The Expectant Chair

By Caroline Leland

In The Expectant Chair, Ellie and her Aunt Sophy travel to a small coastal village in Maine to visit friends for a week long summer vacation. Ellie becomes involved in a mystery and a series of unusual events that enlighten her life.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Caroline Leland
• Release date: Jan 17, 2017
• ISBN: 9781370143948

Caroline Leland

Caroline is a native of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She has written three children's books about the adventures of young Ellie and her Aunt Sophy. Each book has a mystery. All three books, The Cantankerous Bed, The Expectant Chair, and the Determined Sofa have won a Purple Dragonfly Award sponsored by the children's magazine, Story Monsters Inc.. The third book, The Determined Sofa, has just been published and takes place in London, England. All three books can be purchased on www.Amazon.com. Caroline is currently writing romance/mysteries taking place in coastal Maine.

Book preview

The Expectant Chair

A Novella

by Caroline Leland

© 2017 by Caroline LeLand

Smashwords Edition, License Notes

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Book cover watercolor by Nicoll Cadwalader Brinley

To my dear sisters and brother

in thanks for all the shared joy.

Other Books by Caroline Leland

The Cantankerous Bed and The Blue Heron:

A Novella and A Story

Contents

1 Eddy Harbor

2 A New Friend

3 Exploring

4 Sea Glass

5 Sailing

6 Music Party

7 Driving Home

Binding Me (A Song)

1

Eddy Harbor

We’re almost there. We’re getting close, Ellie heard her aunt calling from the front seat. You should look out the window, dearie." Eight-year-old Ellie had been nodding off in the back seat of her Aunt Sophy’s car as it jostled and swayed on its way to Eddy Harbor, Maine from Philadelphia. She rubbed the sleep out of her eyes and opened her window. She could smell fresh scents coming from the pine woods they were passing.

They crossed a bridge over a river with thickly wooded edges, black rocks glistening on the shoreline here and there and sparkly dark water. They started passing houses along the road, set back, some with barns nearby and mostly painted white, with shutters and lush shrubbery and trees. Some properties had open fields, with cows or horses grazing. Ellie soaked up the summer beauty on that sunny afternoon.

Miss Mary Scattergood, known to Ellie as Miss Mary, Aunt Sophy’s friend sitting in the front passenger seat, said, Now we’re just coming up through the town square in Eddy Village and I’ll bring you to see some of the historic buildings here another day. My family’s house is in the harbor area and in walking distance to the beach. We’ll be there shortly. My sister Letty and her husband Tom Ballast are really looking forward to our visit, as am I.

It’s no time at all between the harbor and the village as you go down this Main Street, she continued. These houses we’re passing now are right in the harbor area. The harbor itself is down at the end of these short streets we’re passing on the right. When we come up from the beach and have a minute, we’ll go look at the boats in the harbor. They were driving along a shady tree lined street with sidewalks and wooden clapboard houses set back and sitting close together, some one story and others three stories high, with watered green lawns and flowering bushes. Big porches set off the fronts of many of the houses and window boxes and pots overflowed with brightly colored flowers.

They pulled into the driveway of a white house with black shutters that was two stories high at one end and had a single story section at the other next to where they parked. There was a white picket fence going around the property. Aunt Sophy parked in a small parking area off to one side. A blue pickup truck was parked there already. Ellie liked the small flower garden by the back door and the thick grass which took up the rest of the back yard. Lilac bushes provided a screen around the edges of the property. Through the shrubbery you could see the neighboring houses.

Miss Mary said, That’s Tom’s truck. He’s a master carpenter although somewhat retired now. He must be home. That’s nice. My sister Letty is a nurse part time for a family doctor and she’s at work today. Let’s go see if Tom’s inside. I have a key to the house so we can get in if no one’s home. This house is now called the Scattergood House as my grandfather was the local doctor and everyone knew where he lived. The older two story part of the house was built as a vacation home for a Boston widow, Sally Milton, and her daughter, Jane. My grandfather bought the house from them and my father built the newer section.

They all got out of the car and followed Miss Mary to the back door. Miss Mary was tall and thin, and towered over Aunt Sophy and Ellie as they walked with her. She had light blue eyes and a cheerful face all framed by tight white curls. Aunt Sophy was a short and slightly plump middle aged lady with a round lively face, dark brown eyes and lots of tresses of light brown hair that she usually wore in a bun. No matter what hair pins and clips she used, Aunt Sophy had the same brown flyaway hair that Ellie did, and there were always strands that got loose giving her a distracted air. Ellie had a slight build but looked a lot like her aunt.

Miss Mary opened the screen door and beckoned them in so they followed her in to a wide hallway. Ellie couldn’t see much at first after coming into the gloom from such bright sunshine. As her eyes adjusted she saw coat hooks running down either wall with a variety of outdoor jackets and raincoats hanging from them and benches running underneath. Miss Mary called out Tom’s name and a large man appeared through a door on their left. He had twinkling black eyes, a full black beard and a black head of hair streaked with gray. His figure was stocky and he was taller than Miss Mary.

He grabbed Miss Mary and gave her a big hug and then turned to Aunt Sophy whose hand he shook enthusiastically. Sophy, what a treat to have you back again. We’ve planned a big music party for your last night in Maine. The usual suspects are coming along with a few new faces you haven’t met. And this must be Ellie, he said, bending down to peer at her. Ellie thought he looked just like a pirate and giggled. Why you don’t look nearly large enough to be eight years old. They grow children much bigger up here. You’ll have to stay for a while and get more meat on your bones. Now your aunt is looking just right.

Aunt Sophy laughed and said, "You