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He ran his hand over the thinning hair at the top of his head “There’s lots of speculation about you, Miss Foster”
She aze “Call me Abby And I’m just as curious about the town as it is about me” She was surprised to realize it was true
“It’s true, then? That you never knew Marian?”
She didn’t knohy she was shocked that he should know that “News travels fast around here So you were the gardener?”
He nodded “Of a sort I cut the grass and kept the trees prune
d, did odd jobs around the house But the garden, that was all Ms Marian She loved her garden, especially the roses She always had the nicest blooms I’d hate to see the state of it now” He shook his head
“It’s a mess,” Abby confirmed “I don’t think it has been touched since she stopped living at the house”
“A shah the flaky crust of his pie “After all the work she put in The house probably isn’t much better, is it?”
Abby s that Captain Foster built it to withstand any storm, but it needs some attention,” she conceded “I need to have it assessed, but my initial impression is that it’s sound”
“You should have To”
That “boy” had to be thirty years old and was the size of a barn door “So I’ve heard,” she replied dryly Ellis didn’t need to know she’d already asked Toossip mill would have everyone well informed about it all in no time anyway “You know the house well, Mr Ellis I’d love to learn more about it It’s on Foster Lane, but more than once I’ve heard it called Blackberry Hill Do you knohy that is?”
Art sat back against the padded seat “It’s been called that for years Blackberries groild all over that side of the mountain You take a walk up sometime and check it out Between them and the blueberries, the odd black bear’s been known to show up now and again”
“I haven’t gone up yet Is there anything up there?”
Art nodded “There’s still one of the old barns frorand a secret, and daer there was a ru spots for spies during the war But that’s just a bunch of romantic talk The Prescotts moved away after Edith and Elijahstrike The barn’s still there, and the gate was put across the road because teenagers used to go up there and get up to no good in the barn”