Hourglass → Ace; Nancy Drew [1]

xv. the mystery of the irvine lodge

She led them past the big living area– the largest room in the lodge– and into a hallway where paintings were hung. The acrylic paintings were exquisite, with clear focus and effort in every detail of the facial features of every member in the Irvine bloodline. The earthly tones of green and brown matched the smooth brown wooden frames that surrounded the paintings, as well as the walls that were a lighter shade of brown. As they reached the end of the hall to where the staircase was, Olivia's eyes fluttered shut and she took in a shallow breath.

It had been years since she had been in the Irvine lodge. The last she had been here was over eight years ago, with her aunt Hillary. She had distracted her, sheltered her from the pain of her parent's divorce. Because of Hillary, not a tear had been shed and not a single thought of fear crossed little Olivia's mind. Olivia wondered if she had been any help to her aunt, in distracting her from the demons she was battling herself.

The first wooden step creaked as Olivia placed her foot onto it. She gripped onto the railing before ascending further, the sound of her friends' footsteps on the old wood making similar sounds. Their mouths, however, were zipped– silent in respect for Olivia and the pain she was enduring being at her and her aunts' sacred place, and in anxious anticipation of what they would find.

The stairs led to the second floor, smaller than the one before. From the narrow staircase, the area widened into a hallway of some of the bedrooms. It held a similar theme to the area downstairs, giving off a very mountain cabin vibe. Although the place was cold considering there being no heaters because the architecture of the place was so old and the fireplaces hadn't been turned on in almost a decade, there was still a cozy warmth to the whole lodge. Everyone could tell that once, it was home to Olivia. A place of joy, of love.

Now, it was a place of darkness and secrets.

Now, it was a place that deepened the hole in Olivia's heart, reminding her of what she had lost.

Olivia swallowed the thick lump in her throat, blinking several times to wash the tears away. She nodded her head to the left, motioning for everyone to look in the direction. A ground-to-ceiling tall square of flat wood hung up, pinned against the wall with strong steel nails. The light brown surface was engraved with art that had Olivia's friends gaping with parted lips and bedazzled eyes, dumbfounded by the talent that had gone into the work. Small outlines of mountains were carved in the background over land where a rainbow stood over them. And in the foreground, right beside the large carving of the lodge where every window and wall and point on the roof was carved with immense detail, stood a tree. Its trunk was thin but branched off into at least fifty names. "Arthur Irvine, he built this place." Olivia traced her finger over the carving of his name, at the very beginning of this tree. "There've been renovations and maintenance of course, but we owe everything we have to him." She trailed her finger to the center of the tree's trunk, where a tiny symbol was carved. "And this is the same symbol that's on the ring's box. I knew I had seen it before, I just couldn't remember."

"Well, you figured it out now. That's all that matters," Nick persuaded, patting Olivia's shoulder with his eyes still plastered onto the family tree.

"What do you think this means?" George asked, scanning over the large artwork. She turned to Nancy who had stepped forward and placed her hand onto the wood, trailing it over every marking.

"I'm not sure..." she mumbled, her eyebrows knitted together in deep thought. "There's no pushing point. It's all solid." Pursing her lips, she drew her ear toward the mural and knocked on it. "Doesn't sound like there's anything behind it either."

"Maybe there's something solid inside... like a safe or a body or something."

"A body?" George snapped her head to Bess with her face scrunched up in utter disgust.