Chapter 6.5--June and Claire meet Anna.

 It was so quiet you could hear a pin drop.  Everything happened so fast.  June set her cake spatula down and ran around, quickly,  to where Henry and Anna were standing.
"Oh!  My dear!"  June said in a rather loud voice. Anna flinched a little when June got near her.  It was obvious she was nervous.

"June-" Henry started.
"Oh of  course!  Where are my manners." June said. "I am so sorry I scared you my dear." June took a step back to give Anna some space.
"June," Henry said. "can I talk to you? In private?"
"Hm?" June was busy admiring Anna. "Oh of course.  Um, why don't you go over to Claire," June motioned to where Claire, who was now standing where she had been sitting, was.  "Claire will get you something from the kitchen.  Tea, perhaps?" Anna relaxed a little and smiled. "And perhaps a sandwich?"  Anna nodded at this.  June motioned for Anna to head over to where Claire was.  Henry watched Anna as she cautiously walked over to the counter and sat down.  He then motioned to June to follow him around the corner out of earshot of Claire and Anna. Henry explained to her what had happened when he left the museum and how he found Anna wandering alone in the snow.
"What am I suppose to do?" he asked her.
"What do you mean?"
"With her.  With Anna?"

June was shocked.  Henry could tell she was appalled by the tone of her voice. "What do you mean what are you suppose to do?!  Be a gentleman and offer her a place to stay!"
"A place to stay?!" Henry noticed his voice rising and he quickly lowered it back down. "You mean at my house?"
"Of course!"
Henry shook his head. "No.  No that won't be any-"

"Henry Banks!" June was scolding him now.  He could tell, again, by the tone in her voice. It was one thing he remembered of his mom before she died, that scolding tone women can get in their voice. "You be the gentleman I know you are and you let her stay with you until you find out where she is from.  You help the poor girl!". June stared at him. Henry sighed a heavy sigh.
"Fine."
"That's a good boy." June said. "For the night you can leave her with Claire and me.  After we get her fed we'll set up a place for her to sleep at my place for the night, and I'm sure she needs some clothes, so we'll take her to the local thrift shop to get some tomorrow. It will give you some time to get whatever you need to get ready for when we drop her off."
"Wait, if you're going to let her stay at your house for the night, why not let her stay with you? Don't you think she'd be more comfortable staying with women than a man she doesn't know?"
"Yes I do think she'd be more comfortable, but seeing as I only have a small house and with Claire living with me, it's just not possible.  You have plenty of room in that big house of yours.  It makes more sense." Henry sighed again. "Stop sighing.  And wipe the pout-y look off your face." June said as she headed back to the cafe.  Henry could hear her talking to Claire and Anna about the plans she and Henry had just gone over. Henry slowly walked back to the cafe.  When he came into the cafe light he could see that Anna had taken her hat off.  The look on her face as June explained what they were going to do was of pure terror.  Anna looked over to Henry, with eyes wide.  Henry nodded to Anna. "It'll be alright.  You're in good hands, I promise." Anna's face relaxed a little. "I'll see you tomorrow when they drop you off.  They're going to take you shopping for clothes tomorrow and from what I understand, shopping is a thing women like to do."  Anna smiled a little, while June and Claire shot him a dirty look.
"Henry," June said. "Go home and get some rest." Henry nodded.  June headed back into the kitchen to tend to the pot that was whistling an angry tune.  Claire had gone back to whatever it was she was drinking.  He took one last look at Anna, who hadn't removed her gaze from him.

"I'll see you tomorrow.  Get some rest." he said to her then he walked out of the cafe and into the cold winter night.

Chapter 6--Anna

The woman jumped, as did Henry.  Seemed neither was expecting anyone to be there.

Henry heard a small, high pitched, sound come from the woman's open mouth.  It was clear she was trying to say something to him, but was just too scared to say anything. 

Henry proceeded with caution so not to scare the young woman more.

"Um, hello."  He said calmly and quietly.
She stared him down like he was a dangerous creature.
"Are you alright?" Henry asked. "Why are you out here this late at night?"
Henry was so concerned with her well-being that it didn't click with him that her clothing was not of the current fashion.
He stood there looking at her a little longer, then when he thought there was no hope, turned and started to head away.
"Wait," he heard from behind him. " I don't know where I am.  And yes, other than being startled--to say the least--I am alright.  Thank you for asking."
The sound from her voice was so quiet, he almost could continue to walk and pretend he didn't hear her, but he knew he did, and he knew the proper thing to do was to acknowledge that she had spoken.  He turned sideways and looked at her.
"Do you need help?  Or a ride somewhere?" he asked her.
"I, um..." she said quietly.
Henry was getting nowhere with her.  He had to think fast of who could help.  Then the answer came to him: June.

Henry took a step toward the woman, and she took a step back away from him.
"I'm not going to hurt you.  I know someone who can help if you'd like me to take you to her."

The young woman eased up a little at hearing that Henry had a female friend that could help.

"Okay," she said, "that would be lovely."
Lovely? This woman seemed even stranger to Henry now that she's spoken a few words to him.
"Okay then, my car is just this way."  Henry turned again and started to walk.  It was a few steps across the field that he turned and saw the woman hadn't budged from the spot he found her. "are you coming?" He asked in a louder voice so that she could hear.  She just stood there with her hands clasped in front of her.  "What are you waiting for?" Henry started walking back to her.  He was starting to regret offering to help her.  He was cold, tired and it was getting late.  He walked back to her, and when he was just close enough to her, she spoke again, a bit louder this time.
"A gentleman always offers a lady an arm when walking together." she said.
"What? Come on. It's cold out here!"
She turned her head from left to right.
"Arm?"
Henry sighed.  If this is what it was going to take to get her moving, then offering his arm to her would be the least he could do.


Henry had been walking with the woman for a short time when he heard her speak again.
"Anna." she said.
Henry looked at her sideways, "What?"
"My name.  It's Anna."
"Okay then." he said uninterested.
"And yours is?"
"Does it matter?"
"Of course!"
"Why?"
"It's the proper, polite thing to do."
"And what thing is that?"
"To introduce yourself when you meet others you don't know."
Henry sighed.  He just wanted this night to be over with, but he had a feeling this night was far from being over.
"It's Henry." he said gruffly.
"Henry," she said. "Sir Hen.."
"No "Sir", just Henry"
"Excuse me, sir, but it is very rude to interrupt.  Especially when the person you are interrupting is a lady."
Henry rolled his eyes, "and what are you?  The prim and proper patrol?"
Anna glared at him.  Henry stared straight ahead with a straight face.  For someone who wasn't talking much two minutes ago, she sure turned into a chatty cathy with a strong opinion on everything. He thought.

***

They walked toward the front of the museum.  Both looking straight ahead and not speaking.  They were almost to Henry's car when he felt Anna start to pull away from him slightly.  He looked at her and noticed that not only was she looking to her right, but her body was angled to head in that direction.
"Where are you going?" Henry asked.  Anna looked at him in surprised, then looked back to her right.
"I thought..." she trailed off pointing to her right.  Henry's eyes followed the direction her finger was pointing in and saw the front end of an antique automobile sticking out around the corner of the museum.
"That's not my car".  He said.
"Car?" Anna's hand dropped to her side.
"That 'car' is an antique and no longer runs." Henry said half amused.
"What is a 'car'?"
Henry looked at Anna, confused.  "You don't know what a car is?". Anna shook her head.
Henry was getting more irritated.  "That," he said he pointing at the antique, "is a car".
"Oh." Anna said.
"And that," Henry said pointing to his SUV, "is a car."  Anna looked at Henry's SUV.
"That doesn't look like the one over there." she said confused.
"That's because it's been upgraded from that one."  Henry replied. "Come on, let's get going."
Henry led Anna over to his SUV.  He opened the passenger door for her, and she climbed in.  Henry closed the door then went around to the driver's side, climbed in and fastened his seat belt after closing the drivers door.  He looked over at Anna who hadn't put on her seat belt yet.  "Seatbelt?" he said.
"Seat.....belt?" Anna said confused.  Annoyed, Henry reached over and dragged the belt across Anna's lap and chest and clicked in in place.  "seat belt." He said firmly.

Henry backed up slowly out of his parking spot.  He accelerated the SUV quickly taking turns more sharply than he knew he should have in the snow.  A few times, he felt the car start to slide and worried he would end up in a ditch, but he wanted to get to the grocery store quickly before June left.  He looked over at Anna a few times and saw that she was sitting straight up.  Had he not noticed the handkerchief twisted tightly in her hands he would not have known that his erratic driving was making her nervous.  A few more streets and they were at the entrance of the grocery store.

***

Henry and Anna walked up, arm in arm, to the grocery store doors. He peered inside the glass doors and saw light coming from the cafe around the corner.  He tugged on the door and it opened.  He, and Anna, were now just inside the grocery store.  "Wait here for a moment".  Henry said to her as he unhooked his arm from hers.  He went around the corner and saw the cafe brightly lit.  Sitting at the counter, drinking some tea, was the girl from the museum, June's granddaughter.  And at the baking station, humming a song and frosting an impressive wedding cake, was June.



The girl looked up from her tea.  "Henry!"
"Uh, how did you know my name?" Henry asked while he searched his memory from his earlier encounter with her at the museum.
"I told her when she described the dark, handsome man she met earlier." June said not looking up from her cake. "What brings you here so late?  You know we're not open, right?"
"Uh, no I didn't." Henry said. "The front door was open, and I saw the light"
"Well, that doesn't we're in business, Henry." June sounded tired.  Usually she was very chipper whenever she saw Henry, but this tone was not as pleasant.
"Nana...I'm sure Henry isn't going to order any big orders!" June's granddaughter said. "By the way, I'm Claire." she said smiling.
"Um, nice to meet you, Claire." Henry said. "Look, I need your help." Henry said to June.
"Oh really?  With what?" she said still working on the cake.
"I, uh...well, you see it's...." Henry sputtered out.  June stopped what she was doing and looked at him. Henry let out an exhausted sigh, "I could show you better than explain. I don't even know how I'd explain, or if you'll even believe me." he said.  June stared at him.
"Well, try me.  It must be important if you came here at," she looked at her clock on the wall. It was one of those tacky cat clocks where the eyes went back and forth in time with the second hand. "...this hour and after business hours." she said.  Henry stepped back out of the cafe and disappeared around the corner.  June and Claire leaned over to try to see what it was Henry was getting.  A few seconds later Henry re-appeared.  To June and Claire he seemed to be coaxing something.  They could hear him speaking slowly and calmly. "I hope you are not thinking of bringing an animal in here Henry! There is food here and..." June trailed off as she saw the young woman standing behind Henry.

Chapter 5--The Woman in the Photograph

Henry stood there, staring the photo, for what seemed like eternity.

Who was she?  Why was he so taken with a photo?

"Excuse me?"
Henry seemed confused.  Was the photo talking to him?
"Hello?"
"um...Hello?" Henry said unsure.  Then he heard giggling and that was when he realized the voice was not from the photo, but from behind him.  Henry slowly turned to see the young woman running the museum behind him.
"Sorry to disturb you," she said, "but I need to close up the place for the night."
Night? Henry could hardly believe it.  How long HAD he been standing there?  It was already night?
Henry let out a series of grunts and coughs then finally managed to blurt out "sorry" as he rushed pass the young woman.
As he grabbed his coat and opened the front door of the museum,  he heard giggling again.

***


The cold air hit Henry quickly.  He threw on his coat and stood in the fresh snow that had just fallen on the ground.  His breath surrounded him with each exhale.  He tugged on his coat.
I should head home.  It's getting late. He thought, but he wasn't ready to head home. Instead of walking to his car, he headed across the field to an abandoned building.  This was a building he hadn't noticed before and decided to explore around it.

As Henry was nearing the back of the building he thought he saw something odd in the air.  Almost like a water ripple but instead of being in water, it was in the air.  Curious, he headed toward it.  As he got closer, it seemed to disappear.  He picked up his pace, and rounded the corner.  He was no longer alone. He now stood face to face with a woman, the same woman he had just seen in the photograph in the museum.

Chapter 4--Changes

Henry lifted the phone to his ear.  After a few rings he heard the voice of a woman on the other end, Michelle, the receptionist.
"Bridgeport Weekly, how may I direct your call?"
"Michelle, it's Henry Banks, could I talk to Mike?"
Mike was the senior copywriter at Bridgeport Weekly, and Henry's boss.
"Oh Henry!" Michelle said with enthusiasm. It had always been clear to Henry, and everyone else at the office, that Michelle had a huge crush on him. She wasn't very subtle about it either. "I was just thinking about you!"
"I'm sure you were," Henry thought.
"It's just horrible what happened!" Michelle cried into the receiver.
"What happened?"
"What...happened?!" her voice rose as she asked him, horrified that he would ask that. "about your father." she whispered.
"Oh, yeah, well...it happens."
There was a small gasp on the other end.  He could tell Michelle wasn't too happy with his response or reaction at his fathers death.
"Can I get Mike? It's kind of urgent."
There was no response from Michelle, there was no sound at all.  He was just about to ask if she was still there when he heard the phone ringing through to Mikes office.  A few rings in, a man answered, "This is Mike."
"Mike, it's Henry."
"How's it going?"
"It's been...going." Henry let out a little chuckle. He liked Mike.  Mike was around his age and was easy going so talking to him was simple. Mike was the only person Henry would talk to if told he could only talk to one person for the rest of his life.
"How is it in..."
He trailed off. Henry knew he was trying to remember where he said he would be traveling to.
"Moonlight Falls." Henry finished off for him.
"That's it. Moonlight....Falls."
Henry knew Mike enough that he knew he was writing the name of the town down so he wouldn't forget again.
"I need to talk to you," Henry started.  There was a lump in his throat.  He didn't want to have to have this conversation. "I need to..." he rummaged his brain for the right words to express what he needed to tell Mike.
"You  need to be relocated?"
Henry exhaled.
"Erm...well, yes."
"I figured." Mike said, "the problem is though, I've never heard of Moonlight Falls so I don't know if they have a paper or who their senior copywriter is."
"They have a newspaper. I've seen a little girl delivering the paper this morning."
"Okay, well, I can't say I'm happy about losing you as an employee.  You're one of the hard working ones here."
Henry waited to hear what else he had to say.
"If you can get a hold of a paper, and give me the info...address or phone,"
"I have one here.  I went out this morning and picked up a paper while out."
Henry searched the paper for a contact info and gave it to Mike.
"Okay, I'll give them a call and see what happens.  Again, I'm going to be sorry to lose you, and if you ever decide to come back to Bridgeport, know you'll always have a job here for you."
"Thanks Mike."
And with that, Henry bid Mike goodbye and hung up.  He hadn't realized until after the call, that he had been holding his breath.  He let out an exhale, a sigh of relief.  Although, he knew that this wasn't over.  Just because Mike was going to call the paper here in town didn't guarantee him a job.  But at least he had enough money, and then some, if he didn't get the job, to survive on.
***ick up the furniture currently in the house, he had to buy new furniture.
He had a pleasant conversation with a gentleman from the store, and had ordered all new furniture. He was worried about the delivery going from Bridgeport to Moonlight Falls, but the gentleman assured Henry it wouldn't be a problem.  He also assured Henry the furniture would be there the next day.  Henry was pleased with the progress he had made so far. He wanted to take a nap, but there was a knock on the door.  The men for the furniture had shown up. Henry saw the large truck in his driveway and two very large, bulky men standing on the porch.
"We have a pick up for Henry Banks?"
"Yeah that's me. Listen, I know I told the store associate I wanted it all gone, but there is some stuff I want to keep."
"Okay, you just tell us what to load."
Henry directed the men to what he wanted out of the house.  When they were done, all Henry was left with was the bookcases, the tv, the wall table near the windows and the bedroom furniture. It wasn't until they had left that Henry realized if he wanted to watch tv, it would have to be while sitting on the floor.  He thought maybe he could bring part of the window seat down that was in the bedroom, but soon found that it was built into the wall.  After deciding he would just have to suck it up until tomorrow, he decided to lay down for a nap, and ended up sleeping through the night.

***

The snow fell lightly and silently.  The sun peaked through clouds every few minutes, but then quickly went back in hiding behind them.  Henry woke up, groggy from his long sleep.  He looked at his watch and saw that it was 9am the next morning.

"wow, I must have been tired."

He stood up and stretched then went downstairs to the quiet, almost empty living room.  Still not in the mood to sit on the floor and watch tv, he made his way into the kitchen and grabbed himself a bowl of cereal.  Not long after finishing his breakfast, his phone rang.

"Hello?"

"Hello, this is 'New to You', we have a delivery order for you."

"Oh," Henry said looking to the front door, "you here already?"

"We are about five minutes from you.  We just wanted to confirm you were home so we could deliver your furniture."

"Oh, yeah.  Just pull up the driveway right up to the front door."

"Alright, see in a few."

Henry hung up and went outside to move his car to the garage.  As he was heading back to the front of the house, he saw the truck backing in.  A short, skinny man jumped out of the driver side of the truck.

"Hi are you Mr. Banks?"

"Henry,"

"Okay, just need you to sign here!"

Henry signed the paperwork stating he had received his delivery as a much bigger man got out of the passenger side of the truck.  

Two hours later, the men left and Henry had new furniture.  He stood in the living room looking at his new stuff.  The furniture, in his opinion, was much better. But he felt he had to do something about the walls.  The paint of the walls were so dark, and old feeling.  

He went into the dining room. 

What used to be old, and out of style, was now updated to a more modern feel.

Henry was pleased with his new furniture, but he hadn't forgotten he needed to have his bathroom done.  He jumped in his car and headed to see June, the little old woman that owned the grocery/cafe.  

"Back again so soon!?" June was happy to see Henry. The smell of fresh coffee brewing filled his nostrils as he closed the door behind him. He could see that the place was just as deserted as it had been yesterday.  He started to wonder if she got much business, and if the sight of him in her store two days in a row was the most she'd seen of any resident.  

"Hey June," Henry waved to her, "could I get a latte to go, and I was wondering, do you know of any places that sell home improvement items?  I need paint and the bathroom in my house was left undone."

June gave Henry directions to the only hardware store in town as she got him a large latte.

"Oh, I only wanted a small.  I'm sorry I should have mentioned that."

"No fuss...on the house!" she handed him his latte and waved him on his way.  Something about June made him feel like he was talking to his mother.  He sat in his car for a few moments staring at his coffee.  His mother...

He didn't remember much of his mother. She died when he was very young and was raised by his father. What he did remember of her, was that she was incredibly kind, pretty, soft spoken, and smelled like fresh flowers.  

He snapped out of it when he felt a tear fall down his cheek.  He pulled out of June's shopping lot and headed to the hardware store.  

Three hours later he arrived home with the hatchback of his SUV filled with home improvement items: paint, wall and floor tiles, a mirror, caulking, glue, spackling  paste, light fixutres. He had everything but the kitchen sink in the back of his SUV, and he was sure he'd be making more trips. He unloaded his items in the garage, but wasn't feeling very motivated on starting his home improvement.  He then remembered June telling him there was a museum in town, and decided to visit there before starting his projects.

***

The museum was surprisingly close to Henry's house.  So close, in fact, he could see his house in the distance from the parking lot of the museum.  As he walked up the stairs he saw that the museum was closed for lunch.  

Henry looked at his watch.   

"ten minutes.  I can wait in the car I suppose, or I could skip it for today and go home." He frowned at the thought of going home right now because he knew if he went home, he'd want to start his projects, which he really didn't want to start today.  He decided to wait and went back to his car.  He sat in his warm SUV and sipped his latte while the radio played music quietly.  He looked to his right and saw an old, abandoned barn.  He did a double take as he looked over to the barn because he thought he had seen something move over there. He thought he had seen a woman, and not just any woman, a woman very out of place, but when he looked again, there was nothing.  He figured his eyes were just playing games on him when he saw a very young girl, possibly in her late teens, walk up the steps to the museum.  He watched her as she flipped the sign over, unlocked the door and went in.  Henry took it that she was just young looking for her age, turned off his car and went in.  When he entered the building there was a desk in front of him where the young girl stood.  She looked up, startled to see someone there.

"Hello," she said in a very high pitched, yet quiet, voice, "welcome to Moonlight Falls historical Museum."

Henry nodded, and looked around, "is there an admission fee?"

"Admission fee? No..." she was shocked that he had asked that. She watched him rather closely, "there is no drinks allowed, however, and you can leave your coat over there if you'd like."

"Oh," he said as he looked down at his almost completely full cup.

"You can leave it here at the desk while you look around if you'd like."

Henry nodded and walked closer to the desk.  As he got closer to the young girl, she seemed to tense up.  He handed her the cup then headed to the coat rack to hang up his coat.  It was really warm in the museum, and normally he wouldn't leave his coat for something that wouldn't last for more than an hour.

"I see you've met June."

"Hmm," Henry turned around to see the young girl looking at his coffee cup, "Oh, yeah, been there a couple of times."

"What do you think of her?" the young girl straightened up.

"What do I think of her?"  the question seemed to make Henry wonder why he was being asked that, "She's a very sweet woman."

"I'm glad to hear it."

"Why's that?"

"Because she's my grandmother."

Henry nodded and smiled, "you're very lucky to have a grandmother like her."

"Thank you, I think so too." She smiled then went back to her magazine she had brought in with her.  Henry took that as an indication the conversation was over, and he was okay with that.  

Walking around, Henry could tell this wouldn't be a long visit.  It was mostly paintings, photos, and a few old news articles about how the town came to be.  He was about to leave when he noticed a pushed back area, like a nook.  He walked over and noticed an oval portrait of a young woman lit up brilliantly.  Henry stared at the portrait for what seemed like hours.  He was mesmerized by the woman in the portrait, and found himself smiling at it like a fool.

Chapter 3.5--Henry makes his "home", home

Thump thump thump thump thump

Henry groaned in his sleep.

Thump thump thump thump thump

He opened his eyes slowly.  They focused on the fireplace that was now extinguished from last night. He didn't know what the time was, he couldn't make out the hands on the clock that sat on top of the fireplace mantel.  He sat up and rubbed his eyes.  It had stopped snowing and the sun had come out.

"I suppose I should take a look..." his thought was interrupted by the thumping he heard in his sleep.  Only now, it was clear that someone was knocking at the door. Henry got up and proceeded to the front.  As he came closer to the door he could see the head of a man with blonde hair and piercing eyes standing on the porch.  He was pretty unsettling looking, especially with those eyes, they almost seemed to glow, and Henry suddenly felt uncomfortable with the idea of opening the door.

With the door cracked open just enough to talk to the man, he asked him if he could help him.
"I'm looking for Henry Banks."
Henry didn't know what to make of the fact someone was looking for him, here, of all places especially since he hadn't been in the town for more than 12 hours.  He then had a sudden thought that this may be the father of one of the boys he had told the pizza kid to call if they had a problem with them staying away from the house.
"Who's asking?"
The man sighed a little, "I'm Jeff Monogan.  I was instructed to drop off a delivery for Henry Banks today."
Henry opened the door a little more and saw that the man was in a nice grey suit.  He was actually very well put together.
"A delivery?"
"Yes, sir."
"What kind of 'delivery'?" Henry was still a little cautious as he stepped out on the porch with Jeff and closed the door behind him. Jeff cleared his throat, "That," he said pointing to the driveway, "delivery."

Henry looked to his left and saw a silver SUV.
"What?" he asked Jeff.
"The vehicle.  I was instructed to deliver it to you today."
"By who?" At first Henry thought it would be Mr. Tumwater that had sent the delivery since he was the only one who knew Henry was here, and would be here, today.
"I was not told by whom," Jeff stated, "It's actually been at our garage for a while now, and we were instructed to come here on this day to deliver it to you."
"But," Henry tried to wrap around his head what Jeff had just said, "...how? What?"
"I just need you to sign this form so we can put it in our inventory that you have received the delivery."
Henry took the clipboard from Jeff and signed the paper while still glancing sideways at the SUV.
"I don't understand how you guys would know I was here today.  I just arrived here last night and I  just learned about this place a few days ago." He thought more, "you must have at least seen the person who left me this car, right?"

"No sir," Jeff went on, "we were actually notified of this delivery by mail months ago.  There was an anonymous letter sent to our lot with a check for the amount of this particular vehicle.  It stated you would be arriving in Moonlight Falls yesterday and we were instructed to deliver the vehicle to you today. This is all I know, sir."
Henry scratched his head.
"The vehicle is yours," he handed Henry the keys, "enjoy! And have a good day!" And with that Jeff headed to a second car that was waiting for him on the side of the road in front of Henry's house.  Henry went back in the house, threw on his coat and came back out half expecting the vehicle to be gone, but it wasn't.  There, directly in front of his porch stairs, sat the silver SUV shining in the sun. Henry was stunned by it and stood on the porch, for what seemed like hours, staring at his new toy.

 How was it that the delivery men got a letter from an unknown person that knew Henry would be here months before Henry, himself, would know?

So many thoughts swirled his head, he could feel himself start to get a headache, and his stomach, once again, let him know it was time to get some food.

"Well, let's take her for a spin, I guess." he thought, "now that I've got wheels, I should get to know my way around since I'll probably be here a while."
The driveway was big enough that Henry was able to turn around near the garage doors.  He pulled out of his driveway and headed toward the big clock tower, which he assumed must be the heart of the town.  Hopefully, he would be able to find some shops to get necessities.

It was easy to get confused.  He was able to find the clock tower, that wasn't a problem, but there were no shops near it like he had hoped.  The town seemed deserted.  He looked at the clock on the SUV's dash, "10:30 A.M".  He drove some more before he finally saw what looked like a small grocery store.  Having almost passed it, he slammed on the brakes, but quickly found himself sliding sideways past the store.

"Shit!  Shiiiiiiiit!" 

The SUV stopped, facing in the direction Henry had just come from.  He was breathing heavily, and his grip on the steerwheel was so tight he could see his knuckles turning white.

"Let's not do that again," he said to himself, "mental note...vehicles cannot stop on the dime in snow." He gulped hard before taking his foot off the brake and gently applying pressure to the gas. He was thankful he hadn't crashed into a tree, a building, or heaven forebid, another person, but he was even more happy that there was no other cars on the road at the moment to beep at him to get his ass moving.  He crept up to the store, which was now on his right, and pulled in.  The parking lot was small, so small that it probably only accomodated four or five cars.  The owner also hadn't had the lot shoveled or plowed, so getting into a parking spot was a little bit of a challenge, but nothing like what he had just been through with trying to get the car to stop.  After shutting off the car, he hopped out and looked at the store.  The town, the store, everything was so quiet.  He hoped the store was open, or at least going to open soon.  As he walked to the door, he noticed lights on inside. He pulled the door and went inside.

Forty-five minutes later, Henry exited the shop with five bags of groceries.  The prices were so inexpensive, that he loaded up on everything he needed, and didn't break his bank account doing it. The place even had a small bistro inside where he had decided to get himself a latte and croissant before he started his grocery shopping.  The woman running the shop was a nice little lady, named June.  She was older, maybe in her sixties, and Henry found out that she had been running the shop for about 30 years.  Even though he wasn't the type to chat, he enjoyed talking with June.  When she learned he had just moved to Moonlight Falls, he was hesitant to mention his house, but him doing so didn't seem to phase June.  She just stated that that was a lovely house and asked more about himself. Henry had had such a great time at the shop, that he made her a promise he would stop in again within the next few days.  She had also told him where he could find some other shops and pointed him in the direction of the art museum.  

After finding his way home, and putting his groceries away, he ventured out to find the shops June had told him about.  With her written directions, it was much easier than just driving around and hoping to find something during his drive. He was also getting the hang of driving in snow. His first, and only, stop was a furniture shop that didn't look too promising from the outside.  But one step inside proved, to even the most skeptical person, that the store was huge. Two floors and it stretched very far back. Looking around, he noticed some of the furniture that was in the house.

"Welcome!"

Henry jumped a bit.  The sales man seemed to have come out of nowhere.

"uh, hi?" Henry finally said after catching his breath.

"Anything we can help you with?  We have some very nice pieces here."

"I see that. In fact, a lot of the furniture I see here is in my house."

"Wonderful!"

"Maybe to you," the man's bigger than life smile faded, "but it's not really my taste."

The salesman chuckled, "may I ask, then, why did you purchase it?"

"I didn't," Henry said glancing at a few things, "my father did when he lived there."

"Oh!" The smile was back, "I see!"

Henry glared at him.  This guy seemed to be way to happy for his taste.

"Listen," Henry said while rubbing his chin,"the stuff in the house is brand new, and as I stated, not really my taste. Any way I could return it and get store credit or trade it for something a bit more...up to date?"

"Up to date?  This is up to date!" The man said making a big gesture like a circus ring leader.

"hmmm," Henry thought for a moment, "what I mean, is, do you have anything modern, or contemporary?"

The man still smiling, shook his head no very quickly.  

"Okay.  Well, what about returning the items?"

"Do you have your delivery receipt?"

"Oh, uh, no..."

"Perhaps you are in our database, let's go take a look, shall we?" The man lead Henry over to a desk with a computer, "now I'll need the name that was used for the delivery, do you know that?"

"I should hope so.  It's 'Banks'".

The man's face dropped into a frown, "Banks,"

"That's right."

"Well, let's see what we can find, hmm?" the man said enthusiastically again. He typed quickly into the computer. "Here we are, 'Banks'.  29 South Falls Avenue?"

"Yes, that's the place."

"Are you sure you want to return those items?  I see your father had purchased...."

"Again, they were in his taste.  The house was recently left to me, and the furniture is not really what I want for furniture, so yes, I am sure I would like to have those items returned."

The man had Henry fill out a lot of paper work and mentioned that the delivery truck could be there this afternoon to pick up the items.  Henry thanked him and headed home.

***

While waiting for the delivery men, Henry decided to take a look on the second floor.  He quickly realized how unfinished the house was.  The hall on the second floor had been painted and flooring had been laid down, but there were doors missing to rooms, and he had no idea where each room was.  He was going to have to contact Mr. Tumwater and ask him if he knew where Henry could get in contact with the contractor.  He was about to head back downstairs when he noticed a door to the left. He was a bit shocked to see a door there since the rest of the hallway had none.  

 Maybe it was because it was dark on that end of the hall, maybe it was because of the unknown behind the door, but whatever it was, it made Henry anxious.  He pulled himself together and walked over to the door and opened it.

A rush of cool air greeted his face.  He had found the master bedroom.  This room, like the others, was not of Henry's taste, but he liked it better than the others. He decided that he didn't want to send these items back.

 As he looked around the room, he saw a walk-in closet, and a bathroom which was unfinished. He sighed at the thought of having another room he would need to finish, but at least the plumbing was already set up for him to use.

 As he stood there, looking at the unfinished bathroom, he realized that he had unconsciously decided to stay in the house. He was removing the old furniture downstairs, and already planned to have it replaced with furniture that was more of his taste.  He took a breath and dialed the number he knew he HAD to dial.

Chapter 3--Henry's "home"

The taxi was gone, Henry was left alone standing in front of the impressively massive house.  He was sure it was a mistake that he was taken to this house.  He figured the best thing to do was to knock and ask whoever lived here if they could direct him to the correct addresss, but no one answered when he knocked.  He dug into his pocket and retrieved the key his father left him.  With a sigh, and hope no alarms would go off, he slipped the key into the keyhole and, turned the key.  To his shock, the door unlocked, and swung open slowly and silently.

 Henry stood there, stunned. That didn't just happen...THAT didn't just happen! He thought over and over.  After a few moments of thoughts running through his mind that the owner was going to come running, any second, to the door, shouting at him 'what the hell do you think you're doing?!', he finally convinced himself that the key didn't actually work, and that the door must have been unlocked already or opened just a jar.  He closed the door and heard a click. He removed the key from the door and tried to open the door, but it wouldn't budge.  The door had automatically locked when it closed. Shaking his head in disbelief he re-inserted the key, and turned.  And once again, the door swung open slowly and silently.  Again, he shook his head in disbelief, looked around him, and slowly yet cautiously, took a step inside with his luggage in tow.

The house was dark, and quiet.  It was so quiet, it was almost unsettling.  Henry looked around and saw that he was in a high ceiling foyer.  It was rapidly getting darker, but no lights, not even the porch lights,  were on.  Still convinced someone, anyone, was here, he mustered up the courage to speak.

"HELLO?" he shouted into the dark house, but there was no answer. There was absolutely no sound from the house what-so-ever.  No sound of anyone possibly up on the second floor, nothing.
He sighed, pulled out his cell phone and located Mr. Tumwaters number.

"Hello?" the gruff voice said.
"This is Henry....Banks..."
"Ah, Henry! Have you opened the envelope?"
"Yes, that's why I'm calling you, I think there was a mistake."
"What do you mean?"
"Well, I'm at the house,"
"You are! How do you like it? Impressive isn't it?  Bet you didn't think your old man could pull something like that off, now did you?" Henry could hear the excitement in Mr. Tumwater's voice.
"You mean," he was suddenly confused, "you mean you KNEW what the envelope contained?!"
"Of course!  Your father and I were close buddy's, and as his lawyer I knew very intimate details".
"Why didn't you tell me when you gave me the envelope then?!"
"Because," there was a pause, a yawn, "I was instructed by your father not to tell you."
"What?! Why?"
"That, my dear boy, I do NOT know."
Henry was even more confused.  If Mr. Tumwater knew the intimate details of his fathers life, why wouldn't he know why he was left this house?
"Okay, well, I think there was a mistake."
"A mistake?"
"The house...this cannot be the right address!"
"Not the right address? You're at the house now, right. Did the key open the door?"
"Yes, but,"
"Then it's the right address!" Mr. Tumwater said laughing. "Look, do what you want with the house.  It's yours to do what you wish.  There was no mistake.  Now if you'll forgive me, it's very late here and I would like to go home for the night."
"Mmmhhhhhmmmm.  Thanks for your help.  Good-bye." And with that, Henry ended the call.  He  still had an unsure feeling about the house, especially that part that it was "his", but talking to Mr. Tumwater had put a little reassurance in him that no one was going to come bursting in yelling at Henry that he didn't belong here, but he still had an unsettling feeling.  He decided he couldn't stay in the foyer all night and went further into the house.  He reached the foot of the stairs and looked to his left.  The hall stretched a bit and it was dark.  He could see a room at the end of the hall on the left lit by the streetlight.  The dim street light allowed him to see that that end of the hall was unfinished and he could see the drywall.  He looked to his right.

The hall on the right stretched further, but with it getting dark it was hard to see what was down there. And Henry wasn't feeling courageous enough to go venture down there...not quite yet at least.

. 

 He decided to go into the room directly in front of him, which seemed to be the living room.  There was a new, large tv and nice furniture.  The room was lit a little more than the foyer or hallway because of all the windows in this room.

He took a few steps into the room and saw that it was a bit bigger than he thought it was from seeing it in the hall. He looked around and notice the room had 3 lights, and a fireplace.  He first went to the lamp on the end table.

He tried to switch it on, but nothing happened. He tried the other two lights, but again, no power.  He decided he would have to find the basement to see if the electrical box was sending power to the house.  If not, he would sleep on the couch with the fireplace going.

As he walked around in the dark, opening doors here and there, he realized there was no basement.

He let out a heavy sigh, he was going to have to look outside for the box.

 Twenty minutes of walking around the house proved to be just as much of a let down as realizing there was no basement, and he went back into the house through the foyer.

"where the hell is the electrical box?!" Henry asked himself, getting angry.  It was getting darker, he was hungry and tired.  He wanted to be able to see what he was doing in the house, he wanted to be able to SEE the house! Just as he was about to give up for the night, he remembered seeing three garage doors when the taxi was pulling up.

"worth a shot, I guess." He said to no one but himself.  He looked down the dark hallway to his right.  He could barely make out the shape of a door at the far end.  He was sure that door went to the inside of the garage.  His heart was pounding, and he started breathing a little harder. Oh grow up!  Just go down there you big baby! And with that, he headed toward the door at the far end of the hall.

He pushed the door opened, and was greeted with cold air.  The door didn't lead into the garages, but did lead to a side entrance next to the garage doors.


He stood between the garage doors and decided to check the double garage first.  He was sure that was where the electrical box would be, in the larger garage.  He pushed the door up and peered inside.  There was nothing inside that indicated an electrical box. In fact, this was the cleanest garage he had ever seen, not even so much as a cobweb in there.  He closed the door and went to the single garage.  If this one didn't have the electrical box, he had no choice but to call the electrical company, and ask if someone could come out and help him find this box.  Then a thought came over him, what if his father died before getting the box installed? He pondered that thought for a moment before brushing it off.  Why would there be lamps in the house then?!  He hoped he was right thinking that his father DID get the electrical box installed before putting lamps in the house. He bent down and pushed the garage door open. Eureka! There was the electrical box.

Now to find out if it worked.  He stood in front of the box, and prayed, for the first time in his life, for the box to work.  He threw on the main switch, there was a click, then a pop.

And the house lit up in a blaze of light.  Henry was almost blinded by the light in the garage, but it was a welcomed sight for him.  

"Yes!"

Now that he had power, he wanted to take a look around the house.  But that was going to have to be put on hold as his stomach disagreed with him.  I should probably get food. He closed the garage door and headed back into the house. His first instinct was to raid the kitchen.  Obviously there would be nothing in the fridge, or if there was at the time that his father was alive, it's not longer good with the power not being on for as long as it was.  He searched the cuppards, but found that there was nothing. Now what? He didn't have any transportation, and knew of nothing of the area so he couldn't even go get food. I wonder if this place has a pizza place.   Now that he could see the interior, Mr. Tumwater was right, it was impressive, especially for a project his father did. The theme his father went with, for decorating, was a little old for Henry's taste, and he decided right then and there that if he kept the house, he would update the interior over time.  He located, and picked up, his phone on his luggage still in the foyer. He was about to dial when he stopped. He didn't know any numbers here.  The hunger pain was obstructing his ability to think straight.  He finally decided to call the operator.

"City and Place?" a woman's voice said.

"Uh...Moonlight Falls, a pizza place." Henry said to her.

"What location?"

"A pizza place." Henry said.

"I need a specific business name, sir."

"Oh, um, I'm sorry, I just moved here and don't know any specific places.  I just was hoping you could connect me to a local pizza place in Moonlight Falls."

"Oh, I see. Let me see what I can find."

Henry heard rapid typing from the operator as she looked for his location.

"I have one, the only one, place in Moonlight Falls.  Would you like me to connect you?"

"Yes, please."

"Okay, thank you for calling. Have a good evening, sir."

"you," but before Henry could say "too" and thank her for her help, he was disconnected from her and the other end was ringing to the pizza place she had found for him.

"Moonlight Tower Pizzeria, will this be pick up or delivery?" a young man's voice said quickly.

"Delivery."

"Could I get your name and address?"

"Name is Banks, address is 29 S. Falls Avenue." There was silence on the other end. "Hello? Are you still there?"

"Yes, I'm sorry.  I think I heard you wrong could you repeat the address again?"

"29 S. Falls Avenue" Henry said a little more slowly. There was a small gasp from the young man. "Is there a problem?"

"Uh, well, it's just that....that house is abandoned.  Has been for quite a while."

"And?"

"Well, I mean come on dude!  Is this a joke?" the young man said laughing nervously.
"No.  I just want a pizza."

"No really.  Who is this?  Is this Bryan? Because if it is, I'm going to kick your ass when I see you tomorrow at school.  These pranks aren't funny anymore."

"What the hell are you talking about, kid?" Again, silence.

"Look, we're really busy, and I just don't have time for pranks.  I got food to deliver and money to make!"

"Then take my order, and I'll give you money." Henry said mellowly. 

"*sigh* alright dude, but this time, you're paying for it.  I'm not going to fall for your 'This is old man Banks' bit again.  And don't think about jumping out of the bushes again when I get there."

"kid, your tip is quickly going down.  I want a pepperoni pizza, medium." Henry hung up before he could hear the price.  What the hell was that kid on? 

Twenty minutes later and still no pizza.  Henry went to the front door and saw a young man in a pizza uniform standing at the end of the driveway.  He looked terrified as Henry watched him through the window.  Seeing that the man wasn't going to walk up the driveway anytime soon, Henry, frustrated with this kid, threw on his coat and opened the door. 

"HELLO?!" Henry shouted to the kid. The kid snapped out of whatever daze he was in when he heard Henry's voice.  Henry waved him over, and the kid, still unsure, made his way up the driveway to Henry. "How long have you been standing there, kid?!" The kid didn't say anything. Henry looked at him sideways. "Geez, I couldn't get you to shut up on the phone.  What's wrong?  Cat got your tongue?"

"Sorry, dude.  I just wasn't," he trailed off gazing at the house.

"'You just wasn't' what?"

"I wasn't expecting anyone to be here, let alone see the house lit up like it is."

Henry grunted.  He didn't really want to talk. He was too hungry to want to hold a conversation, and chatting wasn't something he liked to do. "So how much do I owe you?"

"Oh, fifteen dollars and ninety seven cents," Henry opened his wallet and pulled out a twenty.

 "look , dude, I'm sorry I busted your chops on the phone.  When you said 'Banks' and then your address, well...my friends...they liked to pull pranks on me saying they were this old geezer that used to live here.  Rumor has it he died in the house. So when I would get here with the pizza they would try to scare the shit out of me by using tricks of light to make it look like there were ghosts in the house. Bad luck on you that you share the same surname as that old ass."

Henry stopped and glared at the kid. "People have been in the house?"

"yeah," Henry didn't like hearing that.  Suddenly he became very protective of his, and his fathers house. "You mean, they broke in."

"Well, I don't know....maybe they had a key."
"How would they have a key?"

"Dude, what do you care?!"

Henry was suddenly furious with the thought that some kids were disrespecting his fathers house. "Because," he started, "old man Banks was my father.  This was his house, and now it's my house. So tell your friends," he continued as he grabbed a piece of paper out of his wallet, then snatched the kids pen as he scribbled on the paper, "they better not come around here again.  And if they have any doubt, you have them give me a call." Henry said, sternly, as he handed the kid the twenty and the piece of paper with his name and phone number on it, "you can keep the change."

"R-Really?!" the kid sounded surprised, "wow, you're much more generous than your father was."

Henry gave a nod and the kid left.  

The pizza was a bit cold, but that didn't bother Henry much.  He threw a few sliced on a plate, that he found in the cuppard, and then threw the plate into the microwave.  The remaining slices were put in the fridge.  Then, tired and extremely hungry, Henry headed back to the living room to eat and watch tv, and it was on the couch that he passed out on.