Page 33 of The Side Road
‘All of the above. But the thought of going through an old woman’s closet is worse.’
Access to the basement was at the back of the house. A set of narrow steps led to a covered alcove. At the end was a wooden door secured by a bolt. Oliver pulled it back and, with a firm shoulder shove, he opened the door.
A musty waft of cold air escaped.
They switched on their flashlights. Oliver entered, angling his head. Mia followed. They were in a large, rectangular room with a dirt floor. Old building materials,including bricks, concrete blocks, and spare roof tiles, filled the space. Everything covered in a layer of dirt.
‘If you go in one direction, I’ll go the other way,’ Oliver suggested. ‘Check the floor and the brickwork. We’ll meet in the middle on the other side.’
‘I’ll be disappointed if we don’t discover a hidden room.’
‘I’d be happy with a loose brick and a shoebox.’
As Oliver made his way around the basement, he realised many years had passed since anyone had been in this room. His search revealed nothing. Reaching the far side, he looked around for Mia, but there was no sign of her.
‘Mia?’ he called.
No answer.
‘Mia.’ Louder, this time.
‘I’m over here.’
After navigating a pile of fallen bricks, he found her crouched behind a stack of slate roof tiles. At her feet was a large cardboard box.
‘There’s more.’ She pointed to a low cavity in the wall. The room they were in wasn’t square; it was L-shaped. The ceiling of the adjoining space dropped half a metre, forming another small, cave-like area.
Oliver directed his torch into the grotto. Boxes. Half a dozen dusty boxes.
‘This one never made it inside.’ Mia tapped the box on the ground with her foot.
‘Claustrophobic?’ Oliver offered.
‘It might be scared of the dark.’ She crouched beside the box. ‘What do you think? Pickle jars?’
Oliver crouched beside her. ‘Playboymagazines.’
Mia laughed. ‘Fifty years of tax receipts.’
‘Headless dolls.’
‘Oliver, the way your mind works!’ She hesitated. ‘Love letters – a thousand love letters.’
Oliver smiled. ‘Wine or homebrew?’
‘Wine, hopefully.’
‘I hope it’s love letters. Ready?’
Together, they pulled at the cardboard flaps of the box. Inside were a dozen bottles of dusty red wine.
‘Cleanskins,’ Mia said. There were no labels on the bottles.
An hour later, all the boxes had been recovered. Oliver and Mia carried them outside and placed them on the lawn.
Nearby, Blanche and Flora sorted Elsie’s belongings into separate crates. Emptying an old woman’s closet had taken less time than he expected.
Sitting on the low rockery wall, Tash was playing a game with Snood. She was holding a pile of disposable cups, along with a small bag of dog treats. After hiding the treats under a cup, she rearranged the order. Snood had to guess which cup the treat was under. If he guessed correctly, he received the food. She had started with three cups, but the dog was an expert sniffer. Soon, she scaled the game up to five cups.
