Chapter III
As Kat walked up the gravel pathway to The Manor Bed and Breakfast, the impact of Kat's vague idea of simply showing up to the B&B--with a reservation, of course--with the purpose of going through old files from the days when the building was a school hit her. What if she couldn't find any files on Casper? She wanted to know about his school days, but didn't exactly want to ask him personally for fear of bringing up painful memories.
Kat pulled open the heavy oak doors, and a fresh, floral scent was in the area she entered. She strode briskly up to the concierge desk and checked in. The man at the desk handed her a brass skeleton key and gave her directions to her room. "Just up the stairs and the third door on your left, miss," he said.
Kat dragged her suitcase up the stairs despite it having wheels. She arrived at her door, and entered. As soon as she had dumped the contents of her suitcase into the chest of drawers opposite the foot of her huge mahogany four poster bed, Kat threw herself on the bed and decided to elaborate on her plan. She needed to find a way to have a legitimate excuse for entering the room where the old files were kept. What if they were thrown away and her long trip had been in vain? She didn't even consider that option. "God, I am such an idiot!" she muttered to the ceiling. She noticed that there was dust clinging to the fan directly above her head. "Do they even bother to clean before someone checks...". Suddenly, Kat had an idea. She sprang off the bed and went into the corridor. She swivelled her head from left to right and back again. The coast was clear. It took her a few minutes to locate a supply closet, and luckily there was a spare maid uniform. Checking again lest she wanted to be seen, Kat swiped the maid uniform and ran back down the corridor to her room. Once safely inside, she changed into it, and set out to find the file room--if there was one.
Kat walked up to the concierge desk. The same man was there, so she decided she had to ask someone else. She turned back around and wandered the main corridor, until she found a young man in a valet uniform. "Excuse me, I'm new. I was asked to go to the file room. Do you know where that is?" The man regarded her for a moment and said, "Yeah, I think it's on the last floor. I don't know where, though." Before he could say any more, Kat was sprinting down the corridor towards the staircase. "Thanks!" she quickly called over her shoulder. The young man just shook his head and walked off down the corridor.
Kat arrived on the landing to the upper most level of the building and looked around. She saw an "Employees only beyond this point," sign and felt a twinge of guilt. There were about a dozen oak paneled doors, and only three were marked: a main office and a bathroom for each sex. Deciding to take her chances, Kat went to the main office and knocked on the door. No reply. She tried the knob, and the door silently glided open. Taking a hesitant step inside, she closed the door behind her as quietly as possible. She had no idea where to start looking. Two file cabinets were up against the wall to the left of a huge desk littered with papers and notes, and Kat seized the opportunity to look through them. To her dismay, the majority of the labels were marked with titles like "Taxes" and "Revenue". She decided to look at the papers on the desk. No clues. Taking care not to disturb anything, she went through each drawer, in turn finding nothing. Finally, at the bottom drawer she found what looked like yellowed, brittle file folders. She looked through them and decided they definitely weren't modern. Not wanting to take any more risks, Kat took the files and exited the room, trying to look calm while making her way back to her room.
After what seemed like an eternity, Kat finally reached her room. She hadn't encountered any one who looked like a manager, and no one gave her any suspicious looks. Kat stashed the files under her bed and decided what to do. She was going to change back into her travelling clothes, but decided as the sun was going to set soon, she would first return the maid uniform, take a shower, and change into her night clothes. She did just that after retuning the uniform. Wrapped in a dressing gown and her hair pulled back from her face, Kat took the files out from under the bed. Placing them on her lap, Kat carefully went through them. The papers inside were brittle and yellowing, and she knew she had found the right ones. She wondered how long this would take, as she didn't want to keep them for too long.
The files were in alphabetical order, from A to Z. Once she established this fact, Kat immediately went to "M". "McBride...McCracken...McDuff...McFadden!" she yelled excitedly and as a result she clapped a hand over her mouth. Kat gingerly pulled the paper out from between the McFann and McFarland papers. Kat read the sheet eargley:
McFadden, Casper Johannes
Date of Birth: 23 June 1893
Date of Death: 23 December 1905
Years enrolled: 1898-1905
Father: McFadden, Joseph Theodore (1868-1923)
Mother: McFadden (nee Gunderson), Elizabeth Anna (1876-1904)
There were also some good academic grades, although one teacher noted "goofing off" on one record. Kat sighed and thought of what life must have been like for Casper during this time.
About six hours away, Casper had arrived home, exhausted after looking for Kat. Dr. Harvey was sitting in the parlour watching television. When he looked up, Dr. Harvey noticed Casper. "Oh, have you been out?" he said. "Yeah, I--" began Casper. "If you're looking for Kat, she went to Guilford. Damned if I know why. That girl..." Dr. Harvey trailed off, perturbed by his teenager's antics. Before Dr. Harvey could say another word, Casper sped off into the night.