Laura Childs - [Tea Shop Mystery 06] by Laura Childs

Author:Laura Childs [Laura Childs]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 12

A kaleidoscope of bright green foliage, sluggish streams, swamps, and overgrown rice plantations flashed by as Theodosia buzzed along Rutledge Road. Haley had opted to come along with her, and now both of them were enjoying this impromptu foray into the countryside. Whitetail deer, gray foxes, river otters, and even alligators were still to be found in theses piney forests and swamplands that stretched between Charleston and Savannah. And though much of the land was sparsely inhabited and seemingly untamed, it was also hauntingly beautiful.

"There's Aunt Libby!" exclaimed Haley as Theodosia pumped her brakes, spun into a right turn, then exploded through the stone gates that marked the entrance to Cane Ridge Plantation.

Libby Revelle, Theodosia's aunt and only living relative, was the chief resident at Cane Ridge, although Margaret Rose Reese, her companion and housekeeper, had pretty much settled into full-time residency as well.

Libby lifted a hand and waved as they bumped across a patch of gravel and rocked to a stop.

"Gosh, this is beautiful," marveled Haley, gazing around. "One of my all-time favorite places," declared Theodosia. Built in 1835 on Horlbeck Creek, Cane Ridge had once been a thriving rice plantation. Now it was the loveliest of quiet country homes, encompassing a Gothic Revival cottage replete with peaked and gabled roof and a dozen or so outbuildings in various tumbledown stages.

But when the sky dimmed to purple and the frogs picked up their insistent chorus in the nearby swamp, there was nothing finer than reclining in a giant wicker chair on the cottage's enormous piazza to watch a command performance of the evening stars and be assured that all was right with the world.

"Aunt Libby's house always reminds me of a Hansel and Gretle cottage," said Haley as they walked over to meet her. Libby Revelle held out a silver pail filled to the brim with cracklins. "Better mark a trail for yourself then, Haley. So you can find your way back."

"I'm not about to go wandering off in your woods," said Haley, giving Aunt Libby a quick hug and taking the pail from her. "Theo once told me there were alligators out there. And quicksand."

Silver-haired and tiny, Libby gazed out over her property. Set on a gentle rise as they were, the view was calming but spectacular. A nearby quiet pond segued into marshland, then low fields stretched to meet piney forests. "Once in a while you hear an alligator bark," said Libby, her eyes twinkling. "As for the quicksand, it can be found pretty much all over the low country. Mostly in really swampy areas." She gazed out where the western sun was setting. "But over near the ruins of the old mill, a mile or so as the crow flies, there's a nasty boggy patch. And I've always suspected there's probably quicksand there, too."

Haley shuddered. She was a city girl through and through. And while she loved the beauty and serenity of the low country-what native of South Carolina didn't?-she felt a little lost once the sidewalk ran out.

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