Liberty and Leroy climbed the concrete front steps of the mansion, pushed open the double doors and walked in. It was eerily quiet inside the foyer and the air smelled faintly of a floral scent, could be roses, and charred wood. The free standing plaque that Leroy read to Liberty, told of a tragic fire that had consumed Lord and Lady Shallot, the owners, back in 1898...that explained the scent of charred wood they had encountered upon entering the mansion.
Another plaque unraveled the mystery of exactly how the accidental fire had been started, when Lord Shallot had thrown a "less than impressive, scrap painting" into the dinging room's fireplace. The management had tried to recreate the room, as it had been before the fire, but if you looked closely, you could still see hints of blackened wallpaper poking out from beneath some of the portraits.
"That's just so incredibly awful, and such a sad story!" Leroy said.
Nodding, Liberty added, "Local buzz about The Estate, is that it's still haunted today, by Lord and Lady Shallot, though I've never seen them, myself!"
"Well, said Leroy, let's just hope that it's only just a rumor, nothing more."
"True that!" said Liberty.
The pair continued touring the inside of the mansion, checking out the kitchen, with it's wood fired stove, and later on, the sitting room, which had a gorgeous grand piano that Leroy longed to play.
The master bedroom with it's en-suite bathroom, was the last available display inside the mansion as the third floor was all empty and might as well have been roped off.
"Same! It's been nice getting out, and the company's not bad either! Hey, Smile!" said Leroy, as he pulled Liberty in for a quick cell phone selfie.
"Oooh, I need one too! Say...I ain't 'fraid of no ghost" Liberty joked, as she snapped another selfie on her cell phone.
"We definitely need to do this again!" the pair said in unison, and then broke into giggles.
"Yes we do, but I'm afraid it's time I head back home, Summer is cooking dinner tonight and I told her I wouldn't be late this time," apologized Liberty.
"No problem Liberty! Enjoy the rest of your night, and thank you so much for joining me on the tour this afternoon, I don't think I would have had quite as much fun, alone."
The pair parted ways with a friendly hug and Leroy descended the front steps of the mansion, heading back to Proprietor's Square, in Windenburg. He could have sworn he heard, what sounded like a woman's voice, followed by a whoosh. But when he looked over his shoulder, he didn't see anyone...the plaque out in front of the mansion couldn't possible be moving....could it?! Leroy didn't want to stop and find out, so he picked up the pace, all but running from The Estate!
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