“Hey, Daniel!” Jack called from the other end of the corridor. Daniel stopped and waited for him to catch up. “How’s the house hunting going?”

“Slow,” he grumbled. “You should see some of the crap that’s out there and what they want for it.” Over the last three weeks they must have looked at fifteen houses.

“Ew, sorry.” Jack offered. “Isn’t your agent any help?”

“It’s Calla, she won’t look at a house that’s over two hundred grand.”

“Huh? Why not?” Jack asked as they began walking down the hall. “Out there that’s not a lot for a house.”

“Because that’s the asking price on our house.” He huffed. “She doesn’t want to spend more than that. Ya know, the way she handles money, you’d think we were going to starve to death at any second!”

“Need a raise? I am the guy to ask.” Jack grinned. “Just say the word, I’ll give ya bump.”

“Thanks, and anytime you want to do that I won’t complain.” Daniel returned in kind. “Of course, what we can find for around two hundred grand………..”

“Isn’t much bigger than your house.” Jack said. “Or smaller even.”

“You got it. Think you could explain it to her for me because I’m having problems getting through to her.”

“So, she wants to move up but she doesn’t want to pay extra for it?” Jack watched as Daniel gave a grudging nod and then laughed. “Hey, it could be worse.” Jack told him.

“How’s that?”

“You could have married a woman who was interested in spending all your dough as fast she could.”

“By now…. that would make me… divorced, wouldn’t it?”

“Probably.” Jack smiled and clapped Daniel on the back. “See, you are lucky. Ya gotta give her a break on the money thing. She never had any, I doubt tall dark and gruesome gave her any walking around change, know what I mean?”

“Yeah, I know. Still, it’s been almost four years.”

“Old habits die hard, my friend, especially bad ones.”

“Well, we’re going to look at another house tonight, wish me luck.”

“Good luck. Where’s the house?” Jack asked as they reached the door to Daniels’ office.

“Not sure, exactly, Greenbrier. I gotta go over to mapquest and get directions.”

“Humph!” Jack snorted. “Got the best damn GPS in the whole world right here and you’re gonna use mapquest? Figures. Oh, well, Greenbrier’s nice; it’s closer to the base than Silver Springs.”

Daniel laughed and shook his head. “I hope we find a place soon, this is starting to get on my nerves.”

“And you haven’t packed anything yet.” Jack warned. “Oh, Daniel,”

“Yes.”

“With all the house hunting and everything, don’t forget we’ve got the Mohun Ambassador coming in tomorrow.”

“I’m all set, don’t worry about it.” Daniel told him. “Give him the fifty cent tour and get trade negotiations up and going, no problem.” Daniel turned toward the door and then back again. “Jack…”

“Daniel.”

“Thanks for the extended time here on planet Earth. These last three weeks at home have been really great.” Daniel pushed his glasses up on his nose. Taking them around for Trick or Treat two weeks ago had been an experience Daniel wouldn’t trade for all the Naquada in the universe. Nicky went out as Thomas the Tank Engine in a costume his mother made him. PJ’s on his body, little conductors’ cap on his head and Calla fashioned a cow catcher and caboose from cardboard which she attached to the front and rear of the footed pajamas. Coley wanted to be a witch, she wore a black dress—once again made by her mother—pointed hat and green face make up. Pumpkin bags in hands they excitedly went door to door saying “trick or treat” and holding up their loot bags. Each one holding on to his hands between houses and telling him how good it was to have their daddy with them. “My wife and kids miss me, who knew?”

“I did. You know, I addded it up.” Jack nudged him with his arm.

"Added what up?"

"Did you know you spent six months of last year offworld?" Jack asked with a sad look.

"No," Daniel stammered, "I didn't spend that much time....." the more he thought about it the more he knew Jack was right. When you had a wife and two small children, six months was a long time. "Thanks." He muttered again.

“No problem, Danny-boy. Glad I could help.” Jack walked off down the hall.

************************************

Daniel and Calla wound their way through Greenbrier looking for 1 North Cemetery Drive. Unlike Silver Springs which was typical bustling small town America, Greenbrier was lazy little town whose streets closed up at 6 o’clock sharp and didn’t reopen until 8 the next morning. It was rural and spread out in all directions. Daniel wasn’t crazy about the address but as it turned out the cemetery was almost five miles away from house number 1.

North Cemetery Drive was an almost deserted dirt road that wound for miles through the hills and mountains. Though they were looking for the first house on the street, that first house didn’t appear until they were almost a mile down the road. The driveway to the house was almost a quarter mile long and went up a long slow hill that ended at a two car garage.

“Oh, Daniel.” Calla said as she took in the sight of the house. It was gray and white, three stories high and had a full wrap around porch. The sun was beginning to set over the mountains behind the house igniting the coming night sky in glorious hues of purple and amber.

“Doctor and Mrs. Jackson,” Nancy Wildes the real estate agent said as they came into her view. “I thought you had gotten lost. I know, it’s a bit off the beaten path, isn’t it? Shall we have a look inside?” Before they could answer she was trotting toward the front door fumbling for the key inside her pocket.

“What do you think?” He whispered in her ear as they followed.

“I’ll let you know when we get inside.” She slipped her hand into his.

Six steps up to the wrap around porch and to a set of heavy oak double-doors, the glass of which was etched with welcoming doves and flowers. The door opened onto a large mud/coat room and to a second set of identical double doors. “Just stay right there and I’ll find the light switch.” Nancy told them. Not that she had any problems finding the switch; she’d shown this house two dozen times over the last three years. “There we go.” She said as the lights in the living room came on. In the light they saw the house was almost completely furnished.

Daniel felt Calla’s hand close in his and took in what she saw. A huge fieldstone hearth stood in the living room. By it was a baby grand piano. On the first floor, one walked through the front door into the large living area. To the immediate right was a staircase leading to the second floor, under that set of stairs was another set which lead down to the basement. Standing in the living room facing the fireplace, off to the left was another room. It was rectangular and had floor to ceiling bookcases on three walls. It also had a fire place. Exiting that room and through the living room again, one came to the kitchen and another fire place. Though this one appeared to be geared more toward cooking than heat, heavy cast iron pots hung from hooks near it and could be hung on the hooks over the fire as well. The kitchen was very large and even had a big pantry area along with all of the modern conveniences one would hope to find in a kitchen. Through the kitchen, to the right were the dining room and another fire place. The dining room was completely furnished; there was a table ready to sit at least ten people, a hutch, service butler and two matching cabinets. They looked absolutely perfect in this room, their dark mahogany against deep red walls. Daniel just knew that when they got home later tonight, she was going to tell him that she wanted this house. The dining room and kitchen windows faced the mountain behind the house and the lake below them.

“I thought you said no one lived here.” She whispered to him as they walked around.

That was a good point. “Does someone still live here?” Daniel asked Nancy.

“No, no one has lived here in years.” She told them. “This house is part of an estate. If you purchase it, you can have your pick of the furniture.”

“Even the piano?” Calla asked.

“Oh, honey, especially that.” The real estate agent returned. “The beneficiaries of the estate don’t want anything to do with this house or its contents.”

“Why not?” She asked.

“Beats me, they just want to sell it and get the cash.”

“Hum, sounds like someone else I know.” She muttered in his ear.

“I know it needs a few coats of paint and lord knows it could use a good cleaning.” Nancy was telling them. “But the owners have already had an inspection done, you can take a copy of the report with you. You’ll see the house is extremely structurally sound. If you’ll come with me, I’ll take you upstairs.” She turned her rather round body around and led them back through the kitchen to the stairs.

Upstairs were four bedrooms, an extra smaller room and most of all three bathrooms. “With the kids getting bigger it sure would be nice to have more than one bathroom in the house.” Daniel remarked.

The master bedroom had a master bathroom. Both rooms over looked the mountains and lake. Like the other rooms, it was furnished with a king sized sleigh bed, a chaise lounge, two chairs with a small table between them, one floor to ceiling book case and best of all, the master bedroom had a massive hearth—by which the chaise lounge sat-- and a large walk-out porch that they could sit on and watch the sun set in the evenings. The master bath had a tub big enough for three never mind two and it was a Jacuzzi no less. It also had two side by side sinks, a stand up shower and built in vanity with matching cabinetry. Calla thought the master bed and bath to be larger than entire second floor of their house.

The two bedrooms the children would use were all the way down the hall and on the other side of the house. That had its advantages. Each room had its own bathroom with shower/tub, sink and toilet. Not to mention the walk-in closets. Each had its own furniture. The smaller spare room was quite cozy and would do well for a guest room. Ares did like to come and stay from time to time, Calla hated having her Father sleep on that bed in the basement.

“Last but not least,” Nancy was saying as she opened a door at the end of the hall. “The attic.”

“We don’t need to go up there, do we?” Daniel asked.

“You’re going to want to see this Doctor Jackson.” Nancy encouraged. The attic was not really an attic at all. It was one huge fully refurbished room and in it was a wood stove.

Daniel thought the room would be perfect for his wife. She could play her guitars and write her music or do her computer work. A few months ago Calla started to paint, and an easel would look nice up here. Looking down at her, Daniel saw the excitement in her eyes. Yes, she was going to ask for this house. Well, if the price wasn’t too high. So far, he was inclined to let her have it.

“I know we haven’t been down there yet but the basement is also a full room, you said you had kids, it’s a perfect rec room for them and their friends.” Nancy said. “There’s another wood stove down there.” Leading them back down the stairs and still giving her pitch she added; “There’s also a barn on the property, it’s set way back, it’s dark now but you could come back and see it tomorrow.” Looking back over her shoulder, she saw Mrs. Jackson looking around at the second floor as they passed through it on their way to the first. Mr. Jackson also seemed interested. “The garage is in top shape, the roof was replaced last year and so was the furnace.” Her tone was very hopeful, if she could unload this freakin’ house she’d be a hero back at the office. As they reached the first floor she turned and asked; “Well, what do you think?”

“How much…” Calla began.

“How much square footage?” Daniel interrupted.

“Between the first and second floors there’s five thousand square feet. Once you add in the space in the attic and the basement, it’s more like seven.”

At five thousand square feet, it was more than twice the size of their house. “You say the furniture is included?”

“All you want. You want it all, take it all. You don’t want it any of it, the estate will have it hauled away at no cost to you.” Nancy told him. “Don’t forget to take home a copy of the inspection.” She handed him a six page report. “You’ll see there really isn’t anything wrong with this house. Of course if you want to have your own inspection done before closing that’s fine as well.”

“How much property?” Daniel asked as he took the papers he was being offered.

“Actually there seven and a half acres. Only about three of it is useable at the moment, the rest would have to be cleared if you wanted to use it for anything.”

Seven and half acres were a lot of property, three of it useable and the other four and half woods. Another good thing, with all the fire places and wood stoves in the house, all that free wood would come in handy. “Thank you for your time, Ms. Wildes. We’ll talk about it when we get home and call you tomorrow to let you know.” Daniel smiled and took his wife by the arm, he lead her through the first floor one more time and then to the car.

“We wouldn’t have to worry about the train anymore.” She said as she slid onto the seat of the Explorer. “You know I worry about the children.”

“I know.” He did, she was always concerned they would wander too close to the tracks and get hit by an oncoming train. Here that problem didn’t exist. “So, what do you think of the house?” Daniel put the key in the ignition and backed out of the driveway.

Calla finally asked the question he had squashed earlier. “How much is it?”

“Two hundred.” He lied. The asking price of the house was two ninety-five but even at that price with that much space and that much land--even if it was in need of minor to fairly major repair which it wasn’t-- it was a steal. Cheap at twice the price, as his father used to say.

“We will pay for it with the money we make from selling our house?”

“Yes.”

Before he could back all the way down the driveway she said it. “I want it.”

Finally. “Good, I like it too.”

“The furniture, what do we do with it?”

“You heard her, take what you want and leave what you don’t.”

“But if we take it, what will do with our furniture?”

“We’ll have a yard sale.” He suggested.

“Yard sale? Who’s going to want to buy our old junk?”

“I dunno, you love to buy other people’s old junk, don’t you?” That was true enough, in nice weather she always had him running around to one yard sale or flea market or another. “Someone will want our stuff too.” He remarked with a laugh. “You really like it, don’t you Kitty?”

“We’re not home now.” She reminded him.

“Sorry.” Daniel turned to look at her. “Kitty.”

“Yes, I really like it. You?”

“I think it’s just what we’re looking for. Lots of room, we won’t be stumbling over each other anymore and we won’t outgrow it.”

Lying in bed after they picked up the children from Sam’s house, they went over the inspectors report on the house. There were no bugs. The electrical was all up to modern code. The water pressure and quality were all within normal range. The structure of the house was sound as could be. “Daniel.”

“Yes.”

“Isn’t two hundred cheap for a house like that?” She asked.

“Yeah, it is.” He agreed with a sigh and like her tried to find the catch—other than the last ninety-five grand which he was keeping from her.

“Why are they selling it so cheap and with all the furniture?”

“I dunno, Cal. It’s part of an estate, the owners probably just want to finish everything up and settle with probate.”

“Oh joy,” she mumbled. “That wasn’t any fun as I recall.”

“Sorry about that.” Daniel smiled and kissed her. “I think before we make a final decision we should have our own inspection done.”

“Don’t trust this person….” She looked at the sheet, “McGarrety?”

“I’d just feel better if someone we pay looks at it, ok?”

“Ok.”

“Come on let’s get some sleep.” Daniel reached up and turned off the light. “I’ve got an early day tomorrow, come cuddle with me.”

End of Chapter Five
Daughter of the Gods: Little Victories
Continue to
Chapter Six