Valentine's at the Inn, Part 3

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Speaker 1 The holidays can be a lot, can't they?

Speaker 1 For business owners especially, this time of year can go from cozy to chaotic. Fast.

Speaker 1 I remember my first holiday rush. I was so worried something would break.
The website, the checkout, my own brain.

Speaker 1 But that's when I learned what a difference the right tools can make. Shopify is the commerce platform behind millions of businesses around the world, about 10% of all e-commerce in the U.S.

Speaker 1 Whether you're just opening your virtual doors or you're running a full-blown store, Shopify helps you take the holidays from chaos to cha-ching.

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Speaker 1 AI tools to help write product descriptions and headlines, and built-in marketing support so your voice doesn't get lost in the noise.

Speaker 1 Plus, you can relax, knowing Shopify's award-winning customer service is there 24-7 if anything comes up. So make this Black Friday one to remember.

Speaker 1 Sign up for your free trial today at shopify.com slash nothingmuch.

Speaker 1 That's shopify.com slash nothing much.

Speaker 1 Welcome to bedtime stories for everyone

Speaker 1 in which nothing much happens.

Speaker 1 You feel good,

Speaker 1 and then you fall asleep.

Speaker 1 I'm Catherine Nikolai.

Speaker 1 I write and read everything you hear on Nothing Much Happens.

Speaker 1 Audio Engineering is by Bob Wittersheim.

Speaker 1 We give to a different charity each week, and this week we are giving to Wigs for Kids.

Speaker 1 Wigs for Kids is a nonprofit organization that helps children experiencing hair loss work together with a stylist to build the self-esteem and self-image they deserve. Learn more in our show notes.

Speaker 1 If just hearing me say the words, Bob Wittersheim, causes you to immediately relax.

Speaker 1 I get it.

Speaker 1 And we have a t-shirt for that.

Speaker 1 Yes, you can wear your heart on your sleeve or your audio engineer on your chest.

Speaker 1 Other awesome things we've made for you, a tote bag with marmalade, crumb, and birdie on it.

Speaker 1 A very sweet coloring set with a mini NMH coloring book, colored colored pencils, and a download of a special exclusive coloring story.

Speaker 1 We have autographed books, a weighted pillow to help ease anxiety, a whole box of my favorite sleep-related products, and a lot more at nothingmuchhappens.com.

Speaker 1 Now,

Speaker 1 I have a story to tell you, and it's a place to rest your mind.

Speaker 1 Just by listening, we'll rock your mind to sleep.

Speaker 1 This is a form of brain training. So if you're new here, welcome.
And please have some patience.

Speaker 1 Regular use for a few weeks can transform your sleep cycles. So stick with me.

Speaker 1 I'll tell the story twice, and I'll go a little slower the second time through.

Speaker 1 If you wake later in the night, don't hesitate to turn an episode right back on

Speaker 1 and you'll fall right back to sleep.

Speaker 1 Our story tonight is called Valentine's at the Inn, part three.

Speaker 1 And it is the finale to the three-week series of the same name.

Speaker 1 And also, the much-awaited sequel to the story called The Secret Stair.

Speaker 1 For those of you who actually hear the stories, and don't get me wrong, you sleeping is what's most important here. So I never mind if you don't hear a word.

Speaker 1 But for those who do, I apologize for making you wait so long

Speaker 1 to find out what was up that secret stair at the end.

Speaker 1 And then I made it a three-parter and put it right at the end of the last part.

Speaker 1 Yep,

Speaker 1 guilty.

Speaker 1 I think it wants to be a book.

Speaker 1 Anyway, small disclaimer that some things actually happen in this episode. But I bet

Speaker 1 I'm still gonna knock you out. if I haven't already.

Speaker 1 This story is also about the cross-hatched top of peanut butter cookies, the sound of a vacuum cleaner running in the distance, a desk and a straight-back chair by the window, and a plan for something new in the village of Nothing Much.

Speaker 1 Now,

Speaker 1 it's time.

Speaker 1 Turn off the light.

Speaker 1 Slide down into your sheets and pull the blanket up over your shoulder.

Speaker 1 I'll be here reading even after you've fallen asleep.

Speaker 1 Take a slow, deep breath in through your nose

Speaker 1 and sigh.

Speaker 1 Nice. Do it again.
Fill it up

Speaker 1 and let it go.

Speaker 1 Good.

Speaker 1 Valentine's at the Inn.

Speaker 1 Part three

Speaker 1 The busy weekend was winding down.

Speaker 1 What fun we had had

Speaker 1 The Inn had bustled with activity for the last three days.

Speaker 1 Guests, of course,

Speaker 1 our small staff,

Speaker 1 a band of musicians, florists, and Sycamore the cat.

Speaker 1 We'd served fantastic meals,

Speaker 1 poured many cups of coffee in the breakfast rooms,

Speaker 1 and kept the fireplaces burning through the days.

Speaker 1 Now,

Speaker 1 as guests were checking out,

Speaker 1 I was behind the tall desk in the office,

Speaker 1 sliding room keys back into their cubbies and tidying up paperwork.

Speaker 1 I could hear our maids in the halls above,

Speaker 1 vacuum cleaners running along the floorboards,

Speaker 1 and doors opening and closing

Speaker 1 as one room was finished and another began.

Speaker 1 Poor Sycamore

Speaker 1 was exhausted.

Speaker 1 He lay in the inbox on the desk,

Speaker 1 his long black tail slung onto the keyboard,

Speaker 1 and his nose pressed against the blotter.

Speaker 1 I stopped to massage his little body.

Speaker 1 Oh, Sicky, I crooned. Was it hard to have so much fun?

Speaker 1 All those people telling you how handsome you are,

Speaker 1 wanting to pet you and give you treats.

Speaker 1 He purred thickly,

Speaker 1 and I lifted one of his legs to free the stapler from underneath him.

Speaker 1 He would sleep all day.

Speaker 1 I stepped into the hall and saw the last couple of guests coming down the stairs.

Speaker 1 There was a sparkle about them as they smiled at each other,

Speaker 1 their hands clasped between them.

Speaker 1 This weekend had obviously done them good,

Speaker 1 and I took a bit of pride

Speaker 1 in whatever part we had played in that.

Speaker 1 As they stopped to hand over their room key

Speaker 1 and fill to go cups from the urn in the entryway,

Speaker 1 they thanked me for the special event we'd hosted the night before.

Speaker 1 We'd had a fancy dinner in the ballroom,

Speaker 1 with musicians and beautiful decorations,

Speaker 1 A kind of grown-up prom.

Speaker 1 I

Speaker 1 didn't have a great time in high school. One of them confided in me.

Speaker 1 And I feel like

Speaker 1 I got a do-over last night.

Speaker 1 I nodded, smiling brightly.

Speaker 1 That's the nice thing about having some space from those moments, right?

Speaker 1 We can rewrite them when we're older

Speaker 1 and own the best version.

Speaker 1 He slung his arm around his partner and nodded.

Speaker 1 And I saw them out to their car in the drive.

Speaker 1 On the way back in,

Speaker 1 I sighed,

Speaker 1 realizing

Speaker 1 that the inn was was now empty besides her caretakers.

Speaker 1 I'd loved the weekend, but it was a relief to know no one needed anything from me for a bit.

Speaker 1 I stopped back into the office

Speaker 1 to put away the last room key

Speaker 1 and scooped Sycamore into my arms like the baby he was

Speaker 1 he trusted me completely

Speaker 1 and if there was a better feeling

Speaker 1 than being

Speaker 1 trusted by a small animal who'd had a rough start in life

Speaker 1 i hadn't yet found it

Speaker 1 We walked through the hall and into the dining room and drawing room

Speaker 1 The sun was bright today

Speaker 1 and the rooms were lit

Speaker 1 with an echoing shine as it bounced off the snow.

Speaker 1 I would need to put away the sugar bowls, to launder the tablecloths and sweep the floors,

Speaker 1 but there was no rush.

Speaker 1 I went through to the hall again and and stuck my head into the stairway down to the kitchen.

Speaker 1 Chef,

Speaker 1 I called,

Speaker 1 are you busy?

Speaker 1 Do you have time for a little adventure?

Speaker 1 There was silence for a second.

Speaker 1 Then a low call back of

Speaker 1 Should I bring cookies?

Speaker 1 Duh, I said, and waited till they they arrived,

Speaker 1 still in their apron, with a plate of treats.

Speaker 1 I turned and led them down to the library, with Sycamore still in my arms.

Speaker 1 I dropped Sicky on the sofa and went back to the door.

Speaker 1 I looked up and down the hall.

Speaker 1 The vacuums were still going upstairs, and probably would be be for the foreseeable future.

Speaker 1 I closed the door

Speaker 1 and turned toward Chef.

Speaker 1 At the Halloween party,

Speaker 1 something

Speaker 1 was

Speaker 1 revealed to me.

Speaker 1 I was well aware I was being a little dramatic and mysterious, but I was having fun.

Speaker 1 Chef Chef nodded and extended the plate of cookies to me.

Speaker 1 I took one, cross-hatched on its dark brown top with tine marks.

Speaker 1 Chocolate peanut butter, Chef said a little breathlessly.

Speaker 1 Well played, I replied.

Speaker 1 So, my friend with the gray cat,

Speaker 1 you know her, right?

Speaker 1 Cinders, Mom?

Speaker 1 Yes.

Speaker 1 She pulled me in here

Speaker 1 and told me the inn had a secret.

Speaker 1 It was ready for me to learn.

Speaker 1 She didn't know exactly what or how,

Speaker 1 but after a minute or two in this room,

Speaker 1 she asked me if there were some questions I'd been carrying around about the inn.

Speaker 1 Chef had taken a large bite of their cookie, but had forgotten to chew,

Speaker 1 so caught up in the excitement of the story.

Speaker 1 I took a deep breath and told them that

Speaker 1 sometimes,

Speaker 1 out of the corner of my eye,

Speaker 1 I catch a glimpse of the first innkeeper,

Speaker 1 that I'd been looking through old pictures and newspaper clippings for her,

Speaker 1 that I felt a connection to her.

Speaker 1 Maybe it was just the house and the job that we'd both done.

Speaker 1 I walked over to the fireplace mantle

Speaker 1 and took the ring of keys from my pocket.

Speaker 1 I held up the small iron key I'd been given that Halloween night

Speaker 1 and fitted it into a hidden keyhole just under the bracket on the side of the mantle.

Speaker 1 Chef let out a satisfying gasp and jumped to their feet.

Speaker 1 Is this

Speaker 1 really happening?

Speaker 1 Yep, I said,

Speaker 1 as I grasped the key with both hands and turned it forcefully.

Speaker 1 A panel in the wall beside the bookcase moved back and slid away,

Speaker 1 revealing the bottom step of the hidden stair.

Speaker 1 The first time I'd gone up those stairs, I'll admit the hair on the back of my neck had stood up.

Speaker 1 But I quickly learned that

Speaker 1 this wasn't an eerie place,

Speaker 1 but a protected one.

Speaker 1 It felt now as I led the way, chef behind me,

Speaker 1 and Sycamore at the rear,

Speaker 1 like

Speaker 1 showing your childhood bedroom to your best friend for the first time.

Speaker 1 I was excited.

Speaker 1 The stairway itself

Speaker 1 curved as it climbed,

Speaker 1 not quite a spiral,

Speaker 1 but definitely hugging along the inner walls of the house

Speaker 1 in a way that disguised its existence.

Speaker 1 At the top, it opened into a small room,

Speaker 1 about the size of one of our guests' rooms.

Speaker 1 But instead of a chest of drawers and a bed,

Speaker 1 there was a large desk

Speaker 1 and a straight back chair.

Speaker 1 Along the walls, There were shelves lined with books

Speaker 1 and several large trunks.

Speaker 1 Chef, who still held half a cookie in their hand, gulped as they looked around

Speaker 1 and stuck it into the front pocket of their apron.

Speaker 1 Sycamore,

Speaker 1 who by now

Speaker 1 had spent plenty of time in this room, jumped up on to the ledge in front of the single window and looked out.

Speaker 1 What is all of this?

Speaker 1 Chef said with wonder in their voice.

Speaker 1 Well,

Speaker 1 it took me a while to understand.

Speaker 1 But I think the first innkeeper

Speaker 1 was a kind of archivist.

Speaker 1 All these books,

Speaker 1 I trailed my fingers across their spines.

Speaker 1 They're full of local people's stories.

Speaker 1 And the trunks have pictures and family trees,

Speaker 1 maps and histories.

Speaker 1 Stories like

Speaker 1 folk stories?

Speaker 1 Um

Speaker 1 some,

Speaker 1 but plenty are just the stories of people's lives.

Speaker 1 Like, look at this.

Speaker 1 I picked up a book that was open on the desk and turned it around to show.

Speaker 1 This whole book is about people's birthdays, who lived when the innkeeper did, here in the village.

Speaker 1 How almost everyone celebrated that year

Speaker 1 their cake of choice,

Speaker 1 what kind of punch was served,

Speaker 1 the gifts and the decorations.

Speaker 1 I opened one of the steamer trunks and squatted down to gather a handful of artifacts and pictures.

Speaker 1 This whole case is full of stories about people's pets,

Speaker 1 sometimes

Speaker 1 just a date of birth and a name,

Speaker 1 sometimes stories about their favorite places to dig and play.

Speaker 1 And there are pictures.

Speaker 1 We looked through a few

Speaker 1 sepia toned shots,

Speaker 1 awkward as many photos from that time period seemed.

Speaker 1 But still the animals and their humans seemed happy and relaxed.

Speaker 1 Chef pointed to a snapshot of a small gray cat

Speaker 1 sitting on a velvet poof.

Speaker 1 That one looks just like cinder.

Speaker 1 I agreed.

Speaker 1 So

Speaker 1 I still don't understand.

Speaker 1 What is it about?

Speaker 1 What's it for?

Speaker 1 I scratched my head and looked around the small room.

Speaker 1 I didn't have an exact answer.

Speaker 1 I think she just collected stories,

Speaker 1 kept them like other people collect music or paintings.

Speaker 1 I think they were beautiful to her,

Speaker 1 and she felt the need to document the lives

Speaker 1 of the people in her village,

Speaker 1 even if it was

Speaker 1 really small, simple stuff.

Speaker 1 Like someone might be an artist and just sketch a friend or a house in the neighborhood.

Speaker 1 She did that, but in a different way.

Speaker 1 And Chef asked the question that had been nagging at me since I'd found this room on Halloween night.

Speaker 1 Why is it hidden away?

Speaker 1 Didn't she ever show it to anyone?

Speaker 1 I plopped down into the straight-backed chair and rested my hands on the desktop.

Speaker 1 There were dust moats floating in the air,

Speaker 1 sunlight cutting through the small window.

Speaker 1 Sycamore turned his head and looked at me, as if he wanted to hear my answer, too.

Speaker 1 I think

Speaker 1 that's what I meant to do,

Speaker 1 I said,

Speaker 1 my voice quiet, but sure.

Speaker 1 She anthologized,

Speaker 1 and I'm going to share it all.

Speaker 1 It's all been so perfectly organized.

Speaker 1 It's just waiting for someone to exhibit these stories.

Speaker 1 Sycamore jumped down

Speaker 1 and came to rub against my ankle.

Speaker 1 I reached down and lifted him into my lap.

Speaker 1 I think we'll set up an exhibit. Some of it can be here,

Speaker 1 some at the library, the museum, other places in town,

Speaker 1 and we can share the stories of her villagers with ours.

Speaker 1 I turned to look up at my friend.

Speaker 1 What do you think?

Speaker 1 Are there recipes?

Speaker 1 I laughed.

Speaker 1 That was just what I'd hoped they'd say.

Speaker 1 I reached up to pat their shoulder.

Speaker 1 My friend, there are even pickle recipes.

Speaker 1 We would have a busy summer ahead of us

Speaker 1 of curating and cooking,

Speaker 1 of sharing and showing.

Speaker 1 Valentine's

Speaker 1 at the Inn

Speaker 1 Part 3

Speaker 1 The busy weekend was winding down.

Speaker 1 What fun

Speaker 1 we had had.

Speaker 1 The inn had bustled with activity for the last three days.

Speaker 1 Guess, of course.

Speaker 1 our small staff,

Speaker 1 a band of musicians,

Speaker 1 florists,

Speaker 1 and

Speaker 1 Sycamore the Cat.

Speaker 1 We'd served fantastic meals,

Speaker 1 poured many,

Speaker 1 many

Speaker 1 cups of coffee in the breakfast rooms

Speaker 1 and kept the fireplaces burning through the days.

Speaker 1 Now,

Speaker 1 as guests were checking out,

Speaker 1 I was behind the tall desk in the office,

Speaker 1 sliding room keys back into their cubbies

Speaker 1 and tidying up paperwork.

Speaker 1 I could hear maids in the halls above,

Speaker 1 vacuum cleaners running along the floorboards,

Speaker 1 and doors opening and closing

Speaker 1 as one room was finished

Speaker 1 and another began.

Speaker 1 Poor Sycamore

Speaker 1 was exhausted.

Speaker 1 He lay in the inbox on the desk,

Speaker 1 his long black tail slung across the keyboard,

Speaker 1 and his nose pressed against the blotter.

Speaker 1 I stopped to massage his little body.

Speaker 1 Oh, Sicky, I groaned,

Speaker 1 was it hard to have so much fun?

Speaker 1 All those people telling you how handsome you are,

Speaker 1 wanting to pet you and give you treats.

Speaker 1 He purred thickly,

Speaker 1 and I lifted one of his legs to free the stapler from underneath him.

Speaker 1 He would sleep all day.

Speaker 1 I stepped into the hall

Speaker 1 and saw the last couple of guests coming down the stairs.

Speaker 1 There was a sparkle about them as they smiled at each other,

Speaker 1 their hands clasped between them.

Speaker 1 This weekend

Speaker 1 had obviously done them good,

Speaker 1 and I took a bit of pride

Speaker 1 in whatever part

Speaker 1 we had played in that.

Speaker 1 As they stopped to hand over their room keys

Speaker 1 and fill to-go cups

Speaker 1 from the urn in the entryway,

Speaker 1 they thanked me for the special event we'd hosted the night before.

Speaker 1 We had a fancy dinner in the ballroom

Speaker 1 with musicians and beautiful decorations.

Speaker 1 A kind of grown-up prom.

Speaker 1 I

Speaker 1 didn't have a great time in high school, one of them confided in me.

Speaker 1 And I feel like

Speaker 1 I got a do-over last night.

Speaker 1 I nodded, smiling brightly.

Speaker 1 That's the nice thing

Speaker 1 about having some space

Speaker 1 from those moments, right? I said.

Speaker 1 We can rewrite them when we're older

Speaker 1 and own the best version.

Speaker 1 He slung his arm around his partner and nodded.

Speaker 1 And I saw them out to their car

Speaker 1 in the drive.

Speaker 1 On the way back in,

Speaker 1 I sighed,

Speaker 1 realizing that the inn

Speaker 1 was now empty,

Speaker 1 besides her caretakers.

Speaker 1 I'd loved the weekend too,

Speaker 1 but it was a relief to know

Speaker 1 no one needed anything from me for a bit.

Speaker 1 I stopped back into the office

Speaker 1 to put away that

Speaker 1 last room key

Speaker 1 and scooped sycamore into my arms

Speaker 1 like the baby he was

Speaker 1 he trusted me completely

Speaker 1 and if there was a better feeling than being trusted by a small animal

Speaker 1 who'd had a rough start in life

Speaker 1 well i hadn't yet found it.

Speaker 1 We walked through the hall

Speaker 1 and into the drawing room

Speaker 1 and dining room.

Speaker 1 The sun was bright today,

Speaker 1 and the rooms were lit

Speaker 1 with an echoing shine

Speaker 1 as it bounced off the snow.

Speaker 1 I'd need to put away the sugar bowls,

Speaker 1 to launder the tablecloths,

Speaker 1 and sweep the floors.

Speaker 1 But

Speaker 1 there was no rush.

Speaker 1 I went through to the hall again

Speaker 1 and stuck my head

Speaker 1 into the stairway

Speaker 1 down to the kitchen.

Speaker 1 Chef,

Speaker 1 I called,

Speaker 1 are you busy?

Speaker 1 Do you have time for

Speaker 1 a little adventure?

Speaker 1 There was silence for a second.

Speaker 1 Then a low call back

Speaker 1 of

Speaker 1 Should I bring cookies?

Speaker 1 Duh, I said,

Speaker 1 and waited till they arrived,

Speaker 1 still in their apron

Speaker 1 with a plate of treats.

Speaker 1 I turned and led them down to the library,

Speaker 1 with Sycamore still in my arms.

Speaker 1 I dropped Siki

Speaker 1 on the sofa

Speaker 1 and went back to the door.

Speaker 1 I looked up and down the hall.

Speaker 1 The vacuums were still going upstairs,

Speaker 1 and probably would be

Speaker 1 for the foreseeable future.

Speaker 1 I closed the door

Speaker 1 and turned toward Chef.

Speaker 1 At the Halloween party

Speaker 1 something

Speaker 1 was

Speaker 1 revealed to me.

Speaker 1 I was well aware

Speaker 1 I was being a little dramatic

Speaker 1 and mysterious,

Speaker 1 but I was having fun.

Speaker 1 Chef nodded

Speaker 1 and extended the plate of cookies to me.

Speaker 1 I took one,

Speaker 1 cross hatched on its dark brown top

Speaker 1 with tine marks.

Speaker 1 A chocolate peanut butter,

Speaker 1 Cheff said

Speaker 1 a little breathlessly.

Speaker 1 Well played, I replied.

Speaker 1 So, my friend with the gray cat,

Speaker 1 you know her, right?

Speaker 1 Uh, Cinders, Mom?

Speaker 1 Yes.

Speaker 1 She pulled me in here

Speaker 1 and told me the inn

Speaker 1 had a secret

Speaker 1 that it was ready for me to learn.

Speaker 1 She didn't know exactly what

Speaker 1 or how,

Speaker 1 but after a minute or two in this room,

Speaker 1 she asked me

Speaker 1 if there was

Speaker 1 some

Speaker 1 question

Speaker 1 I'd been carrying around

Speaker 1 about the inn

Speaker 1 chef had taken a large bite of their cookie

Speaker 1 but had forgotten to chew

Speaker 1 so caught up in the excitement of the story

Speaker 1 I took a deep breath

Speaker 1 and told them that sometimes,

Speaker 1 out of the corner of my eye,

Speaker 1 I catch a glimpse of the first innkeeper.

Speaker 1 That I'd been looking through old pictures

Speaker 1 and newspaper clippings for her.

Speaker 1 that I felt a connection to her.

Speaker 1 Maybe it was

Speaker 1 just the house

Speaker 1 and the job we'd both done.

Speaker 1 I walked over to the fireplace mantle

Speaker 1 and took the ring of keys

Speaker 1 from my pocket.

Speaker 1 I held up

Speaker 1 the small iron key

Speaker 1 I'd been given that Halloween night

Speaker 1 and fitted it into a hidden keyhole

Speaker 1 just under the bracket

Speaker 1 on the side of the mantle.

Speaker 1 Chef let out a satisfying gasp and jumped to their feet.

Speaker 1 Is this really happening?

Speaker 1 Yep,

Speaker 1 I said

Speaker 1 as I grasped the key with both hands

Speaker 1 and turned it forcefully.

Speaker 1 A panel in the wall beside the bookcase

Speaker 1 moved back

Speaker 1 slid away

Speaker 1 revealing the bottom step

Speaker 1 of the hidden stair

Speaker 1 the first time i'd gone up those stairs

Speaker 1 i'll admit

Speaker 1 the hair on the back of my neck had stood up

Speaker 1 But I'd quickly learned that

Speaker 1 this wasn't wasn't an eerie place,

Speaker 1 but a protected one.

Speaker 1 It felt now

Speaker 1 as I led the way.

Speaker 1 Chef behind me and Sycamore at the rear.

Speaker 1 Like showing your childhood bedroom to your best friend for the first time.

Speaker 1 I was excited.

Speaker 1 The stairway itself

Speaker 1 curved as it climbed.

Speaker 1 Not quite a spiral, but

Speaker 1 definitely hugging along the inner walls of the house

Speaker 1 in a way that disguised its existence.

Speaker 1 At the top, it opened into a small room

Speaker 1 about the size of one of our guest rooms.

Speaker 1 But instead of a chest of drawers and a bed,

Speaker 1 there was a large desk

Speaker 1 and a straight-backed chair.

Speaker 1 Along the walls,

Speaker 1 there were shelves lined with books

Speaker 1 and several large trunks.

Speaker 1 Chef, who

Speaker 1 still held half of a cookie in their hand,

Speaker 1 gulped as they looked around

Speaker 1 and stuck it into the front pocket of their apron.

Speaker 1 Sycamore,

Speaker 1 who

Speaker 1 by now had spent plenty of time

Speaker 1 in this room,

Speaker 1 jumped up onto the ledge in front of the single window and looked out.

Speaker 1 What is all of this?

Speaker 1 Chef asked,

Speaker 1 with wonder in their voice.

Speaker 1 Well,

Speaker 1 it took me a while to understand.

Speaker 1 But

Speaker 1 I think the first innkeeper

Speaker 1 was

Speaker 1 a kind of archivist.

Speaker 1 All these books

Speaker 1 I trailed my fingers across their spines.

Speaker 1 They're full of local people's stories

Speaker 1 And the trunks have pictures and family trees,

Speaker 1 maps and histories

Speaker 1 We stared at each other for a second

Speaker 1 stories

Speaker 1 like

Speaker 1 folk stories

Speaker 1 Um

Speaker 1 some

Speaker 1 but

Speaker 1 plenty are just the stories of people's lives.

Speaker 1 Like,

Speaker 1 look at this.

Speaker 1 I picked up a book that was open on the desk

Speaker 1 and turned it around to show.

Speaker 1 This whole book is about people's birthdays,

Speaker 1 how everyone celebrated

Speaker 1 their cake of choice,

Speaker 1 what kind of punch was served,

Speaker 1 the gifts and decorations.

Speaker 1 I opened one of the steamer trunks

Speaker 1 and squatted down to gather a handful of artifacts and pictures.

Speaker 1 This whole case is full of stories about people's pets.

Speaker 1 Sometimes just a date of birth and a name.

Speaker 1 Sometimes stories about their favorite places to dig and play.

Speaker 1 And there are pictures.

Speaker 1 We looked through a few

Speaker 1 sepia-toned shots, awkward as

Speaker 1 many photos from the time period seemed.

Speaker 1 But still,

Speaker 1 the animals and their humans looked happy and relaxed.

Speaker 1 Chef pointed to a snapshot of a small gray cat

Speaker 1 sitting on a velvet poof.

Speaker 1 That one looks just like cinder.

Speaker 1 I agreed.

Speaker 1 So

Speaker 1 I still don't understand.

Speaker 1 What is it about?

Speaker 1 What's it for?

Speaker 1 I scratched my head and looked around the room.

Speaker 1 I didn't have an exact answer.

Speaker 1 I think she just collected stories,

Speaker 1 kept them

Speaker 1 like other people collect music or paintings.

Speaker 1 I think they were beautiful to her.

Speaker 1 And she felt the need

Speaker 1 to document the lives of the people in her village,

Speaker 1 even if it was

Speaker 1 really small, simple stuff.

Speaker 1 Like

Speaker 1 someone who's an artist

Speaker 1 might

Speaker 1 sketch a friend or a house in their neighborhood.

Speaker 1 She did that, but in a different way.

Speaker 1 And Chef asked the question

Speaker 1 that had been nagging at me

Speaker 1 since I'd found this room on Halloween night.

Speaker 1 Why is it hidden away?

Speaker 1 Didn't she ever show it to anyone?

Speaker 1 I plopped down into the straight-backed chair

Speaker 1 and rested my hands on the desktop.

Speaker 1 There were dust moats floating in the air.

Speaker 1 Sunlight cutting through the small window.

Speaker 1 Sycamore turned his head

Speaker 1 and looked at me

Speaker 1 as if he wanted to hear my answer too.

Speaker 1 I think

Speaker 1 that's what I'm meant to do, I said.

Speaker 1 My voice quiet but sure.

Speaker 1 She anthologized,

Speaker 1 and I'm going to share it all.

Speaker 1 It's all been so perfectly organized.

Speaker 1 It's just waiting for someone to exhibit these stories.

Speaker 1 Sycamore jumped down

Speaker 1 and came to rub against my ankle.

Speaker 1 I reached down and lifted him to my lap.

Speaker 1 I think we'll set up an exhibit.

Speaker 1 Some of it can be here,

Speaker 1 some at the library,

Speaker 1 the museum,

Speaker 1 other places in town.

Speaker 1 We can share the stories of her villagers with ours.

Speaker 1 I turned to look up at my friend.

Speaker 1 What do you think?

Speaker 1 Are there recipes?

Speaker 1 I laughed.

Speaker 1 That was just what I'd hoped they'd say.

Speaker 1 I reached up to pat their shoulder.

Speaker 1 My friend, there are even pickle recipes.

Speaker 1 We would have a busy summer ahead of us

Speaker 1 of curating

Speaker 1 and cooking,

Speaker 1 of sharing

Speaker 1 and showing.

Speaker 1 sweet dreams.