Beautiful California had at the time seemed like the perfect home for the Chamberlains. It was a graceful Tudor style estate right on the Pacific Ocean. They called it their "dream house" and it was a wonderful home base for all of their travels around the world. When they moved in, Stacey was 14 years old, AJ was 12 and Nola was expecting another baby, a perfect baby girl, in five months. They had already decided on the name Beatrice Stephanie after the baby's grandmothers. They had never planned to wait so long between their children, but with all the traveling on Quint's archaeological digs it seemed unfair to the children and inconvenient to bring another along. So they waited until they could have at least a few years to settle down. Moving to California was perfect for this. No one could have predicted the terrible events to come.
The house was so exquisite, and the children and Nola loved being by the ocean. Also as Stacey and AJ got older, Nola and Quint felt it more important that they have a more constant social life with their peers and more steady schooling. Stacey was always an ace at school, but AJ had a little more difficulty concentrating.
No one could deny that the house was a haven, and anyone would dream to live in such a place, but somehow now, the house seemed so empty and sad without Nola. Quint continued to work as a professor at the university, but Stacey was so far away in England studying for her PhD in archaeology at Oxford, and AJ was down in New Orleans studying for his undergraduate degree at Tulane. Nola was a little concerned for her young, wild son to be going to school in the Mardi Gras capitol, but she had to admit that through all of AJ's partying and antics that he did manage to come up with good grades at a very highly ranked, very reputable school. Of course, no one would have thought that Stacey would do anything less than Oxford and follow in her father's footsteps. Everyone wasn't quite sure what AJ was going to do once he graduated with his major in English, but he always managed to land on his feet. He was the spitting image of Nola, and even though not biologically related, Stacey was definitely her daddy's girl.
Quint rambled around the big house most of the time not knowing what to do with himself. He spoke so infrequently to Nola since she left a little less than a year earlier. She told him that she had gone back to Springfield to stay with her mother. She had told him that she would call him, but that she needed some time to think. The children were beside themselves when they heard this news and tried everything they could from their distant locations to help patch things up. Quinton and Nola's marriage had gotten a little rough ever since they had lost the baby. Nola really wanted to have another baby after that loss, but for whatever reasons it was just not meant to be, and that created a lot of stress in the family. For a period of time, it seemed that Nola had found peace and came to an understanding that they already had a beautiful family, and things seemed better. Quint missed the children, but even more painfully he missed Nola.
Nola had proven to be everything to him. She was his wife, best friend, lover, mother to his children, and his co-worker. They traveled together extensively after they left Springfield with the children. It was certainly not easy when the children were still babies, but Nola always had so much energy that nothing seemed insurmountable. There were many late nights at the dig sites when Quint wanted to give up in exhaustion, but Nola managed to push him through it with her enthusiasm and occasionally little promises of "favors" later.
He recalled one evening in particular, when they were working at Machu Pichu in Peru. The children were at that time only 9 and 11 and staying with the nanny in nearby Cusco. It was another late night, and it was getting quite cold even though the days were warm and sunny. This evening they were on one of the terraces of the Citadel, and in usual fashion Nola was not ready to give up for the evening in spite of the cold.
1993, Machu Pichu
"This is just one of my favorite places, Quint, and it is so beautiful up here," Nola sighed.
"Not that you can see anything this late, but it is amazing. Are you sure you don't want to call it a night yet? It's getting awfully cold and I don't want my assistant getting sick."
"Oh you're not going to trick me with that one, Mr. McCord." She loved to rib him by affectionately calling him Mr. McCord whenever they worked together and in other less "professional" situations as well. "Just put on a few more layers, and you'll be fine. I packed us both enough clothes to survive in Antarctica. A Peruvian night is nothing."
"Nola, I will never know where you get your energy. You ran yourself ragged with Stacey and AJ last night when we visited them, and we have been working since early this morning."
"It's so exciting. I don't think I'll ever stop finding this exciting. You gotta remember that I was a girl who grew up on 7th Street and could only see things like this in a movie."
"Oh, I will never forget that, my love. But you need to have mercy on me from time to time."
"How about if I make a little deal with you?" Nola mischievously tempted him.
"What kind of deal?" Quint queried with a twinkle in his eye, knowing full well about Nola's deals.
"Ok, if we can work for just one tiny little hour more, so I can get through this one area, I promise that . . .. " Nola looked off trying to collect her thoughts and come up with an irresistible offer.
"Come on, I know you can come up with something really good," Quint played along.
"If my mother had any idea about the kind of things you really liked when we were living together that first year on Thornway Road, she would have absolutely forbid it," she teased.
"Now Nola, I was very polite and gentlemanly the entire time, but enough was enough as they say. Now tell me the delicious offer." Quint eagerly awaited her response.
"Hmmmm, sometimes I just like to let you imagine a few things first, so I can torture you a little."
"Believe me, Nola; this entire conversation has definitely enlivened me, as it were."
"Oh yes, I see," she glanced at him provocatively. "But you do have to wait at least an hour, so we can finish this work, so maybe you need a breather."
"Or something. You're so bad."
"And you love it." Nola moved toward him and gave him a little rub as she seductively whispered in his ear all the specifics about what she has planned.
Quinton rested his head on the desk as the memories of the past flooded over him. The ocean surf pounded outside. "I wish I could just speak with you Nola. Please call me."
Meanwhile, Nola made her way down to the library of Thornway Road. The room was still sparsely furnished, but she tried her best to find pieces that would remind her of how the place used to look with a few tasteful updates. She surprised herself; however, when she realized how much she wanted to get her hands on the old tusks that once framed the fireplace. That was another thing that scared her a bit when she was younger, but now she thought back about it with fondness, and she actually missed them. She moved toward the spot where Quint's desk used to be and then moved her hand along the back of the bookcase hoping to find the lever that would trigger the access to the secret passageway. She could just imagine Gracie breathing down her neck, as they used to sneak around looking to uncover Mr. McCord's secrets. Suddenly, her hand grazed the lever and she pulled it as the bookcase squeaked open. A big grin crossed her face, as she slowly entered the darkness of the secret passageway. The smell was so musty, despite the cold. She suddenly realized that the dogs were still barking outside, and she froze for a minute thinking of some of the other times the dogs used to bark when there was an intruder outside. But, of course, it could not be the most dangerous intruder of all, because he had died many years before in the cave in Tanquir.
She knew she was overreacting, but she did feel the urge to call Quint. She couldn't tell him yet that she was living at Thornway Road, and in her sentimental mood she might just break down and beg him to get on a plane and come and see her. She wanted that so badly, but was not sure she should yet, and even if she did, she was even less certain if he would actually come. Nola also didn't dare mention the name Silas Crocker to Quint, as she knew that could lead to nothing good. And besides, Silas was dead!!! All the officers at the site that day in Tanquir told them so, but it did nag at her all these years that she had never seen his body, and if the Llewellyns were paid off, then so too could others have been. Being in the secret passageway was making her imagination run rampant. She quickly ran up the spiral staircase. The next place she had to visit was Quint's old lab. It had been set up as a study by the last tenants, but to her it would always be his lab, and she planned to someday restore it as such. The urge to grab her cell phone and call Quint gnawed at her, but she resisted for now.
Spring 1939, Paris
Archibald Renfield had truly been the love of Violet's life. She could remember so well the day they had met. It had been during a vacation she had taken with her sister Victoria. It was their first trip by themselves but it was an adventure they would both remember forever. For the first time in their lives, they could go wherever they wanted and do whatever they wanted without caring about the usual conventions. Quite simply, they were having the time of their lives. They went shopping, to dinner and just drank in the scenery of Europe in any way they chose.
"Look over there," Violet said to her sister. "There's the Eiffel Tower," she said with enthusiasm. "I hear the view of Paris is spectacular from the top," she continued. "I think it's one of the most magnificent sights I've ever seen."
"Yes," Victoria smiled. "And that's only the beginning. We have so much more to see and do while we're here in Paris."
They had been walking through the city minding their own business; they were not paying much attention to anyone or anything, but to the historic sights surrounding them.
All of a sudden, without warning, Violet bumped into someone she hadn't seen in front of her. "Excuse me," she said.
"That's quite all right," he said with a very distinguished British accent, "it's perfectly understandable. Paris is a wonderful city. One can easily get carried away by the view." As he removed his hat and tilted it toward her, she was impressed with his manners. Violet could tell he was very well educated.
"I have a feeling that's not the last time we're going to see him," Victoria said.
"How can you tell?" Violet asked her sister.
"Didn't you notice the way he was looking at you?" Victoria asked. She then leaned in to whisper something in her sister's ear. "He likes you, Violet. Can't you tell?"
Now living with her sister Victoria in Scotland for many years, Mrs. Renfield remembered that moment in her young life with fondness. She only hoped that Nola would once again begin to realize just how much Quinton still loved her. Then they could get their lives back on track the way they used to be.
I only hope it happens soon, she thought. "Maybe I should give them a little bit of help," she said with a growing grin on her face. "And I know just how to do it." Having helped his single mother raise Quinton--then known as Sean--since he was five years old, Violet felt certain that no one, save Nola, knew him better than she did.
What Violet didn't realize was that Silas Crocker had some definite plans of his own. For the past several months, he had been keeping very close tabs on both her and her sister Victoria looking for information.