Revelations

 

They turned off a small, secluded street and drove through a large open gate flanked by rock walls partially covered in thick leafy vines. Passing through the gate revealed an old brick driveway that twisted around several large trees on a huge green lawn to reveal a stately, well-cared-for home. Alex pulled her car around and parked it at the edge of the driveway.

“Your Professor friend seems to do well for himself,” Ethan commented as he climbed out of the car.

“Yeah, he does all right,” Alex responded as they approached the tall recessed entry and large wooden double doors. Alex pushed the button and the doorbell chimed a melodic tune.

“Are we supposed to bow or curtsey or something?” Ethan asked a tad sarcastically. Alex rolled her eyes and the door opened.

“Hello, Mrs. Greenhagen,” Alex said with a smile.

“Well hello, dear,” Mrs. Greenhagen replied happily, holding out her hand to offer Alex in. “It’s nice to see you again. I hear you’ve been traveling.”

“Yes, I have. This is my friend, Ethan Grey. Ethan, this is Mrs. Greenhagen.”

“It’s nice to meet you,” Ethan responded

“Oh, you are a big handsome fella aren’t you?” she said as she shook his hand. Ethan smiled like a kid. “Come in, come in,” she said warmly, leading Ethan by the hand. “Samuel said you would be stopping by. He’s in his study if you want to just go on back. I’m working on some pictures in the guest room if you need anything.”

“Okay, thank you,” Alex replied.

“It was nice to meet you, Nathan.”

“It was nice to meet you too, Mrs. Greenhagen,” Ethan responded.

“She got your name wrong,” Alex commented after they were a certain distance away.

“She’s a nice lady. It’s no big deal.”

“The study is this way,” Alex said as they turned and walked through a large gathering room. Ethan could see out the back windows into a beautifully manicured courtyard with rose bushes and fountains and formal sitting areas. They walked down several very wide steps to a landing where there was another set of wooden double doors to the right. Alex knocked on one of the doors in a broken rhythm.

“Come in!” a reverberating voice said from the other side. Alex twisted the old antique knob and pushed in on the massive door.

Alex walked in first and Ethan followed, stopping just inside. “Holy…” he said under his breath, standing in astonishment of the huge two-story wood room. It was at least fifty feet long and thirty feet wide with a planked cherry wood floor. A beautiful, large round oriental rug was sprawled out before them. A large antique desk sat behind it in the middle of the room. Behind the desk were several tall bookcases filled with books, papers, pamphlets and other literature.

On the sides of the room were desks and tables with maps and models of the solar system and various small and unique antique machines of different kinds from various ages and places. Long curtains covered columns of windows that stretched from a few feet off the floor to the ceiling on both sides of the room. An enormous circular black iron chandelier hung in the center of the room providing a warm yellowish light accented by hues of green, red and blue from a round stained glass window peering over the bookcases high from the center of the far wall.

Ethan leaned over to Alex and whispered, “And I thought my office was nice.”