The peach pit, p.17
The Peach Pit, page 17
“Answer the door,” Lucy squeaked. “We can’t just let them stand out there in the cold.”
“But—” Herb said again.
“Later,” Lucy told him, shoving the map behind the dollhouse. “We’ll have to figure it out later. Because right now…it’s showtime!”
23
OPEN FOR BUSINESS
Freddy thundered down the stairs alongside his siblings. He had been practicing for this moment for weeks—the arrival of their first, and most important, guests. The two people who would decide the future of The Peachtree B&B and the future of the Peach family.
As Lucy flung open the massive front door, Freddy and Herb took their places on either side of the entryway. Freddy tucked his arms behind his back—like a guard at a fancy museum or the guys in big fluffy hats outside Buckingham Palace, where the British royal family lived—and stood straight and tall, signaling for Herb to follow suit. The moment Lucy chirped out, “Welcome!” Freddy and Herb each took a deep, gallant bow in unison.
“Wow,” Great Aunt Lucinda marveled, taking a tentative step inside. “Quite the greeting.” She wrapped her arm through David’s and guided him past the door. “I’ve got to admit, it feels a little funny being a guest in my own darn house.”
“Exactly,” David muttered. “Your house. Your savings. Your retirement fund, if only you would sell the place.”
Freddy cringed. This wasn’t off to a great start. But that was okay! They could still turn things around. “Can I take your coat?” he offered, stepping forward and stretching out his arm like a coatrack. “Would you care for a refreshing beverage?”
At this, David cracked a smile. “Sure. Appreciate it.” Both David and Great Aunt Lucinda handed their coats off to Freddy, who hung them up on the coatrack on the other side of the entryway, then sent Herb to fetch drinks and cookies for their guests.
Aunt Lucinda took off her hat and patted down her hair. She was wearing Freddy’s favorite wig today—the one he called Purple Rain. It was a long, shimmering violet color, and it made him think of a river in an epic fantasy world. “Where are my little treasures?” she asked, craning her neck to hunt for the dogs.
“We decided it would be best if we put them away during guest check-in,” Lucy told her. “They tend to get a little overexcited when guests arrive.”
“I’m sure they’ll be just fine with me,” Great Aunt Lucinda said, accepting the glass of lemonade and warm Welcome Cookie Herb offered each of them. “Let them out so David can spend some time with my darlings.”
Freddy wasn’t so sure this was a great idea, but what choice did they have? If Great Aunt Lucinda wanted to see her dogs in her house, who were they to say no?
“Are you sure?” Herb asked nervously. “Did you see what happened at Birch Pond?”
“Very sure,” she said. “I want some quality time with my babies on their turf.”
“Release the beasts!” Freddy cried out.
On his brother’s command, Herb whipped open the door of the piano room. The four dogs came streaming out. They barked, jumped, and whirled around the entryway like a tornado of fur. “Dasher, Donner, Vixen, Rudolph! Sit!” Herb ordered.
Dash immediately did as he’d been told, but the other three pups acted as if Herb had said Sic rather than Sit. Vix leaped and pawed at the bottom of David’s pant leg, nipping and tugging at it like it was a slice of ham she wanted to eat. Rudy scuttled backward and began to bark endlessly, hardly even stopping to take a breath. Donny, true to form, lifted his leg and released a stream of pee that drizzled down one side of David’s suitcase.
“Come on,” Herb groaned.
Freddy tried—but failed—to hold back a laugh. Lucy, on the other hand, was stunned into complete and utter silence.
At that exact moment, Freddy heard Dad bustling through the kitchen door. He craned his neck and could see that their dad had several large bags of food hanging off his arms. He was also cradling a hot, fresh-roasted turkey he’d ordered for their Thanksgiving dinner from the grocery store deli. Freddy’s stomach rumbled at the thought of pie, stuffing, mashed potatoes, turkey with gravy, buttered rolls, and more pie. All four Peaches had been a part of their dinner preparations the past few days, but no one had wanted to handle a massive, raw turkey—so Dad had wisely ordered one from someone who actually knew how to cook something like that. They’d become breakfast and pie experts; Freddy had pointed out that they didn’t need to be good at cooking everything.
Dad hollered out a loud hello, and made his way through the kitchen door into the entry hall. Dash, who had been sitting politely in the big, open space between the kitchen and the entryway, continued to do as he’d been told and did not move from his seated position.
“Dad, stop—” Herb blurted out, while Freddy continued to dream of pie. But Herb’s warning came too late. Freddy watched in horror as Dad walked straight toward the statue-like, seated Dash. At the very last second, Dash popped up to save himself from getting stepped on—but got twisted up in Dad’s legs while trying to get away. The collision knocked Dad off-balance. Freddy’s eyes went wide as the roasted turkey flew up, up, and through the air.
It suddenly felt like life had flipped into slow motion. Freddy was pretty sure he could actually see the turkey spinning through midair. The enormous, greasy centerpiece of that afternoon’s dinner sailed over Dash and Herb, then landed with a splat! right on David’s stockinged feet.
Freddy had always thought this kind of thing only happened in movies, but it seemed he’d thought wrong. The dogs, clearly able to sniff out an easy meal, dove on the carefully wrapped turkey like a pack of hungry wolves. They chewed and tore through the bag, eager to get to the good stuff.
David pulled his feet out from under their dinner, and time flipped into fast-forward. Suddenly, everything was happening at once. While Herb and Lucy plucked the dogs up and away from their Thanksgiving dinner, Freddy grabbed David’s pee-soaked suitcase (someone had to do it), and Dad dove for the turkey. “It’s good to see you after all these years, David,” Dad said feebly.
“Yes,” David said, utterly still, obviously both shocked and horrified. “It’s—uh, it’s good to see you, too.” Aunt Lucinda, meanwhile, shook with silent laughter.
“Well…welcome to The Peachtree B and B,” Freddy squeaked, as soon as his siblings had gotten the last dog sealed up behind closed doors. “We do hope you’ll enjoy your stay.”
24
THE HUNT FOR HIDDEN RICHES
“David, please step inside your home away from home. This is The Fruit Suite!” Herb declared, flinging open the door to the only finished second-floor guest bedroom. He’d been rehearsing that line for weeks, and Freddy gave him a quick high five when he nailed it. While their dad hustled to put away the last of the groceries and cleaned up the turkey grease that had splattered all over the front entryway, the kids showed their VIP guests to their rooms so they could take some time to settle in. Herb couldn’t wait to show off their fancy new B&B rooms (he just hoped they didn’t ask to see Freddy’s guest room or his personal bedroom, since they were both disaster zones)!
As David and Great Aunt Lucinda walked through the doorway of The Fruit Suite for a look, Freddy bent forward in a deep bow. “Velcome!” he said, in a very creepy-sounding vampire voice. Herb hadn’t heard his brother try out this accent before. It was spookier than his “French” accent, for sure, but also seemed to suit the style of the house a little better.
Herb could see both of their guests marveling at the deep plum paint on the walls, the peachy accent color of all the furniture, the lemon and lime artwork decorating the walls, and the cheerful, multicolored, fruit-printed bedding. The room was an explosion of color, and it made Herb endlessly happy. He and Dad had chosen the bedding and furniture together, but Dad had let Herb pick the art posters all by himself. One of the really fun things about The Fruit Suite was you could just see Lake Superior if you stood on tiptoe and faced just so.
“Wow,” Great Aunt Lucinda said with a smile. “This is really something.” She pointed to the lemon painting on the wall. “David, do you remember I used to have a lemon painting hanging in this room, right in this very spot? Herb, you must have read the history of the walls and known just what this wall needed!”
Herb flushed with pride. “I love lemons. They’re so cheerful.”
Great Aunt Lucinda pointed to the framed lime art beside it. “This looks so much better here than the elderberry picture I used to have hanging on this wall. Elderberries are one of my favorite fruits and real pretty, too, but these bright limes set off the rich color of the walls perfectly.”
“What’s an elderberry?” Herb asked.
“They look a little like tiny red grapes,” David explained. “Mom used to make us drink this horrible elderberry syrup when we were kids that she swore would keep us healthy through the long, cold Duluth winters.” He made a face. “It was so sweet, I always gagged.”
“But it kept you from getting sick during hockey season, didn’t it?” Great Aunt Lucinda said, wagging a finger at him.
Freddy gave his brother a strange look that Herb couldn’t decipher. “Elderberries,” Freddy whispered loudly in the direction of both his siblings. “They look like little grapes…”
“Uh…huh,” Lucy said, nodding at him like he was a little crazy.
Before Freddy could say more, David cleared his throat. “I’d appreciate it if I could take some time to get cleaned up.” He cleared his throat again. “The room looks nice,” he said. “I’m sure I’ll be plenty comfortable.”
“Okay,” Lucy said quickly. “Yeah, we’ll just…um, leave you to it! Come on downstairs when you’re ready and we can get you a snack or a slice of our famous pie or find you a good book to read or—”
David cleared his throat again, cutting her off. “Thanks. I’ll be down in a bit. We all have a lot to talk about. As I’m sure your dad and my mom have mentioned, I do have a buyer lined up and eager to get into the house—and us adults need to figure out what the plan is.”
The three Peach kids all exchanged a look.
“Okay, yeah,” Lucy choked out. “See you later, then. If you need anything, you can just push this intercom button and—”
David began to close the door. “Yes, thanks, I know. I lived here for eighteen years, remember?”
The kids and Great Aunt Lucinda made their way slowly up the central staircase to the third-floor guest suite. “Aunt Lucinda, you’ll be staying in The Winter Suite,” Lucy told her, pushing open the door. “I designed this space especially for you.”
Herb stood beside his great aunt, watching her face as she took in all the little details Lucy had worked so hard to put in place:
• A warm, icy blue duvet cover, draped with bright red blankets and pretty, sparkly throw pillows that made the bed look soft and inviting
• The comfy armchair, nestled into a corner near the window, offering a perfect view out onto Herb’s favorite part of the mansion: the sprawling backyard
• Fluffy, off-white robes hanging from the back of the bathroom door
• A lush, green holiday garland draped across the top of one wall, along with a few carefully placed vases full of Christmas tree ornaments to make the room feel cheerful without being too Christmas-y.
Lucy had lucked out, and the big company that had bought Mom’s solar cling invention had agreed to make a special new design just for her (because they thought it might be popular with other customers, too). So Lucy was able to decorate one of the windows in The Winter Suite with special solar clings that made it look like Jack Frost had come for a visit and covered the window with his icy art.
But best of all, for this room’s very-first-ever guest, his sister had somehow found and hung hundreds of old holiday cards that Aunt Lucinda had saved over the years. Herb’s very smart sister had strung them all up on a zigzag length of green yarn that went back and forth across the wall, so they were all waiting to welcome their great aunt home.
“Oh!” Great Aunt Lucinda said softly, stepping toward the wall. “This is marvelous.” Herb noticed that Aunt Lucinda had a few tears in her eyes. “It looks just stunning, dear.”
Lucy beamed back at her. “We’ll give you some time to settle in and get comfortable, and then we’d love to invite you down to the living room for appetizers.”
Great Aunt Lucinda pulled the three Peach kids against her in a very squishy hug. “Thank you. It’s perfect.”
As soon as they’d left Aunt Lucinda in her room, the kids raced back down the stairs to the dollhouse. “Did you hear that?” Herb said desperately. “It sounds like David is still planning to sell the house.”
“He’s not very nice,” Freddy blurted out.
“I’m sure he’s fine,” Lucy argued. “Just kind of chilly.”
Herb frowned. After spending time with Joye, he’d learned that sometimes people seem grumpy on the outside for a reason. “Don’t forget that some people surprise you when you get to know them. Maybe David seems mean now, but he’ll turn out nice when we get to know him.”
“Maybe. He did help us solve one of the mystery fruit paintings,” Freddy said. He pointed at the miniature picture they all thought looked like tiny grapes. “These are obviously elderberries. Great Aunt Lucinda said she actually had a painting of elderberries in that very room, back when she lived here. So that letter must be an E!”
Herb grabbed Freddy’s sketchbook out from behind the dollhouse, where they’d stashed it when their guests arrived. He pointed at the letters they’d jotted down and changed one of the missing ones to E. “C E L L A R T (something) N N E L,” Herb read aloud. Then he blurted out the information he’d been waiting to tell his siblings since they’d first discovered the map spelled out words: “Did you know there’s a cellar under the Peach Pit?”
“What?!” his siblings both shrieked at the same time.
Herb shushed them—David’s guest room was just steps from the stair landing!—and nodded seriously. “I’ve been inside it.” Herb couldn’t stop himself from grinning. He knew about something neither of his siblings did. So ha to that. But also, now Herb could be the one to lead them to the treasure. “And I think I know what the missing letter must be: U. I think it’s supposed to say CELLAR TUNNEL.”
Freddy thwacked himself on the forehead. “Yep, that totally makes sense. I bet that’s a picture of an Ugli fruit. Proper name: Jamaican tangelo. It’s a cross between a tangerine or orange with a grapefruit.”
“How do you know that?” Lucy asked, bewildered.
Freddy tapped his forehead. “I know everything.” Then he poked Herb in the ribs and said, “Wait! Are you telling us there could be a cellar tunnel under this very house?”
Herb smiled. “Follow me.”
The three Peach kids headed for the stairs. But before Herb stormed down the big central staircase, he realized they couldn’t go that way, since Dad was in the front entryway cleaning up the turkey glop. Eager to avoid their dad and buy a little extra time to possibly solve the Hunt for Hidden Riches, Lucy led them down into the kitchen through the twisting, tiny servant staircase.
Freddy squeaked and yipped quietly as they descended, randomly muttering things like: “Eep! I hear a mouse!” and “Yep, that’s definitely tiny little pattering feet,” and “If something touches me, I swear I’m going to scream.”
Hearing his brother’s fears voiced aloud emboldened Herb. He realized he was no longer afraid of the hidden staircases behind the walls—not anymore, not after he’d realized their house wasn’t haunted. Also, he’d found and explored the hidden cellar all on his own—that took guts. And he’d written that letter to his teacher (which Mr. Andrus had said he really appreciated and promised to do better from now on!)—something that Herb felt was also pretty courageous.
Feeling brave, Herb grabbed his trusty headlamp and a few spare flashlights out of a drawer in the kitchen and led his siblings down into the cellar.
“Whoa,” Lucy murmured, shining her flashlight all around as Herb led them through the dusty, chilly space under the house. He didn’t stop to show off his treasure displays, or let them linger and poke around in his private fortress. He just led his siblings straight to the back of the cellar, where he’d found the strange door and dark space that he knew led to somewhere. Lucy called out, “How’d you find out this room was down here?”
“I noticed there was space under the first floor in the dollhouse,” Herb said. “Then I asked Great Aunt Lucinda about it.”
“Yeah, yeah,” Freddy said, swiveling his flashlight into all the corners and all around his feet. “It’s pretty cool down here and everything, but can you just show us to the tunnel so we can find the treasure and get out?”
Herb skipped toward the little door and twisted the knob. He pulled open the creaky wooden door and let Lucy lead the way inside the space. Herb and Freddy both cowered around their sister, peeking up and over her shoulder as Lucy shined her light into the space. “It’s a tunnel, that’s for sure,” Lucy said softly. The walls of the tunnel were lined with more shelves, but they appeared to be empty.
“Where does it go?” Freddy asked. He stepped away from their sister just the slightest bit, and Herb could tell his brother’s curiosity was stronger than his fear. Just like Herb!
“I don’t know,” Herb said. “I haven’t actually explored back here at all.”
The three kids pushed forward. The beams from all three of their flashlights were, together, bright enough to illuminate the space just enough. Herb could clearly see there were no skeletons, booby traps, or other things he needed to worry about hiding inside the mysterious tunnel. Still, he stepped carefully, just in case.
