Chapter 22 An Investigation from the Ground
Lucas and Elizabeth headed out right after breakfast. Laura was there to watch Jack for part of the day and then he would go down for his nap at the Coulters; they hoped to be back before nightfall. They stopped at the livery with their provisions and saddled the horses. Lucas led them to the mouth of the trail that led to the ridge. They began the ascent but looked to their right carefully for any sign that there was a trail leading to the abandoned property. They hadn't gone too far up the slope when Elizabeth alerted Lucas, "see there, it looks like there is a path under that fallen tree." Lucas had remembered to bring work gloves as he knew it was going to be a challenge to get through some of the overgrowth. The tree wasn't that large so between them, they were able to clear it from the path.
The trail proved wide enough for the horses to walk single file. It had apparently been wider, enough for a small truck to travel, but the trail would need to be reclaimed. Not far in, they saw a "No Trespassing" sign and a sign indicating contact information at the HV Mayor's office for property inquiries. "Bill knows that we are here today, so we are okay," Lucas said. They traveled for another five or so minutes when there was a fork in the path, one fork headed towards what was obviously the house they had seen and the other down towards the orchard and other buildings. "Let's take the path up to the house first," Lucas suggested. They made their way to what was obviously a home designed from the memory of an estate in the hills of northern Italy. It had been built of stones from the area and had old-world charm. It was hard to tell how large it was with all the overgrowth but it appeared to perhaps have been designed as a residence for more than one family; for example, brothers, and parents as was customary in Italy and surrounding countries.
They could see that there had once been a garden at the back of the house with a patio and fountain. From the pattern of the chimneys, they guessed that the kitchen was also at the back of the house in between the two wings. There was a partial upstairs with what appeared to be bedroom windows.
They looked at one another like kids who had just uncovered a secret treasure. They couldn't stop the grins on their faces. Lucas reached for her hand. "Shall we ride down the path to the other side of the property? We can return here afterward."
They made their way to an orchard. The trees were budding but the flowers weren't open yet, "my guess is apple trees with perhaps some pear over on the far side," said Elizabeth. "They will soon flower, and we will get a better idea. The trees need pruning badly but they seem healthy enough."
"There appears to be a rudimentary irrigation system but even natural rainfall would probably be sufficient in this area," Lucas said.
To one side they could see that there were cultivated berry vines that had gone wild but might be salvageable. There was also acreage for grapes but their state was much harder to judge due to the tangle of blackberry vines. "Well, it looks like a lot of hard work to get the property back in shape but still recoverable," Lucas sounded pleased.
They then made their way to a couple of other stone buildings on the property. The smaller mostly housed tools and small machinery for tending to the orchard and vineyards. The other was obviously the production and storage facility. There was an office on the side with a small patio and pergola outside. "Lucas, let's have our lunch here, we can look over the ledger you found while we eat." Lucas had found ledgers in the desk drawers, in fact, everything had been left as if someone was coming back at any moment.
From the ledger, Lucas could gather a lot about the business. "Pellegrino's Orchards it was called. They sold fruit to the local community as well as fruit juices which they bottled for local merchants. It appears that they sold apple, pear, and grape juices but also produced apple cider with low and higher alcohol content. They also made a modest amount of wine and had been in the process of expanding that business." After they had their lunch, they entered a well-cleared area that contained the presses, vats, and barrels for making the various products. Lucas was not familiar with the process in detail but he judged that likely this was fairly rudimentary and his cousins would have something to show him in terms of their own modernization. All in all, this building appeared in excellent condition and had been largely saved from encroaching nature for the time being because it had a wide gravel area around it.
They made their way back to the house and decided to peek in a few windows that they could get to with minimum effort. They were boarded up but Lucas was able to pry away the wood enough so that they could get a peek inside. The house too had been left like someone was coming back at any time.
"I think that all the fabrics will have to be replaced, curtains and upholstery, but the furniture structurally looked like it is intact," Elizabeth noted.
They were able to make their way to the area housing the kitchen and were excited by the large room within. Copper pots and pans hung from the ceiling, and they could see a bread oven which likely had been used for pizza making as well as a large wood stove.
"Oh my," said Elizabeth excitedly, "look at the beautiful kitchen and I can picture us with our family and friends around that table." The kitchen table was long, and though covered with dust, promised to gleam with some love and strong arms to polish it. The chairs all looked to be intact.
"Even if we never get the business back to where we hope, this is a home where one raises a happy bunch of children," Lucas said mostly to himself.
"What do you mean by bunch? We have one, are we talking about a total of three or four? I am not sure that more than that will be likely considering my age."
"If all we have is the one, he will be the happiest little boy alive here. And we will think about other options for expanding our family should we not be blessed with more of our own." He looked at her and she could see all the joy he had in him to share and she would never deny him what she too wanted, that happy family with siblings for Jack and dogs for them to love.
"Lucas, I love it already. Let's tell Bill that we want to take this to whatever is the next step. See what the property will sell for, etc.."
"I will want to bring Gustave out here. You know he is a vineyard man from way back. Before he came to Canada. It is in his blood. He will help me get a prospectus together. And give me some basic advice on what we are facing."
"Oh Lucas, I am so excited for you. I think we may have found what will be your passion. "
"You, Elizabeth are my passion. Wherever you are, I will be there with you. But I admit to wanting to find more in my profession. This may be a chance to nurture both."
"Well, I feel that I could be very happy here. We already know that if we are to expand our family, I will need to make some choices about work. I think I can still find a way to stay in touch with the teacher side, but draw on my writing as a more full-time endeavor. I think you may find your true calling in starting a new branch of the Bouchard business. I would like us to have this home regardless, but take the time to think and talk to Gustave and your family in France this summer and we can take the rest from there."
She walked to him and ran her fingers through the locks that had fallen to the side and smoothed them back into the wave. "I have a feeling we were supposed to take that balloon ride together and discover this place. Let's see where destiny takes us."
And she wrapped her arms around him as he rested his chin on top of her head and the sun began to disappear behind the hills. He kissed her forehead and took her hand and they walked back to where the horses waited. They looked at each other for a long moment before he helped her onto her horse. They both had a feeling there would be many moments together here in days and years to come.