Chapter 2: Ransom Creek

Ransom Creek wasn't quite what Amanda had expected it would be. From the pictures in the tourist pamphlet she'd picked up, she was already aware that it wasn't the sort of Gone with the Wind white-washed plantation house with high columns that she had pictured when Lee had first told her about the assignment. Most of the house was made of red brick with arches over the entrance and climbing wisteria vines in purple and white.

What surprised Amanda was just what a jumble the house looked like in person. It was a mixture of styles because parts of the mansion had been destroyed and rebuilt over the years. The pictures in the pamphlets were taken very carefully to show the best parts of the house: the arched entry, the balcony on the second floor, the wide veranda on the eastern side of the mansion, the cupola over the west wing. Now, seeing them combined with differently-shaped windows in different wings, floors that didn't seem to quite match up with each other, and an odd effect created by the different heights of different parts of the house: the two-story east side, the three-story middle with a peaked roof, and the high cupola on the western end was a little unnerving. No wonder the Ransoms were having trouble making the place work as a resort. That, and the fact that they were out in the middle of nowhere, surrounded mainly by farms.

Lee gave the place a once-over when he got out of the car. He had seen it the week before when he had come to oversee the installation of the new security system for the mansion and make preparations for the security team. The security personnel were nowhere in sight, but Amanda knew that was part of the idea.

"I don't know about ghosts, but I don't think I'd want to haunt the place too long myself," he said.

"It's . . . interesting," Amanda said. "The interior pictures in my pamphlet looked much nicer."

"Yes, it does look much nicer inside," Lee said. "The food is pretty good, too." He offered her his arm gallantly, asking, "Shall we go in?"

Amanda took his arm and grinned. Lee led her through the arches to the front door. The double doors were about two feet taller than Lee with lion's head knockers. At first, Amanda wasn't sure if they were expected to use them to knock, but Lee located the smaller, less obvious doorbell next to the door. They heard a distant bonging sound, and the door was opened by a pleasant-looking blonde about Amanda's age. She had large, very dark brown eyes and wore a pretty print dress with yellow flowers on it and a string of pearls around her neck. Classy and conservative, Amanda thought.

"Yes?" she asked cautiously.

"Lee Stetson and Amanda King," Lee said.

"Oh, yes. I remember you, Mr. Stetson. We've been expecting you," she said. "Please, come in."

She opened the door wider, and Amanda could now see the security personnel in the entry hall behind her. She'd known that the team would be arriving before they did.

"Thank you," Lee said. He led Amanda inside but released her arm as their hostess closed the door behind them. They were on duty now, and they had to be all-business.

It was a pity because the brochures hadn't exaggerated the interior of the mansion at all. It was beautiful. Just the sort of place that would be perfect for a handsome, chivalrous man to lead his lady in long, sweeping skirts up the grand staircase. Too bad that she was only wearing a knee-length skirt, and they had to check in with the security team.

"I'm Cynthia Ransom," their hostess introduced herself, shaking their hands. "Ben—I mean, Senator Kahler is here. The others haven't arrived yet. Most of them will arrive at 4 o'clock, right?"

"Yes," Lee said. "You said that the Senator is already here?"

"That's right. He came early. We were just having some coffee and sandwiches in the drawing room, to your right. You're welcome to join us, if you like."

It was about their usual lunch time, but Lee and Amanda had already stopped for coffee and sandwiches on their way there.

"No, thank you," Lee said. "We've already eaten, and there are things we need to take care of."

"Is your luggage in your car?"

"Yes," Lee said. All he had brought in with him was a briefcase with some papers.

"If you leave your key with me, I'll have Bert take it up to your rooms," Cynthia said.

"Bert?"

"He works for me. He's been cleared by security."

"Oh, Albert Whiting. Yes, I remember him," Lee said, handing her the key. "Alright. Thank you."

"Just one moment, and I'll give you your room keys," Cynthia said.

She went to a little box mounted on the wall next to the front door. Opening it with a key of her own, she removed two of the keys hanging on the pegs inside. The keys had little labels attached to the fobs.

Cynthia handed one of the keys to Amanda and said, "You'll be in the Rose Room at the end of the hall on the second floor. The name is on the door." Turning to Lee, she said, "Your room is the Bluebird Room near the top of the stairs. I'll have Bert leave your car keys on your bedside table. Dinner will be ready at seven o'clock."

"Thank you," Lee said.

"I hope you both will be comfortable here," Cynthia said. "If you need anything, don't hesitate to ask."

"I'm sure we will be comfortable," Amanda said. "Thank you."

Cynthia left with Lee's keys, and Amanda smiled at Lee. "Very efficient, isn't she?"

"Yes," Lee said. "The only staff at this place are her, her mother Abigail, Albert Whiting, and Wendy Nicholson. Albert is a combination cook and handyman, and Wendy is a housekeeper. She's also Abigail's sister."

"Not a lot of staff for an event like this," Amanda commented.

"The less staff, the better," Lee said. "Less people to clear through security. If this becomes a regular spot for government meetings, they may need more, but for now, it's a nice, small group, well-managed, and sheltered from outside influence."

"Then, you don't think that there will be any security problems?" Amanda asked.

"I don't think so," Lee said softly, "but keep on your toes."

"Right."

Turning to the nearest security agent, Lee asked, "Is the entire team assembled, Glenn?"

"Yes, sir," Glenn said. "Everyone is in position. We tested the security system again this morning, as you ordered, and we reviewed our scheduled rotations."

"Excellent," Lee said. "Amanda and I will pay our respects to the Senator and then make the rounds before the others get here. At what time did the Senator arrive?"

"He was here when we got here, sir, and we arrived at nine in the morning."

"So he's been here all day?" Lee asked.

According to the grandfather clock in the entry hall, it was about 12:30 pm.

"Yes, sir."

Lee frowned. "I see. Thank you."

"Is that a problem?" Amanda whispered to Lee as they walked to the drawing room door.

"No, it's just annoying," Lee whispered back. "Senator Kahler is engaged to Cynthia Ransom, so if he wanted to visit her before the meeting, it's understandable. But, we're tightening security on this place, so he should have mentioned that he was coming early."

The drawing room was beautifully furnished in 19th century style. Amanda wasn't an expert, but she thought that many of the furnishings were probably genuine antiques, or at least very good reproductions. If Cynthia's plans to turn the mansion in to a meeting center didn't work out, she could probably make a lot of money just selling the furniture. Although, she probably felt as nostalgic about them as she did about the house itself.

The walls of the drawing room were a cheery yellow that reminded Amanda of Cynthia's dress. The room had high windows with long ivory-colored drapes. There was a fireplace at the far end, and above it hung a portrait of a woman with blonde hair, similar to Cynthia's, only she wore a long, old-fashioned white gown. The woman in the portrait was seated in a garden and appeared to be having a conversation with some birds on a nearby branch. The part of the picture that really caught Amanda's attention were the woman's eyes. They were unusually dark for a woman with blonde hair and very striking. They looked a little like Cynthia's, too.

Lee didn't seem interested in the room or the portrait, however. His attention was focused on the dark-haired man eating sandwiches and drinking coffee on one of the old-fashioned sofas. Senator Kahler stood up when they entered the room and shook Lee's hand with his non-sandwich-holding hand.

"Nice to see you again, Mr. Stetson," Senator Kahler said.

"Nice to see you, too, Senator," Lee said. "This is my partner, Amanda King."

"It's a pleasure," Senator Kahler said, offering Amanda his hand. "Would you like some coffee or something to eat?"

"No, but thank you anyway," Amanda said.

Once the introductions were over, Lee commented, "You're here early for the meeting."

"Yes," Senator Kahler said. "I believe that it's better to be early than late, and I wanted a chance to see Cynthia before we got started. You're a little early, too, aren't you?"

"Amanda and I are just checking the security arrangements."

"Well, I'm sure you'll do a fine job."

Lee smiled. "We appreciate your confidence in us. Sorry to interrupt your lunch. If you'll excuse us, we're going to review our security team before the others arrive."

"Of course," Senator Kahler said, taking his seat again. "I'll see you later."

Amanda and Lee left the drawing room, and Lee spoke to Glenn again.

"How are the radios working?" Lee asked.

"Good, sir. I have the ones for you and Mrs. King here."

"Thanks." Lee handed one to Amanda and showed her how to use it. "This is the main channel we're using. You can send a message to a specific receiver by inputting the number. Yours is number 102, and I have 101. You can also send an alert by pressing this button and inputting the alert code. I have a sheet of alert codes for you to use. I'll show that to you later. Do you understand basically how it works?"

"Yes, I think so."

"If there's a breach in the security system, it will automatically send an alert signal to your radio, and every other radio receiver."

"What kind of alerts will the security system send?"

"If a door or window has been forcibly opened, it will send a break-in alert and a number which specifies the location of the break-in. There also codes for fire and other emergencies. Those alerts are also covered on the list. I'll give you a copy to keep and review."

"Good."

"Let's start by going on a tour of the house, and I'll show you where our security guards are stationed."

The rest of the house was as charmingly old-fashioned as the drawing room. The ballroom, which also opened onto the entry hall, had white paneling with brilliant blue walls and a large chandelier directly overheard. Once, the chandelier would have held candles, but now it just turned on with the wall switch. It wasn't as large as some of the ones Amanda had seen in period movies, but it was still a pretty good-sized room with plenty of space for dancing. Since dancing wasn't part of the activities for this meeting, they had turned it into a meeting room with a large table in the center. It made the room less romantic, but definitely more useful. The piano that stood near the end of the room seemed a little odd for a top-secret meeting room, but it was probably just too hard to move it.

The dining room was next to the ballroom. Like the ballroom, it had wide double doors that would easily accommodate the large hoop skirts that women in this house must have worn once.

Across from the drawing room was a smaller, more formal parlor done in a bright turquoise. Amanda remembered that the house dated from before the American Revolution. On one of the historic tours Amanda had been on with the boys, she knew that bright, bold colors were popular in the late 18th century, after the war ended. That was probably when the color scheme for the house was chosen, and it probably hadn't changed much since. At least, not in this part of the house.

The library next to the parlor had tall shelves of books built into the walls. There was a desk near the window and a small table with chairs in the center of the room. There was also a small couch and a couple of comfortable reading chairs.

"We considered using this room for the meeting," Lee explained, "but it wouldn't be big enough. That's why we chose the ballroom. We could have used the dining room, but after spending hours of planning and discussion in one place, having meals there too would be too much."

"That makes sense," Amanda said as she walked along the shelves.

They had a good selection of books on various subjects. Considering the historic nature of the house, Amanda had thought that most of the books would be antiques or about history, but most of them were modern, and although the history section was sizable, there were also other subjects. There was a section about gardening, and a fair number of books looked like someone's old college textbooks about science, mathematics, or various languages. They weren't very neatly organized, and half the collection was fiction, mostly mysteries and romance novels. Amanda's mother would love it.

Lee said, "The east wing is where the kitchen and laundry rooms are. The Ransoms, Mrs. Nicholson, and Albert all have their rooms there, too, on the second floor. Those areas are off limits to guests, and they've asked that security intrude as little as possible."

"I can understand that," Amanda said.

"The west wing of the house has public rooms."

"Oh, I read about that in the pamphlet," Amanda said. "That's the newest part of the house, built after the last fire. The pamphlet said that there's offices, a game room, and a sun room there on the first floor. That's also where the cupola is. Can you see the cupola from the inside?"

"Yes, it's at the end of the upstairs hallway. There's kind of a sitting room with large windows, and you can get a good view of the area from there. Come on, I'll show you."

They started on the lower level of the west wing. Lee let Amanda explore the rooms there at her own pace. They glanced into the offices, two of them, equipped with some basic supplies in case guests wanted private spaces to work. Cynthia's private office was next door to those and was kept locked.

"I could open it for you if you wanted," Lee said. "Look at these old locks on the doors! They might be fine for a hotel for ordinary civilians, but I think if they want this place to be a government conference center, they should install better hardware. The locks on the bedrooms aren't much better."

"You mean people can come in even if you lock the door?" Amanda asked.

"Well, they'd have to pick the lock," Lee said. "My point is really that these old locks aren't that difficult to force or pick. There are newer models that would be more secure. I mentioned that to Cynthia when I was here last week, but there wasn't time to change them all. We did put in better hardware on the outside doors and windows. There just wasn't time to redo all the interior doors, and it would be quite a lot to spend if this place doesn't turn out to be a regular conference center after all."

Amanda admired the game room and the exercise room. There was also a cozy living room with a tv. The sun room was at the end of the hallway. Comfortable chairs faced the large windows, which had a nice view of the lawn. Toward the back of the house, Amanda could see the swimming pool, covered over because it was too cold, and a couple of out buildings that Lee said held gardening supplies and lawn furniture and an old stable that had been converted into a garage. It would be even prettier in spring or summer, Amanda thought, when there would be flowers on the bushes, but the autumn leaves were making an impressive display.

"The cupola room is right above this one," Lee said. "If you like this view, you'll love the view from there."

Lee was right that the view was impressive. The comfortable sitting room also featured large windows, and the inside of the cupola was painted blue with gold stars.

"Cynthia told me that the painted ceiling was her father's idea," Lee said, his voice echoing slightly. Even though the room was carpeted, the cupola helped to amplify sounds.

"It's lovely," Amanda said. Her voiced echoed a little, too.

"Our bedrooms are down the hall, in the main part of the house," Lee said.

Most of the rooms in the upper part of the west wing were being used for storage, although there were a couple of bedrooms there as well. Lee pointed out Senator Kahler's room as they passed it.

"He's the only one sleeping in this part of the house," Lee said. "Most of us are on the second floor in the main part. Watch your step."

As Amanda had guessed, the floors of the different sections of the house didn't align properly, and they had to go up a couple of steps to get into the main part of the house.

"Our security teams are using the bedrooms on the third floor," Lee continued. "There's going to be a day shift and a night shift, so the night shift will be sleeping during the day. This is my room, here. Come on in, and I'll show you the security schedule."

As its name indicated, the walls of the Bluebird Room were completely blue, and there were bird pictures all over. As promised, Lee's suitcase was there, resting on the blanket chest at the foot of his bed, and his keys were on the night stand. There was a small writing desk near the window, and Lee set his briefcase on it, opening it to find the papers he wanted to show Amanda.

Amanda's admiring gaze traveled over the old-fashioned furnishings and the pictures on the walls. They came to rest on a small framed poem among the pictures: Ode to a Bluebird by Charlotte Ransom.

"Lee, look!" Amanda said. "It's a poem by Charlotte Ransom."

Lee came over to look at it.

"Huh," he said. Lee wasn't much for poetry.

"But, it's by Charlotte Ransom," Amanda said.

"Yeah," Lee said. The neat calligraphy of the poem said so. He didn't see why Amanda found that so interesting.

"Charlotte's the woman from the ghost story," Amanda explained.

Lee looked at the poem again. "It says 'Charlotte Ransom.' I thought you said her name was 'Charlotte Babcock.'"

Amanda pulled the pamphlet from her purse and looked at it again.

"That's right," she said. "How funny."

"Unless 'Ransom' was her married name," Lee suggested.

"It can't be," Amanda said. "It was a tale of tragic love, remember? Josiah died before they could get married."

Lee shrugged. "Maybe it's just a coincidence, then. Or maybe it's all just a story. Anyway, we've got work to do."

The two of them reviewed the schedule for the security guards. There would be guards stationed near every door on the ground floor, changing out periodically. Lee also had patrols for different parts of the grounds and house. The outside patrols would make regular sweeps of the grounds and inspect the outbuildings. Inside, the downstairs sections were patrolled more often than upstairs. The timings of the patrols were somewhat irregular to keep any watchers from being completely sure where they would be at any given time, but there would be two guards stationed in the entry hall near the front door at all times.

"These are for you," Lee said, handing Amanda a packet of papers. "There are maps of the different floors of the house with the positions of the guards and room assignments for the guests marked."

The maps had been broken down by wing and floor. By now, Amanda was familiar with the public rooms of the house. The east wing was as Lee had described it.

"See this, here?" Lee tapped a room on the second floor of the east wing, the one nearest to the main part of the house. "This is an empty bedroom, and we put the controls for the security system here. Right now, they're pretty basic. They control whether the entire system is on or off and whether alarms sound aloud or silently. Sections of the system can be turned off by entering the proper codes. We have a couple of guards stationed there at all times to monitor the system. If this place is successful as a conference center, we'll turn the room into a regular security room and add video cameras and monitors."

"Do I need to know the codes for the security system?" Amanda asked, leafing through her packet of papers.

"No," Lee said. "The guards have been briefed on managing that. But, I'll show you the room so you'll be familiar with it. Besides attending the meetings with the others, you and I will be coordinating the security team, making sure that everyone is keeping to the schedule, receiving reports from the patrols, and responding to any alerts that we receive on our radios."

"I understand," Amanda said. She took another look at the maps.

The second and third floors of the main part of the house were mainly bedrooms. Each of them had a name, like Amanda's Rose Room and Lee's Bluebird Room. The names of guests were penciled in. Amanda was familiar with them from the profiles Billy had given her to study, but she had never met any of them before.

"Your room is just a couple of doors down from mine," Lee said, pointing at the map.

"I notice that your room is right next to Billy's," Amanda said.

"Yeah," Lee said. "He's in the Heron room."

"Francine is next to me, in the Peony Room. There are a lot of bird and flower names," Amanda noted.

"They're all named after birds and flowers."

"I guess it's nice that they have a theme. They seem to have put all the men in rooms with bird names and all the women in rooms with flower names."

"Yeah. Most of the guests are on the second floor, except for Romano and Worth. They're on the third floor with the security team. Senator Kahler is the only one sleeping in the west wing. Apparently, he prefers having one of the more modern rooms there. It's one of the ones with a private bath. Some of the rest of us will have to share with other people."

"Looks like neither of us gets a private bath," Amanda said.

"Neither does Francine," Lee said. "She's going to love that."

Amanda laughed. Francine always turned up at the office with perfect makeup and her hair fashionably styled. She had no idea what Francine's morning routine was like, but it probably took quite awhile, and she would probably hate having others limiting the amount of time she could spend preening (in keeping with the bird theme).

Amanda checked her packet and found the list of alerts for her radio and instructions on what to do if she got one.

"If the security alarm goes off," Lee said, "the guards in that area should converge on the spot where the alarm was triggered. Other personnel should monitor their radios and respond to instructions. Because you don't carry a weapon, you aren't expected to face off against intruders. Your job will be conducting guests to safer parts of the house in case of emergency and notifying me and the guards if you observe anything dangerous or anyone who doesn't belong on the grounds."

"I can do that," Amanda said, taking another look at her radio.

"We'll practice with the radio a bit, and I'll give you more time to study your alert signals later," Lee said, checking his watch. "We have just a little over an hour, so I'll show you the security controls and introduce you to the guards on duty."

The hour went fast, and by the time they were done, Amanda had a good understanding of the security system and how it worked. They had discussed the basics at the Agency before it was even installed, but seeing it in person was better. As Lee said, it was basic, but effective. Every window and door was covered by magnetic connections and glass break detectors. Fortunately for Amanda's sleeping preferences, it was possible to open bedroom windows slightly, but an alarm would sound if they were opened far enough for a person to get through. They could leave by a window in case of fire, but not without alerting security. Because security guards themselves would be going in and out of the doors, they were on a silent alarm, and they would have to announce via radio that they were the ones entering and leaving by that door. That was a bit of a hassle because it meant that door alerts would come regularly, but it was a good way to keep track of who was entering and leaving and when.

At about quarter to four, Amanda decided that she'd like to change clothes before the others arrived. She wanted to make a good impression when meeting their guests for the first time.

"I'm going to change, too," Lee said. "Meet me in the drawing room when you're ready."

"Okay," Amanda said.

Lee left her at the door to her room and continued on to his.

Like the other rooms that she had seen so far, The Rose Room had an old-fashioned flavor. It had a hardwood floor, a canopied bed, and its own fireplace. Amanda had never slept in a room with its own fireplace before. The room took its name from the rose color of the walls and the floral drapes that covered the windows. If it weren't for the electric lights, Amanda would have sworn that she's gone back in time. The bedside lamp turned on at a flick of the wall switch, but it was styled after an old-fashioned oil lamp to keep the historical flavor of the room. As promised, Albert had also brought up her suitcase.

Knowing that there would be more time to explore her room later, Amanda opened her suitcase and picked out the blue dress that she'd already decided to wear to dinner. The blue dress was good enough to wear to a nice dinner but simple enough that it wouldn't look too dressy at four in the afternoon. By now, Amanda had become accustomed to packing clothes like this when she traveled with Lee.

The little radio that Amanda had clipped to her waistband suddenly crackled to life.

"Amanda?" Lee's voice asked through the radio.

Amanda pressed the button to respond. "Yes."

"Just testing to make sure it's working alright."

"Seems fine to me. I can hear you clearly."

"Good. I'll see you downstairs soon then. And Amanda?"

"Yes?"

"Since we're on a secure frequency, I just want to say that you look pretty in pink."

"How do you think I'll look in blue?" Amanda asked teasingly.

"Pretty."

Amanda grinned. "I have the feeling you'd say that no matter what color I said."

"Exactly."

"And I love you for that."

"See you downstairs."

"See you soon."

Amanda dressed quickly, brushed her hair, and fixed her makeup while looking in the mirror that hung over her fireplace. When she was satisfied with her appearance, she made her way downstairs.