Chapter I

                                             

It was early summer, and I had just moved to a small town in Pennsylvania to start a new job, and a new start on life. I had just been hired on to a small government contracting firm as a project manager.  

I loved the idea of building commercial buildings because;  for one money never seemed to be an issue on the design end of the project and two;  I would be in charge of every aspect of the job. I didn’t have to be to work out here for another month but I wanted to get settled into a place and get to know the people and the area just to make sure this is where I wanted to live.

I had been looking online for homes in the area for about six months and I always seemed to end up coming back to one in particular. It was a old Victorian Home built in the early eighteen hundreds.  It needed a lot of work according to the description I had read online but I thought it would be a good ongoing project to do in my spare time and maybe a good investment in the long run. I had contacted the realtor that had the listing and was to meet with him once I arrived,

It was Saturday, June 21st when I finally reached my new beginning.  Almost instantly I felt a warm feeling about this place; beautiful trees lined the streets with old street lights on every corner, every yard looked well kept,  and most of the homes looked cozy.  It was pushing close to nine am and I was getting a little hungry,  so I figured I would stop at a cafe.  As I turned on to main street I noticed a café sign about half way down the block, so I pulled my car over and headed over to see what I would find.  I hadn’t even stepped two feet into the door when a smiley little waitress asked me if she could seat me.  I told her yes and if I could I wanted to sit at the counter.  She again smiled and said that would be fine. I figured that way I could try and get some local gossip.

As I sat down a man next to me turned and said good morning.  I smiled and said good morning. Well that was a nice welcome kind of feeling to things. The waitress asked me if I needed to see a menu and what I wanted to drink.  I said, "Coffee, please,  then I paused for a second, and asked her if they had any early morning specials.  The man next to me piped up and said, "I’d try the number 3 if I were you. Anything else will just burn a hole in your stomach."  The waitress said, "Stop it Red! You are going to scare the young man off before he has time to enjoy his coffee." I smiled,  then said, " I think I’ll try the number 3."  A slight chuckle came from the old man next to me.  I turned to him and said thanks for the warning. We both laughed a little then he said, "By the way,  my name is Red."  As I shook his hand,  I said it was good to meet him and that my name was Scotty and that I had just moved here from out west to start work for the Clarks Construction firm as project manager. "Well it’s good to meet you Scotty, he said. "I wish you the best on the new job." "I think you will like this little town". " It's quiet and there isn’t much crime".  I smiled. Well that sounded good to me. Everything so far seemed wonderful.

I was just going to tell him about the old home I was looking at when the waitress placed my number 3 in front of me, which consisted of  two eggs,  ham and toast, and a side of grits, I looked over at Red and said, "So this is the famous number 3 huh?" I chuckled again as he nodded. I finished my breakfast, paid the bill and added a nice tip for Mrs. Smiley.  As I was about to leave I thought about asking where this home was,  but I didn’t want to sound like a bother to anyone so I just went out the door and headed to my car. As I started to back out I heard a tapping on the front of my car.  I looked in the direction of the noise and saw that it was Red. and that he was  tapping on the hood of my car.