Chapter Sixteen: Rebuilding the Past

Tia's POV

"Where are we going?" Mole asked when I met him at the station.

"Somewhere that needs a little help."

"Why me?"

"Because the place is covered in ash."

Mole's POV

As we walked through the town and up to the burnt Victorian home, my face fell as I started to process where we were, which only became more evident as I followed her inside. The town had been desolate and the home should have been demolished many years ago. The fact that it still remained standing after all of this time given the damage it sustained was astonishing and heartbreaking reminder for the only living person to last live in it, which had been clearly visible across Tia's visage.

"This is all that remains of my childhood." She remarked sadly as we looked around at the burnt walls and rooms, "These had been the borders of my life. This little home where an inventor loved his wife."

"You would like to rebuild the home and the town." I stated, and then added, "How will you do that? Do you have money of your own?"

"Some." She nodded, "I worked with the Smithsonian for a few years and while it is not much, it's a start. I have a plan, Monsieur Moliére." She smiled down at me, "It's up to you how far you want to follow me down this rabbit hole."

"I am here to help."

"You are." She agreed.

"Then what do you want me to do."

From there, a partnership was formed between the two of us, one based on mutual respect for each other's skills. Both knowing we could learn from one another. And we did. After a month of walking, I bought a Model T Ford Runabout that had been a little beat up due to being a few years old that could be refurbished with a little work so that I could teach Tia not only how drive a vehicle. As the days progressed, we found livable nearby housing and both got into our own routine of finding odd jobs until it led us to one where we could work together. Our specific talents led us to solving mysteries of nearby towns. There had been one small bump in the road as we were finding our way. This lead us to writing to Sweet since where we were currently located had no physician for miles, who came on the next train with Miss Corey and stayed with us for the next several months before moving out west. Tia's time with Vinny had left behind a gift, her name was Olivia. She had been a blue eyed dark haired angel who was spoiled by everyone who came across her. Not that she came across too many, Tia tended to keep her indoors after people started to live in the town that had slowly been rebuilt with help from contractors, specialists, and volunteers. As the years progressed, the entire town had seen new life and Tia's childhood home had finally become livable. The only thing left to do was to figure out what had happened to the home and the town itself, but for that, we'd need help. For that, I sent two letters, each to someone who knew about engineering, one mechanical and one chemical.

Audrey's POV

-1919-

I read through the letter again confused due to the lack of detail from Mole, what had been even more confounding is that the return address had been from somewhere in Virginia. It wasn't too far though, I could probably get there by train pretty easily. I wrote Mole back, letting him know I would come and that I'd be there by the end of the week.

Vinny's POV

I looked at the letter one more time, it had been awhile since I had seen Mole and a vacation could do me some good. The location was a short drive from Washington D.C. where I had my shop located, I could drive down at the end of the week. I wrote Mole back, letting him know I'd be there this weekend.