The electrical wiring is being expedited by the Lights On electrical company I hired for the install. They have ten electricians working eight hour days to get the wiring in place so the fans circulating air through the gas furnaces work before winter hits in earnest. At least, I think that`s how the furnace works. All I know is, if I want centralized heating and air, the electrical wiring has to be up to code before the AC guys will hook up the units they`ve installed on each floor. They went with smaller units, each covering a single floor, three in total, the unit for the third floor also servicing the attic. I know they gave me an explanation why they wanted to do it that way that involved more than a single reason, but I just heard "only have to heat the space you`re in beyond a baseline to keep the pipes from freezing" and signed off on the plan. I`m just grateful that I will no longer need to rely on the kitchen fireplace to heat my room at night.

　　That`s the other thing. Plumbing started last week. It`s going to be a multi-week process to overhaul the plumbing, but the contractors were good enough to prioritize my single tub and toilet, bringing in multiple plumbers and completing work to that one washroom on the first day, and since then, only two plumbers have been coming on and off to update the rest of the piping and the water heating systems.

　　I`m eager to get through this stage of the renovations, but I have very little control over how quickly it gets done as the work has been contracted out. I don`t like having to sacrifice that control, but I lack the necessary skills to do it myself. Used to the silence of my own company, the house feels overrun with so many people coming and going, even when they mostly stick to their own assigned corners.

　　Which is why I am busying myself chipping out broken bricks from the fireplaces today, strategically selecting the ones furthest from the other people toiling away. Jay showed me how to do this ages ago, but it has taken me until now to really sink my teeth into the project. Now that I`ve started, I find that there is something oddly satisfying in the way the deep red bricks chip into dust and gravel with a steady chisel and even hammering. The sands are falling! It`s a terrible joke, I know, but as the debris clatters to the floor, it adds a layer of soothing white noise to an otherwise hectic morning- a rustling and plinking almost like rain falling through the leaves of a tall oak.

　　Knock, knock, knock.

　　I frown at the door; I didn`t think I had any other appointments today. The electricians and plumbers are all here, but I check my phone anyway and scowl at the uninformative calendar.

　　Knock, knock, knock, knock!

　　"I`m coming!" I set my tools down, and my hands feel tingly from the repeated vibrations a hammer on chisel impact creates. The borderline pins and needles effect creates an antsy feeling that is hard to ignore. "Hello?"

　　"Hi, Mrs. Evered!"

　　"Yes?"

　　"It`s me? David? From Magleby`s Roofing?"

　　"Yes. Yes, of course." Whatever he says next is lost to a strange sense of confusion. David has been here half a dozen times. I`ve spoken with him. I know his face&. What about him standing at my door is confusing to me? Why did it take so long for me to identify him?

　　"Is that still alright, Mrs. Evered?"

　　"I`m sorry, could you walk me through that one more time?"

　　"Oh, sure. See, it`s for our website. We take before and after photos of projects we work on, and Soward`s mansion is well known in Raesport and a beautiful Victorian home. We spoke over the phone yesterday about me coming by with the nice camera to take some better pictures? It would be a really amazing project to add to our portfolio!"The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

　　"Right. Right! Sure. Help yourself," I fumble, finding the mental gymnastics a disproportionate response to such a straightforward and innocuous conversation. "I trust you know your way around by now?"

　　"Oh, certainly!" he chirps, an almost giddy cheerfulness to be found in his enthusiasm as, now with permission, he steps through the door and starts walking to the staircase. "I`ll be in and out of your hair in under ten minutes."

　　"Don`t trouble yourself about me, David. Just say goodbye on your way back out, and do be careful! There are quite a few people working on her today."

　　"Her?"

　　"Uh, the house. She`s full today."

　　"I`ll watch my step," he says, and rushes to make good on his less than ten minute invasion promise.

　　In turn, I resume working to chip out a brick from the face of the chimney in what was the main parlor at the front of the house. Chink, crumble&. Chink, crumble&. Chink, crumble&.

　　Sigh&. The headaches have lessened with a strict and very conscious intake of ample fluids and ibuprofen. The disembodied sighing continues undeterred.

　　Chink&. Chink&. Chink, crumble&.

　　I blow into the newly formed, dusty orifice and begin to carefully brush and scrape out any debris that didn`t voluntarily spill onto the floor, reaching deep into the opening to make sure the shards of red brick didn`t fall into a hidden gap behind the brick veneer. I do find a small cavity beyond the bricks and a handful of fragmented remnants of my pounding within. It is as my fingers are blindly sweeping together the chips of man made rock that they identify an unexpected type of object by touch only. Soon I am negotiating a long tube of some sort out of the hole. Long, dense& and made of paper. This is the scene in a movie when the protagonist declares that they have found the treasure map! I snort at the absurdity of that thought but remain curious about what I am holding. Taking it to my room, I find some sort of twine wrapped around the paper, giving it its tubular shape, and carefully untie it. Half a dozen or more thin but giant sheets of paper are carefully unrolled across my bed. It takes me barely half a second to realize what I am looking at: the original blueprints of Soward`s mansion. All four exterior faces of the house, the floor plans for each level of the home, the original landscaping- these plans were hand drawn in meticulous detail. Jay is going to love this.

　　With that thought, I retrieve the phone from my pocket and select "Jay Meadows" in my contacts list. The phone rings three times.

　　"Hello?"

　　"Hi, Jay. I think I found something you`re going to want to take a look at." The small intake of excited breath makes me grin.

　　***

　　"Oh, wow!" Jay declares on repeat as he sifts through the plans with an awed reverence. "Lottie, these are simply incredible! What a find! Look at the detail!" I merely watch as he pours over the blueprints with glee glinting in his eyes. "And you said you found these in one of the fireplaces?!"

　　"Sort of. They were tucked behind the brick veneer of the chimney."

　　"Wow. Is it wrong to be glad that the fireplace needed some new bricks?" He chuckles merrily to himself. "Lottie, could I borrow these? I just want to study them."

　　"Be my guest. I don`t have any use for them. I figured they`d likely end up in the city`s historical archives or something."

　　Jay nods and carefully rolls the papers back into a tube. "Well, Lottie, since I`m here, give me the update."

　　"It`s all coming together? The house has been cleared of mold officially, so that`s good. The last round of window installations is this next week. `Makes the whole place a lot more cheerful. The roof is fixed, the failing rafters replaced.... You inspected all of the air, electric, and plumbing progress already. After those things are put in place, it`s on to insulation and putting in new floors and walls.... Then I`ve just got to put the old girl back together and clean up the outside. That deck probably needs to be replaced, and the landscaping needs help.... It never ends, does it."

　　Jay laughs good-naturedly. "It feels that way at this point," he sympathizes, "but once the walls and floors are in, it`ll start to feel exciting, like you actually have a house that you can do whatever you want with."

　　Sigh&.

　　"You`re getting to the good part, Lottie. Trust me. You are doing great."