Her smile lit up the plane’s cabin.
“Let’s start with Nudushan, then we can see about taking over the world with cake.”
They landed at a different airport in Alabama, this one closer to Montgomery and the address on Bill Bauer’s note. Khizar drove while Jacqui navigated to the address.
The house was on the outskirts of Montgomery, in a cute little neighborhood where all the homes were older and well-maintained. There were tidy fences around each of the yards in the neighborhood and no cars parked on the street.
There was a small parking lot behind the house and a sign noting the historical trust that ran the house as well as information on the tour times.
Khizar parked in the lot and he and Jacqui got out of the car. Stepping through the gate in the white wooden fence, they walked around the house.
Jacqui took her time, looking partly for something that would match the clue Bill left them, and partly to take in all her ancestral home. The house was a two-story with a wrap-around front porch and ornamental woodwork everywhere. It was painted a slate blue with white trim. The stone path wound around the house and through a garden full of wildflowers, complete with a birdbath and two stone benches.
She knew Khizar was letting her take as long as she needed to look around. After a complete circuit of the house, two things were clear. First, no one from the trust’s staff was there, and second, nothing in the garden or yard jumped out at her as matching Bill’s note.
“So, what are we looking for?” Jacqui asked Khizar.
He squinted as he looked up toward the house’s roof and into the sunlight.
“I think it’s probably something hidden, but I don’t see anything that would lend itself to a hidden compartment like at the mine.”
“What about Bill’s note?”
Khizar looked back down. “He did use your middle name, Rose.”
“Then we’re looking for a rose of some kind.”
He nodded. “Except I don’t see any roses out here.”
Jacqui took another slow look around the garden.
“There aren’t any. I don’t even see anything that looks like a rose on the benches or bird bath.”
“We need to go inside,” Khizar said, sounding certain.
“Too bad Uncle Bill didn’t arrange for us to have a key,” Jacqui said and laughed.
“We can always call the staff if we need to, but let’s see if one of the doors is unlocked.”
Jacqui nodded and they walked up the front steps to the door.
No such luck, Jacqui thought, trying to open the dark brown wooden door.
“Maybe there’s another door we can try.”
Khizar walked around the porch and Jacqui followed him.
There was another door. Jacqui could see it, but the porch stopped before it connected to the back side of the house. They walked back around and down the steps, then picked their way through the garden to the back yard. There was another set of smaller steps leading to a screened back porch.
Khizar tried the door on the screen porch; it opened easily. He next tried the handle to the door leading from the back porch into the house. Jacqui held her breath as the handle seemed to stick, then turned with a tiny squeak.
Khizar looked back at Jacqui with a smile and a flourish as he held open the door for her.
The house had been maintained impeccably, Jacqui thought as she looked around. Nothing was out of place and all the furnishings, although a bit faded and worn, looked well cared-for.
They searched the downstairs rooms, finding nothing related to a rose. There were fresh flowers in vases in the dining and living rooms, and wallpaper with flowers on it in the hallway, but none of the flowers even suggested roses.
While Khizar was looking through the living room, Jacqui searched the kitchen. She carefully picked up an old-fashioned egg beater that was sitting on display on the counter. If James’ research was correct, this item was something her great-grandmother might have used. Jacqui laid the egg beater back down and slowly walked through the kitchen, trailing her hand along the counter.
Khizar walked into the kitchen and watched her for a moment.
“We’ll come back. Sometime when the staff is here, and you can tell them who you are. I’m sure they will tell you the history of the house and the Bauer family.”