt as if it was sort of their own, since we hadn't yet put our stamp of ownership on it by living there yet.
     Annie ,the cat, never put in an appearance the whole of the time it took us to move in the furniture and I wondered if she was upset by the goings on. Perhaps just laying low. I hoped she'd not been put off by all the people, thinking that perhaps they were ALL going to invade her home. Maybe later when everyone had gone I would see her lurking about, keeping an eye on things.
     Greg, ever the walker and explorer, had gone off to the woods and circled round to the front and come back down the driveway, pausing to look at the house from a short distance. He seemed contemplative, and I wondered what was going through his mind. He loved a mystery and exploring old places and dreaming about what might have happened there once. Often during walks with him, we would day dream out loud about finding the 'buried' treasure that somehow every other person to have walked the same route, somehow managed to miss.
     Chris and Sheila were deep in some discussion or other about the gardens and the work that they would need, so I decided to just sit with the girls on the front verandah and enjoying the beginning of the evening with a cool drink. Eventually Deb suggested that they head back and after we bade them farewell and many thanks for all their help, Sheila and I retired to the side verandah and listened to crickets. Annie was nowhere to be seen.
     On the way back to the B and B, I wondered out loud how I could swing it so that I could stay out at Fiddler's Green. I knew that I could probably talk my partners at the business into eventually buying me out, but would that be any time soon, and would it be enough to exist on? I wasn't exactly over the hill yet, and figured that I would have to support myself for at least another forty years! Good grief. That would have to be some buy-out package! For now, I would have to live in the city and continue working, and get out to Fiddler's Green when I could. And I knew that wasn't going to be often enough to satisfy me. Well, if you want something badly enough, you'll find a way, I told myself. And I knew I would.

SHEILA..... That night, back at the B and B, I had a horrid time getting to sleep. That was totally unlike me, for I could usually fall asleep almost immediately, and to be sure I was tired enough after lugging furniture. My mind was full of planning and thoughts of the furniture moving and ways of managing to live at Fiddler's Green full time. I tossed and turned for a bit and finally gave up and got up to stand by the window, looking out into the yard. Our room backed on the garden where Margaret had planted a small herb garden and the scent of the herbs came faintly in the open window. It was a soothing sort of thing and I resolved that I would start one of my own at Fiddler's Green as soon as I could.
     I went over in my mind all the things that had happened this weekend and tried to explain them to myself logically and failed miserably. There was no explaining the gate being fixed, nor the state of the house in general. It suddenly stuck me, that of all the furniture and things we had moved from the barn loft, the only spaces left in the house that needed furnishing were the spaces we had left for the things we were bringing from our present homes. There had been the big bed for the spare room and all the armoires we needed and chairs and tables and lamps and linens, possibly, in the trunks, but no extra bed for Jill's room or mine. Nothing for the kitchen in the way of appliances, and we had had to buy the things needed to clear the driveway. There was room in the kitchen for a small set of chairs and table, and I had been toying with the idea of bringing the one from home that I had painted with flowers and leaves down the legs and across the backs, but had said nothing about yet. There was nothing in the loft that could have had a place for eating in the kitchen.
     Then, there was Jill telling me about the cat she had seen, that seemed to live there, though I had not seen it. To top everything, there was Greg's reaction when he had returned from his walk about the property. I was sure something had happened and a couple of times during the evening, I thought he had been going to say something and then changed his mind. I knew my brother well enough to know that he would talk when he was ready and not before, so I hadn't commented. I wondered if Jill had noticed anything. That fountain was odd as well. Though Chris and I had looked for the pumping system, we hadn't been able to find anything and there had been no sound of pumps working. The water came from the holes in the bottom of the basin, forcing its way to the surface in a line of bubbles and then arching in a spay into the bowl. The water did not overflow, but disappeared down the drain hole just below the rim just like a bathroom sink.
     The whole thing from start to finish was a mystery. But we had been told right from the start that the thing was a "matter of faith" and so it had been. I climbed back into bed and my last thought was that I would have faith that we would be able to come and live at Fiddler's Green very soon. Somehow it would all work out just right.