Chapter Four
Pete ran his hand along the limestone wall and shook his head. “Why would Atwater want to make this his media room? It has never had anything resembling an outlet on any of these beautiful walls.”
Gary looked at the plans. “Help me roll up the carpet. Maybe we can fish them through and bring up the wiring from the floor. Put in standing plugs, and have Cid either recess them into the trim or build cute little boxes so they seem planned.”
They were in what would have been the afternoon sitting room. It faced west in order to take advantage of the lessening light before it dipped behind hillside, above the town, across the lake.
“Kiki’s written,” Pete started, looking at the file, “‘It is the only room that gets adequate cell reception with the exception of the bedroom above it. There are plans for a satellite dish to be brought onto the estate but not until after the next election.’ Whatever that means,” Pete finished.
“The congressman doesn’t know which company will pad his pockets,” Gary said.
“Shush, he could be listening in. I need this job,” Pete said.
“Then help me roll up this carpet. I’d rather fix a few floorboards than deal with polished limestone.”
Both men carefully moved the small amount of furniture still in the room into the hall. They then started to roll the carpet. As expected, the floor was made of oak. A quarter of the way into the room, a design made of cherry started to show. It was inset perfectly with the oak. Halfway across, the men stopped rolling. Pete started to feel flushed, and Gary’s heart was beating hard. Both men attributed their feelings from being out of shape and bent over what they were told was a beer gut.
Gary got off his knees and began to look at the floor. “If I was going to go to the trouble of creating this floor, why would I keep it covered up?”
“Because it’s a summoning circle,” Cid said from the doorway.
Jesse walked in and bent and examined the floor. “It could have been brought from Europe. Quite a few of the wood panels over the bedroom fireplaces came from Spain and Morocco.”
“Why?” Pete asked.
“It was in vogue at the time this house was built to buy and loot Europe’s abandoned villas of their contents, which included stairways and wallcoverings. It’s not much stretch of the imagination to include a few floors and reassemble them here,” Cid said.
“Houses like these were built to show off wealth more than for creature comforts,” Jesse maintained.
“That’s why there are no effing electrical outlets,” Pete said. “They must have only used this room when the light was right.”
“Or brought in candles,” Gary said. “There are a few wax burns in this ring.”
“That’s from the summoning,” Cid said.
“The wax is black,” Gary said, standing up and walking out of the circle. “Cid, can you tell what they were summoning?”
“No. I could take a picture of it and send it to our researcher, but I’m not supposed to be playing Scooby-Doo.”
“I need to know what I’m dealing with so I can run wires to outlets,” Pete said, walking over and closing the door and locking it. “Let’s unwrap this baby before the boss shows up.”
The men worked quickly, and Cid and Jesse took pictures, moving and stills, of the floor. They put the carpet down, and Pete unlocked the door.
Cid heard the clip of Kiki’s work boots approaching and improvised, “I would suggest maybe building a decorative molding with a hollowed out back with places for the outlets.”
Kiki walked in. “I don’t need four of you in here.”
“I was consulting with Cid over the possibility of cutting into this beautiful floor. He had another idea,” Pete covered. “Are you sure you can’t talk the owner out of making this a media room? What about the library? It faces west and there is some cell reception.”
“Not enough. Besides, this is what he wants. It’s up to us to make it happen. Lunch will be served from eleven to one, gentlemen. First come, first served,” Kiki said and walked out the door.
Cid smiled at their collective sigh that echoed off the limestone walls. He held his hand up until he heard Kiki leave the building. “It’s safe to speak now.”
“Please do what you can,” Pete said. “I don’t know what the fuck is going on in this building, but I’d rather be putting in urinals in roadside stops than spending any more time here than I have to.”
“Come on, where’s your sense of adventure?” Jesse asked. “We’re the thirteenth crew. What could possibly go wrong?”
~
Cid sorted through and labeled the wood in the workroom. He restacked and weighted certain pieces of wood with cinderblocks to keep them from warping. Kiki walked in. “Clark, I want you to go on the food run with Sally. Take my truck, and stop first at Best Buy and pick up the refrigerator I purchased,” Kiki said, handing him the receipt.
“Sure,” he said.
“I’m going to give it to What the Fuck for his birthday when we’re finished with it here. His wife says his beer fridge is on its last legs.”
“That’s nice of you,” Cid said, pocketing the paper. “I’ll tell Jesse.”
“Already done. Sally will be at the truck…” Kiki looked at her watch… “now.”
Cid trotted over to his trailer and picked up his wallet and jacket. He ran back, and Sally was leaning against the truck holding on to the keys. “She won’t let me drive her truck.
